Despite high demand, access to quality and affordable mental health care remains a challenge for many Americans. Less than half of those with mental health illness receive care and only about 10 percent of those with substance use disorders receive treatment, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. For people of color,…
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been much study and focus on the effect of social issues on the cost of health care and the overall health of the population, including the marked disparities in access to care for many segments of our population. In the last year, these disparities and their effects on our…
In the world of health care, change is never-ending. Politics, government regulation, scientific advancement, technology, and the economics and financing of health care foster shifts to reshape how care is delivered and how much it costs. Many of these shifts are completely invisible to us as health care consumers. But they also drive what is…
Telling a complete patient story requires capturing the social determinants that influence overall health. Evidence suggests that focusing on “upstream” interventions outside of traditional clinical care—such as housing, neighborhood conditions, and increased socioeconomic status—can lead to overall improvements in health and reduce health disparities and inequities. The challenge for health systems is capturing and structuring…
Like so many technologies before it, telehealth is a disruptive force with seemingly limitless potential. It can be a phone call between a doctor and a patient, or a message exchange between a primary care provider and a specialist. It can even be a consumer answering a few simple questions online and getting the prescription…
Using data from its social determinants of health database, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently created an online visualization tool providing county-level information about people’s internet access. The new resource features a US map showing percentages of households with computers, smartphones, and any type of high-speed internet access. The map also shows…
Historically, the U.S. healthcare system has evolved based upon the presence of an “event”, i.e., the need for a visit – planned or impromptu – to a medical provider and/or facility. The inefficiencies, glut of utilization and exponentially rising costs that flow from it as funded by the long-standing “fee-for-service” (FFS) payment methodology have been…
When it was launched 56 years ago, Medicare became the first single-payer insurance program in the U.S., guaranteeing medical coverage to virtually every American once they turned 65. Medicare has proven to be a crucial feature of the U.S. safety net, providing healthcare services to tens of millions of Americans while helping to keep them…
On July 9, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the federal agency that oversees health information technology, announced a long-awaited change that could help doctors and nurses provide better, more timely care for their patients. The agency released an updated version of the U.S. Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI), a…
The economic fallout related to the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to hit healthcare, but the result is likely to be an amplification of longstanding disparities within the U.S. healthcare system. Factors such as food insecurity, homelessness and access to care can affect a staggering 80% of patient outcomes. There is no single solution, and healthcare providers…