News Room

Screening protocols to determine who qualifies for "compassionate dialysis" in hospitals with high numbers of uninsured patients are driving an unintended consequence, an SMU analysis has found. The protocols are putting too much strain on the emergency room, as measured by how long ER patients are waiting to be seen and other metrics.

In 2020, healthcare distributors delivered over 51 billion personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies to providers on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19.

Over 30 million adults have opted to take a pass on the COVID-19 vaccines, including around 3 million people over 65 years-old. They are exercising their personal choice to remain unprotected against the virus through vaccination, choosing to accept the associated risks. 

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have both begun clinical trials with an omicron-specific vaccine. Sounds good in theory, given that the majority of infections in the United States are with the omicron variant. However, there are numerous reason why such a product will not provide any additional benefits beyond the vaccines that are already available.

A family member became seriously ill last year. After some initial tests, a malignancy was diagnosed. Surgery was scheduled, followed by chemotherapy. Everything proceeded mostly as planned, with no medical hiccups. We are both well-educated, with backgrounds in medicine, health economics and risk analysis, which should have prepared us to maneuver the requirements of our health insurance provider and ensure that copays and pre- authorizations were handled as necessary. We were gravely mistaken.