The new health reform is online and mobile; talking at J. Boye 2011 in Philadelphia
With non-communicable diseases (NCDs) killing two-third’s of the Earth’s residents — not malaria, HIV or other infectious diseases — the World Health Organization calls lifestyle-borne chronic conditions a “slow-motion catastrophe.” The solution for addressing this global challenge isn’t just about deploying more doctors and medical technology in hospitals and bricks-and-mortar institutions. The real health reform is about infrastructure-independent care and feeding that bolsters peoples’ health where they live, work, play and pray, as characterized by the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin in the Los Angeles Times on March 13, 2011. Today I’ll be participating on the eHealth track at the J.
What health care IT holds for 2011: politics vs. market realities
The one issue in health politics that’s got bipartisan support is health care IT. While Republicans in the House may try to pick away parts of the Affordable Care Act, the HITECH Act — part of the 2009 stimulus package formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — will stay intact, according to most industry analysts (including me). However, political agreement doesn’t equal market adoption. So forecasting what 2011 will mean for health information technology requires some deeper analysis of additional issues. For today’s Health Populi, take a look at my annual health IT forecast in California HealthCare Foundation‘s
People worry about access to their health data…and they should
When it comes to their paper medical records, people are most concerned about their ability to access them when they need them. 28% of Americans are more concerned about access than inaccuracies, fraudulent use of the record, loss, or portability to a new doctor. Practice Fusion commissioned this survey of American adults and how they feel about various aspects of paper-based medical records. Overall, 1 in 5 people worry about inaccuracies or outdated information in their records; 1 in 6 are concerned that records will be stolen or used fraudulently, and 1 in 10 fret that records will be lost, won’t be
Women win in health reform
Women, on average, have far more contact with the health care system over their lifetimes than men do. So kicks off an analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010’s (PPACA) impact on women, published by The Commonwealth Fund. Realizing Health Reform’s Potential explains that PPACA should insure some 15 million women as well as give fiscal relief to those women who are under-insured or have pre-existing conditions. One of the key underlying factors which stacks the deck against women in health insurance coverage is the fact that insurance companies see young women a higher risk than
Open notes: opens conversations and builds trust between people and their doctors
People foresee that, in the future, the most trusted ‘channel’ for their engaging in their health will be…conversations with my doctor. This was found in the 2008 Edelman Health Engagement Barometer survey of health citizens polled in five countries — China, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Those health citizens favoring the physician-conversation channel will welcome OpenNotes into their doctor-encounters behind the exam room door. The July 20, 2010, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine talks about an initiative to, literally, open up doctors’ notes to their patients. As Dr.Tom DelBanco, et. al., attest in the article, “‘open notes’
Meaningful use: mandates, menus and morality
“We are only as good in treating patients as the information we have,” opined Dr. David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology in the Department of Health and Human Services, during yesterday’s launch of the new regulations on the meaningful use (MU) of health information technology. In the health care world, yesterday featured a star-studded line-up (live and via webcast) that ushered in the long-awaited meaningful use regulations that provide the roadmap for the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) for providers, hospitals and doctors alike. Simultaneously, Dr. Blumenthal’s 4-page summary of the reg’s was featured in a tidy, useful article in the New
On the Tiger Team and the insecurity of health information
Millions of health records for patients in the U.S. have been breached or compromised in the first half of 2010. Here’s a list derived from an ongoing search via Google News Alerts I monitor using the keywords, “health information and breach:” FedEx lost seven CDs of personal health information (PHI) from the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in Bronx, NY, enroute to Siemens Medical Solutions, in March. This information affected 130,495 patients. The FAA believes that PHI for over 3 million U.S. pilots may be at-risk of breaching, according to a report published in June by the US Transportation Department. The FAA’s
A Tale of Two HIMSS – the dynamic of urgency vs. pragmatism
It was the best of times, and the worst of times. Well, perhaps not the worst, but a time to pause and reflect on the power and the money. Thus I turn to a Tale of Two Cities. As I depart Chicago and the 47th annual conference of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, I recall two different meeting-experiences: the convention floor, with its mood of upbeat urgency, brightly colored booths and activity; and the education sessions and hallway conversations that featured pragmatic, real-world challenges. ARRA, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, with its $19+
Google and Cleveland Clinic — a tidy project built for disruption, and a word on privacy
The Google–Cleveland Clinic health records venture has been announced. Cleveland Clinic is a leader among providers when it comes to health IT, so Google has chosen well. This is a small, quick pilot between two mega-brands in their respective spaces. Word is that the project will last only a couple of months. While Cleveland Clinic has electronic health records for over 100,000 patients, this project will have an N of 10,000. I will be exploring more about the project with Googlefolks at HIMSS next week. For now, I’m in research mode. I’ve already come across several useful posts
Health Populi’s Tea Leaves for 2008
I “leave” you for the year with some great, good, and less-than-sanguine expectations for health care in 2008. These are views filtered through my lens on the health care world: the new consumer, health information technology, globalization, politics, and health economics. Health politics shares the stage with Iraq. Health care is second only to Iraq as the issue that Americans most want the 2008 presidential candidates to talk about, according to the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Several candidates have responded to the public’s interest with significant health care reform proposals. But major health reform – such as universal access
Thanks to Jennifer Castenson for her article in Green Builder Media tracking the growing trend of home-building baked with wellness inside and out. She interviewed me for the piece and I'm grateful to have my perspectives covered in this important issue. Here's one snippet: “Now, we are starting to see areas of the home purposed for health and we have started to think about how to repurpose the home for health."
Jane joined host Dr. Geeta "Dr. G" Nayyar and colleagues to brainstorm the value of vaccines for public and individual health in this challenging environment for health literacy, health politics, and health citizen grievance. Click onto the Pfizer Value of Vaccines site and you can watch four episodes covering the challenges with adult vaccination, the employer and health plan member's journey to vaccination, reimbursement, and collaborating for proactive prevention.
I'm grateful to be part of the Duke Corporate Education faculty, sharing perspectives on the future of health care with health and life science companies. Once again, I'll be brainstorming the future of health care with a cohort of executives working in a global pharmaceutical company.