WHEN MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM announced two weeks ago that it would not offer a controversial new drug treatment for Alzheimer’s disease to patients, it was an important statement from the […]
Health Care
Posted inOpinion
Small dental practices face uncertain future
INDEPENDENT DENTISTS who work in rural areas and suburbs across Massachusetts are in a vulnerable spot. The dental practice landscape is changing, and the small, private practices that are an essential part […]
Posted inHealth Care
Study says 140,000 children lost a caregiver to COVID
A STUDY PUBLISHED by the American Academy of Pediatrics in the journal Pediatrics on Thursday quantifies yet another tragic outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic: orphanhood. The study used modeling to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Few giving up their jobs over vaccine mandates
VACCINATION MANDATES are sweeping across the country, both in the public and private sectors. They have produced a great deal of anxiety in public conversation, and polls in recent months […]
Posted inEducation
Delays hinder state’s pooled testing program for schools
WHEN THE AMHERST-PELHAM regional school district instituted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the school committee gave staff an alternative: they could get tested regularly instead. But the district was counting on […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
DC spending bill bad news for Mass. pharmaceutical sector and patients
ON SEPTEMBER 15, the House Ways & Means Committee, chaired by Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal, endorsed prescription drug price controls as one way to pay for the massive $3.5 trillion […]
Posted inOpinion
Insurance should cover full cost of pregnancy
IN MASSACHUSETTS, we pride ourselves on our healthcare leadership — the first state to achieve near-universal health insurance coverage, home to some of the most celebrated healthcare institutions in the […]
Posted inHealth Care
House approves vaccine mandate for members, employees after heated debate
AFTER AN UNUSUALLY testy and personal debate on the House floor, representatives on Thursday approved an order mandating vaccines for all House members, staff, and officers. The vote was 131-28, almost entirely along […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
A roadmap for mask rules in Massachusetts schools
ON AUGUST 24, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved a proposal by the commissioner of education to implement a mask mandate for Massachusetts schools that will last until […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nursing home industry sounds alarm – again
THE STATE’S NURSING home industry is again sounding the alarm, saying a package of nearly $560 million in state and federal aid is needed to address chronic staff shortages and […]
Posted inOpinion
DPH needs to stop being a paper tiger
EVERY TIME a hospital spends capital dollars to add inpatient beds or ambulatory sites to its footprint, the Department of Public Health is tasked with conducting an analysis to determine whether […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Opioid epidemic grinds on in Mass. at elevated rates
This research brief was prepared by the Boston Indicators Project. AS THE COVID-19 pandemic continues to fill headlines, the opioid epidemic grinds on with few signs of improvement. In this […]
Posted inThe Download
‘Frequent flyers’ account for 9.4% of ER visits
As state policymakers seek ways to slow the growth in health care costs and improve access to care, a new report by the Center for Health Information and Analysis on […]
Posted inHealth Care
‘Frequent flyers’ account for 9.4% of ER visits
AS STATE POLICYMAKERS seek ways to slow the growth in health care costs and improve access to care, a new report by the Center for Health Information and Analysis on […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health Policy Commission backs provider price caps
THE MASSACHUSETTS Health Policy Commission is recommending that the state take more aggressive measures to control health care costs, including setting price caps on the most expensive hospital systems and imposing […]
Posted inOpinion
Time to plug gaps in Medicare coverage
A 72-YEAR-OLD woman went in for surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2019. The last thing she remembers before her surgery was a doctor putting her to sleep. When […]
Posted inOpinion
Westborough selectmen back Mass General Brigham facility
AT OUR MEETING on March 23, the Westborough Select Board voted unanimously to send a letter of support for Mass General Brigham’s proposed Integrated Health Services Center in Westborough. In […]
Posted inHealth Care
What does full FDA approval of Pfizer vaccine mean?
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here. THIRTY PERCENT of unvaccinated American adults say they’re waiting for the COVID-19 vaccines […]
Posted inUncategorized
In Kingston, dueling policies over masks
THE KINGSTON BOARD of Health voted to require masks in schools last week and the following day the Kingston School Committee voted not to. The Board of Health has no […]
Posted inOpinion
Leaders need to stand on the side of science
AS PHYSICIANS on the frontlines of the COVID pandemic, we lived through the dangers, worries, and devastation of what COVID did to not only our patients, but also our health […]
Posted inHealth Care
Meet the state’s only Black home birth midwife
A BLACK WOMAN is nearly twice as likely as a White woman in Massachusetts to die during pregnancy or after childbirth, according to a 2014 report by the Department of Public […]
Posted inThe Download
Delta illustrates benefits, limits of vaccines
The worrying spread of the Delta variant has vastly changed the landscape around COVID-19 vaccines, putting renewed attention on getting everyone vaccinated while at the same time illustrating the limits […]
Posted inUncategorized
Delta illustrates benefits, limits of vaccines
THE WORRYING SPREAD of the Delta variant has vastly changed the landscape around COVID-19 vaccines, putting renewed attention on getting everyone vaccinated while at the same time illustrating the limits […]
Posted inOpinion
Vaccine mandate worked for us
COVID CASES are once again on the rise. People are getting sick. People are scared. Businesses, including hospitals and healthcare providers, are returning to all-too-familiar protocols to again try to […]