SCIENCE AND SOCIETY » Health Care Delivery

Integrative Medicine and Cancer Treatment – Urban Zen Initiative at Beth Israel Medical Center

David Lemberg — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:45:44 +0000

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Dr. Woodson Merrell

Dr. Benjamin Kligler

Donna Karan, through her Urban Zen initiative, has teamed up with Dr. Woodson Merrell, Chairman of the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel, along with Beth Israel Medical Center’s Continuum Center for Health and Healing, to create an ‘Optimal Healing Environment’ for cancer treatment.

The Urban Zen Initiative at Beth Israel is supporting a major multi-component initiative that includes physical changes to the environment of the oncology unit, the introduction of skilled yoga therapy, staff retraining to encourage optimal healing, and a rigorous research program.

Dr. Woodson Merrell is the M. Anthony Fisher Director of Integrative Medicine at the Continuum Center for Health and Healing in New York City. Dr. Merrell is also the Chairman of the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center. He is committed to public policy and practice standards in integrative medicine, having testified to both Houses of Congress, as well as New York City and State agencies.

Dr. Benjamin Kligler is Associate Professor of Family and Social Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Research Director of the Beth Israel Medical Center’s Continuum Center for Health and Healing. He is the author of Curriculum in Complementary Therapies: A Guide for the Medical Educator, and co-editor of Integrative Medicine: Principles for Practice, a textbook published by McGraw-Hill in 2004.

Technorati Tags: cancer treatment, healing touch, integrative medicine, Urban Zen Initiative, yoga

Improving Chronic Illness Care – Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease – Dr. Edward Wagner

David Lemberg — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:08:37 +0000

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Dr. Edward Wagner

Dr. Edward Wagner discusses the chronic care model – powerful guidelines for improving chronic illness care. Dr. Wagner discusses redesigning the health care delivery system, creating a better-prepared practice team, and developing methods for increasing patients’ knowledge, skills, and confidence. Additionally, Dr. Wagner addresses high-quality cancer care and delivering effective primary care to older adults.

Dr. Wagner is a general internist/epidemiologist and Director of the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation at the Center for Health Studies Group Health Cooperative. His research and quality improvement work focus on improving the care of seniors and others with chronic illness.

Since 1998, Dr. Wagner has directed “Improving Chronic Illness Care”, a national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He and his MacColl Institute colleagues developed the Chronic Care Model, which now serves as the foundation for improving ambulatory care for many organizations nationally and internationally.

Dr. Wagner has written two books and more than 250 publications. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and serves on the editorial boards of the British Medical Journal and the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. Dr. Wagner is the recipient of the 2007 NCQA Health Quality Award and the 2007 Picker Institute Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Patient-centered Care.

Technorati Tags: cancer treatment, chronic care model, diabetes, health care reform, heart disease

Health Care Reform – Dr. Pauline Rosenau

David Lemberg — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:58:56 +0000

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Dr. Pauline Rosenau

Dr. Pauline Rosenau discusses health system reform, including an all-payer system, not-for-profit medical care, how to effectively reduce administrative costs, and the experiences of other countries. One important way forward is to ensure that elected officials are independent of special interests.

Dr. Pauline Rosenau is Professor of Management, Policy, and Community Health at the University of Texas–Houston School of Public Health. She is the author of The Competition Paradigm: America’s Romance with Conflict, Contest, and Commerce, published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2003.

Dr. Rosenau edited Public/Private Policy Partnerships, published by MIT University Press in 2000 and Health Reform in the Nineties, published by SAGE Publications in 1994. Her books have received Choice Magazine’s Outstanding Academic Books Awards in 1992 and 1994. Her peer-reviewed articles have appeared in many prestigious journals, including Social Work in Public Health, Journal of Health Politics, and Medical Care Review.

Technorati Tags: health care reform, U.S. Health Care, universal health care

Democratic Enterprise – The New Economy – Dr. William Halal

David Lemberg — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:43:48 +0000

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Dr. William Halal

Dr. William Halal discusses democratic enterprise – reinventing the American economy by creating self-organizing distributed networks within corporations – as Google, Nokia, and Johnson & Johnson have done so successfully.

Dr. Halal discusses how to create a collaborative corporate community based on teams and internal self-organizing markets.

Dr. William Halal’s newest book is Technology’s Promise, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2008. Macmillan’s Encyclopedia of the Future ranked him among “The World’s 100 Most Influential Futurists,“ including H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Alvin Toffler. Dr. Halal is the founder of TechCast, a web-based system that pools the knowledge of experts to forecast breakthroughs in all technical fields.

Dr. Halal is Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and Innovation at George Washington University. An authority on emerging technology, strategic planning, and institutional change, Dr. Halal has worked with AT&T, the Department of Defense, the Asian Development Bank, and various government agencies. His work has appeared in journals such as Nature BioTechnology and Strategy & Business, and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, Executive Excellence, and The Futurist.

Technorati Tags: economy, entrepreneurship, self-organizing networks

Dr. Thomas Horan – Personal Health Records and Health IT

David Lemberg — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:19:47 +0000

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Dr. Thomas Horan

Dr. Thomas Horan is Executive Director of the Claremont Information and Technology Institute and Associate Professor in the School of Information Systems and Technology at Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Horan works on a wide range of applied technology projects relating to transportation and health care.

Dr. Horan’s research interests include development and deployment of advanced information technologies and policies, including intelligent transportation systems and advanced telecommunications systems. Currently, one of Dr. Horan’s biggest projects is as Director of the Kay Center for E-Health Research, where he is working on policy issues involving personal health records.

Claremont Graduate University is one of two graduate-only universities in the U.S. Based in California, CGU has nine schools devoted to 22 fields and specializes in transdisciplinary research.

Technorati Tags: health information technology, personal health records, universal health care