Over the next month, The Medical Care Blog will feature a new series of posts on public health leadership. The goal is to help better prepare public health students and early career professionals for the many leadership challenges that await. Public health has a problem Whether it is COVID-19, drug overdoses or gun deaths, the… Read More »
The pandemic public health emergency declaration ends today in the United States. Here, I share a look back and what to expect going forward. One thing is clear: with this change in designation, the U.S. has revealed that its public health preparedness was always meant to be temporary. Where we started It was December 12,… Read More »
The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underserved communities underscored the need for systemic change and renewed efforts to reduce health disparities in people with social risks. This post describes a partnership between Inovalon and Humana to develop a new health equity composite quality measure to identify disadvantaged populations with the largest care disparities and determine… Read More »
The rapid transition from in-person to care to telemedicine visits at the start of the COVID‑19 pandemic did not adversely affect the quality of care – and even improved some aspects of care – for patients with major depression in a major integrated health system, according to a new report. The study appears as part of… Read More »
Public health has preached a lot of things in the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has promoted social distancing, masks, vaccines, and quarantine to help prevent the spread. And it has helped spread awareness about antivirals for people infected with COVID-19. But what about “social fitnessing”? This is the premise that the… Read More »
An Opportunity to Get Ahead of the Overdose Crisis For many Americans, drug use ‘prevention’ conjures memories of early public health campaigns using fearsome imagery and catchy slogans to deter substance use. Campaigns implored youth to “just say no” to drugs, and the public received stark warnings: “this is your brain on drugs.”
Dear readers, it’s been awhile since we published a “top posts of the year” roundup! In fact, we haven’t published one since 2018. So, as we wrap another eventful year of blogging at the intersection of public health and medicine, our holiday gift to you is here! Oh – and we’re still one of the… Read More »
Telehealth–the ability for providers to care for patients using computers, tablets, or smartphones–has the potential to expand access to healthcare by allowing people to interact with providers remotely. However, there are disparities in access to the technology that makes it possible to use telehealth. For example, in analyzing Census data on availability of widely used… Read More »
It’s that time of year again–APHA’s Annual Meeting! This year we’ll be meeting in Boston Nov. 6-9 with a digital event Nov. 14-16. I’m looking forward to seeing colleagues this year and getting to catch up with so many interesting people. Of course, I’m also excited about the excellent Medical Care Section Program. Here’s a… Read More »
The 2022 midterm elections are upon us. And public health is once again prominent on the ballot. Think back to the 2020 presidential election and just how stark a contrast Joe Biden and Donald Trump presented on COVID-19, climate change, and the Affordable Care Act. This year is no different. Voters across the country are choosing… Read More »
A recent JAMA article noted that only one-third of new drug approvals through the accelerated approval process by the FDA in the US or the conditional marketing authorization in the EU have shown therapeutic value. Many of these drugs are high cost, and this begs the question if we are spending our health care dollars appropriately. … Read More »
On this month’s episode of the Health Intersections Podcast, Samy Anand from the Medical Care Section recaps last month’s blog posts and previews September’s issue of the Medical Care journal. Check out these great reads. Next, Jess Williams, co-editor of the blog and podcast, interviews Dr. Cheryl Conner who is a Clinical Associate Professor at… Read More »
The Medical Care Blog is returning from its summer break this month. We hope you are feeling recharged and ready to dig deep again into health care and public health. We’re beginning with a series of retrospective posts to highlight the work of our contributors on prominent topics. This week, we focus on a collection… Read More »
The Medical Care Blog is taking a short summer break from publishing new articles. In the meantime, catch up with the latest posts on the blog: Healthy Intersections Podcast, June 2022 featuring MC Governing Councilor Samy with a wrap-up and co-editor Lisa Lines interviewing noted infectious disease epidemiologist Pia MacDonald about COVID-19 – looking back and looking… Read More »
As a public health researcher, I love data, the more the better. I held this belief until I found that I myself had become the “subject” of research without my consent. This experience made me rethink ethical research. The more data, the better? In 2017, I encountered a state-level bill that required all the government… Read More »
On this month’s episode of the Healthy Intersections Podcast, Samy Anand from the Medical Care Section recaps last month’s blog posts and preview’s June’s issue of the Medical Care journal. Some great articles to check out for your summer reading list. Next, Lisa Lines, co-editor of the blog and podcast, interviews Dr. Pia MacDonald, an… Read More »
Reuter’s announced in January that diabetes deaths in the United States continue to surge well above pre-pandemic levels with over 100,000 Americans dying from diabetes in 2021. Given COVID-19’s relationship to diabetes, we may see this trend continue. Increasing deaths from diabetes is a clear call to action for new solutions. Historically, diabetes has been… Read More »
In this episode of our podcast series, Jess Williams discusses COVID-19 case and hospitalizations with Tami Gurley, an Associate Professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Jess also recaps the blog posts published in April and previews some articles published in the May issue of Medical Care. Listen here or wherever you get your fine audio content.… Read More »
In a previous post, we shared highlights from an event about fixing health care featuring Dr. Michael Fine, a family medicine physician, former public health official, and the author of Health Care Revolt. The faculty of the Department of Public Health at California State University Los Angeles led the event as part of a department-wide book read.… Read More »
When COVID-19 forced sudden lockdowns in 2020, Americans realized quickly that the supply of services available at home did not match growing quarantine demands. Both the public and private sectors responded with shifts to delivering contact-free services. That pandemic shift may have long-term benefits for older adults seeking services to support aging in place. Pandemic… Read More »
We’re in a new landscape, where citizens sees themselves as agents for community public health and as part of the public health infrastructure. My patient began to talk about COVID in her community. She first told me the rates of infection from the previous weeks. Then she told me what COVID strains were dominant at… Read More »
Almost 30 years ago I was working in the White House as part of a team working to win approval of President Bill Clinton’s proposal for universal health insurance. The effort was winding down. It was obvious it would fail. I was tired and depressed. One of my last appearances in support of the plan… Read More »
Last week, we detailed the findings of virtual convenings we held in North Carolina to improve care for children with complex health needs (CCHN). Here, we share our takeaways about the process of planning, holding and following-up on the convenings. We also outline the specific steps other leaders, innovators, and advocates can take to engage… Read More »
More than 150,000 avoidable deaths occur each year due to mental, emotional, and behavioral health problems. This includes nearly 50,000 suicide deaths and 100,000 overdose deaths. People with chronic persistent mental illness suffer a 20-year shorter life expectancy. This country urgently needs to address how we pay for mental health services. Medicaid is a major… Read More »
“You can’t improve what you don’t measure” is a common phrase highlighting the importance and power of data. Indeed, the importance of data was the central theme of the 2021 All In National Meeting. In case you’re unfamiliar, the host of the national meeting is All In: Data for Community Health: a learning network of… Read More »
Medical care is sometimes, though not on this blog, viewed as the gold standard to address inequities. However, access to medical care only accounts for an estimated 10-20% of the modifiable factors that affect population health. The other 80-90% of modifiable factors are often referred to as social determinants of health (SDOH). These are the… Read More »
In Los Angeles, the nation’s homelessness epidemic is playing out in broad relief. Criticized for an inability to visibly stem the local crisis, Los Angeles is now responding. Opening villages of tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness is part of a recent package of efforts gaining traction in the city. The situation in Los Angeles… Read More »
During the pandemic, telemedicine demonstrated it’s power. As we begin to make the shift back to in-person clinical care in a post-pandemic world, it’s important to look at the lessons learned during the pandemic. This will help guide us in how to move forward and improve telemedicine delivery. The History The use of telemedicine is… Read More »
The COVID-19 pandemic has strained healthcare and public health. Many workers in these industries have felt growing frustration with leadership. They face a barrage of medical misinformation, ethical strains, and burnout. Now more than ever, authentic leadership is critical in supporting healthcare workers and advancing public health. This post will describe authentic leadership and examine… Read More »
Front-line workers are always at risk. It’s in the name. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this reality more salient for everyone. Risks of sickness from COVID-19 include death and morbidity. Front-line workers may also have lost more friends and co-workers than the average person. Healthcare workers have also been subject to violence and see the… Read More »
Homelessness persists in the US, and across the world, despite decades of recognition and longstanding efforts to end the condition. There have been major successes in our understanding of what policies and programs work to prevent and end homelessness. However, the work must and will find new ways to adapt and improve if we are… Read More »
Nonprofit hospitals make up the majority of hospitals in the US. In exchange for their tax-exempt status, the federal government requires these hospitals to provide support in the form of community benefits. Tracking community benefit spending and its impact is important to ensure that such spending aligns with community needs. Community benefit activities can include… Read More »
In Part 1 of this two-part series (originally published Aug. 19, 2021), we lay out arguments for and shortcomings of imputing race/ethnicity from the perspective of health equity. In Part 2, we’ll talk about evidence gaps and research needed, as well as a few alternative approaches. The Biden administration is focusing on health equity and… Read More »
Efforts to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19 in the U.S. have stalled out. Currently, just about 68% of all U.S. adults have received at least one dose, despite vaccines being widely available. This is due, in great part, to a “misinformation pandemic” that now threatens public health. With many people still spending considerable time working from… Read More »
The global Covid-19 pandemic came with financial, emotional, and physical health implications for just about everyone worldwide. Along with those burdens, a significant strain was placed on resources, people, and systems. Issues that were lingering just beneath the surface bubbled up, inequities became highlighted, and urgent outcries and demands for swift solutions became harder to… Read More »
The Biden Administration’s proposed infrastructure investments are an example of an upstream effort to address disparities related to social determinants of health (SDOH). As mentioned in our previous blog post, SDOH are the conditions or circumstances within which people live, and these differ based on the distribution of power, money, and resources. The systems and… Read More »
During its recent mid-year meeting, the American Public Health Association’s Medical Care Section was honored to hear from two physician leaders serving at the heart of the fight against COVID-19. Hailing from opposite ends of the country, Drs. Atul Nakhasi (California) and Ayne Amjad (West Virginia) shared their insight about teamwork in a public health… Read More »
White paper, grey literature, black box warning. The nature of our medical research, presentation, reporting, and publication has defined the values associated with colors. A white paper is defined as an “authoritative” report on a subject. Grey literature is described as being “non-conventional, fugitive, and sometimes ephemeral.” And a “black box” warning alerts physicians and… Read More »
The United States is currently experiencing multiple, simultaneous epidemics that claim thousands of lives every week. According to the CDC, over 81,000 drug overdose deaths occurred between June 2019 and May 2020. That’s the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period. An estimated 93,000 Americans die annually from alcohol-related causes. Many… Read More »
Barriers to immigration into the United States are a common topic of political debates. Less frequently publicized are the numerous barriers to healthcare that undocumented immigrants (UIs) face even after their arrival. These obstacles can have profoundly negative effects: not just on the individual immigrants’ health, but on their local communities as a whole. Medical… Read More »
In military medicine, exercises, such as a mass vaccination points-of-dispensing (POD) scenario, test preparedness capacity, and drill for potential real-world public health emergency scenarios. Exercises are designed to challenge medical teams to work under pressure and problem solve according to conditions presented in the exercise scenario. A benefit of medical exercises in the military is… Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines social determinants of health (SDOH) as the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the “conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age.” Currently, SDOH is a hot topic as stakeholders try new ways to improve individual and population health, achieve health equity, and reduce… Read More »
COVID-19-related scams are spreading nearly as fast as COVID-19 and threatening the health and safety of our communities. Since January 2020, people across the country have filed over 426,000 COVID-19-related complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about fraud, identify theft, and other consumer protection. They have reported losses totaling over $397 million. As trusted… Read More »
A growing trend in health care, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is the implementation of telemedicine. Telemedicine is the delivery of health-related information and services among patients and providers via telecommunication technologies. An example is the use of video technology by doctors to evaluate, diagnose, or treat a patient instead of having a face-to-face encounter. … Read More »
As we are overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, the obesity pandemic is worsening. The United States is the most obese country in the world. Is it time to admit defeat in this 30-year battle against obesity? Only 1 in 122 mildly obese people with a primary care physician will achieve a normal weight, according to a… Read More »
Over 30% of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populations in the US are enrolled in Medicaid programs; more than half of all Medicaid enrollees are people of color. As such, Medicaid policies disproportionately affect populations of color. As more institutions reckon with historical and current injustices due to centuries of racism and racist policies, understanding how… Read More »
The 2020 Census is complete and the results will be released soon. Because of how we count people in prison, there may be inaccurate demographics and a virtual overestimate of people living and accessing services in rural communities. In this two-part series, we look at how rural prisons can skew county-level analyses of rural demographics… Read More »
The pandemic has consistently exposed the underlying inequities and effects of systemic racism on American Indian (AI) and other marginalized communities. The health equity challenge of 2021 is around COVID-19 vaccine equity. Over the first months since the vaccine has become available, communities of color are not getting shots in the arm at the same… Read More »
Last week, we discussed three noteworthy trends from the past decade in treating the opioid crisis. The first was recognizing medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) as the standard of care. The second was formalizing an addiction medicine specialty. And the third was expanding the availability of MOUD. This week, we’ll consider three additional trends in… Read More »
Throughout the past decade, the U.S. has seen a dramatic shift in addiction medicine research, clinical practice, and related stigma in seeking care. In a pair of blog posts, we will explore the top six trends related to treating the opioid crisis. And we’ll consider what may be next. The Opioid Epidemic Opioid addiction has… Read More »