Author: Devon Herrick

NYT: We’re in a Golden Age of Medicine

Posted on by Devon Herrick

The New York Times announced we’re in a Golden Age of medicine, saying:

We may be on the cusp of an era of astonishing innovation — the limits of which aren’t even clear yet.

Hype springs eternal in medicine, but lately the horizon of new possibility seems almost blindingly bright. “I’ve been running my research lab for almost 30 years,” says Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist at the University of California, Berkeley. “And I can say that throughout that period of time, I’ve just never experienced what we’re seeing over just the last five years.”

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Study: Physician-Owed Hospitals Have Lower Prices, Boosts Competition

Posted on by Devon Herrick

The Affordable Care Act, a misnomer if there ever was one, has been the law of the land for 13 years now. One of the many ill-thought-out provisions was one that banned further development of hospitals owned by physicians.

“The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposed severe restrictions on physician-owned hospitals, such as prohibiting the development of new physician-owned hospitals and the expansion of existing ones,” Ge Bai, a professor of accounting and health policy at Johns Hopkins University and one of the coauthors of the study, said.

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Many Doctors Dislike Working for The Man

Posted on by Devon Herrick

The practice of medicine has changed tremendously within my lifetime. A retired physician came to my office years ago lamenting that his esteemed profession had turned into a business over the course of his career. That raises something of an ethical dilemma: doctors want to practice medicine but some feel like they’re being forced to practice in ways they find objectionable.

The New York Times explained, “The corporatization of health care has changed the practice of medicine, causing many physicians to feel alienated from their work.”

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TeleNurse: Virtual Nursing is Growing

Posted on by Devon Herrick

I have long been a fan of telemedicine. The first time I wrote about telemedicine was in 2007. The following quote is how I explained it to D Magazine in 2013:

“This is a daily occurrence in consumer markets, but is absent in healthcare markets because health plans [including Medicare and Medicaid] pay 89 percent of medical bills,” Herrick says. “You can talk to your attorney over the phone; he or she will bill you for his or her time. You can talk to your accountant over the phone. But most people don’t routinely consult with their physician over the phone because insurers are reluctant to pay for telephone consultations. Many health plans will only reimburse for physician visits if they are in-person—even though more than half of all contacts with primary care physicians could be done by email or over the phone.”

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