I just completed my 2 day Pan-Mass Challenge, a 193 mile ride that raises money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Jimmy Fund) here in Boston. It is the single largest athletic fund-raising event in the world, raising more than $250 million dollars over the past 30 years.
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Is It Time to Play NICE?
Much of the resistance to healthcare reform in Congress and beyond is based on cost concerns. Perhaps the success of healthcare reform is dependent upon the ability of comparative effectiveness research to show the way to cost savings that can fund the reform.
Continue readingLeveraging Physician-Consumer Teamwork
Good clinical decision support tools can improve outcomes and cut costs. However consumerism evolves, it will surely play an important role in the delivery of health care. Only organizations that adjust to this sea change, through innovation and emphasis on consumer issues, will survive.
Continue readingRevolutionary Health IT
Revolutionary HIT requires a focus on three key areas: 1) processes and workflows, 2) information technology tools, and 3) healthcare provider tasks, duties and responsibilities.
Continue readingHealthcare IT: Slogan or Solution?
Unequivocally, healthcare information technology alone cannot solve the problems our nation faces in delivering high quality, affordable healthcare to all Americans.
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Crazy U.S. Healthcare: How Did We Get Here?
(Link to video of this post) Currently, the U.S. spends about 18% of GDP or close to $4 trillion a year on healthcare. That is about $11,000 per person living in the U.S. Our neighbors …
Continue readingCOVID-19: Lessons from Smallpox
Although achieving herd immunity is critical to ending the pandemic, it makes sense to look at this task regionally, rather than by country or state.
Continue readingLet’s Be Careful Out There
We have two choices to crush this pandemic: 1) Vaccination of a large percentage of our population, and 2) Herd immunity. The responsibility of all of us in healthcare is to follow the science, share what we know with the public, and be careful in how we do so.
Continue readingIs it Safe to Reopen Schools?
Our country now faces the most significant public health crisis in more than a century. The COVID-19 virus has upended our lives and put all of us at risk for illness. As we approach the …
Continue readingFinal Two Phases on the Road to Recovery
In my first two articles on our road to recovery, I covered the first two phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. In them I shared my thoughts on how provider organizations could restart their service lines …
Continue readingPhase 2: Next Stop on Provider Road to Recovery
In Phase 2, businesses expand their services and modify their business practices (e.g., limited seating in restaurants). The COVID-19 disease incidence rate will plateau with a steady number of new cases reported daily. Although researchers are hard at work, we will not have a meaningful treatment or vaccine. As we enter Phase 2 of the pandemic, provider organizations should adjust to the changes in healthcare delivery to take advantage of the opportunities presented.
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