Public Employee Benefits Alliance (PEBA) Signs Agreement With Satori Medical Tourism
PEBA represents over 150,000 from two Texas Political Subdivision Pools and 68 individual employers and I guess when you have the former CEO of Cigna it seems like it is…
High Levels of Physical Activity Could Reduce Silent Stroke Risk
Researchers at Columbia University and the University of Miami found the risk of silent strokes was 40% lower in older people who reported high levels of physical activity. Researchers at…
Will FDA Stifle Innovation in Diagnostic Software?
FDA is proposing regulation for mobile medical applications. Not a bad idea. But I have some concerns about what it will mean for clinical diagnostics software. Here’s the definitional passage:…
Your Lifestyle Can Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death
Adhering to a moderate yet healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death by about 90% according to a new study. It is well known that high blood…
Why Don’t Hospitals Compete on Quality?
As explained in a previous Health Alert, it’s more profitable to compete on amenities in a third-party payment system. Here is an update from Colorado: Concierge service. Jacuzzi tubs. Bacon-wrapped…
Conservatives: The Utah Health Exchange is Not a Model
The Utah Health Exchange has gone from being a marginally interesting sideshow to a serious cognitive obstacle to conservatives’ wholesale rejection of Obamacare. Witness the Wall Street Journal’s editorial of…
M&A Activity and Hospital Priorities Seek a Groove as ICD-10 Looms
While the deadline for ICD-10 implementation is not until October 2013, the new clinical documentation code set expands over 8x from 24,000 to > 200,000 and with enterprise-wide effects will…
IBM File System Scans 10 Billion Files in 43 minutes
This almost makes me wish a 10 billion files to scan:) This looks like a good place to store some MRI images. As we all talk about the exploding amount…
CLASS Act Could Be on Chopping Block
The Community Living Assistance and Supportive Services (CLASS) Act is under threat of repeal and Leading Age is leading a charge to save it. Since this Act could become a…
Will Washington Prevent a Cure for Cancer?
The United States can rightly claim the title of medicine chest to the world. Almost two-thirds of research on new medicines approved in the last 10 years was performed in…