The Incidental Economist

Health Services Research (HSR) and the International Collaborative on Costs, Outcomes and Needs In Care (ICCONIC) are partnering to publish a Special Issue on International Comparisons of High-Need, High-Cost Patients: New Directions in Research and Policy. The issue is sponsored by The Health Foundation and the abstract submission deadline has been extended to December 11, 2020. Find more details here.

@afrakt

We’re getting close to a year of living with Covid-19, but work is still ongoing to understand the mechanisms behind some of its most devastating effects. A lot of attention has been given to Cytokine Storms in this realm, but with some conflicting evidence there, Bradykinin Storms are starting to share some of the spotlight. […]

Because The Incidental Economist is widely read, I am frequently interviewed by Canadian journalists (radio, TV, and print). I want to talk about provincial and national health policy. But the interviewer always wants me to say how it feels to have cancer during the COVID pandemic. Well, it varies. When I was first diagnosed and […]

Momentum is gathering for telemedicine, which could alleviate a longstanding problem: wait times.

One argument we continue to hear about the reaction to Covid-19 is that “it’s just another flu”, and that we can move forward with life as usual, much like we move forward with life during flu season. While we wish that were true, it simply is not. There are major differences that necessitate a much […]

Below are recent publications from me and my colleagues from Boston University’s Department of Health Law, Policy and Management. You can find all posts in this series here. November 2020 Edition Anderson E, Solch AK, Fincke BG, Meterko M, Wormwood JB, Vimalananda VG. Concerns of Primary Care Clinicians Practicing in an Integrated Health System: a Qualitative Study. […]

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of Americans becoming homebound — having limited social contacts and accessing medical care, groceries, and other needs from within their homes. But for many older Americans, being homebound (i.e., never or rarely leaving home) is already the norm. Efforts to connect homebound people with health-promoting resources could help not only to address their medical needs, but also to facilitate their social engagement and participation in valued life activities.

Will Raderman is a Research Fellow in the Department of Health Law, Policy & Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. He tweets at @RadWill_. Julia Raifman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy & Management at the Boston University School of Public Health and runs the COVID-19 State […]

Ah, Vitamin D, back again. We’ve made our case on how unnecessary Vitamin D supplements are for outcomes like diabetes, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health, and overall mortality. But what about its effect on viral infections like Covid-19? Can it reduce symptom severity, or perhaps even reduce your odds of becoming infected in the first place? […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 6 million infections and more than 200,000 deaths in the U.S. alone, and has exposed long-standing health disparities through its disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minority communities. These disparities are likely due to a complex combination of risk factors, such as the presence of comorbidities, discrimination, healthcare access and utilization, occupation, or other social determinants of health. As the pandemic continues, understanding the presence and extent of this disproportionate impact remains an area of active and ongoing research. Here, we provide a current snapshot of COVID-19 case and mortality demographic data at state and, where available, tribal and county levels with a focus on identifying and quantifying racial disparities. A more detailed report is available here.