Guest post by Stephen C. Schimpff, MD We are often told that the reason for the high cost of medical care is all of our new technologies and drugs. There is an element of truth in that but when used correctly, new technologies save lives and improve the quality of patient care and often improve safety. But technologies used inappropriately increase costs while not improving quality and may adversely impact safety. Here is a patient…
Read More...Dr. Bill Crounse Talks with Todd Park: Comparing Health Insurance Plans Made Easy
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Microsoft’s Dr. Bill Crounse Talks with Todd Park, CTO of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on Health Tech Today There is a plethora of health information for consumers today. We are surrounded by smart meaningful material, but somehow it is easy to get lost in the maze of information. We get stuck navigating through it and we find it hard to obtain information that is right…
Read More...How to Filter Cancer Prevention Headlines
Guest post submitted by MD Anderson Cancer Center Most of us can’t keep up with all the new ways to avoid cancer. Thanks to the Internet, we now have an unlimited supply of cancer knowledge at our fingertips. But, how can we filter out the good, the bad and the questionable? Below are steps to help you tease out the facts when reading that next big news story on preventing cancer. Says who? Don’t just…
Read More...Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jeff Arnold launch Sharecare.com, where experts share their knowledge with consumers
By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Sharecare.com launched yesterday in San Francisco at the Health 2.0 conference and while I was unable to attend this exciting event, I followed the live twitter feed (#health2con) and it almost felt like I was there. Having attended the Health 2.0 conferences in the past, the excitement and energy that circulates is always infectious. As a registered nurse, I am thrilled and honored to be included and surrounded by…
Read More...Patient Engagement: Health IT, What Microsoft Health Users Group Exchange Means for you
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 paradigm. “At the end of the day, we’re all patients,” Bill Crounse, MD, keynote speaker and Senior…
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