In the news
Same Hospital, Different Outcomes: Stroke Center Certification Boosts Treatment Rates for White but not Black Patients
“'What happens inside the hospital - from triage to treatment decisions - still varies in ways that disproportionately disadvantage Black patients, Hsia explained.'
'Certification can open the door to better care, but it doesn't guarantee that care is delivered fairly.'”
— Covered in UCSF, July 30, 2025.
Access Does Not Equal Equity: New Study Reveals Stroke Center Certification Benefits Are Unevenly Distributed Across US Communities
“'We found a troubling paradox,' said senior author Renee Y. Hsia, MD, MSc, a professor of Emergency Medicine at UCSF and an attending physician at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Disadvantaged communities gained the most access to newly certified stroke centers - but those centers were less likely to provide advanced therapies like thrombectomy, and patients didn't see the same improvements in outcomes as those from more advantaged areas.'
'Our hope is that this work guides more equitable approaches to stroke systems of care - ones that go beyond stroke centers and focus instead of delivering their benefits to every patient with stroke, regardless of where they live.'”
— Covered in UCSF, June 30, 2025.
SF's emergency patients are forever stuck in ambulances. Waits are getting longer
“'The longer the Ambulance Patient Offload Time, the longer the patient is waiting to get into a bed, the longer it takes us to get started on their care,' said Dr. Chris Colwell, chief of emergency medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
'The whole health system is overwhelmed, said Colwell, I think there's no question about that.'”
— Covered in The San Francisco Standard, Jan 2, 2025.
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
The Medical Crisis TV Dramas Like 'The Pitt' Won't Show You
"Ambulances aren’t just racing to emergencies—they’re stuck waiting in ER hallways, a silent warning of a healthcare system stretched to its breaking point."
Published in Forbes, Feb 26, 2025.
When Poor Care Pays: The Hidden Flaws in America's Healthcare System
"There aren't many industries where poor quality leads to more revenue, but healthcare is one of them."
Published in Forbes, Jan 21, 2025.
Why Health Insurance Feels Like A Scam: Paying More and Getting Less
"The problem is that you often have no idea what the final charges will be and how much your insurance company will pay - and these costs can be astronomically high."
Published in Forbes, Jan 13, 2025.
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.
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.
Have Good Health Insurance? Too Bad. You Could Still Get A $250,000 Bill
"How can we make sure we aren't caught as powerless patients in this administrative web of complexity? On an individual level, each of us, upon receiving medical services, could embark on an emotionally draining and time-intensive endeavor to obtain our itemized bills and negotiate with the hospital and insurance company (or multiple ones, in some cases).
But sadly, the likelihood of any success is low. It is time we put our collective energies toward changing the referee-free zone of healthcare."
Published in Forbes, Jun 14, 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.
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