WHO platform for pharmaceutical firms unused since pandemic began
Covid-19 ‘pool’ to share information has received no contributions since May 2020 More
Blog
COVID-19 and the moral imagination
Through concerted efforts the knowledge and technologies to respond to COVID-19 are being amassed. Whether we are up to the challenge of avoiding the next global crisis is another question. More
Will COVID-19 Wring Low-Value Healthcare out of the System?
Many people avoided going to the hospital or doctor for nonemergency health issues because they didn’t think it was worth the risk of infection. “Although this likely prevented them from receiving tests and scans they didn’t need, on the flip side, many people likely suffered because they didn’t get necessary care,” says Vikas Saini, M.D., president of Lown Institute, a healthcare think tank in Brookline, Massachusetts, that focuses on low-value care. The pandemic, in Saini’s view, may also speed the move away from fee- for-service to value-based payment: “I foresee a greater openness and interest in capitated payment models in which providers are paid a flat fee per patient per month.” More
Are hospitals complying with the new price transparency rule?
Hospitals now have to disclose on their website the prices they negotiate with insurers. But many hospitals are lagging when it comes to revealing their "real" prices... More
Shkreli Awards: Profiteering and Dysfunction in US Healthcare
Last year we did an episode on the third annual Shkreli Awards from the Lown Institute – ten examples of profiteering and dysfunction in healthcare. The ins and outs of the healthcare system are the bread and butter of this channel, so we were more than happy to dedicate another episode to the fourth annual Shkreli Awards, and this year’s did not (or did?) disappoint. More
Video Teaser for Lown Presents: Hospital Cooperation
Watch and share this video sneak peek of what Shannon, Vikas, and our guests will be talking about at Lown Presents: The Promise of Hospital Cooperation on January 27th. More
Renewed Threat of Nuclear Holocaust Requires Physician Activism
The recent abrogation of critical treaties and the aggressive development of nuclear technologies have greatly diminished the security of the entire world, and once again the threat of nuclear holocaust looms. More
Is overdiagnosis behind the increase in melanoma cases?
Is the tremendous increase in melanoma diagnoses a cancer epidemic, or an "epidemic of overdiagnosis"? More
Departing CEO paid $5.2 million ‘retention’ bonus by nursing home chain that lost 2,800 residents to covid
Nearly 3,000 residents of Genesis Healthcare nursing homes have died from covid-19. The company's CEO got a $5.2 million "retention" payment in October, then announced he was retiring in January. More
Azar’s ‘Sunset Rule’ will bring a dangerous new dawn for health regulation
The Sunset Rule would force HHS to accomplish a herculean task: reassess the impacts of its 17,000-plus regulations every 10 years. More
Comparison of All-Cause Mortality Rates and Inequities Between Black and White Populations Across the 30 Most Populous US Cities
This cross-sectional study examines city-level data from the 30 most populous US cities regarding all-cause mortality rates and racial inequities within cities and seeks to determine whether these measures changed during the past decade. More
Exhausted hospital chaplains bring solace to lonely, dying
Inside hospital rooms across America, where the sick are alone without family to comfort them, the grim task of offering solace falls to overworked and emotionally drained hospital chaplains who are dealing with more death than they’ve ever seen. More
Challenges of a Supplemental Private Option Under National Health Insurance—Observations From Australia
This Viewpoint describes the role of private hospital insurance in Australia, a country with universal government-sponsored insurance. More
Pandemic reveals tale of 2 Californias like never before
California has long been a picture of inequality, but the pandemic has widened the gap in ways few could have imagined. More
Black Americans Are Getting Vaccinated at Lower Rates Than White Americans
Black Americans are receiving covid vaccinations at dramatically lower rates than white Americans in the first weeks of the chaotic rollout, according to a new KHN analysis. More
The Shkreli Awards for health care dysfunction and greed
Each year the Lown Institute calls for nominations from health care experts, journalists and others. This year an outstanding panel of judges selected 10 egregious examples of profiteering. More
Are more people surviving Covid-19 because doctors are doing less?
Few treatments, even widely hyped ones, fail to arrest the progress of Covid-19. Prevention has trumped the so-far failed quest for a cure. More
Why we need to ask more than, “Does this treatment work?”
In a perspective piece in the Washington Post, Dr. Daniel Morgan, explains why shared decision making requires us to ask, "How likely is this treatment to work?" and why the answer to that question can be tricky. More
Cancer Screening Tests and Cancer Diagnoses During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This cohort study describes the number of patients undergoing cancer screening tests and of ensuing cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic in 1 health care system in the northeastern United States. More
Shkreli Awards: “Dishonorable Mentions”
In case you missed it, the 2020 Shkreli Award winners, the top ten examples of profiteering and dysfunction in health care, were released earlier this month. But what about nominations that didn't make the top ten? More