Tag: LSPA

This blog was written by John Schneider, PhD, Katherine Dick, Cara Scheibling Recently, the crypto-currency company Bitcoin has been in the news, mainly for its combination of volatility in valuation coupled with its impenetrable technological foundation.  The virtual currency is perhaps the most well-known application of a technology now commonly referred to as “blockchain.”[1] Each...

In recent years, there has been a shift in U.S. health care markets to a broader, population-based perspective when assessing the costs and benefits of medical innovation. Cost effectiveness analysis and budget impact analysis results can look quite different when viewed from the perspective of a health system or an accountable care organization, and can...

Much of the public media and even a substantial part of the medical literature operates on the assumption that there is a shortage of physicians in the U.S., including those specializing in primary care, intensive care, and surgery. One study, for example, estimated that the physician shortfall in the U.S. would reach 90,000 by 2025.[1]...

In recent years, the food industry has seen a boom in the “free from” category, including a myriad of ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, toxic pesticides, artificial hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs. One such product that has been particularly demonized recently is gluten. Celebrities from Miley Cyrus to former president Bill Clinton...

In recent years, there has been a small but measurable slowdown in the rate of increase in health expenditures, both here in the U.S. and abroad. The slowdown is largely attributable to a higher level of commitment on the part of payers to increase enrollee cost sharing and control access to high cost treatments.[1-3] If...

There was a time when we did not spend a lot of time worrying about the quality of the health care services we received. Our families went to the doctor who was known as a “good doctor” and we received treatment in the nearby hospital known as a “good hospital.” An endorsement or two from...

As a follow-up to our previous blog (October 2014), we are revisiting the topic of Ebola because this public health crisis has drawn attention to two very important public health issues: (1) the ever-present global danger of infectious diseases, and (2) the critical role of the public health and health system infrastructures in preventing and...

The recent Ebola epidemic in Africa has served as a reminder of the vulnerability of public health systems in handling unexpected health problems, especially when basic access to care and day-to-day health problems remain a challenge. Unlike its northern counterpart, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to experience a disproportionate burden of disease, influenced by the intersection...

For over 50 years, the food industry has used Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) food service products for a variety of food and beverage service needs. EPS, commonly known as Styrofoam, is cheap and durable, so it seems ideal for takeout food or your hot cup of to-go coffee. But you might want to rethink drinking your...

Over the past 50 years, 95% of the country’s state psychiatric hospital population have been closed down, leaving fewer than 200 hospitals to provide care to those living with mental illnesses (Fisher et al. 2009). Between 2009 and 2011 alone, states cumulatively cut more than $1.8 billion from their budgets for services for children and...