phenomenalplace

When I was in training as a Resident and a Fellow, I remember taking only a couple of sick days over the entire 6-year period. And I had to stay home because I could not stop praying to the porcelain Goddess during a bout of a particularly nasty flu, despite a vaccination. I actually took pride in my health record, and attributed it directly to being rather sickly as a child. Well, not really sickly; I just contracted all of the childhood illnesses that prevailed at the time in my geography. Yes, I spent my childhood in Odessa, Ukraine, where I got vaccinated against polio and smallpox, but not against measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, whooping cough or any other diseases that our children in the West will never contract. So, every couple of months I would succumb and have to stay home with a fever and a rash, and my mother would call my pediatrician who would come and visit me in our home promptly to examine me and, most of the time, reassure my mother that I would likely survive ...

Stephen J. Gould is known to most of us as the evolutionary biologist who brought much scientific thought on evolutionary science to the public. A self-acknowledged Jewish agnostic, he also struggled with how to help the world hold two seemingly conflicting philosophies: that of science and that of religion. He discusses some of his views in this essay and at more length in his book Rocks of Ages . In the essay he says the following: The lack of conflict between science and religion arises from a lack of overlap between their respective domains of professional expertise—science in the empirical constitution of the universe, and religion in the search for proper ethical values and the spiritual meaning of our lives. The attainment of wisdom in a full life requires extensive attention to both domains—for a great book tells us that the truth can make us free and that we will live in optimal harmony with our fellows when we learn to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. Gould coined the...

My father passed away about two weeks ago after battling a brain tumor for some time. Initially diagnosed with an extensive inoperable mass one and one-half years ago, upon presenting with a focal seizure, he did well with only one medication for seizure control for about ten months. Around Christmas of 2009, however, he landed in the hospital in status epilepticus that took three days to control. After these days of florid hallucinations alternating with pharmacologically achieved stupor, he came out of it remarkably cognitively intact, still able to quote poetry and sing Italian opera arias in their entirety. Although he was now unable to use his legs, he eagerly accepted the prospect of getting back on his feet by working hard in physical therapy. And though this never came to be, he managed to survive for additional seven months. But my Dad was not your average guy. A survivor of World War II, an immigrant from the Soviet Union, a retired professor of mechanical engineering, he wa...

The Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee  held a hearing on Tuesday, July 27, 2010, in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building entitled “Implementation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health. Reported Emily Long at NextGov : Members of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee questioned whether health care providers will run out and purchase new technology knowing that the certification program won't be up and running until 2012. Providers who don't demonstrate meaningful use by 2015 could face penalties. According to Blumenthal, The Office of the National Coordinator has in place a temporary certification program, but it doesn't include all the criteria that providers will have to meet in the long run.The certification standards are entirely new because they must reflect the requirements of meaningful use, he said, adding, "We don't want to create the impression for providers that something they'r...

As the Unites States moves towards a more centralized government role in healthcare, Great Britain is beginning to move in the other direction. The new coalition government has proposed some quite radical plans for the National Health Service (NHS) by shifting control of the $160 billion annual health budget from a centralized bureaucracy to local physicians while also promising to put more power in the hands of patients. The paper (embedded below) states: "The current architecture of the health system has developed piecemeal, involves duplication and is unwieldy. Liberating the NHS, and putting power in the hands of patients and clinicians, means we will be able to effect a radical simplification, and remove layers of management." Some of the main points in the paper include: The retention of national and regional commissioning, which will come under a new NHS Commissioning Board The recognition that research is vital in order to identify new ways of preventing, diagnosing a...

The eHealth Initiative (eHI) released a new report entitled "The State of Health Information Exchange in 2010: Connecting the Nation to Achieve Meaningful Use." The report identifies significant growth in the industry, as well as rising concerns related to new government policies, and an increased focus on patients. The report was shared with several hundred state and industry leaders during the National Forum on Health Information Exchange in Washington, DC. The eHealth Initiative has been tracking the progress of health information exchange initiatives for seven years. This year, eHI identified 234 active health information exchange initiatives across the country and 199 organizations responded to the annual survey. Several key findings emerged from the survey results: Despite recent funding, significant challenges exist to supporting provider attainment of meaningful use. The survey revealed that despite expanding capabilities, the ability of HIEs to support providers as t...

With the health information technology industry ramping up to help physicians and hospitals meet meaningful use, there is opportunity to bring open source solutions to bear. At the intersection of health care, government and open source, these three have a unique perspective on how to address the pressing needs within health care. If you have not had a chance to see the interview on Radar with Brian Behlendorf, Arien Malec and David Riley check it out at radar.oreilly.com