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Ironically, in the middle of a public health crisis, most hospitals and other medical care providers are facing a steep drop in demand for their services, rather than than being overwhelmed. NPR reports on healthcare workers being laid off or having reduced hours. Many scheduled services were indefinitely postponed, and many people who might have visited have decided to stay away for fear of being infected.

Ironically, in the middle of a public health crisis, most hospitals and other medical care providers are facing a steep drop in demand for their services, rather than than being overwhelmed. NPR reports on healthcare workers being laid off or having reduced hours. Many scheduled services were indefinitely postponed, and many people who might have visited have decided to stay away for fear of being infected.

The economy is an interconnected web, with many services organizations expecting a relatively steady flow of customers or clients. The current shelter-in-place ordinances have disrupted many retail businesses, and that also turns out to include healthcare providers.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, Congress designated $36 billion to encourage doctors to upgrade their medical records systems to be electronic (known as electronic health records, or EHRs for short). The extra funds indeed encouraged many providers to adopt EHRs, and one of the aspirations was that researchers would be able to use information from various different clinics and hospitals to make better progress. In order for an EHR to be certified as eligible for the customer to receive funding, the EHR had to undergo a certification process which included interoperability requirements such that data from one system could be meaningfully interpreted by other compatible systems (e.g. weight recorded in one system as structured data would be similarly interpreted as structured data in another system). Kaiser Health News reported that such dreams of interoperability for the sake of science has proven elusive during this pandemic.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, Congress designated $36 billion to encourage doctors to upgrade their medical records systems to be electronic (known as electronic health records, or EHRs for short). The extra funds indeed encouraged many providers to adopt EHRs, and one of the aspirations was that researchers would be able to use information from various different clinics and hospitals to make better progress. In order for an EHR to be certified as eligible for the customer to receive funding, the EHR had to undergo a certification process which included interoperability requirements such that data from one system could be meaningfully interpreted by other compatible systems (e.g. weight recorded in one system as structured data would be similarly interpreted as structured data in another system). Kaiser Health News reported that such dreams of interoperability for the sake of science has proven elusive during this pandemic.

I imagine that part of the problem is that entering structured data (so that it can be meaningfully queried later on) is likely very tedious for providers. Doctors and others had been under a lot of time pressure to see a certain number of patients a day, and many likely resorted to non-structured data (e.g. textual notes). Given the daily pressures of seeing enough patients and documenting the encounters (which many doctors have not enjoyed) and weighing that cost against an abstract societal benefit of being able to make use of that data, it is not surprising that many doctors would revert to what is easier.

Undoubtedly, the current pandemic has reshaped many facets of our lives. Many of us, for example, are now working remotely instead of working out of a traditional office. Some doctors, likewise, are also seeing their patients remotely, as Kaiser Health News reports in a piece about the growth in telehealth during this pandemic.

Undoubtedly, the current pandemic has reshaped many facets of our lives. Many of us, for example, are now working remotely instead of working out of a traditional office. Some doctors, likewise, are also seeing their patients remotely, as Kaiser Health News reports in a piece about the growth in telehealth during this pandemic.

Medicare has been rife with fraudulent claims. Telehealth opens a new vulnerability towards fraud, although the benefits of telehealth in this current crisis may very well outweigh the cost of fraud.

Just as this pandemic might reshape wider attitudes about work, it might also reshape how payers feel about telehealth.

For those worried about medical bills in the context of the current pandemic, Kaiser Health News highlighted some potentially welcome news that the Department of Health and Human Services may have banned all surprise medical billing from providers who accept money from Medicare. There is some question as to whether how broadly people should interpret the condition of receiving emergency funds to fight the pandemic.

For those worried about medical bills in the context of the current pandemic, Kaiser Health News highlighted some potentially welcome news that the Department of Health and Human Services may have banned all surprise medical billing from providers who accept money from Medicare. There is some question as to whether how broadly people should interpret the condition of receiving emergency funds to fight the pandemic.

What might happen is that some patient will still get a surprise medical bill, and a lawsuit might ensue. It might then be up to a jury or a judge, followed by the opinions of appellate courts, to decide which interpretation to take. Hopefully, by then, the worst of this pandemic will be behind us.

We have continued to work on improving the site and have just released a feature to help organize procedures on the pricing tab for profiles that have procedure data from Medicare. For example, if someone were looking at X-rays, that person could drill down into different categories of X-rays rather than simply seeing all of the various X-ray procedures in a seemingly random list.

We have continued to work on improving the site and have just released a feature to help organize procedures on the pricing tab for profiles that have procedure data from Medicare. For example, if someone were looking at X-rays, that person could drill down into different categories of X-rays rather than simply seeing all of the various X-ray procedures in a seemingly random list.

We also released a feature to show how the current provider's procedure count compares with procedure counts from other nearby providers, giving users more context as to whether a specific procedure count is high, low, or average for the area. We continue to work on a variety of features; if you have any feedback, please let us know.