Deciding where to get health care is a pretty big deal. But, unlike most other big-deal purchases, today’s industry doesn’t allow us to comparison shop. When you’re getting ready to buy a new car, the price point is only one of the things you take into consideration. You likely research Read more…
What are bundled payments, and how do they help providers reduce waste and deliver better care? In the past decade, the health care system has started shifting away from volume-based payments (payments per visit regardless of the outcome), to a value-based payment (payments tied to quality and/or outcomes) approach. This Read more…
A few months ago, I helped my daughter prepare to leave Colorado for a new journey in her life. We laughed and reminisced as she packed up the items we thought she’d need (and would fit in a small backpack), all the while aware that a new phase for our Read more…
This is not the end of Obamacare; it’s the beginning.In a surprising move, Paul Ryan pulled the American Health Care Act, the Republican ACA repeal and replace bill, last Friday. It had become clear that there was no movement to the left or the right that would garner enough votes Read more…
Is Paul Ryan’s world view a place we want to live? We’re about to find out.In the current debate over the Affordable Care Act’s repeal and replacement, we are watching the collision of two world views. While partisans on both sides are likely to disagree, here’s my mini sketch of Read more…
So, we’ve explained what an All Payer Claims Database is and all the exciting things that it can do; but, why on earth would Colorado want such a thing? How did the CO APCD come to be and what, exactly, is Colorado supposed to do with it? Colorado has always Read more…
Why assuming we’re rational about health care may be a dangerous assumptionI am reading a wonderful book called The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis, about the development of behavioral economics by two of its pioneers, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. One point of their work over five decades is that Read more…
Why you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.I think for most people, including me at times, the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is an exercise in taking something they didn’t understand well but have feelings about, and replacing it with something else Read more…
This time of year offers a chance to reflect. Through the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day lives, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of activity and forget to celebrate what and whom we are grateful for. This year, I am personally grateful for close family and Read more…
The election of Donald Trump was surprising, to say the least. In a victory anticipated by few, a President Trump opens the way for repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and with it many of the provisions meant to stabilize insurance markets and broaden coverage for individuals. The provisions of Read more…