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About Me
I am a physician and behavioral scientist. My research and writing explore the quirks in human nature that influence our lives -- the mixture of rational and irrational forces that affect our health, our happiness, and the way our society functions. (more...)- Have a question or just want to get in touch? Email me at peter.ubel@duke.edu
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Tag Archives: primary care
Why The Government Tried To Fix Primary Care And Failed
Americans spend more per-capita on medical care than just about any other country and, yet, they often have little to show for it. Americans have worse access to care than people in other countries, and are often less likely to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged health policy, healthcare quality, Medicare, primary care
Regulation of Nurse Practitioners
In a recent post, I pointed you towards a very nice article by Jason deBruyn about controversies over the role of nurse practitioners in providing primary care. A recent study in the journal Health Affairs showed that when states loosen … Continue reading
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged healthcare costs, primary care
Expanding the Role of Non-Physicians in Primary Care
I’m back to blogging again, and thought I’d return to a topic I have blogged about recently: expanding the role of non-physicians in primary care. A very talented journalist in North Carolina, Jason deBruyn, wrote a nice piece which I … Continue reading
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged health policy, healthcare costs, price transparency, primary care
Will a Nursing Surplus Make Up for a Primary Care Physician Shortage?
I wrote not too long ago about a way to overcome the potential shortage of primary care physicians, the shortage some experts worry about because of the increased demand for primary care that will be created by Obamacare. I promoted … Continue reading
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged health policy, Obamacare, primary care
Dramatic Primary Care Changes in Ontario
Healthcare systems are big and complex beasts, that are very hard to transform overnight. In the United States, for example, we have long had a system of care dominated by fee-for-service payment. In this kind of system, the more tests … Continue reading
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged Canada, health policy, primary care
Why the Free Market Isn’t a Cure-all for Healthcare
It’s comforting to think that most healthcare problems in the U.S. could be solved by letting the power of an unregulated free market do its work. It’s also wishful thinking and overly simplistic, according to Peter Ubel, MD, a general … Continue reading
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged free markets, health policy, healthcare costs, primary care
More Debate on the Future of Primary Care
Recently, I posted in Forbes about our need to rethink primary care, to avoid a physician shortage. The debate continues, as seen in this interesting post from Dan Diamond. (Click here to view comments)
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged health policy, healthcare costs, Obamacare, primary care
Solving the Primary Care Physician Shortage by Turning PCPs into Anesthesiologists
Are there really too few primary care physicians? And if so, what can we do to solve the PCP shortage? The standard answer to the first question is “yes, we have too few PCPs.” And the standard solution is to … Continue reading
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged health policy, healthcare costs, Obamacare, primary care
Do U.S. Physicians Make Too Much Money?
In September of 2011, Laugesen and colleagues looked at why health care in the US costs so much. Part of their analysis explored primary care physician fees. It showed that primary care docs in the US make a bit more, … Continue reading
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged health policy, healthcare costs, orthopedics, primary care