Smiles Make the World Go Around
A blog post in the Wall Street Journal Online explains why it is so important to smile. Smiling is contagious. It also lowers stress hormones and boosts positive ones. Brain…
GOP Attacks States’ Waiver Issue
When it comes to health reform and the reform law, President Obama just cannot win. He spends virtually his entire 2008 presidential campaign touting the “single most important change to…
New Test Predicts Which Cancers will Spread
Cancer patients usually don’t die from the effects of their primary tumor. Metastatic lesions in other organs like the liver and brain usually do them in. Clinicians would thus love…
Hot Spots
In any other field, Jeffrey Brenner would be a millionaire. But because he’s in health care, he doesn’t know how he’s going to make ends meet. Like entrepreneurs in every…
Micro Apps for SMART
Today, Wil Yu (Special Assistant, Innovations) over at ONC wrote about a new innovation challenge that is giving out money to developers who can create micro apps that run in…
Restrict Flexible Spending Accounts
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has a number of annoying little aspects to it. Some, especially the rule requiring businesses to prepare 1099s for any vendor they…
Six Ideas and Questions for GAVI’s New CEO
This week, Dr. Seth Berkley was named Chief Executive Officer of the GAVI Alliance. Expectations are high as GAVI seeks to raise US$ 3.7 billion this year for childhood vaccination…
Red Light Cameras Save Lives
Most people don’t like them. Privacy advocates abhor them. But really, how many things can you name that save lives AND generate revenues for cash-strapped local and state governments? Red…
Mass. Study – Insurance Costs Still Too High
One of the fundamentals of healthcare reform is applying the cost of receiving care to the true quality of actual care that is received, creating a perception of quality in…
Medicare Underpays Physicians Locally
It has been well known for years that Santa Barbara county physicians are underpaid by Medicare due to outdated reimbursement formulas because we are classified as a rural area. The…