I correspond regularly with about 30 doctors and nurses, most of them still in practice. Most live in Boise, but a few of them I spent time with on active duty in the Navy. The perspective that they have given me as they have looked into their own practices, their own concerns about the direction […]
I am convalescing at home this evening after having undergone my second and hopefully my last total hip surgery. I related in an article 2 months ago how grateful I was to the entire OR crew at St. Luke’s in an article in The Gem State Patriot. My surgeon and friend Dr. Ron Kristenson led […]
I have been following health care polling by Rasmussen, CNN, and Gallup since March 23rd, 2010, when President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. Since 2018—before Covid, the general public’s feeling about the insurance system and health provider networks has become increasingly more negative. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/health/us-health-care-poll-gallup/index.html Beginning early this year, the patients who have […]
I have spent the last week getting “pre-oped” before I undergo bilateral hip replacements at St. Luke’s. The nurses, doctors, and technicians who have taken care of me have been magnificent—as they have always been. My criticism of Luke’s has always been about its management and the Board of Directors who remain, according to many […]
I am John Livingston and I have practiced surgery and medicine in Idaho and the Military for over 47 years. On July 1st I retired from the practice of Medicine and surgery. I am Board certified in Internal Medicine and General Surgery. I was appointed and served on The YHI Health Insurance Exchange Board for […]
It was back in 2015 that we along with the Idaho Freedom Foundation warned Idahoans about the problems with containing costs if Medicaid Expansion was approved in our state. It was eventually passed by referendum and is now chewing up tax dollars beyond belief. Why are we subsidizing those who are capable of paying for […]
Everything is getting bigger. In my profession, the doctor-patient relationship has been all but destroyed by “vertical and horizontal integration” with hospital systems buying up medical practices and then employing physicians and physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Then the hospital systems are bought up by insurance companies or vice versa, and then the mega company […]
When assessing any corporation or for that matter a business entity it is important that you have an in-depth understanding of those personnel who are running it. When we look at today’s medical facilities such as large integrated hospitals, we find many times that management does not understand the problems that must be delt with […]
I would like to offer a “tip of the hat” to my friends at The Idaho Freedom Foundation. In an article published two days ago, the authors Fred Birnbaum, Ronald Nate PhD., and Niklas Kleinworth outline in a policy paper entitled MEDCAID IN IDAHO: A POLICY PRIMER the predicate, the unfulfilled promise, the financial house […]
There is so much political NOISE in the world today that one of my great fears is that the great majority of people in our State and country will just “turn it off”. What would happen if there was a day where there just wasn’t any news? Would all the news channels just sign off […]
I spent 16 years practicing medicine and surgery in the United States Navy. Some of the best surgeons and most compassionate physicians I ever met in my 46-year career were in the Navy. Military medicine like the Veterans Administration (VA) system and the Indian Health Service (IHS) is a single payor socialized form of medicine. […]
Over twenty years ago I first was introduced to the concepts of “asymmetry, agency, and scale” while visiting my son’s finance class during parents’ weekend at Gonzaga. The teacher of the class, Mr. Kent Hickman was one of the authors of the textbook FOUNDATIONS OF CORPORATE FINANCE that is used even today at many colleges […]