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The state of health IT in America: thinking about the Bipartisan Policy Center report on health IT

By on February 2, 2012 in Administrative simplification, Affordable Care Act, Connected health, Electronic health records, Health care information technology, Health Economics, Health politics, Health regulation, HITECH Act, Hospital finance, Hospitals, Internet and Health, Medical technology, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Privacy and security, Telehealth, Telemedicine

There are few issue areas within the Beltway of Washington, DC, that have enjoyed more support across the political aisle than health care information technology. In 2004, George Bush asserted that every American would/should have an electronic medical record by 2014. Since then, Democrats and Republicans alike have supported the broad concept of wiring the [...]

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Health IT in 2012: a dynamic sector in the context of a fiscally-challenged health system

By on December 20, 2011 in Electronic health records, Health care information technology, HITECH Act, Internet and Health, Medical technology, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Telehealth, Telemedicine

2012 will be a dynamic year for health information technology (health IT) in the U.S., which I outline in my annual health IT forecast in iHealthBeat, the online publication on technology and health care published by the California HealthCare Foundation. The full forecast can be found here. The key headlines for you Reader’s Digest abridged fans are that: [...]

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What’s baked into the Affordable Care Act? Half of Americans still don’t realize there’s no-cost preventive care

By on November 30, 2011 in Affordable Care Act, Health Consumers, Health engagement, Health insurance, Health literacy, Health marketing, Health Plans, Medicare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Popular culture and health, PPACA, Prescription drugs

The U.S. public’s views on health reform — the Affordable Care Act (ACT) – remain fairly negative, although the percent of people feeling favorably toward it increased from 34% to 37% between October and November. Still, that represents a low from the 50% who favored the law back in July 2010. It’s quite possible that [...]

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Workplace wellness: the cost of unhealthy behaviors in the American workforce is $623 per worker

By on November 14, 2011 in Affordable Care Act, Corporate wellness, Employers, Health Consumers, Health disparities, Health Economics, Health engagement, Health Plans, Health reform, Health social networks, Obesity, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Popular culture and health, PPACA, Prevention and wellness, Workplace wellness

The health status of the American workforce is declining. Every year, unhealthy behaviors of the U.S. workforce cost employers $623 per employee annually, according to the Thomson Reuters Workforce Wellness Index. People point to smoking, obesity and stress as the 3 most important factors impacting health costs. Thomson Reuters and NPR polled over 3,000 Americans on their health behaviors, [...]

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Get into the sunshine, church is out – the GAO report on health care price transparency

By on November 2, 2011 in Accountable Care Organizations, Health Consumers, Health Economics, Health engagement, Health insurance, Health insurance exchanges, Health literacy, Health reform, Hospital finance, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Retail health

This morning during my still-dark-at-5:15 am walk, my iPod was motivating me to “get up offa that thing,” as James Brown was motivating me to “release the pressure.” Two minutes into the song, he urges, “Get into the sunshine, church is out.” This brought to mind a publication I’ve taken time to review from the General Accounting Office (GAO) [...]

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