Waiting Room

Waiting Room Substack explores the intersections of healthcare policy, technology, and patient care. It delves into complex issues such as the impacts of laws on medical practices, innovations in healthcare technology, financial influences on medical decisions, and the human aspects of medical interventions.

Healthcare Policy Medical Technology Ethics in Healthcare Financial Aspects of Healthcare Human Aspects of Medicine Healthcare Innovation

The hottest Substack posts of Waiting Room

And their main takeaways

Contracts Under Coercion

0 implied HN points • 06 Apr 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Debt Physicians Contracts Professionalism Finance
  1. Debt in medical education can lead to modern forms of coercion and impact physicians' well-being.
  2. Physicians face challenges in navigating complex employment contracts and should review them holistically.
  3. Unionization, financial empowerment, and tuition-free models are potential solutions to address physician debt and empower medical professionals.

Everything You Need to Know About the Healthcare Interoperability Rules

0 implied HN points • 03 Jul 20
  1. Healthcare interoperability rules are changing, focusing on API businesses, care coordination platforms, and provider directory software.
  2. These changes will require Actors to make EHI shareable through FHIR-standard APIs by deadlines in 2021 and 2022.
  3. The rules aim to improve data exchange, coordination, and patient outcomes while creating opportunities for businesses to innovate and support compliance.

Stark Law Explained

0 implied HN points • 13 Jun 20
  1. Stark Law prohibits physician self-referral to prevent financial incentives for unnecessary tests and procedures.
  2. Stark Law imposes penalties for practices like miscoding claims, billing for services not provided, and referring patients for unnecessary procedures.
  3. Pressure to modify or repeal Stark Law arises due to technological advancements like telemedicine, evolving payment models like value-based care, and supply chain consolidation through Group Purchasing Organizations.

Vegetal Memories: A (Personal) History of Feeding Tubes

0 implied HN points • 24 Jul 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Nutrition Medical care Mental health Medical Technology
  1. Observing someone's suffering increases when we disconnect the process of eating from its natural form.
  2. Historically, advances in clinical nutrition mirror advancements in surgical procedures.
  3. Feeding tube technology, while important for sustenance, can also present a challenge due to its disconnect from the human experience of dining.

Nutrition Labels are Whack

0 implied HN points • 04 Oct 21
  1. Early food-labeling laws focused on basic attributes like net weight and address.
  2. Nutrition labels can be up to 20% inaccurate.
  3. Wine and 20% of consumables fall under the Department of the Treasury, not FDA.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Surescripts Explained

0 implied HN points • 19 Oct 20
  1. Surescripts is a vital part of e-prescribing in healthcare, linking doctors, pharmacies, and PBMs.
  2. Surescripts faced criticism from the FTC for antitrust practices like multihoming, but its ownership structure is not inherently problematic.
  3. Surescripts continues to evolve beyond e-prescribing, aiming to become a trusted health information network.

How Branded Drugs Get Named and More

0 implied HN points • 13 Sep 21
  1. Drugs are named through a structured process involving the USAN Council for generics, while branded drugs are named by companies after gaining FDA approval.
  2. The No Surprises Act (effective Jan 1, 2022) aims to prevent surprise out-of-network medical bills and establishes a process for billing and arbitration.
  3. Research indicates that therapeutic drugs can interact with human gut bacteria, affecting drug absorption, metabolism, side effects, and efficacy.

The Nobel Prize Sperm Bank

0 implied HN points • 24 Jun 20
  1. The Nobel Prize Sperm Bank aimed to create high-IQ offspring from donors like Nobel laureates.
  2. California Cryobank offers donors based on external qualities like resemblance to celebrities, height, and ethnic origin.
  3. Cryobanks play a crucial role in storing healthy sex cells for various individuals, including those undergoing chemotherapy, gender transitions, and deployed military personnel.

A Brief History of Deductibles

0 implied HN points • 17 Jun 20
  1. Deductibles have been around since the 1940s and have a significant impact on healthcare decision-making.
  2. High deductible health plans cause confusion among consumers, leading to care avoidance and financial strain.
  3. The introduction of deductibles in healthcare aimed to discourage overuse of services but has resulted in barriers to care, especially for low-income individuals and families.

Deep Profiling, a Sequoia-backed Gut Probiotic, and more

0 implied HN points • 12 Nov 21
  1. Deep profiling allows establishing baseline measurements for the body to understand health shifts before diseases appear.
  2. Different strategies like white bagging and brown bagging are used in healthcare for acquiring and administering specialty drugs.
  3. Companies like Pendulum Therapeutics are developing probiotics to manage glucose metabolism as medical food, leading to New Pharma trends.

Why Anesthesiologists Are Huge Political Donors, "API" for the Body and More

0 implied HN points • 22 Oct 21
  1. Anesthesiologists are major political donors due to high salaries and lobbying efforts.
  2. Understanding the difference between FDA-cleared and FDA-approved devices is crucial for consumer power.
  3. Exploring the nervous system as an alternative pathway for brain computing could lead to innovative advancements in cyborgology.