March 2010 - The Health Care Blog

"I Am Not Bound To Win. But I Am Bound To Be True."

By MAGGIE MAHAR So many said it would never happen. But now, on Sunday, March 21, 2010, it appears that reformers have the votes. Rep. Bart Stupak, the leader of the anti-abortion hold-outs, has announced that he will vote "yes."... Read More...

Published Sun, Mar 21 2010 6:28 PM 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

Apple Targets Healthcare Enterprise

By JOHN MOORE While the Apple iPhone was first targeted at the general consumer, Apple has been taking the necessary steps to bring this device into the enterprise, directly competing with RIM’s Blackberry. Unseating the Blackberry in many sectors, such...

Published Tue, Mar 23 2010 11:48 AM by The Health Care Blog

Health Reform: A Class Act

By THOMAS GREANEY, St. Louis University School of Law A few headlines from coverage of the passage of the health reform bill: Winners, Losers in the House Healthcare Bill (Reuters) Health Reform: What’s in it for you? (US News) Already... Read More.....

Published Wed, Mar 24 2010 12:45 PM by The Health Care Blog

Are The Attorneys General’s Constitutional Claims Bogus?

By Mark Hall, Wake Forest University School of Law Immediately after passage of health care reform, over a dozen state A.G.s sued to declare it unconstitutional, as violating states’ rights. The Florida complaint is here, and Virginia’s here. Reminiscent...

Published Fri, Mar 26 2010 4:14 PM by The Health Care Blog

Interview with Alex Savic, CEO of Alensa Next Widgets

By Indu Subaiya Alex Savic is CEO of Alensa NextWidgets, based in Zurich, Switzerland. Alex is a repeat presenter at Health 2.0 and will be presenting an update on the NextWidgets platform at Health 2.0 Europe in Paris April 6-7,... Read More...

Published Mon, Mar 29 2010 6:26 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Health 2.0, pharmaceuticals

Really Managing Care and Costs

By BRIAN KLEPPER One of my favorite health care stories is about Jerry Reeves MD, who in 2004 took the helm of a 300,000 life health plan in Las Vegas, including about 110,000 union members, and drove so much waste... Read More...

Published Tue, Mar 30 2010 5:13 PM by The Health Care Blog

Confused, Conflicted, Clueless and Cranky

By HUMPHREY TAYLOR Humphrey Taylor is Chairman of The Harris Poll. Prior to joining Harris, Taylor worked in Britain where he conducted all of the private political polling for the Conservative Party and was a close adviser to Prime Minister... Read More...

Published Mon, Mar 01 2010 11:15 AM by The Health Care Blog

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

Waiting for Dr. Godot

By MICHAEL TURPIN "If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it is for free.” – PJ O’Rourke On the eve of sweeping health reform legislation, it is hard not to notice the glowing skyline in Washington as policymakers... Read More...

Published Sat, Mar 06 2010 6:14 AM by The Health Care Blog

A Shout-out to our sponsors

THCB would not exist without the support of our generous sponsors. So we'd like to give a shout to our friends at Eliza, our latest corporate sponsors. "Who says nerds can't talk to people? We use technology to engage people... Read More...

Published Mon, Mar 08 2010 2:00 AM by The Health Care Blog

Hospital Quality Group Obscures Hospital Quality Reports, Journalists Charge

By MICHAEL MILLENSON The Joint Commission, which accredits four-fifths of the nation’s hospitals, is being accused of misleading consumers about the quality of care at those hospitals and then ignoring suggestions on how to correct the problem. “The organization...

Published Tue, Mar 09 2010 4:23 AM 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

Glen Tullman, Allscripts

By Matthew Holt Allscirpts' CEO Glen Tullman has had a good year. Allscripts' stock is up four-fold, sales are going well and some people think that ARRA/HITECH's fillup to the healthcare IT industry is mostly his doing--he was an early.....

Published Thu, Mar 11 2010 1:19 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Technology, Electronic Medical Records, Matthew Holt

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