Year: 2019

The model of supply and demand is the basis of the ideal, free market. According to this model, buyers are good judges of what they receive from sellers, and pay them directly for the goods and services being exchanged. Most…

In recent decades, the healthcare industry has been largely consolidated under the management of fewer and larger entities [1]. The rapid rise of health-maintenance organizations (H.M.O.s)—with only three million patients enrolled in 1970 to eighty million represented by 1999—is attributed,…

Officially declared a public health emergency in October 2017, the Opioid Crisis has claimed nearly 100,000 lives from 2017 to 2018, accounting for the vast majority of U.S. drug overdoses in those years. In 2017 alone, an estimated 1.8 million…

Qualified Clinical Data Registries (QCDRs) are organizations that adhere to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) standards for health care quality improvement through the collection and reporting of clinical data.1 CMS, established in 1965 and part of the…

In private practice, physician-lead practice groups, and academic medical centers alike, there is often an emphasis placed on productivity. How many cases are completed per day, what is the turnover time, and how has patient census changed over time? In…

Continuing education and evaluation in anesthesiology is crucial to maintaining high standards of quality patient care. In theory, recertification programs exist for the benefit of patients and physicians alike, though changing policies for certain specialties have sparked outrage and controversy…

Medical group acquisitions have continued to trend upwards in recent years. A study conducted by the Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI) found that in a 5.5-year period from July 2012-January 2018, the percentage of hospital-employed physicians increased by over 70%. In…

The phenomenon of burnout is cited to affect over 50% of the medical workforce in the United States1. Burnout is known as a cluster of symptoms in which an individual experiences consistently low physical and emotional energy levels, deficits in…

Residency is a crucial step after medical school. It is during this training period that medical students develop into clinicians and acquire the skills to not only care for patients, but also deliberate on life-or-death decisions. For anesthesiology residents, this…

In medicine, reimbursement drives change in clinical practice faster than evidence. Bundled payments from Medicare since the development of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) epitomize a heightened value of measurable outcomes. The Merit Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) directs physicians to…