State needs to throw a lifeline to Lawrence General Hospital
The safety net hospital needs financial relief and a change in the reimbursement system. More
US Health Care Relies on Filipinxs While Ignoring Their Health Needs
This Viewpoint explains how data aggregation under a single Asian category has hidden the real health and death toll of COVID-19 among Filipinx in the US, especially the large portion of which are frontline health care workers. More
Medicine needs to see what disability means, looks like, and feels like — in its ranks and in its patients
Even 25 years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities make up fewer than 3% of U.S. med students. More
Americans’ Medical Debts Are Bigger Than Was Known, Totaling $140 Billion
A new study finds that health care has become the country’s largest source of debt in collections. Those debts are largest where Medicaid wasn’t expanded. More
More Black patients are participating in clinical trials for cancer treatment at Penn thanks to this effort
In research published in 2020, one of the themes was that minority patients were viewed as more challenging by physicians, their leaders, and the research staff. There’s a lot to unpack here. More
The moment I realized health care was rigged — and when I decided to help fix it
Lown intern Neil Trivedi shares his journey through the health care system, from admiration to disillusionment to inspiration. More
Legacy of racial segregation endures at many U.S. hospitals
In the early 1940s, Bernard Lown, MD, was temporarily expelled from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine after it was discovered that, in an act of protest, he had purposely altered blood-bottle labels that indicated the race of the blood donor from whom it was drawn. After a threatened protest, Dr. Lown—the inventor of the defibrillator—was reinstated but removed from his job at the blood bank, which continued to segregate its supply according to the race of the donor. Some 80 years after Dr. Lown’s encounter with that baseless form of medical racism, the organization that bears his name—the Lown Institute—has released data showing that many of the nation’s urban hospital markets are highly segregated. More
Toward Gender Equity in Academic Promotions
This Viewpoint outlines policy changes to make academic promotions more equitable for women physicians. More
Most unvaccinated people have low incomes
Most low-income workers still want the shot, though. More
N.J. hospitals can now build housing for those experiencing homelessness, connecting need to services
The idea is that permanent, stable housing is a key to good health More
Transgender Patients Deserve Better Medical Care
We must train providers to understand their unique needs in order to deliver affirming, compassionate treatment More
Damage to Children’s Education — And Their Health — Could Last a Lifetime
Black and Hispanic students have lost up to 12 months of learning, which could lead to lower incomes and shorter, sicker lives. More
Double the number of Blacks entering med school by 2030 to help close the health equity gap
If the most important measure of society is the well‐being of its populace, then dismantling the direct linkage between one's health and race should be our most urgent priority. More
‘An ongoing nightmare’: People with obesity face major obstacles when seeking medical care
The case of Laura Baker, a brain cancer patient who was unable to get a CT scan because of her size, highlights the health care challenges very heavy people face. More
The harms of hospital segregation
New research on racial disparities in Covid-19 mortality show how hospital segregation harms Black patients. 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
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
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