American Ambivalence Towards Health Care Costs
"Bending the curve"--slowing the rate of health care cost growth--continues to be front and center in the health policy and health services research world. It's imperative that we do something…
Mesothelioma – A Poorly Understood Cancer
EXCLUSIVE POST ON CANCER AWARENESS - Few know what mesothelioma is or its impact on its victims. Mesotheliomas are rare tumors caused predominantly by exposure to asbestos. This cancer…
United Healthcare Begins Using CareSpeak Text Messaging for CareGiver Alerts
Text messaging is just that and in my own course of work I just use Outlook and Windows Live to schedule reminders for me but this is different of course…
Medicaid Patients Limited to 3 ER Visits Per Year
There are 700 diagnoses which the lawmakers have ruled not emergencies and they include chest pain, abdominal pain and many more that could indicate serious conditions so if you have…
HHSinnovates Announces Round 3 Winners
HHS employees are invited to submit innovations through the HHSinnovate program which began in 2010 as part of the Open Government efforts to encourage innovation. This week Secretary Sebelius announced…
PATIENT RESPONSE: Giving Voice to the Patient
Dr Jones runs a thriving cardiology practice. Apart from being a very competent doctor and an expert in his field, there’s an all-important ingredient in his formula for success –…
Lack of Care Coordination Leads to Patient Frustration and Poor Care
This is the third post in a series on care coordination and the importance of the electronic medical record to effect that coordination. This is the third post in a…
Myth Busters #10: Risk Pooling
In terms of the evolution of public policy, the “health policy community” failed at health planning, failed at hospital rate setting, failed at Certificate of Need, and failed to do…
Junk Food isn’t Cheaper After All
In fact it isn’t cheaper to eat highly processed food: a typical order for a family of four — for example, two Big Macs, a cheeseburger, six chicken McNuggets, two…
Partnerships in Health: Applying Metrics to Target Interventions & Improve Health
Last week, in partnership with ThinkWellPoint, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease hosted an event in Washington, D.C. highlighting health indices and how they can be used to promote prevention, improve…
