The Federal Social Media Accounts You Should Follow

#FEDS GET SOCIAL

Social media has a major influence's and news disseminating source for health professionals.

News often breaks in social media platforms.   Health care is determined now in major ways by state and federal regulations. OMB has issued several regulations and guidance for social media (what the government does best, set regulations)

The Federal Social Media Accounts You Should Follow

The Office of Management and Budget released its “Legal Advisory on the Standards of Conduct and Social Media” to the Federal workforce this April after a flood of inquiries for proper use of social media. Good thing … Feds are making user engagement an art. Here are some of the best Federal social media accounts to check out.

Agencies which would be effected:

HHS  United States Department of Health and Human Services

VA    United States Department of Veterans Affair

CMS, and it's departments. 

Others

Agency for Health care Research and Quality
The Agency for Health care Research and Quality's (AHRQ) mission is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. Information from AHRQ's research helps people make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services. AHRQ was formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

Army Corps of Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approximately 34,000 dedicated Civilians and Soldiers delivering engineering services to customers in more than 90 countries worldwide.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This site includes sections on travelers' health, general health information, data and statistics, training and employment, and funding. It provides detailed information about the CDC and includes links to related Web sites.

Department of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.

Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It consists of six product centers, one research center, and two offices.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
This site contains information on Medicaid, child health, publications & forms, stats & data, research & demonstration, and laws and regulations.

Health finder
Healthfinder® is a a government Web site where you will find information and tools to help you and those you care about stay healthy.

Medicare
The Official U.S. government site for people with Medicare.

National Academies
The National Academies perform an unparalleled public service by bringing together committees of experts in all areas of scientific and technological endeavor. These experts serve pro bono to address critical national issues and give advice to the federal government and the public.

National Institute on Aging
NIA, one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of NIH, leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life

National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute coordinates the National Cancer Program, which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.

National Center for Health Statistics
The mission of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is to provide statistical information that will guide actions and policies to improve the health of the American people. As the Nation's principal health statistics agency, NCHS leads the way with accurate, relevant, and timely data.

National Eye Institute
The National Eye Institute’s mission is to "conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of the blind."

National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.

National Institute on Drug Abuse
NIDA's mission is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction.

National Library of Medicine
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world's largest medical library. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of bio medicine and health care.

President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry
The Commission was created by President Clinton to "advise the President on changes occurring in the health care system and recommend such measures as may be necessary to promote and assure health care quality and value, and protect consumers and workers in the health care system." The web site includes a complete copy of the final report entitled "Quality First: Better Health Care for All Americans" and the "Consumer Bill of Rights" in health care. 

Consider saving this list and also the twitter list for these agencies

Engagement with Health Agencies on Twitter

Welcome to the Federal Agencies page. By default, agencies and departments are listed alphabetically. Each office's use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, RSS feeds and Flickr are tracked. 

US GOVERNMENT (this is a general twitter list for many federal agencies

 
 

Patient Centered Medicine....Even More Important In The Digital Age

What is it that patients want more than anything else ?  You decide.  

Dave De Bronkart (e-patientDave) received a visiting professorship from the Mayo Clinic Social Media Network based upon his life experience with end state kidney cancer..  His demise was prematurely forecast, and much of his survival was due to his own engagement in  his situation.

Dave DeBronkart has given this lecture or a variant thereof by invitation to many audiences.  More providers should attend one or watch a recorded lecture.

Dave's lectures are powerful due to the content of his message, AND his unique style merging down home folksiness with professional content for a wide audience.

Dr. Wes

Dr. Wes:

'via Blog this'

Well, the SGR was finally repealed, even though it had never been used in the past 17 years. For those who have not read the fine print of H.R. 2, which formalizes the abandonment of the SGR, the new law includes several "trojan horses".  One is to enhance the conversion of fee for service reimbursment to a value based system (whatever that may mean). Secondly there is wording that includes codifying M.O.C. (maintenance of certification) into federal regulations (HHS)



This nugget of information federalizes  CME and creates another Gordian knot between state licensing boards, federal and specialty boards.


A Promising Week of Firsts

It was quite a week for America's practicing physicians.  For months the frustration over the lack of accountability of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and the American Board of Medical Specialties Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program had been building.  Even anger, an emotion few physicians have time for, was mounting.

Then something wonderful happened.

Physicians stopped working for a moment and picked up the phone. For many, it was the first time they had ever called a Senator's office.  For others, the first time they had written one.



Here's a few examples from Twitter:

So. Everyone who cares @ ABIM/MOC or many Medicare disasters of HR2 is calling Senators in AM?https://t.co/aPkNfV90PW @doctorwes @kksheld
— LE (@LG44715502) April 12, 2015

@doctorwes @DrSethdb Calling my senators was remarkably easy and took less than five minutes. I encourage others to call.
— Phillip Cuculich, MD (@DoctorPhillEP) April 13, 2015

@doctorwes @kevinmd @lg44715502 Message delivered to @SenJohnMcCain and @JeffFlake - MOC not about better patient care shouldn't be in HR2!
— JCT (@jct_ucb) April 13, 2015

I called @SenGillibrand & @SenSchumer! RT @doctorwes Working Doctors, Call Your Senator TODAY http://t.co/6mgTE1bE0I Where's the petition?
— Ida Santana, MD (@IdaSantanaMD) April 13, 2015

For US Senators in Washington DC (or their staffers), it was also the first time they had heard from front line working physicians rather than physician-lobbyists knocking on their door.  Weren't working physicians supposed to just be "excellent sheep?"

But there they were: a pediatrician calling over her lunch hour, a family practice doctor taking a few moments between patients, or a cardiac electrophysiologist ("What's that?" they asked) reading EKGs and calling.

From all over the country.

It was almost as if you could hear them asking, "Why are these doctors calling?  What do you mean there's an anti-trust suit pending?  I thought they wanted this SGR Reform! What is this MOC thing anyway?"

The reaction from Congressional staffers was surprising. They said that was the first time they were lobbied by physicians rather than lobbyists.

Practicing doctors might not have won the battle to stop the ABMS Maintenance of Certification program from being incorporated into our new health care law, or for parts of the program being used as a medical registry for physician reporting purposes in H.R. 2.  But the other night they won something much better: they learned that they weren't powerless.  They remembered that being  "accountable" for peoples' lives is very different than being "accountable" for dollars.

Thanks to all who raised a voice, wrote a letter, and took a stand against MOC.  I can't tell you how great it was to see so many physician nationwide come together so quickly to stake a stand on this remarkably divisive and corrupt program that extends, like a hydra, throughout our entire health care system.



We have have good reason to smile.

Congress and the public now know about it too.

-Wes

Apps to Track Exercise, Sleep Help Patients Participate in Clinical Trials - WSJ

Apps to Track Exercise, Sleep Help Patients Participate in Clinical Trials - WSJ:



'via Blog this'

Steven DeMello, like many people, uses a smartphone to keep a calendar, take notes, create artful photographs and listen to music.

Recently, he began using it for a new purpose: to participate in a clinical trial. Three times a day, the retired health-care executive, who is 60 years old and has Parkinson’s disease, performs four tests using an app on his iPhone that records his results and provides feedback to researchers—and to him—on how his Parkinson’s symptoms affect his daily life.

“If I know more about my condition, the better and smarter I will be in managing my own care,” he says.

The app, called mPower, is one of five disease-related apps for clinical trials released in March in connection with Apple Inc.’s introduction of ResearchKit, a platform where users can track personal health data and participate in health studies. Other apps include My Heart Counts for cardiovascular disease, Asthma Health, GlucoSuccess for diabetes, and Share the Journey, for a study of the aftereffects of treatment for breast cancer.

Together the apps—and patients like Mr. DeMello—offer a glimpse of how the ubiquitous smartphone has the potential to transform medical research. Taking advantage of smartphone features such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and GPS locators, the apps track real-time daily activity and supplement other information on a patient’s condition.

ENLARGE

Three times a day, Steven DeMello, a retired health-care executive who has Parkinson’s disease, uses an app on his iPhone to perform four tests that record results and provide feedback to researchers—and to him. PHOTO:STEVEN DEMELLO