Viewpoints: Surgeries In The US Create Tons More Waste Than In Other Nations; Pharma Tariffs Are Illogical
Opinion writers delve into these public health topics.
When these medical students visited hospitals in India, they learned that medicine does not have to be so bad for the environment. (Srinidhi Polkampally and Bhav Jain, 4/8)
Central planners in Washington want to raise prices to lower them. (4/7)
It sounds harsh, but the reality is the U.S. health care system has spent decades building the electronic scaffolding that makes all the worst parts of health care administration more efficient. Buying an EHR is a lot like buying a suit off the rack: You’ll spend money on the garment, but you’ll spend even more trying to make it fit your body. In the process, we’ve managed to steal more and more time, energy, and resources away from clinical care and reappropriate it to the revenue cycle. Now, we’re dealing with the aftermath: a structural revenue squeeze that is pushing operating margins for even the largest multibillion dollar health systems below 1%. That’s a lower margin than your average grocery store. (Glenn Steele Jr., 4/7)
Fresh data on the US labor market and new research from the Federal Reserve suggest that the conventional wisdom around employment growth being sluggish is wrong. Rather than healthcare being the only industry propping up a labor market that would otherwise be weak, the employment dynamics we are witnessing are the inevitable outcome of a labor force that's barely growing due to sharply reduced immigration. (Conor Sen, 4/7)
Keeping mentally engaged can reduce dementia risk, especially among older adults. (Leana S. Wen, 4/7)
