Atul Gawande’s latest article in the New Yorker magazine is a hot trending story in health care. It even spawned an editorial in the Wall Street Journal that seemed oddly confused about what Gawande was advocating. In his article, Gawande talks about lessons learned from quality and cost control processes at a restaurant chain called The Cheesecake Factory, and argues …

Since the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the discussion about Medicaid has largely focused on a choice states now have: whether or not to expand coverage to those at or below 138 percent of poverty. This issue is extremely important because of the impact it could have on those who are uninsured today. However, there is …

Debates about the Affordable Care Act continue—especially in this election year—but health reform is already happening all around us. All we need to do is look. Case in point: Cheboygan, Michigan, where the local hospital was closed suddenly at the beginning of April, and then resurrected—in a different form—in mid-May. Initial press reports about the closure left the impression that …

Earlier this year, on April 3, the Cheboygan News reported that Cheboygan Memorial Hospital was closing unexpectedly. The hospital had been in a purchase agreement with McLaren Health Care, based in Flint; the closure came as an unwelcome surprise to many in the community. Here’s what was in the press as it became clear the hospital would close in early …

It is hard for me to understand why opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) react so negatively to the law and use such vitriolic language in describing their views. There is a legitimate public policy debate about this law, but the policy debates have not been much in evidence in the aftermath of the June 28 Supreme Court ruling. …

It is a remarkable day in healthcare in America. The Affordable Care Act is largely upheld and millions of people can stop holding their breath. Whether you were in support of the law or opposed to it, you now know where things stand in the legal system. And, it is good. Millions of people who have not been able to …

Recent Supreme Court oral arguments have left many wondering about the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). If the ACA does not remain in effect—the result of Supreme Court decisions or the political process—employers need to understand what might happen next. (Hint: it won’t be pretty.) The problems the ACA was designed to address—coverage, quality, cost, and individual/small group …

While many have criticized the Obama administration’s communication about the benefits of the ACA (and justifiably so), few have focused on the role of the press. The press has an obligation to inform, educate and elucidate. While they have thoroughly covered the politics of the ACA, they haven’t done nearly enough to cover the content of the law. I’ll grant …

In a New York Times op-ed last December, Elizabeth Bradley and Lauren Taylor wrote about the study of global health spending published they published in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety. Their analysis broadened the concept of international health care spending to include spending on social services. Their findings were significant and ought to help us all think about health …

In 2010, when we published our study on healthcare variation in Michigan, we were able to show considerable geographic variation around the state of Michigan on a variety of procedures and services. We intentionally chose services where the research indicated either a tendency toward over-utilization (relative to evidence-based guidelines) or where the guidelines were unclear. While we adjusted for age, …