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At DocSpot, our mission is to connect people with the right health care by helping them navigate publicly available information. We believe the first step of that mission is to help connect people with an appropriate medical provider, and we look forward to helping people navigate other aspects of their care as the opportunities arise. We are just at the start of that mission, so we hope you will come back often to see how things are developing.

An underlying philosophy of our work is that right care means different things to different people. We also recognize that doctors are multidimensional people. So, instead of trying to determine which doctors are "better" than others, we offer a variety of filter options that individuals can apply to more quickly discover providers that fit their needs.

CMS releases price lookup tool

by jerry on October 04, 2020

Last month, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced their release of a Procedure Price Look Up tool. This tool marks another step towards making more information available to patients.

Last month, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced their release of a Procedure Price Look Up tool. This tool marks another step towards making more information available to patients.

The tool seems to give an estimate of costs for Medicare patients, since actual prices can vary by location (which is not considered in their estimates). Additionally, the tool only seems available for procedures that are performed in both ambulatory surgical centers and hospital outpatient departments. Nevertheless, this tool can provide a point of reference for patients, and perhaps more importantly, be a small step in helping foster a culture and expectation of price transparency.

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Plan to allow drug imports from Canada gains momentum

by jerry on September 26, 2020

Kaiser Health News reported on some updates regarding the plan to allow at least some drugs to be imported from Canada. Apparently, each state needs to be individually approved and the legislature of six states have decided to pursue the process.

Kaiser Health News reported on some updates regarding the plan to allow at least some drugs to be imported from Canada. Apparently, each state needs to be individually approved and the legislature of six states have decided to pursue the process.

As with other large policy changes, there are multiple ways that the intended effect might not be as big as hoped. The Canadian government is reported to have responded "Canada will employ all necessary measures to safeguard access for Canadians to needed drugs." Additionally, there are some concerns about whether states would be limited to working with only one Canadian wholesaler, and whether the approval would be long enough for partners to fully invest in the changes. Nevertheless, if this policy takes root, the pharmaceutical industry might need to re-think its overall pricing strategy.

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Improved pricing tab

by jerry on September 20, 2020

We have been working on a number of changes in the background, and this past week, we released our next iteration of the pricing tab. Previously, we had the procedure volume, the price, and the Medicare negotiated rate on all one chart. Now, we have separated those charts for improved clarity. In some cases, we also display ranges for prices and negotiated rates when the underlying data suggests a range (when viewing the data for a group of related, but distinct, procedures).

We have been working on a number of changes in the background, and this past week, we released our next iteration of the pricing tab. Previously, we had the procedure volume, the price, and the Medicare negotiated rate on all one chart. Now, we have separated those charts for improved clarity. In some cases, we also display ranges for prices and negotiated rates when the underlying data suggests a range (when viewing the data for a group of related, but distinct, procedures).

As with many of these decisions, there is a trade-off between information density and readability. The new visualization increases the number of charts on that tab, but hopefully, each chart is easier to read. If you have any ideas on how we can improve the visualization of the data, feel free to let us know.

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California may become a distributor of generics

by jerry on September 12, 2020

Kaiser Health News earlier reported that the California legislature approved a measure to pave the way for California to become a distributor of generic drugs. The article reports that this is a separate effort from the governor's earlier effort.

Kaiser Health News earlier reported that the California legislature approved a measure to pave the way for California to become a distributor of generic drugs. The article reports that this is a separate effort from the governor's earlier effort.

The startup funding -- reported to be less than $2 million -- along with the operating costs seems to be fairly small for the effort. If this measure is signed into law, it will be interesting to see if the costs remain as low as projected and how effective the state will be in lowering drug costs for its residents.

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California allows nurse practitioners more latitude

by jerry on September 05, 2020

Kaiser Health News reports that California approved legislation to relax restrictions in how nurse practitioners can practice. There has been a long-running disagreement as to the extent to which nurse practitioners can practice medicine independently. Not surprisingly, nurse practitioners believe they can practice medicine mostly independently in a variety of primary care settings, while many doctors believe that nurse practitioners require more oversight.

Kaiser Health News reports that California approved legislation to relax restrictions in how nurse practitioners can practice. There has been a long-running disagreement as to the extent to which nurse practitioners can practice medicine independently. Not surprisingly, nurse practitioners believe they can practice medicine mostly independently in a variety of primary care settings, while many doctors believe that nurse practitioners require more oversight.

Nurse practitioners argue that allowing them to practice more independently allows society to benefit from more providers, particularly at a time when many areas face a shortage of primary care providers. Doctors frequently counter that nurse practitioners are not as extensively trained and therefore provide a lower quality of care. Not surprisingly, there may be a substantial financial impact at stake for both sides.

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