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Health Care Costs in America

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I came across a very interesting graphic illustrating many of the myths and facts about healthcare in the United States. The graphic illustrates some reasons for the high costs of healthcare including the myths and the truths. The myths include 1) americans smoke and drink too much, 2) america has a larger elderly population, 3) obseity in america skyrockets costs, 4) malpractice is out of control. I actually slightly disagree with #3 and #4. I think being obese in the U.S. is a real problem, see this graph from the OECD. Further one has to account for defensive medicine (as in doctors being scared of getting sued  and ordering more tests than really needed) in malpractice lawsuits. Graph below illustrates the % obese in each country shown. Source: OECD Factbook 2010: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics. I believe the truths … Read more

The Well Informed Patient

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In a recent editorial in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery (vol. 69. page 1263, 2011),  titled “Shouldn’t All Clinical Research Be Scientific?”, Dr. Thomas B. Dodson,  talks to his fellow oral surgeon colleagues and says “Not only do we face rapid advances in science and technology, but we have new accountability from economic, legal, and regulatory challenges, as well as a new brand of well-informed patient.” I personally would hope that the well-informed patient are patients who are being informed by oral and maxillofacial surgeons and dentists. However, I do not believe that is really the case here. One question to ask is why patients in the past were not well informed? The other and more pressing question to ask is why are these patients still not being properly informed today? (This also applies to other doctors and … Read more

Malpractice Liability Damage Caps and Their Effects on Rural Doctors

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According to a paper by David A Matsa. who is an economics professor their is an effect on medical malpractice liability damage caps. In other words, the amount of money you can get if you sue a physician if something goes wrong is capped and you can only get X amount back as determined by a law in your state. (I have discussed this issue on my website about the legal standpoint of wisdom teeth removal.) Matsa finds that “Back-of-the-envelope calculation using estimates presented… implies that the enactments of damage caps are responsible for approximately 17 percent of the increase in frontier rural specialists in these states since 1970.” Even so, Matsa finds that there really is no significant effect on physician supply for most Americans (those who do not live in rural areas). If you are interested in the … Read more

Family Doctor’s Not Happy and How to Boost your Immune System

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I found two great articles. The first deals with how (primary-care) family doctors are not happy with the current bussiness in the U.S.  According to a recent survery “49 percent [of family doctors] said they’d consider leaving medicine. Many said they are overwhelmed with their practices, not because they have too many patients, but because there’s too much red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies.” There is expected to be a shortage in the tens of thousands within the next 15-20 years. In addition current medical students are not interested in pimary care and want to enter other alternatives. To read the entire article visit http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/primary.care.doctors.study/index.html A current practicing primary care physician named James Hubbard has cited “anxiety and hassel” as the reasons he is currently part time. He publishes his own magazine called Family Doctor Mag. On … Read more