It is common knowledge that the United States spends substantially more money on health care than other developed nations, yet it is by no means the healthiest country. Health care accounts for one-sixth of United States’ gross domestic product (GDP), but morbidity continues to rise. Two out of three American adults are obese, one-third of American adults have high blood pressure, and diabetes prevalence is … Continue reading
This past Saturday (November 15, 2014) marked the beginning of the open enrollment period for 2015 Affordable Care Act plans. All indications are that this year’s enrollment period is functioning much smoother than last year’s, which is good for the administration. The national website has functioned much better than last year and a majority of … Continue reading
The individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act requires nearly all individuals to purchase health insurance. Subsequently, the issue of adequate provider supply comes into question. This is because it is believed that when more individuals have health insurance it is more likely that we will see more individuals using health care services. This is … Continue reading
Last week, medical author Atul Gawande released his fourth book titled Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, discussing the current medical procedures during the end of life. I was lucky enough to attend a discussion Mr. Gawande had on this book, and there was one thing that he said that really stuck … Continue reading
Recently CVS Health has entered partnerships with 41 different health systems that will connect their minute clinics with the electronic medical records of said health systems. The most recent of these agreements is with MedStar Health, an expansive and high quality medical system centered around the Baltimore and D.C. areas. This agreement between MedStar and … Continue reading
Traditionally, healthcare was restricted only to highly trained individuals and researchers who worked on their own or with other specialists. Today, however, social media and smartphones are allowing the general population to get more involved with the healthcare industry. Listed below are some interesting examples of how this phenomenon, called crowdsourcing, is improving patient diagnosis, … Continue reading
The notion that a physician shortage is growing in the United States has become deeply ingrained in the healthcare ethos. However, growing evidence shows that this widely accepted assumption might be fundamentally flawed. The traditional belief about the physician shortage initially seems to make sense for three reasons. First, the segment of the population over … Continue reading
The New York Times reported yesterday on the increasing frequency of prescriptions for stimulants (commonly used for ADD and ADHD) being given to children who have no medical problem. These children receive medication because they have been struggling in school. According to the article, children who are struggling in school, especially those in low-income situations, can … Continue reading
Yesterday, PBS premiered a show called “Money and Medicine,” wherein two hospitals were studied (Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles and Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City) and compared according to their health spending and health outcomes. The film was not incriminating or condescending to either hospital; rather, these examples were used … Continue reading
As marked by the uncommon three days of oral arguments, totaling six and a half hours, the decision of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) constitutionality will not be an easy for the nine Justices of the Supreme Court. Lawyers argued four issues in front of the bench: the Anti-Injunction Act, the Individual Mandate, the severability … Continue reading
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