Health Law
Health Care Law Blog 
Comments and Thoughts on Health Care Legal Issues, HIPAA Privacy & Security, Technology and Other Legal Odds and Ends that Impact West Virginia.
Post Frequency: 0.8/day Last Entry: November 19, 2009 at 22:13:45 Recent Entries: 287
By Bob Coffield
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A 1930 Medical Record
Posted on November 19, 2009I was recently in my hometown of New Martinsville visiting my dad, a retired family physician. When I arrived he had waiting for me a copy of one of my grandfather's medical records from the 1930s. My grandfather, Dr. Albert Coffield, practiced rural medicine in Wetzel County, West Virginia from 1911 until his death in 1936...
Visualizing HR 3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act
Posted on November 07, 2009Below is a visual of the top 500 words used in HR 3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act. Since most people (including many of our representatives in Washington) haven't read all 1,990 pages of the Health Care Reform Bill, I thought a visual aid might be helpful...
Federal Advisory Committee Blog (FACA Blog)
Posted on November 03, 2009The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) has launched a new blog called the Federal Advisory Committee Blog (FACA Blog).The initial post by Judy Sparrow discusses that the FACA Blog will be uses in a spirit of transparency and collaboration to help open a broader dialogue on the issues before the Health IT Standards Committee and the Health IT Policy Committee...
West Virginia H1N1 (Swine) Flu Resource Center
Posted on November 03, 2009The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) unveiled a website for sharing information and updates specific to West Virginia about the H1N1 Flu also known as Swine Flu. The website has information for prevention, schools, businesses, parents and providers...
HIPAA Enforcement Meets HITECH: HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Enforcement Rule
Posted on November 02, 2009On October 30, 2009, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Enforcement Interim Final Rule, 45 CFR Part 160 (74 Federal Register 56123, October 30, 2009).This new rule was developed and adopted by HHS to conform the enforcement regulations under HIPAA to the revisions made to HIPAA under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), which was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)...
Congressional Members Concerned About HHS Inclusion of "Harm Standard" In Breach Notification Rule
Posted on October 05, 2009Members of the U.S. House of Representative submitted an October 1, 2009 letter of concern to Secretary Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concerning inclusion of a "harm standard" in the recently released(August 24, 2009) Interim Final Rule - Breach Notification for Unsecured Protected Health Information (45 CFR Part 160 and 164) 74 Fed...
ARRA - HITECH: Health Care Information Breach Notification Regulations Now In Effect
Posted on October 05, 2009Have you had a health data security breach? Do you know what a health data breach is? Are you required to notify individuals impacted by the breach? Do you have to notify federal agencies of such breach?Read on for more information regarding the Office for Civil Right (OCR) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations requiring health care providers and other health data business vendors to assess and in some cases notify and report health information data breaches under the new federal law created by ARRA-HITECH...
Create WV Conference 2009: A personal invitation to attend . . .
Posted on September 22, 2009Over the last few years I have been involved in Create West Virginia, an organization affiliated with Vision Shared whose mission to create and stimulate new economy growth and empower West Virginians to grow creative communities in West Virginia. Communities centered on innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, education, quality of life and arts/culture...
West Virginia's Statewide Health Information Technology Strategic Plan
Posted on September 10, 2009Over the past several months I have been involved with a group in developing West Virginia's statewide strategic plan for health information technology.The final draft of the West Virginia Health Information Technology Statewide Strategic Plan, September 2009 is now available for review and comment...
Mandatory Reading Before President Obama's Speech Tonight On Health Care
Posted on September 09, 2009This morning I finally got around to reading the article by David Goldhill, CEO of the Game Show Network, in the Atlantic. How American Health Care Killed My Father is a thought provoking look at the failure of our current health care system.On the eve of President Obama's speech to Congress on health care I hope he and his advisors have taken time to read the article...
OCR Designates HIPAA Regional Office Privacy Advisors
Posted on August 20, 2009The Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director for the Office for Civil Rights, Robinsue Frohboese, has designated Office for Civil Rights Regional Managers in each of the HHS Regional Offices to serve as the Regional Office Privacy Advisors. On July 27, 2009, Secretary Sebelius authorized the Director of the Office for Civil Rights to carry out the designation required under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act (Title XIII of Division A and Title IV of Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)...
Health Care Reform Explained from Back of the Napkin Blog
Posted on August 16, 2009Dan Roam at the Back of the Napkin Blog sums up the current health care reform effort in this four part health care series, Healthcare Napkins All. Great back of the napkin summary of health reform (actually insurance reform).Thanks to Jay Parkinson MD for the tip...
State Medicaid Fraud Control Units Annual Report FY 2008
Posted on August 10, 2009The DHHS Office of Inspector General has issued the Fiscal Year 2008 State Medicaid Fraud Control Units Annual Report. The report covers FY 2008 (October 1, 2007 - September 30, 2008.The summary of the report provides background on the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) grant program, the number of states participating, the amounts recovered and number of convictions obtained in FY 2008:During this reporting period, 49 States and the District of Columbia participated in the Medicaid fraud control grant program through their established MFCUs...
Viral Health Effort Via Twitter: Fit West Virginia (#FitWV)
Posted on August 08, 2009Dawn Miller of the Charleston Gazette highlights the ongoing Fit West Virginia (#FitWV) effort ongoing via Twitter in her op-ed piece, West Virginians try to tip scales on obesity.The idea was born back on West Virginia Day as a result of Jason Keeling asking his blog readers to discuss solutions to West Virginia's problems in a post, West Virginia: Using Social Media for the Mountain State's Betterment...
AHLA Public Interest Committee Publishes Stark Law White Paper
Posted on August 07, 2009The American Health Lawyers Association's Public Interest Committee recently published a new white paper on on the federal self-referral law also known as the "Stark Law" which looks at and considers what, if any, changes to the Stark Law might be beneficial under the current health care system and the proposed reform efforts...
HIPAA Security Rule Enforcement Delegated to OCR
Posted on August 03, 2009Today HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that enforcement of the Security Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) will be delegated to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).The official delegation occurred on July 27, 2009...
WV Medicaid Redesign Program: New Report Examines The Mountain Health Choices Program
Posted on July 31, 2009A new report prepared by West Virginia University researchers examines the the Mountain Health Choices Program, one of the two redesigned West Virginia Medicaid plans to target improving the long-term health of West Virginia Medicaid beneficiaries through engaging beneficiaries to become more involved in their health care...
Technology: Then and Now
Posted on July 26, 2009The discussion about health care reform has been front and center lately. Along with the debate comes the discussion and questions about the role technology will (should) play in the reform efforts. I was reminded of a photo I found a few months ago while I was home visiting my dad and looking through some old photo albums with him...
West Virginia Health Care Authority Revises Fee Schedule for Certificate of Need Program
Posted on July 21, 2009On July 15, 2009, the West Virginia Health Care Authority filed with the West Virginia Secretary of State proposed amendments to the its procedural rule regarding the schedule of fees for the filing of certificate of need applications and exemption requests under the West Virginia Certificate of Need Program...
TWiL Episode 26: Health Care and VRM
Posted on July 09, 2009Tomorrow I have the pleasure of being a guest on This Week in Law (TWiL) hosted by Denise Howell (@dhowell) Denise is one of the pioneers of law bloggers (blawgers) who blogs over at Bag and Baggage.TWiL Episode 26 will focus on Health Care, Technology and VRM...
WV Northern District Court: Attorney Filing Manual
Posted on July 08, 2009Brian Peterson highlights a great resource for lawyers who regularly practice in the United States District Court for the Northern District Court of West Virginia.The Attorney Filing Manual is a 20 page manual that provides guidance to lawyers on how to e-file certain types of documents wth the Court...
AHLA Annual Meeting 2009: PHRs, Health 2.0 and the Impact of Social Media on Health Care
Posted on July 01, 2009Today I am giving a presentation with Jud DeLoss on the topic of "PHRs, Health 2.0 and the Impact of Social Media on Health Care" at the American Health Lawyers Association 2009 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.As a part of the presentation we are sharing the slides from the presentation with the attendees via SlideShare...
Support the Declaration of Health Data Rights: #MyHealthData
Posted on June 26, 2009The Declaration of Health Data Rights collaborative effort was announced this week by setting forth a simple, straightforward framework for health consumers right to their personal health information.The social media driven initiative has grown support throughout the week...
Proposed Certificate of Need Rule: Hospital Ambulatory Health Care Facility
Posted on June 21, 2009On June 8, 2009, the West Virginia Health Care Authority filed a proposed legislative rule with the Secretary of State and Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee titled Hospital Ambulatory Health Care Facilities. CSR 65-27. The official notice can be found in the June 12, 2009 issue of the West Virginia Register...
West Virginia Lawyer Disciplinary Board Issues Legal Ethics Opinion on Metadata
Posted on June 16, 2009On June 10, 2009, the West Virginia Lawyer Disciplinary Board issued Legal Ethics Opinion 2009-01 (What is Metadata and Why Should Lawyers Be Cautious?) to raise awareness among lawyers to be cautious when dealing with metadata. The opinion describes "metadata" as the data behind the data - including the location where the document is created, opened or saved, author's identity, number of revisions, comments and redlining...
Microsoft HealthVault: You put your right HIPAA in . . .
Posted on June 03, 2009In a post today, Sean Nolan, Chief Architect of Microsoft Health Solutions and blogger at Family Health Guy explains Microsoft's position regarding whether Microsoft HealthVault is required to comply with the privacy standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)...
PHRs, The Model T, Meaningful Use and the Patient-Centric HIT Revolution
Posted on June 01, 2009There is a growing discussion on the health consumer-centric (patient-centric) meaning of "meaningful use" of EHRs and health information technology. Jane Sarasohn-Kahn summarizes this discussion in her recent post, "Meaningful USe - or, whose health is it, anyway?" at Health Populi where she reflects on Ted Eytan's post, "Is it Meaningful If Patients Can't Use It?"Since Ted's post other health care thought leaders have offered their comments...
NCVHS: Report of Hearing on "Meaninful Use" of Health Information Technology
Posted on May 28, 2009The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) has issued its initial Report of Hearing on "Meaningful Use" of Health Information Technology.The May 18,2009 report is directed to David Blumenthal, MD, National Coordinator of Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology...
Ted Eytan, MD's Photo Friday
Posted on May 28, 2009Thanks to Ted Eytan, MD for featuring Jane Sarasohn-Kahn and me as the "Photo Friday" models of the week. The photo was taken at the start of our testimony before NCVHS on the future of PHRs.
XPRIZE: $10M Incentive to Innovate In Health Care (Reform)
Posted on May 26, 2009Scott Shreeve, MD, Senior Health Advisor at the X PRIZE Foundation sent out a call last week to all health care bloggers to participate in a blog rally to promote the idea and effort behind the Healthcare X PRIZE competition. Below is a message from Dr...
ONC Developing Online Project To Educate Consumers About PHRs
Posted on May 26, 2009Government Health IT reports that the the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is developing an online model containing information for consumers about personal health records (PHRs) and the privacy policies related to their use. ONC's effort appears targeted at engaging consumer to make more informed decisions about the use of PHRs...
Modern Day Hatfield-McCoy: Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault
Posted on May 19, 2009The Hatfields and McCoys, a metaphor for a modern day high-tech industry rivalry centered on personal health records (PHRs) involving Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault and other PHR vendors. An image that a West Virginia health care lawyer can really appreciate...
ONC Releases HIT ARRA Implementation Plan
Posted on May 18, 2009The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released an operating plan titled the Health Information Technology American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Implementation Plan.The operating plan is included on the DHHS Agency Wide Plan page under the "List of Recovery Programs within HHS...
Blog World New Media Expo 2009: Medical and Health Care Bloggers
Posted on May 09, 2009Today I received the speaker list for the MedBlogger Conference associated with Blog World New Media Expo 2009 from Kim McCallister of Emergiblog, co-organizer of the event along with Dr. Val of Better Health.Blog World New Media Expo 2009 will be help October 15-17 in Las Vegas...
Virginia Department of Health Professions Issues Statement on Potential Breach of Security for Prescription Monitoring Program
Posted on May 07, 2009Virginia Department of Health Professions has issued a News Release regarding the potential breach of security for the Prescription Monitoring Program. The statement also indicates that there is an ongoing criminal investigation into the breach which occurred on April 30...
Update On HIT Policy and Standards Committees
Posted on May 06, 2009Last week the Federal Register (April 29, 2009) contained a Notification of the Establishment of the HIT Policy Committee and HIT Standards Committee. I had previously posted about the creation of these committee and recommended suggested members.More information will be made available via the "new" Health Information Technology website of the Office of the National Coordinator...
Health 2.0 Boston: Tweet Stream Analysis
Posted on May 06, 2009Chris Hogg does a great job of capturing the metrics of the Twitter discussion that occurred during the recent Health 2.0 Boston conference. Check out his slide show analysis of the Tweet Stream from the conference.Health 2.0 Tweet Stream AnalysisView more presentations from Chris Hogg...
Virginia Department of Health Professions Breach: Extortion Demand Regarding 8M Patient Records and 35M Prescriptions
Posted on May 05, 2009Information Week is covering a story involving an extortion letter sent last week to the Virginia Department of Health Professions seeking $10M to return more than 8M patient records and 35M prescriptions allegedly stolen from the Virginia Department of Health Professions...
Google Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico
Posted on April 29, 2009Google Flu Trends have launched an Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico as a result of the ongoing concern over the current swine flue outbreak. The experimental model for Mexico shows estimates on possible flu activity in the various states in Mexico. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate possible flu activity in near real-time...
AHLA Teleconference: HIPAA Privacy Fundamentals
Posted on April 24, 2009Next month I will be co-presenting on an American Health Lawyer Association Teleconference on the topic of HIPAA Privacy Regulation Fundamentals - An Introductory Course.The teleconference is scheduled for May 13, 2009, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST. My co-presenter is Rebecca L...
WV Senator Rockefeller: The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009
Posted on April 24, 2009Yesterday West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller introduced "The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009"(Senate Bill 890) to facilitate the nationwide adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) though an "open source" public utility model...
Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Under Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986
Posted on April 21, 2009Congratulations to my partners, Rick Jones and David Givens for successfully defending Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc. before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the matter of Wahi v. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc., et al...
The Economist: Health 2.0 How far can interactive digital medicine go?
Posted on April 21, 2009The Economist looks in on Health 2.0 in the article, Health 2.0: How far can interactive digital medicine go?Highlights for me:Quote by Neil Seeman who thinks Health 2.0 is important "because it reinvents how we identify opinion leaders and exploit disruptive innovation...
Microsoft and Mayo Clinic Collaboration: Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Posted on April 21, 2009Today Microsoft Corporation and Mayo Clinic announced a new consumer online health service called Mayo Clinic Health Manager, build on the HealthVault platform.The press release states that Mayo Clinic Health Manager provides individuals "a place to store medical information and receive real-time individualized health guidance and recommendations based on the clinical expertise of Mayo Clinic ...
HITECH Act Breach Notification Guidance: What Renders PHI Unusable, Unreadable or Indecipherable For Purposes of Breach Notification?
Posted on April 19, 2009On April 17, 2009, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) issued guidance on the technology requirements to render protected health information (PHI) "unusable, unreadable or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals, as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) which is a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)...
FTC Proposed Health Breach Notification Rule for PHRs and Electronic Health Information
Posted on April 17, 2009Yesterday, April 16, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission released its proposed Health Breach Notification Rule for Vendors of Personal Health Records (PHRs) and Electronic Health Information.The official title of the proposed rule is: 16. C.F.R. Part 318: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Public Comments Concerning Proposed Health Breach Notification Rule, Pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009...
Neurology Today: When Moving Records and Practices, Know Your Legal Obligations.
Posted on April 14, 2009I was interviewed for an article appearing in the March 19 2009, edition of Neurology Today. The article, When Moving Records and Practices, Know Your Legal Obligations (pdf version), was written by Elizabeth Stump and discusses the current legal requirements and recommendations regarding medical record retention, release of information, storage and requirements for notification of patients when a physician leaves a practice.
2009 Legislative Changes to WV Certificate of Need Law
Posted on April 12, 2009On April 9, 2009, the West Virginia Legislature sent Senate Bill 321 to Governor Manchin for signature (see strikethru/underline Committee Substitute version). Senate Bill 321 makes substantive changes to the current certificate of need law in West Virginia overseen by the West Virginia Health Care Authority...
WV Music Law Blog: DIY Music Mogul
Posted on April 10, 2009A welcome to another West Virginia lawyer blogger, Kevin Levine, who is blogging now at DIY Music Mogul. His blog is dedicated to assisting entrepreneurial musical artists and songwriters with timely and relevant information about music law and business...
Obama Signs Executive Order Officially Creating White House Office of Health Reform
Posted on April 09, 2009Yesterday, April 8, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order formally creating a new White House Office of Health Reform.The Washington Post provide additional information, including the complete text of the Executive Order and that former Clinton administration official, Nancy-Ann DeParle (White House bio) will oversee the office...
OIG Issues Modified Position on Stark Self Disclosure Protocol
Posted on March 25, 2009Yesterday the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued an Open Letter to Health Care Providers making several changes to the Self-Dislcosure Protocol relating to the physician self referral law or Stark Law.The OIG indicates in the letter that they are no longer going to accept under the self disclosure protocol pure Stark related liability issues...
David Blumenthal, MD Named New National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
Posted on March 20, 2009Various news sources report today that David Blumenthal, MD, former Harvard Medical School professor, has been selected by the Obama administration to lead the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). HHS press release provides additional detail on Dr...
Best Lawyers' 2009 West Virginia Personal Injury Litigator of the Year
Posted on March 19, 2009Congratulations to my partner, Tom Flaherty, who was selected as Best Lawyers' 2009 West Virginia Litigator of the Year. A well deserved honor.Tom is a straightforward and hardworking defense litigator who does an incredible job representing the best interests of his clients...
Charleston FestivALL 2009: A City Becomes A Work Of Art
Posted on March 17, 2009The preliminary lineup of events for Charleston FestivALL 2009 was announced today. Ten days of music, art, theater, entertainment, creativity and fun bring the city of Charleston alive from June 19 - 27, 2009. Where the city become a work of art!As many of my friends, colleagues and regular readers know I love the Charleston FestivALL (my past posts) and am already excited about this years expanded ten day event...
ARRA Timeline
Posted on March 16, 2009John Halamka at Life as a Healthcare CIO provides a good overview of the timeline and deadlines for the health information technology portions under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
Hospitals: The State of Social Media Use
Posted on March 16, 2009Ed Bennett at Found In Cache does a wonderful job of giving us a statistical glimpse of the increasing (skyrocketing) use of social media tools (YouTube, Facebook and Twitter) by hospitals across the country.His post, "Hospital Socia Media Stats," gives some interesting statistics into the adoption and growth of social media...
Health Affairs: Take Two Aspirin and Tweet Me . . .
Posted on March 15, 2009The March/April 2009 Issue of Health Affairs concentrates on the topic of Stimulating Health Information Technology. Although I am not a subscriber to Health Affairs the issue looks to have some great articles on health information technology and the current changes in the field...
EvriChart: A West Virginia based health information technology company
Posted on March 15, 2009Today's Charleston Gazette features an article by Eric Eyre on a health information technology company located in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. EvriChart relocated to West Virginia four years ago and focuses its business on managing health information for hospitals, physicians and other health care providers...
Nominees for HITECH HIT Policy Committee and HIT Standards Committee
Posted on March 13, 2009The Thursday, March 13 Federal Register (74 Fed Reg 10743) contained a notice for submitting nominees to the new committees created under ARRA-HITECH (stimulus bill) for developing health information technology standards and policy. The two commitees will be called the HIT Standards Commitee and HIT Policy Commitee...
WHCC Leadership Summit on Consumer Connectivity
Posted on February 24, 2009Today I am attending the World Health Care Congress2nd Annual Leadership Summit on Consumer Connectivity in Carlsbad, CA. Good presentations and discussion with those in attendance. You can follow the conference via Twitter at #WHCC2 or get live blogging at EKIVE by Mark Schrimshire using Cover It Live...
WHCC Leadership Summit on Consumer Connectivity
Posted on February 23, 2009Today I am attending the World Health Care Congress2nd Annual Leadership Summit on Consumer Connectivity in Carlsbad, CA. Good presentations and discussion with those in attendance. You can follow the conference via Twitter at #WHCC2 or get live blogging at EKIVE by Mark Schrimshire using Cover It Live...
Physician Social Networking
Posted on February 22, 2009Medical Economics covers the developing world of physician social networking websites in Behind doctors' social networking websites.Interestingly the article begins with a story about a West Virginia physician, Danine Rydland, MD, using Sermo to search for information to help her treat one of her patients...
Physician Incentives Under HITECH Act
Posted on February 21, 2009Fellow health care lawyer colleague, AHLA HIT member and friend, Jud DeLoss, provides an excellent overview of the Physician Incentives under the HITECH ACT.The incentives focus on providing direct payment for the adoption, implementation and maintenance of electronic health records (EHRs) to "eligible professional" who establishes the "meaninful use" of an EHR...
Health Care Law Blog Makes Avvo's Top Legal Blogs
Posted on February 20, 2009I noticed some traffic coming from the Avvo Blog and realized that they compiled a list of top legal blogs based on Alexa traffic rankings. Currently my Health Care Law Blog comes in at #98 on the list. If you are new to legal blogs this is a great list to see the variety of law related blogs available...
HIPAA Settlement: Dumping of PHI Results In $2.25M Settlement
Posted on February 20, 2009This week's settlement by CVS, the nations largest retail pharmacy chain, to pay the U.S. government a $2.25 million settlement and take corrective action highlights the need for providers and other covered entities to focus on the simple privacy protections such as appropriately disposing of patient information in a secure manner...
West Virginia's Health Information Technology Efforts
Posted on February 18, 2009Yesterday the Charleston Gazette ran an op-ed piece, West Virginia A Leader In Health Information, written by Kenneth Kizer and Peter Groen.The article provides an overview of the various efforts in West Virginia to become a national leader in health information technology...
World Health Care Congress Consumer Connectivity: Overcoming Legal and Policy Barriers for Health IT Adoption
Posted on February 18, 2009Next week I will be speaking at the World Health Care Congress 2nd Annual Leadership Summit on Consumer Connectivity in Carlsbad, CA on February 23-24. I will be co-presenting a session on Overcoming Legal and Policy Barriers for Health IT Adoption with Rod Piechowski, Senior Associate Director for Policy, American Hospital Association and Director, National Assocation of Health Information Technology...
Rainmaking 101
Posted on February 03, 2009Friend and West Virginia lawyer colleague, Pat Kelly, told me today about the release of his new book on client development and rainmaking. Although I have yet to read the book -- I know Pat well and look forward to his valuable insight on the topic.Rainmaking 101: How to Grow Your Client Base & Maximize Your Income, is being distributed through Authorhouse, Amazon and Target...
U.S. Hospitals: Using Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
Posted on January 23, 2009Great post listing the U.S. Hospitals using social networking tools like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Check out the complete list of 150 hospitals and a related FAQ about the Hospital Social Networking List at Found In Cache: Notes from a Hospital Web Manager authored by Ed Bennett...
Medical Uses of Twitter: Twitter Consult
Posted on January 22, 2009Two case studies pointing out additional medical uses for Twitter from Jennifer Texada at How to Go Web 2.0.Her post, Health 2.0 Makes it to Twitter, discusses two separate cases. The first involved the use of Twitter by medical professionals seeking real time advice with a diagnosis...
West Virginia: The Roadmap to Health Project
Posted on January 19, 2009Last week Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD of Emory University released the Roadmap to Health Project report to the West Virginia Legislature's Select Committee D on Health. The Roadmap to Health Project is an initiative by Select Committee D. The full report is titled, "West Virginia Health Care Reform - Roadmap to Health Project: Final Recocommendations to Select Committee D...
Lessons For PowerPoint Users
Posted on January 16, 2009Yesterday I did a presentation for the West Virginia Healthcare Financial Management Association on Social Media, Consumer Driven Health Care, Health 2.0 and the Legal Implications. Today I see friend and creative guru, Jeff James' post on Begin With PowerPoint in Mind which highlights how NOT to use PowerPoint and links to a Top 10 Best Presentations Ever...
WVHFMA: Consumer Driven Health Care
Posted on January 15, 2009Tomorrow I will be speaking on consumer driven health care at the West Virginia Chapter Healthcare Financial Management Association's Winter Education Conference in Charleston, West Virginia. I thought I would post my slides for the presentation titled, Consumer Driven Health Care: The Impact of Social Media and Health 2...
American Well: e-House Calls by the Hawaiian Doctor
Posted on January 15, 2009Today Hawaii Medical Service Association along with American Well roll out American Well's technology that redesigns the house call -- call it "e-House Call." More about the joint effort and how to log in can be found at HMSA's Online Care For Consumers...
My Family Health Portrait: A Family PHR
Posted on January 14, 2009The Surgeon General has launched a new online tool allowing a user to create an electronic family health tree to track your family health history. The site is called "My Family Health Portrait." The Surgeon General press release.The tool draws on the value of creating a family health genealogy and marries it with the concepts of PHRs...
Wordle: Health Care Law Blog
Posted on January 11, 2009I noticed recent tweets about Wordle, an ultra cool "word count" generator. Here is an example pulled from the text of my Health Care Law Blog. Give it a try for your blog, tweets or next presentation.
Lifeline Television Program: Health Information Exchange and Health 2.0
Posted on January 08, 2009Last month I had the opportunity to tape a television segment on Health Information Exchange and Health 2.0 for Lifeline, a weekly 30 minute public television program focusing on health and Medicare information for West Virginians. The segment started running this week and should run through the month of January...
10 Things Small Business Owner Should Do In 2009
Posted on December 31, 2008A post on the Top 10 Things Every Small Business Owner Should Do in 2009 by Guy Kawasaki came across my screen this morning via @paulhelmick and caught my eye.Great advice for any business person to consider and "do" in 2009. We can all do better at understanding how our customers view us and improving on the service or product we offer them...
ESPN World's Strongest Man Competition 2008 - Charleston WV
Posted on December 22, 2008Everyone be sure sure to tune in to the ESPN World's Strongest Man Competition 2008 starting to air on ESPN2 on December 25 (7pm-1am) and ESPN on December 28 (1pm-7pm). Charleston, West Virginia played host to the 2008 competition. I look forward to ESPN showing off the beauty and positive aspects of Charleston and West Virginia...
ESPN World's Strongest Man Competition 2008 - Charleston WV
Posted on December 18, 2008a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.theworldsstrongestman.com/de/wsm/images/header.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 442px; height: 79px;" src="http://www...
Does the Certificate of Need Law Benefit West Virginia?
Posted on December 18, 2008Joe Letnaunchyn, CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association, responds to the continuing discussion on the pros and cons of certificate of need regulatory oversight in West Virginia. The commentary, Certificate of Need Program Benefits West Virginia, appears in the most recent edition of the State Journal...
ONCHIT Issues Nationwide Privacy and Security Framework for Electronic Exchange of Health Information
Posted on December 16, 2008Today the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) issued The Nationwide Privacy and Security Framework for Electronic Exchange of Individually Identifiable Health Information. The summary states that the framework creates a set of principles and consistent approach to:"...
Does the Certificate of Need Law Benefit West Virginia?
Posted on December 15, 2008Joe Letnaunchyn, CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association, responds to the continuing discussion on the pros and cons of certificate of need regulatory oversight in West Virginia. The commentary, Certificate of Need Program Benefits West Virginia, appears in the most recent edition of the State Journal...
Reengineering Health Information Technology to Wire The Medical Home
Posted on December 02, 2008Over at The Health Care Blog Dr. Kibbee issues Part 2 of his Confessions of a Physician EMR Champion, subtitled "A Conversation with American Physicians About How to Save Medicine in the Age of Information." The Part 2 post, Empowering Health IT for the Connected Medical Home, is a must read for all interested in the world of changing world of health/technology...
Engage With Grace
Posted on November 30, 2008Last month I had the opportunity to watch Alexandra Drane announce Engage With Grace: The One Slide Project at the Health 2.0 Conference in San Francisco. The idea behind the project is to get people to share just ONE slide that helps them and their loved ones talk about having a purposeful end-of-life experience...
Engage With Grace
Posted on November 26, 2008Last month I had the opportunity to watch Alexandra Drane announce the Engage With Grace: The One Slide Project at the Health 2.0 Conference in San Francisco. The idea behind the project is to get people to share just ONE slide that helps them and their loved ones talk about having a purposeful end-of-life experience...
Blawg Review # 186: Blawgers Are All-A-Twitter
Posted on November 17, 2008Res Ipsa Blog brings you this week's edition of Blawg Review -- Blawg Review #186. This edition begins with a summary of the raging Twitter Wars and includes a link to a post I did last week discussing some of the legal implications of live tweeting in health care...
Medicare PHR Pilot Project
Posted on November 14, 2008HealthcareIT News reports on the announcement of a Medicare personal health record (PHR) pilot project that will be made available to Medicare beneficiaries in Arizona and Utah. The four PHR companies selected out of almost 40 who applied to participate in the pilot are: Google Health, HealthTrio, NoMoreClipboard...
Medicare PHR Pilot Project
Posted on November 13, 2008HealthcareIT News reports on the announcement of a Medicare personal health record (PHR) pilot project that will be made available to Medicare beneficiaries in Arizona and Utah.The four PHR companies selected out of almost 40 who applied to participate in the pilot are: Google Health, HealthTrio, NoMoreClipboard...
The Implications for Live Tweeting Surgery
Posted on November 13, 2008Yesterday Robert Hendrick, health care disruptor (I mean that in a positive way) and co-founder of change:healthcare, live tweeted his laser ablation surgery at the Surgical Clinic in Nashville. He also tweeted the first installment of his surgery to remove his varicose veins -- Live from the Operating Room...
Why Is Healthcare So Expensive?
Posted on November 12, 2008A simplified view of Why is Healthcare So Expensive? from Stay Smart Stay Healthy. Stay Smart Stay Healthy is a Humana new-media venture designed to deliver guidance, and to support awareness and understanding of the healthcare industry.Our goal is simple: to educate consumers on the healthcare system by removing the usual complexities and replacing them with an informative and engaging series of videos...
Predicting Flu Season With Google Flu Trends
Posted on November 11, 2008Google Flu Trends uses search terms as an indicator of flu activity by state.According to the Google.org Flu Trends the aggregated search data can estimate flu activity in a state up to two weeks faster than traditional systems. The chart comparison with CDC data is impressive at showing the consistency between tracking search terms vs...
The Health Cloud
Posted on November 11, 2008Tim Sturgill, MD JD at symtym provides an explanation and insight into the potential shift from silo'ed EHRs controlled by multiple providers to a Health Cloud centralized around a single PHR.The result of such a shift lessens the need for complex health information exchanges to process and communicate information among a variety of health information silos, matching patient records and trying to match multiple sources of health information that may or may not be identical...
Purkinje: Another SaaS EHR
Posted on November 11, 2008Justen Deal in his post, Purkinje: stealth fighter, introduced me to another SasS focused Electronic Health Record (EHR) and practice management service provider called Purkinje. Interesting read on the company and its history.The principle owner of Purkinje is John Doerr, a partner in Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, who provides venture capital funding for some of the largest technology companies in the world...
World War II Honoree: LeMoyne Coffield
Posted on November 11, 2008On this Veterans Day I give thanks to all military veterans who have served their county. Please take time today at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to thank a family member, friend or colleague who served their county.Thanks to my sister Becky who submitted information to the National WWII Memorial to honor my dad, LeMoyne Coffield, and his brother and my uncle, Terrell Coffield...
WV Lawyer Disciplinary Board Seeks Comments on Metadata and Wholly-Owned Subsidary Law Firms
Posted on November 10, 2008The Lawyer Disciplinary Board of the West Virginia State Bar is seeking public comment by February 27,2009, on two draft Legal Ethics Opinions (LEO). The two LEO's were reviewed by the Board at the October 24, 2008 meeting. Draft L.E.O. 2009-01 What Is Metadata and Why Should Lawyers Be Cautious? The definition of metadata used in the draft LEO is broad to include all "data behind the data" including the "author's identity, the number of revisions made and comments and redlining...
Potential Data Breach and Extortion at Express Scripts
Posted on November 07, 2008The WSJ Health Blogs reports about a potential data breach at Express Scripts, one of the largest pharmacy benefit management companies in North America. More from Express Scripts on the Facts, FAQs and Other Resources.The potential data breach came to Express Scripts attention after having received an anonymous letter attempting to extort money from the company by threatening the expose millions of patient records...
November 5, 2008 - Today Is A New Day!
Posted on November 05, 2008Today is a new day. Andre Blackman shared the image below (courtesy of Patrick Moberg) with me this via Twitter. The image speaks volumes about the significance of yesterday. Congratulations to President Elect Barack Obama.Although West Virginia stayed in the red yesterday there was great support by West Virginians although not always reported that way by the national media...
WVU College of Law: Entrepreneurship Law Clinic
Posted on November 03, 2008Today the West Virginia State Bar announced a new project at the West Virginia University College of Law to provide legal assistance to technology start-ups, existing small business and nonprofits.The Entrepreneurship Law Clinic will be directed by Professor Michael V...
What Do WV Patients See As Their #1 Health Care Concern
Posted on October 29, 2008Today I asked a health care policy related question to my West Virginia tweeters and received great responses. I appreciate the responses from my twitter followers.The responses were so valuable that I thought I would share them with my readers. If others who are reading have additional responses please add them to the comments...
Blawg Review #182: Test Your Blawg Exam Knowledge
Posted on October 20, 2008Take the Blawg Bar Exam practice test over at Blawg Review #182 creatively written by David Gulbransen at preaching to the preverted. Brilliantly creative edition. Don't miss testing your knowledge of Blawg Review.
The Rise of the Personal Health Record
Posted on October 18, 2008The October edition of the Health Lawyers News, a publication of the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA), contains an article I co-authored with Jud DeLoss, a principal in the law firm of Gray Plant Mooty, who blogs at Minnesota Health IT. On the eve of the Health 2...
Health 2.0 Conference
Posted on October 17, 2008Next week I'm headed to San Fransisco to attend the Health 2.0: User Generated Healthcare Conference.Looking forward to attending, seeing old and meeting new colleagues interested in the world of health 2.0. I will be involved in the Health 2.0 Accelerator meet and greet on Tuesday (Oct...
The Rise of the Personal Health Record
Posted on October 17, 2008The October edition of the Health Lawyers News, a publication of the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA), contains an article I co-authored with Jud DeLoss, a principal in the law firm of Gray Plant Mooty, who blogs at Minnesota Health IT. On the eve of the Health 2...
Grand Rounds: Notes of an Anesthesioboist
Posted on October 15, 2008The October 13, 2008 edition of Grand Rounds is now up at Notes of an Anesthesioboist. Great reading for anyone interested in the latest from the health and medical blogospere.Next week's Grand Rounds will be hosted by Christian Sinclair, M.D. at Pallimed...
Health Care Cost Rising In 2009
Posted on October 14, 2008Sandra Block of USA Today Money reports that the average amount employees will pay for health care is expected to increase 8.9% in 2009. Her column also provides good advice on how to try to control your health care expenses.According to the Hewitt Associates report the average amount employees will pay for health care is expected to increase 8...
PROTEX: Cardiac Innovation From West Virginia
Posted on October 13, 2008Today's Charleston Gazette features an article on a Charleston based medical technology company, Nexeon MedSystems.Mark Bates, M.D., CEO and interventional cardiologist at CAMC has developed a "pro-healing" stent that is lined with protein. The device called PROTEX system may also eliminate the need for heart patients to take blood thinning medications for a year or more after the procedure...
Dr. Val Launches Getting Better With Dr. Val
Posted on October 12, 2008Val Jones, M.D. has a new home at Getting Better with Dr. Val. Congratulations to Dr. Val on the launch of her hew health care blog.Check out her welcome message and the official press release. If you already follow Dr. Val don't forget to update your blogroll...
Medical Blogger Dr. Wes Subpoenaed Over Blog Comment
Posted on October 12, 2008The New York Personal Injury Law Blog relays a incident involving a subpoena issued to a medical blogger related to anonymous comments made on his blog.The incident involved medical blogger, Westby Fisher, MD (Dr. Wes), who was subpoenaed for a discovery deposition to determine whether he knew the anonymous commenter who left a comment on a post...
Health 2.0: Stay Focused on the Goals
Posted on October 11, 2008Ben Heywood, co-founder of PatientsLikeMe, outlines simple (but difficult) goals that those in the health 2.0 space must accomplish. Based on his post I take it that he highlighted these during his keynote address at the second Health 2.0 Northeast conference...
HR 6898: The Health-e Information Technology Act of 2008
Posted on October 09, 2008Jen McCabe Gorman at Health Management RX brought attention to a new House of Representative Bill (HR 6898) focused on electronic health information introduced in the 110th Congress by Congressman Pete Stark. The bill was introduced on September 15, 2008, and is currently referred out to committee...
California Health Data Privacy and Security Bills Signed
Posted on October 08, 2008Last week two new California data privacy and security bills were signed into law. Senate Bill 541 and Assembly Bill 211 set new breach disclosure standards and require security controls for preventing unauthorized access to patient data.I previously posted about the bills before they were finalized...
Medical Blogger Dr. Wes Subpoenaed Over Blog Comment
Posted on October 08, 2008The New York Personal Injury Law Blog relays a incident involving a subpoena issued to a medical blogger related to anonymous comments made on his blog.The incident involved medical blogger, Westby Fisher, MD (Dr. Wes), who was subpoenaed for a discovery deposition to determine whether he knew the anonymous commenter who left a comment on a post...
FSB: Best Lawyers in America 2009
Posted on October 08, 2008This past week I learned that I was again selected by my peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2009 in the field of "Health Care Law". In all, seven lawyers from Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, PLLC were selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2009...
FSB: Best Lawyers in America 2009
Posted on October 07, 2008This past week I learned that I was again selected by my peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2009 in the field of "Health Care Law". In all, seven lawyers from Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, PLLC were selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2009...
Dr. Val Guest Post: Straight Jackets Issued To All Hospital Patients Over Age 65?
Posted on October 06, 2008Below is a guest post from fellow health care blogger, Val Jones, M.D, on the topic of the new Medicare "never events." For other recent posts by Dr. Val - check out the recent Dr. Val sightings at Suture for a Living.Straight Jackets Issued To All Hospital Patients Over Age 65?By Val Jones, MDBob is a good friend and blog buddy of mine, and I respect his legal opinions on medical matters...
PHR Certification Criteria: Public Comments Being Accepted
Posted on September 30, 2008Josh Seidman, president of Center for Information Therapy, of provides an update of the status of Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology's (CCHIT) process for certification of personal health records (PHRs) over at The Health Care Blog...
NY Times Health: Articles On Changing World of Online Health Information
Posted on September 30, 2008The New York Times Health section in the article, "Logging On for a Second (or Third) Opinion," examines the changing world of online health information search.As the article points out we are moving from a "search and read" web to a "search, share and interact" web...
Critical Condition: A Look at America's Health Care System
Posted on September 29, 2008Critical Condition, a look at the American health care system and crisis, begins airing tomorrow on PBS. Locally it will air on WVPBS beginning Tuesday, September 30 at 9pm with follow up broadcasts on October 1, October 6, October 8, October 13.View the film trailer and learn more...
WV Creative Communities Project: New Martinsville and Bethany
Posted on September 28, 2008West Virginia's Creative Communities Under Construction project is underway to promote the Create West Virginia Conference set for October 20-22 at Snowshoe Mountain Resort. The viral campaign is being spread by West Virginia bloggers. If you are creatively curious, attend the conference and check out the Create WV Blog...
WV Creative Communities Project: New Martinsville
Posted on September 26, 2008West Virginia's Creative Communities Under Construction project is underway to promote the Create West Virginia Conference set for October 20-22 at Snowshoe Mountain Resort. The viral campaign is being spread by West Virginia bloggers. If you are creatively curious attend the conference and check out the Create WV Blog...
WVHCA Examining Current CON Standards
Posted on September 25, 2008The West Virginia Health Care Authority has scheduled various public meetings over the coming months to discuss and examine the current certificate of need standards for a variety of service areas. As states on the Authority's website these meetings are being held as a part of the legislature's review of West Virginia's certificate of need statute...
Work In Progress: West Virginia Creativity
Posted on September 25, 2008Check back tomorrow for more on the Creative Communities Under Construction Project. I'll be posting tomorrow on elements of the new economy in my hometown of New Martinsville.Signs around Charleston have started to appear . . .
Grand Rounds 5th Anniversary Edition
Posted on September 23, 2008The 5th Anniversary edition of Grand Rounds hosted by Dr. Val is up at two locations -- KevinMD and Emergiblog. If you want to know what is happening around the health care blogosphere Grand Rounds is required weekly reading.Great to see Dr. Val carrying on the tradition of Grand Rounds started by Dr...
Michael Gerrard: National Environmental Lawyer and West Virginia Native
Posted on September 22, 2008Dave Yaussy over at the WV Environmental Law blog beat me to the post. The Sunday Charleston Gazette featured another nationally recognized lawyer with West Virginia roots.Featured in the article was Michael Gerrard, a nationally known environmental lawyer and current managing partner of the New York office of Arnold & Porter, LLP...
Follow The Top Lawyer Twits
Posted on September 21, 2008Last week I noticed that I made JDScoop's list of 145 lawyers and legal professionals to follow on Twitter. I came in at #137 (@bobcoffield). Also making the list is my firm's IT Director, Bill Gardner, coming in at #69 (@oncee).The list is a great resource to find some of the leading lawyers experienced in adopting new social media tools into their practice of law...
100 Best Health Care Policy Blogs and Top 50 Best Health 2.0 Blogs
Posted on September 21, 2008Thanks to the folks at RNCentral.com for naming the Health Care Law Blog to its list of the 100 Best Health Care Policy Blogs (see #21 under Politics, Legislation and Law category) and the Top 50 Health 2.0 Blogs (#49 under the Health Care Policy and Law category)...
HIPAA: Can you release medical information to family and friends?
Posted on September 16, 2008My favorite fellow HIPAA blogger, Jeff Drummond, over at the HIPAA Blog points out the Office for Civil Rights has issued new guidance for providers to follow when assessing whether or not they should provide protected health information (PHI) to the friends or family of a patient under HIPAA Privacy Rule 164...
BeBetter: Charleston Based Health Company Is 15th on Inc.'s 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies
Posted on September 16, 2008Today's Daily Mail covers Charleston based beBetter Networks, Inc. selection as the 15th fastest growing private company in the U.S. BeBetter was selected and is highlighted in Inc. Magazine's September edition featuring the 5,000 fastest growing companies...
EHealth Initiative: The State of HIEs
Posted on September 15, 2008EHealth Initiative has released the results of the 2008 Fifth Annual Survey of Health Information Exchanges (HIE) at the State and Local Level.The survey included responses from 130 community based initiatives from 48 states. Here is a summary of the key findings.
Doc Searls: The Patient as the Platform
Posted on September 12, 2008Doc Searls on The Patient as the Platform.I missed this post and am glad it was pointed out via Twitter. The title caught my eye because it captures in a phrase what I think may be happening to our health care information system - a shift from provider-centric records to patient-centric records...
Obama vs. McCain: A look at the differences in health care reform policies
Posted on September 12, 2008For those interested (and we all should be) in the differences between the health care policies of Obama and McCain I a sharing a recent article appearing in the August 21 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.The article is by Jonathan Oberlander, professor of health policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill titled, "The Partisan Divide: The McCain and Obama Plans for U...
The Facebooking of Medical Records
Posted on September 12, 2008Bob Wachter on the Facebooking of medical records over at The Health Care Blog. Great thought provoking read for those in the health care world and who understand the powers of online social networking tools for communication.Recently I just completed co-authoring with Jud DeLoss the feature article for the next AHLA Health Lawyers News on PHRs where we discuss what may be a major shift in health information gathering from provider-centric to patient-centric...
California Proposes New Privacy Breach Protections: Will Other States Follow The Trend?
Posted on September 10, 2008Last month The LA Times reported on a new law (AB 211 and SB 541) moving through the California Legislature to increase protections around confidential medical and health information and create a new state Office of Health Information Integrity to oversee compliance, investigate breaches and assess fines...
Is Your Health Care Killing You?
Posted on September 09, 2008Check out and download for free the EBook, "My Health Care Is Killing Me: a survival guide for the american healthcare consumer."The book was written by a couple of colleagues, Christopher Parks and Robert Hedricks, health care technology innovators and disruption mavericks who started change:healthcare based in Nashville...
5 blogs & 5 blawgers
Posted on September 09, 2008David Harlow blogging on health care law at HealthBlawg tagged me via his version of 5 blogs & 5 blawgs. A new law meme started by the editor of Blawg Review in honor of Blog Day.The basic rule is to post links to five great blogs (other than law blogs) and tag five of your favorite law bloggers (otherwise known as blawgers) to do the same under the post title "5 Blogs & 5 Blawgers"...
2008 World's Strongest Man Competition, Charleston, WV
Posted on August 31, 2008The 2008 World's Strongest Man Competition will be coming to Charleston, West Virginia next week, September 6-14. Find the full schedule of events and locations here and a list of the international competitors who will be arriving in Charleston to compete...
Twoctor, Twoctor . . I've Got A Bad Case of Tweeting You
Posted on August 30, 2008Nedra Weinreich over at Spare Change explores uses for Twitter to improve health care in her post Twitter for Health. Great ideas on how Twitter might be used by those of us in the health care industry.Thanks to Jen McCabe Gorman for tweeting the recent post.
John Stossel's Perspective on WV Certificate of Need Law
Posted on August 30, 2008Yesterday's Daily Mail article reports that John Stossel, co-anchor of ABC's 20/20 speaking at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce's Business Summit spoke out against West Virginia's Certificate of Need laws. Stossel argues that free market is better than regulation of health care...
Why WV is Wonderful . . .
Posted on August 27, 2008Another great example of why West Virginia is Wild and Wonderful. Rainy day in Charleston today - but this brightened my morning.Thanks to Rick Lee who has a knack for capturing the beauty of our state.
eHealthWV: West Virginia EHR Public Service Announcement
Posted on August 23, 2008As a part of West Virginia's participation in the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaborative (HISPC), West Virginia Medical Institute and its partners launch the eHealthWV website focused on educating consumers about electronic health records and health information exchange...
Governor Manchin Approves Cardiac Catheterization Standards
Posted on August 21, 2008The West Virginia Health Care Authority website indicates today that Governor Manchin approved the final revised certificate of need Cardiac Catheterization Standards.
Is blogging good for your health?
Posted on August 20, 2008Is blogging good for your health?This Boston Globe article, Cancer blogs become part of treatment, indicates that blogging about your condition has a positive impact.The article states:Boyd is one of a growing number of cancer patients turning to the Internet to discuss their disease, keeping friends and family updated, and connecting with other patients, according to oncology social workers and psychologists...
ADVANCE Magazine - Article on EHRs and PHRs
Posted on August 20, 2008Recently I was interviewed for an article looking at the legal issues involved in the developing world of EHRs and PHRs written by Beth Walsh for ADVANCE Magazine. The article, Looking at Legality: Medical Records - New questions and concerns are popping up around the legalities of EHRs and PHRs, appears in the August 11, 2008 edition of the magazine...
West Virginia Health Improvement Institute
Posted on July 31, 2008The West Virginia Health Improvement Institute has launched its website that provides an overview of the efforts to improve the health care system in West Virginia.The mission of the Institute is to assist with the execution of the strategies outlined in the Transformation Grants awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...
Creatively Living In West Virginia
Posted on July 29, 2008Are you creative, looking for a place to be creative or have a need to find others who create?Come experience all that West Virginia has to offer. For a taste of the creative community plan to attend the Create West Virginia Conference 2008. More on Create WV...
The Use of Arbitration Agreements in Health Care
Posted on July 28, 2008Ryan Brown, a health care attorney at Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, PLLC who I regularly work with recently put together information on the use of arbitration agreements in the health care setting. More and more these types of agreements are being used as a way to avoid unnecessary litigation and provide an alternative venue to resolve health care conflicts between provider and patient...
Medpedia: The Medicine Wiki
Posted on July 26, 2008The Medpedia project has been launched and will be the worlds largest collaborative online encyclopedia of medicine. Think of it as the Wikipedia for physicians and others looking for health information. However, Medpedia will have a more focused approach and utilize more authoritative and trustworthy authors...
Providence Health & Services Agrees To $100,000 Voluntary Settlement of Potential HIPAA Violation
Posted on July 23, 2008The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a press release last Thursday that it had entered into a Resolution Agreement with Seattle-based Providence Heath & ServicesHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy and security rules...
Ohio Court Creates New Tort For Unauthorized Dislcosure of Medical Information
Posted on July 22, 2008The Ohio Supreme Court issued a recent decision in Hageman v. Southwest General Health Center, et al. Slip Opinion No. 2008-Ohio-3343 (July 9, 2008), holding that an attorney's unauthorized disclosure of medical information obtained during litigation in a separate proceeding could be the basis of a tort claim...
Ongoing Debate Over Revised Cardiac Catheterization Standards
Posted on July 17, 2008Larry Messina at Lincoln Walks at Midnight round up of latest links/articles discussing the ongoing debate over the revised certificate of need Cardiac Catheterization standards. The debate has pitted hospital against hospital and resulted in full page ads and a media blitz by both sides in the debate...
WV Business Litigation Blog Hosts Blawg Review #168
Posted on July 14, 2008This week's edition of Blawg Review is hosted by another West Virginia law blogger, Jeff Mehalic, over at the West Virginia Business Litigation Blog. Check out Blawg Review #168 for the latest in what is happening this week around the legal blogosphere...
Thinking Outside of the Box While Literally Thinking About the Box
Posted on July 10, 2008I like to bring original thinking and creative solutions to my health care clients. Although the law is based on precedent, lawyers always need to remain current, thinking ahead and looking for creative solutions.Today I saw this "lesson in creativity" over at Jeff James' Create West Virginia blog...
2008Tour De France: Congrats to West Virginian, Will Frischkorn
Posted on July 08, 2008Congratulations to West Virginian, Will Frischkorn, on his amazing 2nd place finish in today's 3rd Stage of the 2008 Tour de France. The 2nd place finish puts him 3rd overall at 1' 42" back.Will chronicles his win in his online diary at VeloNews via his Blackberry...
Healthcare Futures
Posted on July 01, 2008A welcome to Michael Ryan, FACHE, Chairman of Executive Impact Group, now blogging at Healthcare Futures. Mike is a recognized eHealth, healthcare and social networking pioneer having served as a founder, executive, advisor and board member of numerous companies...
Connecting for Health: Another wave in the shift to consumer controlled health information
Posted on July 01, 2008The recent announcement of the Common Framework for Networked Personal Health Information by the Connecting for Health collaboration lead by the Markle Foundation is just the next wave in what may be a tidal shift. The tidal shift is one centered on the input, control, ownership, and administration of health information that results from the active and real use of PHRs by consumers...
Sermo Physicians Launch Doctors Unite Campaign
Posted on July 01, 2008Can online social networking by health care professionals be the catalysts for group action and change in the health care industry?Fellow friend and health blogger,Fard Johnmar,at Healthcare Vox explores this question and more in his post, "Sermo Docs Launch An Online Health Reform Movement: Will It Matter?"...
2009 Joint Commission Standards: Now Available Online
Posted on July 01, 2008The Joint Commission's revised standards are now available online. Additional details about the revisions are available on the Standards Improvement Initiative web page.The timetable for the release of the new standards, manuals and scoring information is as follows: July 2008: Standards will be posted to The Joint Commission website August 2008: Scoring information will be posted to the website September 2008: Hard copy manuals will be available for Phase 1 programs (ambulatory, hospital, critical access hospital, home care, office-based surgery) November 2008: Hard copy manuals will be available for Phase 2 programs (behavioral health care, laboratory services, long term care)* November 2008: Single-user access to E-dition (electronic manuals) will be available for all accreditation customers...
Mountain Stage: The Gold at the End of the Rainbow
Posted on June 30, 2008A memorable 2008 FestivALL ended last evening with a great Mountain Stage performance at the Clay Center. One of the best all around performances I can remember in recent past.A storm rolled through Charleston about 15 minutes before the performance and I captured the following photos...
Still More FestivALL: Blues & Brews kicks off weekend events
Posted on June 28, 2008Sorry for a lack of substantive health care posting the last couple of weeks. The result of being just too busy with client legal matters.This morning I was catching up on my RSS feeds and saw these great photos by Rick Lee (photo to right by Rick of Sonny Landreth) from last nights Blues, Brews & BBQ...
Please Repair Your Ball Mark
Posted on June 23, 2008Amazing photos from yesterday's hail storm that swept through the Charleston area.The photos were taken at Edgewood Golf Course in the Sissonville area of Kanawha County by one of my partners, Nate Tawney. Great shot of the driving range - looks like they haven't picked up balls all year long...
FestivALL: West Virginia Wiener Dogs Run . . .
Posted on June 22, 2008The Charleston Gazette's front page shot and story of the FestivALL wiener dog races, "and the wiener is . . ."The photo features one of the winners, "Saugy Bottom Boy" who looks like a real thoroughbred. Our kids along with some of their friends are in the background...
Gazette Covers West Virginia Blogger Effort to Confront Stereotypes
Posted on June 19, 2008Today's Gazette local section covers the Better West Virginia project by West Virginia bloggers to examine and challenge the traditional West Virginia stereotype on West Virginia Day (June 20). Bloggers from around the state will post their view and vision of West Virginia's new stereotype...
WVHCA Board Approves Modified Cardiac Catheterization Standards
Posted on June 19, 2008Yesterday, the West Virginia Health Care Authority Board approved the changes to the Certificate of Need Standards for Cardiac Catheterization. The approved modification will now be delivered to Governor Manchin for review and approval.Eric Eyre of the Charleston Gazette covers the story today in his article, Smaller hospitals get OK to offer heart procedures...
Does Your Doctor Use An EHR?
Posted on June 19, 2008The latest statistics are out regarding the adoption and use of electronic health records (EHRs). The New England Journal of Medicine published the government sponsored survey report. Check out the article in the NY Times, "Most Doctors Aren't Using Electronic Health Records...
West Virginia Stereotype: Wild and Wonderful
Posted on June 19, 2008To celebrate West Virginia Day (June 20), the Health Care Law Blog is excited to be a part of the statewide blogging effort lead by Jason Keeling at aBetterWestVirginia. The idea - collaborate and work together to change the typical stereotypes of West Virginia...
Health Care Goes FestivALL
Posted on June 11, 2008As my regular readers know - the Health Care Law Blog gets fishy every year when Charleston's FestivALL rolls around. Sorry for the distraction from health care law but I like to promote my favorite summertime event in Charleston - FestivALL.Just read over at Oncee that the Unknown Hinson will bring his country western psychobilly to Charleston for FestivALL on June 22 at Coonskin Park...
FestivALL: Drivers Can Enjoy Interstate 64/77/79 Split Artwork
Posted on June 09, 2008Signs of FestivALL are starting to appear. For those of you traveling along the 64/77/79 split don't miss the artwork of Charles"Todd" Thomas whose colorful 10x24 foot creation was chosen as the winner of the art contest sponsored by Allied Artist of West Virginia to help promote this year's FestivALL...
Dr. Parkinson's Goes To HIMSS
Posted on June 09, 2008Dr. Parkinson is speaking at HIMSS Summit today. Check out his slides for the presentation. Great ideas on how physician services and health care needs to change. Looks like a great agenda. Look forward to seeing reactions and discussion coming out of the summit.
304blogs: Tons of West Virginia Blogs
Posted on June 07, 2008Excellent work by Oncee and The West Virginia Optimist the brainchildren of 304Blogs (named after the West Virginia area code). A place to check out all the WVloggers (think WV bloggers). Thanks for adding the Health Care Law Blog front and center.Great place to visit and see what West Virginia bloggers are doing...
ONC-Coordinated Federal HIT Strategic Plan: 2008-2012
Posted on June 03, 2008Today the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released "The ONC-Coordinated Federal Health Information Technology Strategic Plan: 2008-2012". Find more information here, including a synopsis of the full report.The plan is meant to serve as a guide to coordinate the federal government's health IT efforts to achieve a nationwide implementation of an interoperable health information infrastructure...
Microsoft Healthvault Be Well Fund Increased
Posted on May 29, 2008The Microsoft's HealthVault Be Well Fund has decided to increase the aware funding from $3M to $4.5M after receiving almost 200 proposals from academic and research health organizations from across the United States.I'm interested to see the variety/type of proposals submitted and selected...
Better Understanding of Key Health Information Technology Terms
Posted on May 21, 2008On April 28, 2008, the National Alliance for Health Information Technology released its Report, "Defining Key Health Information Technology Terms," to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.The report is an effort to get everyone working in health information technology to have a common understanding of and differences between EMRs, EHRs, PHRs, HIEs, HIOs and RHIOs...
West Virginia Hospitals Required to Report Health Care Associated Infections
Posted on May 19, 2008West Virginia House Bill 4418 establishes West Virginia Code 16-5B-17 requiring West Virginia hospitals to report information on health care associated infections in the manner prescribed by the CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).The bill establishes a new advisory panel called the Infection Control Advisory Panel responsible for guidance and oversight in implementing the reporting process...
Charleston FestivALL 2008: A City Becomes A Work Of Art
Posted on May 18, 2008FestivALL 2008 is coming soon and the sights and sounds are set to hit the streets of Charleston on June 20-29.This week's theme over at Picture West Virginia (a project by Brian Stealey to get people thinking creatively about West Virginia) is sounds - so it prompted me to write my first post promoting this year's FestivALL...
Alltop Law: We've got Law covered.
Posted on May 17, 2008Health Care Law Blog has been added to Law section of Alltop, the digital magazine rack of the Internet. Check out all the Alltop categories on the main page.Alltops, along with its sister site, Truemors (covering breaking news, stories and rumors and referred to as "NPR for your eyes"), are the creation of Will Mayall, Kathryn Henkens and Guy Kawasaki...
The Health of Google and Google Health
Posted on May 14, 2008Very interesting post over at ZDNet by Tom Foremski on an upcoming meeting of Google hacks at the Googleplex set for May 19.Fascinating description of Google's use of machines and software to produce results rather than humans and how this might exist in the health care environment...
Get Well Rick Lee!
Posted on May 14, 2008Not the type of health care blogging that I like to see. Get well Rick!Rick Lee, my favorite photo blogger is in the hospital. If you follow his photography leave him some virtual Flickr flowers in the post comments like some of his other regular readers...
New HHS HIPAA Privacy Compliance and Enforcement Data
Posted on May 13, 2008DHHS and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) have added new enforcement statistics and data to the OCR HIPAA Privacy and Compliance and Enforcement site. Previously, I've posted about the statistics.OCR added new information broken down by the following topics:Charts showing state-specific case investigation results (West Virginia shows (see the graphic above): 71% resolved after intake and review; 18% corrective action taken; 11% no violation)Calendar-year enforcement results graphs and chartsCalendar-year graphs showing the number of complaints receivedYearly variation in the top 5 types of issues resolved through corrective actionThe statistics show that the number of complaints made to OCR continue to increase -- from 6,534 complaints in 2004 to 8,132 complaints in 2007...
The momScore: How West Virginia Ranks For Maternal Health
Posted on May 07, 2008While reading this week's Grand Rounds hosted this week at Suture for a Living, I jumped over to an interesting post by Dr. Val on an effort by her and Revolution Health to team up with medical experts and mommy bloggers to create a new health index for Mother's Day...
WVHCA: Proposed Amendments to Cardiac Catheterization Standards
Posted on May 02, 2008The West Virginia Health Care Authority approved for public comment proposed revisions to the Certificate of Need Cardiac Catheterization Standards (current 3/19/2007 standards).These revisions were made by the Authority after Governor Manchin rejected the previously proposed standards...
WV Environmental Law
Posted on April 24, 2008A welcome to West Virginia's newest law blogger, Dave Yaussey, who is blogging at the WV Environmental Law. Dave is a partner at Robinson & McElwee in their Charleston office.I use to practice law with Dave and consider him to be one of the go to environmental lawyers in West Virginia...
California HealthCare Foundation: Social Media's Impact on Health Care
Posted on April 24, 2008The California HealthCare Foundation has issued a new report, The Wisdom of Patients" Health Care Meets Online Social Media, authored by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, a health economist, management consultant and fellow health care blogger at Health Populi.The report covers a lot of territory and provides a great overview of the quickly evolving and developing health care social media and health 2...
Dr. Val Emotes Her Way Through Grand Rounds 4.31
Posted on April 22, 2008Val Jones, M.D. at Dr. Val and The Voice of Reason does a great job hosting this week's edition of Grand Rounds, titled: "How Do You Feel About That?"Great job and thanks for adding one of my posts. Don't miss the photo links to the various emotion categories (click on the category headings)...
Happy Earth Day!
Posted on April 22, 2008Happy Earth Day courtesy of Google. Take a few minutes and check out the environmental features of Google Earth from the Google Earth Blog.For my West Virginia readers (and those who may consider a get away to West Virginia) check out this earth day idea by fellow Charleston blogger, Rebecca Burch, who highlights the new project called Picture West Virginia ...
Consumers' Checkbook v. HHS Update
Posted on April 21, 2008The WSJ Health Blog, "Feds Fight to Keep Doctor Data Secret," has the latest on the Consumers' Checkbook v. HHS matter involving whether or not Medicare physicians claims data should be made publicly available. Consumers' Checkbook, a nonprofit consumer information and service resource, wants to use the data to rate physicians and health care services...
Blawg Review #156 Virtually Hosted at Virtually Blind
Posted on April 21, 2008This week's edition of Blawg Review is hosted by Benjamin Duranske at Virtually Blind.Don't miss this edition if you are intrigued by (or just want to better understand) what is happening in the legal world (including the virtual legal world).
National Healthcare Decisions Day (April 16)
Posted on April 16, 2008Today (April 16, 2008) is ?National Healthcare Decisions Day?, a collaborative effort of national, state and community organizations committed to ensuring that all adults with decision-making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to properly communicate and document their healthcare decisions...
After Tax Day Thought: Intuit CEO Returning To Speak In West Virginia
Posted on April 16, 2008West Virginia claims its share of high profile thinkers leading and funding some of the most innovative companies and businesses in the world. Add to this list Brad Smith, President CEO of Intuit, Inc.Last week I learned from Matt Ballard, President of the Charleston Area Alliance that Mr...
Proposed Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rule
Posted on April 15, 2008CMS posted on its website yesterday (April 14, 2008) the Proposed Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 (CMS-1390-P).The proposed rule includes changes to the Physician Self Referral law (Stark law) regulations and seeks comments on the Disclosure of Financial Relationship Report...
Practical Advice on the Death Spiral
Posted on April 11, 2008The Death Spiral, courtesy of the WSJ Health Blog.Great graphic which highlights advice from my dad, a retired physician in West Virginia, who always warned us of such risks. He would say, "eat better, eat less, take small bites, drive defensively with two hands on the wheel, don't climb ladders and be careful with guns...
Is Prevention Cheaper than Treatment?
Posted on April 10, 2008David Williams over at the Health Business Blog looks at this question and surprisingly answers it saying that studies show it's often cheaper to let people get sick. This perspective comes from a Washington Post article, In the Balance, Some Candidates Disagree, but Studies Show It's Often Cheaper to Let People Get Sick...
The Value of Wiki Collaboration
Posted on April 07, 2008A great graphic from Wikinomics of why wiki collaboration beats email collaboration. A picture says a 1,000 words.For me the graphic also demonstrates where we may be headed with cloud computing.Tip to Doug Cornelius' post "Wikis and Happiness" at KM Space.
Dartmouth Atlas Health Care Stats on End of Life Care Costs
Posted on April 07, 2008The WSJ Health Blog posts (WSJ article, More Choices Drive Cost of Health Care) interesting statistics on end of life care costs according to the latest Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care edition (due out today).The report shows:. . . that the cost of individual medical services isn?t the big driver of Medicare spending, at least for chronically ill patients in their last two years...
Virtual Medical Dangers of Web 2.0
Posted on April 04, 2008Thought provoking post by Bertalan Mesko at ScienceRoll on one of the dangers of web 2.0. Bertalan is a Hungarian medical student who plans to become a clinical geneticist and specialize in personalized genomics.Bertalan highlights a danger of virtual medicine and gives us a glimpse at what might be the reality of the future as real and artificial life start to merge and blend...
Thoughts on HIPAA and Privacy: NYT Article on PatientsLikeMe
Posted on April 02, 2008First, an apology to my regular blog visitors for the lack of posts over the last month. Busy, busy, busy at work and home. No time to blog. The last couple of days I have been experimenting a bit with micro blogging via Twitter as a result of a conversation with my firm's IT director and blogger...
Google Sites: Collaboration from Google
Posted on March 02, 2008Need to create a team site to centralize all types of data and information (think wiki)? Check out Google Sites a part of Google Apps. Here is Google's short summary of what it does:Google Sites makes creating a team web site as easy as editing a document...
Official Google Blog: Google Health, a first look
Posted on March 01, 2008Official Google Blog: Google Health, a first look
HITCHtv: HIPAA Fun and HIStalk HISsies Awards 2008
Posted on February 27, 2008Who says HIPAA law and health care technology (aka e-lectric-medical records) are boring topics. Health IT can be fun!If you are missing HIMSS08, check out the HIStalk HISsies Awards 2008 (video) courtesy of the Healthcare IT Transition Group and HITCHtv...
dCard: Health 2.0 Group Releases Standard for Physician Information
Posted on February 27, 2008My health colleagues over at change:health (Christopher and Robert) and Organized Wisdom (Steve and Unity) along with Within3, the founding members, have worked together to release a new open standard dCard (doctor card) to establish basic e-standards for the collecting, storing and sharing of physician information...
The Blogger Eye View of HIMSS Orlando
Posted on February 26, 2008Jay Parkinson and Scott Shreeve give those of us not attending a glimpse into the happenings at HIMSS Orlando. I particularly enjoyed Dr. Parkinson's round soap theory of health care IT.For another viewpoint check out HIStalk. Learn more about what really goes on here...
Google Health: Google Partners with Cleveland Clinic
Posted on February 21, 2008The New York Times Technology Section reports on a pilot project between Gooogle and the Cleveland Clinic in an article, Google to Store Patients' Health Records.The article indicates the pilot project will involve a volunteer patient group transferring their personal health records so that they are available via Google Health, a new health record product being developed by Google...
David Harlow's Grand Rounds Gets To the Heart of the Matter
Posted on February 12, 2008Congrats to fellow health law blogger, David Harlow at HealthBlawg who does a wonderful job weaving together a special Valentine's Day edition of Grand Rounds. David's edition gets to the heart of the matter and includes a wide range of posts - covering the love hormone, the Dead, death from Q-tips, Lupercalia and so much more...
AHLA Physicians and Hospital Law Institute
Posted on February 12, 2008Tomorrow I'm off to attend the American Health Lawyers Association's Physicians and Hospitals Law Institute in Orlando tomorrow. Looking forward to the Florida warmth as the temperature here in West Virginia dips into the single digits tonight.If your interested in the law of health care the AHLA is the group to join...
Web/Health 2.0 For Dummies
Posted on February 07, 2008Blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and social networking for dummies courtesy of Pew Trusts' e-patients.net. Simple explanations and visual demonstrations to better understand the basic concepts.I've watched a couple of these before -- but have not seen a post with them conveniently in one place...
CMS Releases New Physician Self Referral (Stark) FAQs
Posted on February 06, 2008The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently modified its website and included a new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section under the Physician Self Referral (Stark) section. CMS added 12 new Stark FAQs on January 31, 2008. A number of these new FAQs relate to the new Stark III regulations.
Grand Rounds: Health 2.0 Explosion At Diabetes Mine
Posted on February 05, 2008Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine explores the Health 2.0 Explosion in this week's edition of Grand Rounds, Vol. 4, No 20. If you are interested in health care social networking and health 2.0 topics don't miss reading this week's edition.Great job Amy!
Hospitals and Anonymous Blogging: An Update of the Paris Regional Medical Center Lawsuit
Posted on February 02, 2008Just pick up the latest news from Greg Piche of the Holland & Hart Healthcare Law Blog about the pending libel lawsuit against an anonymous blogger filed by Paris Regional Medical Center, a subsidiary of Essent. For some background on the case check out Jeff Drummond's past post Hospital Sues Blogger...
West Virginia E-Prescribing Regulations
Posted on January 31, 2008On January 4, 2008, the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy filed a Notice of Emergency Rule amending CSR 15-1, Licensure and Practice of Pharmacy, implementing the requirements of SB 1001 (See SB 69 and HB 2289) passed during the 2007 Legislative Session permitting electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) of legend drugs in West Virginia, including through the use of electronic data intermediaries...
Results of Tech President Primary
Posted on January 30, 2008Want to know where the presidential hopefuls stand on technology?Check ou the result of the TechCrunch Tech President Primaries. You can see where the candidates stand on 10 key tech issues. Based on the results the TechCrunch endorsements goes to Barack Obama and John McCain...
Grand Rounds . . . Revolution
Posted on January 29, 2008Grand Rounds Volume 4, No. 19 is up over at my favorite nurse blog, Emergiblog. Kim has wonderful vision into the world of health care and is a creative writer to boot. I've gotten out of the habit of submitting posts to Grand Rounds. Never enough time in the day...
West Virginia Educational Social Network
Posted on January 29, 2008The State Journal reports that West Virginia University with the backing of a grant from Verizon will create a social network for middle and high school students focused around education (with emphasis on the energy sector) to get a head start on career decisions...
Newsweek Features Amy Tenderich of DiabetesMine
Posted on January 26, 2008Great to see Newsweek run a story on Amy Tenderich and the success of her blog, DiabetesMine. Amy's efforts are a great example of how blogs can be used to creatively share valuable information with a patient community.Here is a taste of the article and how Amy got started,I've been writing my Web site for three years now, and some amazing things have happened...
Get Your Google Health . . . Soon
Posted on January 25, 2008Various reports out about the coming of Google Health. As Matthew Holt indicates, the Google purists found a log in page (screen shot).The log in page has since been pulled down but Matthew and Tech Crunch provide a list of what the log in page said Google Health will do for you, including:With Google Health, you can: Build online health profiles that belong to youDownload medical records from doctors and pharmaciesGet personalized health guidance and relevant newsFind qualified doctors and connect to time-saving servicesShare selected information with family or caregiversI'm particularly interested to check out the "Google Health Privacy Policy" which is referenced on the log in screen shot...
HealthBlawg Cover Northeast Health 2.0 Event
Posted on January 25, 2008Fellow health law blogger, David Harlow, hangs with the Health 2.0 crowd at the Northeast Corridor Health 2.0 shindig in Cambridge. David provides his thoughts on where Health 2.0 might be headed. Looking forward to attending a future NE Health 2.0 event...
More Predictions on The Future of Health Care
Posted on January 24, 2008Great post, "Everybody's Talking about the Future of Health Care," by Fred Fortin over at the World Health Care Blog. The post focusing our attention on what may occur in 2008.The other day I was in a meeting related to West Virginia's efforts to create a state wide health information network...
Guitar Hero Health Care
Posted on January 21, 2008Guitar Hero (Rock Band) Health Care. The current (next) generation expects to be on the stage performing and not just sitting passively in the audience.Check out Why Consumer - Directed Medicine, Health 2.0 Will Flourish by Jen McCabe Gorman at Health Management RX...
Advocating The Need For A Federal Data Breach Disclosure Law
Posted on January 17, 2008Information Week's Security Blog advocates for a federal data breach disclosure law in this post, The Time Is Now (Better Yet, Yesterday) For A Federal Data Breach Disclosure Law.Thanks to the HIPAA Blog for point out the article. I agree with Jeff Drummond's conclusion...
The Return of Flea . . .
Posted on January 17, 2008An interview with Dr. Flea (Robert Lindeman, MD) from Eric Turkewitz at the New York Personal Injury Law Blog.Thanks to Mr. Turkewitz for taking the time and effort to approach Dr. Lindeman and for Dr. Lindeman for agreeing to be interviewed. A great series of questions and answers...
WVHCA: Update on the Proposed Cardiac Catheterization Standards
Posted on January 14, 2008I previously posted about the proposed amendments to the Certificate of Need Cardiac Catheterization Standards issued by the West Virginia Health Care Authority for public comment.Today, Charleston Gazette reporter, Eric Eyre, reports on the current debate over the standards...
2008 WV Legislature: Modification to WV Mental Health Confidentiality Provisions
Posted on January 14, 2008iHealthBeat (courtesy of Daily Mail) reports on proposed House Bill 4020 introduced last week before the West Virginia Legislature to modify W.Va. Code 27-3-1 authorizing the disclosure of certain mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System...
Blawg Review #142: Letter To A New Lawyer
Posted on January 14, 2008Be sure to check out this week's Blawg Review #142 over at Build A Solo Practice by Susan Cartier Liebel.This week's edition is creatively formatted as a letter to a new lawyer. Enjoy the read, click on a few of the links and discover interesting posts from around the legal blogosphere.
Dr. Crounse Interviews Dr. Parkinson: A Look Into A New Generation of Physicians and Patients
Posted on January 09, 2008Bill Crounse, MD of HealthBlog posts about his interview courtesy of ScribeMedia) with Jay Parkinson, MD about his unique business model for today and tomorrows health care delivery - part concierge medicine, part old-time house call infused with modern technology...
History of HIPAA Standard Patient Health Identifiers
Posted on January 09, 2008John Halamka at Life as a Healthcare CIO has a nice summary and discussion of the history of the decision not to adopt a HIPAA national standard unique health identifier for each individual patient.I often talk about this topic when presenting my standard presentation on the various component regulations under HIPAA...
President-Elect of American Medical Association
Posted on January 07, 2008Congratulations to Elkins, West Virginia native, Nancy J. Nielsen, M.D., Ph.D., president-elect of the American Medical Association. Dr. Nielsen will only be the second female to hold the position. Another example of a West Virginian making great strides in health care and medicine...
Health IT Predictions for 2008 by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn
Posted on January 02, 2008Jane Sarasohn-Kahn has a nice round up of health IT predictions for 2008 over at iHealthBeat. Be sure to check out Get Out the Crystal Ball: Predicting What's Next for Health IT - iHealthBeat.One correction that I just pointed out to Jane is that Nick Jacobs IMHO is the grandfather of hospital CEO bloggers (started in May 2005) and that Paul Levy comes in a close 2nd...
Happy Holidays!
Posted on December 22, 2007Happy Holidays to all my regular readers! Wishing you, your family and friends the best over the holidays.A Coffield family tradition is painting Christmas cookies each year. It all started with an incredible women and family neighbor, Mrs. Martin, who lived into her 100s...
WVHCA Grants Motion to Dissolve Stay in Manor Care CON
Posted on December 21, 2007Yesterday the West Virginia Health Care Authority issued an Order Dissolving Stay. The Order granted MCHCR's (Carlyle Group) Motion to Dissolve Stay but denied the Motion to Affirm the Initial CON Decision.The Authority set January 7 as the date for initial briefs to be submitted by both parties as a result of the Reconsideration Hearing held on December 14.
Support The Mountaineers!
Posted on December 20, 2007The last week has been tough for all West Virginians with the untimely departure of Rich Rodriguez for what he believes is greener grass in Michigan.Today I got the email below from my partner and friend, Chris Brumley, loyal Mountaineer Fan and all around good guy...
WV Chamber of Commerce President Calls for EHRs
Posted on December 18, 2007In yesterday's Charleston Daily Mail, Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, was quoted as calling for a statewide electronic health record system to reduce health care costs and increase the value of care.The full article, Chamber of Commerce promotes electronic record-keeping, can be read via the Charleston Daily Mail...
Lights, Camera, Action . . . Health 2.0
Posted on December 13, 2007Matthew Holt of The Health Care Blog sent me a message that they are close to announcing the agenda for the March 2008 Health 2.0 Spring Fling in San Diego. In preparation for the conference the planners are out seeking real life examples of Health 2...
Health Wonk Review - December 13
Posted on December 13, 2007Check out the final 2007 edition of Health Wonk Review, a round up of the best health policy blog posts, hosted by fellow health law blogger, David Harlow at HealthBlawg.Check out the Health Wonk Review blog for more information on how to be a host.
Physician Liability: Was Accident Foreseeable By Treating Physician?
Posted on December 12, 2007A colleague pointed out this WSJ Law Blog post via the WSJ Health Blog reporting on a ruling made by the Massachusetts's Supreme Judicial Court. The ruling found a physician liable for failing to warn his patient about the side effects of the medications and the potential danger of driving while taking them...
HealthBlog by Bill Crounse, MD
Posted on December 11, 2007HealthBlog by Bill Crounse, MD, a new (at least to me) health care IT blog to follow. Dr. Crounse is the Worldwide Health Director for Microsoft. I've added HealthBlog to my RSS reader and look forward to the great green content being generated by Dr...
Kibbee/Markle: Exploration of Consumer Access to Networked Health Information
Posted on December 10, 2007Dr. David Kibbee provides great insight on the meeting by the Markle Foundation and what it might mean for Health 2.0, consumer driven health care and how health data is managed by traditional health care providers and payors. Well worth the read for anyone interested in where health information might be headed...
Business Blogging Features in Sunday Gazette-Mail
Posted on December 09, 2007Last week's Sunday Gazette-Mail featured an article, Blogging for Dollars: talky web journals keep customers in the loop, providing insight into some local business bloggers. I want to thank the reporter, Sarah Winn, for contacting me and allowing me the opportunity to be interviewed for the article...
Governor Manchin Rejects New Certificate of Need CT Standards
Posted on December 09, 2007Eric Eyre reports in today's Sunday Gazette-Mail that Governor Manchin has rejected the proposed new Certificate of Need CT Standards approved by the West Virginia Health Care Authority last month.The article indicates Governor Manchin sent a letter to the Authority's Board on Friday, December 7, asking that they re-examine the imaging equipment proposal and submit a revised plan...
WVHCA Reconsiders HCR Manor Care CON
Posted on December 06, 2007The State Journal provides background on the pending reconsideration hearing set for December 14, 2007 (9am), before the the West Virginia Health Care Authority regarding the Authority's granting of a certificate of need for the $6.3 billion buyout of HCR Manor Care by The Carlyle Group, a private global investment firm...
Revolution Health Expanding . . .
Posted on December 05, 2007iHealthBeat reports via the Washington Post that Revolution Health is expanding its online health business by acquiring HealthTalk, a site focused on chronic conditions, and an investment in SparklePeople, a web site offering diet/exercise advice and ideas...
Give One Get One: Tech It Forward . . .
Posted on December 01, 2007I like the concept behind the movie, Pay It Forward. Why not "Tech It Forward."Looking for a unique holiday gift? Why not buy and give an XO Laptop through the Give One Get One program. Take a moment and think about how much you use your computer and the power it gives you to work, learn, think, communicate and so on ...
Health 2.0 In Action . . .
Posted on November 30, 2007While catching up on my RSS feeds this evening a ran across a couple of interesting posts showing Health 2.0 in action.The first takes you on a tour through the eyes of a new diabetic from Richard MacManus at Read/WriteWeb.The second, I would suggest you bring at least fifty bucks, from Page Thompson over at change:healthcare takes a look into the dark and humorous world of the costs for strep tests...
A Lesson For All West Virginia Expatriates: Country Road Less Traveled
Posted on November 26, 2007Rodriquez is running to Michigan for the $$$ and prestige. Sad ending to his career here in West Virginia. The Detroit Free Press writes:Rodriguez had a 10-minute meeting with his team early this afternoon, told the 11th-ranked Mountaineers that he was leaving for Michigan and went back to his office, according to West Virginia media reports...
Thanksgiving Traditions: Turkey, Black Friday, Diet . . .
Posted on November 22, 2007Clinical Cases and Images looks at the predictability of humans courtesy of Google Trends. Below is an example of the traditions of turkey (blue), Black Friday (red) and diet (orange). Advice for the holidays from my dad, a retired family physician from Wetzel County, "everything in moderation...
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How do i go bout geting a free laywer to sue the durham police department for drug raids and nothing is found?they have been in my house 4 or 5 times seems like every 4 months or so and breaking down my door tearing up m
They need a warrant to get into your house...if they never showed you one...you ...
Can collection agency call me for my mother debt that she never had?
Get an Attorney - quickly. Do not talk to the collection people. Do not tell the...
I want to know if its legal for a healthcare provider to tell you something is going to be covered and when it isn't charge you; after you specifically said you couldn't afford it?
I'm not going to sugar coat anything. It's a sad world we live in toda...
My father recently re-financed his home and was told they would give him $8,000.00 out of their loan origination fees for him to pay his credit cards off. He didn't qualify for any cash out so they were going to take car
Absolutely! I would call a RESPA attorney immediately as soon as you can. They a...
Some elses debt is being reported by a bank to the crecit agencies. They know and have ackowledged it is not mine, yet it is still being listed as mine. it was my son's and no I didn't co-sign. It is adversly
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