Critics of the American Medical Association argue that the organization's ranks have shrunk to the point where it can no longer claim to be the voice of the nation's doctors. Now new demographic information suggests that, not only might the AMA no longer represent doctors, but its membership and leadership may not be representative of the U.S. physician population.
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Healthcare organizations seeking to maximize the number of patient records they can expose through a given security breach should consider contracting for professional help. I'm only being partially facetious.
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When Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, told HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that he worried Obamacare’s implementation was headed for a “train wreck,” she publicly promised to bring him into the loop.
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It's been said, “There's no melon like a snitched melon.”Is there something about sneaking into someone else's patch and purloining a plump one that makes it taste sweeter?The pathology of snitched melons came to mind last week while thinking about CVS and the pharmacy chains and why they were squaring off with the Office for Civil Rights at HHS.
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It takes some pluck to drive in West Virginia, probably to live there, too, amid the many mountains, valleys, hills and “hollers.” As one plucky experiment in open-source health information technology ends in the Mountain State, another continues to thrive.
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A public official in a small town in Maine claims there are links between the high costs of an electronic health records system and the decision to close tiny St. Andrews Hospital and Healthcare Center in nearby Boothbay Harbor. That may not be the case.
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It's fashionable these days to call every cluster of U.S. Senators a gang.The Gang of Six. The Gang of Eight. This week, six Republican senators, having formed their own grouping—let's call it the Gang of Carp—released what they called a “white paper.” In it, they carped about problems with the management and direction of several federal health information technology programs funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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Here's a thought. When it comes to privacy and security, all patient information is equal. This isn't a new idea, of course. I have a copy of the Oath of Hippocrates on my wall. It says, “Whatever … I may see or hear … which ought not be spoken abroad I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret.”
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Before the release of the omnibus privacy rule earlier his year, or passage of the more stringent privacy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or even the main federal health information privacy law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, there were state, federal and common law provisions in full force about the handling of particularly sensitive patient information.
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With Mayor Rahm Emanuel's controversial plan to close 54 underused or underperforming schools, Chicago's educational institutions are once again the focus of negative national publicity. But the system has shown itself to be capable of educating national leaders, as evidenced by the fact that the current presidents of two prominent physician organizations are alumni of Chicago public high schools.
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I'm a huge fan of your “Daily Show,” but last week, with your segment, “The Red Tape Diaries,” you and your staff waded into the swamps of health information technology, made more dense and impenetrable by the Defense and Veterans Affairs bureaucracies.
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More and more news articles and news releases are decrying how economic pressures are increasing the drudgery of healthcare work. But there are also rays of hope and inspiration.
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Indiana University Health wouldn't say anything more about shelving expansion plans for Methodist Hospital other than a brief e-mail that contained this: “Because of several external factors, such as lingering recession and healthcare reform-related uncertainties, IU Health has delayed the construction until it can fully ensure the design of the new critical-care bed tower will align with the future healthcare environment.”
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A doctor who died 12 years ago is having an influence on healthcare debates all across the country.
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A pair of new reports from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology deserve your click-throughs.
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