The addition of IT to our health care system should not be viewed as merely a technological upgrade, but rather a fundamental change in our approach to the practice of medicine.
Each time-saving, patient-safety-guarding feature in digital health care technology brings with it opportunities to offer unnecessary care, reap unnecessary payment, and add to the country's overall cost of health care.
The Employee Retirement Income and Security Act (ERISA) has created a loophole through which managed care organizations can escape liability for full compensatory damages solely because the patient is insured by his or her employer.
Despite exclusion of cost from the definition of comparative effectiveness research from the recent health care reform legislation, it will feed into cost-benefit analyses.
Use of decision-support systems can improve quality of patient care in residency training programs if the resident physician users participate in the development and routine revision of those systems.
Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD, Scott Kahan, MD, MPH, and Gail Geller, ScD, MHS
Many health professionals harbor negative biases toward individuals who are obese. Cultivating an awareness of our own biases is the best way to avoid acting on them.
James Mills Jr., MD, a founder of emergency medicine, believed he could have greater impact on medical care for the poor in his city by giving up his practice and working in the emergency room full time.