Yuki Noguchi

Virtual access to doctors is a huge plus for patients. But it’s a lot of new work for physicians. And the health care business model hasn’t caught up with this new reality.

The recent, abrupt shortage of critical cancer drugs is forcing doctors to ration essential medications. It highlights a broken business model in generic drugs.

A growing number of hospitals are shifting care into patients’ homes. That means moving medications, machines and staffing with it, but hospitals are finding patients heal better, and it’s cheaper.

Most doctors get little training in the science of obesity or how to counsel people with the disease. As a result, many patients experience stigma in the exam room.

Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt buys up unpaid hospital bills plaguing low-income patients and frees them from having to pay.

The state’s program of free cancer screening and treatment is reducing inequities. Key to its success is robust outreach by patient navigators who connect with those least likely to seek care.

State rules were temporarily loosened in 2020 to help patients get care outside a doctor’s office. But is telehealth by phone safe and effective? State legislatures and insurers must soon decide.

Across the country, hospitals are desperate for R.N.s and specialty nurses. Yet, paradoxically, the nursing pipeline has slowed, with educators retiring or returning to clinical work themselves.

An NPR poll finds that while a large majority of people using telehealth during the pandemic were satisfied, nearly two-thirds prefer in-person visits. That may foretell telehealth’s future.

An NPR poll finds that while a large majority of people using telehealth during the pandemic were satisfied, nearly two-thirds prefer in-person visits. That may foretell telehealth’s future.