Policy vs. Market-based Reform

RHIOs as a Case Study In Health Affairs, a Harvard team has published an important review of the current state of RHIOs (Regional Health Information Organizations), many of which are failing. Of 145 efforts identified in 2006, nearly one in 4 had closed by early 2007, only 20 were actually exchanging clinical information and most […]

For Health Care to Transform, Must the Status Quo Be Viewed As A Disaster?

“Our only mistake would be to give up and accept defeat” By Mike Magee, MD A recent article by Richard MacLean, Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Innovation, titled “Ignoring Impending Disasters: Why Do the Warning Signs Go Unheaded?” finishes with these summary remarks: “Human nature and organizational dynamics are what they are. You […]

From Each According to His Ability, to Each According to His Gene

Imagine a day when a genetic test not only will determine your risk for a particular disease, but also the ideal medication and the ideal dose to treat that disease. For those who receive a blood-thinning agent called warfarin, that day has already arrived. One third of people who receive warfarin, known by the trade […]

Taxes, Health Care and S-CHIP Funding

How much does it cost to run a society? By Mike Magee If you were following the news this fall, you saw an intense battle over future of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or S-CHIP for short. At the center of the debate was whether to continue and possibly expand this program — which […]

Bad Medicine

How the AMA undermined primary care in America On last Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal website, Dr. Benjamin Brewer describes physicians’ reactions to the 10.1% cut in Medicare physician payments that will take effect January 1. He argues that the onus will fall, once again, disproportionately on primary care physicians, who are already losing the struggle […]

Why Can’t We Get Health Care Right?

Too much focus on cost, not enough on outcomes What is it about the US healthcare system? Why can’t we seem to get it right? How can we spend nearly 16% of our GDP – trillions of dollars – annually, and still be mired among the lower tier of nations in health quality? And why […]

Putting Common Good Above Private Gain

Our loss of community is jeopardizing health care The news that the former chief executive of UnitedHealth Group is forfeiting at least $618 million to settle claims related to backdated stock options points to everything that’s wrong with the U.S. health care system. The system really has nothing to do with health. It has everything to […]

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