What do patients want in a physician and how do people select their doctors? These are questions that prompt different answers from different people. Answers likely vary depending on the type of health insurance those responding have. The following is from a Health Services Research study that is now 20 years old. It found that consumers were somewhat passive in their choice of physicians.
Category: Direct Primary Care
Should Hospital Employed Physicians Steer Patients to High-Priced Hospital Labs?
Hospitals are price gougers to be avoided at all costs, especially if you don’t need to be in a hospital. A good rule of thumb is to never get services performed at a hospital unless you are too sick to go anywhere else.
Is Your Dog the Secret to Longevity?
Hardly a day goes by but what I see an article linking something to better health and longevity. For instance, I just read sleep is correlated with longevity. A recent article claimed a consistent sleep schedule is more important than getting eight hours of sleep per night. Another article I read was similar to the Blue Zones post I earlier wrote about, claiming Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California live longer than average. Marriage helps you live longer (insert joke about not necessarily living longer but it feels longer). Intermittent fasting boosts longevity in mouse models and is thought to boost longevity in humans as well. Also, positive views about aging helps you live longer. Of course, those in good health probably tend to have more positive views of getting older than those in poor health, so take that with a grain of salt. Purportedly, friends boost your health and longevity. That too could be a self-selecting proxy for better health, since the ability to get together with friends is easier when in good health. Finally the Wall Street Journal writes that dogs help you live longer.
Monday Links
- How do PBMs make their money?
- After a woman dies of cancer she posthumously offers to buy up the medical debts of other patients.
- Scientists edit genes to control cholesterol.
- Gene editing can also prevent sickle cell, but Medicaid won’t pay for it. The Biden administration is partly to blame. (WSJ)
- Patients wait 13 hours for free health care.