News

healthcare/shutterstock

Perhaps the most important single takeaway from this newly released data isn’t even the data itself but where it came from. It couldn’t come from an industry that’s kept pricing deeply cloaked behind legally binding contracts between providers and payers for decades. It came without much fanfare directly from our Federal Government.[read more]

Preventative cancer surgery / People.com

Actress Angelina Jolie is making news because she chose to have both breasts removed, with reconstruction with breast implants following. She made that aggressive cancer prevention choice because she tested positive for the “breast and ovarian cancer genes": BRCA1 and BRACA2.[read more]

H7N9 & public health (Photo: AFP)

Over the last few months, H7N9 has been making headlines around the world. As of May 9, there have been 130 identified cases. There are four things we should learn from responses to H7N9, which have so far led to effective control of the disease.[read more]

healthcare reform / shutterstock

In the wake of recent events requiring damage control by the President, some GOP senators are trying to undermine the SCOTUS-sanctioned ACA. Whatever becomes of that effort, Republicans have (yet again) been scheduling a time to formally vote on an Obamacare repeal.[read more]

The name Florence Nightingale has become synonymous with nursing, so it is fitting that National Nurses Week wraps up on her birthday, May 12th. Her pioneering spirit has left a lasting legacy: Not only did she revolutionize the practice of patient care and emphasize the health benefits of proper sanitation; she also spearheaded social justice issues.[read more]

Dr. Terry Simpson

The governor of New Jersey had a Lap-Band installed in February and has already lost 40 pounds. Lap-Band surgery is the least invasive of all the operations. But it still has risks – it is surgery, and with surgery comes complications. Here's what the Lap-Band can do, and some tips for success afterward.[read more]

This is the first post in HealthWorks Collective's new series: Health Start-Ups!. There are many, many cool healthcare startup companies out there. A few of them make it big. Many don't. I admire the developers of startups. They had an idea and they ran with it. I welcome any news, posts, ideas, people to interview, any information at all related to health start-ups. Post a comment on any of the posts in the series and I will get back to you![read more]

Medicaid expansion

As of January 1, 2014, Medicaid expansion will become effective. What is the outlook for Medicaid? A couple of studies have been conducted in Oregon which delve into some of the issues surrounding expansion to arrive at results that may serve as predictors as to what we can expect.[read more]

In the US, there are 30,000 people with ALS, and 7,500 new patients are diagnosed each year. The number may be small, but it is a reminder that we still don’t have any meaningful treatment for ALS. An active patient blogger will stop writing because the the author can no longer write. A charity dedicated to ALS will lose its spokesperson because he or she can no longer speak about the inspiring story about fighting the disease.[read more]

scholarship/shutterstock

Earlier this year, ZocDoc offered high school students the chance to win a grand prize scholarship of $6,000 to the accredited college of their choice for writing the best personal health essay. The students had to submit a one-to-two page essay discussing a personal health experience, how it related to the healthcare system as a whole, and any changes they would make to the healthcare system as a result.[read more]

Senator Max Baucus

Senator Max Baucus (Democrat), who previously supported the Affordable Care Act, strongly admonished the Head of HHS (Kathleen Sibelius) before a congressional hearing, stating the law was badly flawed and miscalculated in terms of start up expenses.[read more]

Plan B contraception

The FDA’s ruling allowing the Plan B emergency contraceptive to be sold over the counter to anyone over age 15 naturally has both critics and supporters buzzing. In a statement, Cecile Richards called the ruling an “important step forward to expand access to emergency contraception."[read more]