When considering a place to live — or considering whether to remain in your current city — it can help to have additional information. Those involved in public health know that there are a number of factors that contribute to the overall health and safety of any municipality. You don’t have to be a public health administrator to get the inside information on health and safety for your city, though. You can actually find out more about what’s going on by using online tools to look at the stats related to your city. Here are 25 free tools you can use to analyze what’s going on with your city.

Health

Learn more about health in general, but looking at various stats related to the health of the people in your town.

1. America’s Health Rankings: Learn more about the rankings of health in different states. Includes interactive data applications that can help you learn more about health in your locality.
2. HealthMap: Interested in knowing about health issues in your town, and around the world? HealthMap offers a look at health around the world, and can help you pinpoint health information in your local area.
3. GeoSentinel: Learn more about keeping track of global health issues, including outbreaks and health information for your city. Track your own outbreaks as well.
4. Community Health Status Indicators: A great look at how you can improve a community’s health. Look at indicators by state and county. Includes information on different health concerns, from heart disease to cancer to diabetes.
5. Kaiser State Health Facts: Helpful stats from the Kaiser Family Foundation, featuring an interactive map that can help you learn about health, status, and government health assistance in your area.
6. Cancer Trends Progress Report: Learn more about cancer, information about prevention, and stats about the incidence of cancer.
7. HRSA Geospatial Data Warehouse: Cool tools from the Health Resources and Services Administration are available online. You can find information about service professionals, health care delivery sites and more with these tools.
8. Health Data Interactive: Interactive tools that help you learn more about your geographic location, stats and other information about health. A great tool for those looking for interactive data, and helpful resources.
9. State Scorecard: Compare health in your area with the health in other areas. Offers different rankings related to health and compare your area to benchmarks. A great resource for learning more about health in your state and town, and how it compares to what is in other areas.

Safety

Helpful information on safety, and different programs set up in your town.

10. Pedestrian and Bicycle GIS Safety Analysis Tools: The Highway Safety Information System offers information on zones where there are high incidences of pedestrian crashes, and offers information on safe bike routes.
11. Diversity Data: This cool method of generating customized reports can help you learn about safety, quality of life, and more. A look at different data, and a tool that can help you narrow down your results, and allow you to look at specific values of interest.
12. KIDS COUNT Data Center: Focuses on information about children and their well-being. Also includes information on safety, and provides rankings. A great way to evaluate child safety, and focus on finding an environment that is ideal for your kids.
13. American FactFinder: Learn information about the population, and statistics related to safety, quality of life, crime and more. An interesting look st different communities and what is important to them.
14. Crime Statistics: CityRating.com offers this helpful tool to help you learn more about your city’s safety by looking at crime data. Includes violent and non-violent information and helpful resources on other ratings.
15. Bike Safety Statistics: A look at different stats related to bicycles, and bike safety. Looks at different stats from different cities, and includes a look at different factors related to bicycles and bike safety.
16. Safety Net Monitoring: A look at safety net monitoring for different cities in terms of health care access. Evaluate the safety of your area, and the kinds of opportunities and helps available in your local area.
17. Local Drinking Water Information: Concerned about the safety of your drinking water? This is a great tool from the Environmental Protection Agency, helping you learn more about the local drinking water. Find out about the dangers of bad drinking water, and find valuable information about your city’s water supply safety.
18. AIRNow: Learn about local air safety. In some cases, it might not be a good idea to breathe the air. Learn about how dangerous your air might be, and learn about the safety of the air you breathe in your hometown.
19. Youth Violence: Find out more about youth violence in your area. You can learn about safety for you, as well as for your children. Find out whether or not your child is likely to be at risk due to youth violence.

Statistics

Learn more about the make-up of your town with helpful databases that include various statistics that can help you learn more about what your city appears to be.

20. CDC Data & Statistics: A look at different data and statistics that can help you analyze conditions in your city. A great general tool that can help you focus on specific statistics of interest.
21. Health Statistics: A helpful tutorial on learning how to understand health statistics, and how to apply the information that you learn. A great educational tool.
22. Public Health Data Standards Consortium: Learn more about standard information for public health, and data standards. A great, helpful stats resource.
23. Data.gov: Find apps and other tools related to different data sets. Includes geographic data on health, safety and other issues. A great data resource for nearly everyone.
24. State Data Resources: Learn more about different data in your state, and in your local area. A helpful look at different data sets. Also includes a tutorial on using the resources and tools available.
25. TranStat: Access to statistical data and a helpful tool for modeling your own outbreaks. A great tool for general research, and one that can enhance your study and use of statistics related to community health and safety.

When you use social networking such as Twitter and Facebook, the very use of those tools implies that you want to connect socially with friends and business partners through social media platforms. But, how can you keep the worlds of business and socializing separate, especially if you work in the healthcare field? While these platforms can promote services as well as connect with patients, how far can healthcare workers take these platforms, and what do they need to know?

How Employers See Social Media

One way to define how to use social media is to learn how employers view these tools. Jobvite published a report this year that shows how recruiting professional use social media to find and vet candidates for jobs. This report reveals two things: That social media has become a viable resource for finding candidates and jobs, and that how you use social media could affect your ability to obtain or keep a job.

Recruiters, it is shown, are using social networking sites far more today than they are using traditional methods for hiring. The social media sites that are important to them include the following:

1. LinkedIn: 78 percent
2. Facebook: 55 percent
3. Twitter: 45 percent
4. Blog: 19 percent
5. YouTube: 14 percent
6. MySpace: 5 percent
7. Other (None): 14 percent

This report might simplify the social networking maze than any other tool, as it points to LinkedIn as the professional networking tool and to MySpace as almost irrevelent for professional networking.

This report does not answer the question as to whether Facebook is professional or social (as in friends and family), but any Facebook user knows that there are two ways to present yourself in that medium — as a social user with friends and family and as a professional through Facebook Pages.

How Mayo Clinic Uses Social Media

While many patient privacy issues are addressed with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), it appears this legislation has not extended to how medical students use social media. Age is a concern here, as many medical students and young healthcare professionals are far more in tune with social networking than their elders. Still, a recent study shows that 60 percent of U.S. medical students post unprofessional content online.

In a professional situation, the Mayo Clinic provides one example of how to use social networking tools. Lee Aase is the clinic’s manager for syndication and social media, and they began their campaign with a podcast in September 2005. From there, the Mayo Clinic began to build blogs addressing various topics and uses Twitter as a means of broadcasting new content on their blogs and video pages.

The Mayo Clinic is concerned about HIPAA, but patients are legally entitled to post information on their own conditions. To safeguard their credibility, legal stance and the patients’ privacies, the clinic needs to get a consent form for interviews with patients about their stories. To protect patients, the Mayo Clinic reserves the right to remove personal contact information from any interaction on their social media platforms.

While a professional healthcare institution with a manager for syndication and social media – and probably an attorney who is schooled in privacy issues in the wings – might show the way on how to use social media responsibly, how should an individual use social networking in a personal situation or in a smaller healthcare routine?

Some Tips on Using Social Media for Healthcare

If you plan to use social media, or if you already use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube, you might heed some of the following tips for your own credibility and job insurance:

• Learn the platforms: Learn how to use each social media tool to your advantage, which means learning how to use privacy controls and other customizations.
• Keep professional and social relationships separate: By dividing social and business lives, a healthcare professional can maintain a professional demeanor on one hand and socialize with friends and family on the other. It is not appropriate to “friend” patients on Facebook or to follow them on Twitter.
• Watch your associations: You may want to connect with a patient on a blog, but you may not want to connect with that patient on Facebook or LinkedIn. On the other hand, you don’t want a friend with an offensive user name to appear on your list of people you follow on Twitter, unless you Tweet anonymously (possible by not revealing your real name, but a user name when registering).
• Keep politics and religion quiet: Unless you plan to be a journalist or an activist, it is best to keep those two topics in the personal realm, rather than the business realm. Activism, however, is up to you — if you, as a healthcare professional — want to campaign for clean water, then use your professionalism to temper your activism.
• Use social networking to say “Thank you” and to set up meetings in person: This Mashable article explains that social networking provides the perfect medium to extend your hand in business situations appropriately.
• Keep comments civil and don’t use social media while under the influence: The article about medical students explains succinctly how these comments can lead to expulsion from school — and in professional situations may lead to job loss or loss of clients.

Conclusion

If you want to connect professionally, used LinkedIn to find your peers and to network among other health professionals. If you want to socialize, use what your friends and family members use. Facebook seems more popular than MySpace, but in both cases you need to watch privacy issues and check your home page constantly while logged out to make sure you are not revealing any information you want to keep confidential.

Twitter is an amazing tool for broadcasting, but it takes time to build up a following. If you want to vet who to follow on Twitter, use Listorious, or use search: site:twitter.com/*/keyword to search for Twitter Lists containing your keyword on Google Search. You can also search for multiple words by putting a hyphen between them, such as site:twitter.com/*/healthcare-pediatrics. Be sure to avoid any spaces in your search (via Tweetsmarter).

Although social media is not conducted as a regular class in most medical or healthcare courses, plenty of information is available online on how to use social media tools in a professional manner. Read blogs such as Mashable or ones focused on healthcare such as Social Hospital to learn more about content management. If you apply HIPAA to those constructs, you may find that social media can provide a wonderful extension to your healthcare services, much like positive word-of-mouth testimonies.

The effort to fill health care jobs online remains steady, even in the career of health administration. While many health administration jobs are listed at larger job sites such as Monster.com, our list of the top 50 Web tools to find health administration jobs focuses on smaller job search venues, such as health care career sites, niche jobs and health care recruiting agencies. Each link below is listed alphabetically within those three categories, and leads directly to job listings or to the site where you can apply for health administration positions.

Health Care Career Sites

1. 4 Allied Health Jobs: This site lists hospital administration jobs across the nation.
2. Absolutely Health Care: Browse through over 300,000 health care and medical jobs to find employment in the U.S.
3. AIS Health: Atlantic Information Services, Inc. (AIS)lists job openings for managers and CEOs, mostly in health plan fields.
4. All Hospital Jobs: This site provides easy job searches for hospital jobs across the country, including careers in administration and management.
5. American Medical Jobs: You can find a variety of administration jobs at this site, in a variety of sectors as well.
6. Explore Health Careers: This site contains a wide variety of health care careers, including health administration in specialty niches.
7. Health Care Medical Jobs: Search through a wide range of management careers in the healthcare industry at this site.
8. Health Career Web: This link leads to health administration jobs found on this health-focused career site.
9. Healthcare Careers: Use this health-focused job site to find careers in health administration across the country.
10. Healthcare Administration Jobs: This site definitively offers careers in health care administration.
11. Healthcare Jobs: Use this site to find health care jobs including jobs with the Veterans Administration.
12. HealthEcareers: This link leads to the administration jobs listed at this site that focuses on eHealth.
13. Hospital Jobs Online: Whether you’re searching hospital administration jobs, allied health jobs, nursing jobs or physician jobs, HJOL is your one-stop resource for a new career.
14. iHire Health Care Administration: Use this site for resume upload, easy scanning of health care administration jobs.
15. MedHunters: This link leads to jobs in administration. Use the search box at the top
16. Medical Workers: This link leads to health administration jobs listed on this site. Use the search box at the top of the page to specify location and job.
17. PayScale: This page at PayScale offers a list of health administration jobs in a wide variety of specialties.

Agencies

18. Aegis Group: This group provides executive search services for health care organizations, catering to the best management material for these opportunities.
19. Allen Thomas Associates: The goal of ATA is to provide professional executive search services within the health care industry to a select number of clients.
20. Baumann & Associates Inc.: This firm focuses on executive retained services as well as outplacement and consulting.
21. DeBoer Professional Search: DeBoer provides placement services for allied healthcare professionals and executives in healthcare administration.
22. Desir Group: This company conducts executive searches for Healthcare IT and other health care management positions.
23. Eve Crane & Associates: This executive search firm places candidates in managed care organizations, integrated delivery systems, insurance companies and other medical management systems.
24. Gerard Alexander: This firm specializes in the placement of mid to senior level management executives in the healthcare industry.
25. HCCA International: Since 1973, HCCA International has been a respected name in global health care management, operations and recruitment.
26. HCRecruiters: This is a list of jobs that this agency carries in their recruiting efforts, which focus on executive positions in the healthcare field.
27. Health Care Recruiting Associates: Health Care Recruiting Associates provides medical employment opportunities for health care professionals, nursing managers, clinicians, technicians and more.
28. Healthcare Source: For over a decade, HealthcareSource has been a leader in helping healthcare providers recruit and retain talent.
29. Jacobs Management Group, Inc.: This company specializes in executive level jobs in pharmaceutical, biologics and more.
30. King Search & Consulting: King Search and Consulting was founded in 1995 to offer professional retained recruiting services to hospital and private practice clients.
31. Lee Calhoon & Co.: This recruiter specializes in executive positions across the board within the health care industry.
32. MedCor Executive Search: MedCor has been placing pharmaceutical, medical, and biotechnology mid- and senior-level executive since 1998 with an emphasis helping pharmaceutical vendors/services providers.
33. MedSearch Resources, Inc.: Founded in 1994, MedSearch Resources, Inc. has evolved into one of the leading executive search and consulting firms serving the healthcare industry.
34. Strategic Healthcare Staffing: This site represents a national full service healthcare staffing company certified by the Joint Commission with 30 branch offices nationwide and growing.
35. The Bradley Group: This national full-service search and executive placement efforts focus on executive positions in the healthcare industry.
36. The Hutton Group: This company focuses on management positions throughout the health care industry, including risk management, medical records and consulting.
37. The Spring Group: This company focuses on health care executives, facilities management, materials management, finance, nursing management and risk management.

Niche Job Sites

38. Australian Jobsearch: Looking for health administration positions in Australia? This site provides an example of one way to search for a job overseas. When you type “health administration” into the search engine, the results are listed on a Google search page.
39. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: This link leads to the top jobs at CDC, which include positions in public health, health informatics, health education and more at all levels.
40. Cleveland.com: This is one example of a city job search site that provides information about local jobs. A search for “health administration” turned up 51 currently active job offers.
41. Eco.org: This link leads to healthcare solutions positions listed at this environmental Web site. Use their search engine to get more specific in your search.
42. Greenopolis: This site lists job opportunities in health administration in a variety of sectors and venues.
43. Idealist: This site provides job searches in various nonprofit fields. The link leads to the results in a “healthcare administration” search on that site, and jobs range from volunteer to internships to paid positions.
44. National Institutes of Health: Use the “Quick Links” menu in the left column to search for administrative and executive positions with this government medical research agency.
45. Nonprofit Career Network: Search for nonprofit careers by location in all fields including public health.
46. Public Health Employment Connection: This link leads to a job list that contains public health employment opportunities from internships to management and consultation.
47. Psychology & Mental Health Job Listings: This site lists joint job openings with Mental Health USA, including jobs in administration.
48. University of Washington School of Public Health job Listings: This site currently contains many positions for executives in the healthcare field, with a focus on public health.
49. USAJobs: This is the ultimate Web site to find jobs in the government. This link leads to a search for “health administration” jobs on a nationwide level. Use the search engine located at top right on that page to change the search.
50. Women in Healthcare Management: WHCM lists available management jobs on their site.

Technology and social media have made it possible for you to share your goals for health and happiness with the world. Such connection can also help you take charge of your health care, as it adds some accountability and can even provide support from friends, online and off. There are a number of applications designed to take your tweets and turn them into information you can use to support better health and increased happiness. If you are interested in improving your health and happiness, here are 17 Twitter apps that can help you reach your goals:

Fitness

Exercise is good for your body. It helps you keep your blood pressure under control, can help you improve your mood, and wards off disease. These Twitter apps focus on helping you increase your physical activity, and track the exercises that you do.

1. Ugomo: This Twitter app helps you log workouts, sharing your workout regimen, and more. You can look back on your workouts and your success with the help of summaries, charts, graphs and more.
2. TweetaRun: Cool Twitter app lets you tweet how far you run each day. Put in the time and distance, and this Twitter app will figure your other details. Compare your running schedule, and compare it.
3. gtFtr: The Get Fitter with Twitter application helps you record the latest exercises you do, and their stats. Graphs help you keep track of your workouts, and see your progress as you increase the number of reps you do, or miles you travel.
4. TrainingTwits: This Twitter app helps you log workouts, training regimens and more. Share your exercise experiences with your followers, and check your stats. Includes monthly workout minutes for different activities, and helps you plan your workouts.
5. Twittercize: Simple exercises that you can do anywhere — even from your desk. A great resource for exercises that you can do in a minute, adding a little more fitness to your day. Sneak it in here and there, and watch yourself become fitter.

Food

Watch what you eat with the help of Twitter. Proper nutrition helps your body stay healthy, can help you feel better and can help you fight cancer and other diseases. These apps can help you really find out what you eat, and see whether it is as healthy as you think it is.

6. Tweet what you Eat: Personal food diary via Twitter. Easy to keep track of when and what you eat. Helps you figure calories for foods you don’t know the count on. Learn your eating habits, and see what you need to change. You might be surprised by the amount of junk food that you eat.
7. TweetYourEats: Another foot tracker that helps you keep an eye on what you are eating. This Twitter app will then categorize your food, and keep track of your calories. See a total at the end of the day, and watch for eating trends over time. See where you need to cut back, and make a plan for healthier eating.
8. FoodFeed: Tell the world what you are eating, and take responsibility for your nutrition choices. Search to see what others are eating, and compare it to your decisions. A fun way to push yourself to make better food selections.
9. nom.ms: Share your food choices in image form. This cool Twitter app lets you send in photos of what you are heating — healthy or not — and post it up on Twitter. A fun way to motivate yourself to eat better.
10. Wheel of Yum!: This Twitter app is all about figuring out to eat. Wheel of Yum! can help you find something based on your requirements. If you want to eat healthy, this Twitter app can help you find just what to eat.

Weight

If you are trying to lose weight to help you live a healthier life, and to feel a little bit better about yourself, these Twitter apps can help you set goals and track your progress, helping you stay motivated to keep working on weight loss.

11. w8track: You can keep track of your weight loss progress with the help of w8track. Use the Twitter version in tandem with the separate Web app. Get summaries that can help you find insights to your habits.
12. Twackit: Even though this app isn’t specifically aimed at weight loss, it can help you keep track of your progress. Use Twackit to keep track of your weight, with the help of the #weight hashtag, and even add notes. Watch your progress using Twitter.
13. Weight loss Charts: Visual representation of your weight loss. Set goals, and then track your progress with the help of this app. Makes charts using your tweets so that you can see exactly how you are doing.

Mind and Mood

Help increase your mental ability and enhance your mood. These Twitter apps can help you learn to find more contentment and connect with yourself. A healthy mind and body are connected, and these Twitter apps can help you keep that balance needed for increased happiness.

14. Inner Twitter: This cool app helps you take a moment to briefly consider your inner state. You can choose to have a chime sent to you at certain intervals, or randomly. When you hear the chime, you are meant to stop, moderate your breathing, and lose yourself for a bit in the moment.
15. TweetBe.at: This organization tool can help you reduce your stress level by helping you organize lists, and even keep track of appointments. Live a more organized life, and be a little happier, with the help of list organization.
16. TweetPsych: Learn more about yourself and how your mind works with help from this great Twitter app. You can find out what sort of person you are, and gain a better understanding of yourself with this app. Helpful if you are looking for a little more self-realization.
17. Meditation Twibe: Use this helpful Twitter tool to get helpful suggestions to help you enhance your meditation practice. Connect with others, and learn how to reduce stress and find a little more inner peace with the help of Twitter.

No matter what you think about the latest healthcare reform (dubbed Obamacare), the fact is that things are starting to change in healthcare. We have amazing technology, and there are plenty of smart people out there with great ideas on how we can use technology to implement better healthcare for all. Indeed, if you are working in health administration, you will soon find that changes and innovations are coming. If you want to be up to date on some of the latest thinking with regard to healthcare, one of the best things you can do is to see what’s being said on the topics of public health and medicine at TED.

TED is a small nonprofit organization devoted to the spread of knowledge. TED sponsors conferences, and provides thousands of free and open lectures online. The organization’s devotion is to Ideas Worth Spreading. While TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, the scope has widened to include almost any subject. Healthcare talks (some from TEDMED) are available, with the intent of providing innovative and game-changing ideas to make healthcare more accessible and affordable to more people. If you are interested in the latest advancements and thinking in healthcare, here are 10 incredible video lectures from TED:

1. Eric Dishman: Dishman works for Intel, specifically studying ways to increase care for the aging. In this lecture, titled “Take health care off the mainframe,” Dishman argues that current healthcare practices are outdated, and that tethering healthcare to large institutions is inefficient in this day and age. Instead, he argues, healthcare should be built around home-based solutions that are personal and networked. We have the technology, and the capability, to offer more personal control over healthcare, and we should get out of 1959 and into the 21st Century.
2. Laurie Garrett: With the H1N1 flu still a recent memory, and with avian flu still something we can remember, Garrett offers lessons that we can learn from the 1918 flu. This video lecture is given by a Pulitzer winner who has written about public health, and pandemics. The fact that travel is less restricted these days means that it is much easier for microbes to hitchhike around the world — increasing the pace at which different diseases can spread from country to country. Garrett’s lecture illuminates the challenges, and attempts to find solutions (not entirely based on government solutions) to the possibility of a worldwide plague, by looking at what happened in 1918. We can learn from our history, and we should — or we might end up repeating it.
3. Paul Stamets: Will mushrooms save the world? They just might, according to Stamets. Stamets is a mycologist (someone who studies fungi) who believes that it is possible for mushrooms to save the world. He is developing a number of technologies related to fungi. One of the ways that fungi could help in terms of health, has to deal with antibiotics. He believes that mushrooms could help treat smallpox and the flu, as well as helping reduce the public health threats related to polluted soil. Stamets points out that fungi are actually more closely related to humans than many animals. If you are interested in what these interesting organisms can actually do for our long-term health, this is an interesting lecture.
4. Dean Ornish: Not only is the U.S. itself becoming more disease-prone, but the exportation of U.S. eating habits is contributing to an obesity epidemic around the world as people eat, live and die more like Americans. Ornish is a well-known clinical professor at UCSF, as well as the founder of the Preventative Medicine Research Institute. He points out that many of the diseases people are dying from now are preventable. Adopting a better diet, and better lifestyle choices, we can prevent diseases like Type II diabetes, heart disease, cancer and more. He points out that before the globalization of the American diet, Asians were the healthiest people in the world, and now they are seeing increases in poor health due to a change in diet. Ornish suggests we add more Asian elements to our diets to prevent disease.
5. Anthony Atala: Instead of transplanting organs from others, Atala suggests that perhaps we could grow new organs. Atala runs a lab at Wake Forest University at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He is looking for ways to help us age better, and live better. He is involved in the development of bio-materials and tissue fabrication that could revolutionize the way we view medicine. He looks at salamanders, and how they regenerate, and looks at how humans might be able to do something similar. We might see the capability to print human tissue and even grow organs. Atala presents different possibilities for the idea of human regeneration, and the ability to grow organs. He even shows examples of bio-engineered blood vessels.
6. Gregory Petsko: If we don’t do something, Petsko believes that we will see an epidemic of neurological diseases on a worldwide scale. He points out that the population is aging all around the world, and that by the year 2050, a large portion of the population will be over the age of 65, and a significant portion will be beyond the age of 80. Right now, we are already seeing an increase in the number of cases of neurological diseases related to age. However, as the population ages, this problem will become more pronounced. Petsko, a biochemist with Dagmar Ringe, is working to understand proteins, and how they work in the brain. He shares his thoughts on how neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s might be slowed — or even reversed. But first we need a better understanding of the brain.
7. Bill Gates: Now that he’s no longer doing as much with regard to Microsoft, Bill Gates is doing thinking about global health and medicine. One of the interesting things he is doing is talking about disease and how it affects children’s lives. This talk was made famous by the fact that Gates released mosquitoes into the audience. He talks about diseases that affect children in developing countries, and healthcare. One of the issues he talks about is malaria, and what can be done to reduce this healthcare scourge that still affects a large portion of the world’s children. He relates healthcare in developing countries to innovation and interesting efforts at philanthropy. He points out that because diseases like malaria are in poor countries, we don’t pay attention to them. He offers ideas for how we can enhance healthcare in these countries, and how we can maybe begin spending more on malaria prevention than preventing baldness.
8. Eric Mead: This magician and mentalist explains the placebo effect. It’s an interesting look at the deception involved in the way the mind deals with perception. Mead relates this to the placebo effect. It may be strange to think of a mentalist explaining a healthcare concept, but it is entertaining and interesting. He points out that perception plays a great role in healthcare, and how effective treatments are. This explains why studies have shown that injections of nothing, sugar pills and other placebos can be surprisingly effective. The way we react to something, Mead points out, can affect outcomes in a very real way. Even knowing something isn’t “real” can still elicit an emotional response — as Mead demonstrates even as he reveals a few of the tricks behind his act.
9. Eric Topol: The future of medicine and healthcare, asserts Topol, is wireless. This leading cardiologist is offering a look into the way that mobile devices can be an integral part of healthcare. Topol points out that the stethoscope is beyond outdated by the way we can already monitor vital signs on smartphones and hand held ultrasound devices. He talks about the new sensors and more. With the advent of wireless medicine, it is possible, and will be even more possible in the future, for us to monitor our own health, and to get personalized health information sent to healthcare professionals and others who might need it. Technology could make it possible to monitor people remotely, reduce costs, and make healthcare more personal.
10. David Agus: It is possible to treat cancer using a new, cross-disciplinary approach, says Agus. He is a conventional cancer doctor who has thrown himself into the future of medicine, and in innovative ideas related to healthcare. He suggests that rather than focusing on understanding cancer as an individual cell or gene, we should focus on treating the whole body and controlling cancer. Agus argues that we have been shortsighted in our approach to identifying and fighting cancer. He points out that we should be using protein analysis, computer modeling and atypical drugs to analyze the body as a whole, and to treat the entire system. He also points out that we need to change the way we describe and talk about cancer. Agus also makes the argument that it should be possible to prevent most cancers.

With the health care reform bill passed, many are now debating the merits of so-called “Obamacare.” The debate over care vs. cost continues, and many are looking for answers about what the health care reform bill will actually do. These questions are important for consumers, and they are also important for health care administrators. Now is a great time to get involved with health care, possible earning a Masters in Health Administration. With more people able to access health insurance and health services, the entire health industry is getting ready growth.

There are plenty of interesting infographics out there explaining how health care reform is to work, and how Obamacare will work. Some of them aren’t terribly useful (or accurate), but many of them can show you exactly how you will be affected by health care reform. Here are 17 infographics explaining Obamacare and health care reform:

1. What does the health-care law mean to me?: This helpful infographic from the Washington Post is pretty low key. It doesn’t have bright colors, but it is interactive and very easy to use. Put in your current health insurance situation, your household size, your adjusted gross income and your marital status. Off to the side, you will see exactly what you can expect from health care reform, including whether or not you will see additional taxes as a result of the passage of this new health insurance law.
2. How does health reform work?: American Progress offers this look at what the health care reform bill will do for Americans. It breaks the bill down by coverage, and helps provide some helpful insights into what is actually in the bill. It is a visual representation of what kind of health insurance options you have under Obamacare, as well as showing how the bill will be paid for, according to the authors of the  bill and the analysis from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
3. Health Care Reform: By The Numbers: The debate over health care reform has been acrimonious, full of accusations and counters. Depending on who you listen to, health care reform does different things — and costs different amounts of money. While the Democrats tout the positives of the bill, conservative think tanks have been running their own numbers, which are different from what the Congressional Budget Office has come up with. Here is an interesting infographic from Third Age that features the claims of both sides. Read it, and decide which side you are more inclined to believe. Or, perhaps, you might think that both sides are exaggerating.
4. Timeline of health care reform: Health care reform has been on the docket for nearly 100 years. Indeed, Theodore Roosevelt tried to get us on a national insurance plan way back in the day. He campaigned on it in 1912 when he was running on the Progressive Party ticket. However, Roosevelt didn’t win, and for almost a century numerous attempts to provide coverage for all Americans have been made. The New York Times offers this interesting infographic that puts the recent health care reform bill in a historical perspective that spans decades.
5. Vote on health care reform: If you are interested in knowing how your representatives voted on health care reform, you see how they voted. This infographic from The Washington Post illustrates who voted for health care reform, and compares the votes that were seen in the original vote on November 7th with the votes that were cast on March 21st, after a reconciliation version with the Senate was put forward. The infographic also includes information about health industry contributions and the uninsured in the representatives’ districts.
6. Uninsured without health care reform: This infographic from The Cultural Health News Blog is a simple comparison of the numbers that will remain uninsured with health care reform, and those who would be uninsured without it. While Obamacare won’t mean insurance for everyone, it should, according to most estimates, cut the number of uninsured by somewhere in the neighborhood of half. Whether or not you agree with the bill, it is supposed to help make sure more people have access to health care, and this infographic illustrates that, attempting to show the difference in “before” and “after”.
7. New York Post health reform infographic: This was one of the more controversial infographics run. It appeared in the New York Post last summer about health care reform, and its incarnation at the time. It personalizes it to New Yorkers, since that’s the audience. It was linked on Drudge, and got some wide publicity. However, it represents some of the numbers from the old bill, before the changes adopted for the final. And it contains some other inaccuracies. But some of the information is accurate, and it is an interesting presentation of what the bill would do to ordinary people.
8. Corrected New York Post infographic: A Democratic aide took issue with some of the inaccuracies in the above infographic, and created a corrected version. You can see where the inaccuracies are, and see the real numbers that appeared in the bill. Talking Points Memo shared the corrected version, along with the original,  for comparison. As you can see, while there weren’t a ton of corrections, some of the inaccuracies were a bit glaring. It is a helpful look at how sometimes it is important to not take infographics at face value all the time.
9. Health care costs: Back in the summer of 2009, before the current bill was passed, there were some different estimates about costs, and they were largely higher than the current version. The Congressional Budget Office offered a look at costs projected out to 2019. The version of the bill that passed costs less (and is projected to reduce the deficit), but this is still a good infographic that offers helpful information about where the money to pay for health care reform comes from. Visual Economics offers this colorful and fascinating infographic.
10. Savings from health care reform: Some have speculated that some of the savings from health care reform and Obamacare will also come from earlier efforts to include electronic health records in the system. Interested in learning about potential savings from health care reform? This infographic from Good.is offers a look at some of the changes that could be made with the help of health care reform. Estimates include days saved in the hospital, pay for nurses working over time, reductions in the costs of drug dispenstion, and other costs. Looks at places where health care reform, with the help of data driven protocols, can offer savings for everyone.
11. The Healthcare System in the US: EHM offers an interesting and enlightening infographic on the health care system in the U.S., and what it has been costing. This offers a look at current health expenditures, and offers insights into what might changes as a result of the health care reform bill that recently passed. This could mean fewer bankruptcies and foreclosures due to medical costs, and help shore up individual finances in general. It offers an interesting look at how health care relates to the rest of the economy.
12. Obamacare flow chart: Back in the autumn, before some changes were made, Fast Company offered an easy to read flow chart of how health care reform would work. It is actually still fairly relevant, showing how you can trace what health reform will do for your situation by answering a couple of very basic questions about your current health insurance status. It’s a very clear cut flow chart that lays it out fairly simply. It’s really not that complex when you look at this chart. The way it’s set up makes it easy to imagine different scenarios for your health situation.
13. Affording health care: This infographic looks at the need for health care reform by showing how many people have been unable to afford health services, due to the cost. Indeed, since so many Americans are uninsured, and do not have access to health care they can afford, some do not actually get the care they need. This infographic from the American Principles Project also points out that even some with health insurance can’t afford some of the costs of health care. Avoiding treatment due to cost is something that the authors of the health care reform bill will reduce. However, it remains to be seen whether the bill can actually reduce costs. But it may help some who don’t get care now to get it in the future, since costs are supposed to be lower and more people will be covered.
14. Uninsured Americans: Another infographic designed to correlate health insurance and high health costs with other economic factors, this infographic from EHM is useful. It looks at the situation according to state, showing how each state fares in terms of health insurance coverage, and looking at how many excess deaths are caused due to a lack of health insurance coverage and access to affordable care. It also includes a statistic on the number of people who have lost their health insurance. This infographic is meant to illustrate some of the things that might be improved with health care reform.
15. Health care spending in the U.S.: This comparison from Kiplinger looks at health care spending in the U.S. vs. the spending in other countries. You can see that the U.S. spends significantly more per person than many other countries around the world. One of the aims of the bill is to help close that gap. However, some argue that the gap won’t be closed by this bill. Another concern is that other countries are rated as having better health care than the U.S., even though it costs less per person. It will be interesting to see if that changes as a result of Obamacare.
16. GOP Obamacare infographic: This is a famous and controversial infographic created by GOP staffers when the health care reform debate was heating up. It is complicated and difficult to follow, as well as unattractive. It shows a health care system that is convoluted and difficult to navigate and expensive, as well as full of committees, oversight and numerous problems. There was an outcry against this infographic as it went viral, with some blasting it for purposely muddying the waters of debate with deliberate attempt at misinformation.
17. Dems make their own chart: In response to the GOP chart, someone with Democrat leanings created a new chart. This one was derided as being inaccurate as well (too positive and touchy-feely), along with being mocked a little for the pastel tones that reminded many of sherbet. The information was much easier to follow, but the light colors made it seem a little “weak” in some eyes. It really wasn’t much of an attention getter, with its non-threatening set-up.

One of the most heated debates going on right now has to do with health care. There is a great deal of consternation right now related to how health costs can be brought under control, while maintaining quality of health care. This becomes especially important as many Americans find their costs rising — to more per person than any other developed country. And, even with all of these costs, most rankings do not even place the U.S. in the top 30 countries in terms of its health care system.

As a result, the care vs. cost issues becomes even more important, since some are concerned that Americans pay a great deal for care that may not even be the best available. Many MHAs, politicians and activists are struggling with the question of how to balance care and costs. Here are 50 Web resources that can help you learn more about health care costs and care:

Health care costs

Here are some Web resources focused on health care costs.

1. Health Care Cost Monitor: Looks at health care costs, analyzing where they come from.
2. AARP Magazine: “Why Does Health Care Cost So Much?” offers an in-depth look at health care costs, and considers our quality of care.
3. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: “U.S. Health Care Costs: Background Brief” provides an excellent overview of health care dollars, and where the money is spent.
4. Daily Finance: “Care vs. Cost: How Much Is Too Much to Treat Cancer?” looks at the cost-benefit analysis approach to how much is spent treating cancer.
5. The New York Times: “Why Does Health Care Cost So Much?” Another look at the reasons behind high health care costs.
6. USA Today: “Health care: Lowering costs for old could raise them for young” addresses the issues behind providing lower cost health care for the aging at the expense of the young.
7. The Washington Post: “Coverage vs. Costs” explores issues surrounding health coverage and the costs that come with it.
8. Cafe Hayek: “Health care vs. health insurance” looks at the cost of health care, and the use of insurance.
9. Forbes: “Health Care: Costs and Reform” considers what we pay in health care, and the sort of service we receive.
10. Reuters: “Heart patients worry about health costs” addresses the problems with getting care when costs are high.
11. Los Angeles Times: “Rising health insurance costs hit small employers too” explores the issues of covering care from a small business standpoint.
12. Heath Care from Change.org: “Turns Out, Immigrants’ Health Care Doesn’t Cost That Much” looks at the care immigrants receive, and its costs.
13. WebMD: “Kids’ Allergy Shots Cut Health Care Costs” looks at how preventative care can reduce costs.
14. View From The Right: “The Fundamental Problem of Health Care Costs, Which Is Never Discussed By Either Side” considers the basics of health costs, and the things that are ignored by both sides of the issue.
15. Time: “Why Is Health Care So Expensive? Let Us Count the Conspirators” looks at the fact that so often we’d like to blame one source for the evil of the cost of care. But really, there are a lot of reasons working together.

Health Care Stats

Get a better understand of the health care picture, in terms of coverage and illness.

16. CDC: The Centers for Disease Control has an entire section on health stats.
17. HealthPAC online: You can find some interesting statistics on health care in the U.S., from health coverage to expenditures.
18. PreventDisease.com: Get a good idea of what we spend money on in terms of care and whether it is effective.
19. World Health Organization: Compare our country to other countries in terms of care, coverage and costs.
20. San Francisco Examiner: A helpful piece fact-checking health care debate stats claims made by politicians from both parties.
21. U.S. Census Bureau: Features a look at health insurance stats and information related to health coverage and cost.
22. National Geographic: Provides an infographic starkly comparing costs in the U.S. to other countries, and also includes information on often patients see the doctor, as well as life expectancy.
23. U.S. Government Info: About.com looks at health insurance stats, and tackles the question of what they actually mean.
24. National Institutes of Health: Provides a look at health insurance data, including coverage, benefits and costs.
25. Appomattox News: Health statistics relating to the high costs related to obesity.

Health care models and cost solutions

Part of the debate is over what kind of health care system we should have, as well as the types of solutions available to keep health costs under control while maintaining — or improving — care.

26. The White House: President Obama and his team lay out their ideas for a health care system overhaul.
27. The New York Times: Look at a comparison of different health care proposals.
28. BusinessWeek: Offers its own 10 ideas for cutting health care costs — on your own.
29. Ludwig von Mises Institute: Provides a four-step system that to create a free market in health care.
30. GOP.gov: The Republican Party offers its take on how the health care system can be fixed.
31. The Boston Globe: Looks at a single-payer system, and how it might help with the cost vs. care issue.
32. timesnews.net: Robert Funke, M.D., addresses the benefits of a single payer system.
33. Slate: Michael Kinsley argues against a single payer health care system, and looks at the advantages of “modest reform.”
34. NPR: A good look at universal coverage in Massachusetts, where there is a program that allows for competition, while using the government to supplement, making coverage affordable.
35. Reader’s Digest: 18 ideas that could help fix health care.
36. The Huffington Post: Looks at how we could fix health care, starting out by following the lead of Grand Junction, Colorado.

Blogs Addressing Health Reform

If you want more on the debate over costs and care in the health system, you can read these blogs for interesting insights and more debate.

37. The Health Care Blog: Ins and outs of health industry and reform attempts.
38. Physicians for a National Health Program: These doctors want a complete health care overhaul.
39. The Alan Katz Health Care Reform Blog: A look at some of the issues in health reform, costs and coverage.
40. Health Care Renewal: A look at new ideas in health care.
41. Health Care Rx: The Washington Post follows health reform and the debate.
42. The Health Care Reform Debate Blog: A gathering place for information on health reform and the debate surrounding care vs. cost.
43. Healthcare NOW!: Organizing health care reform and addressing the debate.
44. Healthcare Debate Blog: Different viewpoints on health care and the debate surrounding cost vs. care.
45. Health Affairs Blog: Addresses the issues surrounding health care and the current debate surrounding reform.
46. Health Blog: The Wall Street Journal looks at health policy, and the debate around health care reform.
47. HealthLawProf Blog: Learn more about health policy, and look at the ins and outs of the reform debate.
48. John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog: Looks at health care, and the debate around care and costs.
49. Guaranteed Healthcare Blog: The California Nurses Association runs this blog on health care reform.
50. Consumer Directed Healthcare: A look at the health care reform debate and other issues.

As the health care debate continues in the U.S., both sides occasionally invoke the National Health Service (NHS) in Britain. The National Health Service was created in 1948, and meant as a program that allows those in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to have access to basic health care needs. Now more than 60 years old, the NHS is under review in an effort to attempt to improve the system.

Many Americans don’t realize that it is possible to go to private hospitals and buy private health insurance in Great Britain. However, even with this option, most people avail themselves of the services provided by the government (and funded by taxes). Here are 25 interesting — and little known facts — about the National Health Service in Britain:

1. There is a wide range of choice available for treatment with the National Health Service: Many Americans don’t realize that most patients can choose between at least four different hospitals for non-emergency treatment, and they could soon have the choice among general practitioners.
2. The first patient to be treated by the NHS was a 13-year-old: She was treated for a liver condition when admitted in 1948 to a hospital in Manchester.
3. The NHS performed a hip replacement for the oldest person to receive one: A woman aged 101 received her hip replacement surgery in the West Midlands. More than 80,000 hip surgeries are performed by the National Health Service each year.
4. The first test tube baby was born in a hospital run by the NHS: Louise Joy Brown was born in 1978, and is considered the world’s first successful “test tube” baby. This success started the movement toward in vitro fertilization, and now this procedure is performed for couples with fertility problems all over the world — including thousands of IVF treatments administered by the NHS.
5. Britain’s first sextuplets were born in a National Health Service Hospital: The NHS can handle multiple births, as well as complex situation. The first sextuplets (six babies at once) born in Britain were delivered at Birmingham Maternity Hospital.
6. You can volunteer to help in the NHS: There are more than 100 volunteer roles in the National Health Service. Check with the League of Friends and the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service for more information about some of these opportunities.
7. Nurses make up nearly 30% of the NHS workforce: This represents the largest portion of the National Health Service workforce. Nurses are quite important to the NHS.
8. The NHS is one of the largest employers in the world: It seems odd that such a small island would have one of the largest employers on earth, but it does. The NHS is up in company with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Indian railway system and Wal-Mart.
9. Nearly 1 in 23 people working in Wales and England are doing so for the NHS: Not only does that National Health Service employ a large number of people, a large percentage the population in England and Wales is employed by the NHS.
10. Most of the NHS workforce is female: And by a large margin, too. 77% of those employed by the National Health Service are women.
11. Every minute, the National Health Service receives 20 calls: These calls are made to NHS Direct, a service that offers immediate health information and advice over the phone. More than one million calls were logged over the Christmas holidays in 2007.
12. NHS personnel have contact with close to 1.5 million patients and their families each day: The National Health Service touches millions of people each day, many of them patients who receive many different services both inside and outside their homes.
13. Each week, 170,000 people get an eyesight test: This is the capacity of the Glastonbury music festival — that’s a huge party every week for those having their eyes checked.
14. Around 16,000 babies are delivered at home each year by the NHS: You can have a home birth with help from the folks at the National Health Service.
15. Caesarean section accounts for nearly 1/4 of births handled by the NHS: Close to 25% of the babies born in the National Health Service system are delivered via caesarean section.
16. 1.4 million people receive home health help each week: Typically, the NHS helps people in their homes in large numbers each week. This includes hospice like care and other home health services.
17. Most women in England are screened for breast cancer as directed: Because the NHS makes such tests readily available, 75% of women in England aged 53 to 64 are screened for breast cancer every one to three years.
18. 150,000 pairs of feet are presented to chiropodists each week: The National Health Service provides access to a wide range of services, including those for feet. 150,000 people see a NHS chiropodist for help with their foot problems.
19. Full-time general practitioners see close to 255 patients a week: In the U.K., general practitioners working full time see about 255 patients a week. With a five day work week, that would be 51 patients each day.
20. 23 million people a month visit a general practitioner: Each month, 23 million people take advantage of access to their general practitioner nurse or surgery. A lot of people (more three times London’s population) are seeing a health care provider as needed.
21. 50,000 emergency journeys are made by ambulances every week: Each week, ambulances responding to emergency calls make a total of more than 50,000 trips for the NHS. That’s a lot of EMT hours as well!
22. 6.3 ambulance service calls are received each year: Every year, 6.3 million calls are put in to the NHS Ambulance Service. That works out to be 360 calls an hour, or six calls every minute.
23. There are walk-in centers around the U.K.: Patients can be treated around more conveniently at any of the 90 walk-in centers around Britain. These are operated by the NHS, and can treat minor injuries and illnesses.
24. 745 million prescription items are dispensed each year: Almost 3/4 of a billion prescription items are received by NHS patients each year. That’s a lot of pills and other items.
25. Since the NHS, men and women in Great Britain have long life expectancies: Life expectancy in Britain has increased by 10 years since the inception of the National Health Service.

Healthcare is expected to be one of the “growth” industries over the next 10 years. This is because there is a combination of continued health issues for the population, as well as the fact that an aging population (especially the baby boomers) will need increased care. Healthcare services are expected to continue to grow, and someone with training and education in a healthcare field could conceivably do quite well. A MBA in healthcare or health services management may be just the ticket. Here are 50 of the top healthcare MBA blogs that can get you headed in the right direction:

Health MBA Blogs and Blog Posts

These blogs and blog posts are specifically designed to help you with your MBA in a healthcare related field.They contain helpful information on programs, education and other related items, many of them describing the benefits associated with a healthcare MBA.

1. Health Services Management MBA blog: Learn about different avenues in healthcare MBA, and how you can move from different fields into health management.
2. Regis University Health Services Administration Blog: Learn about the world of the healthcare MBA, and what you need to do to be an effective administrator.
3. MBA HealthBlog: A blog that offers news and information aimed at interesting developments in the health field for those who are managers.
4. BusinessWeek: Offers a helpful look at MBA job prospects for those in the healthcare field. Learn how you can find a job with a MBA when other MBAs are failing.
5. Online MBA Study: Provides a look at a healthcare MBA and healthcare management as a profession.
6. Ivey MBA Recruiting & Admissions Blog: This post offers insight into the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership in Canada, and the Health Sector MBA offered.
7. National Post: There is a great story here of a doctor who received a health sector MBA. It offers helpful information that can help you in your career decision.
8. Online Healthcare MBA & Online Masters Health: This guide to healthcare MBA, and what is required to succeed is quite helpful and informative.
9. Medical Practice Business Blog: This offering from AllBusiness also looks at specific programs offered by different schools, including a Pocket MBA program aimed at helping physicians get a MBA in healthcare.
10. Yale MBA for Executives Leadership in Healthcare: This blog is based on Facebook and pulls information related to a MBA in healthcare from Yale.

MBA Blogs

These blogs are aimed those wishing to obtain a MBA degree. These blogs also address healthcare MBA programs at different universities, and provide insights into the process.

11. The MBA Insider’s Blog: This blog from the UCLA School of Management includes helpful information on becoming a MBA, including information on specializing in healthcare.
12. EMBA Program Blog: The prestigious Wharton school offers a blog focusing on executive MBA programs, including health MBAs.
13. mbaMission: This blog is helpful for those looking to get through the process of applying, and to learn the ins and outs of becoming a MBA.
14. University at Buffalo – MBA Blog: Learn about earning a MBA from the inside, including issues in health and healthcare MBA.
15. The Tulane MBA: Get an inside look at life as a MBA student at Tulane. Also includes great insight into healthcare and health MBA opportunities.
16. Inside the London MBA: Get an inside look at London Business School in Canada. Includes student views and helpful information on different MBA paths.
17. MBA blog: This offering from the Financial Times offers an inside look at MBA programs around the world, from the perspectives of students, and how to be a more effective student.
18. Find MBA: A helpful blog and discussions board about MBA programs, including looking for those in healthcare management.

Health Administration Blogs

Learn firsthand what it’s like to be an administrator. Many of these positions require a healthcare MBA. Find out what it’s like in the trenches with these health administration blogs.

19. Leading the Way to Medical Excellence: Learn about healthcare administration leadership.
20. Todd’s Perspective: Learn about what it’s like to be the president of a private hospital.
21. Hospital Life: This health administrator shares thoughts and helpful insights into running a hospital.
22. Running a Hospital: The thoughts of someone who runs a hospital and has to make the tough decisions health administrators make every day.
23. Roper on Health: Helpful and insightful look at policy, every day decisions and healthcare administration.
24. Healing Hospitals: This was formerly Ask a Hospital President, and contains a candid look at what goes on in hospitals for health administrators.
25. Wachter’s World: A look at hospitals, administration and more in the world of healthcare.
26. St. Joseph’s Medical Center: Learn about life in a hospital, and get insights from a hospital administrator.
27. Thrive: This is the blog for the Children’s Hospital in Boston. A great look at running a hospital and being a healthcare administrator.
28. More Than Medicine: The president of Community General Hospital in Syracuse, New York, offers insights into being an administrator.
29. Life as a Healthcare CIO: Learn about life in healthcare IT, as a special kind of health administrator.
30. Hospital Impact: Meant to help tomorrow’s healthcare leaders be more effective.

Health Policy Blogs

As a healthcare MBA, you will need to have a good grasp of health policy. Here are some good blogs for health policy.

31. Let’s Talk Health Care: Learn more about health policy from the interim CEO at Harvard Pilgrim.
32. Health Care Renewal: Addresses healthcare reform and policy.
33. Medicare News Blog: Get the inside scoop on Medicare and what’s going on with the baby boomers.
34. The New Health Dialogue: A look at healthcare developments and interesting discussion.
35. Health Policy and Communications Blog: Get a look inside health policy and communications. Very helpful for any healthcare MBA.
36. Health Affairs: Get a look at healthcare policy and news.
37. The Alan Katz Health Care Reform Blog: Provides interesting news and information about health care reform and other information of use to healthcare MBAs.
38. Health Wonk Review: Get the best of healthcare policy and administration.
39. The Health Care Blog: Learn about health care, and what is happening inside the world of health.
40. Managed Care Matters: Offers insight into managed care and the administration issues that come with it.
41. Mayo Clinic Health Policy Blog: Go in-depth into health policy and learn things of interest and help to healthcare MBA and administration.

Health Ethics and Legal Blogs

A healthcare MBA has to have a good idea of what is ethical and legal. These blogs can help you increase your ability as an administrator.

42. Health Care Organizational Ethics: A great look at ethics in healthcare organizations.
43. Global Bioethics Blogs: Tackles issues related to medical and health ethics on a global scale.
44. Medical Ethics Blog: Get a look inside the world of ethics.
45. PredictER News: Looks at medical and health ethics, and addresses headlines in the field.
46. Practical Ethics: A look at the application of ethics in business and in healthcare.
47. Hooked: Ethics, Medicine, and Pharma: An insider’s look at the intersection of ethics and healthcare fields.
48. HealthBlawg: Offers a helpful look inside the legal issues that affect healthcare administrators.
49. Health Law Prof: This professor can provide any healthcare MBA with the insight needed for more effective policy decisions.
50. Health Care Law Blog: Learn about law in the healthcare industry, a helpful blog for healthcare MBA students.

Health Administration is a rapidly expanding and changing field. It is certainly the right field for persons who are interested in making a difference in healthcare at a higher organizational level. However, not everyone may be sure that health administration is right for them. To this end, open courseware classes are a fantastic way to gain exposure to a new field of study. Additionally, any persons who may already be in the industry can choose to expand their body of knowledge via these online classes. There are three highly regarded schools that offer a variety of classes in this field. Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and MIT offer classes that are fantastic for those and cover a diverse amount of topics.

Harvard

Harvard Medical School has a massive number of open courseware offerings. Their open courseware initiative has the mission to “exchange knowledge from the Harvard community of scholars to other academic institutions, prospective students, and the general public.” It is the belief of the faculty and staff at Harvard that information ought to be shared for the betterment of society as a whole. This viewpoint is emphasized by the sheer amount of courses offered.

1. Communicating with Non-English Speaking Patients – Health Administration is primarily a people profession. As a result, effective communication is paramount. With the ever changing demographics of the United States, non-English speaking patients are increasingly present in hospitals. This course, taught by Daniel Federman M.D., and Nora Nercessian Ph.D, will help teach you how to deal with any language barriers, as well as the many cultural differences that you may encounter with non-English speaking patients.
2. Information Technology in the Healthcare Industry – One of the most dynamic areas of Health Administration is the Information Technology sector. Being able to understand how advanced hospital management programs, patient billing programs, and the like, function within an organization can be very beneficial. Technology is important in many facets of the healthcare industry. This course, taught by Dr. Stephen Locke, can provide you with a comprehensive overview of the ins and outs of IT in the healthcare field.
3. Introduction to Health Care Policy – With the Universal Healthcare debate raging on, at no other time has an understanding of health care policy been more important. This open courseware offering covers a wide variety of topics in this niche including, health care disparities, medicare cuts to physician payment, long-term care crisis, and more.
4. Medicine and Management – This course is focused on a cost-benefit analysis in the scope of Theraputic Decision Making. Healthcare administrators are faced with a multitude of decisions every day. Some have more substantial impact on the organization as a whole than others, but considering the costs and benefits associated with every decision is essential.
5. Medicine, Human Rights, and the Physician – This course offered by Karri Hannibal should seriously be considered by anyone who’s interested in the healthcare industry. Healthcare is all about serving the greater good, and this course helps to emphasize this fact. Connecting the pillars of medicine, human rights, and physicians in one class can give a hopeful Health Administrator a greater sense of the scope the industry as a whole.

Johns Hopkins

The Johns Hopkins school of public health has a massive catalog of open courseware offerings. This highly ranked, and well-respected school considers it a duty to share its wealth of information with the world. In fact, Johns Hopkins’ site states that it adheres to “a moral imperative to provide equal and open access to information and knowledge about the obstacles to the public’s health and their potential solutions.”

6. Qualitative Data Analysis – Data collection is an important part of Health Administration. Therefore, checking out this wonderful course taught by Katherine Fritz. The course aims to teach students different interpretive analytic approaches, and how to apply those analyses to data.
7. Training Methods and Continuing Education for Health Workers – One major element of Health Administration is making sure that employees are continuing their education and training in order to consistently learn more and improve. Bill Brieger teaches this excellent course, where students are are shown the steps of planning training, and continuing education activities for a plethora of health workers.
8. Public Health Biology – This class is taught by a litany of different instructors; Sharon S. Krag, Gary Ketner, Gregory Glass, Barry Zirkin, and James Yager. The goal of the course is to offer a comprehensive molecular and biological perspective on public health problems. While it is more in-depth than some other courses listed here, it could still be tremendously useful for someone wanting to learn about health administration.
9. The History of Public Health – In order to be an effective leader and change agent in any organization, it is important to understand the history of the organization, and to a greater extent, the industry as a hold. With this in mind, this course, taught by Graham Mooney, PhD, examines how public health has changed throughout history.
10. Public Health Practice 101 -This wonderful course taught by Henry Taylor aims to help students garner the basics of public health practice. The goal is that by the end of the course modules, persons will be familiar with the basics of health practice, including being able to describe and define public health, and will be able to understand the way the Public Health system functions. For someone interested in Health Administration, this is a must-have course.
11. Understanding Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health Care – Taught by Kevin Frick, this is another course that helps to highlight one of the most important areas of healthcare administration. With rising healthcare costs, being cost effective in operations is a big plus.
12. Introduction to Health Policy – While this course, taught by Gerard Anderson, is a bit heavy on the law side, there is still definite value for someone who is interested in healthcare administration. Having at least some knowledge of policy can be extremely helpful in making important decisions.

MIT

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is world renowned for its high quality education, which makes the fact that it offers open courseware even better. If you are truly interested in pursuing Health Administration, than the health and business open courseware is definitely worth a look.

13. Genomics, Computing, Economics, and Society – Professor George Church teaches this course which gives an excellent look at the aspects of modern technology which display exponential growth curves and the impact on global quality of life. This is extremely useful for someone who wants to get a look at the “Big Picture.”
14. Information Technology in the Health Care System of the Future – This course, led by Professor Steven Locke, serves to give a look at where the health care field is headed. Being able to stay ahead of the curve is essential to success in the healthcare field.
15. Designing and Sustaining Technology Innovation for Global Health Practice – Taught by professors Jeffrey Blander and Utkan Demirci, this course gives a global view of health practices and shows students how technology can impact health. With an ever-changing world, this means that healthcare professionals should be prepared to adapt.
16. Leading Organizations II – Professor John Van Maanen teaches a class that is geared towards people who eventually want to become strong leaders in their respective organizations. For health administration, this class would give you the tools you need to lead in a variety of dynamic situations.
17. Economic Analysis for Business Decisions – Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the economy has struggled as of late. Understanding how the economy can affect business decisions is important for someone wanting to be in health administration. This course is taught by Professors Ernst Berndt, Michael Chapman, Joseph Doyle, and Thomas Stoker.
18. Organizational Processes – Healthcare Administration is all about working within your organization. Because of this, understanding organizational processes can help you to have much more success in the healthcare field. This course is taught by Professors Roberto Fernandez, Paul Carlile, and John Van Maanen.
19. Competitive Decision-Making and Negotiation – If you are interested in the health administration field, then you better be prepared to make decisions, communicate, and negotiate. This course, taught by Professor Gordon Kaufman, will teach you how to do just that.
20. IT and Business Transformation – IT has transformed the healthcare field significantly, and so understanding how it has affected all businesses is extremely beneficial. Professor Cyrus Gibson leads this class that will show you how IT and modern technology can be incorporated into successful businesses. The lessons learned are certainly applicable to health administration.
21. Strategic HR Management – Human Resources is all about people. Healthcare organizations are made up of people; doctors, nurses, patients, and the like. Knowing how to manage your human capital is essential to any successful health administration.
22. Power and Negotiation – Professor Michele Williams teaches this excellent class on how to negotiate and have power within organizations. The best leaders are those who know how to use their influence effectively. This class will help you learn these techniques.
23. People and Organizations – Professor Thomas Kochan teaches this excellent class on how people and organizations work together, and can be functional, or dysfunctional. In healthcare, being able to manage the organization as a whole, including the people in it is quintessential to success.
24. Introduction to Operations Management – Some might scoff at the idea that operations management has practical application in health administration; however, being able to make places like hospitals run more efficiently (cutting down on wait time etc) can do wonders for an organization. Professor Jérémie Gallien teaches this great course.

Columbia

Columbia interactive, from the Ivy League institution of the same moniker, is another fantastic school that has open courseware offerings. This institution is committed to helping foster growth and development by making knowledge readily available to all those who seek it.

25. The Politics of Health Care E-Seminar 3, The Uninsured – This online seminar touches on a growing issue, the uninsured. Health administrators have unique challenghes when it comes to caring for uninsured patients. Until a universal healthcare bill is passed, this problem will not go away.