By Jacob Goldstein
Evidence-based medicine sounds straightforward enough, but (like everything else in health care) it’s become pretty contentious. The argument against evidence-based care says, more or less, that no two patients are alike, so doctors must be flexible in their use of evidence and can’t be bound by rigid protocols based on large studies.
But Intermountain Healthcare, a network of hospitals and clinics … Continue Reading
By Jacob Goldstein
The Senate just killed that bill that would have blocked Medicare pay cuts to doctors. All of the Republicans opposed the bill, along with a handful of Dems. But that doesn’t mean the looming 21% pay cut is going to take effect next year.
Instead, Congress will likely do what it almost always does: Pass another short-term fix that blocks the pay cuts for the immediate future but leaves in place plans … Continue Reading
By Laura Landro
In the push to get Americans vaccinated against both the seasonal flu and the swine flu, infectious disease experts and public health officials are also sounding the alarm about continuing low rates of adult vaccination for a host of other preventable diseases, as I write in my latest column.
Despite evidence that vaccines are among the most cost-effective ways to prevent disease, studies show a pretty high level … Continue Reading
By Jacob Goldstein
The Senate Finance Committee’s health-overhaul bill leaves in place a planned 25% cut in Medicare payments to doctors in 2011. Congress probably won’t allow this to happen; lawmakers will likely swoop in, as they’ve donerepeatedly in recent years, and block the planned cuts.
But when CBO does its projections, it doesn’t take into account what Congress is likely to do — it looks … Continue Reading