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State Mandates Online Health Care Price
ByadminThe hospital price transparency bill that was signed into effect on August 21 has elicited criticism from the Duke health community. House Bill 834 mandates that hospitals and medical care agencies in North Carolina—including Duke University Medical Center—provide pricing information on 140 of the most common health care procedures to the Department of Health and…
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,…
Want narcotics just ask for them?
ByadminA very disturbing new study was just published, in which physicians viewed a video of a patient with back pain asking for OxyContin. Twenty percent of docs said they would prescribe that med under that circumstance: …Too often, doctors prescribe potentially dangerous medications to patients who shouldn’t be getting them, and what they prescribe is…
Graphic Cigarette Labels Work!
ByadminWarning – the warning labels pictured below are graphic but, according to a recent study, they increase the chances that people will quit smoking. Now we need to find a way to get legal permission to use such pictures, so we can shock people out of their habits.
What Supreme Court ruling means for state Medicaid programs
Byadmin
Here is a nice news report about what the Medicaid portion of the Supreme Court decision means for state governments. Short version: North Carolina needs to decide whether to expand Medicaid by up to 500,000 people, with the federal government picking up 95% of the cost. Left unsaid in this news report: hospitals are going to push hard to expand Medicaid, so they will have more paying customers. Wonder if they will have success in states like NC, with Republican legislatures.Whose Life Would You Save?
Byadmin
WHYY in Philadelphia has a report out on a new study I participated in, led by my good friend Scott Halpern. The study revealed the strange lengths to which physicians will go to help their patients, even if it hurts other patients. To see what Scott and I have to say, click on this link.

