Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Rating websites are all the rage on the internet. From RateMyTeachers.com to RateMyCop.com, you can rate practically anything nowadays. A new website called Vitals.com allows you now to rate your doctor as well. In addition to being able to read reviews from other patients, there are also other physician statistics. For instance, Vitals.com informs you…
According to Insurance and Technology, health insurer WellPoint has partnered with Zagat’s Survey to allow WellPoint’s members to rate their doctors. Zagat’s will use its 30 point rating system to evaluate all doctors. According to Spirit magazine, patients can grade doctors based on “including doctor availability, office environment, trustworthiness, and communication.” Other websites, such as…
TechCrunch reports on a Facebook application that alerts potential donors to donate blood in times of shortage. Take all Types (TAT) is the name of the innovative non-profit which invented this application. The TAT website wisely states: “There are always shortages of blood throughout the nation, even though there are plenty of potential donors out…
VentureBeat (“…Health 2.0…“) profiles six innovative Health 2.0 firms which were at the 2008 Health 2.0 Conference in San Diego. Each firm on the list aims to reinvent the doctor patient relationship. Included on the list is Carol.com which allows patients to do medical shopping. PharmaSurveyor allows users to enter the medications they are on…
Electronic medical records (EMR) hold the promise of vastly improving the quality of medical care received in the U.S. today. One of the major issues with EMR is privacy however. Patients generally want their doctors to know as much about their health as possible in order to make the best possible medical diagnoses and treatment…
Google’s blog gives a preview of its Google Health application. TechCrunch provides some analysis.
Google is everywhere. CNN reports that Google is venturing into health records biz. “Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that’s likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive information entrusted to the Internet search leader. The pilot project to…
The Sacramento Business Journal has an interesting article (“Better communication…“) on Kaiser Permanente’s online system for patients called “KP HealthConnect.” The system allows patients to schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, view lab results and email doctors.
Implementing electronic medical records (EMR) have been elevated to a top priority by healthcare policymakers. Using EMR, medical providers may be able to improve quality and better detect adverse events. One way to improve quality with EMR is chart abstraction. After a physician-patient encounter, the doctor can review the medical chart to see if he…
I recently received an email from the Patient Privacy Rights organization. They are conducting a campaign to protect the privacy of individual’s prescription drug information. According to their website, a Newsday article reports the following: Randee Lonergan filled her prescriptions at the same pharmacy for years. But a month ago she was shocked to find…