The WSJ reviews recent innovations in health care

Much of the debate over health care reform has focused on health insurance. One often ignored component of reform is the relatively non-partisan issue of innovations to reduce the costs of health care. This report by the Wall Street Journal reviews six innovations in cost-effective health care delivery - including remote monitoring, infection prevention, and electronic records.

Accidents Of History Created U.S. Health System

An interesting NPR piece on the convoluted and more than a little Byzantine approach to health insurance that we have in the US.

Emerging Scientific Consensus

Last month two separate meta-analyses concluded that heart attack admissions had dropped significantly following the implementation of smoke laws. Today, yet another review conducted by the Institute of Medicine reached the same conclusion.

"CONCLUSION

Data consistently demonstrates that secondhand-smoke exposure increases the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks and that smoking bans reduce heart attacks. Given the prevalence of heart attacks, and the resultant deaths, smoking bans save more than half a million lives each year in the U.S. alone. The savings, as mea- sured in human lives, is undeniable."

If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care

Humor from the National Journal