Resident surgeon @UCSF; health policy and computational genomics. Cofounder @memorahealth. Bio/ML @BessemerVP. Alum @ycombinator, @broadinstitute, @harvardmed.
Mar 15, 2020 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
U.S. inaction on this front is embarrassing. We have the funding, approach, and historical precedent to get ventilators to meet demand, but are quickly running out of time.
For those unfamiliar, ventilators (between $25-50,000 each) push oxygen into the lungs of patients with acute respiratory distress, critical to stave off total respiratory failure, a typical cause of death for patients with #COVID19.
Mar 12, 2019 • 15 tweets • 7 min read
With all the buzz about @ewarren's proposal to break up big tech, let's go behind the scenes at what's happening in the health care industry: An interweave of legacy legislation, perverse incentives, corporate collusion, monopoly pricing power by hospitals, and local politics. 1/
First, some legacy legislation: The 2003 MMA traded votes for increased reimbursement to their district's hospitals. Those rates went up y/o/y. Hospitals invested margin in payroll, capex (buildings, tech), bonuses, and lobbying. Via @zackcooperYale: nber.org/papers/w23748
