Archive for the ‘Healthcare IT’ Category

Big Day in Genomics Angelina Jolie’s very open revelation, “My Medical Choice” in the The New York Times, was brave, and a “big day for genomics”, according to Leslie Ziegler of Rock Health. Jolie, in a powerful and personal narrative, explains why she chose a preventative double mastectomy after genetic testing found the BRCA1 gene. She was estimated to have [...]

In my last post, I talked about the concept of slacktivism in the era of social media. Slacktivism is sort of a pseudo-activism , where participants takes part in gestures – like changing their Facebook profiles photos to that of a cause – that make them feel good, but are meaningless in making any real social change. [...]

I learned a new word last week – slacktivism. It’s fitting I learned this word through Twitter since it, and other social media networks, are said to play a role in the phenomenon. So, what exactly is slacktivism? The word itself is a combination of the terms slacker and activism. If those words sound like they’re [...]

In Part 1, “Technology Driving New Models for Concierge Medicine and Direct Primary Care“, we looked at the growing movement in primary care to new retainer-based practice models. Concierge medicine and Direct Primary Care (DPC) practices are attracting doctors, patients, investors, and developers as they eliminate or minimize the role of insurance. In Part 2, we [...]

Much has been written about the demise of small and medium-sized EHR vendors. The conventional wisdom is that Stage 2 of Meaningful Use is the dagger to the heart of all but the largest vendors. However, the smart small and medium-sized vendors are pursuing a strategy I’ll outline below that will position them to thrive [...]

Athenahealth was right in the middle of the biggest industry news stories to come out of HIMSS13. While the CommonWell Health Alliance announcement sucked the air out of every other announcement at the conference, athenahealth’s Healthcare Information Technology Code of Conduct proposed a set of five principles they hope can “move the industry foward,” including [...]

First off, I’m no legal expert, but recently I had an interesting conversation with the director of HIT at Texas Medical Association, which represents more than 47,000 physicians in the state. I scheduled the call because we wanted to learn more about (and hopefully help them with) the hurdles smaller, clinic-based physicians are encountering when [...]

When I was a kid, I loved the “Ramona” children’s book series by Beverly Cleary. I enjoyed them so much that I was inspired to write my first, and very rare, fan letter. I told Ms. Cleary how much I liked her books and suggested she write a book about my cat. I was thrilled to [...]

The sound of HIMSS 13 has quieted and now the work continues to follow through on the connections made and the initiatives launched. The CommonWell Health Alliance is one that will be closely watched as the work unfolds. Work is what will be required to make the CommonWell initiative happen. There are doubts as to [...]

For Christmas my husband wanted to buy me a Pebble Watch. I politely declined. Actually I said, “That’s too much to spend on me this year. And besides, I don’t want to be connected to my email, Twitter and Facebook all day long.” I’ve admitted before that I’m a second-wave adopter and am not someone [...]