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WIRED Health 2017 London: Looking Into The Future of Healthcare
Last week WIRED Health gathered hundreds of leaders and influencers from across the globe in London to discuss the field of health innovation and technology. In addition to their long lists of honors and historic accolades, the unrivaled lineup of speakers brought an infectious enthusiasm for action in healthcare. Peter Piot of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine set the scale of the challenge, charging the audience to strive for truly global health when he spoke about epidemics. Co-discoverer of the Ebola virus and a pioneering researcher in HIV/AIDS, Peter imparted the wisdom that human behavior and pr...
Source: Medgadget - March 16, 2017 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tom Peach Tags: Exclusive Source Type: blogs

Scotland is in the Midst of a Severe Radiologist Crisis
Scotland seems to have a burgeoning healthcare crisis on its hands. The Scottish National Party (SNP) is being held accountable for mismanaging the country ’s healthcare system by failing to sufficiently train radiologists and neglecting to adequately staff hospitals with physicians. According to the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), patients ’ health is at risk due to wide-spread physician vacancies, scarcity of trainees, and rising demand of radiology services. Just in the last five years, the need for radiology services has risen by55 percent, says the RCR. Currently, some cancer patients are waiting longer than...
Source: radRounds - March 10, 2017 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs

Experts, anger, and the madness of crowds
We find ourselves in a most peculiar historical moment. Among other things--many other things--problems of health care policy, research, and clinical practice more and more resemble those of society at large. There ' s a general sense everywhere that, whatever the outfit, the Wrong Guy is in charge of it. Then like a snake eating its tail, we argue endlessly about the details.It ' s enough to give one a migraine, bigly. Whether we ' re talking DC, the Oscars, or (OMG) yet another health care reorg: if only we could get rid of the Gang That Couldn ' t Shoot Straight. But replace [fill in the blank] ... with what?L...
Source: Health Care Renewal - March 5, 2017 Category: Health Management Source Type: blogs

Patient or Corporate Advocacy Organizations? - New Studies Shed Some Light
This study analyzed public records (US Internal Revenue Service form 990 tax reports, annual reports and website) on the largest US based patient advocacy organizations, that is, those with revenues of at least $7.5 million.  Its goal was to determine how well these organizations disclose conflicts of interests, and how they have COIs, and what policies they have to mitigate their effects.Its main results were that:-Disclosure was modest.  88% of organizations disclosed their donors, 52% disclosed approximate amounts of donations, but only 5% disclosed exact amounts.  74% provided some information about the ...
Source: Health Care Renewal - March 3, 2017 Category: Health Management Tags: conflicts of interest deception health care corruption institutional conflicts of interest patient advocacy groups Source Type: blogs

Commissioning for health improvement following the 2012 health and social care reforms in England: what has changed?
Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System (PRUComm) - The wide-ranging program of reforms brought about by the Health and Social Care Act (2012) in England fundamentally changed the operation of the public health system, moving responsibility for the commissioning and delivery of services from the National Health Service to locally elected councils and a new national public health agency. This paper explores the ways in which the reforms have altered public health commissioning.Paper (Source: Health Management Specialist Library)
Source: Health Management Specialist Library - February 27, 2017 Category: UK Health Authors: The King ' s Fund Information & Knowledge Service Tags: Changing configuration of health services Commissioning Developments in primary and community care Source Type: blogs

My Speech to The Canadian Senate Committee as an Open Letter to Every Government
Here is the edited speech I gave to the Canadian Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, and I would turn to every government or parliament eager to reform healthcare through technology with similar advices. I hope that more and more regulatory actors will pay attention to the winds of change. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members of the Committee. I’m honoured to get a chance as The Medical Futurist to share my research on how automation can change healthcare. I firmly believe that automation, especially artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and 3D printing, is essential in making healthc...
Source: The Medical Futurist - February 22, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Future of Medicine Healthcare Design AI artificial intelligence gc4 government ibm watson Innovation regulations robotics technology Source Type: blogs

My Speech About Digital Health to The Canadian Senate as an Open Letter to Every Government
Here is the edited speech I gave to the Canadian Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, and I would turn to every government or parliament eager to reform healthcare through technology with similar advices. I hope that more and more regulatory actors will pay attention to the winds of change. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members of the Committee. I’m honoured to get a chance as The Medical Futurist to share my research on how automation can change healthcare. I firmly believe that automation, especially artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and 3D printing, is essential in making healthc...
Source: The Medical Futurist - February 22, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Future of Medicine Healthcare Design AI artificial intelligence gc4 government ibm watson Innovation regulations robotics technology Source Type: blogs

Health Affairs ’ February Issue: The Work/Health Relationship
The February issue of Health Affairs contains a collection of papers about the complex work/health relationship. Work conditions can affect employees’ physical and mental health, and worker productivity can be affected by the demands employees face after returning home from the office. The issue is supported by the Integrated Benefits Institute, Sedgwick, and UnitedHealth Group, as well as Pfizer and Pinnacol Assurance. Check out Health Affairs’ newest web hub: Obamacare to Trumpcare. Key health policy questions are explored for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare, Medicaid, and payment reform. Will low-income mino...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - February 6, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Health Affairs Tags: Elsewhere@ Health Affairs Featured Health Affairs journal work and health Source Type: blogs

3 ways you can advocate for better health care
Being sick is a horrible enough time without having to worry about how much it’s going to cost you. Unfortunately, the United States is unique among developed nations in not ensuring that the populace has a safety net that will protect them against exorbitant personal health care expenses. It’s a terrible thing to have to deal with as a physician. I went to medical school to learn how to take care of people and give them whatever care they needed. It’s heartbreaking to hear stories patients getting hit with ridiculously high health care bills that they haven’t got a hope in hell of paying back. People who have work...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 16, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/suneel-dhand" rel="tag" > Suneel Dhand, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs

The 12 STI ’ s of Christmas, 2016
I missed posting this last year! (Sorry, it’s not iPhone friendly, so probably not viewable on any mobile devices, so please try it from your desktop machine). My yearly Christmas favorite, reposted: Courtesy of the British National Health Service (click the banner): NSFW. Funny, but Unsafe for work,unless your work involves STD’s in which case it’s required. It’s my seasonal favorite post, and I hope it’s one of yours. Not the STD’s, the funny song with equally amusing illustrations. The backstory, from a previous blog post: I have seen several searches of this blog for the British Na...
Source: GruntDoc - December 17, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: gruntdoc Tags: Amusements Source Type: blogs

I never want to be a government-employed physician. Here ’s why.
Every health care system in the world is facing its fair share of challenges. Aging populations, the exponential increase in chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, expensive new treatments—all at a time when most countries desperately need to curtail rising health care costs to save their economies. At the two extremes, we have fully public-funded (socialized) medicine versus entirely free-market (private) health care delivery systems. I’ve written previously about my own experiences working in a number of different environments including the U.K., Australia, and U.S. — three countries with vastly d...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 6, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/suneel-dhand" rel="tag" > Suneel Dhand, MD < /a > Tags: Policy Health reform Source Type: blogs

Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill: committee stage report
House of Commons Library - This briefing paper provides an overview of the second reading and committee stage of theHealth Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill 2016-17. The bill intends to make a number of amendments to the National Health Service Act 2006 on matters related to the control of medicine prices.BriefingCommons Library publications (Source: Health Management Specialist Library)
Source: Health Management Specialist Library - December 5, 2016 Category: UK Health Authors: The King ' s Fund Information & Knowledge Service Tags: NHS finances and productivity Source Type: blogs

An American doctor experiences UK emergency care firsthand
Two years ago, I wrote about my experience in a London emergency department with my son Victor. That post has since been viewed over 450,000 times. There are over 800 comments with no trolls (a feat unto itself), and almost all of them express love for the National Health Service. I was in England again this week. And yes, I was back in an emergency department, but this time with my cousin, who is English. This is what happened: My cousin loves high heels. As a former model, she makes walking in the highest of heels look easy. However, cobblestone streets have challenges not found on catwalks, and so she twisted her ankle ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 5, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/jennifer-gunter" rel="tag" > Jennifer Gunter, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs

How President Trump Can Fix Veterans' Benefits Once And For All
A US Park Police officer stands at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during Veterans day celebrations on November 11, 2016 in Washington, DC. / AFP / Olivier Douliery (Photo credit should read OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/Getty Images)Another Veterans Day brought another round of lamentations about the Department of Veterans Affairs and promises to fix it.President-elect Donald Trump promised to do so throughout the campaign.  Paul Rieckhoff, founder and CEO of  Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, is skeptical. Veterans are  “used to big promises and disappointing results,” he says. “Fixing the VA might be one of ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 17, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Michael F. Cannon Source Type: blogs

No Matter What, Congress Will Act On Health Care Next Year
When Congress passed the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act (MACRA) last year, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said “stick a fork in it; it’s finally done.” While some elements—especially Medicare’s long-flawed Sustainable Growth Rate formula—were permanently remedied, other provisions were temporarily addressed by the bill and come due again in September or December of next year. So, while the presidential candidates and others consider broad-based health care policies, the passage of which in the near term is dubious, the...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - November 7, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Billy Wynne and Devin Zatorski Tags: Featured Medicaid and CHIP Medicare 2016 election Congress MACRA Source Type: blogs