Once again, constitutional challenges to health reform have captured the attention of the daily newspapers. A few months back, it was a couple of Bush I alumni rolling out the conservative/libertarian line in the Washington Post. (Not everyone was convinced.) This week, GOP opponents to health reform are sending smoke signals about a possible legal […]
Monthly Archives: December 2009
Health Reform: What's a Provider to Do?
What should health care providers be doing in anticipation of the likely passage of an historic health reform bill? There are at least three possibilities: (1) Lament the passing of the good old days and oppose it; (2) Insist that it isn't good enough because it is lacking some key provision (tort reform; SGR replacement; […]
The Joint Commission's latest on medical staff bylaws, six years on
After being put on ice last year, the Joint Commission's standard regarding medical staff bylaws, the medical executive committee (MEC) of a hospital's medical staff, and associated rules and regulations and policies (MS.01.01.01, formerly known as MS.1.20) is moving forward. The revised draft of MS.01.01.01 was released for a six-week comment period ("field review") yesterday. […]
Patient control over patient data in electronic health records: A work in progress
Over the past six months, there has been a growing (and certainly more visible) patient-centered movement fomented in large part by some of the health care digerati / blogerati / twitterati I know — revolving around patient control over electronic health records. Dave DeBronkart (@ePatientDave) — not the most circumspect guy you'll ever meet — […]
Ten Years After "To Err Is Human"
Ten Years After sang "I'd Love to Change the World" more than ten years ago. Sadly, ten years after the seminal IOM report on medical errors — To Err Is Human — was released, we should all be singing that song, because that wake-up call has gone largely unheeded; or perhaps a better way of […]