[UPDATE: HWR now back up - Thanks to Roy Poses for the heads' up!]
Spring is traditionally a time to air out the house, clean out the garage, and generally spruce up the homestead. One important task in this process is reducing the clutter. To that end, this week's HWR is simple in design, sparing in verbiage, and focused on the beauty of my fellow wonkers' efforts. As advertised, it's first in, first up:
■ David Williams
HBB's David Williams notes the irony (and arrogance) of Nature magazine's efforts to promote more patient advocacy - behind a $32 firewall.
■ Jaan Siderov
Speaking of social media, Jaan offers his Ten Commandments, er, Rules for health care organizations that want to tap into the power of Twitter, FaceBook and the like.
■ Glenn Laffel
Of course, Nature, Twitter amd FaceBook aren't the only new tech available to Health Wonkers: over at Pizaazz, Glen Laffel discusses how cloud computing is already impacting health care organizations. Glenn offers a case study of how one start-up was recently knocked for quite a loop.
■ Jason Shafrin
Do Medicare patients really have to wait longer to see their doc than those with commercial insurance? Our favorite health care economist, Jason Shafrin, has the (perhaps not surprising) answer to that question, and a handful more.
■ Roy Poses
Roy wonders why physicians are so reluctant to seek legal counsel before signing potentially career-ending contracts.
■ Peggy Salvatore
So here's the question: is it really necessary for providers to fully implement EMR? To which Peggy has a simple answer ("Only If You Want To Get Paid") as well as some interesting alternative financing ideas.
■ John Goodman
As usual, John's not afraid to tackle the big issues. In this post, he looks under the hood of Congressman Ryan's plan to reshape Medicare (with a special cameo from Diana Ross and the Supremes!).
■ Louise Norris
Another longtime HWR contributor, Louise reports on the underwhelming decrease in the number of covered lives in Colorado's small group health insurance market.
■ Anthony Wright
Looks like Anthem Blue Cross is playing chicken with California's Insurance Department by raising rates even after being told not to.
■ Tim Jost
As ObamaCare© wends its way through the judicial system, Tim outlines the arguments in the 4th Circuit, focusing on whether the Act is even Constitutional.
■ Avik Roy
Known primarily for fine cheese and chocolate (and watches, of course), Switzerland may be an unlikely holder of the title "World’s Best Health Care System," but Avik effectively pleads the case.
■ Jared Rhoads
If Switzerland is the Best Health Care system (see above), then Massachusetts may be a leading contender for the opposite appellation. Jared points out that, in the Bay State, fewer doc's are accepting new patients, and existing ones are facing much longer wait times.
■ Bob Vineyard
Our own entry comes from co-blogger Bob Vineyard, channeling Cato's Mike Tanner and Dr Jane Orient, on why ObamaCare© spells big trouble if you actually need care.
And that, dear readers, is that.
Please join us in a fortnight at the Health Affairs Blog, where Chris Fleming will host the next Health Wonk review.
Spring is traditionally a time to air out the house, clean out the garage, and generally spruce up the homestead. One important task in this process is reducing the clutter. To that end, this week's HWR is simple in design, sparing in verbiage, and focused on the beauty of my fellow wonkers' efforts. As advertised, it's first in, first up:
■ David Williams
HBB's David Williams notes the irony (and arrogance) of Nature magazine's efforts to promote more patient advocacy - behind a $32 firewall.
■ Jaan Siderov
Speaking of social media, Jaan offers his Ten Commandments, er, Rules for health care organizations that want to tap into the power of Twitter, FaceBook and the like.
■ Glenn Laffel
Of course, Nature, Twitter amd FaceBook aren't the only new tech available to Health Wonkers: over at Pizaazz, Glen Laffel discusses how cloud computing is already impacting health care organizations. Glenn offers a case study of how one start-up was recently knocked for quite a loop.
■ Jason Shafrin
Do Medicare patients really have to wait longer to see their doc than those with commercial insurance? Our favorite health care economist, Jason Shafrin, has the (perhaps not surprising) answer to that question, and a handful more.
■ Roy Poses
Roy wonders why physicians are so reluctant to seek legal counsel before signing potentially career-ending contracts.
■ Peggy Salvatore
So here's the question: is it really necessary for providers to fully implement EMR? To which Peggy has a simple answer ("Only If You Want To Get Paid") as well as some interesting alternative financing ideas.
■ John Goodman
As usual, John's not afraid to tackle the big issues. In this post, he looks under the hood of Congressman Ryan's plan to reshape Medicare (with a special cameo from Diana Ross and the Supremes!).
■ Louise Norris
Another longtime HWR contributor, Louise reports on the underwhelming decrease in the number of covered lives in Colorado's small group health insurance market.
■ Anthony Wright
Looks like Anthem Blue Cross is playing chicken with California's Insurance Department by raising rates even after being told not to.
■ Tim Jost
As ObamaCare© wends its way through the judicial system, Tim outlines the arguments in the 4th Circuit, focusing on whether the Act is even Constitutional.
■ Avik Roy
Known primarily for fine cheese and chocolate (and watches, of course), Switzerland may be an unlikely holder of the title "World’s Best Health Care System," but Avik effectively pleads the case.
■ Jared Rhoads
If Switzerland is the Best Health Care system (see above), then Massachusetts may be a leading contender for the opposite appellation. Jared points out that, in the Bay State, fewer doc's are accepting new patients, and existing ones are facing much longer wait times.
■ Bob Vineyard
Our own entry comes from co-blogger Bob Vineyard, channeling Cato's Mike Tanner and Dr Jane Orient, on why ObamaCare© spells big trouble if you actually need care.
And that, dear readers, is that.
Please join us in a fortnight at the Health Affairs Blog, where Chris Fleming will host the next Health Wonk review.
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