98.6 Degrees: A blog from Dr. Brent King

A different future – Part IV: How is a hospital like an airline?

Brent King — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:19:53 +0000

In a couple of my last posts I suggested that the combination of a newly insured segment of society coupled with a glut of hospital beds in many urban areas might produce a situation in which hospital administrators begin to compete for patients. Some people have asked me whether this would remain true if those [...]

A Different Future – Part III Prescriptions for Public Facilities

Brent King — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:11:42 +0000

In Part I of this series, I described what I believe to be the major challenges facing public hospitals in an environment in which all or most US citizens and legal immigrants have some form of health insurance. Apparently, my comments offended some of the leaders of our local public hospital system who, I assume, [...]

A Different Future Part II – Looming changes and new aliances

Brent King — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:18:49 +0000

Imagine for a moment that you are a person of means living in England in the early 1700’s. If you wanted to buy, for example, china dinner plates, you went to the shop (and probably home) of a master craftsman and he and his relatively small team made your plates to order. It was a [...]

A Different Future: Part I – What becomes of public hospitals?

Brent King — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:47:46 +0000

There is little doubt that, whatever the shape of the new American healthcare system, it will be different, perhaps radically different than the current one. Although the details of the final bill are far from certain, it is safe to assume that it will provide healthcare insurance coverage for many of the currently uninsured citizens [...]

Tort Reform Redefined

Brent King — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:13:21 +0000

In my last post, I argued that the current tort system neither helps to eliminate medical error nor reliably identifies “problem” practitioners. I believe that it is a failed system which benefits no one except the lawyers. So if that is true; is there a better alternative? Yes, I think there are other models that [...]

The Other Side of Risk

Brent King — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:04:42 +0000

Last time I posted, the topic was risk tolerance. I tried to make the point that some, perhaps much, of the cost of healthcare is related to how comfortable providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, etc) are with risk. If I am very uncomfortable with risk, then I can certainly spend a great deal of money over [...]

Risk and risk-tolerance

Brent King — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:55:00 +0000

Make no mistake, risk plays an important role in the cost of health care and it does so in at least two related ways. At some point during the recent debate about how America will deal with healthcare most people have heard that medical malpractice plays a role in the costs of care. Of course, [...]

“One man’s coffee…”

Brent King — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:47:46 +0000

Most of us have heard the phrase “one man’s coffee is another man’s tea” uttered, often in bewilderment, to explain a choice made by a friend or colleague that is radically different from what we would have chosen under similar circumstances. A similar phrase with a different meaning helps to explain one of the key [...]

How much is that MRI in the Window?

Brent King — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:19:12 +0000

Memorial Day has come and gone and another Texas legislative session is winding down. As in previous sessions, the health components of the University of Texas System, including UT Houston, have reminded legislators of UT’s commitment to the health of all Texans. One of the ways that UT health professionals demonstrate that commitment is provision [...]

The Cost Conundrum

Brent King — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:55:32 +0000

By Dr. Atul Gawande The New Yorker, June 1st, 2009 This article should be required reading for every American. As we debate healthcare, there are several roads we might choose. We ought not to choose the road leading to McAllen, Texas