Do We Need a Total-Body PET Scanner?
A research team at the University of California – Davis has received a $15.5 million grant to build the world’s first total-body positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. One could argue such scans will always find something and lead to unnecessary tests and procedures which drive up the cost of healthcare. The other side of the coin […]
Telehealth for Medicare
A bipartisan bill is advancing in the Senate to enable Medicare to fund expanded telehealth for rural areas. The Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act sounds like a good thing. I have two reservations. First is bureaucracy. The bill would allow The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to test telehealth services of a hospital through […]
Why the U.S. Pays More Than Other Countries for Drugs
Every single day, 10,000 people turn 65 and sign up for Medicare. The number of Americans covered by Medicare is expected to double to 80 million over the next twenty years. If we continue to spend nearly $10,000 per Medicare enrollee, the bill in twenty years will be $8 trillion. Needless to say, that is unaffordable. […]
MedTech Chat with Dr. John Patrick: Healthcare Predictions
On October 30, I chatted about the future of healthcare with Abigail Esposito on WTWH Media. The interview was published on the Medical Design & Outsourcing website and it was also podcasted. Podcasts are becoming very popular as a way to share points of view. Many people listen to them on their smartphones. This particular podcast lasted […]
Common Sense From the AMA
The American Medical Association today called for a ban on consumer advertisements for prescription drugs. I cited this as a major problem in Health Attitude in March and was really pleased to see the AMA make the common sense proclamation. The AMA cited a number of reasons for their decision. Here are my six reasons why the ban should […]
