by Tim Size on June 7, 2009
Readers not comfortable leaving a comment below may send feedback to: timsize@rwhc.com.
“What is good for General Motors is good for the country.” We used to say that. But now it is more like “What is good for we Baby Boomers is good for the country.” In any event, this huge generation is aging into becoming patients. The tremors of this shift will hit our country for the next twenty years.
I am an aging “cheesehead” and proud of it. I know all too well Wisconsin’s justly famous beer, cheese and brats. But my primary care physician, workplace wellness program and a life event wacked me on the head. I am lucky. This dose of personal health reform has led to overdue lifestyle changes. Hopefully I will stay on track. Multiply my story by millions of fellow cheese heads and you see the bigger challenge.
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by Tim Size on May 8, 2009
“Meaningful EHR Use,” “Certified EHR,” And “Open Source” Recommendations
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Thanks to Louis Wenzlow, RWHC Director of Health Information Technology, who is the primary drafter and to other senior staff at RWHC who provided significant input. Download pdf or read below.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides for Medicare incentive payments to hospitals that can demonstrate “meaningful use” of “certified EHR technology,” including for information exchange and for the submission of clinical quality measures, with definitions of these terms to be finalized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). This paper provides a summary of published “Meaningful EHR User” definition recommendations, as well as the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative’s (RWHC) perspective on the issues. We also address the question of whether open source EHRs are necessarily the right fit for small rural hospitals. RWHC is a cooperative of 35 rural hospitals (including 28 Critical Access Hospitals) that promotes regional collaboration for health and health care services on behalf of rural communities.
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by Tim Size on April 14, 2009
Readers not comfortable leaving a comment below may send feedback to: timsize@rwhc.com.
Americans on both the political left and right have finally found something to agree about. And in my opinion, they both have it wrong. Both sides now tend to say “this” country instead of “our” country. This matters because words represent ideas and ideas lead to or away from useful action.
You’d expect a visitor from overseas to say “this country” when they visit America. I’d expect an economist to compare this country to that country. But for those of us who live here, and aren’t writing a research paper, I believe we have a responsibility to think and say “our country.” Not as in “my country, love it or leave it,” but as in the sense that all of us here are part of America, its flaws and its unique blessings alike, whether we like it or not. [click to continue…]
by Tim Size on April 14, 2009
Readers not comfortable leaving a comment below may send feedback to: timsize@rwhc.com.
Even with or maybe because of the economic downturn, healthcare “reform” is back on the front burner. The fall election results were a lot about seeking economic stability and security. Healthcare reform is part of that search. The severity of Federal and State government deficits make reform harder but not impossible.
I have never liked the word reform. It implies good people fixing bad people. “Bad” kids used to be sent to reform school. Or we need to reform how we finance elections to limit bad things from happening. We won’t improve American healthcare by reforming millions of dedicated clinicians and healthcare workers. We won’t improve healthcare by reforming away care that most of us like. Most of us can afford our out of pocket healthcare costs, if we keep our jobs. [click to continue…]
by Tim Size on April 14, 2009
Readers not comfortable leaving a comment below may send feedback to: timsize@rwhc.com.
This is the best of times and the worst of times. I’ve always wanted to start with this line taken from the beginning of Charles Dickens’s “A Tale of Two Cities.” It certainly fits well today. Some may quibble with the “best of times” but as an aging optimist, each new day above ground is always welcomed.
President Obama has now signed into law the largest economic stimulus bill we have ever seen in the U.S. There are without a doubt some good things and some not so good things in it. Strong feelings for and against the wisdom of many of the provisions exist. [click to continue…]
