Veronica Combs

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MedCity Influencers

How to talk about smoking so people will listen

Don’t smoke. I did. Wish I never had. LLAP — Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) January 11, 2015 Leonard Nimoy died today from COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. Most people look puzzled when you mention that condition. My dad died of complications from that illness and pulmonary fibrosis, which is a disease that is even worse […]

Startups

2015 means v3.0 for digital health and me

As the editor of MedCity News, I have given away a lot of business cards over the last 3 years. I have met entrepreneurs all over the country, learned about financing options from investors and talked with doctors about new ways of working with patients. I’ve listened to dozens of pitches and moderated panels about […]

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Doctor wants to transform peer review from adversarial to educational

No one likes to hear, “You’re doing it wrong.” This kind of criticism is even more difficult to deliver if the work in question involves life and death decisions. Peer review among doctors falls into that category – vital but difficult. David F. Jadwin, DO, has built a system to make this kind of feedback […]

Hospitals

Why unsexy healthcare startups are my favorites

Download MedCity’s Startup Index for November I hate it when people call ideas or businesses “sexy.” People are sexy, ideas and inanimate objects are not. When I hear a person use that term to describe a startup company, I think, “Shallow. Short attention span. Not interested in solving real problems.” A weak idea delivered via […]

Daily

Three things health systems must do to take on risk – and succeed

Everyone in the healthcare world is trying to figure out how to manage risk – whether that is something basic – like switching to online appointment scheduling – or something major – like moving a health system’s providers to value-based contracts. I spoke with Valence Health President Todd Stockard recently to understand what it takes […]

Daily

HIT company combines scribes and EMR support to keep ROI high

An ER doctor wanted help documenting patient care, so she started a scribe business. Kathleen Myers, MD started Scribes Stat in 2011. In 2012, customers started asking for help in converting to electronic medical records and that created a new clinical informatics business to support that health IT work. Earlier this year, the two companies […]

Daily

Three healthcare campaigns you should support on Giving Tuesday

As I mentioned last week, my family lost several people this year. As I result, I have done a lot of house cleaning – purging, throwing away, donating, and reorganizing. This has really changed my perspective on gift giving, as we move into the frenzy of the holidays. I have always been a fan of […]

Daily

Bernard Health will help you shop for health insurance on Black Friday

A few lucky shoppers in Tennessee, Texas, Indiana and Ohio could pick up the best deals in health insurance today, instead of fighting the mobs for big screen TVs and Frozen dolls. Bernard Health has store fronts in five cities in four states. Founder Alex Tolbert wants to help people figure out what insurance plan […]