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Paramedics wheel a patient on a gurney into a hosptial's emergency department.

Study Finds Big Disparities in Stroke Services Across the U.S.

“'Some hospitals do not have the necessary resources to treat patients experiencing certain types of strokes,' said lead investigator Renee Y. Hsia, MD, a UCSF professor of emergency medicine and vice chair for Health Services Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine.

'Our findings can help inform the adoption of broad-based social and policy interventions at the local, state and federal levels to promote equal opportunity and access to important community resources.'”

— Covered in UCSF, Jul 26, 2024.

A woman seated in what appears to be a wheelchair in an apartment room with a bed in the background speaks to a woman facing away from the camera

How a Repurposed Oakland Hotel Is Saving Lives and Easing Hospital ER Overcrowding

“Soon after residents arrive at OakDays, they receive a medical workup to determine what kind of care they need. Tenants can get help with everything from going to the toilet to daily insulin injections. Nurses make rounds to check vitals and socialize with the 60 residents.

'We’ve successfully housed many of those folks who had cycled previously, like out of the hospital, to the street, to a nursing home, to jail, back to a hospital, back to the street, back to a nursing home,' said Catherine Hayes, a nurse practitioner and cofounder of Cardea Health, one of the nonprofits that run OakDays.”

— Covered in KQED, Jun 17, 2024.


Television

 

Local leaders, residents raise concerns after Seton Coastside's temporary ER closure in Moss Beach

"Dr. Renee Hsia with UCSF, who has studied the effects of emergency department closures for the last two decades, said that driving further could affect the patient's outcome.

'When we have farther driving distance, that doesn't just mean the patients have to go father, it means the ambulance needs to go farther. So we have longer times that one ambulance is out of service. That means that when you call 911, because its on the road there and back, its gonna take longer for them to respond to your call,' she said."

— Covered in NBC Bay Area, Apr 10, 2024.

Potential impact of Regional Medical Center closing trauma center

Regional Medical Center of San Jose said it would close its trauma unit this year, saying it isn’t being used enough to keep it open. NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai spoke to Dr. Renee Hsia of UCSF about the impact that can have on the community.

— Covered in NBC Bay Area, Feb 15, 2024.


Podcasts and Radio

Editorials

How The U.S. Healthcare System Misses High Returns On Investment

This is not rocket science in any way. Indeed, providing services in areas where they already exist will have less “bang for your buck” than when you open a stroke center in an underserved area. The problem, however, is that our healthcare system lacks the incentive to expand and deliver essential services in the communities that need them most.

Published in Forbes, Nov 13, 2024.

Justice As Medicine: Legal Representation As A Public Health Strategy

"Universal legal representation may be both a moral imperative and a pragmatic one. It’s an essential part of the strategy for the rising healthcare costs associated with homelessness."

Published in Forbes, Oct 8, 2024.

A Tale of Two Cities: Why Poor Areas Have Fewer EDs Than Rich Ones

"Concentrating procedures in high-volume hospitals reduces hospitalization days and mortality rates. But there does need to be recognition that, left to its own devices, the market will not correct for certain things, and access to critical services like ERs is a good example."

Published in Forbes, Sep 19, 2024

How Medical Debt Drives Patients To Anonymity In The ER

"As an emergency room doctor, I’ve treated dozens, if not hundreds, of John Does. I’ve also treated several Elvis Presleys. As a health policy researcher, I’ve also heard of patients who fear giving the ER their real name because of the medical bills."

Published in Forbes, Sep 9, 2024.

Why Medical Debt Relief Might Not Help You Pay Off Healthcare Bills

"Across the country, local and state governments, including Illinois, North Carolina, Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio, Louisiana, Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and New Jersey, have announced programs to buy outstanding medical debt or give hospitals additional payments if they take the steps needed to relieve outstanding medical debt from patients who qualify. While four in 10 Americans have medical debt, the impact of such initiatives may be less than expected."

Published in Forbes, Aug 28, 2024.

$22,789 For Appendicitis . . . And I Didn’t Even Have Surgery

"A well-informed surgeon with excellent bedside manner offered either intravenous antibiotics or surgery. I opted for the former since it was a mild case, and I was discharged after an uneventful 3-day hospital stay.

A few months later, I received the hospital bill. While I wasn't responsible for the total amount because I am insured and had a reasonable co-pay, the full charge was $22,789."

Published in Forbes, Jul 30, 2024.

Anticompetitive behavior is rampant in health care. It’s hurting consumers.

"But in recent years, the drive for profits has intensified — driven largely by the increasing involvement of private equity, which invests more than $200 billion per year in health care and over the past 10 years has bought over 8,000 hospitals and other health care firms. The addition of these investors, who seek to quickly maximize their returns above all else, is also leading to new business practices that, while not technically illegal, are definitely making health care worse."

Published in San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 5, 2024.

How the NFL offers a window into health care solutions for our country

“We all agree that emergency care should be provided – now we need to focus on the how. In too many cases, the market is simply not equipped to determine what care costs and when and to whom it should be provided. The good news about market failure in health care is that we have a clear opportunity to improve how we deliver care.

It’s time to stop fumbling the ball and get it in the end zone.”

Published in Kevin MD, Dec 23, 2023.

Same hospital, same injury, same child, same day: Why did one ER visit cost thousands more?

"There are few certainties in life, but one of them is that we will all need healthcare at some point. And another, at least for those of us living in America, is that we have no idea what it will cost or why. This would never be tolerated in any other industry.

What can we do about it?"

Published in Los Angeles Times, Dec 11, 2023.

Let’s leverage graduate medical education to increase Medicaid re-enrollment

“The medical students applying for our residencies right now are a bright, committed group; tomorrow’s physicians. Physicians like us are teaching them clinical skills. We can also engage trainees to rebuild our safety net, to serve the patients waiting in line. Tying the federal teaching hospital support for graduate medical education to the number of patients with Medicaid, instead of hospital beds occupied by people with Medicare, would incentivize both Medicaid expansion and increase the provision of services to patients with Medicaid at our nation’s teaching hospitals.”

Published in STAT News, Nov 2, 2023.