by Rod Edwards on July 9, 2009
The health research world is a-twitter today about the longevity boosting effects of a compound called Rapamycin. Hailing from the soil of Easter Island, Rapamycin significantly extends the lifespan of mice, and may do the same for humans. I imagine happenstance discoveries like this to be the tip of the iceberg for radical longevity therapies.
Which makes me wonder: how does our society and social infrastructure cope when, for example, people don’t retire until they are 80? Or when the retirement-to-death duration starts increasing by decades? I know from my studies of life insurance that rates, funding levels, etc. take into account a certain expectation of increasing longevity, but that expectation is based on the relatively conservative gains of the last few decades. Will the social net, financial, and healthcare industries be blindsided by science? Is there anyone in government thinking about these things?
by Rod Edwards on May 6, 2009
Emergency rooms mean waits, generally of the long variety. I know firsthand as I volunteer in one weekly and hear crusty testimonials from the tired, frustrated, and hurting as to how long those waits are.
Yet: on a given night, in Winnipeg at least, different ER’s have vastly different wait lengths. So why not publish ER wait times, or make them available via text message or 311 service? Why not let those who can choose which hospital they go to help self-correct the problem via natural load-balancing?
Actually, there’s probably a number of reasons why such a move would have unintended negative consequences. For example, publishing long wait times might discourage someone from seeking medical help when they need it. Or consider that there’s an implicit two-tier element to this: those who have cars enjoy shorter wait times. I’m sure there’s a hundred other unintended consequences that would arise from on the surface what seems to be a simple suggestion.
Ultimately, this discussion draws one back to the “emergency” element of ER’s, and the realization that wait times are the by-product of ER’s clogged with people with non-emergency conditions who don’t have a primary care physician. Which, of course, is a much bigger discussion than ER wait times.
So what do you think? Is the act of publishing wait times worth the risk to social balance or the chance of scaring people off?
