The harms of hospital segregation
New research on racial disparities in Covid-19 mortality show how hospital segregation harms Black patients. More
Blog
India’s doctors — at home and abroad — face Covid’s unrelenting toll
The dire situation in India is affecting thousands of U.S. doctors of Indian origin, who are struggling in different ways. More
Is the FDA’s Drug Approval Process Broken?
A Q&A with physician and former FDA advisor Aaron Kesselheim on why he resigned to protest the approval of a new Alzheimer’s drug — and the reforms necessary to prevent it from happening again. More
The Covid-19 relief bill created 1,000 more residency slots for new doctors. Wealthy hospitals should be last in line to get them
The 1,000 new residency slots funded by the American Rescue Plan should go first to hospitals in rural, underserved, and tribal areas. More
Black and Hispanic Americans Suffer Most in Biggest US Decline in Life Expectancy Since WWII
In addition to killing 600,000 in the United States and afflicting an estimated 3.4 million or more with persistent symptoms, the pandemic threatens the health of vulnerable people devastated by the loss of jobs, homes and opportunities for the future. More
Transforming Health Care to Address Value and Equity
This Viewpoint explains the national Vital Signs initiative—developed by the National Academy of Medicine to track improvements in health, health care costs, engagement of the public in its health, and health care and quality. More
A crucial, overlooked question on the new Alzheimer’s drug: When should patients stop taking it?
Doctors told STAT it will be critical — and exceedingly difficult — to determine whether Aduhelm's effects are waning with time. More
Does CBD Have Any Value as a Treatment?
Last week we covered CBD and mental health, finding that data to back up health claims are scarce and that consumer CBD products are often sketchy. In this week’s episode on CBD and other health ailments, we find that many of the same caveats apply. More
Mental health and Covid-19: How the US health care system fails doctors
Doctors need mental health support. Here’s why many aren’t getting it. More
Hemmed In at Home, Nonprofit Hospitals Look for Profits Abroad
Across the street from the Buckingham Palace Garden and an ocean away from its Ohio headquarters, Cleveland Clinic is making a nearly $1 billion bet that Europeans will embrace a hospital run by one of America’s marquee health systems. More
Chadwick Boseman’s tragedy is America’s tragedy: In colorectal cancer hot spots, young men are dying at higher rates
By studying counties labeled "hot spots of death," researchers hope to better identify reasons for the rise in early-onset colorectal cancer. More
New Drug Could Cost the Government as Much as It Spends on NASA
The Alzheimer’s treatment will cost $56,000 per patient, and millions may use it. The result: “crazy numbers” for Medicare. More
How a new buddy system is helping health workers grapple with Covid’s toll
Massachusetts General Hospital formed a buddy program for employees to support one another as they worked during the Covid-19 pandemic. More
Pricey drugs paid by Medicare lack cost-effectiveness data
"Efforts for value-based reforms may be hampered by a lack of cost-effectiveness data," the authors write. More
In Health Care, More Money Is Being Spent On Patients’ Social Needs. Is It Working?
Eager to control costs and sickness, hospitals and insurers are trying to help patients access better food, housing and transportation. But so far there is little research showing these efforts work. More
‘Nobody is catching it’: Algorithms used in health care nationwide are rife with bias
A new report finds bias is pervasive in algorithms used by hospitals and insurers. It also offers a playbook on how to fix those flaws. More
Child Health Inequities Among State Medicaid Programs
This Viewpoint discusses differences in states’ Medicaid programs and the associated geographic and sociodemographic inequalities in children’s health and health care. More
A Trauma Survivor Explains the Harms of Screening
After choosing to disclose past trauma or sexual abuse on screening forms, patients are often left wondering if it was a mistake to disclose. More
Study names Temple University Hospital the most racially inclusive in Pa.; many urban hospital markets lag behind
What the study found was that major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, have some of the most racially segregated hospitals in the country. And many metropolitan areas have a high proportion of hospitals at each end of the inclusivity rankings (most inclusive versus least inclusive). “Typically what we see is that some ZIP codes contribute a lot more to a hospital or other ZIP codes inside that perimeter contribute far fewer,” said Saini. “Some ZIP codes contribute none at all.” One of the goals of the Lown Institute’s Hospital Index is to invite stakeholders to create a health care system that doesn’t look so segregated, Saini said, “where people go where they go because they made a choice. [Where] it’s not just about their income or their insurance or the color of their skin or the neighborhood they live in. And we’re a long way from that.” More
How End-of-Life Doulas Help Ease the Final Transition
We are your personal advocate, cheerleader, companion, guide, ear, rock. More