Rise of the Machines
Telemedicine took hold during the COVID-19 pandemic , accounting for nearly one-third of outpatient visits in the first half of 2020 .
In a report published in Health Affairs , authors analyzed a database of 16.7 million commercially insured and Medicare Advantage enrollees from January to June 2020 .
The American Way
A new report from the RAND Corporation quantifies just how much more Americans pay for prescription drugs compared with other nations .
Researchers compared 2018 manufacturer prices for prescription medications in the U . S . with other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development .
During this period , 30.1 % of all visits used telemedicine .
Prescription drug prices
are 2.56 times higher in the U . S . than in other nations .
The gap was even larger for branded pharmaceuticals ,
at 3.44 times the
prices in other countries .
The uptake was not universal , with lower use of telemedicine in communities with higher rates of poverty and in specialties such as ophthalmology .
Source : Patel SY , Mehrotra A , Huskamp HA , et al . Variation in telemedicine use and outpatient care during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States . Health Aff ( Millwood ). 2021 ; 40 ( 2 ): 349-358 .
However , generic drug prices were consistently lower in the U . S ., where prices were 84 % of the average paid in other nations .
Source : RAND Corporation , “ International Prescription Drug Price Comparisons : Current Empirical Estimates and Comparisons with Previous Studies ,” January 2021 .
The Med School Shuffle
Students entering medical school with one preferred specialty in mind often change their minds by the time they graduate , according to the Association of American Medical Colleges ’ annual “ Report on Residents .”
Of medical students graduating in 2019-2020 , 48.7 % had a different specialty than planned at the beginning of medical school .
Students most often followed through with their original plan if they had stated a preference for orthopedic surgery ( 48.7 %), pediatrics ( 39.1 %), neurologic surgery ( 37.6 %), and emergency medicine ( 36.8 %).
Source : AAMC , “ 2020 Report on Residents .”
46 ASH Clinical News March 2021