IBM Healthcare Podcast

Here's a heads up on a great new podcast on the intersection of healthcare and technology.

Download ibm_healthcare_podcast111207.mp3

My colleague Jeff Gluck, a radio veteran, does an excellent job interviewing three experts on how healthcare is evolving into a more innovative, and integrated, system organized around patients.

Dr. Randall Oates, a family practitioner from Fayetteville, Arkansas, and president of Soapware, an electronic medical records company.

Dan Pelino,  IBM's general manager of global healthcare & life sciences industry.

Dr. Paul Grundy, chairman of  Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) and IBM's director of Healthcare Technology and Strategic Initiatives. 

 

Here's a summary of some of the topics covered:

How can shifting to a patient-centric healthcare system create a 35 percent lower hospital rate and reduce costs by one-third?   In Denmark, the shift contributed to 97 percent of the population reporting to be “extremely happy” with the care they receive. 

In the U.S. the rising cost of healthcare ranked as Americans’ number one concern, outpolling both war and terrorism, and 46 million Americans remain without health insurance.  The U.S. is not alone in its need for affordable healthcare.  The World Health Organization reports that in 47 countries, more than half of total health expenditures is carried by out-of-pocket payments by the individual.