Is It Safe to Return to Your Doctor?

Micheline Burger, a 72-year-old retired attorney who lives in Longmont, Colo., has put off many medical appointments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as her annual physical and dental exam and an important follow-up for an eye exam. “I’ve had a corne… Continue reading

Why Doctors Are Coming Where You Live — and Shop

The Mall of America on the outskirts of the Twin Cities has more than 520 stores and restaurants, plus an indoor theme park. Last November, it added something else: the M Health Fairview Walk-In Clinic with five medical exam rooms, lab space for tests,… Continue reading

Putting the Humanity in Health Care

(Editor’s note: This story is part of a series for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) Bill Craze, 81, of Houston, was frustrated with the doctor he’d been seeing for five years. “I didn’t think I was getting the attention that I needed,” Craze says. “I … Continue reading

How to Be a Patient: A Comprehensive Book on Exactly That

(Editor’s note: This story is part of a series for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) Around the time Sana Goldberg began nursing school, her grandfather had a serious, undetermined health problem. “I remember from the moment of entering the ER to the w… Continue reading

Retail Health Clinics Adapt Care to Older Patients

(Editor’s note: This story is part of a series for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) Retail health clinics, first launched in 2000, are a burgeoning part of the health care universe. Found in pharmacies, supermarkets and discount giants like Walmart an… Continue reading

Are Nurses Ready (and Willing) to Treat an Aging Population?

(Editor’s note: This story is part of a series for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) By 2030, one in every five Americans will be of retirement age, marking the first time that older people will outnumber children. But will health care be prepared for … Continue reading

How to Effectively Communicate With Your Doctor

(Editor’s note: This story is part of a series for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) We’ve all been there. After waiting endlessly for a doctor’s appointment, your physician breezes in and out of the exam room, seems rushed and leaves you little time t… Continue reading

Don’t Chalk It Up to Menopause

(Editor’s note: This story is part of a series for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) Older people may be less likely to receive regular gynecological care because of factors like insurance coverage, belief among women that they no longer need gynecolog… Continue reading

Resources for Your Next Doctor Appointment

(Editor’s note: This story is part of a series for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) Health care is a huge priority for Next Avenue — always, but especially right now. Specifically, how health care can do a better job serving older Americans, and how o… Continue reading

How the Medicare ‘Annual Wellness Visit’ Differs From an Annual Physical

When Beverly Dunn called her new primary care doctor’s office last November to schedule an annual checkup, she assumed her Medicare coverage would pick up most of the tab. The appointment seemed like a routine physical, and she was pleased that the doc… Continue reading