The Week in Review - March 19, 2009

A look back at some of the best news stories (and some entertaining diversions) from the week in health care.
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Is it that "Obama's EHR push (is) not so easy to execute"? Or is it a "bad bet on medical records"? Or is it an "$80 billion exaggeration"?

On the other hand, perhaps it's the "staging (of) a revolution".
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It's the right thing to do, but will fee-for-service providers think so?: Technology to "skip the doctor's office".

Employers are intensifying efforts around managing chronic health conditions.

Bargaining down self-pay bills.

Does the bad economy cause patients to A) put off surgery, b) rush to surgery, or c) all of the above?

Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative forms a for-profit subsidiary to advise nationally on EHR implementations, health information exchange and quality reporting with board members including John Glaser and John Halamka.

Health Affairs dedicates an entire issue to stimulating health IT.

And more on the stim package: "Broad federal initiatives for biomedical and comparative effectiveness research, the adoption of health information technology, and the protection of the privacy and security of medical records, the stimulus law should have major and immediate effects."

Northshore UniversityHealth System and Kaiser Permanente hospitals achieve HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 advanced implementation level for the patient record.

Large DNA study of the underpinnings of Parkinson's disease announced by 23andMe.

P4P process and technology adoption "have not translated into breakthrough quality improvements."

And lastly on health care reform, David Kibbe and Brian Klepper describe the "intensifying collapse of the health care system."