August 2018 - The Health Care Blog

Helath in 2 Point 00, Episode 46

Jessica DaMassa asks me about single payer polling high, big VC for women’s pelvic floor digital therapeutic Renovia, 23andme cutting off API access to its data, plus guest mentions for Shafi Ahmed and Glen Tullman. All in 2 minutes (more or less...

Published Tue, Aug 28 2018 9:41 PM by THCB

Filed under: Matthew Holt, Glen Tullman, Single payer, 23andMe, Health in 2 Point 00, Jessica DaMassa, Livongo, Shafi Ahmed, Renovia, Vagenie, B.Wom

Why Cochrane is Wrong About Hypertension. Very Wrong.

By SWAPNIL HIREMATH MD Archie Cochrane and the Cochrane Collaboration Archie Cochrane was born in Scotland, educated in London (King’s College, University College and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and worked in Cardiff, Wales. His work...

Published Tue, Aug 28 2018 2:54 PM by THCB

Filed under: EBM

Prior Authorizations: Will They Become Damocles Sword?

By NIRAN AL-AGBA In July 2009, the family of Massachusetts teenager Yarushka Rivera went to their local Walgreens to pick up Topomax, an anti-seizure drug that had been keeping her epilepsy in check for years. Rivera had insurance coverage through MassHealth...

Published Tue, Aug 28 2018 9:49 AM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Patients, Insurance companies, Medicine, Prior Authorization, Pharmaceuitcals, medical malpractice

Comprehensiveness is Killing Primary Care

By HANS DUVEFELT In most other human activities there are two speeds, fast and slow. Usually, one dominates. Think firefighting versus bridge design. Healthcare spans from one extreme to the other. Think Code Blue versus diabetes care. Primary Care was...

Published Fri, Aug 24 2018 9:06 AM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Patients, primary care, primary care practices, quality mandates

A Cross-Party Win: Empowering Consumers Through Digital Health

By LYGEIA RICCIARDI These days Americans are more politically divided than ever, disagreeing vehemently about everything from guns to the role of the press. Despite the distrust and inflammatory rhetoric, there are examples of cross-party, trans-Administration...

Published Thu, Aug 23 2018 9:24 AM by THCB

Filed under: Patients, Politics, digital health care, cross party

The UN’s Extreme Poverty Report: Further Evidence US Healthcare Is Divorced From Reality

By DAVID INTROCASO, Ph.D. In May Philip Alston, the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, and John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University Law School released his, “Report of the Special Rapporteur On Extreme Poverty...

Published Wed, Aug 22 2018 9:35 AM by THCB

Filed under: Patients, United Nations, Poverty, human rights laws

Seema Verma Hyperventilates About Tiny Differences Between ACOs Exposed to One-and Two-Sided Risk

By KIP SULLIVAN, JD There is no meaningful difference between the performance of Medicare ACOs that accept only upside risk (the chance to make money) and ACOs that accept both up- and downside risk (the risk of losing money). But CMS’s administrator...

Published Tue, Aug 21 2018 1:49 PM by THCB

Filed under: Medicare, ACOs, Seema Verma

Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 45

In this episode a not-too-happy Jessica DaMassa asks me about who’s on the Inc5000 list (Modernizing Medicine, Health Recovery Solutions, Definitive Healthcare, EngagedIN & uBiome), about Klara’s $11m round, and what I’ll be doing...

Published Mon, Aug 20 2018 10:22 PM by THCB

Filed under: Matthew Holt, Health in 2 Point 00, Jessica DaMassa, uBiome, Modernizing Medicine, DHMP, Definitive Healthcare, EngagedIN, Health Recovery Solutions, Klara

Biomedical Knowledge Must Be Mobilized to Save Lives, Not Privatized in the “Last Mile”

By JOSHUA C. RUBIN JD, MBA, MPH, MPP Last week, Facebook’s unprecedented stock price collapse triggered by concerns over personal data privacy, as well as same-day commentary regarding GlaxoSmithKline’s investment in 23andMe to gain access to its customers...

Published Mon, Aug 20 2018 8:13 AM by THCB

Filed under: Hospitals, Featured, glaxoklinesmith, pharmaceutical

Logic, Science and Rationale of Public Reporting

By, SAURABH JHA Public reporting of doctors is fiercely controversial. I’m vehemently opposed to it. So I decided to find out why its proponents favor it. I discuss public reporting with Ben Harder, Chief of Health Analysis at U.S. News and World...

Published Sat, Aug 18 2018 7:44 AM by THCB

Filed under: @roguerad, Radiology Firing Line Podcasts

Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 44

Lotta $$ flowing around health tech services this week. Jessica DaMassa asks me about Alphabet/Google putting $375m into Oscar, Best Buy $800m for GreatCall, no money for med school at NYU & pain for patients in a Netflix movie. All in Health in 2...

Published Thu, Aug 16 2018 10:00 PM by THCB

Filed under: Matthew Holt, Patient Safety, Health in 2 Point 00, Jessica DaMassa, Oscar Health, Verily, The Bleeding Edge, Serena Williams, Alphabet, NY Med School, Best Buy, GreatCall

In Search of Intra-Aero-Bili-ty

By MATTHEW HOLT Another one of my favorites, although this one is much more recent than those published so far–dating back to only March 2015. It was the written version of a talk I gave in September 2014 following the birth of my son Aero on August...

Published Thu, Aug 16 2018 4:59 PM by THCB

Filed under: Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Tech, Epic, Interoperability, Sutter, Nadine Burke

THCB Editorial on Trump’s Assault on the Press

THCB isn’t a traditional newspaper or a traditional press outlet. But we do report on news and policy and we do host opinions from across the political and policy spectrum. Trump’s attacks on the press as “enemies of the people”...

Published Thu, Aug 16 2018 1:06 AM by THCB

Filed under: Op-Ed

Cats & Dogs: Can We Find Unity on Health Care IT Change?

By MATTHEW HOLT Today we have a humming economy and insane politics. In early 2009 we were in economic meltdown and were about one week into the sanest, soberist Administration and even Congress over many recent decades. In February 2009 They passed a...

Published Wed, Aug 15 2018 10:14 AM by THCB

Filed under: EHR, Health 2.0, Policy/Politics, Matthew Holt, Policy, RHIOs, Startups, 2008 Election

Raj of the NHS – How doctors from India and Pakistan saved the NHS

By ROHIN FRANCIS India and Pakistan celebrate 71 years of Independence today. The British National Health Service owes them a debt of gratitude. Great Britain’s national dish is famously chicken curry, but South Asia’s impact on this sceptred isle extends...

Published Tue, Aug 14 2018 5:30 PM by THCB

Filed under: NHS