Category Archives: politics

politics

When you talk health reform, don’t forget quality and IT, in that order

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Neil Versel

In my previous post, I was perhaps a bit too critical of Maggie Mahar in her hosting of last week’s Health Wonk Review. I noted that there was not a word about health IT in that rundown, but that’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, EMR/EHR, health it, health reform, Health Wonk Review, Healthcare IT, informatics, media, patient safety, politics, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Health Wonk Review gets hung up on insurance

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Neil Versel

The last edition of Health Wonk Review prior to the Nov. 6 presidential election falls into the familiar big-media trap of portraying the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, as being only about health insurance and of effectively … Continue reading →

Posted in ARRA, comparative effectiveness, EMR/EHR, Health Wonk Review, Healthcare IT, Meaningful Use, media, medical errors, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient safety, politics, quality, regulations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Health Wonk Review: October Surprise edition

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Neil Versel

The newest installment of Health Wonk Review is up, courtesy of David Williams at the Health Business Blog, and my recent post about politicians perpetuating the myth that the U.S. has the “best healthcare in the world” is featured prominently. … Continue reading →

Posted in comparative effectiveness, health it, health reform, Health Wonk Review, Healthcare IT, Legislation, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, politics, quality, rants | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Most ‘sentinel events’ caused by poor communication

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Neil Versel

LOS ANGELES—I’m on the west coast now, first for the  USC Body Computing Conference here Friday, and then for the annual Health 2.0 conference up in San Francisco Monday and Tuesday. Friday there was a lot of talk of healthcare … Continue reading →

Posted in health reform, Legislation, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient safety, politics, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ACA decision is a beginning, not an end, to health reform

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Neil Versel

I’ve spent a lot of time on social media since Thursday morning debating the meaning of the Supreme Court’s rather stunning decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was stunning in that Chief Justice John Roberts, a … Continue reading →

Posted in accountable care organizations, ARRA, Barack Obama, CMS, EMR/EHR, health reform, Healthcare IT, HHS, jurisprudence, Legislation, Meaningful Use, media, medical errors, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient safety, politics, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Yes, you do have a right to your health records

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Neil Versel

Lest anyone forget — including the American Hospital Association, which wants to take 30 days post-discharge to supply copies of medical records to patients — HIPAA explicitly gives patients the right to access their own records. This is not new. … Continue reading →

Posted in clinical summaries, consumerism, health reform, HHS, HIPAA, hospitals, Meaningful Use, patient safety, PHR, physicians, politics, privacy, quality | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Facebook community for reporting patient harm

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Neil Versel

Kudos to investigative journalism organization ProPublica (yes, some journalists still have integrity today) — and a hat tip to HealthLeaders for bringing it to my attention — for setting up a Facebook community for people to report stories of patient … Continue reading →

Posted in health reform, hospitals, media, medical errors, patient safety, politics, social media | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Sen. Whitehouse, make some more noise, please

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Neil Versel

I have railed more often than I can count against politicians and the national media for misleading or at least failing to inform the public on what health reform is all about. For me, it was quite refreshing to see … Continue reading →

Posted in accountable care organizations, ARRA, health it, health reform, Healthcare IT, Legislation, Meaningful Use, media, medical errors, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient safety, politics, reimbursement | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Berwick, after the fact

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Neil Versel

The tragedy of Dr. Don Berwick’s short tenure as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been well-documented, including right here on this blog. Berwick got in by a controversial recess appointment because President Obama didn’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in CMS, health reform, Healthcare IT, HHS, media, patient safety, politics, quality, video | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Gingrich on EHRs in the 2009 stimulus

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Neil Versel

I don’t like to get political on this blog, but I’ve been thinking a lot about how the Newt Gingrich we’ve seen on the campaign trail of late is quite different from the Newt Gingrich who was a tireless advocate … Continue reading →

Posted in health information exchange, health it, health reform, Healthcare IT, Legislation, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off