Surgical Information Systems Launches Enhanced Online Client Portal MarketWatch - 46 minutes ago Online technical support streamlines the support process and drives increased operational transparency, while the extensive knowledge base allows SIS users ...

Economist

Globalisation and health care Economist, UK - 12 minutes ago A bit of rivalry from top foreign facilities may introduce transparency and price competition into an inefficient system riddled with oligopolies and ...

'Trusted Transparency' Can Transform the Spread of Healthcare ... MarketWatch - 34 minutes ago According to the report, "Trusted Transparency in Healthcare Informatics," companies that create an information advantage can, in turn, help the entire ...

How to treat healthcare costs Boston Globe, United States - 41 minutes ago Senator Mark Montigny of New Bedford, a backer of disclosure, gets it right when he says, "Taxpayers - and patients - have never lost through transparency. ...

Can global competition bring health care quality? ZDNet - 36 minutes ago My view is a key to any P4P scheme has to be transparency, solid information insurers and consumers can use to make informed choices. ...

Hospitals shine light on mistakes by publicly saying: "We're sorry" American Medical News (subscription) - 17 minutes ago These public mea culpas come on the heels of intense pressure on physicians and hospitals to improve patient safety and transparency, admit mistakes to ...

The Blue Cross Blue Shield program in Tennessee announced plans to start a new transparency site in the fall. The online tool is under development to allow members to investigate the costs of medical care and the quality from different ...

The Blue Cross Blue Shield program in Tennessee announced plans to start a new transparency site in the fall. The online tool is under development to allow members to investigate the costs of medical care and the quality from different ...

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Healthcare transparency is finally spilling over into the insurance market place where the public will begin to see pricing data from Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin. The plan is to let policy holders and others see what the ...

Increased transparency in health expenditure Malta Independent Online, Malta - 53 minutes ago Financing sustainable healthcare is regarded by stakeholders as an urgent matter. A report published in 2007 takes note of the importance of increasing ...

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As a Medical Informaticist with experience in building very specialized information systems for highly specialized medical areas (e.g., population genetics & birth defects; invasive cardiology), certain issues are readily apparent that I believe get missed by others studying the nasty phenomenon of physician payments by medical device merchants.

One issue that emerges is the insidious effect such payments may have on the "nuances" and "creative license" a physician might take on reporting the data.

The following story appeared today in my local paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"After hip replacements, a lawsuit: Implant company paid Penn surgeon consulting fees."

Fed up with the constant pain in her hips, Katrina McKenzie took her surgeon's advice and had them replaced with experimental implants. [Civil docket report

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AMA meeting: AMA grades health plans on how they handle claims American Medical News (subscription) - 9 hours ago The group is a nonprofit consortium of business leaders advocating for transparency in health care pricing and accurate, useful quality information for ...

Medical records on the internet: a revolution in healthcare or a ... Times Online, UK - 59 minutes ago This transparency has gone a long way to restoring trust, says Dr Hannan. But for those who read their records, the benefits have been far greater. ...