Terminal Decline? Academic and clinical fields have their booms and busts just like economies. Sleep Medicine is no exception. A field that took off from the 1990s until the 2010s is now in palpable decline. This year a total of 112 sleep fellowships were filled in the nationwide medical match. America is presently training one potentially certifiable […]
Will Your Next Doctor Visit Be With a Robot?
Autonomous robot surgeons now do a better job of stitching than humans – at least in animals. Will your next medical visit be with a robot? Perhaps not – though your doctor may already feel like one. For roboticization of work, particularly through “innovative” IT, is rapidly coming to control your health care. Bright New Robots […]
“Post Office Taken Over by Aliens” – (The Audacity of Hype)
Hyped Out With apologies to punk composer Jello Biafra, hype today is more than alive and well – its popularity is surging. From politcs to economics to health care, what “just might possibly be true” is crowding out the dusty, dull details of reality. So let’s examine why audacious hype appears so preferable to cautious hope –and the nasty […]
Dirty Secrets of Health Care II – Preauthorization
We Know How to Say No Nancy Reagen was right. You just say no. Except health care companies have learned new, exciting ways to say no – for their bottom line. And how they do it will receive understanding winks from bureaucrats around the world – give the appearance of due process, of fair hearing, […]
The Medical Care Machine
Do you want to be a machine? What happens when your employer wants to treat you like one? What does this do to health care? The digital economy allows you to measure much. What gets measured gets managed. The ideas of “scientific management” achieved their first apotheosis over a century ago with Frederick Taylor. Henry Ford […]