March 2010 - The Health Care Blog

Do the "Wrong" Thing

ROBERT LASZEWSKI As the Democrats make their final push to pass their health care bill many of them, and most notably the President, are arguing that it should be passed because it is the “right thing to do whatever the... Read More...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 1:13 PM by The Health Care Blog

Stressed Out System

By ROB LAMBERTS I saw a patient today and looked back at a previous note, which said the following: “stressed out due to insurance.” It didn’t surprise me, and I didn’t find it funny; I see a lot of this.... Read More...

Published Wed, Mar 10 2010 4:27 AM by The Health Care Blog

The Reinvention of Social Progress

By MERRILL GOOZNER I watched C-Span through the entire voting process on Sunday night. Socialism? Tyranny? The Republican hyperbole was unhinged from reality. Democratic claims that the health care reform marked a major milestone in domestic policy were...

Published Tue, Mar 23 2010 5:25 AM by The Health Care Blog

It's history

By Matthew Holt (Photo from USA Today) Read More...

Published Tue, Mar 23 2010 10:43 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Policy/Politics, Matthew Holt, Policy

After the Failure of Reform

By BRIAN KLEPPER AND DAVID C. KIBBE The stalemate in the bi-partisan health care summit was cast the moment it was announced. Republicans demanded that the reform process start anew, and Mr. Obama insisted on the Senate bill as the... Read More...

Published Mon, Mar 01 2010 7:56 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Brian Klepper, David Kibbe, Reform, Policy/Politics

It's Not About Meaningful Use ...

By JOHN MOORE With the impending comment deadline for Meaningful Use (MU) fast approaching, many organizations, from CHIME to AHA to AAFP and others are asking for some form of relaxation of MU criteria in the final version. Now it... Read More...

Published Fri, Mar 12 2010 5:33 AM by The Health Care Blog

In ONC I Trust ...

By JOHN HALAMKA It's my nature to question authority. Whether it's religion, politics, or even my local administrative leadership, authority figures must earn my trust. Earning that trust is not easy. As folks who work closest with me know, I...

Published Mon, Mar 15 2010 8:21 AM by The Health Care Blog

Jonathan Bush, quickly

By Matthew Holt Jonathan Bush gave me a quick interview at HIMSS ten days ago. We had a chat about what the recent restatement of accounting was all about (stock off about 12%), and last night they released numbers that... Read More...

Published Tue, Mar 16 2010 1:49 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Technology, Electronic Medical Records, Health 2.0, Matthew Holt

Why cameras shouldn't be let into bars

By Matthew Holt Captions for a bubble above Jonathan Bush’s or Judy Faulkner’s head? In the comments please Read More...

Published Thu, Mar 04 2010 6:28 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Matthew Holt

Last Helicopter Out of Saigon

By JEFF GOLDSMITH In popular psychiatry, a classic passive aggressive gambit is “malicious compliance”- intentionally inflicting harm on someone by strictly following a directive, even though the person knows that they are damaging someone by doing so...

Published Sun, Mar 07 2010 5:29 AM by The Health Care Blog

Why Rush Vendor Certification of EHR Technologies?

By David C. Kibbe and Brian Klepper A surprise move by ONC/HHS indicates the wheels may be falling off health IT reform at about the same rate they've fallen off Democrats' broader health reforms. David Blumenthal and his staff have... Read More...

Published Mon, Mar 08 2010 9:23 AM by The Health Care Blog

WebMD--Nan Forte explains Health Exchange

By Matthew Holt WebMD introduced a new series of Health 2.0 style forums last week called Health Exchange. Not everyone was thrilled--in fact John Moore gave it a right padding over at Chilmark mostly because of usability issues. I got... Read More.....

Published Tue, Mar 16 2010 1:13 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Consumers

Community Wars? WebMD launches Health Exchange

By Matthew Holt Just when we thought things were calming down in the world of Health 2.0, it’s kicking off. WebMD has been watching Everyday Health take over its spot as top Health site ranking in the ComScore rankings (cue... Read More...

Published Tue, Mar 09 2010 1:41 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Health 2.0, Matthew Holt

Crowd Sourcing Comes Through Again

By PAUL LEVY I have written below about the incredible power of crowd sourcing, using the reach and scope of social networking on the Internet to solve a complex problem. Here's a play-by-play about a difficult question. It demonstrates how... Read...

Published Sun, Mar 14 2010 10:19 AM by The Health Care Blog

Could It Be That the System (Gasp) Works?

By ROBERT WACHTER Heading into the final weekend of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, who could have guessed that in a year that brought us Death Panels, Pickup Trucks, “You Lie”, The Cornhusker Compromise, Bart Stupak (boy, that must have been... Read More...

Published Sat, Mar 20 2010 7:04 AM by The Health Care Blog