The main problem the eldercare industry faces today is one of supply and demand. Simply put, there are not enough caregivers to meet today’s demand. This problem will only get worse as baby boomers begin to enter their later senior years, in what is colloquially being called “The Gray Tsunami.”
A narrow majority of physician practices in the United States expect patient volume to return to pre-COVID levels by Jan. 1, 2021, according to a new Evolve Healthcare Marketing and Redwood Advisors survey. Fifty-one percent of outpatient physicians, practice administrators, hospital executives and other key healthcare decisionmakers made such a forecast when completing the inaugural survey late last summer. This total includes one-third of the survey’s participants whose volume had already returned to pre-pandemic levels before Labor Day.
Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota is an important figure in U.S. legislative and regulatory policy, with 25 years of combined service in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Daschle stands out as the only senator to serve twice as both the majority and minority leader. Daschle has participated in the development and debate of almost every major issue in the last three decades.
With his extensive experience and unique perspective, Tom Daschle discusses the future of U.S. healthcare with American Healthcare Journal staff writer, Caroline Miller.
For more than four months, my colleagues and I have focused our efforts to address the ongoing needs of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have been successful in providing much-needed relief through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security
Act and the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted virtually every industry, but no field has been challenged as much as the healthcare industry. At the start of 2020, the widespread adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies across hospitals felt farfetched. But, after the last six months, healthcare providers are in need of a digital transformation within the industry, and location technologies are paving the way for this much-needed change.
COVID-19 overhauled the U.S. healthcare system overnight. Systems we paid little mind to before, whether they are lifesaving medical supply manufacturers, critical hospital budgets or ICU capacity limits, now garner universal attention. Doctors, nurses and vaccine scientists — previously unsung heroes — have stepped into the spotlight and continue to support us as we face an unknown future. And while the counts of COVID-19 transmission climb, hospitals are facing an unexpected financial toll.
There’s no question that therapy today in skilled nursing facilities looks vastly different than it did several months ago — and for many years before that. What is yet to be determined is whether these changes can result in positive outcomes for all parties involved: patients, therapists and skilled nursing facilities.
Dr. Jonathan Gruber is the Ford Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Director of the Healthcare Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Highly involved in healthcare public policy, he was a key architect of Massachusetts’ health reform efforts, “Romneycare,” from 2003 to 2006. As a technical consultant to the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2010, he helped develop the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Dr. Gruber discusses his healthcare reform experiences and shares his predictions for the future of healthcare with American Healthcare Journal staff writer, Caroline Miller.
The coronavirus pandemic will spur major changes in the dialysis world, particularly when providing services to patients residing in the epicenters of the pandemic: nursing homes. More than one-third of all U.S. COVID-19 deaths are nursing home residents. There are nearly half a million hemodialysis patients in the United States, and more than 10 percent of these patients spend time at a nursing home at some point during a calendar year. This reflects both the vulnerability of the elderly population to COVID-19 infection and the difficulty in containing infection in these sequestered communities with residents living closely together.
At a time when healthcare professionals, scientists, first responders and everyday people are performing heroic deeds to help us out of the COVID-19 crisis, it’s critical that we maintain our vigilance for bad actors seeking to do us harm in the cyber realm.