Medicare Advantage Market Dynamics Margins. Expansion. New market entrants. Enrollment. Benefits. Star ratings. The Medicare Advantage market is anything but static. We took a close look at what’s happening and …

Read 10/16/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

As I watch COVID-19 cases ebb and flow around the country over the past eight months, I wonder if any place consistently is safer than another. After repeatedly watching this …

Read 10/9/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

It’s Market Versus Medicine in Med Tech Race Venture capital funding of digital health technology is through the roof, but are the new tools what patients need and what doctors …

The only reason I’m writing this blog post is so I can refer to it and link to it a year from now. The lead of next year’s post will …

Read 10/2/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

What’s the Line on the ACA? A new Supreme Court justice? The same president? A new president? All will have a hand in the fate of the Affordable Care Act. …

If you come over, there’s a decent chance that HGTV will be on. The home-improvement channel is our default TV station. It runs in the background like a radio as …

I watched an interview online yesterday with the director of emergency services at a health system in North Carolina. The interviewer asked her about how her health system coped with …

Home Is Where the Hospital Is On today’s episode of the 4sight Friday Roundup Podcast, we talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic is expanding the definition of home care. Listen. …

Read 09/25/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Of all the sectors of the healthcare industry, the one I know the least about is the pharmaceutical sector. Journalists have made careers out of covering drug companies or even …

The Uninsured: Where We Go From Here We talked about the new uninsured and unemployed numbers and what they mean for universal coverage on today’s episode of the 4sight Friday …

Read 09/18/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Outcomes still matter. They really do. Amidst all the talk about making care more accessible and convenient and making care more affordable and valuable, making care safer often gets lost …

Pondering the Prospects of a COVID Vaccine Will it be before Nov. 3 or after Nov. 3? Will it be safe? Will people take it? We talked about it on …

Read 09/11/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

We’re going to turn this week’s blog post over to consumers, who are going to tell you what they think about the healthcare system via two new opinion polls from …

Read 09/04/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

How You Can Tell For-Profit and Not-For-Profit Hospitals Apart We talked about the differences and similarities between hospitals and systems with different ownership structures on today’s episode of our 4sight …

No one likes to be told what to do. If there was a club for people who don’t like to be told what to do, I would be a member. …

Read 08/28/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Reassessing Our Public Health Infrastructure How well do you think the public health system in the U.S. held up during the pandemic? We tell you what we think in today’s …

Fixing healthcare is very easy and extremely difficult at the same time. That dichotomy is what gives the status quo staying power. A few things that came out over the …

Read 08/21/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

PPE and the Healthcare Supply Chain Did we learn our lesson or are we going to make the same mistakes again? Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast to …

Don’t bury the lede.  That journalism rule of thumb also applies in healthcare when you see your doctor. If you tell your doctor your throat hurts, you have a headache …

Read 08/14/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Healthcare’s Future After the Election What does a Biden win mean for healthcare? What does a Trump win mean for healthcare? We talked about it on this week’s 4sight Friday …

Everyone loves primary care. Everyone hates primary-care physicians. Well, maybe not everyone, but certainly the healthcare market and healthcare consumerism. We’ll talk about the major takeaways from the big primary …

I think we all can agree now that provider integration doesn’t lower healthcare prices. When hospitals buy or merge with other hospitals, when medical practices buy or merge with other …

Read 08/07/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Is Telemedicine Headed Left or Right? Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for what we think this week’s big news means for the future of telemedicine. David Burda …

I know lots of doctors having covered healthcare now for nearly 40 years. One thing’s always puzzled me. Why would a doctor not want to be a doctor anymore and …

Read 07/31/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Is There a Better Way to Bailout Providers? Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our thoughts on continuing COVID-19 financial relief for hospitals and health systems. David …

A few Sundays ago, I needed a tetanus shot. I sliced my finger open with a single-edge razor blade that I was using to scrap old wood glue off a …

Read 07/24/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Reopening and Recovering the Right Way Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our take on how hospitals, health systems and medical practices should be reopening to recover …

I’ve been to Oregon, and it’s beautiful. But I had no idea the state had a real problem with low-value care. I’m glad I didn’t get sick when I visited …

Follow the Digital Health Money Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our take on what venture capital funding of digital health technology companies says about what the …

Read 07/17/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

This is why I don’t gamble.  Well, more accurately, this is why I shouldn’t gamble.  In the April 10 edition of our weekly newsletter 4sight Friday, which you could read …

Read 07/10/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Walgreens, Walmart and Vertical Integration Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our take on who wins and who loses from the latest round of vertical integration in …

One of the bellwethers I follow to see what direction healthcare is headed is the annual physician supply and demand reports from the Association of American Medical Colleges. If the …

Read 07/03/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

COVID-19 and the U.S. Economy Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our thoughts on why the future of the economy depends on our COVID-19 response moving forward. …

I’m not independently wealthy, and as a journalist for nearly 40 years now, there have been times in my adult life when our family has lived check to check. Yet, …

Read 06/26/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

The Patients Are Alright Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our thoughts on why many patients who are skipping care because of the COVID-19 outbreak are doing …

The coronavirus pandemic exposed flaws in the U.S. health system that we knew existed but weren’t in a rush to do anything about because everyone (other than patients) was profiting …

Read 06/19/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

COVID-19 and Healthcare Affordability Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our predictions on how the outbreak will affect the affordability of medical care now and in the …

The COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. is leaving a lot of financially struggling hospitals and medical practices in its wake. Experts predict that to recover—or perhaps as an opportunity to …

Read 06/12/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Predicting COVID-19’s Toll on Your Revenue Cycle Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our thoughts on how the pandemic will affect your net revenue and revenue cycle …

Consumers want the private sector, not the federal government, to lead them out of this mess we call the U.S. healthcare system, which got a lot messier because of the …

Read 06/05/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

How Will Providers Get Their Patients Back? Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our thoughts on how payers and providers will respond to the new healthcare consumerism. …

For an old healthcare legal reporter, writing about antitrust and community benefits in the same blog post is about as good as it gets. The only thing missing is a …

Restaurants across the country laid off workers, limited menus and closed because COVID-19 took away their customers. Hospitals and medical practices across the country furloughed workers, limited services and closed …

Read 05/29/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Will Behavioral Health Keep Up With COVID-19-Induced Demand? Listen to this week’s 4sight Friday Roundup podcast for our take on how the market for behavioral health services will change because …

If you think starting a workplace wellness program would be a good way to help your company recover from the COVID-19 outbreak, I’ve got a coronavirus vaccine I’d like to …

Read 05/22/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Big Pharma on COVID-19’s Center Stage David Burda interviews David Johnson and Gary Bisbee about the week’s biggest news around market-based change.  David Johnson is CEO of 4sight Health. Gary …

As a skeptical journalist and amateur psychologist, I don’t believe much in coincidences. Things happen for a reason. Two new and separate studies of accountable care organizations illustrate the point. …

Read 05/15/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

COVID-19 Remaking Retail Pharmacies David Burda interviews David Johnson and Gary Bisbee about the week’s biggest news around market-based change.  David Johnson is CEO of 4sight Health. Gary Bisbee is …

When business management guru Peter Drucker uttered his famous adage, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” he probably wasn’t thinking about the patient experience in healthcare.  But …

If you suffer from asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, better known as COPD, why would you not take your medication as prescribed? You take it, you can breathe, you …

Read 05/08/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

More Healthcare Regs Fall to COVID-19 David Burda interviews David Johnson and Gary Bisbee about the week’s biggest news around market-based change.  David Johnson is CEO of 4sight Health. Gary …

I’m not sure how many times data scientists and marcom people are in the same room at a hospital, health system or medical practice. But if you’re looking for a …

Which Way Will COVID-19 Move the Needle on Healthcare Spending and the Uninsured? David Burda interviews David Johnson and Gary Bisbee about the week’s biggest news around market-based change.  David …

Read 05/01/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

What consumers think of the healthcare system in the U.S. and what the system thinks of itself are two very different things. The COVID-19 outbreak has exposed just how deep …

The COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. has turned everyone’s world upside down. In healthcare, no one has had their world turned upside down more than doctors and their medical practices. …

David Burda interviews David Johnson and Gary Bisbee about the week’s biggest news around market-based change. David Johnson is CEO of 4sight Health. Gary Bisbee is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman …

Read 04/24/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

You know what I think about health system’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., and you know what our 4sight Health contributors think about it. But what do …

Read 04/17/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

David Burda interviews David Johnson and Gary Bisbee about the week’s biggest news around market-based change.  David Johnson is CEO of 4sight Health. Gary Bisbee is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman …

Hospitals, health systems, medical practices, health plans, licensed clinicians and virtually every type of healthcare setting imaginable not only have to comply with countless state and federal regulations, they also …

David Burda interviews David Johnson and Gary Bisbee about the week’s biggest news around market-based change.  David Johnson is CEO of 4sight Health. Gary Bisbee is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman …

Read 04/10/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the …

We’re going to take a short mental break this week from COVID-19 and write about something else. We’re going to talk about Accenture’s latest survey of consumers on their digital …

Read 04/03/2020 here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the 4sight …

Sometimes, it’s better just not to say anything.   If you know anything about the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., you know that the healthcare supply chain here has been a …

4sight Friday is a weekly email newsletter of opinions, insights and news we see impacting market-based change – either negatively or positively. A complementary podcast, 4sight Friday Round Up, launched …

So, it took a deadly pandemic to expose how utterly useless most healthcare regulations are in ensuring that patients get the best possible care at the lowest possible cost when …

Read 03/27/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the …

Chief financial officers around the world are scrambling to figure out how to manage the short-term economic impact and the long-term economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on their companies …

Read 03/20/2020 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the …

Almost every hospital or health system that I’ve covered over the past 37 years as a healthcare business reporter claims to be failing financially or on the brink of financial …

Likely overshadowed by anticipation of HHS’ final information-blocking rules, which came out earlier this week, HHS’ latest annual report on hospital interoperability didn’t get much attention. But, if you read the …

What providers want digital health tools to do, and what patients want digital health tools to do are two different things, apparently. If that’s true, we’re no nearer to creating …

“Just what do you think you’re doing, Dave? Dave, I really think I’m entitled to an answer to that question.”—HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey I get that a …

It’s not complicated. If you want doctors to stop performing or ordering low-value procedures and tests, stop paying for them.  The reminder that providers respond to financial incentives as much …

Before your physician asks you at your next office visit what brought you in today, you may want to ask them who owns their practice. Their answer may at least …

Well, maybe I jumped the gun and gave the healthcare industry too much credit for finally recognizing that its future depends on redefining patients as customers and making them their …

I’ve watched enough crime movies and TV shows to know that the law enforcement character who talks tough usually isn’t and, more often than not, is in on the crime, …

  Read 01/31/2020 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

When the Centene Corp. completed its $17.3 billion acquisition of WellCare Health Plans late last week, it created a health insurer that now operates in all 50 states with a total …

Maybe it’s because it’s a new decade. Maybe it’s because the year 2020 makes for easy vision analogies. Maybe it’s because CMS projects national health expenditures to break the $4 …

  Read 01/24/2020 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

As a highly skeptical healthcare business journalist, I tune my radar to look for dark clouds rather than silver linings. But, every once in a while, an unexpected blip appears …

  Read 01/17/2020 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

Competition, regulation or both? Those are the choices facing states that want to make healthcare more affordable for their residents after years of unbridled prices hikes from providers and premium …

The Medicare Advantage program turned 21 this month. Like all 21-year-olds with new-found freedoms and responsibilities, whether it makes 31 in the same shape will depend on how well it …

  Read 01/10/2020 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

As a business journalist, I hang out at the corner of “follow the money” and “actions speak louder than words.” It’s the same place I go when I want to …

  Read 01/03/2020 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

If you spend your Saturday afternoons watching home remodeling shows or cooking shows, you realize that having the right tools for the job makes all the difference. What you struggle …

  Read 12/20/2019 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with …

Here at 4sight Health, we like to call it like it is. We see and throw a flag on the things that prevent the healthcare system in the U.S. from …

Read 12/13/2019 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the …

As 2019 draws to a close, the evidence continues to mount that healthcare affordability again will be the No. 1 challenge facing patients in 2020. What incumbent industry stakeholders, lawmakers, …

Pictures don’t lie. Neither do numbers. And these numbers paint of picture of U.S. hospitals and health systems remaking themselves in response to new economic forces challenging their long-term viability. …

I get the feeling that the industry is moving on from this whole volume-to-value thing and will need to find a new analogy to replace that foot-in-two-canoes business that everyone …

Read 11/27/2019 Edition here. Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all with the …

Your patient engagement strategy would have worked, too, if it wasn’t for those darn patients. That’s the sentiment from a new survey of 70 CIOs, executives and directors at 65 …

Everyone complains about high drug prices. That is, when they’re not complaining about high hospital prices. So what are you going to do about it? Or, better yet, what can …

  Read 11/15/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

All the shrugs, shock and handwringing this week over the Google-Ascension patient data-sharing deal got me wondering about what patients thought of all this. So I scrolled through a bunch …

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One of the best lines in Jaws comes from Brody after he sees the 25-foot great white shark for the first time. He slowly backs into the cabin, looks at …

Read 11/01/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, all …

Everyone wants patients out of the hospital, where the costliest of costly care takes place.  Government payers. Commercial health plans. Patients. Doctors. Even hospitals want patients out of the hospital. …

I got my flu shot on Oct. 21. (I’ll let you know how it worked out.) As I waited for my turn at our nearby immediate-care center, I explained to …

  Read 10/25/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

When you buy something and it doesn’t work, you take it back to the store (or more likely send it back to Amazon via your local Kohl’s) for a refund. …

  Read 10/18/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

I love healthcare industry regulatory burden surveys. From an academic standpoint, I’m interested in the topic of competition versus regulation and how each affects how healthcare markets function—or not—for patients. …

4sight Health’s writers and authors have published 57 blog posts, commentaries, podcasts and videos on 4sighthealth.com from January through June of this year. The topics are as varied as the …

  Read 10/11/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

In most markets for most goods and services, you get what you pay for. The more you pay, the better the goods or the services. Hence, the expression, you get …

  Read 10/04/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  I get the point of the expression. But, I didn’t fully appreciate how it applied to healthcare until I read …

With open enrollment about a month away at most businesses that offer health insurance benefits to their  workers, it’s time to look at what employers are doing and not doing …

  Read 09/27/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

So, how’s it going? Do you think your hospital or health system or medical practice or health plan or pharmacy or life sciences company or post-acute care facility is providing …

As wary consumers, we’ve come to expect upselling. Need an oil change? Looks like you need a new air filter and radiator flush, too. That sports coat looks fantastic on …

  Read 09/20/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

Football season is upon us, and you’ll be hearing coaches at every level—high school, college and pro—talking about “getting back to basics” or “stressing the fundamentals” or “blocking and tackling.” …

  Read 09/13/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

When people my age were kids, there was a good chance that their parents wanted them to be doctors. Some wanted their children to be lawyers. I don’t recall anyone …

  Read 09/06/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

The later in the day that you see your doctor you’re more likely to get the flu, get colon cancer and get hooked on prescription pain killers. OK, that’s a …

“Practicing at the top of your license” and “upskilling your workforce”are two popular healthcare buzz phrases right now. As account-hungry consultants breathlessly will tell you, when medical professionals spend their …

  Read 08/23/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

Everyone in healthcare is “all in” on a lot of things these days, and two things that are at or near the top of that list are social determinants of …

  Read 08/16/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

  Read 08/09/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

When better customer service is a competitive threat, it really is time to rethink your business model.  That was my first thought when I read the results of a survey …

What will healthcare be like 10 years from now? Not a lot of healthcare executives toiling in our system have the luxury to think about that as they deal with …

  Read 08/02/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

You might have heard about this on the news. A new study is out that says employer-sponsored health insurance is getting really expensive.  (How expensive is it?) Hmm. May your …

This Nov. 29 will mark the 20th anniversary of the release of the report, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, the seminal work by the Institute of …

  Read 07/26/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

Medicare accountable care organizations say they’re doing a lot to manage and coordinate the care of sick beneficiaries. But a new study says the ACOs don’t have much to show …

  Read 07/19/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

  Read 07/12/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

  Read 07/5/2019 Edition here.  Curated by David Burda, 4sight Health’s news editor and columnist. Read his columns here. Find 4sight Health and industry opinions and news on market-based change, …

Everyone, including me, is always on employers to do more to improve the healthcare system in the U.S.  We’re on them to use their healthcare purchasing power and insured-lives market …

It seems that the Healthcare Industrial Complex (TM) is alive and well in the cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology laboratories at the top heart hospitals across the country. At least that’s …

I write a lot about what healthcare organizations and companies do, and I make educated guesses on why they do what they do based on my experiences, industry knowledge and …

A new Viewpoint in the Journal of the American Medical Association said states are trying, but largely failing, to control through various regulatory tactics the prices paid by private health …

What were you expecting, an ICU? A new study in JAMA Internal Medicine reveals that the hospitals patients rated highly for service were less likely to have the actual medical …

More on the what and the why of employers and behavioral health, and what both mean for remaking the nation’s healthcare system into one where outcomes matter, customers count and …

It’s a great time to go to medical school and become a doctor. Ignore all the manufactured angst from organized medicine and opinion polls of aging physicians who say they …

You know that moment when you “hit the wall” when you’re running a marathon? I don’t. But, I’m told that it typically happens around the 20-mile mark when your physical …

By now you know you should never order fish at a restaurant on a Monday. That’s because the fish likely has been lying around the kitchen since early Friday morning. …

The National Institute of Mental Health says 46.6 million adults suffered from some form of mental illness in 2017. Of those, 57.4 percent didn’t receive any mental health treatment for …

And you thought changing patients’ health behaviors was going to be hard. Try changing physicians’ drug prescribing patterns. That’s the lesson from a new study in Health Affairs that reported …

I’m not sure that US millennials are going to have a happy ending when it comes to their healthcare. If I’m reading things right, in less than 30 years, when …

Knockoffs usually aren’t as good as the originals, whether they’re golf clubs, purses or pressure cookers. A new study suggests that you can add healthcare to the list, especially if …

Healthcare is one of the most if not the most regulated industry in the U.S. While its businesses like to blame overzealous bureaucrats for all the red tape, the current …

“We must begin by asking it, ‘What is losing?’  Losing is a disease. As contagious as polio.  Losing is a disease. As contagious as syphilis. Losing is a disease. As …

The lack of affordable medical care isn’t just a U.S. phenomenon. It’s a serious problem across Europe, according to a new report from the World Health Organization. WHO’s report identified …

If you believe in the adage “follow the money,” it would lead you to telemedicine. Analyzing billions of private health insurance claims, a new report said telemedicine is the fastest …

Like companies in any other industry, when providers misbehave, it opens the door to state regulation of their behavior. What’s interesting about a new study in JAMA Open Network is …

It’s like preparing and serving a seven-course meal that your biggest customer ordered only to have the entire menu change between the salad and the main course. That’s what it …

What if you walked into your doctor’s office and there was a sign hanging in the waiting room that said: “Please do not confuse your Google search with my medical …

When your phone company or your cable provider offers you a new and innovative service plan, your immediate thought is that you’re going to end up paying more for less. …

Low-value care doesn’t just drive up healthcare costs without providing any discernable medical benefit to patients. It can kill you. That’s the takeaway and market lesson from the latest study …

There are signs that digital health—the promised cure for everything that’s wrong with healthcare—may be slipping into the trough of disillusionment.  You may want to check your heart rhythm on …

When two competing companies merge and get bigger, a common worry of their customers is whether the quality of service will suffer as a result. Should patients worry about the …

One state’s attempt to control healthcare costs by using “affordability standards” ended up limiting increases in commercial health insurance payments to hospitals and doctors without any changes in utilization or …

I mean, what did you think was going to happen? A new study says big Blues plans that went for-profit dramatically raised their premiums right after their ownership conversions. The …

It’s not your imagination or the self-serving forecast of a healthcare consultant angling for your business. Fewer people are seeing their doctors in person in a physical office. It’s a …

Death, taxes and employer-sponsored health insurance. We know the first two are certainties in life, and new research again confirms the assurance of the third. Researchers from the School of …

What’s going to happen in healthcare this year is anyone’s guess. Not really. What’s going to happen in healthcare this year is everyone’s guess. Like most of you, from mid-December …

Much has changed in healthcare over the past 25 years. A lot has changed in healthcare over the past 25 minutes. But one thing hasn’t changed, and that’s the public’s …

What would you cut out if you suddenly had to reduce your monthly household expenses by 5 percent, 10 percent, or even 25 percent? I’m sure that some of the …

Everyone sees what they want to see in the latest figures on national health expenditures released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier this month. Most people see …

A new report is yet another sign that the march toward value-based care has bogged down. The Health Care Transformation Task Force, which is a Washington-based coalition of health systems, …

Competition good. Regulation bad. That’s my caveman summary of HHS’ manifesto released on Dec. 3 on how to improve the quality and safety of patient care while simultaneously lowering healthcare …

If you’re looking for a sign that we’re truly approaching a watershed moment in healthcare innovation, look no further than the people whose job is creating new medical technologies that …

The line between financial incentives and clinical outcomes just got a little straighter. A new study says money may have erased the difference in readmission rates between the top heart …

We’re at a branch point in healthcare’s evolution. We’ll learn soon whether disruptive innovation is the product of individuals or organizations. When we find out, we’ll know the best path …

Expanding the scope of practice for nurse practitioners and physician assistants may be a cost-effective way to manage the health of patients with chronic illnesses. That’s the market-based reform takeaway …

Patient office visits to primary care physicians are down. Patient office visits to nurse practitioners and physician assistants are up. But switching to NPs and PAs from doctors isn’t saving …

Yet another report shows that fee-for-service medicine is hard to kill. This time the culprits are a lack of faith in value-based reimbursement by clinicians and a lack of trust …

Wide variations in what providers charge for the same medical services are notorious. But providers are not acting alone. They’re aided and abetted—and some would say coerced—by health plans whose …

Far from pulling the plug on fee-for-service medicine, commercial health plans continue to give it CPR. A new report says well over half of commercial health plan payments to providers …

A new study reminds us that the squabble between providers and payers over coverage of unnecessary emergency room visits should be more about patients and less about who pays who …

Every picture tells a story. So does every chart in the Kaiser Family Foundation’s annual employer health benefits survey. Here are 10 small stories from Kaiser’s latest survey that collectively …

It’s like FBI profiling but for doctors—doctors who order too many unnecessary diagnostic tests. Researchers from Canada have escalated the fight against low-value healthcare services by focusing on the doctors …

All hospitals say that they want to engage patients in their own medical care. But even the best hospitals are making it difficult for patients to access their own medical …

Short of making flu shots mandatory for healthcare workers, healthcare employers need to do much more to immunize their staffs from a virus that threatens their health and the health …

What’s the most important thing to you when you or a family member has to go to the hospital? (That question assumes you have a choice.) For me it would …

Unnecessary variation in patient care is a quality and cost killer. And it’s not just a problem for complex medical cases. It’s a problem for even the most routine services …

The news cycle in healthcare seems to be following the news cycle in politics. Twenty-four hours is now 24 minutes if not 24 seconds. With that in mind, let’s hit …

If you paid your kids to clean their rooms and keep them clean, would they? If you stopped paying them, would they keep cleaning their rooms because they realized that …