The Health Care Blog

The 2010 DiabetesMine Challenge

By Amy Tenderich We have just opened the 2010 DiabetesMine Design Challenge. This year, we’ll be selecting THREE Grand Prize winners to EACH receive $7,000 in cash and a support package to help winners realize and commercialize their design ideas....
March 9, 2010 in Consumers, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bush & Palestrant--Live from HIMSS

By Matthew Holt After days of technical gremlins holding me back, I'm getting my HIMSS interviews up online. I’ll start with one from two of my favorites. This is Daniel Palestrant of Sermo and Jonathan Bush of athenahealth, who are...
March 4, 2010 in Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

HIMSS impressions

By Matthew Holt HIMSS is like a 4 day party with interesting conversations, meetings that I always miss (sorry RelayHealth & Ingenix—I owe ya both!), and usually a travel complication. This time I got there smoothly but missed my plane...
March 4, 2010 in Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (6)

A little HIMSS housekeeping

By Matthew Holt Today till Weds I'll be at HIMSS in Atlanta. You can see me at the Bloggers panel at 3pmMonday, or more importantly at the talk Jane Sarasohn-Kahn & I are giving on Health 2.0 & Participatory Medicine...
March 1, 2010 in Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not exactly what athenahealth was looking for

By Matthew Holt This is not a fun day for athenahealth, and frankly with HIMSS coming up, not a fun time to have such a day. None of this has anything to do with their products or their client services,...
February 26, 2010 in Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (5)

A 2.0 Interview with Berci Mesko, regional ambassador to Hungary for Health 2.0 Europe

By Denise Silber Dr Bertalan Mesko, or Berci to his friends, is a recently-graduated Hungarian medical doctor, with whom I had the pleasure of blogging about geriatrics at IAGG 2009. Berci was then just beginning his PhD in clinical genomics....
February 25, 2010 in Health 2.0, Physicians, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

EHR & The Art, Science and Business of Medicine

By MARGALIT GUR-ARIE "The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business..." - William Osler Dr. Osler was a great physician and a great man. However, in America today medicine may be a calling...
February 24, 2010 in EHR, Technology | Permalink | Comments (5)

HIMSS Parties, and a little more

By Matthew Holt Next week the health IT world descends on Atlanta which means a lot of chat, lots of meetings and lots of parties. You’ll be seeing the results of my interviews on THCB next week. But meanwhile more...
February 24, 2010 in Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (5)

DNADirect bought by Medco: Consumer genomic counselling goes mainstream?

By Matthew Holt Ryan Phelan started DNADirect to expand the power of genetic testing to everyone, using the Web. She’s been ploughing a tough furrow but been making some real progress in the last few years, including getting an investment...
February 8, 2010 in Consumers, Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Personalized Medicine, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1)

The point of Health 2.0. Yes there is one

By Matthew Holt The (not huge) world of Health 2.0, participatory medicine and ePatients has been fretting itself about a comment Susannah Fox (all hail) elevated into a post called “What’s the Point of Health 2.0”. Here’s an excerpt from...
February 6, 2010 in Consumers, Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Meaningful Use, Susannah Fox, Technology | Permalink | Comments (10)

Todd Park speaks: Free the data!

By Matthew Holt Todd Park is definitely one of health care IT’s good guys. Todd was the brains (though not the mouth!) behind athenahealth. After he left athenahealth, he spent a year back in California doing angel investing (Ventana among...
February 4, 2010 in Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Policy, Policy/Politics, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1)

PharmaSecure, using SMS to detect counterfeit drugs

By Matthew Holt In developing countries, (and here too) counterfeit drugs are a mega-big problem. Essentially fraudulently labeled drugs in the supply chain are often not what they say they are, with potentially devastating consequences. But there’s no really easy...
January 15, 2010 in Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (6)

MS-HUG Awards; let's see you, Health 2.0 gang!

By Matthew Holt Last year I was a judge in the MS-HUG award for the HealthVault applications category. The quantity and standard of the entries was pitiful. I think that a few sales reps rounded up a few entries at...
January 14, 2010 in Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (3)

Welcoming immigrants and robots to fill the nursing shortage

By DAVID E. WILLIAMS In a report this week, Nursing crisis looms as baby boomers age, CNN Money repeats a well-known story: there are unlikely to be enough nurses to take care of people as they age. Nursing schools can’t...
December 30, 2009 in Nursing, Technology | Permalink | Comments (35)

Virtual Medicine: The Lever That Just Might Save Independent Practice

By RICHARD REECE Give me a lever long enough, and a prop strong enough, I can single-handedly move the world. -- Archimedes Independent medical practice in America is in trouble. It is fragmented, with some 900,000 doctors – 300,000 primary...
December 21, 2009 in EHR/EMR, Electronic Medical Records, Physicians, Technology | Permalink | Comments (10)

Cool Technology of the Week

By JOHN HALAMKA John Halamka is the CIO at Beth Israel Deconess Medical Center and the author of the popular "Life as a Healthcare CIO" blog, where he writes about technology, the business of healthcare and the issues he faces...
December 19, 2009 in John Halamka, Technology | Permalink | Comments (8)

2009: A Year of Surprises and Change for the EHR Technology Market

By DAVID C. KIBBE and BRIAN KLEPPER

 

 2009 began with a bang for legacy Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors, promising strong sales and windfall profits on the heels of stimulus package incentive bonuses initially worth more than $19 billion...
December 6, 2009 in Brian Klepper, CCHIT, Clinical Groupware, David Kibbe, EHR/EMR, HIT, Meaningful Use, Technology | Permalink | Comments (18)

Regina Holliday: Fred's life & death at 73 cents a page

By Matthew Holt If you ever wonder why the efforts to make it easier for patients and families to get information and be treated as equals in their care by the medical care system matter.... If you need convincing that...
October 24, 2009 in e-patients, EHR/EMR, Electronic Medical Records, Health 2.0, Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (6)

Health 2.0 Tools: The power of Twitter

By Matthew Holt The power of Twitter is real kids, and not for what you think. Used properly Twitter is an information filter. Exhibit A is what happened to the Von Schwebers who run PHARMASurveyor. They were a huge part...
October 23, 2009 in Conferences, e-patients, Electronic Medical Records, evidenced-based medicine, Health 2.0, pharmaceuticals, Technology | Permalink | Comments (6)

JSK & Joe DeLuca on KQED

By Matthew Holt One of the best local talk shows anywhere is Michael Krasny's Forum on 88.5 KQED, San Francisco's establishment NPR station (SF of course has a rebel NPR station KALW which has had me on a couple of...
October 21, 2009 in Electronic Medical Records, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Stage at Health 2.0: The Cats and Dogs of Health IT

By Matthew Holt Here's the first in a series of videos from the Health 2.0 Conference a couple of weeks back that we're going to feature on THCB. This was the last panel of the day and it featured three...
October 20, 2009 in Technology | Permalink | Comments (1)

Change The Rules and Get Your Labs

By Phil Marshall In 1999 Caresoft developed a consumer web portal called the Daily Apple. The Daily Apple wasn’t all that unique or different than other health portals, until in May of 2000 they began helping consumers download their lab...
October 19, 2009 in Consumers, Electronic Medical Records, Health 2.0, Policy, Policy/Politics, Technology | Permalink | Comments (4)

Two east coast conferences worth a look

By Matthew Holt Two conferences I won’t be at (because I’ve been on enough aeroplanes this year already and have to do a bunch more traveling in November) are later this month. One is GelHealth in NYC which is the...
October 15, 2009 in Matthew Holt, Technology | Permalink | Comments (3)

Why Standards Matter 2: Health IT Enters a New Era of Regulatory Control

By DAVID C. KIBBE and BRIAN KLEPPER The recent history of electronic medical records in ambulatory care, or what we now call EHR (electronic health record) technology, can be divided roughly into three phases. Phase I, which lasted approximately 20...
October 14, 2009 in Brian Klepper, David Kibbe, EHR/EMR, HIT, HITECH, Technology | Permalink | Comments (10)

Health Internet - The New Consumer-Friendly NHIN

By Adrian Gropper Consumer directed HIE will become the most visible aspect of health IT stimulus and could lead a shift to consumer-directed health plans, increased interest in wellness programs and family-centered collaboration for the young, old and seriously ill....
October 9, 2009 in Electronic Medical Records, Health 2.0, Information Therapy, Technology | Permalink | Comments (9)

Health 2.0 Accelerator Demonstrates Integration of Consumer Web Apps and EHRs

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – October 7, 2009 – Health 2.0 Accelerator member companies today joined together at the Fall 2009 Health 2.0 Conference to demonstrate a streamlined, consumer-centric integration among nine separate technologies creating a more streamlined user experience. During...
October 7, 2009 in EHR/EMR, Health 2.0, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

JSK (national treasure) on data liquidity, and how it fits into Health 2.0

By Matthew Holt Given that she taught me most of what I know about health IT I don’t know why I ever need reminding about how great Jane Sarasohn-Kahn is at keeping her finger on the pulse of health care,...
October 3, 2009 in Health 2.0, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, Matthew Holt, Policy, Technology | Permalink | Comments (2)

Two big deals in Health 2.0

By Matthew Holt John Halamka writes about the small but important meeting this week at Harvard Medical School hosted by Zak Kohane and Ken Mandl. Because of the impending arrival of about 1,000 of my best friends next week at...
October 2, 2009 in Health 2.0, John Halamka, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can Social Media Save Healthcare Reform?

By Daniel Palestrant Daniel Palestrant is the Founder & CEO of Sermo, the largest online physician community, and a friend of THCB’s from the Health 2.0 world. Lately Dan has been seen on cable TV representing the 110K+ Sermo members...
October 1, 2009 in Physicians, Policy/Politics, Reform, Sermo, Technology | Permalink | Comments (41)

The Health 2.0 Accelerator is really gunning it...

By Matthew Holt The Health 2.0 Accelerator was a glimmer in the eye of Commerce.net’s Marty Tenenbaum late in 2007. But under the dedicated leadership of Julie Murchinson and Aaron Apodaca, something quite remarkable is happening. The Accelerator is an...
October 1, 2009 in Health 2.0, Technology | Permalink | Comments (2)

Medical Students Want You to Know

By MICHELLE SNYDER How many of us can remember a world without cell phones? Today’s medical students would undoubtedly be among that group. So it is no wonder these future physicians rely heavily on technology as they embark on their...
September 20, 2009 in EHR/EMR, Electronic Medical Records, Physicians, Social Media, Technology | Permalink | Comments (12)

What if I Had to do HIT All Over Again?

By MARGALIT GUR-ARIE This post is aimed at serving as an interlude to the "public option/death panels" discussions. No matter what healthcare reform bill, if any, is passed this fall, HIT will be part of the program. Four short years...
September 20, 2009 in Electronic Medical Records, HIT, Technology | Permalink | Comments (45)

Washington DC conference and party!

By Matthew Holt Wednesday morning I'll be at the AHRQ annual conference in Rockville, Maryland. I’m moderating a panel looking at “Experiences in Patient-Centered Care: Improving Coordination and Communication among Patients and Providers”. Given this is an AHRQ meeting there’ll...
September 14, 2009 in Conferences, Consumers, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1)

Getting Rid of “Friction” in Health Care

By FLETCHER LANCE Friction occurs when an object moving through space encounters resistance, slows down and has its forward energy diverted. In the world of health care, friction is a term that has become synonymous with paperwork. Today, the U.S....
September 4, 2009 in Costs, Electronic Medical Records, Technology | Permalink | Comments (10)

Social Media: Disruptive Force in Medicine

By GLENN LAFFEL Before the Obama administration set aside billions to accelerate the dissemination of EHRs, providers were slow to adopt them. As recently as 2 years ago for example, a study published in the NEJM revealed that only 4%...
September 4, 2009 in Education, EHR/EMR, Social Media, Technology, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (10)

Cool Technology of the Week

By JOHN HALAMKA Before my trip to Japan, I attended the New England Healthcare Institute Medication Adherence Expert Roundtable on Thursday July 23rd, 2009. The purpose of the roundtable was to prioritize activities that would encourage patients to be more...
August 24, 2009 in John Halamka, Technology | Permalink | Comments (7)

Interview with Al Waxman, Psilos Group

Al Waxman is a healthcare entrepreneur who these days runs the Psilos Group, a venture firm that invests in health care services, health care IT and device and instrumentation companies. Among their better known investments are Active Health Management, Health...
August 24, 2009 in Health 2.0, Marketplace, PHRs, Physicians, Podcasts, Policy, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why Standards Matter (1): The True Meaning of Interoperability

By DAVID C. KIBBE and BRIAN KLEPPER Americans are generally skeptical of words that otherwise intelligent and articulate people can't pronounce. "Interoperability," like nu-cu-lar, is one of these. After a while, these words can take on a mystique all their...
August 22, 2009 in Brian Klepper, David Kibbe, e-patients, EHR/EMR, Electronic Medical Records, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is “Cloud Computing” Right for Health IT?

By ROBERT ROWLEY, MD The announcement of Salesforce.com investing and coordinating development efforts with Practice Fusion has brought talk of “cloud computing” to the fore. Salesforce has been known as a leader in cloud computing, and moving healthcare IT to...
August 12, 2009 in Electronic Medical Records, HITECH, Technology | Permalink | Comments (2)

Finally, A Reasonable Plan for Certification of EHR Technologies

By DAVID C. KIBBE and BRIAN KLEPPER A caution to readers: This post is about methods for certifying Electronic Health Record (EHR) technologies used by physicians, medical practices, and hospitals who hope to qualify for federal incentive payments under the...
August 4, 2009 in Brian Klepper, David Kibbe, HHS, Marketplace, Meaningful Use, Policy, Policy/Politics, Reform, Technology, The Industry, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (28)

Online behavioral health on American Well's platform, and a hint at Cisco/UHG

By Matthew Holt As usual I am way behind on tech and Health 2.0 news but here's one that was "thrown out with the trash" late last week because the service went live on Saturday. American Well has has added...
August 3, 2009 in Health 2.0, Health Plans, Technology | Permalink | Comments (6)

E-Health - It All Depends on How It's Used

By MERRILL GOOZNER Technology isn’t a quick fix. Just ask General Motors. In the 1980s, the auto giant spent $50 billion to automate and computerize its plants in an effort to compete with Toyota. Today, GM is emerging from bankruptcy...
July 29, 2009 in Electronic Medical Records, Merrill Goozner, Quality, Technology | Permalink | Comments (15)

Interview with Jonathan Bush, AthenaHealth CEO

By Matthew Holt In this interview Jonathan Bush explains the nation’s major problem: a severe shortage of MUMPS programmers. Well not exactly, but as always the AthenaHealth CEO is well worth watching. And of course he’ll be at Health 2.0...
July 26, 2009 in Health 2.0, Technology | Permalink | Comments (3)

Patient, Heal Thyself

By DON KEMPER If you want a better system, support a smarter patient . For weeks now Congress has been stymied by how to pay for extending coverage to the uninsured. While it may seem stupid to look to the...
July 23, 2009 in Costs, Electronic Medical Records, Health 2.0, Technology | Permalink | Comments (59)

Eliza gets a nice write up in BusinessWeek

BY MATTHEW HOLT Indeed, it’s so nice that methinks Lucas & Alex were quite seductive! Speaking as a friend and one who’s been indoctrinated into the cult of Alexandra Drane, its interesting to see the mainstream press picking up the...
July 13, 2009 in Health 2.0, Health Plans, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1)

Announcement: 14,000 People With Diabetes Test Their Blood Sugar at the Same Time

July 14 at 4 pm ET, 14,000 people with diabetes are going to test their blood sugar simultaneously and share their results online to help raise diabetes awareness. People with diabetes have to test their blood sugar as part of...
July 10, 2009 in Health 2.0, Technology, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2)

Meaningful Use vs. Meaningless Adoption of Electronic Health Records

By RICK WEINHAUS MD Dr. David Blumenthal, the new National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, has stressed that the goal of the ARRA/HITECH initiative is to improve patient care, not to mindlessly adopt health information technology. In this regard, he...
July 7, 2009 in Electronic Medical Records, Health 2.0, Meaningful Use, Physicians, Policy, Policy/Politics, Quality, Reform, Technology, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (9)

The other Michael Jackson mega-mix

By Matthew Holt Never ones to be shy with an interesting view into celebrity pharmacology (and truth be told responding to a little tickle from me) the inventive folks at PharmaSurveyor have added Michael Jackson to their celebrity drug cocktail...
July 6, 2009 in Health 2.0, Pharma, pharmaceuticals, Technology, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1)

Implementing a Modern Hospital Website

By JOHN HALAMKA Over the past two years, I've witnessed a transition in modern website design from plain text and static information to multimedia centric and interactive. I've written about the new BIDMC website we implemented to meet patient expectations...
June 30, 2009 in Health 2.0, Hospitals, John Halamka, Technology, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (7)

The EHR TimeBar: A New Visual Interface Design

By RICK WEINHAUS, MD The EHR TimeBar functions as a high-level overview of the patient record, as a query device, and as an intuitive navigation tool. Each EHR file (event) for the patient is represented by an icon. The set...
June 26, 2009 in Electronic Medical Records, evidenced-based medicine, Policy, Policy/Politics, Technology, The Industry, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (6)