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The Wall Street Journal today features a discussion about whether docs should use email to communicate with patients.  There are many issues to consider including privacy, liability, exchange of accurate information, ability to “read” the patient, etc.  WSJ featured two opposing views on the matter.  The full article can be read here.

Dr. Joseph Kvedar — founder and director of the Center for Connected Health in Boston, which promotes the use of information technology to improve health care — is a proponent of email: “Sure, privacy is …

By  Louis J. Goodman and Timothy B. Norbeck 

This year promises to be a watershed year for healthcare in general, and for patients and physicians, in particular.  No matter how the U.S. Supreme Court determines the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), 2012 will be a crucial turning point in the delivery of healthcare.

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During the Congressional passage of the PPACA, White House advisors acknowledged that the economic forces in the legislation would accelerate physician employment by hospitals and larger physician …

By Lynn Lucas-Fehm, MD, JD
When the AMA was formed in 1847, the founders could not have imagined how health care delivery would change in the ensuing 150 years. The goals of the 19th century medical profession were ambitious but clear – to assure that the highest standards of excellence became the foundation for the practice of medicine.

At the first meeting of the AMA, the delegates developed policies by introducing, debating, amending and ultimately passing resolutions.  One example was the policy establishing the requirement for “gentlemen” entering the profession:

Resolved, that this …

By Tracy Krulik

In 1998 I wound up in a South Florida emergency room following a week of nausea, vomiting, and frail-octogenarian-like weakness. After a brief exam, an overnight stay in the hospital, and an endoscopy, the internist sent me home with motility drugs to combat his diagnosed cause of my problems — gastroparesis. That was the start of my nine-year illness, which was misdiagnosed at every turn. Mine is a story of how I survived a medical odyssey that included a tumor on my pancreas as well as …

By Lynn Lucas-Fehm, MD, JD

Most of us recall the literary character Dr. Watson who served as the steadfast confidant, supporter, physician and assistant to the brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes.  Now there is a new Watson in our midst, an artificial intelligence computer developed by IBM and named after IBM’s first president Thomas J. Watson.

After handily defeating the formidable human Jeopardy champions, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, Watson’s developers have expanded the computer’s medical databases to create what may become the ultimate digital collection of medical information. However, what truly sets …

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By Hal C. Scherz, MD

 

Recently, I returned to Washington DC for the 11th time in two years, with a group of doctors from Docs 4 Patient Care. It was a very busy week in DC. As always, there were groups from around the country who came to Congress to advocate for their interests, including a large group of orthopedic surgeons. The most pressing issue that week was an impending government shutdown over the budget. You can imagine how distracted the Congressmen and Senators were …

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By Hal C. Scherz, MD

Twelve months after the passage of one of the most controversial laws in American history, healthcare is still an unsettled issue. Never before has a president needed to go around the country to defend and sell a bill that he signed into law. America has been subjected to a law that over 1000 groups, representing 2.4 million people has been exempted from because …

By Hal C. Scherz MD

There is a truism that every physician needs to constantly remind themselves of; there is no healthcare without doctors. So why do so many of us feel so powerless and why are so many of us unwilling to do something about it?

Most of us do what we do professionally because we enjoy helping people. That is our collective strength but also our weakness. What we do is special, but other entities have staked out their “turf” in our professional world; the government, insurance companies, and …

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By state Rep. Josh Shapiro (PA-153)

With the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in Washington, the debate now turns to the states as we work to implement the new health insurance reforms effectively and efficiently, and to ensure the benefits flow seamlessly and affordable access is established for all Pennsylvanians.

One of the requirements of the new federal law is the creation of state-based health insurance exchanges. I am a cosponsor of H.B. 627, which will create these exchanges in Pennsylvania. Under H.B. 627, the …

By Congressman Phil Gingrey, M.D. (GA-11)

It is estimated that one in every ten dollars spent within the health care system will be used on defensive medicine and frivolous lawsuits this year. This is due in part to investors and hedge funds seizing on medical liability lawsuits in order to reap the rewards that should be going directly to injured patients. The New York Times recently reported that nearly $1 billion will be spent this year on these meritless suits, resulting in the exploitation of countless patients by lawyers and their …