Hospital Obsolescence or Hospital Reinvention?

Mike Magee Two weeks ago Zeke Emanuel asked the question “Are hospitals becoming obsolete?” In his New York Times Op-Ed he flagged the high water mark for the industry as 1981, a year when 6,933 hospitals nationwide admitted 39 million patients or 171 for every 1000 Americans. Thirty five years later, our population has grown […]

The Most Commonsensical And Hopeless Reform Idea Ever

Michael Millenson The way that Michael Long and Sandeep Green Vaswami want to change hospital care may well rank as both the most commonsensical and most hopeless health reform proposal ever. The real question is whether they can show the same tenacity in pursuing their goal as an elderly Jewish woman from Munster, Ind., who […]

American Medical News: Physician smartphone popularity shifts health IT

PAMELA LEWIS DOLAN American Medical News: amednews staff. Posted Aug. 23, 2010. Doctors’ embrace of such devices puts them at a disconnect with hospitals that rely on desktop-based health technology. With physician smartphone use nearing a saturation point, doctors are in an unfamiliar position when it comes to health information technology — demanding that others […]

Don’t go to the Hospital Without these Ten Safety Tips

A trusted family member or friend should be your advocate Heading to the hospital? Don’t go alone. Knowing exactly what’s going on with your care is critical. Medical mistakes unfortunately do happen in hospitals and shockingly, it is reported that 238,337 patients died from potentially preventable medical errors during 2004 through 2006, according to HealthGrades’ […]

Consumer Reports on Health: Worse Than Average

Good intentions do not good tools make, even if you’re Consumers Union Maybe no one at Consumer Reports has a mother. The first rule of effective consumer information is “tell it to Mom;” that is, explain why something is important in the kind of language you would use if speaking to your mother. Unfortunately, the […]

Can Health Care Pay Its Way to Success?

I’ve spent more than 30 years in health care and have run the gamut from non-profit to for-profit, from rural to urban, from clinical care to management, from doctor to patient. Along the way, I’ve been exposed to all sorts of incentives. And, looking back, I have to say that beyond the basics of fundamental financial security, […]

Tennessee Stands Up for “Mini-Insurance”

Over the years, Tennessee has garnered respect from members of the public health community for taking on health insurance coverage for its citizens. Its TennCare program to cover the poor was not without controversy or challenges over the years, but at least the state acknowledged the problem. Now it’s looking at a new approach aimed at state employers who are […]