April 2011 - The Health Care Blog

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

Bad Medicine: TriCare’s Noncoverage of Evidence-based Opiate Maintenance Therapy

By KEITH HUMPHREYS, MD, & HAROLD POLLACK This week, The New York Times gave heart-wrenching accounts of newborn babies enduring opiate drug withdrawal because of their mothers’ addictions. The story provided only one cause for optimism: Both...

Published Fri, Apr 15 2011 7:09 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Evidence Based Medicine, TRICARE, Keith Humphreys, Harold Pollack

Health Wonk Review

Health Wonk Review is up at David Williams Health Business Blog. THCB even makes a rare appearance! (Hopefully we’ll be appearing a little more frequently in the future…) Tweet this Share on Facebook Read More...

Published Thu, Apr 14 2011 9:50 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: micro

Does America Want Apple or Android for Health Care?

BY DAVIS LIU, MD The future direction of American health care is unclear. Certainly the cost trend as it exists is unsustainable with health care costs being a major concern of the private sector, the government, and individuals. How does the nation manage...

Published Thu, Apr 14 2011 7:22 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Uncategorized

The Tufnel Effect

By PSYCH GRIPE In This Is Spin̈al Tap, British heavy metal god Nigel Tufnel says, in reference to one of his band’s less successful creations: It’s such a fine line between stupid and…uh, clever. This is all too true when it comes to...

Published Thu, Apr 14 2011 4:27 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB

Health 2.0 Show TODAY

Don’t forget that there’s a Health 2.0 Show, our free online hour long show at 10 PST/1pm EST. Today (Thursday). Register here for FREE. We’ll be taking a look back at some highlights from the Health 2.0 Spring Fling, and have brought back...

Published Thu, Apr 14 2011 9:00 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: micro

Rest in Peace: Personal Health Records (PHRs)

By JOHN M. GROHOL While doing some research the other day on personal health records (PHRs), I came across this article, describing Revolution Health’s announcement — without much media attention — about dropping its PHR at the beginning of 2010. (Disclosure...

Published Thu, Apr 14 2011 7:43 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, PHRs, Health Vault, Google Health, John Grohol

IOM Health Data Initiative Forum is June 9

Health 2.0 is supporting and I’m attending The Health Data Initiative Forum on June 9, 2011 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, and you should too. The Forum aims to accelerate momentum for the public use of data and innovation to improve...

Published Wed, Apr 13 2011 7:13 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: micro

Unlucky Student

By KIMBERLY SEELYE Last July, I found myself needing to visit a doctor for an urgent medical issue. My period had started in April and never stopped. It was light, so it wasn’t too much of an annoyance, but after three months I figured I needed professional...

Published Wed, Apr 13 2011 3:00 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Costs of Care, Kimberly Seely

“Trust Us” Just Doesn’t Cut It

By PAUL LEVY I apologize in advance if some of you are tired of hearing about Massachusetts and its experience with different payment models for health insurance. I write about this, not only because it is interesting locally, but also because people...

Published Wed, Apr 13 2011 12:14 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Massachusetts, Global payments, Capitated payments

Why Medicare Isn’t the Problem, It’s the Solution

By ROBERT REICH I hope when he tells America how he aims to tame future budget deficits the President doesn’t accept conventional Wasington wisdom that the biggest problem in the federal budget is Medicare (and its poor cousin Medicaid). Medicare isn...

Published Tue, Apr 12 2011 8:24 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Medicare, Robert Reich, Medicare costs

Turf Wars

By MICHAEL KIRSCH, MD So many folks express views that are obviously self-serving, but they try to masquerade them as altruistic positions that benefit some other constituency. These attempts usually fool no one, but yet these performances are common...

Published Tue, Apr 12 2011 3:30 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Physicians, Politics, Michael Kirsch, Turf battles

The Science and Religion of Patient Safety

By BOB WACHTER, MD The patient safety world was set abuzz this week by yet another article, this one in Health Affairs, that seemed to offer additional “evidence” that hospitals are even more dangerous than we previously thought (and we already thought...

Published Tue, Apr 12 2011 2:15 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Bob Wachter, Hospitals, Patient Safety, IHI, Preventable harm, Harm

The Partnership for Patients: The Inside Scoop on a Game Changing Safety Initiative

BY ROBERT WACHTER Earlier today, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Medicare chief Don Berwick announced the “Partnership for Patients,” a far-reaching federal initiative designed to take a big bite out of adverse events in American...

Published Tue, Apr 12 2011 1:16 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Patient Safety, Medical errors, Don Berwick, Conditions of Participation, The Partnership for Patients

Time to End The Health Care Tax Exclusion?

By MERRILL GOOZNER President Obama on Wednesday will unveil his counter offer for bringing the nation’s budget deficit under control. Last week, the Republican plan authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., chairman of the House Budget Committee, focused public...

Published Tue, Apr 12 2011 10:37 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Merrill Goozner, Health insurance, Employer-sponsored plans, Healthcare tax exclusion

April 2011 - The Health Care Blog

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Three Formulas

Bad Medicine: TriCare’s Noncoverage of Evidence-based Opiate Maintenance Therapy

Health Wonk Review

Does America Want Apple or Android for Health Care?

The Tufnel Effect

Health 2.0 Show TODAY

Rest in Peace: Personal Health Records (PHRs)

IOM Health Data Initiative Forum is June 9

Unlucky Student

“Trust Us” Just Doesn’t Cut It

Why Medicare Isn’t the Problem, It’s the Solution

Turf Wars

The Science and Religion of Patient Safety

The Partnership for Patients: The Inside Scoop on a Game Changing Safety Initiative

Time to End The Health Care Tax Exclusion?