Lets Go Mountaineers . . .

Everyone in West Virginia is excited about the start of the WVU college football season. There is a a lot of buzz about the Mountaineers, its #3 AP ranking and Heisman hopefuls, Steve Slaton and Pat White (check out his Pitt growl). Good luck to the Mountaineers as they start there season this weekend. Go Mountaineers and their #1 rated fans!This...

Learning: Privacy and Security Monitoring, Audits and Investigations

On November 13, 2007, I will be speaking at a Lorman Eduational Services seminar to be held in Charleston, West Virginia. The seminar topic is "Health Care Information Privacy and Security Monitoring, Audits and Investigations: How to avoid an investigation and what you should expect if the state or federal officials call". You can register online...

The Beauty of West Virginia

Our state receives a lot of negative national news - lately its been about the business climate and our weight problem. However, here is the reason I live in and love West Virginia. Another terrific shot (large image) from local photo blogger, Rick Le...

CMS Stark III Regulations Now Available

Today CMS released the final Stark III physician self-referral rule available on the Physician Self Referral section of the CMS website and will be published in the September 5 Federal Register. 516 pages of light health care regulatory reading for the Labor Day Holiday.The Phase III Stark Final Rule (CMS-1810-F) is officially titled, "Medicare Program;...

Physicians vs. Patient: Rating-Permission Contracts

Interesting post from the WSJ Health Blog on Medical Justice's new ratings-permission contracts (press release on service).This new service offered by Medical Justice appears designed to attempt to control the evolving growth of health care consumer driven rating information provided through companies like RateMDs.com.According to Medical Justice's...

HHS Secretary Leavitt Joins The Blogosphere

A warm welcome to Secretary Mike Leavitt (blog bio) who last week launched his blog at Secretary Mike Leavitt's Blog. It is wonderful to see the United States top health care official join the blogospere and create a vehicle to share his personal observations and have an open conversation about health care and the challenges that that we all face.I...

Latest on CMS's Challenge to WV Oxycontin Settlement

Larry Messina provides the latest on CMS's challenge to the $10M Oxycontin settlement by the West Virginia Attorney General's office against Purdue Pharma. Last month the West Virginia Bureau of Medical Services received from CMS a $4.1M notice of disallowance stating that the state failed to share a portion of the settlement with federal Medicare.Larry...

Why We Need A Health Care Revolution

Dr. Val Jones' road to revolution provides her personal perspective on the current state of our health care system and why we all need to work for change.Don't miss the rest of this week's Grand Rounds hosted at Med Journal Watc...

NYT Looks At Dr. Google and Dr. Microsoft

Today's NYT article, Dr. Google and Dr. Microsoft, takes a look at how Google and Microsoft are focusing efforts on the health care industry and how to improve the traditional health care system by utilizing technology to allow patients greater access and control over their personal...

Almost Heaven . . . eBay

Almost Heaven West Virginia eBay.Interesting survey results from Scarborough Research showing that Charleston, West Virginia is the #1 U.S. market for eBay visitors. 41% of adults in Charleston who accessed the internet in the last month are eBay visitors.Skip Lineberg at Maple Creative has some additional thought on what this means for Charleston...