Transparent Healthcare: Comparing Costs September 1, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0.1 comment so far
As I wrote a few days ago, in the future of healthcare, we can access any kind of information we need for our health management. When we have a medical condition, usually it’s not that easy to find the best hospital for the best treatment at the best cost. I shared some sites that help compare different clinics and hospitals. But how to compare healthcare costs?
Keith Kaplan at the Digital Pathology Blog found a nice site, Minnesota Healthscores.
Need a colonscopy and want to compare prices? Much like you can compare prices for other goods and services, if you plan on getting those from a Minnesota health care facility, you can see what it costs across the state.
The price of bananas is readily available at grocery stores. But comparisons of health prices represent “fundamental change in health care,” Pawlenty said. Picking an alternate health provider might even pay the cost of a road trip.
If someone combined all of these tools, we could choose a hospital that really meets our needs. It would make healthcare more transparent.
50 Great Tools to Double Check Your Doctor or Not? September 1, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Web 2.0.3 comments
I received an e-mail about a new post featuring 50 Great Tools to Double Check Your Doctor. I shared it on Twitter as it looked nice. Later, Laikas took a deeper look at it.
Well here are some features I’ve noticed (for the spam sites in “my”field)
- All the sites that publicized such list were educational, mostly directed at nurses or other health practitioners. Some even end at org.
- All sites have a Quick-degree, nursing degree, technician school etc finder. Mostly it is the only information at the ABOUT-section (?!)
- The home page often contains prominent links (clicks) to Kaplan University, University of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University, and/or others.
- People behind the site often approach you actively (below are some examples) to gain your interest.
- It is unclear how the lists are made and who is behind it.
- There is no real information, only lists and degree finders.
So spread the word! Be careful with those list. DON’T LINK TO THEM! And if you see a possible interesting list, first CHECK the site: WHO, WHY, WHAT, WHERE AND WHEN. Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all!
Conclusion? We all should double check these websites not our doctors…
