Visit the Cleveland Clinic for $49
The Cleveland Clinic, one of the five largest group healthcare practices in America, has 3,150 staff physicians and scientists working in 130 medical specialties and subspecialties. In 2014, the clinic had more than 50 thousand acute admissions, more than 25 thousand surgeries, and more than 100 thousand emergency department visits. These are big numbers, but 100 times […]
We All Need Health Insurance
I watched a panel discussion on CNBC this morning. It was introduced as the Future of Healthcare. The participants were CEOs of health insurance companies. There was no mention of patient safety and quality, clinical procedures, patient care, mobile health, telehealth, robotic surgery, accountable care, or affordable care. Another missing topic concerns the 30-40 million […]
Is Remote Robotic Surgery Practical?
Last summer, I experienced a robot assisted radical prostatectomy. I wrote about the experience and follow-on treatment in Health Attitude. I was on the operating room table, and the surgeon was across the room, sitting at the console of the da Vinci robotic surgical system console. Another surgeon, an anesthesiologist, and nurses were at the operating […]
Uber for Healthcare
When I was a small child and got a cold, my mother would call Dr. Green. He lived in our town and would drive his 1950 Plymouth to our home. I can recall him leaning over my bed to check my temperature and diagnose my condition. I vividly recall the little black pills and deep […]
Will There Be a National Shortage of Physicians?
The prevailing point of view in recent years has been we will face a significant shortage of physicians because of the addition of previously uninsured Americans. In Health Attitude, I wrote there may not be a shortage of physicians, possibly even a surplus. I cited various technological factors, increasing usage of physician extenders, and the use of […]