COVID Christmas Gifts
As we sit here in December 2021 COVID is still active and cases appear to be climbing in certain pockets of the United States. In early 2020, when the pandemic began, few of us ever thought that we would be dealing with...
Some Thoughts on Self-Funded Health Insurance in a (Post) Covid World
Today we are nearing the fourth quarter of 2021 and the world has been augmented in major ways since the pandemic began nearly 18 months ago. Not long-ago masks were hardly seen outside of the hospital...
What Good Will Come Out Of COVID-19?
Nine months ago, we gathered in our conference room to talk about COVID-19 and what it may look like in the coming months. When you put a bunch of data geeks with healthcare expertise in a room the opinions were diverse...
Post-Acute and Long-Term Care in a Post-COVID World
The high mortality associated with COVID-19 cases in nursing homes is staggering. As of September 1, COVID-19-related deaths in long-term care (LTC) facilities comprise more than half of documented deaths from the disease...
Impact of COVID-19 on Dental Utilization
There appears to be an association between the reopening date for elective dental procedures and the volume of dental patient visits—early-open states had a quicker utilization ramp-up, but states that opened later...
The Calm Before (After) the Storm
Sitting here in early June it is hard to know what the future holds. We are about 3 months since the COVID-19 pandemic officially hit the US, we just finished 8-10 weeks of quarantine and...
COVID-19 Death Dynamics
As states have begun to relax social distancing measures, some feel a sense of optimism. People here in California are going to beaches and restaurants (although those activities generally...
Data, Data, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink
The mortality rate is 1%. The doubling time is 15 days. Today’s number of new cases is 7% lower than yesterday’s. When a statistic is cited, it’s often...
Coping During the Coronavirus Pandemic
We are at a critical point in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 outbreaks. Our collective efforts in social distancing, adhering to stay-at-home orders and wearing masks...
Financial Risk Preparation: The COVID-19 Pandemic and ‘Unknown Unknowns’
A few days before ‘shelter in place’ became a common part of our lexicon, I returned home from the office one afternoon and told my wife I had a nice chat with the New York Times...