As we approach another Thanksgiving, this is the time of year to reflect on the things I am truly thankful for. I am thankful to be in excellent health when so many suffer from chronic medical conditions or life-threatening illnesses. With so many Americans uninsured and with no access to health care, I am thankful that my family has health ...

(Editor's note: This is a guest blog written by Valerie M. Chapman, RN, MSN, a pediatric nurse for 25 years. She is a 3-year breast cancer survivor and lives in Medford, NJ, with her husband and two children.) I am a wife, a mother of two awesome kids, a daughter, a sister, and a nurse. I am also a  survivor. At the age of 43 a ...

(Editor's note: This is a guest blog by Lorettajo A. Kapinos, an ED nurse at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA.) Last month was Breast Cancer Awareness month and I blogged about my experience with a false positive mammogram.  Ironically, this is now the center of a new debate: if women, with little to no risk of breast cancer, ...

With all the attention focused on the contentious health care reform debate around the country, one message seems to have gotten lost. That message is the focus on personal responsibility. In other words, while the government can legislate and insurance companies can underwrite, at the end of the day the most important steward of your personal ...

I have been trying to get the flu shot for the last few weeks. As you know from watching the news, the flu shot is in short supply. After my third attempt, the nurse practitioner promised to call me as soon as a new shipment arrived. I thought with all the overly anxious people walking in to get the shot, the last thing she would want to do ...

If you've been following Jay's blog, ''XY Files in and MT World,'' recently, you know there have been some frightening reports of medical records being sold overseas. It's enough to make you hunker down in the States and demand your records stay local. On the contrary, some patients are ditching domestic services and seeking medical care abroad. ...

There has been so much attention on the H1N1 flu in my kid's school district. My daughter's middle school has reported two confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu, and there have been a tremendous number of kids out with flu-like symptoms. My daughter missed 2.5 days of school with flu-like symptoms. Schools are asking that children and teachers ...

For the past 2 months, I've been collecting entries for our 2009 HIM Team of the Year contest, and it can be...inundating. (Not that I wouldn't love to see a dozen more entries!) A copy for each judge, plus one for our files-it's a whole bunch of printing and stapling, and it gives a computer junkie like myself a new appreciation for all you ...

(Editor's note: The following is a guest blog from Mark McGraw, staffer on ADVANCE for Health Information Executives) Earlier this week, Bob Mitchell, our managing editor here at ADVANCE, posted a blog chastising the behavior of some overzealous attendees at a recent public debate on U.S. health care reform held in the Philadelphia area. But ...

Guest commentary by Sabrina Corlette, director of health policy programs for the National Partnership for Women & Families In the halls of Congress, in the media, in the coffee shops and restaurants of Washington, D.C. -- health care reform is dominating the conversation, and for good reason. We have an enormous opportunity, and a small ...