Video Introduction to Critical Decisions
Here is my latest Critical Decisions video. This one gives a broad introduction to the reasons I wrote the book.
Here is my latest Critical Decisions video. This one gives a broad introduction to the reasons I wrote the book.
My colleagues and I have been doing lots of research lately on how physicians and patients discuss out-of-pocket expenses during clinic encounters. One of our recent publications has been getting lots of attention, with this being the latest example. I thought I would share it with you: Recent qualitative findings published in Health Affairs showed that physicians…
Steve B. wasn’t going to be fooled twice. He’d recently seen an ear, nose, and throat specialist for a “tickle in the throat” that wouldn’t go away. He’d forked over a co-pay at check-in, but then the doctor said he needed “to put a scope down there” and check his throat. He later received a…
I know, I know: I usually write about health and healthcare; why should anyone care about my opinion on whether Larry Summers should be Federal Reserve Chair? As it turns out, my work on doctor/patient communication has given me insight into the danger of judging job candidates—be they physicians or Federal Reserve chairs—based purely on…
With health care costs rising, employers (and insurance companies) are increasingly asking consumers (aka “patients”) to have more “skin in the game”—to pay more out of pocket for their medical care. The Kaiser Family Foundation has a nice report on trends in health insurance deductibles. This picture shows the rise in these deductibles. That means:…
If an antibiotic would cure your infection, your doctor would probably still warn you about the chance of sun sensitivity before prescribing the pill. But even when the costs of a medical intervention might force patients to choose between paying the bill or keeping up with their mortgages, American physicians rarely discuss that serious side effect with…
In my previous post, I showed a powerful picture (from the Kaiser Family Foundation) of the growth in high deductible insurance plans. Here is another picture from that same report, showing that the high end of these high ends is getting really high. (Click here to view comments)