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 'contractors'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:42:42 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181762&cid=t_221303_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2wBwW5zdM10%2F By Malou InnocentOver the past decade, American taxpayers have lost as much as $60 billion dollars to massive fraud and waste in the nation building campaigns of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report released today by the Commission on Wartime Contracting. The independent panel confirms much of what we already know about rent-seeking in wartime; nevertheless, the panel details specific reconstruction projects and programs that display a stunning array of mismanagement: A modest $60 million agricultural development program in northern Afghanistan expanded to the south and east to the tune of $360 million. The cash-for-work program was intended to distribute vouchers for wheat-seed and fertilizer in drought-stricken areas. Today, the program spends $1 million a day. The panel reports,... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181762 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:54:37 +0100 5181762 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139699&cid=t_221303_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6BxVK7muBgc%2F By David BoazPresident Obama says that we are a  ”generous and compassionate” country and that “through government, we should do together what we cannot do as well for ourselves.” And to fulfill that “progressive vision,” he’s going to work on “making government smarter, and leaner and more effective. ” Today, under the rubric “Breakaway Wealth/Reaping Riches from Federal Spending,” the Washington Post gives us a front-page picture of where a lot of those generous and compassionate federal dollars actually go: Millions of dollars worth of federal contracts transformed Anita Talwar from a government accounting clerk into a wealthy woman—one who can afford a $2.8 million home in the Washington suburbs with its own elevato... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139699 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:08:13 +0100 5139699 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911450&cid=t_221303_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmxymmNehZsA%2F By Malou InnocentAs confirmed by yet another U.S. government report, this one prepared by the Democratic majority staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, America’s nation-building mission in Afghanistan has had little success in creating an economically viable and politically independent Afghan state. The Washington Post’s Karen DeYoung writes: The report also warns that the Afghan economy could slide into a depression with the inevitable decline of the foreign military and development spending that now provides 97 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. [Emphasis added] U.S. leaders could look at that statistic and justify prolonging the mission. In fact, the report suggests, “Afghanistan could suffer a severe economic depression when foreign troops leave in 2014... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911450 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:10:41 +0100 4911450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4758732&cid=t_221303_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEJd6AXyKP1Y%2F By John SamplesIn an earlier post, I wrote about the problems with the Obama administration’s executive order to force government contractors to reveal their political activity. The administration defends the mandate by arguing “taxpayers deserve to know how contractors are spending money they’ve earned from the government.” For the first (and perhaps last) time, I rise to the defense of government contractors. The President apparently believes that anyone who sells a good or service to the government must account for the uses of the money received in the transaction in perpetuity? Obama’s press secretary said the President’s “goal is transparency and accountability. That’s the responsible thing to do when you’re handling taxpayer dollars.” I do ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4758732 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:28:56 +0100 4758732 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2556082&cid=t_221303_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fx2eR4WlcWos%2F The U.S. is not yet out of Iraq, but American forces have pulled back from Iraqi cities.  Iraq’s future increasingly is in the hands of Iraqis.  And most Iraqis appear to be celebrating. Reports the Washington Post: This is no longer America’s war. Iraqis danced in the streets and set off fireworks Monday in impromptu celebrations of a pivotal moment in their nation’s troubled history: Six years and three months after the March 2003 invasion, the United States on Tuesday is withdrawing its remaining combat troops from Iraq’s cities and turning over security to Iraqi police and soldiers. While more than 130,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, patrols by heavily armed soldiers in hulking vehicles as of Wednesday will largely disappear from Baghdad, Mosul and Iraq... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2556082 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:40:22 +0100 2556082 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2553113&cid=t_221303_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F06%2F27%2Favailabilty-of-hit-help-for-emr-implementations%2F One of my regular readers, sent me the following email about the availability of IT help for those implementing an electronic medical record (EMR). If my conjecture about the mad rush for good quality IT help is correct, then I wonder if physicians will have to choose between experienced HIT contractors that have long waiting lists and may be overwhelmed with demand (particularly if they get greedy about taking on too many clients or have trouble scaling) or try to find a good but inexperienced firm that will be responsive. Could be an interesting dilemma? There’s no doubt that a physician’s IT support can sink an EMR implementation just as easily as a poor EMR vendor. I wonder how many failed EMR implementations should be credited to the IT people over the EMR vendors. I still... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2553113 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:39:50 +0100 2553113 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2093714&cid=t_221303_113_f&fid=38130&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tempdev.net%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D502 John over at the EMR and HIPAA blog recently asked for feedback on the good, bad, and ugly of EMR consultants. Laura and I are starting a series of post on this topic and will be exploring the consulting world from both a participant and client perspective. First and foremost, most consultants in the EMR realm (and the larger consulting industry as a whole) are not consultants. They’re contractors. Consultants must bring expertise and knowledge to your project that provide measurable results. Consultants should have “been there” countless times before, proven the results you’re looking for in similar settings, and provide strong guidance to the project. Consultants should be seen as a short term solution to get a project on the right track and build momentum for the... Implementing EMRs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2093714 Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:54:31 +0100 2093714 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1850943&cid=t_221303_113_f&fid=34635&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.hittransition.com%2F2008%2F10%2Fcan-bankers-sav.html Once-reliable revenue streams are drying up. Money you thought you'd socked safely away evaporates overnight. Your staff starts devoting more and more time to collections, leaving less and less time for day-to-day operations. The things you used to do to pay the bills aren't working anymore, and indications are that you will have to change your business model or go bankrupt. Is this a crisis or a catastrophe? Is it a temporary crunch or a drawn-out recession? Is the source of the problem the stock market, the credit market or unqualified borrowers? If you're a healthcare provider, the answer to all of these questions is "none of the above," because the symptoms I'm describing have nothing to do with the financial crisis everyone else is talking about -- they're a result of permanent chan... The HIT Transition Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1850943 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:27:46 +0100 1850943 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1825492&cid=t_221303_113_f&fid=34635&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.hittransition.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fmedical-bankrup.html Back in December 07, I warned about the delayed impact that January's shift of High Deductible Health Plan enrollment would have on provider revenues. Moving significant percentages of revenue from the difficult-but-predictable insurance plan bucket to the thousand-points-of-non-collection patient-self-pay bucket would take some time to sink in. In fact, I said it might take until July before providers realized they weren't going to get paid for January's care. Hopless Optimism Today, a friend and loyal reader passed along a NYT editorial by Barbara Ehrenreich that suggests the current financial crisis is due in large part to positive thinking, as characterized by the popular film, "The Secret." The financiers simply believed too much in the upside, but that is a matter of course, given t... The HIT Transition Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1825492 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:25:52 +0100 1825492