The effects of the pandemic have exposed faults in the structure of healthcare systems. To date, more than 5.9 million people around the world have died due to COVID-19. Although lack of funding is a significant factor that needs to be addressed, the non-resilience of many countries’ health systems to this unforeseen calamity is a crucial […]
Category: Healthcare
I’ve mostly looked at demand driven components of health economics in previous articles. Now though, I will look at an aspect of health economics that flips the equation on its head. Organ donation has a fairly steadily increasing rate of demand, but the rate of organ donations has not risen in tandem. Therefore, there is […]
In part one of my series about health economics I gave an overview of the drivers of demand in the medical care market. In this post, I will go beyond a general interpretation of demand and give you an in-depth overview of a specific and expensive issue: the rising cost of public liability insurance. Public […]
This post is the first in a series of articles exploring concepts of one of the lesser known fields of economic study – health economics. When one thinks of economics their mind usually turns to concepts of trade, resource allocation, and other similarly business-related concepts. However, ideas of supply and demand have gone beyond traditional […]
In recent years, players in the healthcare industry have strived to create more effective systems in order to improve overall patient outcomes. Traditional ‘fee-for-service’ business models have seen America spend more on healthcare than any other nation and are no longer producing the results that patients need. How to break out of the old model? […]
Does a hospital really need a branding strategy? If you had asked that exact question 15-25 years ago most hospital administrators would have said: “No.” That was arguably because patients were going to their nearest hospital not necessarily choosing a specific location. Years ago, being a physician meant you were most likely one of a […]
As the American health system continues to find ways to improve care and do so at a lower cost, one of the most costly aspects for the healthcare industry is high administrative costs due to low healthcare literacy. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, health literacy is “the degree to […]
Over the last several years there has been an increase in the number of outpatient visits at hospitals throughout the U.S. Outpatient services encompass medical procedures (minor surgeries and chemotherapy) and diagnostics (MRI, CT, and lab tests) performed in a medical center that doesn’t require a patient to stay overnight. The American Hospital Association (AHA) […]
Last week we introduced how artificial intelligence is defined as well as how it is currently being used in the medical arena. This week, in the second installment of this two-part series, we will consider the potential future role of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Introduction Recently, the American Medical Association (AMA), published a policy […]
This two part blog series will delve into arguably the two most important vowels in healthcare: A-I. This first part will discuss what artificial intelligence (AI) is and how it is currently being used to improve clinical care, while part 2 of this series will take a peek into what the future holds for AI. […]
The blockchain revolution continues…next stop: healthcare! Blockchain has shown the ability to streamline and revolutionize a number of industries and sectors and its ability to have a sizeable impact on the healthcare industry will be no different. Being able to capitalize on this unique technology could potentially connect fragmented clinical information in such a way […]
Based on a recent study by Global Industry Analysts, the global market for wearable medical devices is projected to eclipse $4.5 billion by 2020.1 In the United States, the predominant market in this space, it is estimated that roughly 20% of Americans currently own a wearable fitness device.2 As questions on how to rein in increasing healthcare […]
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Role of Big Data in Healthcare
The healthcare industry generates a large amount of data. The retention of this data is driven by the need to meet intricate compliance and regulatory requirements.1 Electronic health record (EHR) data is at times so massive that it can be difficult to manage with the usual data management tools that hospitals and physicians currently use.2 According to […]
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Drug Pricing in the United States
The pricing of prescription drugs has been a hotly debated topic for the last several years with it reaching a crescendo in the U.S. during the 2016 state, congressional, and presidential elections. Over the last decade, the money generated by prescription drug companies from sales in the U.S. has doubled. Estimates show that U.S. consumers […]
Imagine being a patient in a hospital bed, and you slip on a headset that visually illustrates your current and historical health status allowing you to track your progress towards recovery. If you’re a medical student, imagine being able to sit in an empty classroom on campus, put on a headset, and be able to […]
In this day and age of hospitals working to provide better care and outcomes for a cheaper price, one of the ways to gauge the impact that the implemented changes are having is through measuring patient satisfaction. Hospitals, health systems, and some private practice groups are working actively and diligently to improve patient satisfaction scores. […]