Two Visions for Health Reform
How can the federal government encourage low-cost, high-quality medical care? There are basically two approaches: a bottom-up, market-based approach and a top-down command-and-control approach: The former is based on competition,…
Critics of Reform Law Try Different Strategy on Heels of DC Gathering
At the recent governors’ meeting on the Hill, the president appeared to offer some sort of appeasement to GOP chief executives in the group who were concerned about just how…
How to Leverage Web 2.0 Through Content Management Systems for Hospitals and Practice Websites
Most hospitals today have static (basic content) websites and many physician practices are putting up a static web presence as well. The more sophisticated health systems and practices, though, are…
How to Develop Lightweight Ancillary Tools Connected to Electronic Health Records Systems
We’re already familiar with the HITECH Act and how it offers money to physicians, hospitals, and multi-hospital systems to become “meaningful users” of certified electronic health records (EHR) systems. Since…
The Elephant in the Room: Discussing Obesity with the Doctor
From the Wall Street Journal (Doctors Should Discuss Obesity With Patients): Patients told by their physicians they were overweight or obese were more likely to acknowledge a weight problem and…
Do We Have It All Wrong About Obesity?
Do obese people generate costs for other people? Mainly not, according to a review of the literature: In employer-provided health insurance pools, being obese causes limited externality harm because obese…
Alcohol Consumption at Sporting Events
Among fans who attend live sporting events, drinking alcohol is nearly as commonplace as root, root rooting for the home team. And while virtually no one has a problem with…
Lawmakers Finally Asking About Medicare Contractor Conflict of Interests
This is something that is long over due. With all the mergers and acquisitions that have occurred in the last 2 years, the companies are not the same in structure…
The Insanity of Health Care Pricing, aka Alice in Medical Land
One of the interesting things I learned in business school is that not only is it typical for a business to earn 80 percent of its profits from 20 percent…
Privacy on the Internet–Tracking User History With Cookies and Flash Cookies And More-Use a Program Like CCleaner to Fight Back
Everyone is marketing to try and predict and of course in healthcare this is prevalent too and “why they market their ass off”. Tracking and snooping is part of marketing…
