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Physicians

Health Care Quality

commentary
Promoting Patient-Clinician Conversations to Reduce Cascades of Care
A cascade of care is a seemingly uncontrollable sequence of medical services that is driven by the desire to avoid even the smallest risk of a bad outcome. What drives cascades? And what interventions might mitigate them?
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Apr 27, 2022
Kathleen L. Mulligan, Ishani Ganguli, et al.

Gender Equity in the Workplace

blog
Gender Pay Gap Among Doctors, America's Labor Shortage, 'Hacking Equity': RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the pay gap between female and male doctors, understanding America’s weird job market, social and emotional learning, and more.
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Dec 17, 2021
Health Care Organization and Administration

commentary
Can Primary Care Networks and Models of Vertical Integration Coexist in the NHS?
Vertical integration with a hospital helps primary care practices that might otherwise have closed to remain in operation. It thereby creates the opportunity for the continued development and improvement of local primary care for patients.
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Dec 7, 2020
Manbinder Sidhu, Jon Sussex
Health Care Organization and Administration

commentary
How Hospitals Could Step in to Help Manage GP Practices
The supply of doctors in primary care, known as 'GPs' in the UK, is falling behind a growing demand for their services, as GPs leave general practice in large numbers. One way to help struggling GP practices could be vertical integration—combining health care organizations operating at different stages along the patient pathway.
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Dec 1, 2020
Manbinder Sidhu, Jon Sussex
Telemedicine

commentary
Moving on from Telehealth-by-Desperation: What Will Make Telehealth Stick
During the COVID-19 pandemic telehealth has helped to maintain continuity of care for millions of Americans, preserve personal protective equipment, and facilitate social distancing. But that does not mean that telehealth will be embraced by patients and providers in the long run.
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Aug 18, 2020
Lori Uscher-Pines
Gender Equity in the Workplace

commentary
The Link Between Workplace Diversity and the Gender Pay Gap
Many factors explain the gender earnings gap, including workplace biases, differences in how credit is attributed, and differences in how men and women negotiate. But another factor could influence the pay women receive: the number of men in their workplace.
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Aug 15, 2020
Christopher M. Whaley @cm_whaley, Anupam B. Jena
Patient Experience

essay
A New Way to Capture the Patient Experience
Researchers have developed a more effective and reliable way for patients to provide narrative feedback about the care they receive. When the right questions are asked, patients' answers can help health care providers better understand the patient experience and learn how they could improve.
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May 2, 2019
Health Care Quality Measurement

commentary
Getting Doctors to Make Better Decisions Will Take More than Money and Nudges
While monetary incentives and behavioral nudges both have their strengths, neither is enough to reliably change clinician behavior and improve quality of care. Organizational culture provides another important lens to understand why clinicians are practicing in a certain way and to put forth more comprehensive, long-term solutions.
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Jun 21, 2018
Yusuke Tsugawa, John N. Mafi
Physicians

blog
When RAND Applied Weapons Research to Health Care Delivery
In the 1970s, it was assumed that new physicians wouldn't set up practice in America's small towns. RAND economists used software originally designed to estimate damages from a nuclear bomb to calculate the effects of placing doctors in specific locations.
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Nov 1, 2017
Community Health and Well-Being

commentary
Should the Definition of Health Include a Measure of Tolerance?
Involving the medical community in helping to measure and increase tolerance could help make individuals and communities healthier. Since hate is both deadly and contagious, now is the time to engage the medical profession in eradicating it.
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Feb 15, 2017
Robert H. Brook
Electronic Pharmaceutical Prescriptions

commentary
Responsible e-Prescribing Needs e-Discontinuation
Implementation of electronic prescribing has been a big success in health information technology. But most e-prescribing systems don't allow electronic cancellation of orders. Adding this feature could help reduce medication errors.
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Feb 7, 2017
Shira H. Fischer @ShiraFischer, Adam J. Rose
Primary Care

commentary
Can a Nurse Practitioner Replace a Physician?
The VA is considering expanding the role of nurse practitioners in order to provide veterans timely access to primary-care services. Research has shown that nurse practitioners working in collaborative settings can provide high-quality care.
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Jul 22, 2016
John N. Mafi, Bruce E. Landon
Health Care Delivery Approaches

commentary
Can Hospital Services Work in Primary Care Settings?
Shifting health care from hospitals to the community will only be justified if patient satisfaction and convenience is valued above costs to the NHS, or if this shift reduces health care costs in the long term.
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Jun 2, 2016
Celine Miani, Eleanor Winpenny
Physicians

commentary
Relationships Between Physician Professional Satisfaction and Patient Safety
Health system leaders should view regular and detailed assessment of physician professional satisfaction as an invaluable early warning system for potential threats to quality and safety. But simply surveying doctors on their overall levels of job satisfaction isn't enough.
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Feb 23, 2016
Mark W. Friedberg
commentary
Scoring the Surgeon Scorecard
There is no tradeoff between recognizing the serious methodological problems in the ProPublica Surgeon Scorecard, improving the Scorecard, and encouraging providers to release their own data. All three can and should be done simultaneously.
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Oct 14, 2015
Mark W. Friedberg
Health Care Costs

commentary
We Need to Know What Physicians Are Thinking
Before we allow others to implement policies attempting to optimize the use of physician time or reduce the amount of equivocal or inappropriate care, we need to understand what physicians think about these issues and what they are prepared to do about them, writes Robert H. Brook.
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Jun 17, 2012
Robert H. Brook
Measuring Health Care Costs

commentary
The Role of Physicians in Controlling Medical Care Costs and Reducing Waste
Because the budget crisis is really a crisis, it behooves physicians to answer the waste question as rapidly as possible. Without an answer, there is no hope that an appropriate policy process for reining in health care costs will be identified, writes Robert H. Brook.
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Aug 10, 2011
Robert H. Brook
commentary
Physician Compensation, Cost, and Quality
Pay for performance, transparency, and other innovative ways of compensating physicians will work only if, at the same time, the system for providing care is changed to one that has clear objectives and provides specific tools to help physicians achieve those objectives, writes Robert H. Brook.
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Aug 18, 2010
Robert H. Brook
commentary
Medical Leadership in an Increasingly Complex World
It is time for physicians to think beyond making their institution, practice, or professional society better. The population needs, and deserves, such leadership, writes Robert H. Brook.
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Jul 28, 2010
Robert H. Brook
commentary
Continuing Medical Education: Let the Guessing Begin
It is time for a change before innovative medical researchers develop a new array of tests and measurements, making it even less likely that physicians will have the right answer, writes Robert Brook.
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Jan 27, 2010
Robert H. Brook
commentary
Quality, Transparency, and the US Government
If the government is demanding transparency of physicians and hospitals, the very least the physicians and hospitals should do is demand transparency of the government, writes Robert Brook.
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Apr 1, 2009
Robert H. Brook