July 24th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
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A team from Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School has been analyzing words used in tweets by American users in an attempt to gauge the public mood around the country.
What they discovered was that users on the West Coast seem to be quite a bit jollier than those on the East Coast. It’s not clear whether the data was collected during the summer or winter months and accordingly adjusted, for that surely would affect the readings.
Researchers were able to infer the mood of each tweet using a psychological word-rating system developed by the National Institute of Mental Health’s Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention. The system ranks words based on how they make people feel. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
June 7th, 2010 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
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Last week I heard a lecture about Accountable Care Organizations by a physician leader working for one of the major hospital systems. His discussion made me realize that large physician organizations and hospitals are spending lots of time solving problems of quality medical care. In my opinion quality medical care has not been adequately defined.
A working definition right now is to decrease hospital stays, efficient medical care for a disease at lower cost, avoidance of medical errors in the hospital, and avoidance of hospital acquired infections. These are important goals. They must be attached to monetary incentives. Many of these problems can be solved now.
The solution demands the development of processes of care. An important question is how much money will process improvement save? I estimate that this process improvement could save an estimated 7 to 10% of the healthcare dollar.
The real question should be focused on how to repair the healthcare system by decreasing costs while improving the health of Americans. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
April 27th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues an annual report on the state of health in the United States. The 33rd edition is out and has some surprising findings, especially about the use of procedures, tests and medical technology.
The life expectancy in the United States is now 77.9 years. Are you over that age? If so, congratulations — you beat the odds. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
