Promoting Prevention through Health Insurance Exchanges
This week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced regulations to guide state-level development of health insurance exchanges. The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) looks forward…
Encouraging Medicare News From Senate Republicans
I’m excited that four of the most conservative Senators are offering a serious plan to reform Medicare. They would end fee for service Medicare in 2014, place everyone in the plan currently…
What is a HIPAA Violation?
What is a HIPAA violation? While an endless variety of scenarios exist, a few of the most common and avoidable include certain characteristics, such as unencrypted data, employee error, data…
Bone Density Tests – Too Many Not a Good Thing
Frequent bone density tests for senior women may not be needed, according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine. Medicare pays for a bone density test every…
The Bliss of Forgetting
Quick: what did you have for lunch 2 weeks ago? Let’s try another one: who was secretary of labor in the Truman administration? (no Googling!) Don’t remember? you are not…
PSA screening: Does It or Doesn’t It?
A study in the NEJM reports that after 11 years of follow up in a very large cohort of men randomized either to PSA screening every 4 years (~73,000 subjects)…
Hospital Robots Are on Their Way
Hospitals are labor intensive, 24 x 7 institutions, making it tempting for hospital administrators to replace people with machines over the long term. High tech machines that extend doctors’ skills…
Making Patient Experience a Priority: Infographic
“Patient experience” may be the latest buzzword in the healthcare industry, but few organizations really understand what it is and how to improve it. The following infographic created by Beryl…
Total Cost of a HIPAA Violation: 18.5 Million
Who: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) Who was affected: Over 1 million members of the BCBST had their information stolen, including names, SSNs, diagnosis codes, birthdates and health…
3 Keys to Designing a Life-Changing Mobile Health Device
There’s a lot of interest in the impact of mobile health devices. With the proper apps and plug-ins, a device like an iPhone can capture and transmit medical data for…
