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The Supreme Court Health Care Ruling: Now What?
With the Supreme Court's decision to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act, experts from Wharton and the University of Pennsylvania say a small subset of Americans will see significant changes in their ability to obtain insurance, but the health care system as a whole still has a long way to go.
From: June 28, 2012
Health Care Reform: Life after the Supreme Court Debate
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments both for and against President Obama's health care reform initiative, known as the Affordable Care Act. The provision at the center of the legal debate -- the individual mandate -- requires all adults to buy health insurance, either through their employers or by purchasing it themselves. Knowledge@Wharton talked with Wharton professors Scott Harrington, Jonathan Kolstad, Mark Pauly and Arnold Rosoff about the possible outcomes of the court case; the potential implications for businesses and consumers, and ways in which health care delivery in this country can be improved. (Video with transcript)
From: April 11, 2012
The Creative Destruction of Medicine Will Happen -- If Consumers Demand It
In his new book, The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care, Eric Topol argues that medicine is set to undergo its biggest shakeup in history, pushed by demanding consumers and the availability of game-changing technology. Topol -- a cardiologist, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and co-founder of the West Wireless Health Institute in La Jolla, Calif. -- was recently interviewed for Knowledge@Wharton by C. William Hanson, III, director, surgical intensive care, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. (Podcast with transcript)
From: April 04, 2012
Looking for Solutions in a Rapidly Changing Health Care Environment
While the U.S. health care system is not yet on life support, it remains a fragmented and unwieldy structure whose rising costs bear little relation to improvements in access or quality. This is despite the introduction of patient management programs, some restructuring of insurance models, and efforts to adjust incentives for decision making all across the care continuum. But during keynote presentations and panel discussions at Wharton's 18th Annual Health Care Business Conference, the emphasis was on solutions.
From: March 28, 2012
Concierge Medicine: The Doctor Is (Always) In, If You Pay Enough
For anyone who has ever waited days or weeks to see the doctor, concierge medicine sounds appealing: For an additional fee, patients typically enjoy same-day appointments and 24-hour access, more face time with the doctor and extra preventative care. Doctors who offer concierge medicine say the practice frees them from the constraints imposed by insurance providers and allows them time to give patients the individualized attention they need. Skeptics argue that concierge medicine promotes a two-tiered system, improving health care for a few but worsening it for everyone else.
From: November 22, 2011
How to Encourage People to Become Organ Donors: An Incentive System with Heart
While the decision to register as an organ donor is a difficult one, no one can dispute the tremendous need for such donors. Approximately 110,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for organ transplants, and the donation rate in some states is as low as 7%. Against this backdrop, Wharton professor Judd Kessler and a co-researcher set out to see whether a change in the system -- one that gives priority on waiting lists to those who register as organ donors -- could cause a substantial increase in registration numbers.
From: October 07, 2011
Mystery Diagnosis: An Era of Uncertainty for the Health Care Sector
The U.S. health care sector is experiencing a time of enormous change and uncertainty, from legal challenges to President Obama's health care reform legislation to the soon-to-open generic markets for several best-selling drugs. The health care industry continues to grapple with how to deliver better care in an efficient, cost-effective way. In a recent presentation, four Wharton health care management professors discussed their research on these and other issues.
From: September 14, 2011
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Risa Lavizzo-Mourey: The Challenges Facing Health Care Reform
The landscape for health care in the U.S. continues to shift since the Obama administration passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last year. Several questions remain unanswered, including how to expand health coverage, what are the potential minefields for doing so, and what are the best ways to ensure that the system performs well. Meanwhile, Americans are becoming increasingly unhealthy, despite spending more on health care than any other nation. To address these issues, Knowledge@Wharton spoke with Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which focuses its efforts on improving the country's health care. Lavizzo-Mourey will be a speaker at the upcoming Wharton Leadership Conference 2011, which will take place on June 22.
From: June 08, 2011
In the Health Care Sector, Who Should Choose Which Treatment Is Best?
Each day, workers in the health care field debate the most reliable course of action for treating a particular ailment. As part of U.S. health care reform, new emphasis is being placed on comparative effectiveness research (CER), which pits remedies against one another to determine which is best. A new paper by Wharton professor Scott Harrington warns that the government should avoid developing a monopoly on CER, and offers suggestions for sparking interest from private sector researchers.
From: March 30, 2011
As Goes Massachusetts, So Goes the Nation? How Reform Is Impacting Health Care in the Bay State
The U.S. health care system is beginning to feel the effects of landmark reform legislation, although much of the law has yet to be implemented and opponents have persisted in calling for its repeal. But lessons learned in Massachusetts, where a similar program was launched in 2006, indicate that some of the dire predictions about national reform may not come to pass. A new research paper co-authored by Wharton health care management professor Jonathan Kolstad examines mandated insurance coverage and its effect on health care use and patient outcomes in the Bay State, finding that -- at least initially -- broader coverage has not led to dramatic overuse of the system or skyrocketing hospital costs.
From: March 02, 2011
Ready, Set, Go! Innovators Set the Pace in the Race for Faster Cures
Philanthropies and nonprofits are creating new models for drug development that cut against the grain of traditional for-profit drug discovery. Success stories range from bringing a meningitis vaccine to sub-Saharan Africa in record time to accelerating the start of clinical trials for a promising new cancer treatment. Open-source research is a key part of new models, and public and private projects are under way as well. Such initiatives may serve as templates for future drug development.
From: February 10, 2011
Road Blocks or Runways? Regulators Strive to Speed Drug Reviews without Losing Rigor
Regulators must walk a fine line between providing access to new, cutting-edge therapies and protecting the public from drugs that might be dangerous. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the world's largest medical regulatory agency, aims to speed up the process of reviewing new drugs but still faces criticism. Global guidelines for drug applications can help smooth over differences, while frequent communication between drug companies and regulators can help resolve issues in the best interests of the public.
From: February 10, 2011
Cures for an Industry Crisis: Big Pharma Scrambles to Find New Ways to Develop Drugs Faster
Companies are turning to new methods of developing drugs as blockbusters lose patent protection. These models include partnerships with universities and the sharing of once closely guarded warehouses of compounds. A key focus of the research is "translational medicine" -- whose goal is to replace traditional one-size-fits-all drugs with personalized treatments for patients with specific genetic profiles.
From: February 10, 2011
Profits and Social Responsibility: Chastened Drug Makers Step Up Efforts to Bring Affordable Medicines to Poor Countries
A decade after pharmaceutical companies took heat for their reluctance to make HIV/AIDS drugs widely available to impoverished African nations, the industry has changed its approach on pricing and access to drugs. Now, advocates for social responsibility in global health are focusing on how companies decide which drugs they will develop and how they manage operations in the developing world. New approaches include sharing patented compounds with companies developing treatments for tropical diseases, and rewarding companies that develop treatments for neglected Third World diseases.
From: February 10, 2011
Anatomy of a Merger: 'Hostile Deals Become Friendly in the End, Right?'
When Roche Holding acquired full ownership of Genentech last year, the $46.8 billion deal was the culmination of a more than 20-year relationship between the Swiss pharmaceutical giant and the Silicon Valley biotechnology company. In a recent presentation at Wharton San Francisco, Steve Krognes -- a former Roche executive who is now senior vice president and CFO of Genentech -- talked about the pharma company's decision to pursue the merger, efforts to raise capital amid the beginnings of the 2008 recession, and the aftermath of the deal.
From: September 01, 2010
