[Correction: This piece was updated to reflect the fact that enrollment in US medical schools is not declining, as originally stated, but fewer graduates are entering primary care.] ACROSS […]
Health Care
Posted inOpinion
Hospitals tackling health of their neighborhoods
BOSTON’S HOSPITALS are currently collaborating on an exciting new way to identify and address the social and economic challenges facing city residents, creating a potentially powerful way to improve health […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Healey, Baker respond to Purdue in joint letter
THREE WEEKS AFTER the chairman of Purdue Pharma argued in the pages of the Wall Street Journal against states suing his company to hold it responsible for the opioid crisis, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Ortiz case showcases Dominican justice system
THE MEDICAL CARE DAVID ORTIZ is receiving in Boston as he recovers from a gunshot wound is some of the best in the world, but the same superlatives cannot be […]
Posted inThe Download
Boston doctors seek different approach to gun violence
Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital launched the new Center for Gun Violence Prevention on Monday, with a slew of Massachusetts elected officials on hand to support the effort. Clinicians will […]
Posted inHealth Care
CHIA good source of data about Mass. health care
THE CENTER FOR HEALTH INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS produces reams of data for both Massachusetts policymakers and the public, providing a window into state health care expenditures and offering tools to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baystate mental health consolidation stirs anxiety
ON THE FACE OF IT, Baystate Health’s plan for a new mental health facility in Holyoke seems like a boon for the region. The proposed new facility will have approximately […]
Posted inOpinion
MassBIO’s drug pricing concerns don’t add up
ONE OF THE MORE PUZZLING arguments the Massachusetts biopharma industry is putting forward during the Beacon Hill debate over Medicaid drug pricing is that innovative drugs won’t be developed and […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Time to rein in prescription drug costs
WHEN MICHELLE KATS was diagnosed with diabetes in 2001, her parents would stay in her room at night and check her blood sugar to make sure it was not too […]
Posted inUncategorized
Health panel wants to open ‘black box’ of drug brokers
A QUASI-INDEPENDENT state agency tasked with monitoring the health care marketplace has made a foray into the debate over pharmacy benefits managers, calling for more transparency about the role the […]
Posted inOpinion
We need to talk about periods
IN 2014 a German nongovernmental organization called WASH United dubbed May 28 “International Menstrual Hygiene Day” to raise visibility around the daily struggle many people face with menstrual hygiene management. […]
Posted inOpinion
Key facts omitted from surprise billing debate
IF YOU RECEIVE a surprise out-of-network medical bill after being treated at a hospital in your insurance network, send the bill to your insurance company. Under current Massachusetts law, your […]
Posted inOpinion
Why it’s often difficult to follow your doctor
THE INCREASING CORPORATIZATION of health care systems in Massachusetts—with mergers, acquisitions, and the like—raises a slew of issues regarding the market power implications of industry concentration. Many of those are […]
Posted inHealth Care
RFK, Jr.’s anti-vaccine campaign is reckless and wrong — say three Kennedys
OF ALL THE WRINKLES in the emerging measles crisis and spotlight it has put on families who have caused the outbreak by refusing to vaccinate their children, the most curious […]
Posted inThe Download
Mass. nursing home staffing levels vary a lot
New data indicate staffing levels at Massachusetts nursing homes vary considerably, with 16 percent of the facilities rated “below average” or “much below average.” The staffing ratings are an indicator […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. nursing home staffing levels vary a lot
NEW DATA INDICATE staffing levels at Massachusetts nursing homes vary considerably, with 16 percent of the facilities rated “below average” or “much below average.” The staffing ratings are an indicator […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health care chairs vow action on price variation
THE CO-CHAIRS OF THE Legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Care Financing may be new to their posts, but both seem to grasp the urgency of tackling big issues facing the […]
Posted inHealth Care
On health performance, Mass. not such a shiny star
MANY BAY STATE health care cognoscenti and politicos like to brag about Massachusetts health statistics. For years now, Massachusetts has performed well, at or near the top, in surveys of […]
Posted inOpinion
Time for Tufts soul-searching on Purdue Pharma
AS A FACULTY MEMBER at Tufts University School of Medicine, I, along with colleagues and many of our students, have found it embarrassing to be confronted by news reports on […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nursing homes shutter amidst corruption, financial chaos
NURSING HOMES IN MASSACHUSETTS continue their steady descent into chaos, leaving seniors struggling to find adequate care as more facilities shutter, and fewer affordable beds are available. Five nursing homes […]
Posted inHealth Care
Bills bar non-consensual pelvic exams under anesthesia
AS INCREDIBLE as it may sound, Massachusetts lawmakers say the state needs a law barring physicians, medical students, and health care providers from performing pelvic examinations on anesthetized or unconscious […]
Posted inThe Download
A health care leader from the grassroots
Community health centers often have a strong grassroots connection to the neighborhoods they serve. But no center may proclaim that more loudly through its leadership than the East Boston Neighborhood […]
Posted inHealth Care
A health care leader from the grassroots
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS often have a strong grassroots connection to the neighborhoods they serve. But no center may proclaim that more loudly through its leadership than the East Boston Neighborhood […]
Posted inHealth Care
Conversion therapy bill picking up steam
MASSACHUSETTS LAWMAKERS ARE on the verge of passing a conversion therapy bill that attempts to shield youths from therapists trying to tamper with their sexual or gender orientation, but it’s unclear […]
