Looking North: Can A Single-Payer Health System Work In The U.S.?
American single-payer advocates want to emulate Canada鈥檚 system. But many Canadian experts say the U.S. first needs to address some basic questions.
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American single-payer advocates want to emulate Canada鈥檚 system. But many Canadian experts say the U.S. first needs to address some basic questions.
Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions. But some doctors are trying to teach others about 鈥渄eprescribing鈥 or systematically discontinuing medicines that are inappropriate, duplicative or unnecessary.
Based on research conducted at the University of Michigan鈥檚 medical center, a group of surgeons developed a strategy to help post-surgical patients from misusing or abusing their prescription painkillers.
Medicare and insurers struggle to oversee a booming business in testing urine samples. In some cases, pain doctors鈥 lack of follow-through can turn fatal.
If you鈥檙e in the hospital and aren鈥檛 happy with how they are treating you, here are some simple steps to improve your situation.
Doctors and pharmacists in Northern California are emulating drug company sales reps with a fresh purpose in mind: They visit medical offices in the hardest-hit counties to change their peers' prescribing habits and curtail the use of painkillers.
Borrowing a plane is part of these doctors鈥 duties.
Eight teaching centers in California aim to train and retain doctors in medically underserved areas such as California鈥檚 Central Valley. They are among 57 such institutions across the country that may soon receive a boost in funding from Congress.
Not only are health prices hidden, industry players are contractually obligated to keep them secret. That鈥檚 why answering a simple question 鈥 how much does it cost to have a baby in Mountain View, Calif.? 鈥 became a journalistic quest.
Gobbling up doctors鈥 independent practices is lucrative for hospital systems 鈥 but not necessarily a good deal for the physicians or consumers, critics say. Northern California is a case in point.
Most acquisitions by hospitals of physician practices are too small to trigger antitrust attention, study says. But a buying spree of 鈥渙nesies and twosies鈥 doctor practices has driven competition down and prices up.
No longer able to get exemptions for personal beliefs in California, parents opposed to inoculations seem to be obtaining medical exemptions for their children, according to a new study.
Growing numbers of physicians say they support a single-payer health care system, a 180-degree turn in opinion over a decade.
In the first year of payments for advance-care planning sessions, once decried as 鈥漝eath panels,鈥 use is higher than expected, new data show.
The controversial practice 鈥 done by just a few other states 鈥 recently cast a spotlight on some prominent doctors. Supporters say it improves performance; detractors warn it discourages taking on complex cases.
The lawsuit is a civil rights case on behalf of Latinos, who comprise nearly half of the program鈥檚 enrollees. But the advocates who filed it also hope to get class action certification for all Medi-Cal enrollees.
Once-fatal childhood diseases, like cystic fibrosis, congenital heart disease and sickle cell anemia, now can be survived into adulthood. But when those patients become too old to see pediatricians, it can be difficult for them to find physicians familiar with their conditions.
A small number of medical practices have been moving to 鈥渄irect primary care,鈥 in which patients pay a monthly retainer for unlimited services. But the collapse of Qliance in Seattle may portend problems with the business model.
Due to poor doctor-patient communication, most people with advanced cancer don鈥檛 know enough about their disease to make vital decisions.
A program designed to address the shortage of doctors in rural and poor urban areas could be in peril unless Congress acts.
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