Fiscal Cliff Dwellers: Don’t Forget, You Could Always Beef Up IPAB
Republicans are gunning for entitlement cuts as part of a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. Cuts in Medicare are high on the GOP agenda (despite campaigning on a…
Social Media Health: 3 Key Elements to Use When Engaging in Social Media
There are some health care professionals who refuse to engage in social media and there are others who have mastered it. And yet there are some who just don’t understand…
New Healthcare Models Stand “Standard of Care” on Its Head
As I watch the power in healthcare shift away from physicians/providers toward consumers/patients (enabled by the wide access to information and driven in part by higher co-pays), I can’t help…
Singing the Blues: Stress, Depression and Risk for Stroke
Depression is common in US adults over the age of 65. As we age, we are faced with our own mortality and often lose family and friends to disease. According…
Medical Residents Get Their Own Social Network
The days of looking for health-related information in an encyclopedia or medical journal are waning. Today, people go straight to the web and social networks, and that includes medical residents.…
High Quality, Low Cost HealthCare Video Interview Series: e-Patient Dave deBronkart
Dave deBronkart is a cancer survivor, internationally known keynote speaker and author, the spokesperson for patient engagement and a key member of the Society for Participatory Medicine. He is…
Caregivers Manging Multiple Chronic Conditions; NCOA Can Help
The AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) and the United Hospital Fund (UHF) recently released a new report that finds 46 percent of family caregivers perform medical and nursing tasks for…
Guns and Violence: A Surgeon Speaks Out
One of the guns used in Newton – A Bushmaster. Not a gun for hunting anything but humansChildren Die Every Day from Guns One of the guns used in Newton…
Two Types of Innovation: What is the Right Balance?
I recently coined a phrase while talking to our senior leadership at Partners HealthCare. I told them that we aspire to bring them “innovations they don’t yet know they need.” …
Facility Fees for Hospital-Owned Physician Offices: A Nasty Surprise for Patients
When hospitals purchase free-standing physician offices they often convert them into outpatient clinics. The shift isn’t visible on the surface, but underneath the covers a powerful economic transformation has taken…
