Doctors leaving medicine spells trouble for health care. And there’s real reason for concern. A few weeks ago, the Mayo Clinic released its most recent study on physician burnout, revealing the highest rate in the survey’s 10-year history. Sixty-three percent of responding physicians reported one or more characteristics of burnout, with many noting depersonalization, an […]
More Health Care Transparency Means Provider Conversations Need to Change
New federal laws and regulations focused on improving health care transparency are giving consumers significant access to essential health care information, particularly regarding costs. In a recent interview with Erika Grotto at HFMA, Roji CEO Terry Hush explains why that means the conversations that providers are having with their patients need to change. Listen to […]
Seven Key Strategies for Health Systems and ACOs to Attract and Engage Consumers
Despite incredible work by health care workers during the pandemic, consumer and patient trust and belief in the health care system is dangerously low. Why is this a big problem now? Because as pressure to implement Value-Based Care initiatives is intensifying and creating more financial pressure on your already-slim margins, your health system or ACO […]
Can Consumers Be the Answer to Health Care Cost Control?
In the intense ramp-up to accepting Value-Based Health Care payment models that include financial risk, providers have implemented an array of technologies and programs to improve cost performance. They are in a race against time. Capitation is re-emerging as a dominant payment type under Medicare Value-Based Primary Care Models and commercial contracts. Alternative Payment Models […]
Get the eBook: Turn Health Care Chaos into Value – Give Voice to Providers and Consumers
Are we on a real path to reducing health care costs and improving our citizens’ health? Those were stated goals in the early 2000s that developed into what is now called Value-Based Health Care (VBHC). VBHC has come to mean a major reform effort to slow the pace of cost increases through changes in incentives […]
How Aching Joints Can Teach Consumers to Question the Evidence
As explained in our last article, there’s more to managing personal health care costs than concentrating on insurance payments and uncovered costs. As health care consumers, we’d all benefit from learning how to determine whether the value of the services—as delivered by a given provider—is worth the cost, potential risk, and benefits. Here, again, are […]
Follow the Pathway to PCP Success In Medicare Direct Contracting
Primary care physicians were sitting on the sidelines as Medicare developed financial risk models in various generations of ACOs. At best, they could only hope to participate in Medicare Advantage and/or join a larger ACO. But potential for financial gain was elusive when the physicians’ success depended on the actions of others to achieve savings. […]
If Not Now, It’s Too Late: More Clinical Science Pitfalls and a Path to Improvement
Let’s review three major vulnerabilities with how randomized trials (RTs) are conducted, as discussed so far in this series. Critically appraising a research study involves determining the “internal and external” validity. Internal validity deals with the conduct of the study, per se. External validity deals with whether the study’s findings can be generalized to others […]
If Not Now, It’s Too Late: Simple Randomization Can Lead to False Inferences About Treatment Decisions
Medical decisions are best made on the basis of clinical science. Accurate research, shared between physician and patient, enables the patient to make an informed choice about risks and outcomes of treatment options. That’s how it should work, in theory. But in practice, even with the best shared medical decision-making, far too much clinical research […]
Women with Autoimmune Diseases Fight Uphill Battle on Every Health Care Front
Our articles on women’s health care issues have focused on areas that must change in order to provide better quality and outcomes, to lower costs, to advance treatment, and to treat women respectfully and equitably as patients and providers. We have demonstrated how women have been sidelined from getting the right health care because of […]