Not quite Madonna...funny...BD
Cry, robot: the android dental patient at the cutting edge
Dental robots...well these for for training purposes...this one sure is ugly without her skin though...actually pretty scary but a real nice set of teeth! No here yet, just in Japan...BD
The days of a guaranteed pain-free visit to the dentist may not be far off thanks to a petite Japanese woman in a pink sweater who goes by the name of Simroid. She has a limited vocabulary and a strange complexion, but the 160cm-tall humanoid robot is happy to feel your pain. Simroid, who will be used at
medical colleges, releases a clearly audible "ouch!" whenever a trainee dentist touches a nerve and a reassuring "that's better" when the drill hits the right spot.
In Japan, robots can already be found working as home helps, office receptionists and security guards, as well as on the factory floor. There were more than 370,000 industrial robots in use in Japan in 2005, according to a report by Macquarie bank, 40% of the world total, with 32 robots for every 1,000 manufacturing workers
Cry, robot: the android dental patient at the cutting edge | Technology | The Guardian
Congress to send children's health bill to Bush
One more time...will it be vetoed again? BD
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After waiting a month, Democratic leaders in Congress said on Friday they would formally send a bill expanding a popular children's health-care program to the White House despite a veto threat.
The bill would provide health insurance to about 10 million children in low-income families unable to afford private insurance but who earn too much to qualify for the federal Medicaid program for the poor. It would raise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco taxes to pay for the aid.
Congress to send children's health bill to Bush | Politics | Reuters
Custom TV helps I.T. company change channels for patients
Patients who cannot move their arms can switch on the TV set with a control attached to their forehead. Now this is really cool...all I have to do is twitch my forehead or blow through a plastic straw! Streaming videos...all on the network with it's own IP address...doesn't get much better than this...BD
Use of technology for immobilized patients at Metro Health is giving them a measure of control they can't otherwise experience. To qualify for the 43-bed specialty care Michigan Assisted Breathing Center at Grand Rapids-based Metro, patients breathe with the help of machines at least six hours each day, and some of them use ventilators round the clock. "The average length of stay is about seven months," said Cheryl Kruithoff, nurse practitioner in the center. "Some do need high-level care, and they stay longer than several months. It can be a year or two, maybe longer if they need that care and they're still on a ventilator.
Custom TV helps I.T. company change channels - Business Review Western Michigan - MLive.com
Going Green: Another ROI for the EMR
EMR = Save a Tree. After reading about the encounter of the big green type, I would have more than respect for Douglas fir trees...good article about going green and using paperless records..BD
"Therefore, if every doctor in America was fully electronic, according to the figures provided, we could save about 17,500 trees a year! And that's just from American doctors who go electronic. Imagine if the entire industry went that way! There's a cool web video on this topic if you'd like to learn more."
Insurers tighten access to costly MRIs, CT scans
If you're going to seek an imaging procedure such as an MRI or CT scan, you'd better need it. BD
New insurance company restrictions this year have cut high-tech scans in Minnesota, preventing those that appear wasteful or unnecessary. Two weeks of back pain might have triggered a scan last year, for
instance, even though short-term pain often goes away. Now, doctors are more likely to hold off until six weeks.
Medica in March began discouraging doctors from imaging procedures that weren't recommended by the American College of Radiology. The rate of high-tech scans among Medica's 1.3 million members has decreased by 10 percent since that time, and so has the number of imaging requests that fall outside of medical guidelines.HealthPartners followed with a computer-entry program, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota unveiled a similar requirement for some of its members.
United Hospital in St. Paul listed the drop in imaging as one reason for its current 5 percent workforce reduction. However, hospital officials believe the number of imaging procedures will creep back up as the population ages and researchers prove more medical uses for them.
TwinCities.com - Insurers tighten access to costly MRIs, CT scans
These dummies may save your life
Better than crash test dummies by all means....BD
J.B. may look like a crash-test mannequin, but he’s no dummy.
In many ways, he looks and acts like a living person: His eyes blink; his pupils dilate; his chest expands and contracts as he breathes; and if you place a stethoscope on the spot where his heart should be, you can hear it beating.
He cries. He bleeds. He urinates.
J.B., who also can be fitted with female parts, is one of five full-size and very lifelike human-patient simulators (two adults, one child, a pregnant woman who gives birth and a baby) that practicing and future health care providers use to hone their skills at the John H. Ammon Education Center on Christiana Hospital’s main campus.
delawareonline ¦ The News Journal, Wilmington, Del. ¦ These dummies may save your life
New Microwave Technology Can Be Safely Applied To Cancerous Lung Tumors, Study Suggests
A microwave generator emits an electromagnetic wave that agitates water molecules in the surrounding tumor tissue, producing friction and heat that eventually destroy the tumor. BD
ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2007) — A cancer treatment that uses microwave energy to shrink or eliminate tumors can be safely used to treat malignant lung tumors, according to a new study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital.
Similar to radio frequency ablation, microwave ablation is a minimally invasive, image-guided technique that uses heat generated by microwave energy to destroy tumors. Rhode Island Hospital physicians became the first in the United States to use microwave ablation to treat cancer and are one of only ten facilities in the country that offer the treatment
New Microwave Technology Can Be Safely Applied To Cancerous Lung Tumors, Study Suggests
Situation Critical: ERs Face Doc Shortage
Scary story...from Phoenix, AZ the closest neurosurgeon was in San Francisco...BD
In an emergency room situation the seconds between arriving, diagnosis and treatment can determine whether a patient lives or dies. But a study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change suggests the nation's hospitals have a severe shortage of on-call specialists.
"It's becoming apparent that the specialist on-call issue for emergency rooms is becoming more and more of a problem," said Dr. Ann O'Malley of the Center for Studying Health System Change.When Richard Nordmeyer suffered a stroke last year, there was no neurosurgeon in all of Arizona, New Mexico or Nevada who could answer the urgent calls to treat him.It took eight hours to find a qualified surgeon, who was located in San Francisco. It cost $45,000 to fly there, and the bill was charged to the couple.
Hospitals believe they have found a cure for what ails their emergency rooms. They have added the on-call specialists to their regular payroll.
Woman Wakes Up Mid-Surgery, Paralyzed and in Pain
Make sure you have a good anesthesiologist and be sure to not to forget to mention all your medications..there isn't a machine out there yet that can replace a good Anesthesiologist. BD
You're supposed to be unconscious from the anesthetic, but suddenly your brain wakes up, so you hear and feel everything. But your body remains "paralyzed" -- unable to cry out for help or stop the pain to come.When you have surgery, you assume you'll be unconscious and feel no pain. And that's usually the case. But 20,000 to 40,000 Americans each year aren't so lucky.
Waking up during surgery is just what happened to Jeannette Magdelene."As soon as he put the scalpel into my flesh," she said, "It was as though someone took a blow torch and stuck it in the right side of my stomach."
Joint Commission, the independent, nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals, calls it a "frightening phenomenon" that is "under recognized and under treated."The cause of the problem often boils down to basic medical errors: Anesthesiologists using the wrong drugs, or inadequate doses of the right drugs.
New medical battleground: physician reimbursements
Doctors say no new patients until the contract is fixed...due to a 4 percent recent cut in rates..BD
The state's largest commercial insurer and one of Central Indiana's largest physicians' practices are showing few signs of backing down from their battle over what doctors are paid for their services.
This month, American Health Network, which has about 160 physicians at 50 locations in Indiana, won't see any new patients insured by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield at two of its offices -- Kokomo and Russiaville -- unless reimbursement payments are increased.
The practice claims Anthem's rates have declined about 4 percent in the past few years and now barely cover costs.
The physicians' practice said the drop in Anthem's payments comes as people covered by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield face steadily rising premiums.
New medical battleground: physician reimbursements | IndyStar.com
Prescription For Trouble: New Study Shows Many Patients Skipping Meds Due To Rising Co-Pays
Unless generics are available, many patients don't take their medications if they are out of reach with insurance plans or if they don't have insurance...BD
The study that appeared recently in The American Journal of Managed Care analyzed the healthcare use, costs, and behaviors of more than 100,000 people who were prescribed statins, a common treatment for high cholesterol, from 2000 to 2003. They found that higher co-payments for statin medications made it less likely that patients would adhere to prescribed drug regimens. "Being penny wise is pound foolish if you stop taking important medicines to treat conditions like diabetes, heart disease, depression and others," advises Dr. Jay Pinney, medical director of OPTIMIZERx Corporation, a Michigan-based patient advocacy portal that exists to educate consumers and reduce the expense of prescribed medications. "No matter what, make sure you stay on your medicines!"
Prescription For Trouble: New Study Shows Many Patients Skipping Meds Due To Rising Co-Pays
InforMedix Rings Up Med-ePhone - Mobile, Wireless Patient Medication Adherence Solution
I know all of these programs are good, but do want to ask how many reminders and so on can one human sustain in a day? How many devices does one need to have available...thus I go back to having all of this in one instrument...the phone. BD
InforMedix expects that the Med-ePhone system will provide a simple, inexpensive method for reminding users to take their medications regularly, and that the device will record and monitor patient medication adherence and health status over mobile phones and landlines. The Med-ePhone system is being designed to send patient- reported data to be analyzed by proprietary software algorithms already operational in InforMedix's Med-eXpert" System which will then alert loved ones and/or care managers when a patient's medications are missed or health declines. Once Med-ePhone users are linked into the system, they will receive up to three daily reminders. These reminders will be kept short and simple to encourage high levels of user satisfaction, and will include prompts to provide answers to simple health status queries. Six of InforMedix's issued patents disclose the use of voice technologies to improve patient medication adherence.
InforMedix Rings Up Med-ePhone - Mobile, Wireless Patient Medication Adherence Solution
Outgoing Glaxo chief Garnier to lead Dubai fund's advisory board
From medications to working for Dubai, advising on investments...BD
JP Garnier, outgoing chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, has agreed to join a newly formed advisory board
of Dubai International Capital, the Middle East Emirate's $13bn sovereign wealth fund. Mr Garnier, who will take up the position in January, will help DIC to seek out investments abroad.
The fund is the investment vehicle most often used by the Dubai government for foreign acquisitions, which have become a priority as it tries to diversify away from its dependence on oil revenues and establish itself as the financial center of the Middle East.
Mr Garnier has led GSK, the world's second largest pharmaceuticals company after Pfizer, since 2000. While at the helm he has faced down several controversies, including a shareholder revolt over his multi-million-pound pay package. He also recently unveiled a restructuring program that will see thousand of jobs cut. He steps down from GSK in May next year.
Medical Tourism Creates Thai Doctor Shortage
Tourism from other countries creating doctor shortage for Thai citizens...is tourism creating shortages in other countries...BD
November 29, 2007 · Millions of people come to Bangkok for medical care. They get everything from face-lifts to heart-bypass operations. These medical tourists have helped boost the Thai economy, but there's a downside. Doctors in Thailand have become so busy with foreigners that Thai patients are having trouble getting care.
When medical tourists come to Bangkok, they usually go to places like Bumrungrad Hospital. It's a private facility, downtown, near the fancy hotels. It has a sushi bar, interpreters who speak Arabic and Mandarin, and VIP suites with marble bathrooms.
Graveyard shift work linked to cancer
Perhaps lack of sunshine? BD
LONDON - Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer. It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.
Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will add overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen. The American Cancer Society says it will likely follow. Up to now, the U.S. organization has considered the work-cancer link to be "uncertain, controversial or unproven.
The Cost of Information Technology
This is one for the Health Care IT Folks...John Halamka, CIO from Beth Israel was kind enough to share...as the hospital continues with it's goal of transparency in the interest of better health care for all...if you are in healthcare IT, this article is well worth reading as well as visiting the entire site. We have a link to his site under the Blog Roll section of this page..and the last line...seeking additional budgets..as every IS/IT department does or should be doing today...BD
I'm often asked how about my budgets for hospital information systems. In the interest of transparency here it is, in narrative and spreadsheet form.
The most difficult variable to express when comparing institutions is the quality of information systems. Quality for IS comes through reliability, fast transaction speeds, application breadth and depth, and customer satisfaction. I often say, providing Information Systems is a continuous journey, so we will continue to seek additional budgets to support ever evolving user requirements.
Life as a Healthcare CIO: The Cost of Information Technology
World faces "cyber cold war" threat
Needs I say more regarding security for medical records...BD
LONDON (Reuters) - A "cyber cold war" waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade, according to a report published on Thursday. About 120 countries are developing ways to use the Internet as a weapon to target financial markets, government computer systems and utilities, Internet security company McAfee said in an annual report.
Is that worth 50 cents? I guess so...
Need to find the restroom...now you can have a text message sent telling you where the closest one would be if you are in the Westminster area of the UK...the key word is toilet...toilet to text..or text to toilet..BD
LONDON (Reuters) - First came SatNav for lost drivers. Now there's "SatLav," a toilet-finding service to help people caught short in central London.
Thursday, Westminster City Council launched a new mobile phone text message service that will guide Londoners and tourists to their nearest public lavatory. Anyone who sends the word "Toilet" to 80097 will receive a reply giving details of their nearest public convenience.
Is that worth 50 cents? I guess so... | Oddly Enough | Reuters
Welcome to Edheads Virtual Knee Surgery
Take on the role of the Surgeon throughout a total knee replacement surgery. I had a few minutes to check the site and I chose the wrong knee...well that certainly leaves me out as far as being a surgeon...there are a few others on the site such as virtual hip replacements, etc. and you do need to know the right answers to perform the surgery...BD
http://www.edheads.org/activities/knee/knee1/index.htm
Hat Tip and great find: Kevin, MD
Even With Insurance, Hospital Stay Can Cost a Million
He wrote to the Wall Street Journal.....and the hospital wrote off the bill...BD
Dawsons cap was $1.5 million but after a staph infection spread throughout his body, he was still stuck with a $1.2 million bill from California Pacific Medical Center. He and was wife were outraged to learn about the hospitals marking up of items.
Dawson’s story does have a happy ending, sort of. After the hospital was contacted by the WSJ, CPMC called the Dawsons to say they qualified for financial assistance under the hospital’s charity-care policy and wrote off his entire bill.
Health Blog : Even With Insurance, Hospital Stay Can Cost a Million
Hat Tip: Kevin, MD
10 Things Your Primary-Care Physician Won't Tell You
Check out the list....I hear #6 all the time.....(6. "I hate technology")..good article...use the link below to read the rest..BD
1. "They should put me on the endangered-species list." A good primary-care doctor someone to coordinate your health care, help choose your specialists and be the first to diagnose just about any problem is the key to good medical treatment. But they're getting harder to come by. According to a 2007 study, it took new patients in Massachusetts an average 26 days to land an appointment with one. Why? Fewer med students are going into primary care: Interest is so low that the number of primary-care internal medicine residency positions dropped by more than 50% in the past decade. "We're not really getting the best and brightest in primary care," says Kevin Pho, a Nashua, N.H., physician who writes the blog Kevin, MD. "And that's where they're needed.
10. "...unless, of course, you're willing to pay extra." unfortunately, the shortage of geriatricians is worsening. As med students shy away from geriatrics, the number of people over 65 is set to grow faster than ever as boomers retire. The American Geriatrics Society estimates that by 2030, there will be a shortage of about 36,000 geriatricians in the U.S., up from 7,000 today.
10 Things Your Primary-Care Physician Won't Tell You (10 Things: Personal Finance) | SmartMoney.com
Hat Tip: Kevin, MD
Fifty Hospitals Around The World Are Now Using NeuroLogica's CereTom(R) Portable CT Scanner
8 Slice CT scanner, can be in the office, in an ambulance, etc. and offers both 2D and 3D images....BD
NeuroLogica Corporation announced that The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, N.C. is the 50th hospital to purchase its CereTom® portable CT scanner. NeuroLogica has seen widespread adoption
of its portable CT technology that enables physicians to obtain high-quality CT images without the need to transport patients to the traditional hospital CT scanner. In addition to The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, the CereTom is being used at many of the best hospitals in the world including Massachusetts General Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic and Columbia Presbyterian.
The CereTom is a portable eight slice CT scanner that can be used in the radiology department, ICU, ER, OR, NICU, MICU, SICU, interventional suite, or any medical clinic. The CereTom is compact and lightweight; only 29 inches (74 cm) deep, five feet (153 cm) tall and four feet (134 cm) wide and weighs approximately 750 pounds (341kg). It is being used by leading hospitals and medical centers across the United States and Europe, including Mayo Clinic, University Hospital (Linkoping, Sweden) and Boston Children's Hospital. It is also being used by two National Football League teams, the Indianapolis Colts and Oakland Raiders, during the 2007 season.
Fifty Hospitals Around The World Are Now Using NeuroLogica's CereTom(R) Portable CT Scanner
AHA Responds To Medicare Hospital Payment Change Proposal
Robbing Peter to pay Paul? There actually is no pay for performance here, just a readjustment of payments..somebody in the game such as any game will have to lose...sad...looking forward to additional Medicare cuts doesn't make anyone's day...and what it everyone exceeded the guidelines and payment went beyond the 2 to 5 percent...where would we be then, would there be enough money? BD
CMS on Monday proposed changes to the Medicare hospital payment system that would reduce payments by a flat rate to create an incentive payment pool for rewarding hospitals that meet quality-of-care thresholds. Under the proposal, which was outlined in a 104-page report to Congress, payments to all facilities would be cut by a flat 2% to 5% to fund the incentive pool for distribution to hospitals that show the most improvement or meet quality-of-care standards.
Obesity Rate In American Adults No Longer Increasing, CDC
Have we finally peaked out? BD
A new study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released yesterday, 28th November, said that the rate of obesity among adults aged 20 and over in the US appears to be levelling off, and maybe even going down slightly in women, but at around 34 per cent of the adult population, it is still still too high.
Titled "Obesity Among Adults in the United States; No Change Since 2003-2004," the study is based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, carried out by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.The study shows that rates of obesity have gone up steadily over the last 25 years, but the figures for 2003-04 and 2005-06 show a leveling for both men and women.
Will New Nutrition Labels Help Us Eat Healthier?
Reminds me of the old commercial asking if "Mikey likes it"....we look to polls for just about everything these days and I guess food will be no different....could also hurt the vendor though if their ratings go down when it comes to shelf space..BD
OK, I admit it. There are really two questions about food. Regarding the first -- "Does it taste good?" --
you're on your own. Taste, after all, is a matter of -- well, taste.
Regarding the second -- "Is it good for me?" -- I can help. How a food affects your health is a matter of science.
A new nutritional labeling system that rates foods on a 1 to 100 scale will be showing up on many grocery shelves in 2008. (ABC News Photo Illustration)
Dr. Trace Curry Performs Realize Band As Alternative To Lap Band Surgery As Treatment For Obesity, USA
Information on the procedure and band to be available next month...BD
Dr. Trace Curry performed surgery and placed the first five RealizeTM Adjustable Gastric Bands in the state of Ohio on Tuesday, November 13, 2007. All five patients are reported as doing well. Dr. Curry was the first surgeon in the state of Ohio to place the new Realize Band in patients as an alternative to the Lap Band for the surgical treatment of the disease of obesity.
"With the emergence of the new Realize Band into the marketplace, individuals seeking treatment for obesity now have greater choices when considering their options for laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. The Realize band, like the Lap Band, continues to be the safest, least invasive surgical treatment for obesity," stated Dr. Curry. In late September, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Ethicon Endo-Surgery Realize Band, introducing competition towards Allergan's dominance in the adjustable gastric banding market.
Coming December 2007 The RealizeBand.com Web Site You'll learn more about the Realize procedure and how the Realize Personalized Banding Solution can help you achieve your long-term weight loss goals. The Realize Adjustable Gastric Band is an FDA-approved device for weight reduction in individuals living with morbid obesity.
Forensics Go High-Tech With CT Autopsies and in the ER Room
CT Scans are really proving to be useful in so many areas of health care...if you watch CSI - NY, you will see the crime lab routinely using a CT and MRI Scanner, as well as one of our favorite mobility tools, the i440D Tablet from Tablet Kiosk...BD
Radiologists are investigating the use of computed tomography (CT) as a tool for civilian medical examiners' autopsies in the United States. According to findings presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), CT autopsy has the potential to replace conventional autopsy in determining the cause of certain accidental deaths.
"Autopsy is mandatory in deaths involving gunshot wounds, but CT can serve as a powerful adjunct to the conventional exam," Dr. Daly said. "Performing CT imaging first may speed up a conventional autopsy, especially when it comes to locating ballistic fragments, which are so important to criminal investigations.
Forensics Go High-Tech With CT Autopsies
In the future, patients who arrive at a hospital Emergency Department complaining of chest pain may be diagnosed with a sophisticated CT scan. If the diagnosis is negative, the patient can go home "and the total time at the hospital will be much shorter than it is today.
Related story: CT Scans in the ER Room to determine Heart Disease
Mobile Prodigy "Aero" Details - Bone Density Truck...
Trucks and then there are more trucks...mobility is not only with computers and mobile phones today...we have all seen the mobile MRI trucks...now enter the bone density truck...BD
GE® Lunar has partnered with Specialty Vehicle Services, LLC. to provide you premium mobile solutions
that support and compliment your GE® Lunar Prodigy™ DXA. GE® Healthcare Technologies - Lunar receives FDA approval for Prodigy™ mobile mount system. This uniquely-designed system utilizes state-of-the-art isolation technology to shield the Prodigy™ scanner from road vibration, greatly improving reliability. The system also provides easy to use lock down mechanisms to keep the scanner arm stationary during transit.
Prodigy’s direct digital technology eliminates the magnification effects of traditional wide-angle fan beam densitometers. With more than 6,000 systems installed worldwide, Prodigy is trusted fan beam densitometers
Hat Tip: Medgadget
A New Computational Technique Predicts Side-Effects Of A Major Cancer Drug
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a novel computer technique to search for the side effects of major pharmaceuticals. The study, reported November 30 in PLoS Computational Biology relates to a class of drugs known as Select Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs), which includes tamoxifen, the most prescribed drug in the treatment of breast cancer. Unexpected side effects account for one-third of all drug development failures and result in drugs being pulled from the market. Typically drugs are tested using an experimental method which aims to identify off-target proteins that cause side effects. The team in this study, led by Drs. Philip Bourne and Lei Xie, propose a computational modeling approach. If broadly successful the approach could shorten the drug development process and reduce costly recalls.
A New Computational Technique Predicts Side-Effects Of A Major Cancer Drug
Overweight? Standing May Be Solution
Just get off our "you know what"...interesting study...stand up and don't sit as much...enzymes are suppressed when sitting...BD
Scientists have found intriguing evidence that one major reason so many people are overweight these days may be as close as the seat of their pants. Literally. According to the researchers, most of us sit too much.
In most cases, exercise alone, according to a team of scientists at the University of Missouri, isn't enough to take off those added pounds. The problem, they say, is that all the stuff we've heard the last few years about weight control left one key factor out of the equation. "When we think about the postural muscles that are mostly in the legs and back, these are big, powerful muscles," he said. "We're talking probably 20 pounds of muscle in each leg. That's a lot of muscle that can be engaged in routine activities," including burning fat. But they can't do that without the enzyme that is suppressed while seated.
The solution, Hamilton said, is to stand up and "putter."
Using JumpBox - Roll out virtual server applications (Health IT)
This is the "hard hat" area of the blog ....for the health care IT folks, so feel free to skip this one if you are not in IT as it will not make any sense...but for those readers who are in IT, take a look. Roll out Linux, Windows, etc. on a pre-configured application. Also some nice support for a couple open source CRM applications. This would normally take a couple days or perhaps even a week to normally configure, but this could be a huge time saver. You will need VMWare, Parallels, or Microsoft Virtual Server software to get started....BD
A JumpBox is a virtual appliance that bundles an entire server based application into a single pre-configured unit. With a JumpBox, you have quick and simple installation on a variety of virtualization platforms.
SAVE TIME – A JumpBox is the fastest way to get up and running with server-based applications. With JumpBox there is none of the “heavy-lifting” typically involved in manually installing server applications – saving you hours.
PREVENT HEADACHES – There are no scripts to run and no code to configure. All setup and administration is handled via a web interface.
BE MORE PRODUCTIVE – Stop spending your time with complicated set-ups, writing code, trying to understand an application’s underlying technology. JumpBoxes deliver applications that work immediately with none of these hassles.
STOP WORRYING – When you manually install server applications, you’re left with the responsibility of protecting the data. A JumpBox provides automated backup and maintenance functions.
LOWER IT COSTS – With JumpBox, deploying server-based software is fundamentally easier, allowing you to do more with fewer people and less money.
STREAMLINE OPERATIONS – A JumpBox is completely virtual, providing improved server efficiency, portability and resource isolation.
BE A HERO – Deploy great applications that help your company be more efficient and effective…and do it both faster and cheaper.
Insurers secretly pay Docs for generic switches
Video about insurers and changing medications to a generic...most of us today would prefer a generic due to price, but there are sometimes additional incentives involved as well as price...BD
HELP COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF LONG BEACH WIN AN MRI
As most regular readers probably know by now, I am in Southern California. If you have a moment while reading, take a moment out and cast a vote. Dr. Mike found out about the contest for the MRI as a result of reading this blog, so every vote helps! Below the You Tube video is a link to take you directly to the page where you can vote. The contest runs until December 31st and you can vote once a day. BD
One hospital in America will win a free MAGNETOM Essenza, an all-new 1.5T MRI. This powerful diagnostic tool can help improve the quality of care for friends, families, and neighbors in your community. View the videos and vote for the hospital who has the most compelling argument for why they should win.
Freezing tumors eases cancer pain in study
Great use of the CT scanner to accomplish this...BD
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Freezing tumors may help relieve the extreme pain of cancer that has spread to the bone, which is often untouched by narcotics or radiation, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. This freezing process, called cryoablation, is often used to destroy kidney, prostate and other tumors, but researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, found it eased cancer pain in 80 percent of patients in a small study, and the effect lasted for up to six months.
Surgery Restores Sense of Touch in Two Amputees
Neat story and wonderful technology....hope to see more of this...BD
A bionic hand that restores the sense of touch to amputees could soon be developed thanks to new research that has enabled two patients to feel sensations, new research shows.
Claudia Mitchell, 27, a former U.S. Marine who lost her left arm at the shoulder in a motorcycle accident three years ago, and Jesse Sullivan, 60, who lost both arms to electrical burns, were both fitted with prosthesis by Dr. Todd Kuiken of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
In fitting their prosthetic arms, Kuiken used a new surgical technique that rerouted the nerves from their injured arms to the skin on the chest. “I just think about moving my hand and elbow, and they move. I think, ‘I want my hand open’ and it happens. My original prosthesis wasn’t worth wearing – this one is.”
Thanks to the surgery, the two now can sense pressure, temperature and pain as if their missing hands were still present, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. We have provided evidence that amputated-hand nerves can establish a cutaneous expression of sensation, referred to the missing limb, in foreign skin,” Kuiken said.
Night Horrors: The Perils of Parasomnias
More information on what we used to call sleep walking...can be much more to it as this article states..sleep apnea..doing things while we sleep...BD
By day, Mike Doyle is a mild-mannered bank executive who lives with his wife in a suburb of Minneapolis. By night, he wanders the house in a deep slumber, acting out his strangest and wildest dreams.
"I ran down the hallway and jumped from the top step and landed somewhere near the bottom," Doyle said. "I got up and went back to bed and the following morning I didn't realize what I had done, until I sat down on the wooden chair in the kitchen. And I thought I was gonna die because of how bad it hurt to sit."
Doyle is among millions of Americans -- as many as 4 percent -- who suffer from parasomnias: unpleasant and unwanted behaviors during deep sleep. Schenck has catalogued a range of parasomnias in the documentary "Sleep Runners," including those who eat in their sleep."Someone with a parasomnia can commit an act of murder and have no idea what he or she is doing in the process, so on that basis, yes they should be considered innocent," Schenck said.
Watch the story tonight on "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET.
Language gaps hinder doctor-patient relationships
Free technology can help here too...take a look at what you can do for free from Microsoft...and a Google toolbar add on will translate for you as well...I have and do use both of these..and if you use MS Office, (not free) you can also easily translate documents...use this one too...and available for most version of MS Office...BD
The state Legislature decided four years ago that the estimated 1.1 million patients in California who pay for private health insurance but speak little or no English should receive services such as language interpreters and translated materials from their insurance providers. Lawmakers set a deadline of mid-2008 for providers to submit a compliance plan to state regulators, with fines for noncompliance scheduled to begin in 2009.
Health officials said they could not provide examples of any fatalities tied directly to the existing conditions. The problems generally result in stressful, embarrassing, confusing moments that come at times when people already are at their least comfortable.
Language gaps hinder doctor-patient relationships - Los Angeles Times
Fly-By Surgery
Will your insurance company soon be recommending a visit outside the United States for surgery? Some carriers are already starting to reimburse for some treatments and surgeries out of the country and are buying in to the concept....BD
When Doug Duke needed laparoscopic surgery, he knew he would be buying a plane ticket.
The former hospital administrator is a medical specialist whose Richmond company, Objective Review, helps trial attorneys locate top-notch physicians suitable for expert testimony. So he’s well aware of the medical landscape, its nuances — and its price tag.And now there’s another unlikely group on board. The medical tourism industry is gaining a previously skittish ally in health insurance companies. Health insurers such as Aetna, Blue Cross Blue and Shield of South Carolina, Blue Shield of California and United Group Programs are beginning to reimburse some out-of-the-country treatments, and two state legislatures, in Colorado and West Virginia, have introduced bills to allow government employees to go overseas for surgery.
Even Canada, with surgical waiting lists that extend years into the future, is reimbursing its citizens who go overseas for medical procedures.
“In many cases,” according to the report, “illness forced breadwinners to take time off from work — losing income and job-based health insurance precisely when families needed it most.”
Style Weekly : Richmond's alternative for news, arts, culture and opinion
Skilled Healthcare not Fazed by slow going
Do Nursing Home facilities belong on Wall Street? BD
Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. hasn’t set Wall Street on fire in its first six months as a public company. That doesn’t bother its top official.
“If you’re a newly traded company (investors) will want to watch a couple of quarters to make sure you’re going to hit your numbers before they get wild about your stock,” Chief Executive Boyd Hendrickson said. “We feel really good about the company, and we feel good about the decision to go public.”
Skilled, a Lake Forest-based nursing home company, went public in May, raising nearly $120 million for the company. Shareholders sold another $120 million worth of stock in the offering.
Haven Health facilities owe state $1 million and file bankruptcy chapter 11
And they didn't even pay their taxes...health care or profit? BD
ST. ALBANS — Following a scathing series of investigative reports by the Hartford Courant in Connecticut, Haven Healthcare, which operates nursing homes throughout New England, has declared bankruptcy.
Haven Healthcare operates three facilities in Vermont, two in Rutland and one here in St. Albans. The St. Albans Town home, located on Route 105, has 120 beds.
Blumenthal told reporters the unusual move was needed because Haven had "grossly mismanaged millions of dollars intended for patient care, diverting federal and state money intended for patient services to improper investments in a record company and personal real estate."
Courant reporters documented multiple cases of neglect that led to patient death. However, Joan Senecal, commissioner of the Department on Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living said that there had been no such instances in Vermont. Haven also owes more than $1 million in unpaid provider taxes to the state of Vermont, Senecal reported. Haven owes money to the states of Rhode Island, Maine, and Connecticut as well, according to the Courant reports.
St. Albans Messenger Daily Evening Newspaper : - Haven Health facilities owe state $1 million
56,000 California Kids May Lose Health Coverage -Personal Injury Lawyer
Instead of presents, Santa Claus might deliver a note to more than 56,000 families in California that will inform them that their children will no longer have health insurance by the end of the year. This is not because these children were on Santa's naughty list. It's because of dangerous Washington politics. California risks losing federal funds to support its children health insurance programs because of a pathetic stalemate between Congress and President Bush.
56,000 California Kids May Lose Health Coverage - San Jose Personal Injury Lawyer
Medicine: How To Avoid The Medicare Donut Hole
As the article states...start with generics from the beginning if possible...ask your doctor and shop at the retailers that offer $4.0 or discounted prescription charges...we have links on this site to help...BD
When patients hit the donut hole, all sorts of bad things can happen. First, switching to generics introduces the risk of new or worse side effects. But some patients—according to a recent AARP study, about 15%—stop taking their prescriptions altogether, or else they rack up huge credit card debts to continue paying for the drugs.
Sometimes a patient can score free samples of the drugs he's taking, but unfortunately the value of these "free" drugs won't count toward his annual overall expenditure, so the patient remains stuck in the donut hole, and has to start paying against it again once the Free Drug Train leaves the station.
Medicare Chief Checks Insurers' Pitches
Secret Shopper program to check and see how insurers are pitching and selling...BD
Weems acknowledged that he wasn't just a shopper. He's actually the acting chief of the entire Medicare program. To get a better feel for the marketing practices of private insurers, Weems ordered senior staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to surreptitiously attend agents' presentations to seniors and the disabled. They call it the "secret shopper program." Weems has been to three, including one last week at a Virginia diner.
Medicare began using a private contractor earlier this year to audit the agents' presentations. After each presentation, they submit a report that details the accuracy of the agent's statements. Weems ordered CMS staff to get out and see for themselves whether agents are misleading Medicare beneficiaries. So far this year, secret shoppers have attended 119 separate presentations from 56 participating insurers. "We found that particular company was way out of compliance," Weems said "We sanctioned the company and asked them to stop marketing and retrain their agents," said Weems, who declined to identify the company.
The Associated Press: Medicare Chief Checks Insurers' Pitches
Federal Court Suit Filed To Lift Medicare Coverage Bar On Off-Label, "Medically Necessary" Drugs, USA
The Medicare Rights Center filed suit in federal district court today, asking a judge to declare unlawful the Bush Administration's refusal to allow Medicare coverage of a broad range of medically necessary "off-label" drugs.
"Too many people are being forced to go without needed medications because of the Bush Administration's misreading of the Medicare Part D statute," said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a national consumer advocacy group. "The administration is defying the intent of Congress, and keeping people from the medicine they need by its refusal to allow coverage of prescriptions that patients' doctors insist are needed.""Without coverage of off-label prescriptions," the suits alleges, "people face increased suffering. And Medicare often bears increased costs because of the need for more drastic care, such as emergency hospitalizations, that results when people do not receive the medicines that they need."
Medicare Rights Center (MRC) is the largest independent source of health care information and assistance in the United States for people with Medicare. Founded in 1989, MRC helps older adults and people with disabilities get good, affordable health care.
Toshiba's AquilionONE Receives FDA Clearance
An organ can be scanned in one rotation...eliminating the need to reconstruct slices from multiple points in time...and everything is in 3D....BD
Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., a leader in diagnostic and medical imaging, today announced FDA
clearance of the most advanced diagnostic imaging computed tomography (CT) equipment available - the AquilionONE". With this clearance, Toshiba is on schedule to make the system commercially available in summer, 2008. AquilionONE, the world's first dynamic volume CT system, revolutionizes patient care because it can help reduce diagnosis time for life threatening diseases like stroke and heart disease from days and hours to mere minutes.
Canada Fumbles Health Data in Security Breach
Not as big as the one in the UK, but serious as well...the second biggest cause of security breaches is the human tendency to ignore policy or at least be ignorant regarding security policy. Again, anyone heard of secured servers for storing this information? Encryption is pretty cheap. BD
Canadian health authorities have lost intimate medical data including HIV and hepatitis test results for an undetermined number of citizens in a recent security breach, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador admitted Nov. 26.
According to a media release, on the evening of Nov. 20, a consultant employed by the Provincial Public Health Laboratory was contacted at his home office by an unidentified security researcher. The researcher told the consultant that he was in possession of patient information stored on the consultant's computer.
Cigna to buy Great-West health unit for $1.5 bln
One more that was left off the listing yesterday...BD
NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Health insurer Cigna Corp(CI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it had reached an agreement to buy the health-care unit of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. for about $1.5 billion in a move to expand its business in the western United States.
UPDATE 1-Cigna to buy Great-West health unit for $1.5 bln | News | Mergers/Acquisitions | Reuters
Data input: Still a final frontier in clinical computing but progress is being made
Good comments and article as always from the wisdom of Dr Crounse...I agree that data input is a big final frontier and there are electronic tools that can make it a lot easier. BD
"I've called "data input" the final frontier in clinical computing. In fact, data input has been a frequent topic on HealthBlog these past few years. If you want to see for yourself, just type in "data input" in the handy search box on the upper right-hand corner of my Blog. Up will come entries about Tablet PCs, voice recognition, digital inking, surface computing and more..... "
"From the perspective of a typical clinician, data input is often cited as the one barrier holding us back from realizing the full potential of IT in healthcare. Patient care is data intensive, and entering all that data into a computer remains a challenge for most doctors (and nurses) particularly when they compare it to the ease and speed of old fashioned dictation/transcription."
HealthBlog : Data input: Still a final frontier in clinical computing but progress is being made
House Calls at Microsoft from Dr. Crounse
Nice demonstration with InkSeine which we are all waiting for...more nice features for the stylus...search this site for some earlier You Tube videos as well.
Illegal immigrants not U.S. health care burden: study
The study states they get less care than legal immigrants...BD
Such immigrants tend not to have a regular doctor or other health-care provider yet do not visit emergency rooms -- often a last resort in such cases -- with any more frequency than Latinos born in the United States, according to the report from the University of California's School of Public Health.
The finding from Alexander Ortega and colleagues at the school was based on a 2003 telephone survey of thousands of California residents, including 1,317 undocumented Mexicans, 2,851 citizens with Mexican immigrant parents, 271 undocumented Latinos from countries other than Mexico and 852 non-Mexican Latinos born in the United States.
Illegal immigrants not U.S. health care burden: study - Yahoo! News
Atlanta hospital in grave condition - Grady still struggling
Update...sad things are still not getting any better...
ATLANTA - For generations, Grady Memorial Hospital has treated the poorest of the poor, victims of stabbings and shootings, and motorists grievously injured in Atlanta's murderous rush-hour traffic.
Now, Grady itself is in grave condition.
Staggering under a deficit projected at $55 million, the city's only public hospital could close at the end of the year, leaving Atlanta without a major trauma center and foisting thousands of poor people onto emergency rooms at other hospitals for their routine medical care.
"I don't have the words to describe the onslaught of health care needs that will hit the region if Grady were to close," said Dr. Katherine Heilpern, chief of emergency medicine at the Emory University medical school, which uses Grady as a teaching hospital and supplies many of its physicians. "This is a huge deal. We may literally have people's lives at stake if the Grady Health System fails and spirals down into financial insolvency."
Men give up too fast if impotence pill fails
The findings show the importance of the first-time pill for erectile dysfunction patients who could potentially see better results by switching tablets or increasing the dose, Dr. David Edwards, a general practitioner in Oxfordshire in England, and colleagues said.
When the pills did not work the first time, 68 percent of men reported a loss of self-esteem, 32 percent felt depressed and 24 percent said they believed their condition could never be treated.
One third simply did not return to their doctor to try an alternative treatment after a failed attempt, something the researchers said highlighted the fact many men delay or ignore treating their problem.
Men give up too fast if impotence pill fails: study - Yahoo! News
Hospital fined for wrong-side surgery
3 Wrong side brain surgeries in one year 3 different doctors...BD
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island Hospital was fined $50,000 and reprimanded by the state Department of Health Monday after its third instance this year of a doctor performing brain surgery in the wrong side of a patient's head. We are extremely concerned about this continuing pattern," Director of Health David R. Gifford said in a written statement. "While the hospital has made improvements in the operating room, they have not extended these changes to the rest of the hospital.
But in August, a patient died a few weeks after a third doctor performed brain surgery on the wrong side of his head. That surgery prompted the state to order the hospital to take a series of steps to ensure such a mistake would not happen again, including an independent review of its neurosurgery practices and better verification from doctors of surgery plans.
Security firms condemn HMRC for breach - UK
Update on the UK security breach: Sad lesson indeed here, but something to pay attention to if you are in the health care business and use devices to transport patient documents...not a good thing to do without encryption...and better done on a secured server..."The cost of data breaches can run into millions, but the cost of encryption is relatively low," ...and with a data base you have AUDIT TRAILS. But the best is in the paragraph below..."it would cost extra"...perhaps someday there will be people in leadership rolls that understand data, security and cost.
What is usually the case is someone at the top of the helm who has very little IT knowledge and is making the call to save a few dimes, but look what the error created...anybody read the TJ Maxx story lately? The same goes on at businesses every day, IT departments short changed on their budgets and their superiors just simply don't have one clue...and we all suffer as these folks are usually the ones who hate change and resist technology, yet they are in those positions to deny and resist funding where money is clearly needed today...the wheel is broken and needs to be fixed...and it's at least good to see how high up the chain the poor decision went, based on emails in the system...the higher up it went with management, the worse it became without someone running a SQL query to delete the sensitive data as they felt this was too costly, so let's just put everyone at risk, right? Obviously the one making the decision not to "bother" and add additional processing time didn't have a clue one as to the potential of breaching sensitive patient data on millions of files...only his nickels and dimes. BD
E-mails released by the U.K.'s National Audit Office have confirmed that officials at the U.K.'s tax agency, HM Revenue and Customs, did not want to remove sensitive information from child benefit data sent to the auditors because doing so would cost extra.
Security analysts criticized the HMRC's data notification policy, and said the lack of encryption, use of discs as opposed to electronic transfer, and poor information management contributed to the fiasco.
Joseph Hoban, vice president at GuardianEdge, said: "Securing two disks with only a password is not sufficient... To put an end to this catalogue of errors, the government needs to encrypt any removable devices like USBs or CDs that are to be transported - otherwise people should go to that data not the other way around. This way, if a removable device falls into the wrong hands - which it well might - it cannot be accessed and compromised."
Banks in the U.K. could end up spending upwards of $500 million to deal with the aftermath from the recent loss of computer disks containing bank account and other personal data belonging to about 25 million people, according to analyst firm Gartner Inc.
Hospitals in chaos as doctors strike in Italy
Five million appointments and 45,000 surgical procedures were postponed yesterday when Italian doctors staged a 24-hour strike over short-term employment contracts. Hospitals said that only emergency services were assured. Veterinary surgeons responsible for health checks on meat and fish also joined the stoppage. The strike, the latest in a series of protests that have rocked the centre-left Government of Romano Prodi, involved 135,000 medical and nonmedical staff, from surgeons, doctors and nurses to porters and administrative workers
‘Health care reform?’ Hush! You’ll anger the Insurance Gods!
Is this all we can do, get an AARP shirt? BD
You’ve heard about how one in seven Americans, or some such awful number, has no health insurance. But I’m not here to talk about that. Today, I’m talking about the other six of us who have coverage. If routine — not even catastrophic, but routine — health care is “affordable” for those of us with insurance, then somebody redefined the word while my brain was imploding from trying to figure out which health plan to pick for next year.
Too many Americans are locked into jobs or stopped from opening their own businesses because of worries about affording or maintaining health insurance.” Hah! “Opening their own businesses?” I’ll let the saps who don’t have families and think they’ll never get sick engage in such crazy entrepreneurial tricks as that.
Just the other day I went to my allergist’s office to get the results of my first skin tests in 20 years. I’d been getting allergy shots based on the old tests all that time, and my allergist, being a highly trained professional, thought it might be a good idea to see if I was still allergic to the same stuff. Actually, I can’t tell you for sure that the shots ever helped. So why get them? Because my insurance pays for allergy shots, but won’t pay any more for me to take Zyrtec, which I know relieved my symptoms. The Insurance Gods say I don’t need Zyrtec.
Then my pharmacy said my copay for my 30 generic pills would be $81.95. Stunned, I asked why? They shrugged and said no one knew; the Insurance Gods just said so. I shut up and paid it, even though it meant delaying paying on my mortgage or my electricity bill or some other frill. I think the pills helped, but I certainly wasn’t going to get a refill.
And there’s not a lot we can do about it — except maybe get one of those red T-shirts, and show up every time a presidential candidate comes to town. They’ve got boxes full of them at AARP headquarters, and they’ll give you one for free.
Brad Warthen's Blog: ‘Health care reform?’ Hush! You’ll anger the Insurance Gods!
Software group targets small business - Illegal software
Good time to check out all your software at the office...BD
WASHINGTON - Michael Gaertner worried he could lose his company. A group called the Business Software Alliance had written him to claim that his 10-person architectural firm in Galveston, Texas, was using unlicensed software.
The letter demanded $67,000 — most of one year's profit — or else the BSA would seek more in court.An analysis by The Associated Press reveals that targeting small businesses is a lucrative strategy for the Business Software Alliance, the main global copyright-enforcement watchdog for such companies as Microsoft Corp., Adobe Systems Inc. and Symantec Corp.
"It was basically just a lack of knowledge and sloppy record-keeping on my part," said Gaertner, who ended up with a settlement that cost him $40,000.
Home Health Services using Tablet PCs
And she does not use a keyboard to enter her information. Nice story from Tablet PC Buzz and they have included a video with additional details as well. Healthcare is all about mobility...BD
Devmar Home Health is a nursing agency that provides in-home care for their clients. Several months ago, the nurses at Devmar made the leap from paper and pencil to Tablet PCs. They are using hardware from both Motion Computing and Tablet Kiosk to capture information and, via their software, submit it to the insurer. The nurses are only issued tablets, bump cases and broadband air cards - no keyboards. Everything they do is with the pen.
As part of our True Tablet Heroes series, I rode along with Denise as she visited a client. It was amazing to see how the tablet seamlessly integrated into her routine and how she used it as a tool like a blood pressure cuff or stethoscope.I love how she says it took her ten to fifteen minutes to learn how to use the tablet after her three minute in service. I think this is just one more example of how software that is designed to take advantage of the pen capability of tablet PCs will be the most important factor that influences adoption of the platform.
Via: GottaBeMobile
The super scanner that lets doctors strip us down to bones and blood vessels
Pretty awesome images to say the least...with the new Essence technology...and the images can be viewed on any computer in the hospital...BD
They are pictures from the frontier of medical technology, revealing the interior of the human body with a clarity never seen before. One exposes the skull and neck bones as if they were part of a bare skeleton. Another, covering the hip area, displays bones, blood vessels and part of the digestive system. A third picture shows the heart, with the vital blood vessels that keep its muscles healthy and pumping, standing out in precise detail. They were taken with a 256-slice X-ray scanner the latest of its kind. Quite apart from providing stunning three-dimensional images from within the body, the £1million machine also reduces the radiation dose given to patients by up to 80 per cent on other scanners
The Brilliance CT machine was unveiled by Philips yesterday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.
Computerized tomography scanners have been widely used in hospitals for many years. Forty and 64-slice machines have been introduced in recent years.
Steve Rusckowski, chief executive officer of Philips Medical Systems, said: "This scanner is so powerful it can capture an image of the entire heart in just two beats while also including technology that has reduced
radiation doses."
Only one hospital in the world has the scanner so far – the Metro Health medical centre in Cleveland, Ohio – which has been taking images with the machine for a month.
The super scanner that lets doctors strip us down to bones and blood vessels| News | This is London
Click on the picture to the left to view the Phillips website for a virtual tour of recent technologies....
Hat Tip: Gizmag
Details ‘posted on unencrypted discs - UK
Security breach of the week...big one this time in the UK...one question, why do folks continue to put information UNENCRYPTED on CDs? The information should in my opinion be retained on a secured server...with today's network connections, etc. there is really almost no reason to be transporting such crucial and personal data on CDs...bandwidth issues maybe? Last week there was an article about physicians in the UK not trusting the records system...BD
The Times has been told that at least ten discs holding personal information about millions of people — not two discs as originally suggested — have yet to be accounted for after they had been sent from Revenue and Customs’ offices. Recorded on the files were the addresses, phone numbers, e-mail details and bank information of people such as Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the recently retired Lord Chancellor, and Lord Woolf, the former Lord Chief Justice. Mr Milford, 46, said that even after his work finished in July he was never asked to return the discs.
The Government was forced to begin a separate investigation last night after a businessman claimed that he was posted two discs containing highly sensitive information about judges, barristers and solicitors.
The discs were not registered properly or encrypted, leaving them open to fraudsters. The Department of Health says that there are no plans to export the processing of patient files, but a leaked internal NHS document, seen by the IT magazine Computer Weekly, reveals that the review is being held.British organisations which send personal data abroad for processing remain legally responsible under the UK Data Protection Act for ensuring it is secure.
Judges’ details ‘posted on unencrypted discs’ - Times Online
Related story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-7102999,00.html
The latest buzz on booze’s body benefits
Works for me..and glad that it doesn't take long to reap the rewards...BD
Attention, wine (and beer and martini) lovers: After years of flip-flopping, research seems to be settling in alcohol’s favor.Raise your glass and say
cheers….
“The healthiest people do include moderate drinking in their lifestyle,” says Eric Rimm, Sc.D., associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. You can reap alcohol’s health benefits within weeks, and the gains accumulate over time.
(Stick to one drink a day, and fewer than seven a week.)
To your heart! To your pancreas!
To your joints! To your heart!To feeling great all around!
Women who imbibe alcohol of any kind are twice as likely to report better-than-average health than women who don’t drink at all, researchers at the University of Miami in Coral Gables say.
The latest buzz on booze’s body benefits - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com
Research to look at whether dogs able to sniff out diabetes
Woof! Woof! Can man's best friend be trained to take on this task...BD
Queen's University researchers are appealing for volunteers to help investigate whether dogs can reliably
detect changes in their owner's diabetic state. Dr Deborah Wells from the School of Psychology at Queen's and Dr Shaun Lawson from the University of Lincoln are appealing for 100 Type One diabetics to complete an online survey.
The researchers are also seeking video footage of dogs reacting to their owner's 'hypos' or low blood sugar levels. Dr Wells said: "Anecdotal reports suggest that some dogs can perform early warning of hypoglycaemia by using their sense of smell to 'sniff out' if their owner's blood sugar levels are dropping.
AMA to renew fight for Medicare balance billing
Well one answer for the physician is to not participate..and then they can balance-bill a percentage..but that's not a win for the patients on that side of the coin...so what's the answer....pay the doctors and stop the 10% looming pay cut that is on the books for January...that's a good start...in some areas Medicare is the top payer as contracts with private industry give the physicians only 70% or so of the Medicare published charges, so by accepting a private subsidized plan, they actually end up with less than straight Medicare, but seniors need the plan for medications benefits as straight Medicare might not offer adequate prescription coverage....Catch 22? BD
Frustrated by Medicare pay cuts, representatives to the AMA House of Delegates directed the American Medical Association to call for national legislation to allow physicians to bill patients for costs Medicare doesn't cover. At its Interim Meeting last month, the house adopted policy directing the AMA to devote its political and financial resources to initiate a measure at the appropriate time that would allow Medicare balance billing. The policy calls for introducing legislation that would end budget-neutral restrictions inherent in a Medicare physician payment structure that interferes with patient access.
With no permanent fix for Medicare cuts in sight, doctors said it makes sense to pursue a law that lets them bill Medicare patients the difference between reimbursement rates and what it costs to treat patients. "What you see is a symptom of how difficult it is to maintain practices. It's physicians frustrated with reduced income," said AMA Trustee Rebecca J. Patchin, MD.
Nonparticipating doctors who take Medicare case by case may balance-bill patients, but the extra charge is limited to a set percentage of the initial payment.
Do your staff salaries measure up?
And the overall winner is work for an Orthopedic office, although for clerical staff, OBGYN is a bit higher.... and Family Practice sadly drags the bottom place...as we need those folks the worst..good article from Medical Economics...BD
Ever wonder how your staff salaries compare with those at other practices? Are you paying enough to retain good employees or attract new ones? To learn the going rates for clinical and clerical staffers, we looked at the results of the latest staff salary survey conducted by the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management, which drew responses from members around the country, most of them office managers in small-to-medium groups. (About 85 percent work for practices with fewer than seven doctors.)
Swat Doc: Doctor in Bulletproof Vest Saves Cop
Another way for trauma doctors to boost their income but perhaps not for all physicians...good work in saving the lives of officers too...having a doc along can mean the difference between life and death when an officer is down...BD
Dr. Alex Eastman doesn't lack for excitement in his life. He is a surgeon at Parkland Memorial Hospital, 
the busiest trauma center in Dallas, meeting the ambulances that carry human bodies wrecked by car accidents, gunshots and the violence of a big city.
There is a growing trend among the country's SWAT teams -- not just in Dallas -- to add doctors to provide immediate lifesaving treatment on the scene. Far from the controlled environment of hospitals, these doctors learn to work on trauma victims even as they take fire.
Within minutes of hearing "officer down!" Eastman and his partner, Dr. Jeff Metzger, went to work. Metzger held the officer's head while Eastmen performed an emergency tracheotomy, cutting a hole in the officer's neck to allow him to breathe. "That person would have never made it to the hospital," Eastman said. "They would have died right then and there." Half the week he exchanges his hospital scrubs for a bulletproof vest and heads out with the Dallas SWAT team.
End insurer subsidies for private Medicare
In some areas, regular Medicare is the best paying plan around for both physicians and hospitals due to contracts with the private insurer sector for the rates they honor and pay...example...the private insurers, as this article indicates gets 112% of the Medicare fees, and yet due to contracts with the insurers for parts B and C, the providers (hospitals and physicians) may only receive 70% (or a little more or less) than the Medicare fees...so where does the difference go between the 112% and the 70%..something to think about...dividends? Alegent Health care hospitals and clinics are back to accepting traditional Medicare...perhaps due to higher payments instead of the managed private care sector? BD
There is a long list of reasons why Medicare Advantage plans - in which private insurance companies take over management of health care for seniors who would otherwise be enrolled in traditional Medicare - are bad for seniors, taxpayers and the Medicare program itself. The most recent addition to the list: A senior enrolled in one might not be able to get treatment at a local hospital or clinic. A recent press release from Alegent Health hospitals and clinics states it will treat only Medicare patients covered through traditional Medicare, except in emergency situations. Alegent hasn't accepted private Medicare patients since 2000, but felt compelled to reiterate this position now because Medicare's fall open enrollment - when seniors can make plan changes - is taking place now.
"History indicates that many private insurers have withdrawn from the Medicare programs, leaving seniors to seek out an alternative product or return to Medicare," he said in a prepared statement.
According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the government pays private plans 12 percent more per patient than it pays for traditional Medicare. Perhaps the worst thing about private plans is they siphon people into the private sector. That is a step toward dismantling a public health insurance program that has worked well for more than 40 years. It breaks up a buying pool more than 40 million people strong.
It's difficult to blame seniors who sign up for the private plans. After all, seniors are bombarded with offers from them, promising everything from no premiums to health-club memberships. But they're not such a good deal if you can't visit your local hospital. It makes us wonder who - except for insurers receiving government subsidies - receives any advantage from these plans.
End insurer subsidies for private Medicare | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register
Medicare auditing making states ill
2 more states join California to halt Medicare auditing procedures...BD
WASHINGTON -- Florida and New York hospital officials are leaping onto legislation sponsored by California lawmakers that would temporarily halt a Medicare auditing program. The commission-based auditing program has been operating for more than two years on an experimental basis in the three states and is set to expand permanently to 20 more in March."Everyone is very concerned that this program and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service's mismanagement of it could be compromising the quality of health care for our seniors," Capps said.
But because of the California experience -- in which rehabilitation hospitals have been forced to surrender tens of millions of dollars for past services deemed by auditors to be medically unnecessary -- Reps. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, and Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, recently introduced legislation placing the program on a one-year moratorium to investigate the problems.
Just Off Insular Senate Floor, Life of the Uninsured Intrudes
Can it get any closer to home...employees inside the Senate...BD
When senators debate health care, they usually speak in abstract terms about soaring health costs and the plight of the uninsured. But just 20 feet from the Senate chamber is a young man who knows those problems all too well from personal experience. The man, Sergio A. Olaya, runs the Capitol elevators on which the senators ride. Whenever the Senate is in session, he is on duty.
A local hospital and its collection agency have been hounding him in an effort to collect from his mother’s estate, Mr. Olaya said. To pay the bills, he is selling the Maryland home where he lived with his mother, Clara Ines Olaya, 61.
“I wonder how many senators have been in the elevator with Sergio, talked to him, shared a smile with him, but had no idea of the terrible burden he and his mother were carrying,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the Senate Democratic whip, who learned of Mr. Olaya’s problems from an aide.
Just Off Insular Senate Floor, Life of the Uninsured Intrudes - New York Times
Insurance and Pharmaceutical acquisitions activity
Also the watched activity in the state of Nevada from the AMA referenced in prior posts...hey forget about "the Russians are coming", it's more like "the insurer's are coming"...as the larger firms continue to buy and purchase smaller companies both here in the US and abroad...welcome to club Aetna and club United...BD
Fiserv, Inc. a leading provider of information technology services to the financial and insurance industries worldwide, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of its Health businesses to UnitedHealthcare, a business of UnitedHealth Group (one of America's largest health care companies, for $775 million in cash. The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of 2007 or in the first quarter of 2008, subject to required regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
http://www.pr-inside.com/fiserv-agrees-to-sell-health-businesses-r280155.htm
KMG shareholders approve buyout by Humana Minnetonka, Minn.-based KMG (NYSE: KMA) offers life and health-insurance products and services to about 1.1 million group and individual members nationwide. The company had about $181 million in revenue for 2006.
KMG shareholders approve buyout by Humana - Business First of Louisville:
Healthcare services group United Drug has acquired UK pharmaceutical conference services company Procon Conferences for £4.2m sterling. The North Yorkshire-based company provides full corporate event management services targeted specifically at the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. It employs 28 people, all of whom will stay on the business.
http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/1120/uniteddrug.html
DUBLIN, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Irish healthcare services company United Drug Plc said on Tuesday it had bought UK pharmaceutical conference services company Procon Conferences Ltd for up to 5.4 million pounds ($11.14 million). The Dublin-based wholesaler which supplies drugs and medical equipment to pharmacies and hospitals in Ireland and Britain, said it was paying 4.2 million pounds and a further 1.2 million pounds if agreed targets are met over the next year.
From last month: Aetna purchase of Goodhealth in the UK
Hard choices on healthcare - "Dad be careful, don't fall, we don't have health insurance....
More about SCHIP...and why we need it...even the 8 year old son is aware there is no money for broken arms...BD
AMERICAN dream scene: a gorgeous Southern California day. A car-free cul-de-sac on a hilltop overlooking a canyon. A boy and his father, shooting hoops.
But stark reality intruded for a brief moment last summer when 40-year-old Wes Wirkkala tripped, stumbled and almost fell. "Dad, what are you doing? Be careful!" his son Nicholas shouted. "We don't have health insurance."At 8, Nicholas knows his family cannot risk any visits to the emergency room. He's been told a hundred times, as he dashes out the door with his skateboard, to be careful, to fall on his butt if he has to fall at all because there's no money for broken arms.
He has not been able to find what he believes the family needs -- coverage of major medical episodes as well as preventive care -- at a price they can afford. So they go without, and they worry and feel guilty.
New UV tattoo - Safe?
Is it safe for humans, or just fish? You might need to carry around your own black light too...BD
"I do doctors, attorneys, firemen, policemen, teachers, you name it," said Welch. UV ink has been on the market for five years and has received FDA approval. It does cost more than regular tattoo ink. UV inks shouldn't be confused with phosphorescent inks, which glow on their own, but
You've seen tattoos. You may even have one yourself. But have you ever seen one that glows?
Microencapsulated inks are also easier and safer to remove than traditional tattoo ink.
Today, 65-percent of all tattoos done in the US are on women. They've been around for centuries, but the trends in ink change just like anything else. The newest is a "glow in the dark" tattoo. Want one? Where you go may not be as safe as you think.
"It's very important to know exactly what’s inside the tattoo ink itself," Sandy Tsao, M.D., Dermatological Surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, said. "You need to do your background research and find out about it and make sure it’s what you want," Welch advised.
Some tattoo parlors advertise that they use UV ink approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A dangerous caveat often goes unnoted, however. According to the FDA, the most widely used UV inks are approved for use only as tracking liquids to be injected into fish, not as tattoo ink for human body art.
News 14 | 24 Hour Local News | HEADLINES | New UV tattoo
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/pop/articles/0408uvtat0408-CR.html
It's not a cold, it's "man flu"
Interesting and entertaining post about "man's flu"....although it could be just plain old IMS, irritable male syndrome....and yes IMS is real...added some links for additional information. BD
The problem with man flu is that it's so competitive," says my friend Jane. "It's apparently physically
impossible for my husband to have simply got the same bug as me or the children. His is always 100 times worse. On the few occasions when I've had proper flu, I've still had to look after the children during the day and stagger to bed after they have. But when Ian's ill, we all know about it. He does this strange dying-cow groan.
Even men who should know better don't. "I've heard male doctors sneeze, then groan about being at death's door," says Carol Cooper, a London GP. "If a man does stoically soldier on, he'll definitely want you to appreciate just how brave he is. Maybe it's a need to be mothered again."
.....and subside on to the sofa emitting loud woe-is-me groans surrounded by an ever increasing mountain of balled-up tissues. And, of course, it's never a cold, it's flu. Man flu.
It's not a cold, it's man flu - Telegraph
More on IMS here: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53725