Probably not, but you should. The onslaught of efforts to digitize our health system are bound to have a profound effect on the future of health care. More so, it will have a direct impact on the manner in which you, the patient, interact with not only your physician, but also the role you play in preserving your health and well-being. As such, the ability for you to read and comprehend your personal health record can and will make a difference. How do I know this? I've been a practicing cardiologist for 26 years and immersed myself in the futuristic digital medical record endeavor far before Barack Obama became our President.
The written patient medical record had its birth in the 19th century and as such, has remained almost entirely unchanged for well more than 100 years. During this time, literally everything else in medical care has evolved. With the computer now making inroads into the patient medical record, just as it has entered every other aspect of our lives, the patient has a tremendous opportunity before them to engage some of the more technologically novice physicians about their plans for health care IT adoption. As a patient, it's crucial that you understand where on the adoption curve your doctor is in relation to embracing burgeoning technology. Your doctor's adoption of critical health care IT will not only improve in-house productivity, it will also enable patients to become more active participants in the care process.
More...
February 1, 2010
Dear People of Haiti…
After giving to Haiti in record amounts, it's feared that much of the U.S. population will soon face, and already may be facing, donor fatigue. This would be only natural, and thus it will be the job of all of us to keep Haiti in the public consciousness during the long rebuilding process ahead.
One sector of the population, however, is still eager to help, has boundless amounts of energy, and rarely suffers fatigue of any kind. I'm talking about the budding activists eating your food, running in your yard, playing on the computer, asking if friends can come over, calling you for a ride, or not speaking to you this week.
More...
One sector of the population, however, is still eager to help, has boundless amounts of energy, and rarely suffers fatigue of any kind. I'm talking about the budding activists eating your food, running in your yard, playing on the computer, asking if friends can come over, calling you for a ride, or not speaking to you this week.
More...
The Generation That Killed Rock ‘n Roll
Ladies and gentlemen: you are witnessing the death of Rock 'n' Roll.
Consider this the obituary: from 2004 to 2008 album sales fell from 667 million to 428 million units, according to Neilsen SoundScan. That's a 35% decline in just four years.
More...
Consider this the obituary: from 2004 to 2008 album sales fell from 667 million to 428 million units, according to Neilsen SoundScan. That's a 35% decline in just four years.
More...
The R Word
We were trying on hats at a department store counter when my childhood friend said it.
"I never know how to wear these," she said. "I'm such a fashion retard."
More...
"I never know how to wear these," she said. "I'm such a fashion retard."
More...
Health Care Reform: For Our Children, Let’s Finish The Race
I am not a marathon runner, but I know lots of them. Marathon runners seem to possess a unique ambition: they commit to a challenge that most of us will never take on. And they finish. They don't duck off at the 25th mile of a 26-mile course.
The United States entered into a serious public engagement with health care reform because the system was broken and it was pulling down the rest of the economy. We entered into a healthy exchange of ideas, proposals and plans to fix a series of substantial systemic, financial and even ethical issues with health care delivery. When the debate and planning began, everyone knew that the solutions would not come easily. Everyone knew that the fixes would bring into question the balance of federal state authority. Everyone knew that sacrifices would be required on all sides and that vested interests would dictate that each group would call on another group to sacrifice while holding on to their own turf with a vengeance.
More...
The United States entered into a serious public engagement with health care reform because the system was broken and it was pulling down the rest of the economy. We entered into a healthy exchange of ideas, proposals and plans to fix a series of substantial systemic, financial and even ethical issues with health care delivery. When the debate and planning began, everyone knew that the solutions would not come easily. Everyone knew that the fixes would bring into question the balance of federal state authority. Everyone knew that sacrifices would be required on all sides and that vested interests would dictate that each group would call on another group to sacrifice while holding on to their own turf with a vengeance.
More...
A Crumbling America
In arguing in favor of a surge in Afghanistan, President Obama sighted the importance of investing in the country's infrastructure as a mechanism for strengthening democracy. Our Commander-in-Chief has currently approved the pouring of billions of dollars into Afghani schools, clinics, roads, and bridges. In addition, the United States has currently added "hundreds of US advisers including agricultural specialists, engineers and lawyers." Yet in light of recent events, I urge our president to bring home our money, our resources, and even our engineers.
The United States is falling apart. No, I am not talking about our leadership or our standing in the world (although one could make a good case for both). I am talking about the physical infrastructure of the country. While other countries such as China and India have invested billion in creating 21st century infrastructure, America has proved content with the progress made under the Eisenhower Administration. The lessons learned from the devastating collapses of both the levees in New Orleans and the Mississippi River Bridge in 2007 had all but disappeared in the talks of the bank and auto bailouts.
More...
The United States is falling apart. No, I am not talking about our leadership or our standing in the world (although one could make a good case for both). I am talking about the physical infrastructure of the country. While other countries such as China and India have invested billion in creating 21st century infrastructure, America has proved content with the progress made under the Eisenhower Administration. The lessons learned from the devastating collapses of both the levees in New Orleans and the Mississippi River Bridge in 2007 had all but disappeared in the talks of the bank and auto bailouts.
More...
To Students Who Are Fighting Back
This is an open letter to the students of University Heights High School who are threatened with being thrown off the Bronx Community College campus; the students of Beach Channel, Christopher Columbus, Paul Robeson, Alfred E. Smith, and William Maxwell High Schools who face having their schools closed; and all the students who are fighting back against the unjust and ill-conceived policies of the Bloomberg/Klein machine that controls and misgoverns New York City schools.
I am writing this letter because my friend Pablo Muriel, a teacher at University Heights High School, asked me what he can say to students who have been working responsibly to influence public policy but who find their reasoned and evidence-based arguments ignored by government officials, like Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who make arbitrary and arrogant judgments, and the hatchet men, like Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, and political toadies, like the members of the Panel for Educational Policy, that they appoint to carry out their decisions. Pablo, and the teachers in the other schools, these are my thoughts and I hope you share them with your students.
More...
I am writing this letter because my friend Pablo Muriel, a teacher at University Heights High School, asked me what he can say to students who have been working responsibly to influence public policy but who find their reasoned and evidence-based arguments ignored by government officials, like Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who make arbitrary and arrogant judgments, and the hatchet men, like Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, and political toadies, like the members of the Panel for Educational Policy, that they appoint to carry out their decisions. Pablo, and the teachers in the other schools, these are my thoughts and I hope you share them with your students.
More...
Con Games: The Secret Of The iPad
The mutually orgasmic chortle of the cognoscenti missed the point about the announcement of the Apple iPad by a citified mile because a preponderance of yappers were obsessed with where said tablet fell in the pluperfect Apple pantheon of digital inamorata.
Was it cellphone or laptop? Would it set the Kindle aflame? Would it render all that had come before pale paleocentric imitations of what was meant to be?
More...
Was it cellphone or laptop? Would it set the Kindle aflame? Would it render all that had come before pale paleocentric imitations of what was meant to be?
More...