health care system
ALSO NOTED: MA spends most on healthcare; Number of uninsured down; and much more...
> A new study by researchers at Boston University claims that Massachusetts has the most expensive health care system in the world. Article
> Neil Versel reports in Health IT World that Care New England Health System in Providence, RI has been using software from Core Security Technologies to protect its network as it goes live with Cerner and PHRs. …
... Read more...UNC and IBM launch EMR network
The University of North Carolina Health Care System and IBM announced the launch of a new Web-based electronic health system. Dubbed WebClinical Information Systems (WebCIS), the network will allow more than 7,000 physicians participating affiliated with UNC Health to access patient medical records, test results and file prescriptions electronically. The UNC Health System serves approximately 1 million patients. WebCIS is based on the IBM Health Information Framework, a standards based …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: WHO head dies after clot surgery; Critics warn bird flu plan not good enough; and much more...
> Dr. Lee Jong-wook, the head of the World Health Organization, died on Monday after emergency surgery for a blood clot to the brain. Article
> Ten former employees came forward to accuse CEO Haddad of Boston's Caritas Christi Health Care System of harassment since the Boston Globe's article on his behavior. …
... Read more...National Capital Medical Center project moves forward
Plans to build a new $400 million hospital in traditionally underserved southeast Washington, DC, are moving forward. Mayor Anthony Williams and the president of Howard University signed a deal yesterday which makes the project official. A new independent, not-for-profit corporation will operate the National Capital Medical Center. As part of the deal, Howard University will sell its hospital to the new entity. Critics have argued that the economically disadvantaged area, which is plagued …
... Read more...Editor's Corner
This week I'm at the Information Therapy conference in Park City, Utah. There's been a lot of talk about getting the right information to patients at the right time, but there's also clear evidence that medical errors are still being covered up, patients are leaving the physician's office not having their questions answered, and most of the information they heard there they've …
Debate over Medicare Part D continues
The argument over Medicare Part D appeared to gain strength on Wednesday in Washington, as House Republicans continued the push to defer the program for a year, arguing that doing so would save at least $32 billion. The group says that the government simply cannot afford to implement the program at a time when an estimated $200 billion--and possibly more--is needed to cover the costs of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Many analysts have argued that it is unlikely that the …
Information therapy conference shows how far we need to go
At the 4th Information Therapy conference in Park City, UT, the first two keynote speakers had different but consistent takes on the lack of available information for consumers and providers, and its negative impact. Patient advocate Susan Sheridan's son was not given a simple test and his jaundice turned into brain damage and the debilitating life-time condition, Kernicterus. She, by force of will, put a patient group together and changed the law in many states to get the $1 dollar …
... Read more...Medical error reporting law passes
Congress passed legislation on Wednesday which would establish a national system for reporting medical errors. Critics of the health care system have argued for years that mistakes claim thousands of lives every year. One well-known estimate by the Institute of Medicine suggests that nearly 100,000 people die annually as a result of mistakes at hospitals. The law is supported by both the AMA and the AHA, and, as a consequence, it stops short of the mandatory reporting requirement that …
... Read more...Study challenges immigrant healthcare costs
New research released in the American Journal of Public Health appears to quash some commonly held beliefs about the role recent immigrants play in the health care system. A team at Harvard found that recent immigrants average about $962 in annual healthcare costs, half the $1,870 for native-born Americans. There is evidence, however, that immigrants appear more in the ER than those born here.
- see this CNN/Money story for more
Judge seizes California prison health system
A federal judge took control of California's prison health care system, saying "extreme measures" are necessary to fix widespread problems. California's system is one of the largest in the county. It serves 163,000 prisoners, employs 6,000 people and has an annual budget of $1.1 billion. Conditions in California prisons have been a target of reformers for years. Critics allege at least one inmate a week dies as a result of inadequate medical care. The seizure is the first of a large …
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