Electronic Health Records
I continue to deplore Congress for not talking about the real problem in American healthcare, the cost of delivering healthcare. Premiums and deductibles are high because the cost of healthcare delivery is high. Drug prices are in runaway price growth. When the CEO of a major drug company was asked why they keep raising prices, he said, “Because […]
Value of a Second Opinion
A recent study at the Mayo Clinic concluded getting a second opinion is critical. The researchers examined the electronic health records of 286 patients who had received a second opinion about a prior medical diagnosis. The results were stunning. In nearly 90% of the cases, the second opinion was either refined or redefined. Only 12% of […]
Healthcare Common Sense: What Congress and the President Should Do
The good news is there is a lot of discussion in political circles about healthcare. The bad news is our political leaders, on both sides of the aisle, are not discussing the real problem. In Health Attitude: Unraveling and Solving the Complexities of Healthcare, I wrote about the many problems of the American healthcare system, but the […]
Patients Prefer Digitally Savvy Docs and Want a Connected Healthcare Experience
Most people have not heard of Surescripts, but they touch each of our lives. The company has a nationwide health information network connecting doctor’s offices, hospitals, pharmacists, and health plans. When your doctor e-prescribes a medication, Surescripts routes the prescription to your pharmacy. A Surescripts’ Connected Care and the Patient Experience survey found, “Millions of people […]
What Do Medical Students Think About Electronic Health Records?
The median age of a first year medical student is 22. He or she was born in 1993, and by the time they got to 1st grade, the web was well established. In other words, they never knew a time when the Internet was not an integral part of their lives. We should not be […]