A national study released today ranks nearly every county in Texas — and in the rest of the country — by mortality and morbidity rates, and the health factors that contribute to them.
federal health reform
TribBlog: Growing Number of Physicians Use e-Records
The number of Texas physicians who use electronic medical records has been on the rise for the last four years, according to a Texas Medical Association study.
This Might Hurt: A Dose of Politics
Immunization advocates want to expand our vaccination database, but the well-educated, middle-class parents who oppose them are organized and driven — and could force lawmakers to take sides in the tussle between personal freedom and public health.
This Might Hurt
Advocates for vaccination records say a complete registry of shots would help the state navigate major health crises. Opponents say it would jeopardize patient privacy. Lawmakers like the potential cost savings, but they still aren’t sure where they stand.
Paperless Medicine: Training the eWorkforce
If doctors in Texas are going to start using electronic medical records, somebody has to teach them how to do it. The state’s universities are gearing up to teach the teachers.
Barack and a Hard Place
Two very different Texans in the U.S. House of Representatives — Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and John Carter, R-Round Rock — respond to the president’s State of the Union address.
The Remedy
Should Congress salvage health care reform? How? Is it possible? Democrats in the Texas delegation sound off.
Guest Column: The 2010 Agenda: Public Health
Three strategies can move Texas in the right direction, health-wise: a statewide indoor smoking ban, statewide universal K-12 coordinated school health programs, and the serious consideration of all available options to reduce the number of uninsured Texans.
Guest Column: Save Rural Health Care Now
Why the 85 percent of Texans in and near urban areas should be concerned about the health care needs of the 15 percent who don’t.
No Country For Health Care, Part 1: Far From Care
Dozens of rural Texas counties have no primary care doctors, no hospitals, no pharmacies. Many Texans live more than an hour from basic medical care. And some border communities have so little health care that U.S. citizens cross over into Mexico to get it.


