By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA

How important is Health IT to you and should you care?
At the Microsoft Health Users Group Exchange this month at the Microsoft Corporate Campus in Redmond, WA, patient engagement was the overall theme.
Whether presenters were talking about “Cloud Computing,” “Care Coordination,” or “Population Health Management,” empowering the patient was the [...]

Guest post submitted by MD Anderson Cancer Center
Aisles in grocery stores and pharmacies are stacked with vitamins, minerals, herbs or other plants that you take in pill, capsule, tablet or liquid form. And, many of us buy these supplements and take them regularly, hoping to lower our chances of getting cancer and other diseases.
But do [...]

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA

Turning to friends for online information is the hot topic within the Web world, and in Monday’s New York Times Technology and Business section, Jenna Wortham writes about how “Search Takes a Social Turn.”
Online sites are taking notice of what people like.  Web companies are trying to make searching online [...]

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA

Should you bring a family member or friend with you when a patient has a doctor’s appointment?
That is a question explored on a recent post on KevinMD by guest blogger, Diana E. Lee, a chronic migraine patient who blogs at Somebody Heal Me.
“Most of the resources I’ve read about how [...]

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA
Some patients struggle to communicate effectively with their doctors and some doctors and nurses find it difficult to communicate and collaborate with each other.
Historically, the dynamic symbiotic relationship between doctors and nurses has been a little shaky, evidenced by the lack of engagement and respect for one another.
Hospitals are chaotic [...]