September 27th, 2010 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
1 Comment »
An interesting debate occurred in the Washington Post between Michael Leavitt, former secretary of Health and Human Services and a member of the Medicare Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2009, and Dr. Don Berwick, the director of CMS.
Michael Leavitt wrote a scathing article criticizing President Obama’s Medicare Reform Act calling it an illusion. Don Berwick wrote a rebuttal to Michael Leavitt’s article.
Michael Leavitt starts off his article by stating: “Despite the report from Medicare’s trustees this month that the hospital insurance trust fund will not be depleted until 2029, 12 years later than was predicted just last year, Medicare is no better off than it was a year ago. “
The Medicare Trustees Report was strange. Nothing was done to change anything and all of a sudden, the hospital insurance fund was extended 12 years. I thought it was funny arithmetic.
Medicare Trustees is supposed to be an organization independent of the administration. Shortly afterward, Richard Foster, Chief Actuary for Medicare, who is independent of both the Medicare Trustees and the administration, wrote an “Alternative Report.” His report received little coverage in the traditional media. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
September 27th, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News
No Comments »
Turning to friends for online information is the hot topic within the Web world, and in Monday’s New York Times Technology and Business section, Jenna Wortham writes about how “Search Takes a Social Turn.”
Online sites are taking notice of what people like. Web companies are trying to make searching online for information more useful by tapping into the inner thoughts of what people like:
After a decade when search engines ruled supreme — tapping billions of Web pages to answer every conceivable query — many people now prefer getting their online information the old-fashioned way: by yakking across the fence.
Turning to friends is the new rage in the Web world, extending far beyond established social networking sites and setting off a rush among Web companies looking for ways to help people capitalize on the wisdom of their social circles — and to make some money in the process.
Listening and communicating
Listening and communicating with our friends can prove to be invaluable at times, and often they are our springboards for sharing our latest woes or trumpeting our successes. Whatever the case, friends are ruling the social networking world and frankly their opinion matters. Friends can be invaluable, and the geniuses behind new technology companies are taking notice and creating online sites focused on what friends are sharing with friends. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
September 27th, 2010 by JenniferKearneyStrouse in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News
No Comments »
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) coordinat[ed] “National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day” this [past] Saturday [September 25th], encouraging people to turn in their unused prescription drugs. The agency hopes the event will help decrease rates of crime and addiction linked to prescription drug abuse, the New York Times reports.
From the DEA press release:
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
September 27th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Medical Art
No Comments »
Occasionally I like to post great visuals from Street Anatomy. Here is another set, this time depicting the bone fragility of osteoporosis. Apparently these were glass models that were shot as they hit the ground. Stunning:
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
September 26th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, True Stories
No Comments »
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
An intermission, the curtain has closed on youth, but the next act awaits.
Caring for hiccups of the heart, like atrial fibrillation for example, often throws me in front of the mirror, of middle age that is, and sadly the reflections show imperfections. Since I am middle aged myself, there are my own experiences. But everyday at work, on my job site, I see the effects of these same middle-age experiences on the atrium of my patients. The results are often profound. So must be the pressures.
I read a passage in the wee hours of the quiet morning, in the dark, with a flickering book light. It grabbed me. It is from Elisabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, Olive Kitteridge. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*