AI is causing some doctors to rethink what it means to be a physician. What is their purpose in the age of chatbots that can spit out accurate answers to medical questions 24 hours a day and do not take vacations. Will AI boost the productivity of doctors the way tractors boost the productivity of farmers? Or will it put skilled knowledge workers out of a job like the assembly line did to cobblers and tailors?
Category: Doctors & Hospitals
Saturday Links – 7 February 2026
- Site neutral Medicare payment for chemotherapy drugs will save cancer patients up to $1,055 every year.
- Most experts think MFN pricing will not substantially improve patient access to drugs in US.
- Is grandparenting good for the brain?
- Alex Tabarrok: What’s wrong with Trump’s pharmaceutical plan.
- To meet Medicaid’s new work requirements, many states will rely on an Equifax database that covers the wages and work hours of at least 99 million workers. Why does Bernie Sanders have a problem with that? (NYT)
- Claim: More than 80 percent of nurses experience workplace violence each year.
Friday Links – 6 February 2026
- A bad day in Congress for PBMs.
- Does exposure to hip hop music lead to worse outcomes in education, employment, earnings, teen births and single parenthood? No.
- It would take a PCP 27 hours per day to deliver guideline-recommended primary care to a typical panel of patients.
- Hospital merger studies are suspicious, if not fake.
- Money laundering Gavin Newsom style.
- Standing between patients and potentially huge benefits of scientific research: decades of regulatory review and delay.
- The Trump administration really wants you to drink whole milk.
Who Can Use the Title Doctor? Titles are Contentious in Health Care
The title, doctor, carries a lot of prestige. Perhaps due to the prestige or to erect further barriers to entry, a few medical professions have elevated their training to a doctorate. Doctor of Pharmacy is now rather common for students graduating from pharmacy school. Doctor of Nursing Practice is the norm for new nurse practitioners. There is also a Doctor of Physician Therapy, Doctor of Audiology, Doctor of Chiropractic and Doctor of Psychology. What should these medical professionals call themselves?