Analytics of Medinnovation  Blog

Analytics – The process of developing optimal or realistic decisions based on insights derived from applying statistical models against existing data.

Definition of Analytics

April 12, 2012 – These days you can scarcely turn around without  hearing the word “analytics.” This is fancy language for using data to solve problems or to analyze what to do to exploit opportunities.   Increased computer capacity is  what  makes analytics  such a powerful  tool for businesses,  particularly  big HIT companies like Google,  IBM, and Microsoft, the social  media, and even for little guys like me.

I shall  now apply analytics to my Medinnovation blog, which is now  5 ½ years  and 2250 blogs old.

Here is what I have learned from over 154,280 page views, which I prefer to call “hits,” on my blog.   In order of frequent hits,  these are the ten top blogs receiving hits.

1)      Is Practice Fusion’s “Free” EHR for Real. May 23, 2010

This is far and away the most widely read blog by a factor of 3 over any other blog. The big reasons why  are that  Practice Fusion has an  innovative  business model that allows physicians to install a “free” EHR, to do so without hardware on site, to have computing done in “the cloud” in offsite Internet browser, and to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid bonuses .

2) Interview  on Physician Shortage with Richard “Buz” Cooper, MD, January  24, 2009

Dr. Cooper is Professor of Medicine at the U. of Pennsylvania and a fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health  Economics  there.  Cooper predicted  an escalating physician shortage and analyzed why shortage was taking place.   He challenged the Dartmouth Institute as do true cause of regional Medicare cost variations, which he attributed to poverty  rather than provider greed.

3)      Primary Care Revolt: Replace RUC, April 17, 2011

Primary care doctors are angry that the CMS-AMA directed Relative Value Update Committee, which provides physician codes,  favors specialists fees over primary care doctor fees.  National primary care groups are lobbying for more of their members on RUC board and for more equitable fees.

4)      Low Value of Primary Care Doctors, July 1, 2010

This is a blog borrowed from blog of Chris Rangel, MD, a practicing internist.  Rangel gives reasons why patients place such a low value on services primary care physicians  provide.  The Rangle  blog also was reproduced in KevinMD.com , which contains a wealth of material  on the plight of primary care practitioners.  
5)      Doctors in Bad Mood, March 2, 2012

This blog drew an immediate and lasting response.   It catalogues the response of 5000 doctor members of a  Doctors Company’s survey.   The Doctors Company is the nation’s largest malpractice carrier.   The survey indicated 90% of doctors would not recommend  medicine as a profession and 43% said they planned to retire within 5 years. 

6)      Future of Accountable Care Organizations, January  26, 2011

A schizophrenic  anxiety exists out there among doctors  about the Accountable Care Organizations,  one of the linchpins of Obamacare.   The ACO idea is to herd doctors into a common organization  that takes care of a defined Medicare population for set budget which will produce “savings” to be distributed to participating hospitals and doctors. 

7)      Comparative Value (Outcomes/Cost), December 31, 2010

The Health Care Blog, arguably  the most widely read of all health reform blogs, reran this blog of mine.  In my blog, I expressed skepticism about the practicality and end results of value measurements of physician  performance as a means of improving care outcomes.

8)      Why Doctors Don’t Like EHRs, October 7, 2011

I wrote this blog at the request of the editor of MIT’s Technology Review.  I mentioned cost,  drop in productivity, and lack of clinical usefulness,  among other factors leading to physician disenchantment.  The article drew a spirited negative response among the health information cognoscenti, who look upon data  as the  Holy Grail , or alternatively as  OSHA (Our Savior Has Arrived).

9)      Differences between Health Care and Medical Care, April 22, 2009

Obama officials rarely mention it, but there is a tremendous difference between expanding   health insurance coverage and providing better care for patients.   The elemental question is: what good is expanded coverage to 32 million more uninsured  people  and 78 million  baby boomers  now entering Medicare roles without doctors to care for them? 

10)  Health Reform: Look at Massachusetts First, May 2, 2011

This will undoubtedly  be a central talking point during the presidential campaign.  How can Governor Romney effectively oppose Obamacare when so-called Romneycare is the foundation  for the health care law?   Romney’s answer.  Each state should have its own approach to health care.

 Tweet:   Medinnovation.com, is  5 ½ years and over 2250 blogs old   Here are the 10 most widely read Medinnovation blogs with reasons why they are read.