In light of the data breaches we have witnessed, most recently at Equifax, it seems clear that the safest way to reliably and safely identify patients is to separate the identifier from the data.
The population of the United States is aging. According to the census bureau those 65 and over will grow from a bit more than 40 million (14% of the population) to almost 70 million by 2030 (20% of the populations). Multiple surveys confirm that this population wants to age in place and independently, where they […]
According to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital report “Sick kids, struggling parents” nearly two-thirds of parents of young children in child care say their children could not attend [school] because of illness in the past year and one-third of parents of young children are concerned about losing jobs or losing pay when taking off work […]
Bottom line: patient portals fail more often than they succeed.
I’ve been thinking of privacy and healthcare recently. So, like any good nerd, I went to HHS.gov and looked at their data on Breaches Affecting 500 or More Individuals as required by the HITECH Act. The table there lists 647 entities involving 22,554,728 people. That’s a lot! And with online exchanges scheduled to launch Oct. […]
There was just another article about how a simple, relatively low cost intervention saved a huge medical cost. This one which appeared in the Washington Post Wonkblog repeated the story about Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber explaining how a $200 air conditioner installed in a heart failure patient could save $50,000 in hospitalization. Another intervention focuses […]
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Haptique just released their long awaited released its final standards for testing and certifying mobile health apps. While it represents a good start I was disappointed that it doesn’t do more. Haptique wants to help “healthcare providers and consumers easily identify medical, health and fitness apps that deliver credible content, contain safeguards for user data […]
Recently the Wall Street Journal carried an article headlined “Proton-Beam Treatment for Prostate Tumors No Better Than Radiation” referring to a paper published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Actually the results indicate that while they could see no long term benefit, there was a short term incidence of problems with urinary function. […]
Imagine two people carrying on a very pleasant and cordial conversation. As you pass by you note that they’re nodding heads in agreement and smiling. You then listen a bit more and realize that they are each speaking different languages and, in all probability, don’t really know what each is saying. I’ve been to a […]
