This week, I went to a new dermatologist. I adored her from the start. Not only did she do the most comprehensive mole and skin check that I’ve ever experienced, she also told me that she could fix my psoriasis, the itchy, flaky plague that’s bothered me since shortly after moving to California 12 years…
Category Archives: healthcare
Talk To Your Doctor
In December, we went on a family vacation. Almost immediately, my preschooler started in with a runny nose. Three days later, I woke with a scratchy throat and he woke with goopy eyes, leading me to assume the worst. I emailed his pediatrician who, of course, was on her own vacation, and instead got a…
The Cost of Diabetes
Reading this article from the New York Times got me thinking. From the article: What often gets lost in the talk over rising costs, however, is just how much treating diabetes can cost an individual patient. Even with insurance, people with Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the illness, often face substantial out-of-pocket expenses. The…
Harnessing My Inner Nerd
I don’t think that my nerdiness comes as a surprise to those who know me. I embrace it. And yet, there are still moments where even I’m surprised by the extent of this affliction. As I sat down to review the 54 pages of session listings for the 2010 AMWA conference, I was smiling. Writing…
Running for Bob
Last month, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma took the life of someone who was far too young to die. I’ve decided to join Team in Training to raise money for leukemia and lymphoma research in his memory. To learn more, please visit my fundraising page. Donations, moral support and race day cheers are very much appreciated. For those…
It’s Prevention, Stupid
I had a revelation at the PRSA Health Academy conference in Chicago: the overarching theme of my career is “It’s prevention, stupid.” With full apologies to the Clinton campaign that made the original phrase famous, it struck me that it’s really that obvious and that simple. My technology and security background? Preventing threats/malicious code/software errors…
The Right Place at the Right Time
This morning at the PRSA Health Academy conference, Dr. Peter Salgo — whose name you might recognize from here, here or here — gave a very energetic talk about the future of healthcare in America. The future, he says, is wellness: a proactive approach to treating people before disease strikes and before they need to…
A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to Chicago
Coming to the PRSA Health Academy conference in Chicago was a mostly last-minute decision, but I decided that as long as I could get a cheap flight (thank you, Southwest) and a decent price on my hotel room, it would be worth it. The conference is being hosted at the Hilton Suites near the Magnificent…
The 3rd 40: Days 11-14
There should be more weekends, or maybe just longer ones. There’s nothing quite like a weekend — even one that involves work — to reset your perspective on things. I’ve been juggling furniture all weekend long. My son’s new “big boy” bedroom furniture arrived on Friday, requiring a complete clear-out of his old furniture (given…
The 3rd 40: Days 7 and 8
I haven’t exactly hit the ground running with the Big Project yet. We’re still haggling over indemnification clauses in the master agreement, so even though I’ve done some work already (always a bad idea without signed paperwork), there’s a chance that they just might cut me loose for trying to protect myself. And if that’s…