Category: Public Health & Policy

Negotiating lower drug prices in America: The tradeoffs are worth it.

Negotiating lower drug prices in America could possibly stifle pharmacological innovation. But it would reduce health care cost for most Americans — and that should be all that matters. If the United States began to regulate drug prices, medications wo…

The gender imbalance in nursing

The gender imbalance in nursing, our nation’s largest profession, is a slow-to-change and complex problem steeped in stereotypes, economics, unconscious bias, power, and privilege in health care and society. Along with other diversity gaps in the nursi…

When patient advocacy fails

Access to care, patient advocacy, health disparities: These are all buzzwords in health care now. We, as health care providers, understand that we must do the best for our patients in the hopes of providing a positive outcome. So, despite our perceptio…

What would an optimal government-run health care system look like?

The Healthcare Incentives Framework helps show how to fix incentives in health care systems. It starts by enumerating the five jobs we expect a health care system to do for us and then identifies which parties in the health care system (providers or in…

There is a profound lack of self-esteem in the medical profession

I have noticed a profound lack of self-esteem in our profession. I am concerned. Concerned for us, and for our patients. We are the most noble of professions. However, we have compromised our morals, values, ethics, and virtues. We are now living, oper…

What challenges do you see yourself facing as a doctor?

“What challenges do you see yourself facing as a doctor?” I’m sitting in a suit, facing a young Asian woman with black, round glasses across a desk. On the desk in front of her is an iPad, and she sits cross-legged, hands resting on her legs. I’m in my…

What would an optimal single-payer health care system look like?

Next in a series. The Healthcare Incentives Framework helps show how to fix incentives in health care systems. It starts by enumerating the five jobs we expect a health care system to do for us and then identifies which parties in the health care syste…

Are Americans really the worst patients?

A recent article was published in the Atlantic about Americans being the worst patients. Americans are part of a broken and dysfunctional health care system with exorbitant costs, a maelstrom of bureaucratic red tape, and insurance coverage that barely…

What would an optimal libertarian health care system look like?

Next in a series. In prior posts, I described my Healthcare Incentives Framework. If you haven’t read those, I recommend you check them out first to have the full context for this post. But here’s a refresher of the main points of the framework without…

“How are you doing?” A simple question with a big impact.

From October 25 to October 29, 2019, more than 10,000 pediatricians from all over the world gathered in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, to attend the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition. As the world’s larg…