April 2011 - The Health Care Blog

Video Collage: KP Center for Total Health

By MATTHEW HOLT This week I spent quite a bit of time at the very new and very fancy Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health in Washington DC. It’s next door to a very large medical office building (110+ docs) in which KP is showcasing its current...

Published Fri, Apr 08 2011 9:06 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: HIT, THCB, Health 2.0, Policy/Politics, Matthew Holt, Tech, Kaiser Permanente

National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace

By JOHN HALAMKA, MD On April 15, 2011, the White House released the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) during a launch event that included U.S. Sec. of Commerce Gary Locke, other Administration officials, and U.S. Senator Barbara...

Published Wed, Apr 27 2011 6:21 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Policy/Politics, John Halamka, Tech, Cyberspace, NSTIC, Trusted identity

The Kübler-Ross Model of EHR Adoption

By MARGALIT GUR-ARIE For over a hundred years the paper chart has been a trusted partner and best friend to many physicians and nurses. The paper chart was born the day a new patient walked into the office, a pristine, crisp and neatly color-coded folder...

Published Mon, Apr 25 2011 5:53 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: EHR, EHR adoption, Uncategorized, Stages of grief, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Interview: Resilient

Matthew Holt interviews Jonathan Hare of Resilient Network Systems at HIMSS. And for a bonus, here’s Resilient’s product introduction at Health 2.0 last Fall Tweet this Share on Facebook Read More...

Published Thu, Apr 21 2011 1:20 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Tech, HIMSS 2011, Resilient

The Rashomon of Health Care: Why the Government is Promoting and Hindering ACOs at the Same Time

By DAVID DRANOVE As I have previously blogged, a centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the promotion of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is banking on the financial incentives of ACOs (through...

Published Wed, Apr 27 2011 9:54 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, CMS, ACOs, Uncategorized, FTC, Antitrust

A Modest Proposal: What If All Specialty Procedures Were Coded with 4 CPT Codes?

By PAUL FISCHER, MD In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Barbara Levy, Chairwoman of the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), commented on the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) decision to have minimal primary care participation on the...

Published Tue, Apr 26 2011 10:00 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, AMA, RUC, Coding

The RUC’s Defense

By BRIAN KLEPPER On Wednesday, 47 American medical specialty societies sent Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) a letter, with copies to all members of Congress, containing a detailed defense of the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) Relative Value Scale Update...

Published Sun, Apr 10 2011 8:17 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, AMA, RUC

Three Formulas

By MERRILL GOOZNER During the last election campaign, Tea Party-backed Republicans across the country rode to power on a tidal wave of advertising attacking health care reform as a cut in Medicare. It is. If efficiency programs like the accountable care...

Published Fri, Apr 15 2011 8:16 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Medicare, Obama, Merrill Goozner, Paul Ryan, Medicare costs

Why CMIOs Matter, and Why We Hired One

By JONATHAN BUSH On Monday morning, April 4, we were proud to announce that Dr. Todd Rothenhaus has come onboard here at athenahealth to serve in the role of chief medical information officer, or CMIO. It’s a new position and we’re excited he’s joined...

Published Sun, Apr 10 2011 3:18 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: EHR, THCB, Jonathan Bush, CMIO, EMR

THCB Live: Oracle

Matthew Holt interviews Marc Perlman and Kris Joshi of Oracle about their role in health care, and what Oracle is making of the changes in the health IT scene. The interview was at the HIMSS conference this past February. Tweet this Share on Facebook...

Published Wed, Apr 27 2011 5:53 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Tech, HIMSS11, Oracle, Perlman, Joshi

Rethinking IMS Health v. Sorrell: Privacy as a First Amendment Value

By FRANK PASQUALE Today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in IMS Health v. Sorrell. The case pits medical data giant IMS Health (and some other plaintiffs) against the state of Vermont, which restricted the distribution of certain “physician...

Published Fri, Apr 29 2011 5:53 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Privacy, Frank Pasquale, Uncategorized, IMS Health v Sorrell, Patient privacy, Pharmaceutical industry, Medical data

Are We Entering an Era of Political Cooperation on Medicare?

By DAVID E. WILLIAMS There’s a chance that we’re starting to see a convergence of opinion on Medicare among Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. I know the recent bickering makes this seem like an odd contention, but consider the following: In recent...

Published Fri, Apr 29 2011 6:00 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB

Stubborn

By LISA SUENNEN This week I had the occasion to be at UCLA for a very interesting meeting (more on that in a future post). As I arrived at LAX to return my rental car, I drove past a huge billboard at the corner of 96th Avenue and Airport Blvd (just across...

Published Wed, Apr 20 2011 5:33 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, prevention, Lisa Suennen, AHRQ, Screening tests

The Kaisingers link up

A while ago at an IOM meeting I mis-spoke and called Geisinger, “Kaisinger” and it kinda sounded right. Well now those two Epic users with another similar Epic user (Group Health) have teamed up with Mayo (home grown IT) and InterMountain...

Published Wed, Apr 06 2011 9:51 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: HIT, EHR, micro, EMR, Kaiser Permanente

When Projects Fail, Should We Fault the Technology?

By JOSEPH KVEDAR, MD Last weekend, I saw the film “Up In The Air.” Ok, so I am a few months behind in my movie viewing. That is what the Netflix lifestyle does for you. There is an interesting connected health analogy running through the film and I want...

Published Mon, Apr 18 2011 7:42 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Technology, THCB, Joesph Kvedar