News From Around the Web
> The Los Angeles Times reports that President Obama is putting a special focus on technology to increase access to the government, his first accomplishment being HealthCare.gov. Obama told White House officials and members of his cabinet that he wants to build a smarter government by embracing technology. Obama noted that when the prototype of the insurance application for the site came in at 21 pages, his team rejected it, according to the article. "It's now three pages long," he said. Article
Mobile Healthcare News
> The technical feasibility of gathering high frequency health data via Interactive Voice Response (IVR) may, in some instances, exceed the clinical benefit of doing so, finds an article in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. IVR is an automated phone information system that speaks to the caller with a combination of fixed voice menus and data extracted from databases in real time. The caller responds by pressing digits on the phone or speaking words or short phrases. Article
> Mobile healthcare neither replaces nor displaces health providers but enables and enhances their practices, according to an article in the Online Journal of Nursing Informatics.The authors use three case studies from around the world to demonstrate the potentials of mHealth to fulfill applications in community health, epidemiology and acute care evidence-based practice, as well as building awareness, capturing data on a near/real time basis, and remotely monitoring chronic health conditions. Article
Healthcare News
> A new Health Affairs study examines why low-income patients prefer hospitals to doctor's offices and use more hospital care and less primary care than patients with high socioeconomic (SES) status. The study authors point out how this low-value pattern of care is both costly to the healthcare system and harmful to the health of the patients using it. Article
> Hospital and health systems will have an easier time defending themselves against workplace discrimination suits thanks to two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that place the burden on staff to prove retaliation was the basis for unfair employment decisions rather than only a motivating factor. Legal analysts told American Medical News that the decisions protect physician employers from overly broad and frivolous discrimination suits, but limit possible legal remedies for doctors who face discrimination themselves. Article
And Finally... This isn't your local diner! Article