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Guest Posts

abbas

Data from Connected Medical Devices: 5 Benefits

Why Healthcare Needs the Internet of Things

Guest Post by Abbas Dhilawala, Chief Technology Officer, Galen Data 

The IoT consists of smart objects or devices with cloud connectivity capabilities — devices that can perform a function, collect data and transmit that data to a network where it can be used by humans to accomplish a goal. IoT devices are appearing everywhere in society, from the industrial supply chain to automated cars, but one of the most important applications for the IoT […]

MCOL Thought Leaders: Implications of Narrow Networks

ow far will the trend towards narrower health plan networks go – and what are the implications?”

 

Alexander Domaszewicz
Principal,
Mercer

ACA legislation put many guardrails on health program design – premium cost sharing must be affordable based on percent of pay and cost sharing through design requires at least a 60% value plan. Narrow networks are one of the few areas that insurers and program sponsors still have left to positively impact cost […]

Universal American: A “Healthy Collaboration”

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH; originally posted at ACO Watch

I intended to post updates from Aetna and Cigna next in this series, yet today I received a tweet by Vince Kuraitis, aka @VinceKuraitis, calling attention to Universal American a managed care player I’ve not spent much time on. Yet they present a rather interesting profile and operating footprint some of which I will highlight below. According to their website Universal American (UAM):

…provides health benefits to people with Medicare. We are […]

ACOs: We’re NOT There Yet

by Brian Klepper

On The Health Care Blog, veteran analyst Vince Kuraitis reviews a report from the consulting firm Oliver Wyman (OW), arguing that the trend toward reconfiguring health systems to deliver more accountable care is more widespread than any of us suspect.

“The healthcare world has only gotten serious about accountable care organizations in the past two years, but it is already clear that they are well positioned to provide a serious competitive threat […]

Good or perfect: Cutting the fastest path forward

Guest post by Patrick Gordon, Director, Colorado Beacon Consortium

Early pioneers to Colorado did not have the luxury of waiting for railway or infrastructure to be in place before taming a new frontier. Their vision and determination laid the foundation for the settlers who followed. They used the tools and talents they had to develop an infrastructure and ultimately build viable, productive communities. Had they waited for the perfect conditions, they’d still be back east.

It’s a lesson we’ve […]

HealthCamp Oregon, Oct 22 — Hope to See You There!

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by Nate DiNiro

HealthCamp Oregon is organizing 2 events during the 3rd week of October in Portland, Oregon. The events will focus on Healthcare, Health IT, the ePatient & Participatory Medicine movement and all-things Healthcare Transformation!
 

The first event, a panel that will focus on the impact of social media in healthcare, is scheduled for Thursday 10/20. We’re also helping to promote the annual Kaiser Center for Health Research Saward Lecture, scheduled for Friday 10/21. More information on that event can be […]

“The Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Engaging Patients”…and the Why

Hi all, my name is Howard Rosen (Founder & CEO of LifeWIRE Corp), co-author of the recently published white paper report entitled “Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Engaging Patients.” You can access a copy here through the Institute for Health Technology Transformation (scroll down to “Whitepapers”.)

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 88% of American adults with Internet access research health information online and 60% say Internet info influenced a decision about how […]

Crowdsourcing the Future: Health 2.0 and HIPAA

Deven McGraw is the Director of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology. 

The Health 2.0 movement has seen incredible growth recently, with new tools and services continuously being released. Of course, Health 2.0 developers face a number of challenges when it comes to getting providers and patients to adopt new tools, including integrating into a health system that is still mostly paper-based. Another serious obstacle facing developers is how to interpret and, where appropriate, comply with […]

Things we are grateful for this year

This post was written by Alexandra Drane and the Engage With Grace team. To learn more please go to www.engagewithgrace.org.

For three years running now, many of us bloggers have participated in what we’ve called a “blog rally” to promote Engage With Grace – a movement aimed at making sure all of us understand, communicate, and have honored our end-of-life wishes.

The rally is timed to coincide with a weekend when most of us are with the very people with whom we […]

Testing Technology vs. Enabling a System of Chronic Care – Results of the NIH Tele-HF Trial

by Randy Williams, MD FACC, CEO of Pharos Innovations

The results from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored Tele-HF trial are in, and the findings are worth considering . The results are counter to most of the findings of other studies examining telemonitoring for heart failure and at face value are disappointing to us, and the industry. Upon closer examination, however, this study offers us an excellent opportunity for further innovation, refinement of solutions and continuous improvement. It also provides a snapshot […]