Cut Cancer With Cash [ez_date] If you’ve read a single post here – much less the entirety of Our Healthcare Sucks – you no doubt recognize the central and predictive role that money plays in American healthcare. Patients, employers, and the government all pay dearly for insurance coverage. Insurers, patients, and the government all pay […]
Defensive Medicine Makes Us All Sitting Ducks
Defensive Medicine Quackery [ez_date] “Defensive medicine” is the term applied to medical tests and procedures ordered by many physicians in order to protect themselves in the event of a malpractice claim filed by or on behalf of their patients. These tests and procedures are often not necessary and can lead to further testing and […]
Healthcare USA: Pricey, Preferential, and Provocative
Healthcare USA – Beyond the Politics This week’s report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that the rate of growth in US healthcare spending has tapered off compared to that of other high-spending countries (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Canada in this case). This is considered a good thing, even though […]
We Need MORE VHA Health
Whatever the VHA’s Flaws, Private Healthcare’s Worse [ez_date] This post is a follow-up to my last post on the troubled Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which is under renewed scrutiny following revelations of patient treatment delays that were concealed to make some VHA services look better and generate bonuses for select administrators. This has created sufficient […]
VHA Flaws No Worse Than Private Healthcare
VHA Controversy Ignores Bigger Flaws With Private Healthcare [ez_date] Memorial Day seems a fitting time to weigh in on the Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) scandal. The VHA is on the hot seat now for reported delays in scheduling patients that may have contributed to the deaths of dozens of veterans. The usual response prevails – […]
Healthcare Delusions and Deceptions – Exploiting the Search for Immortality
Are YOU Getting Too Much Healthcare? [ez_date] An essay in the BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) echoes much of what I report in Our Healthcare Sucks,albeit with far more eloquence and erudition. Entitled “Overdiagnosis: when good intentions meet vested interests”, the author, Dr. Iona Heath – a retired general practitioner – summarizes the ethical, political, and […]
Are Medical Advances Always Wise?
Our Healthcare Needs More Zen, Less Spend [ez_date] This week’s New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has a couple of reports that got me to thinking about how much our healthcare system runs on the fuel of fear – not unlike how much of the Old Testament of the Bible used fear to keep the masses […]
Can You Say No to Your Doctor?
“Thanks, Doc, But No Thanks” I’ve recently had opportunity to decline medications recommended to me by two different doctors. Doing so once didn’t set off any triggers, but after the second time it occurred to me that maybe I ought to write something about it. How often do we get to practice what we preach, […]
Why Less Healthcare May Be Better
When Too Much Healthcare Harms The choice every patient faces with our healthcare system, whether they realize it or not, is which treatment alternative offers them the best balance of risk and benefit. Most of us, however, see only the benefit and seldom seriously consider – or are even made aware of – the risks. […]
Healthcare Fraud – It’s Everywhere
Healthcare Fraud In Your Backyard [ez_date] Most Americans are unaware of the extent to which healthcare “fraud and abuse” permeates much of medical practice. This is particularly true in regions of the country with weak state regulation of physician ownership or investment in medical facilities to which they refer patients. According to the Federal Bureau […]
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