Lies, damn lies, and – or are? – statistics
You can prove just about anything with statistics. We’ve seen this in polls, politics, and policy. Even in health economics, caveat emptor.
Details
Even with numbers, words mean things
We’ve all seen our share of silly headlines or sound bites, but they become a more serious matter when health or money is at stake.
Details
Give me another chance! The NICE technology appeals process is updated
The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has overhauled its technology appeals process with the aim of making it quicker and slicker. Despite the efforts at greater clarity, the short period for appealing final decisions remains, so time is of the essence.
Details
Why you should learn about the updated NICE appeals process
Updated guidance on the appeals process for technology appraisals doesn’t exactly conjure up sexy headlines, but the process affects everyone – manufacturer, provider, and patient – so it’s worth the read.
Details
Electronic records in the psychiatrist’s office: patients may not mind
With the growing push toward used of electronic health records (EHRs), a recent study looked at whether the computer will get in the way of the physician-patient interaction – literally or figuratively.
Details
Embracing technology in one of the most personal medical specialties
Will electronic medical records be accepted in a psychiatric setting? It depends on both the patient and physician.
Details
Communicating complexity and understanding risk: whose responsibility is it?
In our world of bullet points, tweets, and soundbites, the celebrated Information Age has exploded into Information Hysteria for many would-be patients. We explore how patients can consider nuanced medical arguments in a world of reductive news and argumentation.
Details
Structural interventions: redesigning society in the name of public health
Structural intervention may be what’s needed to tackle chronic health problems. But big ideas prompt big questions, including: How much will this cost? Who will pay for it? And how do we get ‘buy-in’?
Details
It’s time to set ourselves up for success in managing chronic illness
Obesity, and its evil cousins diabetes and heart disease, are not going to be cured by more doctor visits. It’s going to take a complete remake of our environment.
Details
Are we getting too much medicine?
Three times as much per-capita healthcare spending as the UK, five times as many CT scans as Germany, twice as much spending in McAllen as El Paso, Texas – what’s going on? Americans are consuming more medicine than is good for them…and evidently getting no healthier than people in other countries who spend and consume far less. But why?
Details