This past Monday, Pioneer held the 13th annual Hewitt Healthcare Lecture to honor our longtime chairman (and chairman of Beth Israel Deaconess) Colby Hewitt, Jr. The crowd of 250 enjoyed a substantive and fun night — the two can go together! — at Harvard Medical School’s Joseph B. Martin Conference Center. The 2019 Hewitt Keynote Speaker, U.S. Health...
Billerica, Massachusetts is a quaint town of 40,000 people in Middlesex County, the 25th richest county in the nation, right after Rockwall County, Texas, according to the 2016 American Community Survey. Billerica’s town government spends its time improving their Yankee Doodle Bike Path and protecting their local wetlands. Their Council on Aging even gives out...
In 2016, the rate of opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts was more than double the national average (29.7 compared to 13.3 per 100,000 people). But Massachusetts doesn’t follow the usual trend for its users. Other states (like Alabama, Kentucky, and West Virginia) struggle hardest in rural communities, where increased availability and social networks make addiction...
At some point many people find themselves needing help to care for themselves. For the elderly, nursing homes provide that help, either temporarily or on a long-term basis. In 2014, there were 1.4 million individuals in nursing homes nation-wide, with 41,255 of them in Massachusetts. Nursing home residents accounted for 3.7 percent of citizens...
Studies show that 90 percent of the elderly want to live out their days at home. With familiarity sewn into every corner, home feels warm and secure. Moving to a nursing home can be terrifying, replacing the familiar with the unfamiliar and often separating couples because of different needs for care. Many adult children lament...
Today, Pioneer Institute submitted recommendations to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Special Senate Committee on Health Care Cost Containment and Reform. Pioneer applauds provisions of the proposed legislation that would reduce emergency room use and re-admissions, expand scope of practice, and embrace telemedicine. The Committee should also be commended for looking to other states' accomplishments in...
Pioneer Institute's initiatives in healthcare focus on three goals. We promote price transparency, essential in containing costs and increasing access to care. We aim to put state programs like Medicaid on a more sustainable path and create flexibility so the programs provide higher-quality care and access to care, which too often outside greater Boston is...
As a little girl I have a dim memory of my mother taking me to a medical “dispensary” in what was then not-very-trendy East Boston. I remember it being really convenient; it was just down the street from where we lived, had short wait times, and a nominal cost, if any at all. This was...
Paul F. Levy, former President & CEO, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, will moderate a panel discussion on the changing face of the healthcare market and innovations to meet consumer demand. Additional speakers: Fay Donohue, Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow at Harvard University Dr. Rushika Fernandopulle, CEO of Iora Health Rob Graybill, Vice President of Product...
Guest post by Alex Carlin As more Americans age in place, policymakers face a number of challenges in ensuring adequate healthcare access for older adults. A central concern is the growing divide between the services available to elders living in urban settings and those in rural communities. In less densely populated areas, which often have...
