A Cultural Services Unit established by Minnesota's public health authorities to work with minority communities became a boon to West Africans living in the state during the Ebola crisis. Together they fought stigma and helped loved ones living in the hot zone of the outbreak.
A revamped version of the website DocInfo promises to be a useful tool for anyone researching doctors' histories with their respective medical boards. Contributing editor William Heisel takes the overhauled site out for a spin.
There’s no question that prescription drug prices are skyrocketing in the United States, and consumers aren’t happy about it. What’s more complicated, though, is understanding the complexities of the issue and reporting on what those soaring prices mean for consumers.
Programs that offer public health coverage to kids are crucial to boosting the number of insured kids, but they're often not enough. Research suggests that parents' insurance status is a really strong predictor of whether their kids are covered. Policy wonks call it the "welcome mat effect."
A recent White House report noted that there is no evidence that state-by-state licensing improves quality or safety. And yet we have a 50-state system for doctors and for most other health care professionals. Is broad reform possible?
Strict professional licensing rules don't necessarily translate into higher-quality work, as a recent report from the White House made clear. Might there be a smarter way? One option: directly regulate the companies that employ the people who are being subject to licensure.
I’d been going to the same woman to cut my hair for five years, and she was always the picture of calm. Until the day she looked at the front door as it was opening and said to me, “I have to run.” Then, her face the picture of panic, she ran.
Obamacare has strongly encouraged the creation of accountable care organizations, which focus on coordinating patient care so that, in theory, wasteful practices are eliminated and money is saved. But the early results have been mixed.
Are high schoolers who use e-cigarettes more likely to turn into smokers? New research published this week strongly suggests that's the case, but the study can't prove one causes the other. Meanwhile, laws preventing the sale of such devices to minors haven't done much to curb their spread.
Is health insurance ripe for disruption by newer, tech-savvy market players? Oscar, a newcomer to the California health insurance exchange, certainly hopes so, and has the market valuation to back it up. But will the company's growth and innovation largely be limited to tech-savvy millennials?
