January 2011 - The Health Care Blog

Health Alert: Health and Education

By JOHN GOODMAN, PhD I believe John Goodman's Health Policy Blog is the only place on the Internet that routinely compares the fields of health and education (see previous posts here and here). The reason: lessons from one field are... Read More....

Published Wed, Jan 12 2011 3:17 PM by The Health Care Blog

Is There Something Wrong With the Scientific Method?

By DAVE deBRONKART, MD A recurring them on this blog is the need for empowered, engaged patients to understand what they read about science. It’s true when researching treatments for one’s condition, it’s true when considering government policy proposals...

Published Sat, Jan 15 2011 6:25 AM by The Health Care Blog

Health 2.0 Heads to San Diego: Early Bird Pricing Ends TODAY

The New Year is here and Health 2.0 is celebrating by announcing some new updates for the Spring Fling Conference in San Diego, March 21-22, 2011 and the Fifth Annual Fall Conference is San Francisco, September 26-27, 2011. We also... Read More...

Published Mon, Jan 03 2011 10:48 AM by The Health Care Blog

Eighth Annual Healthcare Conference at Harvard Business School

Please join us for the 8th Annual Healthcare Conference at Harvard Business School on Saturday, January 29th from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Hosted by the HBS Healthcare Club, the student-run Conference – titled “The State of Healthcare Reform: Challenges.....

Published Wed, Jan 05 2011 2:02 PM by The Health Care Blog

Health Problem Quantified

By JOHN GOODMAN, PhD We now know how many people have the problem most often cited as the reason for last years’ health overhaul legislation. Answer: 8,000 No, that’s not a misprint. Out of 310 million Americans, only 8,000 people... Read More...

Published Fri, Jan 07 2011 8:38 AM by The Health Care Blog

Critical Review of Medical Literature

By MAYRA ZILBERBERG Today I am launching a series of posts on how to read medical literature critically. The series should provide a solid foundation for this task and dove-tail nicely with some of the more dense themes that occur... Read More...

Published Sat, Jan 08 2011 11:48 AM by The Health Care Blog

The Safety of HIT-Assisted Care

By JOHN HALAMKA, MD I was recently asked by an Institute of Medicine committee to comment about the impact of healthcare information technologies (HIT) on patient safety and how to maximize the safety of HIT-assisted care. "HIT-assisted care"...

Published Mon, Jan 31 2011 10:15 AM by The Health Care Blog

The Bookmarked Final Rules

By JOHN HALAMKA, MD Robin Raiford of Allscripts has completed the bookmarking of all the healthcare IT final rules: CMS final rule – EHR incentive program (14 Megabytes) ONC final rule – Standards Stage One (500K) ONC final rule –... Read More...

Published Mon, Jan 17 2011 8:00 AM by The Health Care Blog

HPHC Goes Its Way, Thoughtfully

By PAUL LEVY Lots of people are thinking about the form of payments between insurance companies and providers for health care services, but it is also important to think about how each such approach would be marketed as an insurance... Read More...

Published Tue, Jan 18 2011 6:33 AM by The Health Care Blog

Not Colon Cancer

By DAVIS LIU, MD My mother's oncologist ordered the blood test, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), to check for the recurrence of colon cancer. The good news was that there was no evidence of recurrence. The bad news was that she didn’t... Read More...

Published Wed, Jan 19 2011 6:33 AM by The Health Care Blog

A Brief Guide To Being Shot in the Head

By NEUROSKEPTIC You know what this is about. I don't have anything especially useful to say about the recent tragedy, or the question of crazy vs. political: at this stage, it's all speculation. Let's wait for the trial. But anyway,... Read...

Published Wed, Jan 19 2011 4:30 AM by The Health Care Blog

The Proposed Stage 2 and 3 Meaningful Use Recommendations

By JOHN HALAMKA, MD On January 12, the Health Information Technology Policy Committee published its proposed Stage 2 and 3 Meaningful Use recommendations for public comment. Robin Raiford from Allscripts created a Quick Guide to the recommendations, making...

Published Thu, Jan 20 2011 8:50 AM by The Health Care Blog

Health Bill Sets Out Details of Cameron Plan to Reform NHS

By MIKE BROAD The controversial Health and Social Care Bill has been published, paving the way for GPs to control 80% of the NHS budget from 2013. Unions warn the plans are the first step towards privatising the health service,... Read More...

Published Fri, Jan 21 2011 6:34 AM by The Health Care Blog

Massachusetts, Utah, or Nothing: How States Should Address Exchanges

By JOHN GRAHAM PPACA prescribes states’ “flexibility” in structuring exchanges. Libertarian and conservative policy analysts have criticized Massachusetts’ bloated and intrusive Commonwealth Connector, the country’s first pre-Obamacare exchange. Some...

Published Sat, Jan 22 2011 9:56 AM by The Health Care Blog

A Family Physician's EMR Experience

By SULTAN RAHAMAN, MD I have always looked at technology for opportunities to improve the quality of care and the efficiency of my family practice. For instance, nearly 20 years ago I started using speech recognition software to dictate all... Read More...

Published Sat, Jan 22 2011 4:00 PM by The Health Care Blog