The New York Times reports: Genentech has begun offering secret rebates to eye doctors as an apparent inducement to get them to use more of the company’s expensive drug Lucentis rather than a less costly alternative. Under the program, which started on Oct. 1, medical practices can earn up to tens of thousands of dollars [...]
Take medical uncertainty. Add financial incentive to treat. Voila! Increased utilization. Now take away financial incentive to treat. Guess what you get? MedPageToday explains in the case of hormone therapy for prostate cancer: Medicare accomplished what clinical guidelines and evidence-based medicine couldn’t: it reduced unnecessary use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in prostate cancer. Inappropriate [...]
In a New York Times column this week, David Leonhardt reflects on how “any deficit strategy needs to focus on Medicare.” Excerpt: “The treatment of prostate cancer offers a good example of the trouble with the current system. I devoted a column to prostate cancer last year, and the Health Affairs article — by Steven [...]
Kudos to Christopher Snowbeck and the Pioneer Press for digging into new Medicare data to report that the state the newspaper serves is out of whack with the rest of the country in how many expensive MRI scans are done on Minnesotans’ bad backs. Snowbeck artfully captures the predictable rationalization and defensive responses coming from [...]
Reuters reports on a study in the current Archives of Internal Medicine that shows that: “…after the U.S. Congress had mandated Medicare coverage of a digital tool to help detect breast cancer, health providers were quick to pick it up even though it hadn’t showed clear-cut benefits for the women. The technology, known as computer-aided [...]
This AP story raises many important questions about the quality of information consumers receive (or not) about the quality of care. Excerpt: “Millions of seniors signed up for popular Medicare Advantage insurance plans don’t get the best quality, an independent study found.…The analysis found that 47 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are in plans that rate [...]
In any talk I give to journalists, I encourage them to look into the proliferation of proton beam facilities for cancer therapy. Few have done so with any zeal. • The New York Times did a good job. • The Columbus Dispatch did not. Journalist Merrill Goozner gives ample food for thought in an article [...]
WBBM in Chicago last week asked, “Is Medicare Ignoring Cheaper Lung Cancer Test?” In its report, the TV station’s “investigator” team promoted a company president’s complaints against Medicare for much of the piece. They let him get away with saying: “This is a potentially very powerful tool in the toolbox against lung cancer. You can [...]
In another fine example of its dedication to important health care journalism, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published a piece, “Debate on MRI payments just one hurdle for reform.” Gems in this piece include: Information on the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition, a group backed by the major manufacturers of imaging equipment, including GE Healthcare. The paper [...]
That quote comes from a Minnesota physician in a Pioneer Press article that includes many good elements: Info on disparities in Medicare spending; Dartmouth Atlas data and graphic; Local angle on Atul Gawande’s New Yorker piece . Kudos to reporter Jeremy Olson.
This story focuses on a family that may have a rare genetic mutation that increases their risk of heart disease. Unfortunately, the “rare” part wasn’t mentioned until 1,600 words into this 2,100 word story.
While this story adequately addressed 7 of our 10 criteria, the 3 on which it missed were significant omissions, yet could have been easily addressed.
Solid medical conference reporting, with many expert interviews and good context provided. Goes far beyond the conference presentation itself.
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