A recent California survey found that even the highest-rated provider group received only a C+ rating from its patients. Does this reveal deep flaws in the way care is delivered or have patients come to expect too much from health care providers?
Healthcare Systems & Policy
Health care providers aren't perfect. None of us are. But in a recent report on patient experiences, California physician groups were assigned a rating on a scale of 0 to 100. Not one group managed to score in the 80s or 90s. What's going on here?
As a federal "funding bump" expires, the payments California doctors receive for seeing Medicaid patients are dramatically decreasing. At the same time, the state is imposing a 10 percent fee cut that was approved in 2011 but is just now taking effect.
In New Jersey, an estimated 11,000 Medicaid applicants are still trapped in a tangle of digital red tape and a bureaucratic maze. Some families have been in limbo for nearly a year. The state has yet to announce any permanent solution.
A strongly reported series examining a new program targeting 'super-utilizers' in Pennsylvania debunks a number of myths about the system's sickest and most vulnerable patients. Timothy Darragh tells the story behind the story and the lessons he learned along the way.
Three high-profile deaths that occurred over the past year are worth noting as reminders of the larger topics that should be top of mind for health writers.
A good friend of mine recently underwent a significant surgery. Several weeks out, he was still experiencing some negative side effects. When he asked the surgeon about it, he didn’t get much more than a blank stare.
As the calendar winds to a close, it’s worth taking a quick look back at some of the research from the past year that enlarged our understanding of the ways in which early childhood exerts an enduring influence on lifelong health.
Contributing editor William Heisel shares a few of his favorite health stories from the past year in the first of two posts.
The ACA expanded insurance coverage, but many children throughout the country are still not receiving important health care benefits. The extent of the coverage exclusions varies widely depending upon which state a child calls home.