Archive for the ‘Health Care Reform’ Category

LukeDickinson
Luke
Dickinson

SCOTUS Beat: Health Care Reform Hits the Supreme Court

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

The October 2011 Term of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) opened Monday October 3 and with it a host of potentially decisive arguments on health care reform (HCR). Several cases on the docket for the six month session cut to the roots of the legislation; everything from the logistical implementation of individual elements of HCR to the very constitutionality of the measures passed by President Obama.

The very first case heard in the session has been called the sleeping giant of the HCR debate: Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California. In its most basic sense, the case reviews whether healthcare providers and patients have the right to sue a state following cuts to Medicaid reimbursement rates; however the implications are far greater.

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Posted in Health Care Reform, Health Policy, Public Affairs, SCOTUS, SCOTUS Beat
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Frannie Marmorstein
Frannie
Marmorstein

Lupus Advocates Take On the Hill

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the Lupus Research Institute’s Tell Congress Event on Captiol Hill. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder with an unknown cause that affects the skin, joints, kidneys and other organs and involves the immune system attacking healthy cells and tissue because it cannot tell the difference between normal and unhealthy substances.

I spent the afternoon lobbying on the Hill with a dozen Lupus advocates, meeting with senators and listening as advocates voiced their concerns about Lupus awareness and increasing funding for lupus research. Advocates strived to make an impact by sharing with their senators their personal connections with the disease. Patients shared their difficulties living with chronic fatigue and joint pain, family members honored those they had lost to Lupus and caregivers, including children, discussed the hardship of caring for a parent with Lupus. Everyone had a story to share.

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Posted in Health Care Reform, Health Policy, Public Health, Research, Women's Health
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Anthony LaFauce
Anthony
LaFauce

mHealth is the Future

Monday, August 16th, 2010

welldocWellDoc, a company focused on developing next generation medical tools, announced that the FDA has approved its DiabetesManager System. I can hear you now, “what’s the big deal? There are plenty of those on the market already.” The key to this new system is that it delivers real-time monitoring results to a person’s mobile phone.

Again, is it really that great of a tool? The DiabetesManager System also links directly to the patient’s caregiver via the patient’s phone and can provide automated health updates. HIPA you say? Well the company’s press release says nothing about privacy issues, but because this is an ‘opt in’ program that communicates directly with a patient’s caregiver, the information passed is no different than a patient calling his or her caregiver.

After a quick read-through of the WellDoc’s site, I was able to read that the information captured is held in a highly secure database that only allows for approved member access. I understand the need for HIPA, but on the other hand I understand the need to provide healthcare information on the go. (more…)

Posted in E-Patient, Health Care Industry, Health Care Reform, Medical Devices, mobile, Technology
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Lauren Harris
Lauren
Holbrook Harris

Women’s Wednesday: To Pump or Not to Pump…That is a Mother’s Question

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Along with many other ideas about the joys of motherhood, the concept of breast-feeding is a conflicting issue. While many women breast-feed for the benefits to their child or the closeness they feel to their new baby, others find it to be time-consuming and even painful.

Data suggests that about 43 percent of U.S. mothers do at least some breast-feeding, and only about 12 percent breast-feed up to the age of six months, the recommended minimum length. However, a new study published in Pediatrics revealed that nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women fed their babies only breast milk for the first six months of life. The publication of this study followed the new health care reform bill, which includes a provision that large employers will now be required to provide private places for working mothers to pump breast milk. womens-health3
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Posted in Health Care Reform, Women's Health
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Spectrum

Technology Tuesday: Empowering the Research Enterprise in a Post-Reform World

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

With the passage of health care reform, the research community is ready to shift the national health policy conversation to a new dialogue on enhancing biomedical research and scientific innovation. In the past few weeks, discussion on topics such as the need to improve the translation of research discoveries into better health outcomes and the research ROI  for improving the nation’s overall health have gained traction alongside continued analysis of the final health reform provisions.

At the recent Research!America National Forum, experts from across the government, industry, academia and patient advocacy sectors discussed priorities to speed translational research, improve health outcomes and ultimately, as panelist Dr. Robert Tijian, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute put it, identify new pathways to “move beyond therapeutics and treatment to prevention.”  Yet transformation of this level requires a deep commitment to enhancing cross stakeholder collaborations and sustained communication, a challenge with so many players involved in the research process.innovation-technology
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Posted in Congress, Health Care Reform, Health Policy, Innovation, Research, Technology
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jseng
John
Seng

How Do Americans Want Health Care Reformed?: Why Not Just Ask Us?

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Last year my firm, a health policy and communications firm called Spectrum, decided to find out for ourselves since no one else really had. We designed a national study, the Spectrum Health Value Study, of how Americans values health products and services, as if they were spending their own money.

The results were interesting. They demonstrated that people tend to like what they already have and don’t want much change. The May 2009 report by Simon & Co., our health affairs partner firm, concluded in part: (more…)

Posted in Congress, Health Care Reform, Health Policy, Public Affairs, Public Health
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