MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'health care economics'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:51:05 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2389765&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fprotecting-lowly-pedestrian.html This article mentioned by the instapundit caught my eye. Apparently, Cranfield University in England has prototyped a novel airbag technology to protect pedestrians hit by cars. From the photograph, it looks to have a somewhat Rube Goldberg flavor to it. To my unpracticed eye, it also looks to be somewhat expensive although a spokesman for the project reassures us that, "it would add little to the cost of the vehicle." Why does this seem unlikely to me?There is essentially no limit to the features that can be added to automobiles to make them safer. The problem is of course figuring out how to pay for them. There is also obviously a difference between technologies designed to protect innocent third parties (e.g. pedestrians or people driving other cars) and the cars' occupants. This is why... California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2389765 Tue, 05 May 2009 19:06:00 +0100 2389765 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2284671&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F03%2Fnatasha-richardson-and-problems-with.html When any young person dies of an intracranial hemorrhage, it's obviously a very sad thing. However, many people were uniquely touched by the death of Natasha Richardson owing to her popularity. There are now questions being raised regarding the promptness of her care particularly regarding the lack of a Medevac helicopter system in Quebec. Will we be able to count on the mainstream media to investigate such possible inadequacies in the Canadian health care system? Wouldn't such debate be apropos given the Obama administration's commitment to implementing Universal Health Care, a system remarkably similar to Canada's? (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2284671 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:05:00 +0100 2284671 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1432297&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Femtala-and-inintended-consequences.html Edwin Leap wrote a revealing post about one of my personal pet peeves: the EMTALA laws (h/t KevinMD). Read the whole thing.The EMTALA (Emergency Medical and Active Labor Act) mandates that essentially all patients must be seen regardless of ability to pay. Admittedly, this federal law states that people can be sent away without treatment after they've been properly evaluated. However, the penalties for being wrong are so severe that few hospitals are willing to take the chance. In effect, hospitals see and treat almost all E.R. patients even if they know that they won't be payed for doing so. People will of course argue that some patients might die after having been mistriaged to home. Unfortunately, it is the nature of things that this is so. Triage nurses will always make mistakes on occ... California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1432297 Fri, 09 May 2008 21:54:00 +0100 1432297 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1413760&cid=t_153588_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F281513367%2F By all accounts, U.S. spending on health care has been growing much more rapidly than national output. Health statistics–health spending as a share of national output or per person, compared across developed nations–routinely ranks the United States at the top of the list, and statistics on effective health care delivered per dollar spent routinely ranks the United States near the bottom. So news reporters could not miss the clear implication that Americans need to cut health care spending growth and make their health care sector more efficient. If we could reduce spending on unnecessary and low-value health care services, it would go a long way in achieving both objectives. Now for the doublespeak: Many proponents of Health Savings Accounts (HSA) that can only be accessed unde... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1413760 Thu, 01 May 2008 15:16:02 +0100 1413760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1356585&cid=t_153588_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F266520626%2F David Brown has an excellent article in the Health section of today’s Washington Post: Most of us naturally assume that preventing a disease is cheaper than waiting for the disease to appear and then treating it. That belief is especially dear to politicians, who often view prevention as an underused weapon in the battle against health-care costs. The campaign Web site for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) notes that her health-care plan is “targeting the drivers of health-care costs, including our back-ended coverage of health care that gives short shrift to prevention.” Rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) asserts that American families can save up to $2,500 a year each if five cost-containing strategies are implemented, one of which is “improving prevention and managemen... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1356585 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:15:07 +0100 1356585 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1191285&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fservice-in-medicine-has-it-become.html Bob Wachter has posted some great points regarding the "service" of radiology.The last paragraphs are priceless:In my NEJM article on dis-location, I described the growing teleradiology trend, driven by the fact that the same technology that allows me to read my films without going to the radiology department also allows a radiologist in Banglaore to read a film as easily as a radiologist in Bangor. The Indian radiologist earns one-tenth of what the U.S. radiologist earns. If my experience in visiting Radiology World tends to be of the positive, collegial sort, I’ll fight like hell to keep the radiologists in the hospital. If it feels like I’m distracting them from their “real work,” then (assuming comparable technical competency) there’s no reason for me to care whether they are... California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1191285 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:13:00 +0100 1191285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1126035&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fcigna-responds-in-more-detail-to.html (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1126035 Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:41:00 +0100 1126035 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1119170&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fmore-on-nataline-sarkisyan-and-cigna.html (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1119170 Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:12:00 +0100 1119170 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1115019&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Frealities-of-health-care-economics-meet.html (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1115019 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:50:00 +0100 1115019 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1106116&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fwhy-insurance-companies-dont-pay-for.html (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1106116 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:41:00 +0100 1106116 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1064812&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Fdrug-companies-and-their-big-marketing.html (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1064812 Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:40:00 +0100 1064812 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1058237&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Fbody-dysmorphic-disorder-and-cosmetic.html (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1058237 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:11:00 +0100 1058237 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1043936&cid=t_153588_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Fsetting-paul-krugman-straight.html (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1043936 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:45:00 +0100 1043936 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1005483&cid=t_153588_155_f&fid=36522&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpathtalk%2F%7E3%2F180262596%2F56 If you have an hour to kill, and an interest in health care policy, you could do worse than listen to Arnold Kling, author of Crisis of Abundance, in a recent podcast. (Source: pathtalk.org) pathtalk.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1005483 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:57:41 +0100 1005483 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=972915&cid=t_153588_155_f&fid=36522&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathtalk.org%2Farchives%2F43 The front page of the Wall Street Journal got a little buzz yesterday from the health care community, medical bloggers and the pathology residency program directors among them. It profiled West Virginia primary care doc Vic Wood, who has reinvented his practice by offering “prepaid” services: For a monthly fee of $83 per individual or $125 for a family, the clinic provides unlimited primary and urgent care. Those who enroll in the prepaid plan get office visits, lab work, X-rays and as many generic drugs as the clinic can provide. (more…) (Source: pathtalk.org) pathtalk.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=972915 Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:52:27 +0100 972915