To acknowledge another successful year for the Acumen blog, our editors looked to the blog’s 3 regular contributors for some thoughts on their experience writing for the nephrology community. This blog simply wouldn’t be the rich source of clear information on nephrology and healthcare technology if it weren’t for the efforts of Dr. Terry Ketchersid, Dr. Dugan Maddux, and Diana Strubler. Today, they each share a little about what blogging means to them and which post they most enjoyed.
Can you share a little about what your experience has been as an Acumen blog contributor?
Terry: Contributing to the Acumen blog for the past few years has been a wonderful experience for me. First, the folks operating behind the scenes are simply outstanding. Megan Jones and Amy Bordoni do not receive the credit they deserve, but they make our lives very easy and have been doing so for the past five years. Many thanks to both of you!
Second, the addition of Diana and Dugan to the team has been fantastic. Their perspectives and writing styles have substantially expanded the contributions the Acumen blog makes to the nephrology community. Invariably I gain a new insight after reading something they post, and I am sure you do as well.
Finally, the blog provides me with the opportunity to do something I have always valued—to wrap my brain around a complex topic and try to simplify it for folks in the nephrology community. The Acumen blog provides a forum for me to pursue that passion, and I am grateful for the privilege to contribute.
Dugan: It is my privilege to work with the great Acumen team and to contribute to the blog. I learn a lot from reading the posts from Terry and Diana each week. Every few weeks when I blog for Acumen it is an opportunity for me to step back from daily work and think about healthcare and technology.
Diana: When I was asked to be a regular contributor to the Acumen blog, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Not only would I be honored to write alongside such great minds in the health IT space (Drs. Terry Ketchersid and Dugan Maddux) but I would also be given a platform to help others try to decode the mystery behind regulatory programs such as Meaningful Use and PQRS. It has been a great experience summarizing these complex subjects in 1000 words or less so our readers can focus on what matters the most—the patients!
Which post did you most enjoyed writing this past year?
Terry: I think the posts that generate comments are enjoyable because the writing does not end with the post. The discussion following “The Meaningful Use Hardship Exception: To File or Not to File” certainly falls into that bucket. But I would be remiss if I did not highlight last year’s 5 Star-related posts. Although CMS moved forward with a flawed program, I certainly enjoyed participating in the national outcry regarding the injustice created by this program.
Dugan: At the time I wrote “EHRs in the New Age of Population Health Management” my dad’s doctor visit was fresh in my mind and it embodied the clash of real life experience with all of the progress in EHR features and functionality. The insight from Dr. Verghese’s comments helped me to understand that we are only partway along our digital journey in healthcare today. The data we laboriously input is part of the big bang of the new age of data-supported continuous care. That makes me very optimistic about the future.
Diana: It may be because football season is back, but “Meaningful Use: Letting the Air Out” where I associated deflate-gate to the Meaningful Use program comes to mind as a favorite. This post was written prior to CMS’s announcement that they would be relaxing the MU program for 2015-2017. Although the final rule for 2015-2017 is still nowhere in sight, it will be interesting to see if CMS believes that “deflating the air” out of the program could perhaps lead to better performance!
Any parting words?
Terry: All in all it has been a great five years for the Acumen blog. When we started I wondered if we would get to the end of the first month. Dedicated readers have made this far more successful than I ever imagined and we have you to thank for that. So happy birthday to the blog, and here’s to another five years!
Participate in our 5th Birthday Celebration Contest!
If you haven’t entered, please check out last Thursday’s birthday post. A winner will be randomly selected at close of business today!
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