Military Medicine Funding for Regional Extension Center

Continuing this week's summary news Better Health created a series of video interviews at HIMSS.  You will find it here. Thanks to Val Jones, MD and Dr. Anonymous.  The range of interviewees extends from Sprint to Epocrates. Increases in Health-Care Costs Even Worse in Military The military’s latest enemy: rising health-care costs. The Governor's Healthcare IT Conference How Smartphones are Changing Healthcare for Physicians and Providers   New Regional Extension Centers Might Lack Proper Funding, Staff from today's iHealthbeat: Regional extension centers might be too understaffed and underfunded to provide the help health care providers need in adopting electronic health record systems, according to a recent study...

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Nouns or Verbs??

The infusion of information technology is not unique to health care. Technology is not a standalone black box sitting in the corner of the office or in a closet.  Those in the technology industry are now recognizing the importance of integration and to bring 'game changing ideas' to the market place. Is technology a noun or a verb?  I think you will find this speech by Anish Chopra, the Chief Technology Officer for the United States. interesting. Does eHealth technology such as email lighten the burden for physicians or does it impose additional responsibility upon them whether they are reimbursed or not? A study published in the New England Journal reveals this counterintuitive finding. Simple is as simple does; More time...

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Meaningful Use, ONCHIT

Today's  offering is a collection of web reference sources, and video keynotes regarding the Office of The National Coordinator for Information Technology.     Electronic Health Records Critical to Effective Reporting of Quality Measures Says ACP   David Blumenthal MD on Meaningful Use of EMR. Dr. Blumenthal is the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology His Keynote Speech is 20 minutes into the video.   A Parallel Universe  David Hesse, CEO Sprint/Nextel Dramatic Challenges and Changes in Health Communications Mobility Technology and it's use at the Point of Care Compelling Health Information Solutions 4G, What's in it for me? HITECH ACT------THE BILL-----PHYSICIAN INCENTIVES There is much buried in this legislation....a worthwile ...

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Growth and Consolidation of the EMR Industry

  The passage of the ARRA and HITECH Act creates a mandate of 19 billion dollars to the health IT industry.  This creates fierce competiton amongst HIT vendors for these dollars.  Mandates are not the same as actual funding.  We see this in many other situations.  Let's hope the government will be capable of following through on the congressional mandate.  It's a bit like California's situation, or the year end delayed or non payment of medicaid bills each year. The government  is free to back out of mandates from congress unless all hell breaks loose. Vendors will be quick to offer their solutions, even if deficient, inefficient for physicians to implement and use.  Feedback from physicians remains critical, otherwise solutions will remain stagnant...

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Back to The Future

    Sorry for the absence. It's been a bit hectic while the Health Train travelled from Georgia to Southern California. (from green to brown)....from bugs to lizards and snakes. I am on a sabbatical and expect to post much more from here. I now have an internet connection and am able to catch up on some of my favorite bloggers,  KevinMD, Dr Wes, Edwin Leap, Medinnovation, and more, most of whom are listed on sidebar, with their links. I admit I have been blog and healthcare reform fasting. I am not totally in 'remission' yet. I am weighing whether to continue my avid interest and advocacy for continuing health reform. I feel I need to contribute to bettering our health system. The next ten years will see radical changes...

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Health Insurers Investment in Fast Food

Food for Thought??  from The WSJ Health Blog Should life and health insurers be investing in the stocks of fast-food companies? Researchers at the Cambridge Health Alliance, which is associated with Harvard Medical School, say no, citing the downside of fast food — associations with obesity and other health problems, heavy marketing to kids and the the chains’ environmental impact. Insurers, however, do have a responsibility to share- or policyholders to maximize returns, and that may include investments in companies that don’t share their health-promoting mission, they say. Sensing that potential disconnect, the Cambridge researchers set out to find out the value of major insurers’ investments in the five leading fast-food companies:...

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Choosing a career

I remember chosing medicine as a career because I wanted to use whatever talent I had to help patients with their health and lives. At that time I was studying engineering. I was one of those people that could not make up their mind what I would do with the rest of my life. I would pick a topic, master it, and then move on to the next interest. Even after I earned my medical degree it took some time for me to pick a specialty. I stopped for a bit of time to direct an emergency medical group and practiced general medicine for several years. It was very interesting and stimulating. Perhaps I learned as much in those four years as I did in medical school and internship. I had no problems in finding specialists to manage problems that went beyond...

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