March 2019 - The Health Care Blog

ONC & CMS Proposed Rules | Part 2: Interoperability

By DAVE LEVIN MD The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) have proposed final rules on interoperability, data blocking and other activities as part of implementing the 21st Century Cures Act. In this...

Published Fri, Mar 15 2019 7:37 AM by THCB

Filed under: Health policy, Interoperability, health technology, Dave Levin, Sansoro Health, ONC Rules, data blocking

New THCB site coming MONDAY! (It’ll be down this weekend)

I’m thrilled to tell you that after a lot of work by Zoya Khan, Dan Kogan and his tech whizzes, there’ll be a new THCB site up on Monday. Hopefully you’ll notice the changes and think it’s an improvement! But while we do the switch...

Published Thu, Mar 14 2019 10:08 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB

Healthcare Must Open More Doors to Mental Health Patients

By ARPAN WAGHRAY, MD and BENJAMIN F. MILLER, PsyD If someone we love has a physical ailment, we can list a variety of places for them to seek care: a clinician’s office, a pharmacy, an urgent care clinic, a school health clinic, an emergency department...

Published Thu, Mar 14 2019 8:58 AM by THCB

Filed under: Patients, Mental Health, substance use disorders, ARPAN WAGHRAY, BENJAMIN F. MILLER

Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 73 | Mergers, Medicaid, & Money

Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I power through a whopping six questions. In this episode, Jess asks me about the merger between Cambia Health Solutions and Blue Cross NC, Alex Azar getting grilled by Rep. Joe Kennedy on Medicaid work requirements...

Published Wed, Mar 13 2019 8:15 AM by THCB

Filed under: Matthew Holt, Medicaid, Aetna, health technology, 23andMe, Health in 2 Point 00, Jessica DaMassa, Alex Azar, Cambia Health, Omada Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Akili

Come Together.Health, Right Now…Over Me

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF HEALTH At HIMSS19, the year-old ‘Digital Health Collaborative’ announced its relaunch as ‘Together.Health.’ More than just a feel-good name, the new moniker is indicative of how the organization is literally trying to help the...

Published Wed, Mar 13 2019 7:45 AM by THCB

Filed under: Tech, Jessica DaMassa, WTF Health, Together.Health, Stephen Konya

Health Care Price Tags Won’t Find You the Best Doctor

By MICHAEL L. MILLENSON Say you want to know which baseball players provide the most value for the big dollars they’re being paid. A Google search quickly yields analytics. But suppose your primary care physician just diagnosed you with cancer. What will...

Published Tue, Mar 12 2019 7:07 AM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Michael Millenson, Hospitals, health technology, health care pricing, Quality of care, transparent pricing

Reducing Burnout and Increasing Efficiency with Telepsychiatry

SPONSORED POST By PETER YELLOWLEES MD Telepsychiatry is now an established form of mental health care. Many studies demonstrate that it meets all appropriate standards of psychiatric care and may be better than in-person consultations for certain groups...

Published Mon, Mar 11 2019 7:03 AM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Telemedicine, health technology, physician burnout, Peter Yellowlees, telepsychiatry, American Telemedicine Association

Radiologist Entrepreneurs

By SAURABH JHA MD What motivates the radiologist entrepreneur? In this episode of Radiology Firing Line Podcast, we talk to Kathryn Pearson Peyton MD, chief medical officer of Mammosphere. Listen to our conversation here. Saurabh Jha is a contributing...

Published Fri, Mar 08 2019 8:44 AM by THCB

Filed under: The Business of Health Care, Radiology, Saurabh Jha, Entrepreneurs, Radiology Firing Line Podcasts, RogueRad, JACR

Standing Rock Two Years Later: Public Health Lessons and the Physician’s Responsibility

By PHUOC LE MD A close look at disease and suffering would lead most of us to the same conclusion: our natural environment is inextricably linked to our health. When the Army Corps of Engineers approved the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline Read...

Published Thu, Mar 07 2019 9:52 AM by THCB

Filed under: public health, Health Disparities, Phuoc Le, Standing Rock, DAPL

Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 72 | Haven, Scott Gottlieb, & Crossover Health

On Episode 72 of Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I give you a run down of the latest in health tech. At long last, the joint health care venture between Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and J.P. Morgan has a name: Haven. In other news, Scott Gottlieb has decided...

Published Thu, Mar 07 2019 9:47 AM by THCB

Filed under: Matthew Holt, primary care, Mental Health, health technology, Health Tech, Health in 2 Point 00, Jessica DaMassa, Ableto, Crossover Health, Haven, Joyable

A Change in Tactics

By ROBERT PRETZLAFF MD, MBA Those that advocate for change in healthcare most often make their case based on the unsustainable cost or poor quality care that is sadly the norm. A 2018 article in Bloomberg highlights this fact by reporting on global...

Published Wed, Mar 06 2019 8:52 AM by THCB

Filed under: Health policy, Healthcare reform, Robert Pretzlaff

Learning from CVS – When is telemedicine disruptive, and when is it just…cool technology?

By REBECCA FOGG The Theory of Disruptive Innovation, defined by Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Clayton Christensen in 1997, explains the process by which simple, convenient and affordable solutions become the norm in industries historically characterized...

Published Tue, Mar 05 2019 8:13 AM by THCB

Filed under: Tech, Telemedicine, disruptive innovation, CVS, Rebecca Fogg

Coronary Stent Price Control in India: Two Years and Counting

By SOMALARAM VENKATESH MD With a stated intent of bringing social justice and financial relief to hundreds of thousands of patients undergoing coronary angioplasty in the country every year, the Government of India capped the sale price of coronary stents...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2019 6:59 AM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Health policy, cardiology, India, coronary stent prices, Somalaram Venkatesh

Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 71 | Livongo’s SIGNUM 2019, Bobblehead Edition!

Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I are at Livongo’s SIGNUM 2019 conference in San Francisco—in bobblehead form. In this episode, Jess asks me about my key takeaways from the conference, which focused on chronic condition solutions. It was...

Published Sat, Mar 02 2019 12:23 PM by THCB

Filed under: Matthew Holt, Chronic conditions, Glen Tullman, Health in 2 Point 00, Jessica DaMassa, Livongo, SIGNUM 2019, chronic disease management

“Public Charge” is a Public Health Disaster in the Making

By PHUOC LE MD I was born in a rural village outside of Hue, Vietnam in 1976, a year after Saigon fell and the war ended. My family of four struggled to survive in the post-war shambles, and in 1981, my mother had no choice but to flee Vietnam by boat...

Published Fri, Mar 01 2019 8:57 AM by THCB

Filed under: Politics, Health policy, Immigration, health equity, public charge, refugees, Phuoc Le