Electronic health records (EHRs) are widely perceived as having great potential for improving the quality of healthcare and diminishing the costs of that care. Present-day EHRs, however, are widely perceived as disappointing. Many doctors consider them time- and money-wasting nuisances that...

We examine the welfare effects of the interaction of three types of technological progress in medicine and health insurance; some paradoxes emerge. The model specifies three types of people: W (well); H (sick with high cure rate if treated); and L (sick with low cure rate if treated). There are...

We model a health insurance market where rising cure rates for a disease may paradoxically diminish welfare and even negate the desirability of health insurance altogether. In the model, rising cure rates can affect welfare in two ways: (1) directly, by improving some individuals' health, and...

When the value of a medical treatment differs across individuals, it may be socially beneficial to treat some, but not all, patients. If individuals are ignorant of their health status ex ante, they should be willing to purchase insurance fully covering treatments for high-benefit patients (Hs)...

Global trade and payments data, although absolutely essential to an understanding of the pattern and direction of world commerce, are not completely unambiguous. Compilers of such data face numerous problems of definition and measurement of particular components of nations' aggregate external...

The FDA’s system for regulating medical devices has been criticized for retarding innovation because it adds uncertainty and costs to the invention process and delays the approval of devices. Because this system was created 40 years ago, it does not reflect societal changes in information...

The current system of healthcare licensure contributes to the high cost of and impaired access to medical care. Politics plays a perverse role in maintaining the status quo and prevents the healthcare workforce from adapting to the evolving needs and rapid technological advances of the 21st...

The Healthcare Openness and Access Project (HOAP) is a collection of state-by- state comparative data on the flexibility and discretion US patients and providers have in managing healthcare. HOAP combines these data to produce 37 indicators of openness and accessibility. In turn, these...

The speed and scope of COVID-19 took the United States by surprise. No state was adequately prepared to handle the pandemic, and no federal agencies had enough knowledge to offer sufficient guidance. As the country continues to cope with the crisis, the extent to which regulatory restrictions on...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or “drones”) can bring a powerful lifesaving capability to medical situations in which time is critical. Eventually, drones may also bring efficiency and cost savings to nonurgent medical situations. In some places, such as Rwanda and Ghana, UAVs are already...