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When Farmer Joe Gets Sick, Here's Who He Sees
ByadminThe U.S. isn’t exactly overflowing with primary care physicians. The job pays poorly compared to most medical specialties, while often requiring mastery of a fraud range of material. In fact, with expansion of insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, many experts worried that it would become increasingly difficult for people to gain access to…
The Way Physicians Break Bad News is Broken
ByadminImagine picking up a telephone and hearing your doctor tell you there is a “999 out of 1,000 chance that you’ll be dead within a decade.” That’s what Leonard Mlodinow experienced in 1989, when his routine HIV test didn’t turn out the way he expected. Mlodinow tells this story in his 2008 book, The Drunkard’s Walk,…
How Effective Are Mammograms?
ByadminMammograms have long been touted as a life-saving preventive test. But recently, people have been re-examining the relative harms and benefits of mammography. This re-examination became quite earnest when the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommended against beginning routine mammography before age 50. Even at later ages, experts are beginning to more thoroughly recognize…
Peoples Pharmacy Podcast
ByadminThis weekend, I had the pleasure of being a guest on Peoples Pharmacy, a great public radio show that hails out of Durham NC. We had a far ranging, rapidly shifting conversation about lots of things. Check it out if you are interested. The show even gave me a chance to learn a new skill. …
Hospital Pricing Insanity
ByadminOnce again, lots of reports in the news about crazy variation in hospital prices in the United States, with thousands or tens of thousands of dollars difference in the price of services from one hospital to its neighbor across the street. Marketplace did a nice report on this issue recently, including an interview with yours…
Are Health Insurance Exchanges the Key to Improving Medicaid? Possible Lessons from Arkansas
ByadminImagine you are the breadwinner for a family of four, and have been out of work for a while in the recessionary economy. Your financial situation is so dire that you have had to enroll your family in Medicaid. Then you find a job, not one that will make you wealthy but one that pays…