Hsieh Forbes Column On Government Quality Metrics And Unintended Consequences

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "How Patients Pay The Price For Unintended Consequences Of Government Health Care".

I discuss how various government "quality" metrics intended to improve patient care can have the exact opposite effect.

This is an example of Goodhart's Law in action, sometimes phrased as, "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."

Hsieh Forbes Column On Vaping And Unintended Consequences

My latest Forbes column is now out: "Don't Make The Vaping 'Crisis' Worse With Hasty New Regulations".

Hsieh Forbes Column: Pooping Less Frequently To Save The Planet? Really?

My latest Forbes column is out: "Pooping Less Frequently To Save The Planet? Really?"

I'm totally unleashing my inner 10-year old.

Hsieh Forbes Column: Great Moments In Medical Self-Experimentation

My latest Forbes column is now out: "Great Moments In Medical Self-Experimentation".

Sometimes, you literally have to "bet on yourself" and do what you think is right, even if everyone else thinks you're crazy.

Hsieh Forbes Column On Physician Fatigue And Errors

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "Is Your Doctor Making Mistakes Because He Or She Is Too Tired?"

Hsieh Forbes Column: 18-Year-Olds Should Have Right To Smoke

My latest Forbes piece is now out, "If 18-Year-Olds Can Fight For Their Country, They Should Be Able To Smoke A Cigarette".

I discuss the latest bipartisan push to raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

I frame the discussion in the form of three questions:

1) Is it the government’s job to stop legal adults from making unhealthy life choices?

2) If Congress allows 18-year-olds risk their lives in military service, shouldn’t they also be allowed to smoke?

3) Whose body is it, anyways?

For more details, read the full piece "If 18-Year-Olds Can Fight For Their Country, They Should Be Able To Smoke A Cigarette".

Hsieh Forbes Column: Health Care Vs. Liberty In Singapore

My latest Forbes column is now out: "Health Care Vs. Liberty In Singapore".

I discuss the trade-offs that Singapore residents must make when they accept government-run "universal health care" and "cost control". This is includes significant losses in liberty as well as accepting government rationing of medical services.

For more details, see the full text of "Health Care Vs. Liberty In Singapore".

Hsieh Forbes Column: How Government Policies Created The Current Disaster Of Electronic Health Records

My latest Forbes column is now out: "How Government Policies Created The Current Disaster Of Electronic Health Records".

Some key take-home points include.

* The federal government played a major role of foisting EHRs on doctors.
* Many features of the EHRs were not driven by the needs of practicing physicians, but by bureaucrats and government officials not involved in direct patient care.
* Practicing physicians find these EHR systems burdensome.
* EHRs contribute significantly to physician burnout.
* The problems with EHRs are not inherent in the technology, but rather due to government policies.