Guest Commentaries

A recent survey of some 2,500 doctors conducted by Dr. Jon Tilburt at the Mayo Clinic and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association was full of good news for those of us who believe that, as physicians, we have a big role to play in controlling healthcare costs. It reveals near-universal understanding of the savings that can be attained by engaging doctors to improve quality, efficiency and value in the practice of medicine.
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Unfortunately, some opponents of healthcare reform are behaving outrageously. They are actively trying to make the law fail.
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According to a recent National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, there are about 1 billion patient office visits in the U.S. annually. This is the number of opportunities medical practice executives have to make a difference in a patient's experience and perspective on healthcare delivery.
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Clinical trials are conducted under a growing constellation of state and federal regulations aimed at preventing conflicts of interest in the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and physicians.
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Intermountain Healthcare recently launched the nation's first enterprise system to measure and report cumulative medical radiation exposure of patients. Across our 22 hospitals and 185 clinics, our systems and personnel are now compiling data on the cumulative radiation that patients receive from about 220,000 higher-dose procedures and imaging exams each year. In developing the system, whose data is available to clinicians and patients through Intermountain's electronic health records, my colleagues and I...
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The majority of hospitals in the U.S. are struggling to transition from fee-for-service to capitated reimbursement directly tied to results. The best way to bridge that chasm is to transform the highest profile and most expensive component of most hospitals—the operating room.
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Financial relationships between the healthcare industry and the clinical community are a prevalent aspect of the healthcare landscape. A common financial interaction, for example, is when a physician receives a fee for consulting with a pharmaceutical company about a drug in development. Such financial arrangements are widespread, but they are often known only to the parties directly involved.
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While nearly 26 million people are affected by diabetes in the U.S., not everyone has access to the care and services that allow for successful disease management.
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Most of the leaders in this nation's dysfunctional system of healthcare now agree that a reliance on in-patient admissions and revenue is a thing of the past.
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For a long time, many of us healthcare professionals have operated largely within our own comfort zones. We do just as we've always done, acting independently of each other, as if in our own private universe. We saw little incentive to change, least of all soon. That's happening less often now, thanks mostly to pressures for healthcare reform from the federal government and private sector alike. But our approach to caring for patients remains fragmented. We're still going to have to break free of those comfort zones.
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Four key reforms to expand insurance coverage were intended to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; in reality, they fit like pieces from four different jigsaw puzzles.
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In 1989, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act mandated use of the resource-based relative value scale methodology for physician payments under Medicare Part B. It's time for review.
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When addressing healthcare workplace safety concerns, most executives immediately think about hospital safety. They rarely think about one of the most hazardous professions in healthcare—the home healthcare aide.
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If you believe the critical battles over implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) are being fought among politicians, you're wrong. The real fight is taking place in doctors' lounges at hospitals across the country. The outcome will determine the future quality of healthcare in the U.S. because it will define for the next generation the very essence of what it means to be a physician.
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Since writing a cancer memoir in 2000, I've given talks at more than 150 hospitals and oncology clinics. I learned that many centers and clinics invest far more in their coffee stations, light airy infusion rooms and brochures than on the basics that make a difference to patients.If cancer centers truly want to improve the patient experience, here are 17 questions clinic managers might want to ask themselves:
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Across the country, workplace wellness programs are making Americans healthier, paying quality-of-life dividends for millions of participating workers now and into the future. Employers are screening workers for diseases, paying for health club memberships and providing incentives to encourage healthier lifestyle choices.This is a good thing. But it's just not good for the reason many employers and lots of other people think it is.
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As the healthcare industry prepares for the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known affectionately or derisively as “Obamacare,” the issues that preoccupy top hospital and system managers range from cost-cutting to increased paperwork and perhaps most importantly, maintaining patient satisfaction and excellent care during an era of diminishing resources.
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From industry media to your hometown newspaper, news about the push for transparency in healthcare pricing is hard to miss these days.
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In comparison to nearly every other type of commercial aviation, there is an inordinate rate of accidents within medical helicopter aviation.
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Recent findings from the Oregon Health Study have resulted in headlines intended as a warning for next January's planned expansion of the Medicaid program (as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act): “Bad news for Obamacare: A new study suggests universal healthcare makes people happier but not healthier” “Oregon study throws a stop sign in front of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion” “Giving people government health insurance may not make them any healthier”Overall,...
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Since the early 1980s, federal dietary guidelines have urged Americans to eat more nutrient-rich foods and cut back on fatty foods and highly processed “empty calorie” snacks such as cookies and chips. But those pleas have fallen on deaf ears. It's time to start thinking differently about how to encourage Americans to make smarter food choices—and a fine place to start would be cutting the costs of healthy foods in our supermarket aisles.
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Deepening engagement among patients, families, physicians and providers will produce higher-quality health results and lead the way to answering the question: “What is best for the patient?”Our healthcare world is rapidly evolving. Among those changes is a cultural one that affects those who provide care and the people who receive it. When I began my medical career, patients rarely questioned their doctor's recommendations or gave their own opinions. Conversely, doctors did not want their patient's opinion and seldom were concerned about the patient's world outside of the medical...
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We have done it. We have decreased the increase in the cost of healthcare. Let us explain. For three decades (1980–2009), the cost of healthcare has been increasing each year at an average rate of 7.4%—double the rate of inflation. However, over the past three years, the increase in healthcare expenditures has remained at a low 3.1%.Is this decline the desperately needed bend in the healthcare cost curve or just the impact of the depressed economy?
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One of the most disturbing challenges faced by American healthcare is the enormous geographic variability in both access and quality. We are one nation, and no matter which state we live in, we are all Americans. But (to paraphrase Bono) where we live actually determines if we live.A poor person living in Massachusetts is more likely to have access to health insurance and healthcare than one who lives in Texas. Given what we know about the relationship of healthcare and health, this means that a poor resident of Texas faces the possibility of a less healthy, shorter life.
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Democrats and Republicans are sharply divided over how best to improve Medicare, a program that covers nearly 50 million Americans and that will spend almost $600 billion this year.
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