This week marks the release of the Apple Watch Series 4 with the capability of EKG. From their wrist, users can record a rhythm that they can send to their doctor. Through most of history, data like EKGs were collected by hospitals and health professionals. This changes things. As watches move from fitness trackers to medical devices, questions emerge such as, what ... Continue Reading about Data Confrontation – Who is Responsible for a Patient’s Data?
The Health System Transformation Space
The world is changing faster than hospitals and health systems can keep up. Progress has outpaced the capacity of 20th century operations. But the problem is that there’s no one dedicated to helping hospital systems respond to change. The academics are preoccupied with writing articles. Clinicians are busy with service delivery. Administrators are trying to ... Continue Reading about The Health System Transformation Space
Keep Mama Happy
“We’ve gotta keep Mama happy” I hear this from time to time from pediatricians. The idea is that if we don’t give a mother what she’s looking for, she’ll walk. As a resident I had a preceptor who loved to pull me aside to teach me the ‘inside baseball’ of pediatrics. One day after prescribing antibiotics to a child with a runny nose, he remarked with a wink and ... Continue Reading about Keep Mama Happy
CNN, the Mayo Clinic and Healthcare’s Dialog Double Standard
The CNN Mayo Clinic hatchet job illustrates a dilemma faced by health care organizations. Specifically, the position hospitals find themselves in when wrongly accused of patient mistreatment. Those connected with the alleged mistreatment have the ability to say what they want without accountability. But health privacy law prevents hospitals from publicly defending ... Continue Reading about CNN, the Mayo Clinic and Healthcare’s Dialog Double Standard
The Opposite Problem of the Clinic No-Show
Modern clinics are obsessed with the no-show. This is the clinic patient who makes an appointment but never arrives. Clinics spend a tremendous amount of time trying to solve the no-show. They begin with operational strategy sessions. Then they call, ping, and survey the no-show. Because in a fee-for-service model in a high demand specialty, the no-show is a ... Continue Reading about The Opposite Problem of the Clinic No-Show
Virginia Apgar Achieves Google Doodle Fame
It isn’t often that we see a pediatrician celebrated as the Google Doodle. Today Google celebrates Dr. Virginia Apgar. Dr. Virginia Apgar came into this world on June 7, 1909. 109 years later, her presence can still be felt in delivery rooms across the globe. That’s because she invented the Apgar score, the first standardized method for assessing a newborn’s health. ... Continue Reading about Virginia Apgar Achieves Google Doodle Fame