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Propublica published an investigation into the relationship between payments from pharmaceutical companies and physician prescription behavior. Unsurprisingly, doctors who were paid more by pharmaceutical companies prescribed the companies' products more often. Notably, a professor of medicine at Harvard said "If there are physicians out there that deny that there is a relationship, they are starting to look more and more like climate deniers in the face of the growing evidence."

Propublica published an investigation into the relationship between payments from pharmaceutical companies and physician prescription behavior. Unsurprisingly, doctors who were paid more by pharmaceutical companies prescribed the companies' products more often. Notably, a professor of medicine at Harvard said "If there are physicians out there that deny that there is a relationship, they are starting to look more and more like climate deniers in the face of the growing evidence."

The piece specifically disclaims studying whether the payments actually changed physician behavior (in theory, some pharmaceutical companies might target high-volume prescribers of their products and build relationships with them, which might involve financial compensation).

For those of you who have visited our site before, you might have noticed that we have updated the visual design. It's been a long process, but we're glad to have modernized the aesthetics.

For those of you who have visited our site before, you might have noticed that we have updated the visual design. It's been a long process, but we're glad to have modernized the aesthetics.

Not all of the details have been worked out, so if you see any rough spots, please let us know. For 2020, we have many more areas that we would like to extend, especially in data visualization.

The New York Times has reported that as expected, hospitals have filed a lawsuit against CMS' requirements that hospitals post prices of various procedures. It appears that the main argument is that the hospitals will face extensive administrative burden in making this information available.

The New York Times has reported that as expected, hospitals have filed a lawsuit against CMS' requirements that hospitals post prices of various procedures. It appears that the main argument is that the hospitals will face extensive administrative burden in making this information available.

Other industries have likewise complained about administrative burden (e.g. the mobile phone carriers industry complaining about how supporting phone number portability would increase costs). In what might be an foreboding sign for CMS' requirements, a federal court earlier ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services did indeed overstep its legal authority when requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to disclose drug prices in television ads. It might be that Congress needs to take action to enforce compliance.

Hope everyone had a splendid Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a splendid Thanksgiving!

The Wall Street Journal published a lengthier piece outlining some of the struggles that the Indian Health Service (IHS) has had with recruiting physicians. While the vacancy rate for the industry is reported to be 18%, the vacancy rate for IHS was found to be 29%. It appears that in light of the recruiting challenges, IHS has hired physicians that it might not have hired otherwise: physicians that other hospitals and medical groups would not employ.

The Wall Street Journal published a lengthier piece outlining some of the struggles that the Indian Health Service (IHS) has had with recruiting physicians. While the vacancy rate for the industry is reported to be 18%, the vacancy rate for IHS was found to be 29%. It appears that in light of the recruiting challenges, IHS has hired physicians that it might not have hired otherwise: physicians that other hospitals and medical groups would not employ.

The article brings up many interesting issues. At a policy level, one question is whether the federal government (which pays out malpractice claims) is actually saving money by keeping salaries at the level that they are (the article lists several 6-digit malpractice claims that the government paid out). A second issue is that IHS and other hospitals have access to a government database called the National Practitioner Data Bank, which flagged most, if not all of, the mentioned doctors. However, records from the National Practitioner Data Bank are not publicly available and as a result, patients are reliant on the judgement of hospital administration. In cases where hospital administration struggles to fill vacancies, patients may feel betrayed, as some of those interviewed for the article seem to feel. A policy change could require that the data bank is open to the public, allowing engaged patients to make more informed decisions for themselves (and less reliant on the judgement of hospital administrators). The article also mentioned that licensing occurs on a state basis, meaning that a physician who has been disciplined multiple times in one state can still operate with a clean license in another state. Perhaps a more national method of licensing and credentialing is in order.