Kids, Energy Drinks Don’t Mix
Energy drinks represent the fastest growing segment of beverage sales in the US, with revenues predicted to surpass $9 billion this year. Children, teens and young adults consume at least…
Hand Hygiene Monitoring in Hospitals
At my last hospital, we struggled to find effective and efficient ways of monitoring and managing hand washing compliance, because it can significantly reduce Hospital-Acquired Infections(HAIs). But, the answer may…
Avoiding End of Life Transfers from Nursing Home to Hospital
It’s encouraging to see the California HealthCare Foundation tackle the issue of unnecessary nursing home to hospital transfers that occur in the last weeks of life. The PREPARED project, comprising…
Health Reform Increases State Medicaid Cost
Health Reform will of course increase Medicaid spending as more people become eligible for this entitlement. Yet this is not the only reason Medicaid costs will rise due to Health…
China – Future Obesity Treatment Market
Chinese people with a body mass index (BMI) of 24-25.9 had the lowest risk of death, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Obesity has increased…
Medicaid: Not Just for the Poor Anymore
In 1965, Medicaid was conceived as a program to provide acute care for people who had no other resources. As the graph shows, it has been expanded far beyond its…
Growth in Diabetes management
In some respects, the diabetes market is reaching a state of satisfaction. Glucose meters have reached a level of sophistication which satisfies most market needs, and the same is true…
The Future of Consumer-Directed Health Care
Over the next decade I believe we are going to see a major transformation of American medicine. It won’t be the kind of transformation that is normally discussed at health…
Medicaid P4P
As part of health reform, Medicare is looking to institute value-based purchasing or pay-for-performance programs in a number of settings. In fact, in my work for Acumen, I have worked…
How Secure are Your Systems?
I spend a lot of time talking with CEOs, CIOs, and other senior executives about what HIPAA security and HITECH privacy policies really mean. I hear a lot of naive…
