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Healthcare Engagement: Most Companies Are Not Meeting Employee Expectations

January 8th, 2010 by Dr. Val Jones in Audio, Expert Interviews
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Edelman has been a leader in surveying and analyzing consumer health opinion on a global scale. In 2008 they released the results of a Health Engagement Barometer, confirming the public’s strong desire for personal engagement with health experts and peers online and beyond. I clearly remember Edelman’s revelation that medical bloggers (particularly healthcare professional bloggers) are one of the most trusted sources of health information online. That made me feel good.

This time around, Edelman created a new survey (The Health Engagement Pulse) focused on consumer expectations of their employers. The results reflect a further shift away from traditional siloed roles and relationships (where employers have nothing directly to do with healthcare) and a new era of blended responsibility. To understand this shift, I interviewed Nancy Turett, Edelman’s Global President of Health. Please listen to the audio interview or enjoy the synopsis below.

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The Wheel Of Misfortune

December 3rd, 2009 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
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I love graphs, especially interactive graphs.

GE made a graph of the average annual cost of patients with eleven common chronic diseases.  Go check it out, marvel at the coolness as you grab the sliders and spin the wheel o’ misfortune.  Take home point: hypertension is the single biggest driver of medical cost in all patients age 33 and up.  Go figure.

*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*

GE’s Pocket Ultrasound Machine

October 26th, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News
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As we wrote yesterday, GE released a handheld ultrasound system unlike any other. Yesterday, at a GE press conference in New York, we saw the device first hand and we brought a video back of a company rep demonstrating its use. At 3 inches wide, 5.3 inches long, and about an inch high, the device already has FDA and European approval. GE plans to first conduct a real world study of how the Vscan will be used by clinicians before releasing it to the general market. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*