March 15th, 2010 by PhilBaumannRN in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Blogging, Business, Business of Medicine, Cluetrain Manifesto, Conversation, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter
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I don’t agree with the first thesis of the Cluetrain Manifesto which asserts: Markets are conversations. There’s a measure of truth to it, but it’s an assertion that can lead marketers down a narrow path that obstructs a larger view of the possibilities of media. If markets were indeed conversations, then we all could get rich just by conversing. No, leading an audience is what gets things done – conversation is simply a bonus feature of a two-way Web.
I need to make my point in the flesh. So here I am, presenting an elucidation of my thesis: Audiences are strategic imperatives [link to video if you can’t see the embed is here]: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann*
March 15th, 2010 by DrRich in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Healthcare reform, House, Massa, Obama, Pelosi, Reconciliation, Senate
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Seeing President Obama traveling the land this week, delivering yet more speeches on the critical importance of passing THIS healthcare reform legislation NOW, makes DrRich shake his head in wonderment.
For one thing, the President’s rhetoric on healthcare reform is already stale. As he himself has said, the arguing has gone on long enough; minds are made up. And the President seems to have nothing new to say.
We proles, in fact, know that the status quo is unacceptable, and that the health insurance companies are evil and are assiduously pricing people out of the market just as fast as they can; and we have concluded that something needs to be done. The fact that the majority of us have not made the connection between “something needs to be done” and “this is the only solution that we may consider” is not, as the President has claimed, due to the fact that he hasn’t explained it to us often enough. We just don’t like the solution he and his party have settled upon. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Covert Rationing Blog*
March 15th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Conspiracy Theories, Ezra Klein, Government, Health Insurance, Healthcare reform, Industry
1 Comment »
Why has health care reform run into so much trouble?
Well, it could be because people think reform plans will affect them in ways they aren’t going to like. Or because people don’t believe politicians in Washington who say that spending huge amounts of money will actually save money. Or because confusing mixed messages and ever-shifting sales pitches create a lot of anxiety about what’s really going on. It could be all of those things.
Or, it could be something more….sinister…. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
March 13th, 2010 by DaveMunger in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Calories, Death, England, Mortality, Nutrition, Population Growth, Robert Fogel
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Population increases when the birthrate exceeds the death rate, and decreases when the reverse occurs. So what does the world look like when there are too many people?
One way to approach this question is to consider what the limiting factors in population are. When, exactly, does the death rate exceed the birthrate? A key consideration is mortality. If people live shorter lives, the death rate goes up, and population goes down (or at least grows more slowly). What causes mortality to increase? Obviously things like wars, pandemics, and famines have an impact, but economist Robert Fogel argues that these are actually a relatively small part of the global mortality picture. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Daily Monthly*
March 12th, 2010 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: Emergency Medicine, ENT, Peritonsillar Abscess, Pharyngitis, Primary Care, Sore Throat, Steroids
1 Comment »
RCentor has an interesting article on Sore Throats and Pharyngitis over at MedRants. He writes:
There is a new trend in pharyngitis that has taken hold amongst emergency physicians – the use of steroids to provide symptom relief.
I too have noticed this, and I completely agree with Dr Centor that while this is a highly effective treatment, it needs to be used with some caution. For our practice, this has been pushed by the ENTs. It has been our experience that when we see someone with a really bad sore throat or even with a peritonsillar abscess, 100% of the time the instruction from the ENTs has been to administer steroids. While the data is underwhelming (pain relief on average six hours quicker with steroids), the truth is that for a really bad case of tonsillitis, steroids work. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
