Applied Policy Insight is Applied Policy’s monthly newsletter, published in the interest of sharing both our insights into healthcare policy and a little more about ourselves, as a team and as individuals.
Regular readers know that Insight is also a forum for sharing our favorite jokes.
Insight Joke of the Month for April 2024:
What kind of doctor fixes websites?
A URL-ologist.
Good joke? Bad joke? Humor can subjective, but it can also be good for your health.
Submit your favorite healthcare joke or pun to news@appliedpolicy.com.
If it is selected for next month’s newsletter, we’ll send you a package of Piñon Coffee from our source in New Mexico, because, like good jokes, good coffee can be a matter of a piñon.
READ THE MARCH 2024 ISSUE OF APPLIED POLICY INSIGHT
In the March 2024 edition of Applied Policy Insight, find a primer on CMS’s competitive bidding and read about the history of the Scribner shunt.
READ THE FEBRUARY 2024 ISSUE OF APPLIED POLICY INSIGHT
In the February 2024 edition of Applied Policy Insight, FDA & CMS indicate alignment on regulatory approach to LDTs and the federal government’s strategies to protect American healthcare from cyberattacks.
READ THE JANUARY 2024 ISSUE OF APPLIED POLICY INSIGHT
In the January 2024 edition of Applied Policy Insight, find a primer on HCPCS and read about the continuing threat of ransomware in healthcare.
READ THE DECEMBER 2023 ISSUE OF APPLIED POLICY INSIGHT
In the December 2023 edition of Applied Policy Insight, we examine physician licensing, credentialing, and privileging and look back at the year in healthcare policy.
READ THE NOVEMBER 2023 ISSUE OF APPLIED POLICY INSIGHT
In the November 2023 edition of Applied Policy Insight, Meghan Basler explains Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) in the second installment of her series on medical coding, Emma Hammer examines the implications of underrepresenting Native Americans in medical research, and we offer summaries of the latest rules from CMS.
READ THE OCTOBER ISSUE OF APPLIED POLICY INSIGHT
In the October 2023 edition of Applied Policy Insight, Meghan Basler explains the ICD-10-CM as the first installment of her series on medical coding, Stephanie Lomas updates readers on CMS’s implementation of the discarded drug refund program, and we share our latest summaries of pertinent regulations.
READ THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF APPLIED POLICY INSIGHT
In the September 2023 edition of Applied Policy Insight, we considered the current challenges in risk adjustment, reviewed the use of artificial intelligence at the Department of Health and Human Services, and shared our summaries of CMS rules.
PAST ISSUES
July/August 2023: Administrative Law Judges in the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals, Prior authorizations and health equity
June 2023: Prior authorizations in Medicare Advantage, step therapy, health equity on Juneteenth, new team members
May 2023: Prior authorizations and the U.S. healthcare system, Unified Program Integrity Contractors, COVID reflections, and our new COO
April 2023: The debate over prior authorizations, the growing conversation over food as medicine, Applied Policy’s latest summaries
March 2023: When medicine gets it wrong, expanded coverage for continuous glucose monitors, CMS eliminates CMNs and DIFs
February 2023: The implications of a new Alzheimer’s drug, focus on Europe, 13 years of Recovery Audit Contractors
January 2023: Understanding CMS’s discarded drugs policy, the roots and implications of the United States’ pharmacy shortage, reconciling health equity and value based payments
December 2022: Sexual equality in clinical tests, a look at managed care organizations, and looking towards the end of the public health emergency
PREVIOUS JOKES OF THE MONTH
Insight Joke of the Month for March 2024
Why does the Easter Bunny go to the doctor every year?
For his annual eggs-am
***********************************************
Insight Joke of the Month for February 2024
What kind of doctor is Dr. Pepper?
A fizzician.
***********************************************
Insight Joke of the Month for January 2024:
How is 10 +10 the same as 11 + 11?
Because 10+10 is 20 and 11+11 is 22
***********************************************
Insight Joke of the Month for December 2023:
What did the doctor say to the gingerbread man with the sore knee?
“Have you tried icing that?”
***********************************************
Insight Joke of the Month for November 2023:
What happened to the ophthalmologist’s jokes over time?
They just got cornea.
***********************************************
Insight Joke of the Month for October 2023:
When should you take a cookie to your doctor?
When it’s feeling crummy.
***********************************************
Insight Joke of the Month for September 2023:
Why did the biologist and the physicist break up?
There was no chemistry.
***********************************************
Insight Joke of the Month for July and August 2023:
Why do ophthalmologists live so long?
They dilate.
***********************************************
Joke of the Month for June 2023:
Why did the bucket go to the doctor?
It was looking a little pail.
***********************************************
Joke of the Month for May 2023:
Why did the Dalmatian go to the ophthalmologist?
It was seeing spots.
***********************************************
Joke of the Month for April 2023:
Why did the cat go to the doctor?
It wasn’t feline well…
***********************************************
Joke of the Month for March 2023:
What do you get when you cross a four-leaf clover with poison ivy?
A rash of good luck!
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for February 2023:
What sort of jokes do orthopedic surgeons like?
Anything humerus…
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for January 2023:
How is medicine packaged for astronauts?
In Space Capsules!
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for December 2022:
What is Santa Claus’s favorite type of
durable medical equipment?
A candy cane!!
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for November 2022:
What kind of key has legs and can’t open doors?
A Tur-key!!
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for October 2022:
What’s the difference between a photocopier and a virus?
One makes facsimiles. The other makes sick families.
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for September 2022:
Why does the infectious disease unit
have the fastest WiFi at the hospital?
It has all the hot spots!
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for August 2022:
Why did the cookie go to the doctor?
It was feeling pretty crumby.
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for July 2022:
Why did the doctor ask the nurse to walk past the pill cupboard quietly?
So they wouldn’t wake the sleeping pills.
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for June 2022:
What kind of medical condition causes wrinkled clothes?
An iron deficiency.
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for May 2022:
What is the medical diagnosis for owning too many dogs?
A Rover-dose.
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for April 2022:
Why did the rabbit go to the hospital?
For a hop-eration!
***********************************************
The Joke of the Month for March 2022:
How did the pig get to the hospital?
In a hambulance, of course!