Healthcare Economist
Healthcare Economist
- May 17, 2012
- What is the effect of physical examination requirements on mortality rates?
- Is tele-medicine/internet-medicine the wave of the future? Or do these alternative treatment methods just make it easier for patients and providers to engage in fraudulent and/or unsafe behaviors? In response to concerns about tele-medicine’s effect on patient safety, many states have begun prohibiting physicians from prescribing drugs without conducting a prior physical examination. In fact, [...]
- May 16, 2012
- Wednesday Links
- How much does it cost to insure your family? Should your doctor be using Facebook? Can the Facebook IPO save California’s budget? Britain: “the clearest failure seemed to be health care.” Less is more. NBA Playoffs: Advanced Box Scores and the Troxler Effect. Cavalcade of Risk #157.
- May 15, 2012
- Plastic Surgery in China
- China standard is living as funds from export industries eventually trickle down into the earnings of (some) ordinary Chinese. Where are the Chinese spending their newfound wealth? In part, the answer is self-beautification procedures. According to the Economist: “China performs more cosmetic surgery than any country except America and Brazil. Almost 1.3m licensed procedures were [...]
- May 14, 2012
- A lifeline for antibiotics research?
- Antibiotics such as penicillin have helped to fight numerous diseases such as syphilis, and infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. However, overuse of antibiotics is a problem. Physicians sometimes prescribe antibiotics to fight viral infections even though antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections. Because of this overuse, more and more strains of drug-resistant bacteria are appearing. [...]
- May 11, 2012
- ObamaCare stymied in New Jersey?
- Governor Chris Christie vetoes a bill today that would form have created a health exchange in New Jersey. “While I appreciate the Legislature’s attempt to find steady policy footing in these shifting legal sands, I am concerned that a hastily created exchange in New Jersey will impose unnecessary obligations upon the state’s citizens,” Christie said [...]
- May 11, 2012
- How Effective is Arthroscopic Knee Surgery?
- For patients with osteoarthritis, the answer is not at all. A paper in the New England Journal of Medicine examined 180 patients 75 years old or younger, that had osteoarthritis of the knee, and reported at least moderate knee pain on average despite medical treatment. The researchers randomized this individuals into three groups: Surgery Group #1 (Lavage): The [...]
- May 10, 2012
- HWR at InsureBlog
- The latest edition of the health work review is up at InsureBlog.
- May 10, 2012
- When less is more
- Some medical procedures and tests are unnecessary. Others can even be harmful to patients. In an effort to reduce the frequency of these services, Consumer Reports is teaming with the ABIM Foundation and nine medical specialty societies to develop evidence-based lists of tests and procedures for patients and physicians to question as part of Choosing Wisely. According to their website: “The [...]
- May 9, 2012
- Wednesday Links
- Walletectomy. Obamacare veto in Alabama? Hospital appointment scalpers. No more ‘bowling alone’? Colbert on ER debt panels.
- May 8, 2012
- How to invest your retirement savings and does it matter?
- Surprisingly (or perhaps not) most Americans have limited liquid financial resources during their retirement years. From the NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health: “…for many households “discussions of whether to purchase an annuity or draw down wealth in another fashion are largely moot; the amount of retirement support that their savings will provide is very limited. For example, nearly [...]
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