Airplane Medical Care: Could You Survive?

Mike Magee We are a globe trotting, increasingly mobile human population. And when we are traveling any sort of distance, especially if it involves crossing oceans, most of us travel by commercial airlines. In fact there were 2.75 billion passenger flights booked last year. That translates into nearly 10 billion passenger hours in the air. […]

HRSA Report: Nursing Supply Growing

HRSA Report: “There were 2.8 million RNs (including advanced practice RNs) and 690,000 LPNs working in the field of nursing or seeking nursing employment in 2008 to 2010. About 445,000 RNs (16 percent) and 166,000 LPNs (24 percent) lived in rural areas. The per capita distribution of RNs varied substantially across states. The nursing workforce […]

Resetting Our Biases: Entering A New Stage of “Health Enlightenment”

Mike Magee This week, the Washington Post published a lengthy piece focused on Medicare Part D, its history, and how it might be improved.(1) The suggestions – ranging from mining data to requiring diagnostic codes on prescriptions – zeroed in on “better prescribing”. What they missed completely was a simpler strategy with arguably greater benefit […]

IHI Report Looks At County to County Variability

IHI ANNOUNCEMENT: “Quality pioneer W. Edwards Deming once remarked, ‘If I could reduce my message…to just a few words, I’d say it all has to do with reducing variation.’ If reducing variation is the path to improved quality, then identifying and understanding variation are surely the first steps. ‘Counties of Interest: Achieving Better- or Worse-Than-Expected […]

Mothers Lives Matter

Mike Magee Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 12th. How do I know? Because Trish has mentioned it two or three times in the past week. This is one of the many patterns that have evolved over 43 years of marriage that have helped our family – me, our children, and now their families – […]

“The Weight of The Nation: Worth Watching

The Weight of the Nation for Kids is a family-friendly three-part series of half-hour specials for young people spotlighting decisions children and their families can make to improve their health now and in the future.

Obama’s True Legacy May Be Winning The War On Cancer

Mike Magee In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “War On Cancer”.(1) But 42 years later, it may be President Obama who declares victory. If so, it will be as much a result of Obama’s fundamental re-ordering of the war’s priorities, as to the simple passage of time and straight-line progress. This week, the simultaneous […]