Categorized as: Health Policy
24Nov The Many Faces of the Electronic Medical Record
The electronic medical record can mean different things to different people. To Microsoft and Google among other Health 2.0 companies, it is a future of their business. To patients, it is concern over privacy and hope for improved care continuity. For medical providers it is an enormous added expense and a headache of technical details to do a job
02Oct USC Ranked #1 Against the Bugs!
Sometimes you just meet a winner. The impressive collection of on-field success over the past several years by the USC football team certainly earns them the right to be considered winners. How far does that culture of winning extend? USC has accomplished a victory over antibiotic resistant (MRSA) bacteria which most hospitals could only hope to pu
28Sep Health 2.0 Conference Wrap
I have been following the after-effects from last week's Health 2.0 conference. Here is my summary of good links if you want to learn more: The opening video to the conference. A List of Attendees by company...Google, Harvard U., Intermountain Healthcare, MayoClinic, among some of the notables. A summary article in the press. A video from the confe
18Sep Health 2.0, Google tech updates, and Universal Health Care
I'm interested to see how the first annual Health 2.0 Conference in San Fransisco taking place this week will pan out. Part of the conference objectives is to define exactly what Health 2.0 is! This conference is the real deal, with a sell out attendance and reps from Google Health speaking (even after the big shakeup there 2 weeks ago). Click here
16Sep Examining Epidemiologic Research…
...or why you shouldn't believe much of the health information coming to you from your local newscast. The New York Times magazine has presented a wonderful article written by Gary Taubes, which describes the strengths, weaknesses and intricacies of epidemiological research studies. It is lengthy, but contains more than its fair share of great quot
28Aug A sadly growning market
The US Census announced today (pg 26-28 of pdf) the latest numbers on income, poverty and health insurance for 2006. For the 6th year in a row, the number of uninsured Americans rose. For 2006, the number was 15.8% of all Americans or 47 million were uninsured. While this is a somber fact, I would like to look at it another way: a growing market. W
23Aug Will consumers fix healthcare?
All the rage of late in the medical business world is about retail medical clinics (or more aptly named, "convenience health clinics"). For Wall Street Journal readers, you know what I'm talking about. You may also know that the American Medical Association has declared war on these clinics. You may read their declaration here. So far, customer sat
28Jul Death Kittens and Contagious Obesity
What has gotten into the New England Journal of Medicine? In the same issue they report on cats that can predict impending death and the very popular spread of obesity through a dense social network. Someone better check out the editorial board and make sure they're alright. I loved these articles, by the way! Labels: public health, Research
05Jul Some medical exam comedy
An entertaining article in Slate magazine by Emily Yoffe, describes her experiences as a "standardized patient" for a group of Georgetown medical students conducting their first physical exam. Yoffe is well known for immersing herself into the issues she is covering, having previously entered the Mrs. America pageant as part of her coverage of the
22Jun Smoked Ligaments Not A Good Idea
This study from Washington University in St Louis found that exposing mice to smoke resulted in significantly decreased healing in medial collateral ligaments. While the news bit mentions that smoking among athletes is lower than the population, I can think of one population who suffers ligament injuries quite often, and smokes quite a bit. Soldier
