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Guest Posts
Going to the Mat for Dorothy
by Jill KuraitisÂ
Vince gave me Dorothy’s story to read, and here’s what I said: GO DOROTHY!  ::::goofy little happy dance:::  Dorothy is my new hero. I love people who are willing to go to the mat for a cause, especially one having to do with the elderly, children, the disabled and less fortunate than we.
Since Vince and I have been overwhelmed by the swamp of details of taking care of our family elderly for about, oh, 13 years – my […]
Birth Announcement: the Personal Health Information Network (PHIN)
Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe, MD MBAÂ
The Internet and digital technologies have transformed many aspects of our lives over the past twenty years. We can get cash at ATMs all over the world; we can book our own airline reservations; we can shop and get best prices over the Internet.
Why hasn’t this happened in health care? Something is missing.
Recently, major global information and communication companies have announced their intention to bring their technologies and business models to health care. […]
The Wrong Way and the Right Way to Frame PHR Privacy/Confidentiality Issues
 Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe, MD MBAÂ
During the past week two reports were released discussing privacy/confidentiality issues surrounding PHRs. One of these reports did it the wrong way; one did it the right way.
The general public is just learning about Personal Health Records (PHRs). We believe that the appropriate way to frame the dialogue for the public is to acknowledge both the benefits and risks:
Benefits: PHRs (and EHRs) have the potential to save lives, reduce medical errors, improve patient […]
Medicare Health Support: “Do not go gentle into that good night”
Vince Kuraitis and Thomas Wilson, PhD, DrPH
“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
Dylan Thomas
  Â
Despite CMS’ recent cocktail hour pronouncement that Medicare Health Support (MHS) is on its last legs, many are fighting to prolong its life.
Recent Developments
DMAA is working with Sen. John Kerry to introduce legislation mandating the continuation of Medicare Health Support (MHS). Dr. Jaan Sidorov’s Disease Management Care Blog reprints the full announcement from the February 12 issue of […]
Guest Post: The CMS Announcement Of Medicare Health Support Program Cancellation — What It Means For Buyers
by Al Lewis, JD
Add the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to the growing list of people and organizations who cannot find financial savings through disease management. Weeks after “lowering the bar” on MHS program savings requirements to 0% from 5%, CMS cancelled the program altogether due to the unlikelihood that the much-reduced threshold for savings would be achieved in the remaining months of the three-year measurement period.
Yet even as CMS’ conclusion mirrors that of the Congressional Budget Office, and the RAND Corporation, other organizations and […]
Insufficient Evidence to End Medicare Health Support
Thomas Wilson, PhD, DrPH and Vince Kuraitis
Last Tuesday during the cocktail hour, CMS issued documents portending the end of the Medicare Health Support (MHS) project. Â
We initially used the word “bizarre” to describe the announcement from CMS’ staff. After further thought, “reckless” and/or “insubordinate” strike closer to home.
First, let’s have the head-honcho at CMS instruct us on how things should be done. In September 2007 Kerry Weems, the new CMS Administrator, declared that “cocktail hour press releases” from his agency […]
CMS: “Rumors of Medicare Health Support’s Death Have Not Been Greatly Exaggerated”
Vince Kuraitis and Thomas Wilson, PhD, DrPH
Today’s POO (persistent obfuscatory orations) Award goes to the Centers for Medicare Services (CMS) for their posting of two bizarre documents updating progress on the Medicare Health Support (MHS) program. The documents “appeared” (no press release, no announcement, a reference to “today” but no date) on the web page for the MHS demonstration project.
While a casual reader would probably review these documents and scratch their head, we interpret them as a death knell for the Medicare Health Support […]
What Will Microsoft’s HealthVault Mean to the Telehealth Community?
My colleague Tim Gee and I are guest bloggers on the Get-Connected Forum at the Center for Connected Health. We speculate on:
What Will Microsoft’s HealthVault Mean to the Telehealth Community?
Our bottom line: HealthVault overall is a positive for telehealth industry growth and scale, even though it will speed the inevitable commoditization of remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices.
Four Misconceptions About HealthVault and the Emerging Personal Health Information Ecosystem (PHI-Ecosystem)
by Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe, MD MBAÂ
The health care and technology worlds are still trying to figure out what Microsoft’s HealthVault (HV) is all about. We believe that there are a number of misconceptions out there about what HV is and isn’t:
Misconception #1: HealthVault is a personal health record (PHR).
Misconception #2: People don’t trust Microsoft, so they won’t sign up for and use HV.
Misconception #3: Patients don’t understand PHRs, don’t want them, and don’t know what they’d do with them. […]
Health 2.0 Deserves Careful Watching
by David C. Kibbe, MD MBA
Dear Colleagues:
Thursday I attended a wonderful one day conference, entitled “Health 2.0 — User Generated Health Care.” One of the most interesting events of 2007. Held in San Francisco. I had a chance to talk with Adam Bosworth and Missy Krasner of Google, with Peter Neuport of Microsoft, and with David Brailer, among many others. It was particularly good to see Drs. Walter Lim and Rick Chan, with the Ministry of Health in Singapore, who came […]
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