The Health Care Blog

Sorry, been busy!

You may have noticed that I haven’t been hanging around THCB much this week so far. Well I have a great excuse. This is my wife Amanda and our new daughter Colette. She was born on Sunday at 6 am and mom and baby are doing very well! Tweet this...

Published Thu, May 12 2011 5:24 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Matthew Holt, micro

Wellpoint gets aggressive on inpatient payment changes

We’ve heard a lot of whining over the years from private insurers about how the have to pay more because Medicare pays less. But now Wellpoint is going to essentially use the ACA as cover to put all of its hospitals on a pay for performance plan–obviously...

Published Mon, May 16 2011 1:10 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: micro

Musings on PHRs & Consumer Engagement

By JOHN MOORE The recent post on Google Health going into the deep freeze has solicited a number of emails, including some from the press. In one of those emails a reporter had spoken to several industry thought leaders to garner their opinions which...

Published Mon, May 16 2011 10:20 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Consumers, PHRs, John Moore

Fact-checking Medical Claims

By BRIAN MOSSOP In 2007/08, the work of Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler revealed that human behaviors, and even states of mind, tracked through social networks much like infectious disease. Or put another way, both obesity and happiness worm their...

Published Tue, May 17 2011 6:41 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: The Insider's Guide to Health Care, Review articles, Medical facts, Brian Mossop, Fact checking

A New Norm for Hospital Operations

By CHARLIE EVANS Since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), I have had the opportunity to engage a wide variety of colleagues, policymakers, and noted health care thinkers about the effects of health care reform on hospitals...

Published Tue, May 17 2011 8:00 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Uncategorized

What Is Health?

By LESLIE KERNISAN, MD For a while now, I’ve been working on an ebook about making digital health more useful and usable for older adults. (Don’t hold your breath, I really have no idea when it will be done. I can only work on it for about...

Published Tue, Nov 25 2014 7:14 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB

Grading the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan

By JAMES SALWITZ, MD It is a heart pounding, head spinning, edge of your seat page-turner; the sort of rare saga that takes your breath away as it changes you, forever. It hints at a radically different future, a completely new world a few years away...

Published Mon, Dec 22 2014 5:00 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Physicians, Diagnosis, Federal Health IT Plan 2015-2020, Interoperability

Reactive vs. Proactive Health Care: The Intersection of Payment Reform & Consumer Data Powering Clinical Insight

By JOSHUA SEIDMAN One of the greatest opportunities that exists in moving from “turnstile medicine” (or fee-for-service) to value-based payment models is the shift from reactive to proactive health care. The focus on accountability for population health...

Published Tue, Dec 23 2014 10:10 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Health 2.0

EHR Interoperability Following in E-Prescribing’s Footsteps?

By TOM BIZZARO Frequently, when conversations turn to the interoperability of healthcare IT systems, a negative vibe permeates the air. Indeed, some people view the Office of the National Coordinator’s 10 year interoperability plan with a feeling of exasperation...

Published Wed, Dec 24 2014 9:09 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Interoperability, e-Prescribing

Zen and the Art of Antibiotics

By HANS DUVEFELT, MD Jacques Johndreau did not look like his usual self when I saw him in the office a few weeks ago. He looked part retired bank manager and part Disney cartoon chipmunk. He spoke with hardly any facial movements: “Holy Boys, my wife...

Published Mon, Dec 29 2014 8:50 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Ceftriaxone, Clindamycin, antibiotics

Has Med School Changed For the Better?

By KARAN CHHABRA Every third-year has heard it. “…When I was in your position, I was taking 24-hour calls every other night. If my resident was there, I was there….” We’re regaled about the glory days, without shelf exams, without phlebotomists, and—by...

Published Tue, Dec 30 2014 8:26 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Residency, Project Millenial, med school

Will the Real Professor Katherine Baicker Please Stand Up?

By AL LEWIS and VIK KHANNA Harvard Professor Katherine Baicker is arguably most acclaimed health policy researcher at arguably the most acclaimed (and not even arguably, the best-endowed) school of public health in the country. Her seminal account of...

Published Wed, Dec 31 2014 5:55 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Wellness, Kathleen Baicker, Health Affairs

It’s Official: Aledade ACOs Up and Running

By FARZAD MOSTASHARI, MD We launched Aledade on June 18th, and by the end of July we had recruited 80 primary care physicians in 4 states to join us in creating the very first Aledade ACOs. We have been work together ever since- but haven’t been able...

Published Fri, Jan 02 2015 2:12 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, ACOs, The Primary Care ACO, Farzad Mostashari, Aledade

The Anesthesiologist’s Story: New Details Emerge In the Rivers Case

BY KAREN SIBERT, MD New York Post reporter Susan Edelman revealed on January 4 the name of the unfortunate anesthesiologist allegedly present on August 28 at Yorkville Endoscopy, during the throat procedure that led to the death of comedian Joan Rivers...

Published Sun, Jan 04 2015 9:14 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: THCB, Yorkville Endoscopy, anesthesiology, Oxygen Saturation, Joan Rivers Case, Propofol

HIT Newser: Accenture Tapped to Continue Work on HealthCare.gov

By MICHELLE RONAN NOTEBOOM Accenture Tapped to Continue Work on HealthCare.gov Accenture, the consulting firm that was hired a year ago to fix the troubled HealthCare.Gov insurance exchange, is awarded a five-year, $563 million to continue its work on...

Published Sun, Jan 04 2015 12:00 AM by The Health Care Blog