The staid Journal of the American Medical Association is getting into the field of healthcare innovation. JAMA won't be bankrolling startups or conducting medical research, but rather will spend 2016 highlighting innovations specifically in healthcare delivery.
Cost figures from the healthcare reform debate are large enough to defy comprehension, but Dr. Donald Berwick boils things down to one crucial figure: $1 out of every $3 spent on healthcare is wasted. He then argues that the way to get control over healthcare costs is not to take an axe to spending, but […]
Among today's current medical news: Obama is urged to dump his Medicare chief; the iPad 2.0 holds promise for healthcare; the happiest man in the world; and more pharma layoffs.
The Senate has passed by unanimous consent legislation temporarily halting the 23 percent cut in physician payments under Medicare that was scheduled to take effect on Dec. 1, reports MedPage Today.
Dr. Donald Berwick, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is facing a hot seat in Washington, D.C., tomorrow as he prepares for his first appearance in front of the U.S. Senate since a controversial recess appointment in July. Republican senators, led by healthcare hawk Charles Grassley of Iowa, are gearing up to […]
Medicare chief Dr. Donald Berwick counseled the medical technology industry's leaders today to remain optimistic as the healthcare reform act plays out. "The resource we need more than any other is optimism. At this time of fretfulness about our economy and the state of healthcare in the country, no leadership is more important than leadership that says we can do this, that we can invent our way into the healthcare system that we want and need for ourselves and our loved ones," Berwick said in a speech at AdvaMed's annual MedTech conference in Washington, D.C.
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
A federal judge has indicated that he will green-light a lawsuit filed by elected officials from 20 states who are challenging the constitutionality of the new healthcare law and its requirement that most people buy medical insurance, the New York Times reported.
Newly installed Medicare chief Donald Berwick -- the Cambridge health guru and former Harvard professor who is keeping a low profile after encountering controversy over his appointment -- is moving quickly behind the scenes to seed the U.S. health care system with up to 300 accountable care organization (ACO) sites to test new models of caring for patients.
Dr. Donald Berwick's appointment as head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services came as "a breath of fresh air" at the agency, according to CMS chief medical officer Dr. Barry Straube. "Don Berwick is our administrator, finally," Straube said. "It's a breath of fresh air to all of us."
In a letter to Dr. Donald Berwick, the newly appointed Director of the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), Senator Charles Grassley asks for clarification of Mr. Berwick’s potential conflicts of interest as Director of his Institute of Health Care Improvement: One of the many significant issues related to your nomination that remains unresolved […]
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
With the unvetted recess appointment of Donald Berwick to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), some interesting questions that would have been asked at his Senate confirmation hearing were scuttled, like this one:
Barack Obama’s recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick as head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) marks a new low in his destructive presidency, and that is saying something! After forcing the Orwellian Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) onto an unwilling populace and through a reluctant Congress, he installs an […]
I did a lot of driving around Wisconsin this week and used the time to listen to a lot more radio stations than I would otherwise. Among other stations I listened to NPR, Christian radio, an African American-themed talk show, and right wing and left-wing talk. I find each of those genres mildly annoying to […]
Like many others, I am still reeling from the "recess appointment" of Dr. Donald Berwick as the new Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). But unlike others who feel his appointment was a "sneeky move," I would have to admit that it was brilliant political display of "The Chicago Way." You see in Chicago, if you hold a position of great stature politically, you don't have to ask permission from anyone to do things. You just do them.
Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of healthcare: Venture capital rebounds with strong first half … or does it? Maybe reports of the venture capital industry’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. U.S. In the first half of 2010, VC firms raised $7.5 billion across 72 funds, up 13.5 percent from the […]
