MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'commonwealth'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:25:34 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096192&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FC8uUKj_w1Lo%2F The latest video from the Alliance for Health Reform is now available. It  features Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund. Health care spending will be a target of efforts to cut the federal deficit. The best way to reduce unnecessary spending, Dr. Davis says, is to make sure everyone gets the right care, using new provider payment mechanisms such as bundled payment and value-based purchasing. In this video, Dr. Davis describes some of these payment reforms and lays out the case for greater use of comparative effectiveness research to learn “what really works.” This video is part of a series produced by the Alliance and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care) Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096192 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:07:01 +0100 5096192 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960066&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fsuggestions-for-minimizing-spending-in-oncology%2F2011.06.22 Recently the NEJM ran a Sounding Board piece on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care. The author’s take on this problem: Annual direct costs for cancer care are projected to rise — from $104 billion in 2006 to over $173 billion in 2020 and beyond.2…Medical oncologists directly or indirectly control or influence the majority of cancer care costs, including the use and choice of drugs, the types of supportive care, the frequency of imaging, and the number and extent of hospitalizations… The article responds, in part, to Dr. Howard Brody’s 2010 proposal that each medical specialty society find five ways to reduce waste in health care. The authors, from the Divisions of Hematology-Oncology and Palliative Care at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond VA, offer two lists: S... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960066 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:00:34 +0100 4960066 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4394447&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-worst-health-care-system-in-the-world-is%25e2%2580%25a6%2F2011.01.24 The worst healthcare system in the world is the United States, of course. Oh no, wait — it’s Canada. Actually, it could be Germany. Geez, now I think it might be the UK. You could go on and on like this, but you know what? No matter how good or bad your healthcare system is, there are certain universal truths. Here are four of them that might make you look at global healthcare a little differently: First, healthcare is getting more expensive, all over the world. A new study by the global consultant, Towers Watson (disclosure: Towers Watson is a Best Doctors client) found that the average medical cost trend around the world will be 10.5 percent in 2011. In the advanced economies costs will rise by an average of 9.3 percent. While Americans tend to think of rising medical costs a... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4394447 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:00:06 +0100 4394447 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4233134&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fvcu-president-raos-previous-code-of.html We recently posted about the code of silence imposed by Virginia Commonwealth University President Stephen Rao on his staff.  It turns out now that this was not his first exercise in imposing a code of silence. Before he was at Virginia Commonwealth University, Rao was President of Central Michigan University.  Central Michigan Life just reported:While serving as CMU president, Rao required all office employees to sign a similar confidentiality agreement stating all names, places, dates or incidents that happened in his office were not to be shared with anyone or discussed outside the office.'I understand that the information and all files, letters, projects, telephone calls and anything relating to the work performed in the President’s Office and in my capacity as an employee ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4233134 Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:27:00 +0100 4233134 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4214036&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fconfidentiality-clause-or-oath-of.html The advancement of modern scientific medicine depends on the search for and dissemination of truth. Academic medicine, like the rest of academia, ought to be based on openness, transparency, and academic freedom. The 1940 American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure opened with:The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Yet we have written about dark clouds of secrecy spreading over medicine and health care. The increasingly powerful leaders of health care increasingly use opacity and secrecy to keep what they are doing out of the public eye. We have frequently discussed the anechoic effect, how it is just not done to discuss certain topics, particularly those related to the adverse effects ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4214036 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 21:27:00 +0100 4214036 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4175679&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTi9NNMChUIY%2F By Michael F. CannonAccording to the Boston Herald: The state’s health insurance connector — the highly touted agency that aims to bring cheap medical care to the masses — has turned into a legal pit bull by aggressively going after a growing number of Bay Staters who say they can’t afford mandated insurance — or the penalties imposed for not having it. The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority is cracking down on more than 3,000 residents who are fighting state fines, and has even hired a private law firm to force the health insurance scofflaws to pay penalties of up to $2,000 a year. All told, more than 7,700 people have appealed state fines for not having health insurance, according to connector spokesman Richard Powers. The agency has hired several private attorne... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4175679 Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:45:55 +0100 4175679 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4155353&cid=t_281429_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F11%2Fi-remember-how-grandmas-memories-stung-her%2F Although I have never been in Perth to mark Remembrance Day, my grandmother felt the loss of her brother deeply, year-round, decades after the fact when I was a kid.  My Great-Uncle Tom was killed in 1917 on the World War One battlefields of France roughly five weeks before the final assault on Vimy. My [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4155353 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 07:04:43 +0100 4155353 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4025610&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMII5tKb42w0%2F By David BoazFree-marketers often point to the varying success of pairs of countries — the United States vs. the Soviet Union, West vs. East Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan vs. China — to illustrate the benefits of markets over planning, regulation, and socialism. Some even point out the closer but real differences in GDP per capita between the United States and Western Europe. In his 1984 book Endless Enemies (p. 380) Jonathan Kwitny added the less familiar pairs “Morocco versus Algeria, Malaysia versus Indonesia, Thailand versus Burma, Kenya versus Tanzania.” Now Rama Lakshmi reports in the Washington Post that we can see the results of two systems of political economy in one country: It didn’t take long for the first athletes arriving in New Delhi last week f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4025610 Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:23:37 +0100 4025610 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3889047&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fwhere-theres-smoke-university-president.html A long time ago, in 2006, we first blogged about a "new species of conflict of interest" which we thought might prove to be even more important than those afflicting health care that were then starting to be discussed.  This involved health care organizational leaders who were simultaneously members of the boards of directors of for-profit health care corporations.  We posited these conflicts would be particularly important because being on the board of directors entails not just a financial incentive.  It ostensibly requires board members to "demonstrate unyielding loyalty to the company's shareholders" [Per Monks RAG, Minow N. Corporate Governance, 3rd edition. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. P.200.]   Thus, for example, the conflict posed by the pre... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3889047 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:30:00 +0100 3889047 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3827053&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fd7YS7cSIecw%2F By Alan ReynoldsA decade ago, amid much controversy, I persuaded the Australian government to cut the capital gains tax rate in half. Stephen Kirchner, an economist from Australia’s leading think tank, the Center for Independent Studies, reviewed the results last November. This a brief summary: The introduction of capital gains tax discounts for individuals and funds as part of the 1999 Ralph business tax reforms has received a lot of bad press, but much of this commentary is ill-informed. . . . Those who called for reform of Australia’s capital gains tax regime 10 years ago argued that the Ralph reforms would likely raise more revenue because of the increased incentive they provided for taxpayers to realise capital gains that would otherwise go untaxed. Supply-side economist Ala... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3827053 Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:42:19 +0100 3827053 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3772221&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTd_FKFd6zk4%2F By Michael F. CannonYou know things aren’t going well in Massachusetts when supporters of RomneyCare write “there’s some evidence that the reforms signed into law by Mitt Romney in 2006 are struggling.”  That’s how The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein puts it in a post defending RomneyCare.  The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn offers a similar defense. Klein mentions only a few of the difficulties confronting Massachusetts.  Here are a few more: The Commonwealth Fund reports that even though Massachusetts already had the highest health insurance premiums in the nation, premiums rose faster post-RomneyCare than anywhere else; 21-46 percent faster than the national average. A recent study estimates that RomneyCare has so far increased employer-sponsored... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3772221 Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:24:31 +0100 3772221 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3549308&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdoes-group-health%25e2%2580%2599s-medical-home-leave-the-poor-behind%2F2010.05.10 Group Health has published two papers recently, one in Health Affairs and the other in JAMA, both extolling the virtues of its Medical Home. These follow their brief report last fall in the NEJM and the lengthy description of their model in the American Journal of Managed Care. Their model has been promoted by the Commonwealth Fund, and it is cited in the currrent issue of Lancet. The big news is that costs were a full 2% lower than conventional care, hardly a great success –- it wasn’t even statistically significant. But was even this small difference due to the Medical Home, or was it because the Medical Home patients were less likely to consume care? (more…) *This blog post was originally published at PHYSICIANS and HEALTH CARE REFORM Commentaries and Controversies*... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3549308 Mon, 10 May 2010 12:00:57 +0100 3549308 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3378414&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Ffeel%2Ffinally-a-man-who-really-knows-women%2F Meet Edward J. Gill, MD. By day, he’s Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Director of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, and Program Director of fellowship training in female pelvic medicine and surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. Which is a long-winded way of saying that he’s really smart. By night, he practices yoga, swims, cooks, and builds furniture in his wood shop. Luckily for us, Dr. Gill will contribute regular posts to Blisstree and answer questions related to all of our “lady problems”. Seriously, why do men become gynecologists? (Sorry, but we’ve seen “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle,” and just had to ask.) That certainly comes up once in a while. In medical school, after ... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3378414 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:30:42 +0100 3378414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044849&cid=t_281429_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fevidence-hit In February 2009, President Obama and the Congress launched a vast, ambitious program to improve the health of Americans, and the performance of their health system, by building a nationwide, interoperable, private and secure, electronic health information system.  This vision – of health care empowered by a modern information system, serving each and every American according to their needs and preferences – reflects decades of study and thinking by health care experts, health professionals, and average citizens.  Typical of the consensus underlying the nation’s (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044849 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:16:09 +0100 3044849 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2727082&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSVwSGcZOauc%2F The Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts now has the highest insurance premiums in the nation.   The average family premium for plans offered by employers in Massachusetts was $13,788 in 2008, 40 percent higher than in 2003. Over the same period, premiums nationwide rose an average of 33 percent.  And, according to the Commonwealth Fund, an annual family premium in Massachusetts is expected to hit $26,730 by 2020.   Meanwhile CNN hails Romneycare as the model for the nation… (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2727082 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:27:46 +0100 2727082 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2712077&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfdCvXr5ynvE%2F Recent editorials in both the Boston Globe and The New York Times contained some staggering falsehoods about the cost of Massachusetts’ health reforms.  Here is a poor, unsuccessful letter I sent to the editor of the Globe: The editorial “Mass. bashers take note: Health reform is working” [Aug. 5] states that “the cost to the state taxpayer” of the Massachusetts health reforms is “about $88 million a year.”  That claim is unquestionably false.  The cost to state taxpayers is 19 times that amount, while the total cost is 24 times that amount. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation explains that the $88-million figure represents not the total cost to the state government, but the average annual increase in the state government’s costs.  Worse, the editorial completely... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2712077 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:37:16 +0100 2712077 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2227150&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F03%2Fwere-only-in-it-for-money.html We have previously discussed how academic medical leadership seems to care more about how much money their faculty bring in than their clinical, teaching or research performance. Why academic medicine came to put money ahead of mission has never been clear. However, a little bit of insight has been (probably inadvertently) provided by an announcement of a new university president.After the early resignation of President Trani, under fire for his coziness with tobacco money (see post here and links backwards), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) just announced its new President, Michael Rao. The official announcement of his appointment included:The VCU Board approved Rao’s salary of $488,500, $176,113 of which is paid by state funds and $312,387 from VCU Health System and private funds... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2227150 Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:02:00 +0100 2227150 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1708997&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fafter-controversy-over-tobacco-money.html We have posted about the controversies arising from recently revealed research agreements between Richmond, Virginia based Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and tobacco company Philip Morris. These were first publicly discussed in May in a New York Times article. As we posted here, the main issues were that the research agreements themselves were secret; the agreements apparently gave Philip Morris control over all publications arising from the research, since they defined all products of the work as proprietary information belonging to Philip Morris; and that research for hire on behalf of a tobacco company, given that tobacco products have known severe health risks and no health benefits, seems to go against the mission of a medical school and academic medical center. We also noted ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1708997 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:47:00 +0100 1708997 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1686190&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fcourting-tobacco-money.html We have posted about the controversies arising from recently revealed research agreements between Richmond, Virginia based Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and tobacco company Philip Morris. These were first publicly discussed in May in a New York Times article. As we posted here, the main issues were that the research agreements themselves were secret; the agreements apparently gave Philip Morris control over all publications arising from the research, since they defined all products of the work as proprietary information belonging to Philip Morris; and that research for hire on behalf of a tobacco company, given that tobacco products have known severe health risks and no health benefits, seems to go against the mission of a medical school and academic medical center. We also noted ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1686190 Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:42:00 +0100 1686190 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1634851&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Ftown-meeting-about-tobacco-funded.html We have posted about the controversies arising from recently revealed research agreements between Richmond, Virginia based Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and tobacco company Philip Morris. These were first publicly discussed in May in a New York Times article. As we posted here, the main issues were that the research agreements themselves were secret; the agreements apparently gave Philip Morris control over all publications arising from the research, since they defined all products of the work as proprietary information belonging to Philip Morris; and that research for hire on behalf of a tobacco company, given that tobacco products have known severe health risks and no health benefits, seems to go against the mission of a medical school and academic medical center. We also noted ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1634851 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:39:00 +0100 1634851 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1625561&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fvcu-philip-morris-and-recent.html While I lived in Richmond, Virginia from 1987 to 1994, one could still find some people who referred to the US Civil War as the "recent unpleasantness." Similarly, we have noted the "anechoic effect," how cases involving deficient ethics, poor leadership, and flawed governance in health care occurs produce few echoes. Many important cases and issues that have been discussed on Health Care Renewal have never appeared in medical or health care journals. Many specific cases have never been publicly discussed at the institutions in which they originated. Some specific cases have never appeared in the national news media. Some specific cases have not been covered even in the relevant local news media.Here is a case in point, from Richmond, Virginia. The Richmond Times-Dispatch, the only major n... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1625561 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:21:00 +0100 1625561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1492012&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Flinking-anechoic-effect-and-suppression.html We recently discussed ties between Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the tobacco industry. Here we discussed how the university got a grant which gave proprietary control of any research results to the sponsor, Philip Morris, a tobacco company, not the academic researcher, and required the grant itself to be secret. Here we discussed issues raised by the university president's position on the board of directors of another tobacco company, Universal Corporation.A recent article in (Richmond, VA) Style Weekly alleged that VCU faculty fear publicly criticizing the university's relationships with tobacco companies:Virginia Commonwealth University researchers and faculty who fear reprisal for speaking out against a secret smoke-filled-room research agreement between the school and Phil... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1492012 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:53:00 +0100 1492012 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1475123&cid=t_281429_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fworse-variant-of-new-species-of.html We recently commented on a New York Times article that revealed that Virginia Commonwealth University got a research grant from the tobacco company Philip Morris, a grant which gave proprietary control of any research results to the company, not the academic researcher, and required the grant itself to be secret.It turns out that VCU has more extensive ties to the tobacco industry. In particular, first the Medical Writing, Editing and Grantsmanship blog, then the Richmond, VA publication Style Weekly reported that the president of VCU, Eugene Trani, is on the board of directors of a tobacco company (not Philip Morris). From Style Weekly,As a member of the board of directors of Universal Corp., Trani receives an annual retainer of $40,000, including stock options. He also receives a fee of ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1475123 Wed, 28 May 2008 21:20:00 +0100 1475123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1461334&cid=t_281429_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F05%2F22%2Fthe-situation-of-university-research%2F Today’s New York Times includes a terrific article, titled “At One University, Tobacco Money Is a Secret,“ by Alan Finder who describes how the tobacco industry continues to situationally manipulate the marketplace of ideas. We’ve excerpted a few excerpts from the story below. * * * On campuses nationwide, professors and administrators have passionately debated whether their universities should accept money for research from tobacco companies. But not at Virginia Commonwealth University, a public institution in Richmond, Va. That is largely because hardly any faculty members or students there know that there is something to debate — a contract with extremely restrictive terms that the university signed in 2006 to do research for Philip Morris USA, the nation’s l... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1461334 Thu, 22 May 2008 14:06:15 +0100 1461334