The debate over pay for performance in healthcare gets progressively more interesting, and confusing. And, with Medicare’s recent launch of its value-based purchasing and readmission penalty programs, the debate is no longer theoretical. Just in the past several months, we’ve seen studies showing that pay for performance works, and others showing that it doesn’t. We’ve [...]
Pay for Performance in Healthcare: Do We Need Less, More, or Different?
by Bob Wachter on November 27, 2012 in Health Policy, Hospital Care, Medical Ethics, Pay-for-performance, Quality Improvement, Quality Measurement, Transparency and Reporting
Denying Reality About Bad Prognoses: Not a Benign Problem
by Bob Wachter on November 18, 2012 in Diagnosis/Clinical Reasoning, Efficiency, Health Policy, Medical Ethics, Uncategorized
The human capacity to deny reality is one of our defining characteristics. Evolutionarily, it has often served us well, inspiring us to press onward against long odds. Without denial, the American settlers might have aborted their westward trek somewhere around Pittsburgh; Steve Jobs might thrown up his hands after the demise of the Lisa; and [...]
“Unaccountable”: An Important, Courageous, and Deeply Flawed Book
by Bob Wachter on November 2, 2012 in Book Review, Health Policy, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Quality Improvement, Quality Measurement, Transparency and Reporting
In his new book, Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won’t Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care, Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary promises a “powerful, no-nonsense, nonpartisan prescription for reforming our broken health care system.” And he partly delivers, with an insider’s and relatively unvarnished view of many of the flaws in modern hospitals. Underlying [...]
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The Dangers of Curbside Consults… and Why We Need Them
April 29, 2013
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When I Was In the Final Four
April 5, 2013
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Measuring the Quality of Doctors and Hospitals: When Is Good Enough, Good Enough?
April 1, 2013
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HIT Job: How the New York Times Blew it on Healthcare IT
February 26, 2013
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