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The High Cost of U.S. Prescription Drugs

      Prescription drug prices in the United States are significantly higher as compared to other developed countries around the world. This is a huge problem exacerbating the cost of healthcare in the U.S. currently and is worsening healthcare in many other ways such as decreased medication adherence. According to a KFF Health tracking poll conducted last year, roughly 3 of 10 Americans reported not taking their prescription medications as prescribed due to cost. Poor medication adherence as you know, often lead to negative health outcomes for patients, which we want to avoid.      The U.S. also spends more per capita on prescription medications in a year compared to our other wealthy first-world country counterparts.  Based on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is comparing data from the U.S. and other comparable developed nations around the world, it was shown that in the year 2019 that U.S. spent $1,126 per capita on prescription medic
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Oral Health in the United States – Inequalities and Disparities in Care

Having good oral health is essential to one’s quality of life and overall well being, as I learnt last winter. A bad case of wisdom tooth infection presented as throbbing pain that radiated from my jaw to my neck, leading to sleepless nights and a trip to the emergency room. A 10-day antibiotic regimen resolved the infection, but I spent the following months in a general state of anxiety and frustration as I waited to undergo wisdom tooth extraction surgery. The procedure was backed up all the way to summer, due to the limited availability of oral surgeons in the Ann Arbor area, and the fact that only a handful of clinics accepted my UM international student insurance. Back in Hong Kong, where I am from, the waiting time for a procedure like this would have been 2 weeks at most. But, I still count myself lucky. My insurance covered most of my surgery costs, and the quality of care I received at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry was nothing short of excellent. This situatio
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Disparities in Women's Healthcare

Gender bias in healthcare is a major issue in the healthcare system worldwide. In the United States, women are often not taken seriously when they go to their doctors for help, and this can be extremely dangerous, particularly when it comes to pain. Oftentimes, when a woman is complaining of pain, providers often believe they are overexaggerating, or attribute it to mental health disorders such as anxiety. According to a study conducted by the University of Rhode Island, men were twice as likely to receive narcotics than women after receiving surgery. Additionally, women were more likely to be prescribed sedatives rather than narcotics for their pain after receiving surgery. Another study published by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that women are 7 times more likely to be misdiagnosed and sent home during a heart attack. A study conducted by Cedars Sinai found that women were also more likely to die during surgery, especially if the surgery was performed by a male surgeon
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Healthcare Issue: Staffing Shortages

  One of the issues currently facing the healthcare field is staffing shortages. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, health care systems are suffering from being short-staffed and this leads to negative patient outcomes, safety risks, and burnout among working staff. There are several reasons why healthcare is experiencing a shortage in healthcare professionals. Since telehealth has grown exponentially, many people choose to seek remote positions. Working remotely offers the advantages of working out of the comfort of your own home, being able to set more flexible hours, less time spent commuting to work, more time to spend on other tasks, and more. Additionally, many people experience burnout and feel physically and mentally exhausted. The pandemic placed a huge burden on healthcare and many staff members worked overtime to help sick patients or to improve their financial status. Some staff members chose to quit their jobs due to burnout, in order to preserve their wellbeing. Othe
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Time is ticking, Doctor!

I have always been told that the best time for a doctor's appointment is either right when the office opens or right after lunch ends. Why is this? It is because that's when the doctor's schedule is least like to be backed up. All it takes is one patient visit running over time to cause a domino effect on the remainder of the schedule. This problem can then be continuously compounded as the day continues if more and more visits take longer than the allotted time. From personal observations, it seems that most follow-up patients are assigned a 15-minute time slot while new patients get a 45 or 60-minute appointment. In my mind, a 15-minute visit seems like no time at all. I mean, I have waited in line for Chipotle for way over that, and so I cannot imagine trying to fit an entire doctor's visit in that short of time. I remember when my mom was still working in health care and her specifically requesting that certain patients be given longer time slots because she knew th
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Healthcare Professional Shortages

The American population is steadily shifting towards a larger proportion of elderly versus young people, which increases the demand for healthcare.  We all know that people require more care as they age due to the progression of chronic diseases, weakened immune systems, increased cancer risk, and other reasons.  We would expect our healthcare system to gradually make changes to expand services and meet these growing needs.  However, satisfying the demand for care is proving to be extremely difficult due to growing provider shortages. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), there will be an estimated shortage of about 124,000 physicians in the US healthcare system by 2034.  In other terms, that’s 122,000 physicians who will not be treating patients and thousands more who will be overwhelmed with care demands.  The growing demand for physicians and other healthcare professionals is primarily due to our aging demographic and the corresponding increase in healthc
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Medical Bankruptcy

Medical care in the American health care system can be incredibly expensive, and complaints about unexpected bills with high dollar amounts are not uncommon. This issue is so widespread that medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States, with 66% of bankruptcies caused directly by medical expenses. This is a deeply concerning statistic unique to the Unites States where health care is not provided to citizens through a government program at little to no out of pocket cost, as is the case in most other developed countries. Instead patients are responsible for finding their own health insurance, which often ends up tied to ones employer, and there is no guarantee of coverage. There are many reasons that could be pointed to as the cause of these bankruptcies. A major contributing factor is that 27 million people in 2021 were uninsured. Having no insurance can lead to staggering bills should an emergency occur. Another major factor is that the quality of insuran
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