American health care faces persistent issues with consolidation, workforce shortages, integration of new technologies, and unrelenting economic pressure. In 2023, technologies such as clinical decision support (CDS) and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools continued to emerge rapidly, offering both promise and risk. Meanwhile, even as long-standing care and business models are upended, the ripple effects of COVID-19 continue. Physician shortages are growing, especially in primary care, though advanced practice …
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In evaluating delayed or missed health care that has occurred during the pandemic, it is tempting to speak of “COVID care” vs. “non-COVID care.” However, the pandemic has disrupted health care so thoroughly that in some sense, COVID-19 has affected all of health care.
The effect on care has been stunning in magnitude. By mid-2020, more than 40 percent of U.S. adults had delayed medical care or avoided …
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Artificial intelligence (AI) has proven of value in the COVID-19 pandemic and shows promise for mitigating future health care crises. During the pandemic’s first wave in New York, for example, Mount Sinai Health System used an algorithm to help identify patients ready for discharge. Such systems can help overburdened hospitals manage personnel and the flow of supplies in a medical crisis so they can continue to …
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In the mid-1970s, malpractice lawsuits and skyrocketing jury awards caused commercial insurance companies to raise physicians’ malpractice rates by as much as 400 percent. The practice of medicine was deemed to be “uninsurable.” Thousands of physicians faced cancellation of their policies. As a result, doctors came together to form their own companies to provide affordable and sustainable coverage. However, today’s physicians need more.
We spoke with more than 800 doctors, practice …
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