Archive for the ‘Healthcare’ Category

Top 5 Posts of 2010

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

By Evan Falchuk

I know you’re wondering:  what were the top 5 most-read posts at See First in 2010?

Wonder no more:

5.  Why is Health Insurance So Expensive? This was the first of several posts on an untold story in health care reform:  how the insurance market really works.  You’ll see why policy prescriptions from Washington may make things worse.

4.  The Benefits Package is Here! The first-ever blog carnival dedicated to health care and employee benefits?  A huge hit.  Even though it launched in December, it was still the 4th most read post of the year.  Submit your post for the third edition over at Insureblog.  This is going to be big.

3.  Warning:  Graphic Politics.  There has been no shortage of politics masquerading as serious analysis in the push to reform health care.  Even National Geographic wasn’t above it.  But their deeply flawed analysis of health care spending revealed far more than what they intended.

2.  I Did it For You.  The title of the post is actually a quote from my brother, Brad Falchuk, one of the creators of the Fox TV show Glee. He said it to me as he came off off the mound after throwing out the first pitch at a Red Sox game (video at the link!).  This isn’t the interesting part of the post, though.  It’s how by having people spend time on his medical problem, his life may very well have been saved.

1.  Grand Rounds:  Health Care Reform Edition.  Blog carnivals are one the greatest things out there, and Grand Rounds is one of the grand-daddies.   I had the good fortune of hosting Grand Rounds right after health care reform was signed into law by President Obama.  The responses were a tour de force of the best health care bloggers, and boy is there some great reading there.

Thanks to all of my readers for a terrific 2010.

11 Predictions for 2011

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

By Evan Falchuk

Here are eleven things that are absolutely going to happen** in 2011.

They are in no particular order….or are they?

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My Night at the White House

Saturday, December 4th, 2010

By Evan Falchuk

It’s not often you get invited to the White House.  I had my chance this week, when I was a guest at the White House’s Hanukkah party.

Now, when I say “guest,” I mean I was a guest of the President - of Hadassah, that is.

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Podcast Interview on the Employee Benefit Adviser

Friday, June 4th, 2010

By Evan Falchuk

I was interviewed today by Employee Benefit Adviser, one of the leading publications in the employee benefits market.  I spoke with EBA’s Editor in Chief, John Ortman about trends in the health care market, problems with the quality of health care around the world, and, of course, Best Doctors.

The podcast is here.

Japan, Part 3

Sunday, January 31st, 2010
By Evan Falchuk

After a week with business colleagues and doctors in Japan, I leave with three major impressions.

First, no matter how a country’s medical system is organized, there are troubling problems with the rising cost of health care.  Second, even in Japan, a culture in which patients are especially respectful of doctors, patients are increasingly questioning decisions of their doctors.  And third, the best doctors, all over the world, are deeply dedicated to the science of medicine  and the care of their patients.

I’ve lined up the pictures of some of the doctors I saw below and share some of their stories, too.

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Japan

Monday, January 25th, 2010

By Evan Falchuk

Japan is completely different from the United States.  But it’s exactly the same.

I’m talking about health care, of course.

Japan is a country of about 130 million people, and one of the richest countries on Earth.  They enjoy a system of universal health care coverage, and some of the best doctors in the world.  But there are problems.

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Weekend Roundup

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Tired of all the health care reform talk?  Good, because I’m in Tokyo, Japan this week, and there isn’t anything happening here that will be affected by that story.  Anyway, since the weekend has already ended here, I’ve got my quick weekend round-up for you.

1.  DR JEROME GROOPMAN talks about the fallacy of “best practices” in medicine:

But there is a schism between presidential advisers in their thinking over whether legislation should be coercive, aggressively pushing doctors and patients to do what the government defines as best, or whether it should be respectful of their own autonomy in making decisions. The President and Congress appear to be of two minds. How this difference is resolved will profoundly shape the culture of health care in America.

Read the whole thing, it’s Groopman in his purest form.

2. CLINTON ADVISER Lanny Davis has some advice for Democrats on health care reform.  He says step-by-step solutions are the wiser course.

3.  IN AN AIRPORT SECURITY LINE, please, put your shoes directly on the belt not in a bin.  At least that’s what I told CNN.

4.  KEVIN MAGGIACOMO says that the poor economy is a poor excuse for poor performance.

5.  FALCHUK NEWS. My brother Brad’s show Glee keeps racking up awards, this time a SAG award for Best Comedy Ensemble.  In very different news, I report with pride the work that my mother’s organization, Hadassah is doing in Haiti.  Israel has sent dozens of doctors and health care workers to Haiti, and set up the first emergency field hospital there.

The hospital was set up under the auspices of the Israeli military, but the doctors others are from Hadassah Hospital.  As my mom told me today,

The medical needs of Haiti are unbelievable, and to save one life is as if you saved the world.   Hadassah is proud to be part of the medical team representing Israel and we will do what we can to not only save lives but help recreate the medical infrastructure of a devastated people.

We all can play our own small part in helping, I’m proud of the work she is doing.

Warning: Graphic Politics

Friday, December 25th, 2009

By Evan Falchuk

A friend sent me this interesting graph from the blog of the National Geographic.

You’ll have to click on it to see a bigger version.  It captures a lot of data very elegantly on a single graph–  Professor Tufte would love it.

What it shows is health care spending per person across a group of countries, along with life expectancies, average number of doctor visits per year, and whether a country has a system of universal health coverage.  Although putting all of this data on one graph is novel, the graph makes what by now is one of the oldest political arguments for reform – for all the money they United States spends on health care we don’t get a good deal.

So why blog about this graph?

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The Best Down Under

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

By Evan Falchuk

Australia’s riskinfo.com, a leading publication for benefits advisers, released today the results of its study of the three “Best Initiatives of 2009.”

I’m proud to say that Best Doctors made the list for a program it launched with leading Australian insurer MLC.

The experience shared with Australian advisers during the launch of Best Doctors by leading UK adviser, Colin Boxall, in his capacity as an adviser and also as a father of a very sick child, served to highlight the value of this service.   Mr Boxall told advisers that in relation to receiving claim benefits for critical illnesses “… sometimes, having money is not enough.”

Congratulations to everyone who worked on this important initiative, especially Frank Ahedo, head of our European business, who spearheaded this effort.  It underscores what I’ve written about many times before – no matter where you live, or what health care system your country has, the experience of being sick is mostly the same.

Mr. Boxall said it very well indeed.

It’s All the Same

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

By Evan Falchuk

I’ve spent the last few days with much of our European team, today in Madrid, Spain.

Here are a few quick observations, as the American reform process continues.

1.  Every country’s health care system has developed in the unique circumstances of its history.  That is, the health care system of each country is the result of a collection of changes, fixes, restrictions, reforms, market developments and whatever else has happened over the last several decades.   The result in each country are systems that work better or worse, but which in most all cases are very confusing to the people that work in them or get care from them.

2.  In my travels, when I talk to people about what it is like to get care in their health care system, everyone speaks highly of their doctors and poorly of whoever it is that pays for their health care.  It’s true whether it’s the government paying or a private insurer.  I think that, at least in the Western world, people just don’t like the idea that health care is an economic activity.  There is, I think, a sense that there is a sense that there is something almost religious about health care.  And so the idea that someone should pay someone else to deliver it seems, culturally, somehow distasteful.  The trouble is, no matter what people have tried to do, health care is a business.  I think some of the dissatisfaction people feel with their health care systems has to with how hard it is to reconcile these two conflicting ideas.

3.  The experience of being sick, or caring for a family member who is sick is very similar no matter where you go.  Most people feel that they can handle being sick; the part they can’t handle very well is the uncertainty about what to do next, and whether what’s being done to them is even the right thing.  Everywhere you go people talk about the enormous amount of information available on the internet about their  medical condition – but also about the insufficient time they get with their doctors to talk about what they’re finding, what they’re worried about, and how to deal with their anxiety around these things.  There is, it seems a, growing sense that it is ok, and in fact important, for patients to educate themselves about their medical situation.  And, certainly, a growing sense that it’s ok to ask your doctor questions, to want to be satisfied with the answers, and to make sure you have the best chance possible to get well.

In all events, here’s a photo of me with some of the terrific team in our office in Madrid:

Europe

  • "Medicine is learned by the bedside and not in the class room. Let not your conception of manifestations of disease come from work heard in the lecture room or read from the book: see and then research, compare and control. But see first."
    - Sir William Osler, MD
    The Father of Modern Medicine
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