Don’t Blame the Health System for the US Health Cost Problem
Collapsing regional economies (particularly in our inner cities, the Deep South and greater Appalachia), an epidemic of obesity, soaring gun violence and escalating mental health issues- these drivers of socially determined demand have flooded hospital emergency departments and surgical suites with casualties. As society has failed many of its most vulnerable citizens, it has also allowed its […]
What Happened to Envision
What Happened to Envision? What happens when you mix arrogance, max leverage, a consumer-hostile business model, COVID and a relentless and resourceful foe? The largest healthcare bankruptcy in US business history.
FTC’s proposed ban on noncompete agreements could be a game changer for some physicians
The past twenty years have been a period of declining political and economic influence for physicians. As many as a third of all physicians are now hospital employees, and as many as a hundred thousand more are employed by corporations, many private equity backed. However, as COVID scythed through the practicing physician community and the baby boom generation of physicians head for retirement, scarcity of physicians will increase their economic leverage and political power. How will physicians use this increased power? Read Jeff Goldsmith’s Op-Ed in STAT First Opinion Oct 14, 2022 Plus, a recent Federal Trade Commission proposed rule would outlaw non-compete clauses in employment contracts. Hundreds of thousands of employed physicians have non-compete provisions in their contracts. How likely is this prohibition to become effective, and how will carve outs effect the freedom of physicians to practice in the communities?
Disruption: A Burned Out Meme?
In 1997, Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christiansen published an influential treatise on industry economics entitled The Innovator’s Dilemma. In it, he discussed how technical and business model innovation works to overthrow entire industries. Released at the peak of the late 1990’s Internet boom, Christiansen’s book had widespread influence and enshrined the notion of “disruptive innovation” at the core of business strategy in healthcare. Twenty-five years on, the “disruption” meme is showing signs of aging, and decreasing usefulness in guiding investment in healthcare. Read Has “Disruption” Reached its Sell-By Date?
Trust is the Core of Medicine
Jeff Goldsmith argued in STAT First Opinion that the explosion in digital health offerings since COVID began has not altered one key aspect of US healthcare: the central role of trust in healthcare provision. Despite a proliferation of “virtual first” offerings by insurers and employers, trusted relationships between care providers and patients remains the core of the health system. The market for anonymous, “right now” transactions between patients and their cell phones/PCs is limited, and many “virtual first” care and health insurance offerings will founder on this reality. Digital health’s key potential is that of a “force multiplier” for the trusted relations that are the heart of medicine.
Cost Effectiveness in Healthcare
Jeff Goldsmith talked about the role of cost effectiveness in the management of health systems in an interview with Eric Reese of HFM, the lead publication of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. How should health care finance leaders factor cost effectiveness into their strategies?
Digital Health Frenzy: How to Avoid a Second TechLash
The past eighteen months of COVID have seen a multi-billion frenzy of new investment in telehealth and other digital health technologies. We have been here before. In the wake of the 2008 recession, there was similar, multi-billion dollar wave of policy innovation and investment in the electronic health record , which has been a major disappointment. If we are to avoid another disappointment, healthcare managers and professionals must insist on measurable returns on their digital health investment that patients and professionals notice. How to do this is discussed in this Healthcare Blog posting.