Articles 1 to 10 of 55
Will Biomedical Informatics Improve Healthcare Outcomes?
Biomedical informatics is making it possible to collect, weed through, and analyze widespread data on patient treatments and outcomes, says Dr. Joel H. Saltz, director of Emory University’s Center for Comprehensive Informatics. Given the national debate over costs in the healthcare system, medical practitioners and IT experts say that this evolving interdisciplinary field can provide large scale improvements in treatment processes, and ultimately, in the price tag for care. But what hurdles exist in this new field of medical research? Saltz and Barbara A. Maaskant, chief information officer for Emory’s Goizueta Business School, explore the issues.
Will Medical Practices Survive Malpractice Insurance Rates?
U.S. President Barack Obama's planned overhaul of America's healthcare system took a step forward October 13 when the powerful Senate Finance Committee voted 14 to 9 along party lines, except for Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, to move its healthcare bill along for broader consideration. While this vote is a positive sign in a debate that has raged on for years, it comes too late for many physicians in high-risk specialties who have made the difficult choice to either restrict their practice, relocate to friendlier states, or to shut down shop altogether because of galloping increases in malpractice and other liability insurance. Faculty from Emory University, it's Goizueta Business School and other experts discuss the complexities of insurance and healthcare.
Aflac CEO Dan Amos on the Economy and Healthcare Reform
Like many executives, Daniel Amos, chairman and CEO of the insurer Aflac, is watching the healthcare reform debate in the United States with interest. No stranger to national healthcare—Aflac insures one out of four Japanese households—Amos does see the need for reform in the U.S. and does not believe it will necessarily impact his company’s business. Amos spoke to Knowledge@Emory following the panel discussion "Lessons of the Global Financial Crisis and the Road Ahead," co-hosted by Emory University's Goizueta Business School and the New York Stock Exchange.
Beyond Diagnosis: The Technological Revolution in Healthcare Administration and Patient Care
Healthcare administrators and government leaders are looking to advancements in information technology to transform both the management of healthcare and the quality of patient care. One of the first steps in the process is the implementation of electronic health records to aid in data capture and access to comprehensive, longitudinal patient medical information. But will physicians and other healthcare providers readily embrace the changes underway at hospitals across the U.S.? Experts from Emory Healthcare and Goizueta Business School examine the issue.
Can Information Technology Cut Healthcare Costs?
As U.S. President Barack Obama refocuses efforts on universal healthcare, the burdensome question of how to fund it returns. With American healthcare costs skyrocketing, many industry experts argue that technology could be one of the most effective ways to slash rising expenses in the sector. But just what are the right and wrong ways to implement IT initiatives, and will hospital management and clinicians be willing to make needed and expensive investments in technology? Faculty at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and an industry expert from McKesson Technology Solutions debate the healthcare IT dilemma.
Why a Radical Cultural Change in Healthcare is Overdue
Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for Health Affairs, CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, and chairman of the board of Emory Healthcare, knows well that the healthcare industry suffers from inertia, entropy, and resistance to change. In a recent lecture as part of the fifth annual healthcare industry forum at Emory's Goizueta Business School, Sanfilippo shared his vision of improved healthcare, stressing that "We need to provide 24/7 care in a way to fully engage people in a system they can navigate. It means developing new, interdisciplinary teams focused on the patient—a different approach.”
Why the Complex U.S. Healthcare System Will Challenge America’s Next President
America’s healthcare system is on life support and the contenders for the White House all say they have plans for jumpstarting the system. But panelists gathered for a discussion on healthcare coverage design change during a recent healthcare forum at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, contend things on the healthcare front won’t change much, regardless of who is sworn in as President next January. Why? While the political buzz has focused on how to cover the 47 million uninsured Americans, several of the panelists view rising healthcare costs as the root of the problem and a much bigger policy issue.
Exploring the Growing Appeal of Medical Tourism
The evolving medical tourism phenomenon is thriving globally and it’s an area of fascination and research for Dr. Michael Horowitz, a graduate of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, and Jeffrey Rosensweig, a professor of finance at Goizueta. The two have written several articles on medical tourism and the globalization of the healthcare marketplace. Their latest, “Medical Tourism vs. Traditional International Medical Travel: A Tale of Two Models,” was published recently in the International Medical Travel Journal and details the heterogeneous features of people who travel for medical care. For instance, while patients from highly industrialized nations like the U.S. are enticed by the low cost of overseas medical care, residents of Canada, Britain and other countries with national health systems are more likely to pursue medical tourism in order to avoid long waiting lists.
Can Charitable Organizations Protect the Health of Women in Poor Nations?
“We need to see the health of women in poor nations as an invasion that corrupts societies like slavery did,” says William Foege, an epidemiologist and emeritus professor of international health at Emory University’s School of Public Health. Speaking at the first conference on World Law & World Health, sponsored by the World Law Institute, Foege stressed that simply combining the good works many charitable organizations and foundations do for women in poorer countries with government support can empower women everywhere.
Can Anyone Make Sense—or Money—Out of Personal DNA Testing?
It seemed only right that James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA with Francis Crick and Rosalind Franklin, was the first to receive a DVD holding the sequence of his own DNA produced by 454 Life Sciences, a division of the Swiss drug giant Roche, and academic researchers. While DNA mapping technology under development at Roche and other companies has the potential to bring the long-awaited era of personalized medicine closer, there are enormous ethical, legal and investment hurdles to building successful business models based on decoding an individual's DNA, according to Wharton faculty and executives in the industry.
