Shaw's Eco-Logic

Is it just me, or have you also noticed that the most important part of health care, namely outcomes, is almost never discussed? I look at one aspect of this in my latest HND piece.

I started off writing about the pitfalls of implementing information technology in health care, but then found myself in yet another scenario where patient outcomes were not even on the radar, let alone of any priority. Case in point: Dirty PCs used in the intensive care unit—and elsewhere in the hospital—caused the spread of super bugs.

Even if you don't care about outcomes in this context, you will not be pleased with the finding that there is no agreement as to what constitutes a "successful" HIT (health care information technology) implementation. But don't worry. Obama and company have set up a bounty of $19 billion to reward "Meaningful Use" of HIT. The tragedy is that so many people think the mess he and his co-conspirators came up with is actually health care reform.

Read the complete article.