Affordable Care Act (ACA)
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Baby Birth Costs Vary 10-Fold In Hospitals, Study Finds
The cost of giving birth at a hospital can vary by tens of thousands of dollars, a price range that is “largely random” and unexplainable by market factors, a California study found. Read More »
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Background On The National Conference On Mental Health
On Monday, June 3rd, President Obama and Vice President Biden will host a National Conference on Mental Health at the White House as part of the Administration’s effort to launch a national conversation to increase understanding and awareness about mental health. Read More »
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Before The Prescription, Ask About Your Doctor's Finances
At the dawn of managed care, worried patients wanted to know whether their doctors were getting paid more to do less. Now, as many doctors' salaries depend on how many procedures they perform, patients want to know whether their doctors are paid more to do more. Read More »
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Behind The Ballooning Medical E-Records Cost
A system that’s supposed to revolutionize health care in Hawaii is costing the state’s taxpayer-supported hospitals more than double the originally projected cost at the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation — the quasipublic agency that runs the state’s primarily rural hospitals. Read More »
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Benefits Of Electronic Health Records Held Back By Poor Design
Did the rush to implement Electronic Health Records (EHRs) prevent the best system implementations? Larry Pawola, Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago Health Informatics, asks. Read More »
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Bloated Healthcare Costs Raise EHR Concerns
By all accounts, money is being made in the healthcare industry off of EHR adoption. But who’s really saving cash and benefiting from these systems? Read More »
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Brad Thompson: CDS Legislation Could Create Confusion
On Thursday, lawmakers with the House Energy & Commerce Committee and health IT stakeholders convened on the Hill to once again discuss the role of health information technology in improving patient care...
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Burwell Confirmed As HHS Secretary
The U.S. Senate voted in Sylvia Matthews Burwell as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services on Thursday afternoon. Burwell, the former head of the Office of Management and Budget, was confirmed 78-17. Before and after the vote, Burwell both faced her share of fire and garnered high praise...
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Burwell Faces Barrage Of Tough Questions In Confirmation Hearing
President Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary underwent a Senate committee hearing Thursday morning, during which Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., offered nothing but "highest praise for her work" as deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget, the role which Burwell currently holds. McCain admitted he recommended Burwell turn down the HHS nomination due to the position being among the "most thankless jobs" in Washington...
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California Pharmacists Resist Translating Medicine Labels
Every Saturday morning, a steady stream of Chinese and Vietnamese patients line up at the Paul Hom Asian Clinic in Sacramento. Most of them speak little or no English...
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Can Smartphone Apps and EHRs Transform Mental Health Care?
Our relationship with technology is not unidirectional. We use it, and it changes us. But it cannot alter fundamental realities regardless of how hopeful Americans are or how much faith we have in it. More and better technology is not a substitute for adequate funding and coordinated planning, especially when we’re talking about the very significant funding issues around behavioral health. Sure, we can get excited about the newest app and the latest EHR functionality, but we must also maintain a focus on meeting the needs of the mental health professionals committed to keeping our fellow citizens from falling through the cracks. Even while there is no magic in technology, there is also no reason to believe we can’t fix a broken mental health system through hard work, empathy and thoughtful planning. Time and again, our faith in those principles has been rewarded.
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Canadians Pay Taxes For Universal Health Care, And Now They’re Richer Than Us
Canada’s tax-financed health care system covers everybody, gets better results, costs about two-thirds of what ours does and is far more popular than ours with both their public and their politicians. There is no opposition to it in the Canadian Parliament. What’s not to like about that? Oh yes, and the average Canadian is now wealthier than the average American. Their far more efficient and effective tax-based health care system is part of the reason.
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Category C Liberalism
Like Ed and Kevin Drum I found Mike Konczal’s post about how the problems with healthcare.gov might reflect competing visions of liberalism interesting and wanted to expand on it. Read More »
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CFOs: Don't Read This If You Like High, Ever-Growing Health Insurance Premiums
While the federal health reform gets a lot of media attention, in many ways the real action is in the “DIY Health Reform” movement driven by non-partisan entrepreneurs. For example, I outlined this prior to the State of the Union earlier this year – Mr. President: The Deficit Problem was Solved Last Week but for the Preservatives Read More »
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CGI Group Seen Rebounding From Obamacare Website Failure
CGI Group Inc. (GIB/A) Chief Executive Officer Michael Roach told investors at a conference two weeks before the debut of the Obamacare website that the contract marked the start of a “long-term relationship” and a “significant growth opportunity.” Read More »
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