Category: Press

The Washington Post, October 25, 2009 — Alexi Mostrous
In a health-care debate characterized by partisan bickering, most lawmakers agree on one thing: American medicine needs to go digital. When President Obama designated $19.5 billion to expand the use of electronic medical records, former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said it was one of only “two good things” in February’s stimulus package. But such bipartisan enthusiasm has obscured questions about the effectiveness of health information technology products, critics say. Interviews with more than two dozen doctors, academics, patients and computer programmers suggest that computer systems can increase errors, add hours to doctors’ workloads and compromise patient care…
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Boston Children’s Hospital Newsroom, October 9, 2009 — Keri Stedman/Rob Graham
As government, industry and academic leaders work to transform the nation’s health information system, there is increasing interest in the notion of a national health information network in which consumers can actively engage, and which can provide the foundation for an “iPhone-like” ecosystem of applications to compete on price and value. In such an ecosystem, purchasers of applications–whether physicians and hospitals buying electronic health records, or patients and consumers buying technology to support wellness and disease management–would be able to easily substitute any application for any other…
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OSCAR Canada Users Society blog, October 3, 2009 — David Daley
The OSCAR community was privileged to be the sole Canadian delegation present at Harvard’s 2009 HIT Platform Meeting, chaired by Kennedth Mandl and Isaac Kohane, both of Harvard Medical School, and the launch of ITdotHealth (www.ITdotHealth.org), a National Health Information Technology Forum…
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The Health Care Blog, October 2, 2009 — Matthew Holt
John Halamka writes about the small but important meeting this week at Harvard Medical School hosted by Zak Kohane and Ken Mandl. Because of the impending arrival of about 1,000 of my best friends next week at Health 2.0, I couldn’t go to that meeting. But it may be very important in putting the “cats and dogs” together to think about ways for new platforms with players like Halamka and David Kibbe (who have not been on the same side of these issues) both taking part…
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Chilmark Research, October 1, 2009 — John Moore
Chilmark has not been a big fan of the National Health Information Network (NHIN) concept. It was, and in large part still is, a top heavy federal government effort to create a nationwide infrastructure to facilitate the exchange of clinical information. A high, lofty and admirable goal, but one that is…
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The New York Times, September 30, 2009 — Nelson Schwartz
ZURICH — Like every other country in Europe, Switzerland guarantees health care for all its citizens. But the system here does not remotely resemble the model of bureaucratic, socialized medicine often cited by opponents of universal coverage in the United States. Swiss private insurers are required to offer coverage to all citizens, regardless of age or medical history. And those people, in turn, are obligated to buy health insurance…
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Fred Trotter Blog, August 30, 2009
Recently, a NEJM perspective article titled No Small Change for the Health Information Economy advocates that a Health IT platform should be created in imitation of some of the successful technology platforms in other areas. Specifically the iphone was mentioned. The relevant paragraph…
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Family Practice Management, July/August, 2009 — David Kibbe
The remarkable report “Initial Lessons From the First National Demonstration Project on Practice Transformation to a Patient-Centered Medical Home,” in the May/June Annals of Family Medicine, makes this point about…
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The Heritage Foundation, June 25, 2009 — Tevi Troy
Congress, through its enactment of the “stimulus” bill, is committed to spending $787 billion on various projects, including $20 billion to encourage doctors and hospitals to adopt electronic health records (EHRs). This new spending is a component of the Obama Administration’s health care agenda, which includes the promotion of health information technology (HIT)…
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The Huffington Post, June 25, 2009 — John Kenagy
Given the $47 billion awarded in stimulus funding, it’s clear the government’s assumption is that healthcare information technology (IT) will deliver better care at lower cost. The IT industry and all the healthcare IT mavens are waving the flags and beating the drums…
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