thinks news from FierceHealthcare

A group of Florida physicians have taken on a challenge which has crushed many predecessors--managing a Medicare HMO on their own. Despite the failure of two Medicare HMOs in its market in the past... Read more...

In theory, young doctors-in-training will focus in on the specialty that fits their needs and skills best. However, in practice, more and more physicians are choosing specialties that offer their... Read more...

 New England Journal editor talks reform
New England Journal of Medicine editor and Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Arnold Relman has staked out his position on health reform. In a recent interview, Relman discusses why he believes non-profits and for-profits aren't so different, why he thinks most doctors should be on salary. And, he sees a single-payer system as the best way to overhaul healthcare delivery. Interview

With flu season right around the corner, health experts will once again sound the bird flu alarm. In his Wall Street Journal column, primary care doctor Benjamin Brewer agrees that the nation's emergency departments will be pushed beyond capacity if a pandemic does hit the U.S. But Brewer thinks that there's a simple Internet tool that can keep this from happening. Article

Recently, two Chicago Tribune articles reported that despite a lot of noise about increasing transparency in the healthcare system, the level of transparency necessary for consumers to comparison shop simply isn't yet a reality. Moreover, even if the information were available, it seems as though patients …

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The Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) isn't happy with CMS decision to end the ban on specialty hospitals. Last week CMS announced that these hospitals could operate under the condition that they report their financial structures and physicians' financial ties to patients. Failing to do so would result in a $10,000 a day fine. The FAH thinks this isn't enough to ensure specialty hospitals play by …

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Addressing the annual meeting of America's Health Insurance Plans in San Diego, Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) told insurers that they have a prominent role to play in his plan for health insurance reform in Massachusetts. Romney predicted that others will follow his state's lead in developing innovative solutions to the uninsurance problem. "Other states are going to learn from us," Romney said. That does indeed appear to be happening. The San Diego Union Tribune reports that earlier …

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Colin Angle of iRobot, the company that developed the Roomba (a cute little robot vacuum cleaner that has surprised observers by selling 2 million units) is setting his sights on healthcare. Angle tells CNET that he thinks his company's robots could have a tremendous impact on the eldercare and homecare markets. "If we allowed routine nurse visits to happen virtually, to sort of eyeball the person and ensure compliance for taking their meds, which is the number one reason why people …

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Shares of WebMD Health are up this week after an analyst upgrade focused Wall Street's attention on the company. JMP Securities analyst William Morrison said he believes the company will generate more traffic than expected for its consumer healthcare Web sites in the second half of the year, as consumers looking for health-related information turn to the company for answers. WebMD Health shares were up 4.4 percent yesterday to $37.60. The company's stock is up nearly 30 percent so far …

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The government investigation into the activities of non-profit hospitals is showing signs of intensifying, The New York Times reports. Congressional leaders are threatening to take action to regulate the industry if it does not enact reforms itself. The Senate Finance Committee's Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to the American Hospital Association last week listing a series of problems he thinks the non-profit sector needs to address. Grassley said he is concerned about …

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