HIMSS 2008 Exhibition and Annual Conference and Blogging Break....

 I will be taking a break from my normal blogging for a few days to attend the HIMMS Conference in Orlando, Florida.  If any readers of this blog are attending, please come by the TabletKiosk booth and say hello.  I may or may not be there, but feel free to send me an email to ducknetservices(at)hotmail.com and it will forward to my phone to locate me, as it's a very large  show.   Nice to have modern technology at work!  In addition be sure to check out the Mobility Matters blog from TabletKiosk from Gail Levy for additional information.  I should be easy to identify as I'll be carrying around a nice Sahara Slate tablet....like the one in the picture above.  Also, be sure to check in at EMR Update.Com for some video coverage of the conference.  There will be coverage of the events posted at the EMR Update site and TabletKiosk will be one of them... EMR Update also syndicates The Medical Quack blog, so you can stay up to date there as well....

Hope to see you there...BD  

TabletKiosk  - Booth 831

TabletKiosk offers a broad range of portable Tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs featuring both touch screen input and handwriting recognition to maximize portability and productivity in a hospital setting. Our adaptable computer hardware solutions can be integrated as components of a mobile deployment or stationary kiosk solution.

"The HIMSS show is closed to the general public, but if you are in the Orlando area and are  interested in attending the show, send me an email and I can see what I can do about getting a pass for you.  My email: Gail(at)tabletkiosk.com"

"We'll be showing a sneak preview of the eo i7300 series, the first the first fully modular UMPC. We'll also be showcasing the Sahara Slate PC i400 series running several EMR programs and an innovative room scheduler by our partner NetSimplicity  used to reserve examination and operating rooms."

While at HIMMS, be sure to also stop by the Office Ally booth to see their live EMR system running on a Sahara i440D tablet.....booth 3805

Electronic Medication Administration Report (eMAR)
Enterprise EMR
Mobile Computers
Pen Tablets and Notebooks

http://www.tabletkiosk.com

HIMSS 08 >> Exhibition

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BlogTalkRadio - Doctor Anonymous - Dr. A Live 26: Doug Farrago 2-28-2008 at 6:00 PM

  The Disruptive Physician....If you haven't seen his listing on You Tube...well worth checking out and we have several of his past videos on this site...just do a search for placebo and you'll find him...he is one funny physician...BD 

Doug Farrago, MD talks about his blog The Placebo Journal and his video podcast called Placebo TV.  Use the link on this site or sign in below....

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoranonymous/2008/02/29/Dr-A-Live-26-22808

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Will you trust your medical information to Google?

No official HIPAA compliance...check and read what is and what is not policy...read the fine print...BD 

For Google, the pilot is a good test. If these Web-based PHR systems are going to work they are going to have to play nice with existing systems already in place. Interoperability has been an issue in the PHR market, which is why folks like Google and Microsoft, which has already launched HealthVault have an opening.

The concept of a PHR system makes a lot of sense, but there are key differences between the profiles offered by Google and Microsoft and systems from hospitals. The biggest one: These PHR services from the likes of Google, Microsoft and RevolutionHealth aren’t covered by HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). HIPAA, passed in 1996, created standards for electronic health care transactions and addressed security and privacy issues.

Since the portals behind PHRs don’t technically own the data–since the user picks and chooses what to put into the repository–there are no HIPAA requirements. Data brokers and medical institutions have HIPAA requirements.  In a nutshell, these newfangled PHR systems give you some privacy protection but it’s just what’s covered in each company’s privacy policy

Will you trust your medical information to Google? | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

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PSAS -Women Who Can't Stop The Feeling

Not even sex can help...not related to raging hormones...men have a similar problem called Priapism...could add to RLS, (restless leg syndrome?)..some say the older you get, the worse it gets...new experimental drug on the market, anti depressants do and do not help...read the Wiki here...BD 

If you thought "Grey's Anatomy" writers invented Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome (PSAS), think again.

PSAS, identified and named just six years ago, remains a mysterious condition that thousands of women wish they didn't have. They are constantly on the edge of orgasm regardless of time, place or circumstance. And while this situation might sound desirable, funny or just plain weird it is actually akin to being a prisoner: a nightmarish reality where a woman's body acts independently of her own desires.

"And sex doesn't help it," Lauren said. "Orgasm doesn't relieve it, sometimes it makes it stronger. This is to me, irritating, torture." "Every lecture I give on this, there's always smirks in the audience: 'Oh I wish my wife was like this.' These are professional physicians," Dr. Goldstein said. "And I said, 'No, no, you're, you don't really want this. You do not want your wife to have this, please.'"

Dr. Goldstein is also experimenting with a new drug that affects the brain's dopamine levels. So far it has shown some success, but more research will be needed to decide if it is effective.

ABC News: Women Who Can't Stop Feeling Sexual

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2 Girls With Rare 'Mermaid Syndrome'

Sad story on the struggle to live with this condition...nobody really wants to be a mermaid...Medical Mysteries will also feature the story...check the link for additional details below...BD 

Eight-year-old Shiloh Pepin is a force of nature. With a husky voice she can barely contain, and a level of enthusiasm that could derail a freight train, she has a way of expressing herself that is half grade-schooler and the rest someone who became too wise, too soon, about the prospect of spending her life under the care of doctors.

Shiloh is one of only three people in the world known to have a condition called sirenomelia, also known as "Mermaid Syndrome." She was born with her legs fused together, and her parents, Leslie and Elmer Pepin, knew it was possible that their child would be affected by the syndrome before Leslie gave birth.

ABC News: Meet 2 Girls With Rare 'Mermaid Syndrome'

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Baxter Heparin Shortage

It's official now...Heparin shortage exists...BD 

February 21, 2008 (Rockville, MD) – There is now an official shortage of Baxter's heparin in the US, following the problems with adverse reactions associated with the product. The FDA added Baxter's 1000 units/mL 10-mL and 30-mL multidose vials to its official list of drug shortages earlier this week.  Baxter temporarily stopped manufacturing multiple-dose vials of heparin earlier this month because of reports of serious allergic reactions and hypotension in patients who receive high bolus doses of the drug. The reactions have included difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, and rapidly falling blood pressure that can lead to life-threatening shock. Four people have died after receiving heparin, although the relationship to the drug is unclear.

Baxter Heparin Shortage

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Ontario man featured in U.S. health-care debate

A story on the health care wait in Canada...now suing for his cost in the US as he had a cancerous brain tumor.....as reported in the past, the city of Pittsburgh has more MRIs than the entire country of Canada...there are good things about both systems, however, the US just having a large number of MRIs could avoid the one issue at hand here.  As far as the length of wait to see a physician, that's another issue....single pay system would require a huge amount of resources...perhaps an area where Canada is behind by comparison...BD 

WASHINGTON–A retired Newmarket man who had to go to Buffalo to have his brain tumour removed has emerged as a poster boy in the ongoing health-care debate in the U.S. presidential election.

Lindsay McCreith, who is suing the Ontario government because he says it could not provide timely medical treatment, is the star of a YouTube video made by independent filmmaker Stuart Browning to warn Americans about the move toward socialized health care advocated by Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

TheStar.com | USElection | Ontario man featured in U.S. health-care debate

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The Truth About Trans Fats

Good article that gives the full story....so there is some good to trans fats after all...BD 

We've just come off several years of hearing that trans fat is bad for us -- worse than lard, worse than butter, worse than eating pork rinds and bacon grease.  And now they're telling us there's good trans fat? Indeed, trans fat has become the whipping post of the entire health community, because it raises the bad (LDL) cholesterol -- just as too much saturated fat does -- but it has a double-whammy effect of lowering the good cholesterol (the HDL stuff) too.

Trans Fat 101: What Is It?

The trans fat you've heard about is a manufactured or industrial trans fat. It starts out as liquid vegetable oil, which then gets bombarded with hydrogen atoms to make it a bit more firm at room temperature.

ABC News: The Truth About Trans Fats

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Forensic Testing Kit From Applied Biosystems Helps Improve DNA Analysis In Sexual Assault Cases

I am guessing we might just see something like this on CSI-NY?.....would be nice to the the process run on a Tablet PC too....watch for the Sahara Tablet on the show...it is used on almost every show!  BD  

With the introduction of the Quantifiler® Duo kit, forensic laboratories can obtain more comprehensive information than conventional methods in a single, highly sensitive quantification reaction. The new kit simultaneously provides a quantitative and qualitative assessment of total human and human male DNA and more accurately estimates the quantity of DNA in degraded samples. This efficiently provides the male-to-female DNA mixture ratio, guides selection of the optimal DNA profiling chemistry kit and is expected to increase analysis success rates. Overall, the Quantifiler® Duo kit streamlines and integrates the forensic DNA workflow to maximize recovery of results from sexual assault cases and other challenging samples.
The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) forensic laboratory, an early user, is currently validating and planning to add the Quantifiler® Duo kit into its workflow to better assess the characteristics for each DNA sample and obtain information to indicate which DNA profiling chemistry should be used in subsequent analyses: a standard short tandem repeat (STR) kit or a male-specific STR (Y-STR) kit. The ability to obtain more detailed information prior to DNA profiling enables the SDPD analysts to improve results and reduce the need for repeat analysis.

New Forensic Testing Kit From Applied Biosystems Helps Improve DNA Analysis In Sexual Assault Cases

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Genetic Test for Hair Loss

It is only $149.00 to find out if you will be bald...otherwise you can save your money and wait to see what nature has in mind for you...BD 

Having knowledge of your genetic risk for early onset Androgenetic Alopecia (Pattern Baldness) will help you make the right decisions to preserve your hair. 

The HairDX test will provide you with a genetic analysis of your risk for developing Pattern Baldness.  HairDX also reports about a less common genetic variant of the same gene, that if present indicates a greater than 85% likelihood of not going bald before the age of 40.

HairDX - Genetic Test for Hair Loss

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When Flu Shots Fail - Change is in the works

"The flu shots given across the country are, for many, proving to be a bust -- only effective against about 40 percent of the flu strains now in the United States."....a reformulation for the vaccine is in the works, first time in 20 years....BD 

Federal health officials who met in Maryland today were already preparing for the next flu season, which starts in the fall.

For millions of Americans, what began as a mild flu season has developed into pure misery.  In Raleigh, N.C., almost half the students at one school are out sick. So many teachers had the flu, officials considered canceling classes. In Placenta, Calif., influenza is spreading through whole neighborhoods and families. In Augusta, Ga., one hospital was swamped with people complaining of fever, dry cough and body aches.

ABC News: When Flu Shots Fail

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Arizona Center For Education And Research On Therapeutics Launches PDA Version Of QT-Prolonging Drug Lists

The list includes drugs that contain the risk of inducing serious heart arrhythmias and death....and the list contains links to educational material...BD

The QTdrugs.org website currently lists over 100 drugs in four categories based on relative risk, including a comprehensive list of drugs to be avoided by patients with inherited Long QT syndrome. Drugs on the lists can be sorted by brand or generic name, and a new search function allows mobile users to enter full or partial drug names to search for possible matches in the database. The PDA lists are viewable online at http://www.QTdrugs.org/m.

Drugs are listed with up to 2 common brand names. There are several brand names for some of the common drugs, such as pseudoephedrine and erythromycin. It is also important to look at the list of active drugs in medicines that contain a combination of drugs such as Zyrtec-D®, which contains cetirizine and pseudoephedrine.

Arizona Center For Education And Research On Therapeutics Launches PDA Version Of QT-Prolonging Drug Lists

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Medical Device Ruling Redraws Lines on Lawsuits

This will certainly change the events of current and potential lawsuits...who do you trust...can the FDA do the job?  BD 

The Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday protecting many types of medical device makers from personal injury lawsuits began rippling through the courts and law offices almost immediately.

The majority of Class III devices submitted for F.D.A. consideration — hundreds each year — are variants on products like standard pacemakers that were already in the market when the main law covering devices was passed by Congress in 1976. While companies must notify the F.D.A. when introducing such products, the agency does not require extensive safety and effectiveness testing before allowing them to be sold.  As things stand now, lawyers expect injury lawsuits to leave design questions behind and focus on whether patients were harmed because a company did not make or handle the product according to the safety processes laid out in the documents approved by the F.D.A.

Hours after the decision in the case, Riegel v. Medtronic, was announced, lawyers involved in a group of Florida state court cases related to Johnson & Johnson’s drug-coated Cypher heart stent received an e-mail message from Judge Mary Barzee Flores asking for briefs on whether the lawsuits should be allowed to continue.

Medical Device Ruling Redraws Lines on Lawsuits - New York Times

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Paying Patients Test British Health Care System

Everything is not free for those who chose seeing a private physician...some pay for an MRI as the wait it considered too long...and the decision to have NHS or private care...as you can't have both for the same aliment...and this article states is has a tendency to confuse treatment issues...BD 

LONDON — Created 60 years ago as a cornerstone of the British welfare state, the National Health Service is devoted to the principle of free medical care for everyone. But recently it has been wrestling with a problem its founders never anticipated: how to handle patients with complex illnesses who want to pay for parts of their treatment while receiving the rest free from the health service.

Although the government is reluctant to discuss the issue, hopscotching back and forth between private and public care has long been standard here for those who can afford it. But a few recent cases have exposed fundamental contradictions between policy and practice in the system, and tested its founding philosophy to its very limits.

In fact, patients, doctors and officials across the health care system widely acknowledge that patients suffering from every imaginable complaint regularly pay for some parts of their treatment while receiving the rest free. The rules are confusing. “It’s quite a fine line,” Ms. Mason said. “You can’t have a course of N.H.S. and private treatment at the same time on the same appointment — for instance, if a particular drug has to be administered alongside another drug which is N.H.S.-funded.” But, she said, the health service rules seem to allow patients to receive the drugs during separate hospital visits — the N.H.S. drugs during an N.H.S. appointment, the extra drugs during a private appointment.

Paying Patients Test British Health Care System - New York Times

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Pfizer Has Its Heart On Its Sleeve

Purchasing a drug that has not been FDA approved...but used in Europe, Encysive, used for hypertension...developed by Pfizer researchers....BD 

Its latest leap of faith is with Encysive (nasdaq: ENCY - news - people ), the maker of thelin. Thelin treats pulmonary arterial hypertension or high blood pressure in the heart. The drug is already being marketed in the European Union, Australia and Canada, but has come up for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval three times without results.

Pfizer will pay $195 million, or $2.35 per share, in cash for all of the company's issued and outstanding shares. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2008. Pfizer's offer was 8.7% higher than Encysive's opening share price on Wednesday, the day the deal was announced. Shares of the company shot up 110.2%, or $1.19, to $2.27 by close on Wednesday. While Pfizer's share stayed relatively flat with only a slight increase of .5%, or 10 cents to $22.47.

Pfizer Has Its Heart On Its Sleeve - Forbes.com

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L.A. says Health Net illegally halts insurance

Website has been set up by the City Attorney for those to respond to any unfair acts by insurers..."If you have information regarding what you believe are unlawful, fraudulent or unfair business practices of a health plan or health insurer, we request your assistance in this investigation."  BD

LAW ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATION REGARDING DENIAL OF HEALTH INSURANCE CLAIMS OR COVERAGE DUE TO UNLAWFUL, FRAUDULENT OR UNFAIR PRACTICES

Los Angeles' city attorney has sued Health Net Inc. - one of California's largest insurers - accusing the company of unlawful and deceptive business practices for canceling coverage after patients make medical claims. 

Rocky Delgadillo said the insurer, which is based in Woodland Hills (Los Angeles County), saved more than $35 million in medical expenses by illegally rescinding the policies of at least 1,600 members. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Delgadillo said he's also initiating a criminal investigation into Health Net's practice of awarding employee bonuses for meeting annual goals for policy rescissions. State regulators in November fined Health Net $1 million for lying to investigators about engaging in this practice.

L.A. says Health Net illegally halts insurance

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New funds for development of high tech prosthetic limb

Update...DARPA continues to work for the bionic prosthetics...BD

February 22, 2008 A team led by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to complete development of a prosthetic arm that will look, feel and perform like a natural limb.

The funding forms Phase 2 of DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 program, aimed at providing the most advanced medical and rehabilitative technologies for military personnel injured in the line of duty.  The Proto 1 limb system also includes a virtual environment used for patient training, clinical configuration, and to record limb movements and control signals during clinical investigations.

New funds for development of high tech prosthetic limb

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GREAT-WEST, the insurer that pays less than Medicaid for an office visit...?

Health care provider paying less than Medicaid?  How could that happen?  This astute healthcare individual did a comparison and this is what was found...BD 

GREAT-WEST Healthcare has recently been processing our claims under an "OPEN ACCESS" network plan.  For a 99213 intermediate office visit, Great-West is now allowing $44.   This is below our state Medicaid (you know, the program for the needy & disabled) allowed amount of $52.10.  In my correspondence with them over their abysmally low reimbursement, I asked whether they would like to become publicly known across the world wide web as “the insurer that pays less than Medicaid?” ....

GREAT-WEST, the insurer that pays less than Medicaid - emrupdate.com

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Freezing Heart Murmurs

The deep cold can bring a life back to a normal beat through new technology for treating heart mummers...BD 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- More than two million people live with heart arrhythmias, or an irregular heart beat. It can leave people exhausted and cause strokes and even heart attacks. Now, a new procedure is using extreme cold to freeze hearts back into rhythm.  For the past decade, Peter Nyquist’s heart beat has not felt or sounded like a normal, healthy heart.

"Instead of a constant boom, boom, boom in your chest, it would be boom … boom, boom, ba, ba, ba. Everything was out of beat," Nyquist told Ivanhoe. 

A long, thin tube is inserted through a leg vein and threaded to the heart. Catheter cryoablation uses intense cold, minus 90 degrees Celsius, to destroy the heart tissue that is causing the irregular rhythm.

"Our goal is to identify where the origin of the abnormal rhythm is coming from and to specifically target that focus for destruction," Dr. Kerwin says.

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Freezing Heart Murmurs

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Study confirms Aprotinin (Trasylol) drug increases cardiac surgery death rate

Study information on the use of the drug used for cardiac bypass surgery, which is now off the market...BD 

The largest study to date of a controversial cardiac surgery drug shows it increases death rates and damages kidney function, according Duke University Medical Center researchers.

Aprotinin, a drug used to limit bleeding, was temporarily suspended from marketing in the U.S. in November 2007 after a small Canadian study was stopped because similar findings were discovered. The drug, Trasylol, is manufactured by Baylor AG.

"We're not surprised by the results," says Dr. Andrew Shaw, an associate professor in Duke Medicine's department of anesthesiology and the lead author of the paper which appears in the February 21 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. "It's what we expected to find."  Of the 10,275 patients studied, 1343 patients (13.2%) received aprotinin, 6776 patients (66.8%) received aminocaproic acid (another drug used to limit bleeding) and 2029 patients (20.0%) received no therapy. All patients underwent coronary-artery bypass surgery (CABG), and 1181 of them also underwent valve surgery. Patients who received either aminocaproic acid or no therapy did not have high rates of death or poor kidney function seen in the aprotinin group.

Study confirms aprotinin drug increases cardiac surgery death rate

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US FDA Clears Wyeth Hemophilia Treatment

Hamsters could be the best friend of a hemophiliac....BD 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) Feb 21 - U.S. regulators on Thursday cleared a new drug to treat the blood-clotting disorder hemophilia made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it licensed Wyeth's Xyntha anti-hemophilic factor, a genetically engineered form of factor VIII, to control and prevent bleeding in patients with hemophilia type A. The drug is made by altering genes of Chinese hamster ovary cells. The culture in which the cells are grown is free from human or animal material, nor is any added, which the FDA said minimizes the risk of infection.

US FDA Clears Wyeth Hemophilia Treatment

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Memory loss and thinking problems are becoming less common among older Americans

Good news here and I have a mother that is standing proof...keeping the mind active and using her computer is a big part of it...BD 

Although it's too soon to sound the death knell for the "senior moment," it appears that memory loss and thinking problems are becoming less common among older Americans.

A new nationally representative study shows a downward trend in the rate of "cognitive impairment" - the umbrella term for everything from significant memory loss to dementia and Alzheimer's disease - among people aged 70 and older.

The prevalence of cognitive impairment in this age group went down by 3.5 percentage points between 1993 and 2002 - from 12.2 percent to 8.7 percent, representing a difference of hundreds of thousands of people.

And while the reasons for this decline aren't yet fully known, the authors say today's older people are much likelier to have had more formal education, higher economic status, and better care for risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking that can jeopardize their brains.

Memory loss and thinking problems are becoming less common among older Americans

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Google to store patients' health records

Testing to begin in Cleveland...being transferred from another software, MyChart..BD 

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that's likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive information entrusted to the Internet search leader.

The pilot project to be announced Thursday will involve 1,500 to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic who volunteered to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google's new service, which won't be open to the general public.

Each health profile, including information about prescriptions, allergies and medical histories, will be protected by a password that's also required to use other Google services such as e-mail and personalized search tools. The clinic already keeps the personal health records of more than 120,000 patients on its own online service called MyChart. Patients who transfer the information to Google would still be able to get the data quickly even if they were no longer being treated by the Cleveland Clinic.

Google to store patients' health records - Yahoo! News

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Voters Want a President Who Would Back a Health IT Network

This was a survey of 1000 residents....more are siding with a national health plan it appears...BD 

Seventy percent of U.S. voters said they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who supports the creation of a Nationwide Health Information Network, according to a recent survey commissioned by Computer Sciences,

Government Technology reports.  In addition, 77% of respondents said that a national EHR system could address some of the country's most critical health issues, such as improving the quality of care and expediting medical research

Voters Want a President Who Would Back a Health IT Network - iHealthBeat

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G-Trainer "anti-gravity" treadmill gets approved by the FDA

Well this could make aerobics a thing of the past and has to be much easier on the body than running on the ground...D 

Alter-G looks to have been boasting about its G-Trainer "anti-gravity" treadmill for some time now, but it seems that it's now a whole lot closer to finding itself under your feet someday, as it has now been approved as an actual medical device by the FDA. In case it didn't pop up on your radar, the device itself makes use of a specialized air pressure regulation system to reduce the individuals' effective body weight by up to 80%, with it apparently precise enough to make changes in increments as small as 1%.

More information at the web site including ICD-9 and CPT Codes...

G-Trainer "anti-gravity" treadmill gets approved by the FDA - Engadget

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Beef Recall Largest in U.S. History

Where's the beef...well this may not the beef we want...BD 

February 19, 2008 — It's the largest beef recall in U.S. history: 143 million pounds of beef "voluntarily" recalled by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company of Chino, Calif.

The beef, produced from February 2006 until the U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended operations at the meat plant on Feb. 2, 2008, may be contaminated because of "inhumane" practices at the plant, including the processing of cattle too ill to walk.

Beef Recall Largest in U.S. History

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Century City Doctors Hospital Implement Enterprise-wide Clinical Application in Record Time - Open Vista (VA EHR)

This is the original Vista EHR from the VA, reworked and revamped to work outside a government facility...BD 

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - (Business Wire) Medsphere Systems Corporation today announced the successful phase one deployment of its Open Source-based OpenVista^® electronic health record (EHR) at Century City Doctors Hospital (CCDH) in Los Angeles. The project was completed on an ambitious four-month timetable that enabled the 176-bed acute care facility to meet a self-imposed goal of implementing OpenVista and Keane’s Patcom system by the end of December.  It also integrated OpenVista with Keane’s financial systems based on a joint implementation methodology previously developed under a partnership between the two companies

Medsphere and Century City Doctors Hospital Implement Enterprise-wide Clinical Application in Record Time

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E-MDs EHR recognized by the Academy of Family Physicians..

Family practice voted in favor over other EHRs in survey...BD 

AUSTIN, TX th Today e-MDs, an industry leader in the development and implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) announced distinguished recognition in "User Satisfaction with EHRs", a survey recently conducted by Family Practice Management, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

(Media-Newswire.com) - AUSTIN, TX – Today e-MDs, an industry leader in the development and implementation of electronic health records ( EHRs ) announced distinguished recognition in "User Satisfaction with EHRs", a survey recently conducted by Family Practice Management, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Academy of Family Physicians ( AAFP ).

Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency

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FDA Looks at Wrong Plant in China

Update in the latest heparin investigation...FDA went to the wrong place...BD

U.S. health officials evaluated the wrong factory when assessing the safety of a Chinese-made drug ingredient that may be a source of problems with a blood thinner, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

Baxter International's heparin has been linked to four deaths and hundreds of reports of allergic reactions. An investigation will take FDA inspectors to China this week.  Inspections are under way at a Baxter facility in Cherry Hill, N.J. facility and at company supplier Scientific Protein Laboratories of Waunakee, Wis.

ABC News: FDA Looks at Wrong Plant in China

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Data Captor Recognized With Global Technology Leadership Award

Integration software....works with many of the major EMR systems and translates HL7 information...BD 

Capsule, the leading independent medical device connectivity solution used by hundreds of healthcare institutions worldwide, announced it received the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Global Technology Leadership Award.
DataCaptor™ Connectivity Suite features one of the largest device interface libraries in the world with over 370 different types of medical devices, such as patient monitors, ventilators and infusion pumps, supported. It automatically converts the medical device data to HL7 or XML format and integrates it with any Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Clinical Information System (CIS), or Alarm and Event Management system saving valuable nursing time, enhancing clinical workflow automation, and contributing to improved healthcare quality.

DataCaptor Interface Server is a software engine that collects data from medical devices, translates it into a common protocol such as HL7 and distributes it to Health care Information Systems.  DataCaptor is FDA 510(k) cleared.  In addition, DataCaptor 5.0 includes built-in support for 330 diverse bedside medical devices and plug-ins to all HL7 compatible Health care Information Systems such as Cerner's Millennium, Eclipsys' Sunrise, Epic's EpicCare, Philips' CareVue Chart and many more.

Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Capsule With Global Technology Leadership Award For DataCaptor(TM) Connectivity Suite

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Hospitals to pay for mistakes - fewer catheters in the future...

This might mean less catheters for patients in the future as they can trigger infections....as a result of the new Medicare law that will not pay hospitals for preventable errors...BD  

And patients' first sign that something is changing may involve lessening of a big indignity: Today, one in four hospitalized patients is outfitted with a urinary catheter. The tubes trigger more than half a million urinary tract infections a year, the most common hospital-caused infection.

Yet many patients don't even need catheters — they're an automatic precaution after certain surgeries — and many who do have them for days longer than necessary. Why? The University of Michigan reported the first national study of catheter practices last month, finding nearly half of hospitals don't even keep track of who gets one. Fewer than one in 10 hospitals does a daily check to see if the catheter is still needed, a simple but proven infection-reducing system.

Hospitals to pay for mistakes - Health care- msnbc.com

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Medi-Cal cuts will affect everybody - California

Many physicians do not take Medi-Cal already, so does this tend to even lower the rank and file of physicians who will take Medi-Cal patients?  BD 

.....there is now a proposal to cut a whopping 10 percent from Medi-Cal payments to health care providers in California. This poses an enormous threat to our neediest families' medical care.

These huge Medi-Cal reductions are supposed to help balance the state budget. But at what cost? Cutting Medi-Cal threatens to limit Medi-Cal patients' access to physicians. It's also likely to drive up the cost of health care for everyone else and cause the state to lose more than $1 billion in federal funds.

Medi-Cal is the state's single largest source of medical insurance, providing coverage for 1 out of every 6 Californians - including 226,630 Santa Clara County residents. The proposed cuts would come after years of under-funding Medi-Cal, leading to one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the nation. California spends almost 30 percent less per Medi-Cal beneficiary than the national average, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Finally, virtually every $1 cut from Medi-Cal takes $2 away from the program because the federal government matches the state's share dollar-for-dollar.

Medi-Cal cuts will affect everybody - San Jose Mercury News

Hat Tip:  Kevin, MD

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FDA-Approved TRC105 Anti-Cancer Agent Developed For Clinical Trials

A novel anti-angiogenic agent, TRC105 (also known as c-SN6j), developed in the laboratory of Ben K. Seon, PhD, Department of Immunology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has the potential to be an effective agent for the treatment of solid tumors. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved TRC105 as an Investigational New Drug (IND). A phase I clinical trial, supported by government grants and sponsored by TRACO Pharmaceuticals will be performed at RPCI and three other medical centers.

FDA-Approved Novel Anti-Cancer Agent Developed At Roswell Park For Clinical Trials

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A Story that should not exist... makes me angry and sad...

This is a story that make me sad if not outright angry....read on....

Many hospitals offer a wonderful service for seniors who live alone to call and check in every morning, staffed by volunteers...great and my own mother participates through this sort of a plan...wonderful and great that it exists; however this is not a story about this service of seniors helping seniors, but more about a good civic minded volunteer who donates her time to make this a success and her story about the healthcare she received. 

I'll call her Mary....every day Mary donates her time to make sure everyone on the list has called in for the morning...and calls the seniors who live alone perhaps have maybe forgotten to check in for the day.  If she does not receive an answer by phone, she has a list of family members or  friends to contact to alert.   Great project as it can alert loved ones of something potentially adverse and get everyone in touch.  

Mary, one day, had an accident at the facility...fell and hit her head while doing her volunteer activities at the hospital's facility.  She was rushed to the hospital and seen by the hospitalist on duty.  With the senior service, those who call in do develop a personal relationship with the volunteers as it is something that is done every day.  My mother, on her next call was told that her friend Mary had been taken to the hospital and she was filling in until Mary was able to return to work.  Mary is in her early 80s.  Of course, everyone is concerned about Mary and has inquired as she is the friendly voice that many seniors hear and speak with every day. 

Within a couple days she was released to go home and told to apply some heat and cold treatment to the area and she would be fine, but all was not fine, she could barely stand up and get out of bed.    Upon her release she had told the hospitalist that she was still in pain and there were insufficient tests done, such as an MRI to pinpoint what happened.  Also in making a phone call to the physician afterwards, she was once again told to use hot and cold packs to relieve the pain and told once more she would be fine, no mention of an offer to return. 

Within 24 hours of being home, with the help of a friend since Mary lives alone herself, they called 911, and Mary was taken to another hospital.  Upon arrival, an MRI was done without question, something overlooked at the hospital where she donates her time.  They found she had serious back injuries as a result of her fall. She is still in the hospital getting treatment and will be released to senior care nursing home for 3 months to continue therapy, and she has no immediate family, just friends.   

The issue I find here is why did the hospital, where she volunteers her time, let her down?  There are many areas to ponder here and insurance was not the issue as far as coverage.  Did the hospitalist, employed by the hospital, not take her complaints seriously, was he/she under additional pressure to meet P4P goals and maintain the current goals for getting patients in and out of the hospital?  Did he/she not care or view her age being any type of factor?  What are the hospital policies in place as far as occupational goals for the hospitalist?  Their performance is scrutinized by the number of re-admissions done as well, so was this a part of the diversion to another hospital to care for her, so was the effort to have her go to another hospital an effort to keep a re-admission off the record?  What are the hospital guidelines for MRIs and was this related to cost? 

No matter how you look at this, the hospital where she DONATES her time every day let her down, and this makes me sad and angry as something like this is just not supposed to happen.  How cold and indifferent can issues get?  By now, the entire grapevine of all those individuals she was in contact with on a daily basis to check in are discussing this issue in a flurry as she was the caring and concerned individual who donated her time in helping others......in other words it happened to Mary...so what would be in store for those that Mary contacts every day....can they trust and feel a a vote of confidence to how they would all be treated at this hospital...makes you stop and think.....it may only be one insolated incident, but when it happens to you, it is not isolated by any means...and everyone is wanting to know her status and how she is being treated at the other hospital who is now caring for her.

Again, there are many stories like this and they all tell a human saga here of HealthCare in the US failing..I felt this was particularly important to bring this to light not only for Mary, but to once again address the problem that we have a very broken system in this country and how long will we as citizens continue to embrace those policies that reduce cost for healthcare only, as they do interfere with decisions that are being made every day...what has happened to the morale commitment of "doing the right thing", something that is inherent and lives within all of us.

In this case it was not only the hospital but every individual involved in the process of her care that contributed to the break down...and after this series of events, it does make you wonder how Mary will feel about continuing to donate her time....if she will physically be able to re-join the wonderful rank and files of those who take it upon themselves to unselfishly donate their time to helping others, will she return to the hospital where she has for years donated her time?  I know how I would personally feel if it were me.....I would hope to someday soon see a day when stories such as this are no longer newsworthy and cease to exist....and everyone she touched will now be aware of the lack of the quality of care she received at the hospital she believed in for so long....BD 

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Bush Proposes Linking the Medicare Drug Premium to Beneficiaries’ Income

One more "feeble" attempt...and more data mining...fewer than 5% would pay increased premiums...but what about the overpayments to private insurers that provide managed care?  BD 

WASHINGTON — President Bush proposed legislation on Friday to increase prescription drug premiums for higher-income Medicare beneficiaries.   Under the proposal, the federal government would have to “release to the public physician-specific measurements of the quality or efficiency” of doctors.

The proposal, which the administration said would generate $3.2 billion of additional revenue for Medicare over five years, was part of a broader package that is intended to rein in Medicare costs while advancing the Republican vision of a larger private role in the health care system.

Representative Pete Stark of California, chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said it was hypocritical of Mr. Bush to try to increase some premiums while not proposing any cuts in “overpayments to private insurance companies” that manage care for nearly nine million beneficiaries.

Bush Proposes Linking the Medicare Drug Premium to Beneficiaries’ Income - New York Times

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Health Plan Sues Accident Victim to recover Entire settlement recovery - the injured victim will likely get nothing...ERISA at work

 Wal Mart stated the company had to look out for the overall members of the plan..in other words nothing in view of a tragic accident even matters at all...they just want their money...is the health plan in reality a "loan" and not full insurance?  Health plan administered by United Health Care.....ERISA needs another look when things like this are happening...loopholes and interpretations are winning.....not the patient...BD  

Can you imagine recovering a settlement after being permanently injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, and then being sued by your own health insurance plan to recover all of your settlement funds?
That’s exactly what happened to 52-year-old Missouri resident Deborah Shank. A collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago left Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved. After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Mrs. Shank's ongoing and future medical care.

But instead of using that money for her medical treatment, it will likely all go to repay Shank’s health insurance plan. The health plan was administered through Shank’s employer at the time – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Wal-Mart’s health plan was created under ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974). ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans.  Administrators of employer-financed health plans "have an obligation to participants to be impartial," the Wal-Mart spokeswoman says.

A Supreme Court ruling last year also has given them a stronger legal position to sue employees. And the employers have been winning. Her Wal-Mart ERISA health plan sued Shank to recover the $470,000 it spent on Shank’s healthcare. It did not matter that Shank only had $417,000 left over after payment of lawyer fees and litigation costs. In fact, Shank’s lawyer anticipated Wal-Mart’s lawsuit and tried to protect these funds by depositing them in a “special needs” trust. But the federal district court ruled that this special trust offered no protection, and it could not defeat the claim asserted by Shank’s ERISA plan. 

More from the Wall Street Journal here....

Davis Law Group, P.S. Blog| Davis Law Group

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S.F. businesses preparing for health care law

San Francisco still struggling with how to implement the law...various concerns for different industries...one restaurant adds it to the tab...cab drivers are independent contractors so the burden is back on the individual in that case...BD 

But not every business can raise its rates. Cab fares, for example, are set by the city. John Lazar, owner of Luxor Cab Co., said he hopes the financial impact of the law on his company will be manageable because most of his drivers are independent contractors and the bulk of his employees have insurance. "The problem," he said, "is we're being told what to charge for our product."  Naranjo said some employers might cut salaries to pay for the new mandate. "I know employers are looking at that as an option," he said.

The owners of Zuni Cafe on Feb. 1 added a 4 percent health surcharge to its menu to cover the additional costs of the mandate. While a few customers were not pleased, the majority appreciated why the restaurant needed to take action, they said.

S.F. businesses preparing for health care law

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New Jersey Senator Indicted for Fraud...the Christmas tree budget

Personal gain with consulting services for a hospital in New Jersey...hospital relations appeared to cross a few borders here..was there a split between his personal and business life?  BD 

A federal grand jury on Friday indicted State Senator Joseph Coniglio of New Jersey on nine counts of mail fraud and extortion in connection with an influence-peddling scheme connected to a $66,000-a-year consulting arrangement with Hackensack University Medical Center, according to the US Justice Department. Coniglio is said to be one of the more powerful members of the New Jersey Democratic Machine that includes Governor Jon Corzine.  "The allegations against Senator Coniglio in this indictment paint a disgraceful picture of exchanging public tax dollars for personal gain. The public has had more than enough of this type of conduct,"  he said.The Indictment also charges that Coniglio's Chief of Staff, responding to a newspaper's inquiry into Coniglio's arrangement with HUMC, falsely stated that "there is a complete split between Senator Coniglio's personal, private business life and his legislative life. . . . People from the hospital know not to call our office."

Coniglio, 65, of Paramus, NJ, a plumber by trade, allegedly set up the consulting arrangement with Hackensack University Medical Center  to perform "hospital relations," a field in which he had no prior experience. In fact, according to the Indictment, the arrangement was a way for him to receive $5,000 monthly from the hospital in exchange for his official support for funding requests for so-called "Christmas Tree" budget items from the state Legislature and funding from other state agencies.

borderfirereport.net

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OMG! My life belongs to a Medicare HMO!!!... Too Stupid To Die…

One person's story of a liver transplant...complicated...no problem with the surgery being approved, all the action takes place after the fact with getting the drugs needed post surgery...and the hospital has someone on staff to help patients with the battle getting the meds they need...more expense for the hospital and surely not a pleasurable experience for the patient...the captive audience here for lack of a better description...BD 

If there’s one thing everybody knows about those of us who have body parts replaced, it is that we have to stay on anti-rejection meds the rest of our lives. One slip and our immune systems go haywire and try to expel the alien organ. Rejection is NOT fun: you get two grams (yes grams) of a IV form of prednisone (Solumedrol) dumped into your veins, lose what little is left of your immune system and go stark raving bonkers in the meanwhile. I’ve seen people in 9 Long - the transplant floor of UCSF’s Moffitt Hospital - suffering through this madness. They don’t mess up their rejection meds again.

“Don’t worry!” said the counselor. “The insurance company will likely want a second opinion and that’s normal. But you shouldn’t have any trouble getting approved.”  “Then things are going ok.” I looked at him puzzled. “Believe me,” he said. “We wouldn’t be doing anything for you if the insurance company wasn’t funding it.”

Obviously I made it through the approval, a liver was found, and the transplant happened, all without a peep from HealthNet. I was as amazed by their silence as I was by having my body ripped open and an organ replaced. Transplants, especially liver, are expensive (there’s a lot of cutting and pasting involved in switching livers) usually to the tune of $400,0000 to half a mil. And the insurance company never squeaked? Wow.

A few weeks later, I’m out of the hospital recovering well (this is before my other complications set in) and I go to fill my prescriptions for the anti-rejection meds. Denied, said the pharmacy. Not part of HealthNet’s formulary, it seems. Medications deemed not necessary, it seems. How could HealthNet not even squeak about dropping $400k for the part swap but now balk at a few hundred dollars for the meds needed to keep it functioning? Huh? Huh?

My Myfortic, one of my anti-rejection meds, has gone from $7 copay to $170.....UCSF has a person dedicated solely to deal with financing transplants so it has a person whose job is to make sure those same companies don’t cut off transplantee’s meds after the transplant’s done.

Sheesh. God may bless America, who knows (I have my doubts). But she clearly forgot to include our health care system.

OMG! My life belongs to a Medicare HMO!!! (First in a series, unfortunately) | Too Stupid To Die… | There are a bunch of cats out there missing a life because of you. –my sister, to me

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