Art----Computer----Science----Patient

Paul Ravetz: Can the art of medicine exist in the computer age? In today's post on KevinMD,  Paul Ravetz recognizes what most of us already understand (where the rubber hits the road).  Tell it to the HIT group, salivating  over the ARRA.   "Does the “Art of Medicine” really exist, or perhaps more important, can it do so in the computer age?  Aesclepius Computers are both the boon and the bane of medicine. Electronic medical records (EMRs) are excellent for retrieval of information about labs, medications, and past medical history of our patients. These records are much easier to access than our old paper charts. However, I feel that the Achilles Heel of these advances lies in the fact that physicians are so busy...

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Health Train Express----Shortening the Trains

  In the past ten years we have experienced an Internet bubble, a Housing bubble, and Financial Markets Bubble.  What is the next bubble to burst. Could it be a health care bubble? George Lundberg in a recent post on The Health Care Blog enumerates on the development of bubbles in real estate, silicone valley, financial markets, and presents a scary prediction of what may very well occur in health care.  Some experts predict a sixty percent (60%) adjustment in overall health care expenditures as compared to the present portion healthcare consumes (or adds) to the GDP. Trimming Health Care Costs There is a movement afoot to nominate George Lundberg for Surgeon General. For those of you who wish to support this movement,...

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The Ultimate Medical Home -The White House

  Can the medical home reconcile the high cost of HIT? Was Marcus Welby MD the penultimate medical home? Despite the "warm fuzzy" acronym of "Medical Home" readers should realize policy makers are not proposing a Marcus Welby MD for every patient. Two of the best articles on this subject of HIT and medical homes are in todays" columns on The Health Care Blog. Elsewhere, Some of our congressional leaders still do not 'get it". Charles Schumer proposes that any government run program in health care reform follow the standards and regulations of private insurers. Many of our current problems relate to the manner in which private insurers operate. Mr Schumer is a powerful power player in the New York Financial Banking and Wall Street...

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The Myth of Health IT

In an opinion piece, former HHS Deputy Secretary Tevi Troy challenges common beliefs about health IT and questions whether the $20 billion included in the federal stimulus package for health IT will improve the country's health care system. Washington Post. 5 Myths on Health Care's Electronic Fix-It In The Washington Post: By Tevi Troy Sunday, April 26, 2009 Are electronic health records the panacea for all our health-care ills? Congress seems to think so: With strong cheerleading from President Obama, it has approved $20 billion for EHRs as part of the stimulus package. Health information technology undeniably holds a lot of promise, but it's still in its infancy. Is it worth a stimulus now? A look at some health IT myths: 1. Electronic health records will cure our health system....

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