Microsoft's, Bill Crounse, said this about David Kibbe's article, "The Parable of the Wicked EMR."
"Excellent, well written piece, David. Thanks for sharing your insights. It is important to not only meet the regulatory and privacy requirements associated with health data, but also expectations around its intended use. EMR or PHR data is just data unless it contributes to user knowledge. EHRs and PHRs don't add value unless they improve our understanding of health status and direct us toward health improvement."
Harvard Pilgrim's, Charlie Baker had this to say about Anne Tumlinson's article, "Reforming Long-Term Care and Post-Acute Care Could Save Billions."
"I've
written about the extraordinary lack of connectivity between Medicaid
and Medicare when it comes to long term care for dual eligible seniors
many times at www.letstalkhealthcare.org. Medicare & Medicaid are
their own worst enemies – and do senior citizens a tremendous
disservice – when it comes to financing care for seniors who are
eligible for both programs. There's a problem here that needs to be
solved."
THCB contributor, Michael Millenson wrote in this about the same post.
"Bravo
on the good work, Anne. As a former member of the National Commission
on Quality Long-term Care, I know that the human cost and financial
cost of post-acute care is one we as a society ignore at our peril. For more context on this issue, see our reports, including, "Out of Isolation: A Vision for Long-Term Care in America."
In response to Matthew Holt's post on conservatives for patient's rights, Steve Parker Jr., said this:
The real issue here is that our government is attempting to fund a plan that does not exist. That is the EXACT problem! I think I remember the former administration funding two other "issues" without a plan (let's call those the war in Iraq and the bailout of the autos and financial industries).Funding without a plan should not be allowed in ANY country, ANY industry or in ANY situation. Forget your political affiliations for a moment and begin to question WHY. WHY would we allow our leaders to pass anything (or fund anything) without a proper plan that is well thought out and with accountability? Forcing something through to "get it done" is a reckless decision and as I stated before, should be punished with those leaders being fired from their positions.
Comments were closed on Susan J. Blumenthal and Denis A. Cortese's, "Op-Ed: Seven Strategies to Address the Nation's Health Care Crisis," but THCB Contributor, Brian Klepper wrote in to say:
"These are astonishingly lame and high-flown recommendations, all the
more surprising since they come from supposed luminaries like Drs.
Blumenthal and Cortese, who should know better.Nowhere do they consider the influence of industry lobbying over
the health system's current dynamics and mechanisms, or the necessity
of galvanizing and mobilizing America's non-health care business
leaders to drive the establishment of mechanisms through policy that
can improve quality and reduce cost. How realistic is it to expect
significant changes in the health of our people or the ways we supply
and deliver case so long as Congress continues to shape policy to the
advantage of its contributors from agribusiness, fast food, media, or
the health care sectors. One need only look at the rules in ARRA's
HITECH provisions, and how they favor old-technology Health IT firms,
to know that this approach to making policy is still very much the rule.It's not as though there's any mystery about what we need to do to
re-establish stability and sustainability in health care. We need to
re-empower primary care. We need quality and cost performance
transparency at every level in the system. We need to move away from
reimbursements that reward doing more procedures, to paying for
results. We need to implement interoperable web-based health IT systems
that can be continually, organically updated by new data and knowledge
to provide clinical and administrative decision-support.Most of all, we need leadership by America's governmental and
business leaders, who possess the power, resources and stature to
represent the common, rather than the special interest, on these issues.What
we do not need are platitudes, like these recommendations, that ignore
the deeper dynamics that have brought us into the crisis."
