Blog

At DocSpot, our mission is to connect people with the right health care by helping them navigate publicly available information. We believe the first step of that mission is to help connect people with an appropriate medical provider, and we look forward to helping people navigate other aspects of their care as the opportunities arise. We are just at the start of that mission, so we hope you will come back often to see how things are developing.

An underlying philosophy of our work is that right care means different things to different people. We also recognize that doctors are multidimensional people. So, instead of trying to determine which doctors are "better" than others, we offer a variety of filter options that individuals can apply to more quickly discover providers that fit their needs.

Improved pricing tab

by jerry on September 20, 2020

We have been working on a number of changes in the background, and this past week, we released our next iteration of the pricing tab. Previously, we had the procedure volume, the price, and the Medicare negotiated rate on all one chart. Now, we have separated those charts for improved clarity. In some cases, we also display ranges for prices and negotiated rates when the underlying data suggests a range (when viewing the data for a group of related, but distinct, procedures).

We have been working on a number of changes in the background, and this past week, we released our next iteration of the pricing tab. Previously, we had the procedure volume, the price, and the Medicare negotiated rate on all one chart. Now, we have separated those charts for improved clarity. In some cases, we also display ranges for prices and negotiated rates when the underlying data suggests a range (when viewing the data for a group of related, but distinct, procedures).

As with many of these decisions, there is a trade-off between information density and readability. The new visualization increases the number of charts on that tab, but hopefully, each chart is easier to read. If you have any ideas on how we can improve the visualization of the data, feel free to let us know.

Read more

California may become a distributor of generics

by jerry on September 12, 2020

Kaiser Health News earlier reported that the California legislature approved a measure to pave the way for California to become a distributor of generic drugs. The article reports that this is a separate effort from the governor's earlier effort.

Kaiser Health News earlier reported that the California legislature approved a measure to pave the way for California to become a distributor of generic drugs. The article reports that this is a separate effort from the governor's earlier effort.

The startup funding -- reported to be less than $2 million -- along with the operating costs seems to be fairly small for the effort. If this measure is signed into law, it will be interesting to see if the costs remain as low as projected and how effective the state will be in lowering drug costs for its residents.

Read more

California allows nurse practitioners more latitude

by jerry on September 05, 2020

Kaiser Health News reports that California approved legislation to relax restrictions in how nurse practitioners can practice. There has been a long-running disagreement as to the extent to which nurse practitioners can practice medicine independently. Not surprisingly, nurse practitioners believe they can practice medicine mostly independently in a variety of primary care settings, while many doctors believe that nurse practitioners require more oversight.

Kaiser Health News reports that California approved legislation to relax restrictions in how nurse practitioners can practice. There has been a long-running disagreement as to the extent to which nurse practitioners can practice medicine independently. Not surprisingly, nurse practitioners believe they can practice medicine mostly independently in a variety of primary care settings, while many doctors believe that nurse practitioners require more oversight.

Nurse practitioners argue that allowing them to practice more independently allows society to benefit from more providers, particularly at a time when many areas face a shortage of primary care providers. Doctors frequently counter that nurse practitioners are not as extensively trained and therefore provide a lower quality of care. Not surprisingly, there may be a substantial financial impact at stake for both sides.

Read more

Public sentiment changes on ACA

by jerry on August 30, 2020

Kaiser Health News reported on public sentiment regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) changing. Soon after the ACA passed, a number of Republican legislators campaigned on the idea of overturning or limiting the impact of the ACA. Several years later, especially in a time of great economic uncertainty, polls show public sentiment being supportive of the ACA.

Kaiser Health News reported on public sentiment regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) changing. Soon after the ACA passed, a number of Republican legislators campaigned on the idea of overturning or limiting the impact of the ACA. Several years later, especially in a time of great economic uncertainty, polls show public sentiment being supportive of the ACA.

The article reports that "The foundation's polling found that, in July 2014, 55% of voters opposed the law, while 36% favored it. By July 2020, that had flipped, with 51% favoring the law and 38% opposing it." Now, Republican candidates seem to find their opposition to the ACA a liability instead of an asset.

Read more

More states planning to run their own exchanges

by jerry on August 23, 2020

Kaiser Health News published an interesting article describing how more states are planning on running their own insurance exchanges. The motivation seems to largely come down to financial savings: apparently, states pay the federal insurance exchange a surcharge of around 3% of the premiums collected. For larger states, that surcharge can amount to over one hundred million dollars per year, and some states think they can operate their own exchange for less. States that run their own exchanges might also advertise enrollment more, perhaps leading to fewer uninsured individuals.

Kaiser Health News published an interesting article describing how more states are planning on running their own insurance exchanges. The motivation seems to largely come down to financial savings: apparently, states pay the federal insurance exchange a surcharge of around 3% of the premiums collected. For larger states, that surcharge can amount to over one hundred million dollars per year, and some states think they can operate their own exchange for less. States that run their own exchanges might also advertise enrollment more, perhaps leading to fewer uninsured individuals.

The article reports that some states encountered technical difficulties and ended up reverting to the federal exchange, so it remains to be seen how successful these efforts will be. It is interesting how many tens of millions of dollars (or more) it takes to run these changes.

Read more