Answers To Diseases

The future of Medicare is at the center of a tense national political debate that touches on values, priorities and the entire U.S. economy. It’s also the key battleground for the broader issue of building a viable, affordable health care delivery system…(read more)

HealthBlog readers know that I seldom turn over space on this blog to guest experts.  HealthBlog is very personal, and I like to keep it that way.  However, I also know that HealthBlog is widely read around the world.  There are topics…(read more)

In 1995 I joined the administrative staff at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, Washington.  What began as a half-time position while I continued to practice medicine and provide medical reports for local and national television outlets…(read more)

Today Im reporting from the 21st annual conference and exhibition of the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) being held in sizzling San Antonio, Texas (home of the Alamo).  This morning I provided a keynote address to an assembly of more than 2400 CMSA members.  The audience was predominately female, and shall I say kindly, [...]

This week on Microsoft Health Tech Today we report on some amazing work by graduate students at UC Davis.  Wilson To and his colleagues have come up with a smartphone app that helps medical workers in the field diagnose malaria.  And, this isnt the first time on our show that weve profiled these brilliant young [...]

On a May 26th HealthBlog post, The Health Industry Stampede to Cloud Computing , I shared some encouraging information from CDW ( Cloud Computing Tracking Poll ) on the health industrys measured, yet growing enthusiasm for cloud computing.  As a former hospital Senior VP/CIO/CMIO I know all too well that a hospitals core competency isnt [...]

In a piece published today on Hospitals and Health Networks Daily , Hayden Bush provides an interesting perspective on the customer service expectations that people have when dealing with healthcare providers and possible generational differences in those expectations.  He points out that Baby Boomers and those older (the so-called Silent Generation) may have lower customer [...]

Identity and access management solutions for the enterprise some people might consider that to be a pretty dull topic!  But its not a dull topic if youre an IT professional for a large hospital or clinic and charged with managing who has secure access to the enterprises diverse applications and sensitive data.  And it [...]

Stampede?  OK, that would be a bit of an exaggeration.  But even I found a new poll conducted by CDW to be surprising and quite encouraging.  As I travel about the USA and the world talking with health industry customers, I find theres a genuine interest in cloud computing.  The flexibility, scalability and lower costs [...]

A new study from Manhattan Research reveals that about 7 percent of US physicians are currently doing web video chats with their patients.  The practice is most common in certain specialties such as mental health or oncology where patients benefit from more frequent, and convenient contact with the physicians or other clinicians caring for them.  [...]