- Lawsuit: Cigna algorithm rejects claims without a doctor even opening a patient’s records.
- Report: CMS’ Medicaid inflation penalty will make generic drug shortages worse.
- Virginia Medicaid paid at least $21.8 million on behalf of 12,054 enrollees after they were already dead.
- An expensive trip: a medically approved, psychedelic renaissance is underway.
- Did Gilead hold a promising HIV drug off the market in order to increase profits? (NYT) Economic theory would say no.
- Australia has “virtually eliminated” HIV transmission in Sydney and elsewhere.
Category: Doctors & Hospitals
Diagnostic Errors Result in 800,000 Deaths or Disabilities per Year
Our health care system is inefficient with physicians’ time. One study found doctors spend about 17% of their time on administrative tasks. A systematic review of 23 specialties found physicians spend from 9 to 19 hours a week on administration. Overall, physicians spend 15.5 hours per week on paperwork and administration, according to the report. Of that,…
Bureaucracy
For every hour physicians provide direct clinical face time to patients, nearly 2 additional hours is spent on EHR and desk work within the clinic day. Outside office hours, physicians spend another 1 to 2 hours of personal time each night doing additional computer and other clerical work.
That quote here is from 7 years ago and things have gotten even worse since then.
Health & Wellness, Nutrition Counseling are Great Ideas (that Do Not Save Money)
A couple weeks ago I wrote about whether physicians should counsel their patients about diet and lifestyle choices. It’s a little naïve to assume a 5-minute discussion with your doctor will change a lifetime of bad habits. It’s probably a conversation worth having though. However, does your doctor have time to discuss healthy behaviors? Are patients willing…