February 2016 - The Health Care Blog

It’s Time to Talk about Cancer Surgery Volume

By JENNIFER MALIN, MD Twenty years ago as a newly trained oncologist, I faced the same challenge that many cancer patients and their families do as they try to figure out where to turn when my mother was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ– or pre...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2016 4:07 AM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Jennifer Malin

Health 2.0 Unveils “10 Year Global Retrospective”

By DEEPA MISTRY Health 2.0 announced today “10 Year Global Retrospective”, a platform to recognize outstanding achievements in health tech over the past ten years. For nearly a decade, Health 2.0 has served as the preeminent thought-leader...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2016 2:50 PM by THCB

Filed under: Health 2.0

Accolade flying flag as patient advocates

By MATTHEW HOLT I have spent years whining that no one is doing a good job helping people navigate through the maze of health care. And a survey out last week from my old firm Harris paid for by Accolade confirms that people need help. Doctors don’t...

Published Fri, Feb 12 2016 5:00 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Matthew Holt, Better, Patient advocates, Accolade, Amy Loftus

Unicornius Gorus – Theranos and Zenefits

By FRED GOLDSTEIN The Lab test reinvented – Theranos So I have to ask Theranos; which lab test have you reinvented? Is it the one where you do a full blood draw and send it off to UCSF to pay way more than the amount you charged the patient? Is...

Published Mon, Feb 15 2016 4:40 PM by THCB

Filed under: Uncategorized

Electronic Health Records: Yesterday’s Ebola and Today’s Zika

By SHIRA FISCHER When I showed up at the obstetrical urgent care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the care I received was swift and appropriate. I saw a nurse quickly and a doctor soon after. They asked relevant questions and immediately put a plan...

Published Wed, Feb 17 2016 3:20 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB

CMS is Largely Why we Have so Little Useful ACO Research

By DAVID INTROCASO In his THCB essay, “Why We Have So Little Useful Research on ACOs,” Kip Sullivan correctly notes we know surprisingly little about the ACO program. (While he identifies Medicare, Medicaid and commercial plan ACOs, here I’m...

Published Fri, Feb 19 2016 6:40 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Featured, David Introcaso

How Not to Research ACOs

By KIP SULLIVAN In Part I of this series I noted that we have almost no useful information on what ACOs do that affects cost and quality. I described two causes of that problem: The amorphous, aspirational “definition” of ACOs, and the happy...

Published Mon, Feb 22 2016 3:51 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Kip Sullivan, Featured

Silicon Valley’s Healthcare Problem

By RACHEL KATZ Silicon Valley wants to love healthcare. The industry is enormous and full of inefficiency, which is to say, perfect for technology investment. So it comes as no surprise that venture money in healthcare technology startups has quadrupled...

Published Thu, Feb 25 2016 11:11 AM by THCB

Filed under: Uncategorized, Rachel Katz

Sorry. Congress Needs to do Something About Data Blocking

By ADRIAN GROPPER, MD and DEBORAH PEEL, MD Now it’s clear. On Thursday, the Office for Civil Rights, responsible for HIPAA enforcement and protecting the public, published a new guidance to interpret HIPAA with respect to data blocking. The limits of...

Published Sun, Feb 28 2016 3:33 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Adrian Gropper, Featured, Deborah Peel

Short-selling Private Practice

By KAREN SIBERT, MD Today is a remarkable day for me. I’m officially leaving private practice after almost 18 years, to return to academic medicine with a faculty position in a highly regarded California department of anesthesiology. Why would I do that...

Published Wed, Feb 03 2016 3:45 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Karen Sibert

David Vivero, Amino–yes, we need another doctor search company!

By MATTHEW HOLT Those of you dismayed at the dearth of recent interviews of notable health tech startups on THCB will be glad to hear I have several in the can and will be putting them up starting with Amino today. And the rest of you can move along…...

Published Fri, Feb 05 2016 5:47 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, doctor search, David Vivero, Amino

Nominate a Speaker For TEDMED

Neeti writes: I am on the 2016 TEDMED speaker review committee/research scholar i.e. I am among the group of people who will be reviewing potential speakers for this year’s event. If you know someone (does not have to be an MD or PhD) who is doing...

Published Fri, Feb 05 2016 8:17 PM by THCB

Filed under: Uncategorized

What Health Care Can Learn From Silicon Valley

By ED PARK As consumers, we expect that when we bank, our ATM card will work in any machine worldwide, dispensing the cash we need and sending the record back to our home financial institution. Similarly, we would be enraged if we bought a new MacBook...

Published Tue, Feb 09 2016 5:01 AM by THCB

Filed under: athenahealth, Ed Park, Featured, Silicon Valley

Seth Sternberg talks about Honor

By MATTHEW HOLT Seth Sternberg was a founder at instant message service Meebo, which was acquired by Google in 2012, and like many tech guys he’s next decided to try to change the health care experience. But unlike many others the aspect he wanted...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2016 4:46 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Caregiving, Honor, Seth Sternebrg, home care

What To Make of the Senate Finance Committee’s Chronic Care Policy Options

By DAVID INTROCASO This past December after eight months of formal work the Senate Finance Committee’s “Bipartisan Chronic Care Working Group” released for comment a 30-page memo outlining 23 policy options to improve chronic care quality...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2016 5:31 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, David Introcaso