92648

Desperate Hospitals – Updated November 21, 2008

This is an update of some of the hospitals in the news either filing for bankruptcy, trying to recover from bankruptcy, working to maintain and stay open, and other drastic cut backs by those trying to avoid getting to the bottom with their algorithms for planning and projections, which we hope works.  BD 

In the meantime, we have insurers with extra cash cows like Blue Cross opening up Venture Capital Organizations to invest their profits, but it doesn’t appear that hospitals will make the list as they are looking for returns on money invested. image

BlueCross BlueShield Create New Venture Capital Organization

Sandbox Industries will be the responsible party to manage the 116 million dollar fund.  Interesting that their first investment was an EHR/data integrator health service.  The information management portion consolidates and integrates data through the HL7 format.  They also offer services to other entities outside of healthcare to include banking, hospitality and others.

As areas keep expanding, first we had the Blue Cross Bank and now the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Venture Capitalists.  This investment was 5 million so there’s 101 million left in the till, what will be next, wish we could just get the claims paid.  BD 

In the meantime we are seeing large institutions dropping clinical trial service, and smaller hospitals scrambling to get on the “hospital branding” bandwagon, but for some that option might be coming a little too late, as the branding that has already taken place has established major medical facilities in their own rights at present, so again, to do so now could be a little late in the game and it might be more productive to work with one of the major branded facilities at this point. 

Mayo Clinic Says Goodbye to clinical services in the US

This also means some folks will be losing jobs as well.  The unit has been in place since 1991 and has provided information on over 1,000 trials.  This is just one more sign of how the face of the pharmaceutical business is changing.

Here’s the list of news for this week and unfortunately the related reading of past posts keeps growing.  BD

 In Long Island New York

LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL has stood at the northwestern corner of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, overlooking the harbor for 150 years, so its presence in the surrounding neighborhoods cannot be boiled down to a single anecdote. It has been there for births and deaths and the large and small crises in between: a case of a school principal with whooping cough, say, or a professor with a sprained ankle. Now it is the hospital that is in danger. Continuum Health Partners, the company that runs it, says the hospital is in deep debt and facing bankruptcy, and has sought to close its maternity and pediatric units, among others. For neighbors, the uncertainties are deeply unsettling: Will the hospital still be there in two months? If so, what will be left? If not, what will this corner of Brooklyn do without it?

In Plano, TX

Integra Hospital Plano LLC, the Plano rehabilitation hospital that opened about a year and a half ago with plans to be the flagship for a chain of rehabilitation hospitals, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In Baton Rouge, LA

Integra also filed bankruptcy protection for Integra Hospital Baton Rouge LLC located in Baton Rouge, La. and its affiliated Plano-based health companies — Integra Hospital Management LLC and Integra Healthcare Holdings Ltd.

In Birmingham, AL

The federal bankruptcy judge overseeing the bankruptcy filing of Physicians Medical Center Carraway dismissed the case this morning, saying there was not much more to do other than to allow the hospital's two secured creditors to liquidate the assets.

Physicians Medical Center Carraway filed for bankruptcy protection Oct. 20 and had all patients transferred to other hospitals two days later. Employees were paid for the time they worked, but most of the 1,000 employees lost their jobs on the day of filing.

In Woonsocket, Rhode Island

The hospital, 14 miles (23 kilometers) north of Providence, is operating under a court-appointed supervisor, who’s seeking a buyer to keep the facility open.

“This is, by far, the worst I’ve ever seen in all the years I’ve been in business,” said Ronald Del Mauro, chief executive officer of West Orange, New Jersey-based Saint Barnabas Health Care System, which operates six hospitals and nine nursing homes.

In Morristown, New Jersey

Since 2002, Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. -- parent company of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey -- has reported cumulative profits in excess of $1 billion. That represents a 41 percent increase over 2002 reported net income. Horizon also had accumulated $1.6 billion in reserves as of the end of last year.

During this same period, Newton Memorial Hospital has experienced steady declines in net operating revenue and a significant operating loss for 2007 in excess of $5 million and a projected loss for 2008 of the same magnitude. A perfect storm of state and federal budget cuts, unfavorable market dynamics and rising costs have contributed to these negative financial results.

In Hammonton, New Jersey

HAMMONTON - The community around William B. Kessler Memorial Hospital must loan it $5 million by mid-January to keep the doors open, the once-bankrupt hospital's new administration said Wednesday.

Federal law requires each loan be $25,000 or more, said Brian Sacco, a spokesman for new chief executive officer Jim Rossi.

Rossi's marketing firm plans weekly announcements of fundraising progress. Leaders of nonprofit organizations in town, people who are no strangers to fundraising, said they're hopeful but skeptical.

In Beaumont, Texas

ROYAL OAK — Beaumont Hospitals will eliminate 500 positions, cut pay to executives and salaried physicians and slow construction projects to help reduce costs as the hospital system expects to report a $22 million loss in annual revenue at the end of this year.

“What we’ve found is that hospitals are no longer recession proof,” said Ken Matzick, president and CEO of the hospital system.

Related Reading:

Hospital Branding – Is the Most Expensive Always the Best?

Desperate Hospitals Series – 11-02-2008 Update

Desperate Hospitals: Chicago Hospital Hangs For Sale Sign
Desperate Hospitals - Hawaii- What is happening to our Hospital System?
Desperate Hospitals - August 29 (Continued)
Concerns Over Large Not-for-Profit Hospital System
Desperate Hospitals - Grady's financial cure in question
More Desperate Hospitals - Miami, FL and Cape Cod, MA
A hopeful prognosis - Desperate "California" Hospitals
Desperate Hospitals - Century City Doctors Hospital (Los Angeles) begins shutting down, others file Chapter 11 to reorganize
New New Jersey law to pinpoint financially troubled hospitals - "Desperate Hospitals"
Desperate Hospitals? (As Featured today in the WSJ)
The battle of the medical bills where nobody but the insurers win
Hospitals protest new California rules on patient balance billing
Cape Cod hospital gets $10M gift
Bankruptcy Bug Hits Hospitals – Desperate Hospitals
Desperate Hospitals – September 2008
Desperate Hospitals: Hospitals in Hands of Voters - Arkansas

Doctors Find Worm In Woman's Brain Instead of Tumor

This story and video if nothing else brings home how important it is to Wash Your Hands.  To think that the worm made it all the way to her brain is scary, but the alternative of a tumor is worse by all means as the worm was removed.

She was feeling numbness in here arms and the movement of the worm in her brain was the cause. When you watch the video you can see the removal of the worm, it is still alive and wiggling.  Undercooked food is tagged as the most likely way she had ingested the worm and it traveled to her brain.  What is also scary is the fact that the physician has removed 5 worms like this in the past few months!image

When one person is infected, the physician says it can be spread to another.  The family had just cancelled their insurance 3 weeks prior due to tough economic times.  She did have some temporary damage in the fact that she had to learn to walk again and the left side of her head lacks some feelings and is numb.  This also sends a bit of a flat to the FDA too on how important standards are on the food and drugs we ingest.  Again, I go back to the automation processes that could be done in many areas to remotely inspect foods and drugs and report back to a bank of servers, we do everything else remotely so inspecting food and drugs should be right up there at the top!

A process of such may not have helped here as we don’t know exactly where the worm came from, but again any automated processed to report back the conditions of food and drug lots at the factory level before packaging continues certainly can’t hurt.  The technology is there and new algorithms can be written, but whether or not we are ready to accept and move forward remains to be seen.  BD 

Watch the video and report from the doctor here. 

 image 

The picture below shows her scar. 

image

Doctors in Arizona thought a Phoenix-area woman had a possible brain tumor, but it turned out there was something else penetrating her brain – a worm.

Rosemary Alvarez started experiencing numbness in her arm and blurred vision. She went to the emergency room twice and had a cat scan, but everything came up clear, MyFOXPhoenix.com reported.

It wasn’t until doctors took a closer look at an MRI that they discovered something very disturbing. Doctors removed the worm and don't believe Alvarez will have any lingering health problems. No one knows exactly where she picked up the worm –- doctors said worms can come from eating undercooked pork or spread by people who don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom, according to the report.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,455067,00.html

Thanks for Additional information provided by Dr. Tim Sturgill (his blog can be found here)

Wikipedia

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1176337

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/TOPIC1573.HTM

Related Reading:

First US FDA office unveiled in Beijing

The Melamine Nightmare Needs to be Fixed – Business Intelligence Could Help

Mike Leavitt and FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach go to China for consultations

FDA to detain food shipments from China – Why not add some technology to the inspection processes?

FDA Recalls Wonderfarm Biscuits

Luminetx Infrared VeinViewer prevents a few less “sticks”

We all hate that feeling of getting stuck by the needle for a shot, or inserting an IV.  The vein viewer can help take the guess work out of multiple sticks.  I posted about this device last year and the small article has had so many views it was time for an update. image

I can’t think of anyone who would not like or welcome this device by all means.  If one were a patient that required regular injections or IV set ups, this could be a real blessing, not only for the patient, but also for the clinician drawing blood and make their job a lot easier with a lot less apologies for the “dead sticks” and having to locate the vein all over.  The device is also being used for the treatment of varicose veins. 

When watching the video you can actually watch the movement inside the veins as well.  The device is on wheels and can easily be moved around a clinic or hospital.  I know I would certainly appreciate the use of one of these devices next time it’s my turn to be stuck!  BD 

The VeinViewer by Luminetx® uses a combination of near-infrared light and patented technologies to image vascular structures, thus allowing physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals to clearly see accessible vasculature (or lack thereof) in real time, directly on the surface of the skin.

image The VeinViewer by Luminetx® utilizes near infrared light and patented technologies to illuminate subcutaneous vasculature by imaging their location on the surface of the skin. VeinViewer is a mobile biomedical device consisting of the following four components:

  1. Infrared light source - The light source emits a harmless, near-infrared light reflected back to the surface from the tissue surrounding the vein, while no light is reflected back from the blood inside the vessel.
  2. Digital video camera - The digital video camera captures the near-infrared light reflected back from the patient.
  3. Image processing unit - The microprocessor adds contrast and projects this image back on the skin in their actual location.
  4. Digital image projector - Using Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing™ technology, the projector displays these real-time images of the vasculature onto the surface of the skin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luminetx VeinViewer

Related Reading from last year

New Vein Viewer Imaging System

Related Technology:

Surgery By Numbers - Glowing Cancer Cells

$75 Million to Sterilize Pets With A Non Surgical Procedure - $10 Million to Build a Better Health Care System in the US

These are a couple posts from last month.  What is interesting is the difference of the dollar amounts here, $65 million more for a procedure for cats and dogs.  Any money and donations of course are appreciated, but could the good doctor being relaying a message here?  His announcement came the day after the X-Prize announcement and he felt that 10 million was not enough for anyone to stop what they are doing and pay attention.

Also, as a a retired Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon who created and patented a number of surgical instruments, I’m sure he had his days of working with patients too on getting procedures and claims paid.  Anyway, from these 2 publications, it appears the cats and dogs have it, as it seems to also be a one item focus giving scientists the ability to work in one specified direction with monetary help along the way.  With many of the current R and D positions being cut or moved outside the US, this could be a nice incentive for those who remain or can possibly be a way to find work on a heavily funded project.  BD 

From my prior post:

It was just yesterday I posted about the Healthcare X-Prize for 10 million and this sure over shadows that amount by a long shot, and this might be a less complicated issue as it has only one point of focus and everyone would win.  Nice comments too on his healthcare foundation which has funded more than $110 million in research and discovery, most of it related to hereditary diseases.  BD

For our Pets: 

A very rich, very impatient retired surgeon wants the pet overpopulation solved. So Gary Michelson has put a hard-to-ignore enticement on the table: $75 million. The person or group that comes up first with a safe, one-time non-surgical means to sterilize male and female cats and dogs gets $25 million, Michelson's non-profit Found Animals Foundation will announce today at the National Spay/Neuter Conference in Chicago. And up to $50 million more will be available to support the research of one or several individuals who come forward with plausible approaches.

No one will stop what they're doing and turn their attention to this problem for $10 million. That's not enough," says Michelson, 59, a retired Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon who invented and patented hundreds of surgical instruments, won an infringement case in 2005 and landed at No. 317 on Forbes' 400 Richest Americans list last month.

For Us:

We're looking for ideas and feedback from employers, key health, business and government leaders and independent measurement/auditing entities to develop the structure, guidelines and judging criteria for a Health Care X PRIZE. Our hope is to make this prize development process as collaborative as possible, to ensure that all relevant topics are covered. 

If you are one of these people and would like be a part of the prize development process, please contact us.

But we're not just interested in what the experts think about this idea. We want to hear from the public too, because, after all, this prize has the potential to impact all of us. Give us your thoughts, and let us know what kinds of ideas you think we should be exploring!

$75 Million Prize for a way to sterilize pets – a one-time non-surgical means to sterilize male and female cats and dogs

X PRIZE FOUNDATION - Build a Better Health Care System 10 Million Dollar Prize

Implantable VeriChip and Microsoft HealthVault PHR link information

Not too long ago I had stated that online personal health records may be the best way to go, and now VeriChip has also partnered with the imageHealthVault.  When you have an implanted chip, you are able to go on line and update your information, this information now will export to the HealthVault.

imageI don’t know of too many individuals who have gone this route as the healthcare facility still needs a reader to view the information on the chip as well as being in the main registry as a physician with their individual logon credentials.  The chip uses RFID technology through a “device” to bring the information to the screen of a computer, so if you decided, your PHR could have a chip connection as well.

The chip is FDA approved.  BD 

 

DELRAY BEACH, FL– November 17, 2008 –VeriChip Corporation (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CHIP), a provider of radio frequency identification image(RFID) systems for healthcare and patient-related needs, today announced that its personal health record used in conjunction with its VeriMed Health Link system will be accessible through Microsoft® HealthVault™, an online platform designed to put consumers in control of their health information. Through this agreement, Health Link members will have the ability to open free HealthVault accounts and input, store, view and interact with their health data. Further, the data within Health Link members’ existing accounts will be directly accessible through their HealthVault accounts.

 image

Scott R. Silverman, Chairman of the Company, said, “VeriChip’s strategic alliance with Microsoft provides additional benefits to our members by enabling them to seamlessly store all of their personal health records on Health Vault's robust, security-enhanced website. Furthermore, as an approved HealthVault solution provider, this agreement gives us added visibility among HealthVault’s member base. For those who have chosen our tamper-proof, safe, “always on” link to their personal health information, we believe this relationship with Microsoft is a logical expansion of our service.”

http://www.verichipcorp.com/news/1227122000

Doing a Volume Business in Liver Transplants – University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Just earlier this week GE and UPMC were in the new with working together on a new global effort of branding to create centers designed after the facilities here.  Branding is a big money maker in health care centers.  This story goes in to a bit of detail of how during the last few years how liver transplant surgeries were increased and helped create additional revenue flow to the center, but not without controversy involving the surgeon performing most of the operations.

Questions were related to the livers being transplanted and their conditions, but when you need a transplant you are getting somewhere near the point of having only so much time left, so you have read through and form your own opinion on that matter. 

For a non-profit facility though the center makes a lot of money, leases a jet and moved it’s main offices downtown to some very prime real estate. 

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said it would open at least 25 cancer clinics in Europe, Asia and the Middle East in the next decade, with help from General Electric Co.

The big focus for overseas ventures has cancer facilities right at the top of the list.  BD

Earlier this decade, UPMC made an aggressive bid to reclaim its leadership by hiring an innovative surgeon named Amadeo Marcos, who promised to double the number of liver transplants the hospital did. Dr. Marcos delivered on his pledge. In doing so, however, he resorted to practices that some colleagues found questionable. To overcome a perennial shortage of organs, he used more livers from older donors. He transplanted some of these into relatively healthy patients for whom the risk-reward calculation was less certain. He used partial livers from living donors, and then understated complications from the controversial procedure.

Dr. Marcos's nearly six years at UPMC coincided with rapid growth at the medical center. UPMC is one of the nation's most financially successful nonprofit hospital systems, with operations ranging from Pennsylvania to Ireland and Qatar. Even though three-quarters of its $7 billion in annual revenue is exempt from federal and local taxes, UPMC has acquired many of the trappings of large, for-profit corporations.

"For the first time in years, we had people dying on the operating table or in the ICU," says Dr. Doyle, now director of surgical critical care at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. At times, according to him, patients healthy enough to walk into the hospital before being transplanted died "because they had a high-risk liver put into them."

Doing a Volume Business in Liver Transplants - WSJ.com

Related Reading:

UMPC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) and GE going global

4-Year-Old Becomes 1000th Patient To Have Skull-Base Tumor Removed Through The Nose By University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center Surgical Team

The Hospital "Smart Room"

Healthcare Insurance Employees Sue to be Paid for Time Spent Booting Up

This might have a bit to say about the IT departments, or the antiquated equipment in place, but with all the large profits being made by health insurers I would guess the have invested heavily as they have with all their reporting services and claim algorithms for calculating imageclaims and approvals for coverage. 

So when does the pay kick in, after you log on to your computer after a long boot, or after you walk in the door?  Many have moved the old proverbial time clock to the computer for checking in, thus one does have to boot up their computer to accomplish this, so maybe workers are being ripped off for “booting” time, but one thing to remember though, this is a risk management business and perhaps someone along the line found a way to save money this way too!  BD

If your manager tracks your time based on when you log in and out of your machine at work, then are you missing out on pay for the time you're waiting for your machine to boot up and shut down? That's what a series of lawsuits by employees from the likes of AT&T, UnitedHealth and Cigna demand.

Law: Employees Sue to be Paid for Time Spent Booting Up

I’m a Tablet PC - Video

Personal Health Records – Who’s in the Know and Who has one?

I spend quite a bit of time here posting about new developments and yes I have both a Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault account, I do comparisons, etc. I see many very prolific bloggers and journalists talking about PHRs too, but something that pops into mind here, do they have one?

It sure makes for some real credible information on the web and encourages others to pursue a PHR too when your own experience and benefits you have found are posted on the web, along with perhaps post from both Google and Microsoft employees using the software, which would maybe be perhaps employees using it, as a consumer would, that are not in the development or marketing departments of both.

I guess you could perhaps consider this part of a challenge to all of those on the web, bloggers and journalists alike, to get one set up and start telling us about what you like, what you don’t like and the advantages of having your records online, like perhaps the last time you needed a reference and it was easy to locate, or perhaps how you were able to add and locate information on your children which has been added, or how you were able to add your medications through a vendor with no manual input.

If you have a PHR and have some information to add on the value, issues questions, let’s do it, and if you are a physician, get one for yourself so you know what great tools your patients have and understand how they can share some credible records with you. It appears there’s a lot of talk going on out there, but it would sure be wonderful if we have some real time events and stories added, something has to get the ball rolling and what better route to promote than the Internet and doing what we do best, sharing experiences and helping others to promote better healthcare through documentation, and the ability here to help reduce medical errors due to lack of credible information being available. HealthVault and Google Health are free, so it’s just an investment of a little time and there’s a ton of related reading below on vendors and other related information on both. BD

Related Reading: (from prior posts and there are a lot here to read up on and see who’s integrating and promoting their use too)

Study Predicts Big Savings from PHRs (Personal Health Records) – Best Kept Secret in Healthcare?

GE, Mayo Clinic, others to develop health record technology

CMS names four PHR vendors for Medicare pilot program and includes Google Health

GE Collaborates and will offer new web based version of Centricity EHR

The Economy – One more Reason to think about a Free PHR

Cleveland Clinic and Microsoft HealthVault to track chronic diseases at home with Medical Devices

Clinical Trials in the US – Begin involving the physicians and patients at the point of care to achieve greater success and participation with Personal Health Records

HealthVault Personal Health Records gets a Facelift - Match records and find clinical trials
Google Health Online Services – Connections Beyond Medications – Personal Health Records

Why Use a PHR – Because It is there and it stands to help decrease medical errors

Military to unveil early version of personal health record – December
The Health Cloud – Personal Health Records
HealthVault Personal Health Records gets a Facelift - Match records and find clinical trials
HealthVault Has New Features Including Fax Services for $9.00 a year – Fax to the Vault!
AT&T, Covisint, Microsoft HealthVault Create Health Information Exchange
Microsoft HealthVault and RelayHealth (McKesson) to Connect Doctors and Patients
Approval For Wireless Transmitter That Monitors Implanted Cardiac Devices
American Heart Association and Microsoft HealthVault Unite
Getting Organized With Online Medical Records – Personal Health Records
Patients can order up their own lab tests on line with MyMedLab.com with a referring physician and you get a free PHR to boot
Aetna and Microsoft join forces – Members will now be able to transfer health records to Microsoft Health Vault
Healthline – Interview with the CEO – Health 2.0
Healthcare leaders favor personal networks (Personal Health Records) to RHIOs for data exchange
Google Health Online Services – Connections Beyond Medications – Personal Health Records
CVS to Offer Records Via HealthVault
Personal Health Vault - Physicians arm thyself..
Scripps, Navigenics, Affymetrix and Microsoft team on groundbreaking health study – Personalized Medicine
Getting Organized With Online Medical Records – Personal Health Records
Patients can view, share health information through new Health Record Banks - Washington
HealthVault Has New Features Including Fax Services for $9.00 a year – Fax to the Vault!
St.Jude Collaborates With Microsoft HealthVault
CCHIT to Certify Personal Health Records
CCHIT Offers PHR Web Site – Personal Health Records
CCHIT Certification and HIE Transactions – The Process and What It Means

Microsoft is lead developer on military Personal Health Records project

eClinicalWorks Users Annual Meeting – Integration and the Future of EHRS and PHRs

Carry the Echocardiograph In your pocket

In addition there are applications for cardiology, obstetrics and emergency medicine.  Medical devices are getting smaller and more imageportable every day.  Mobility and healthcare are going hand in hand today with having the technology both portable and available.  BD 

The European Journal of Echocardiography* recently published a paper studying the performance of Siemens' ACUSON P10" ultrasound system at the Morriston Cardiac Centre in Swansea. Results revealed that the P10 was, within a four minute  examination, able to assess the size and function of the left ventricle in more than three quarters of cardiac patients.

"Not only is the ACUSON P10 lightweight and flexible, but this study has shown it to be both quick and accurate at providing assessment, saving what could be critical periods of time should cardiac problems arise," said Declan Dunphy, Manager of Ultrasound Products at Siemens Healthcare. "Its ability to facilitate high quality images for immediate review at the point of care will position it as a key tool in the cardiologist's day-to-day role."

Pocket-Sized Echocardiograph Provides Quick And Qualitative Assessment

Looking For A Job? Pharma and India are Looking

The post is a summary of how things look today and under related reading I have included some past posts that may offer a few more details on how the shift it taking place today.  Things are also happening and humming as well in China and you can search and find some recent relative posts here as well.  BD 

Call it the ultimate relocation. Drugmakers may be slashing headcount in most every location, division and function, but their Indian subsidiaries are hiring, and The Economic Times is keeping track. Merck, which set shop in India a year ago, is doubling headcount to 1,600. Meanwhile, Pfizer and Glaxo are augmenting their teams to market new products.

Looking For A Job? Pharma Is Hiring& In India // Pharmalot

Related Reading:

WellPoint to begin pilot Medical Tourism program with India

Mayo Clinic Says Goodbye to clinical services in the US

GlaxoSmithKline to axe 850 jobs in R & D
Indian Pharma offshoring to be US $2.5bn opportunity by 2012
India asking for more cooperation and help from FDA - Medical Devices

MSD Pharma (Merck subsidiary) to hire 1,500 people in India

GlaxoSmithKline to axe 850 jobs in R & D
Indian Pharma offshoring to be US $2.5bn opportunity by 2012

Merck Slated to cut Another 7,200 Jobs

Phase I Clinical Trials outsourcing to India by 2010?
The Changing Face of Research and Development with big Pharma
India asking for more cooperation and help from FDA - Medical Devices

US FDA to open office in New Delhi, Mumbai

Teleradiology paves way for remote medicine

Indian Pharma offshoring to be US $2.5bn opportunity by 2012

Are We Worshipping Celebrities or Heroes?

This is a great post, and something I was going to write about as well, but the author here has saved me some time and covers the point well, just how distracted are we, a lot.  Right now we have some very serious issues going on in the US, but in my small travels, I seem to find many that are just oblivious. We all have our own areas of focus, which is not a bad thing at all, but the ability to move outside those boundaries is the challenge for all. 

The media today gives us basically whatever we want and it is up to us to choose our priorities and take in some entertainment and imageperhaps some new movies, etc. without it absorbing our entire focus as we all need a break, but when the break becomes the focus is the danger zone and thus we grow further fragmented with an even bigger job of trying to get our focus back.  Stop and think for a day as to how much “nonsense” we take in and it’s a lot, and I am saying this as a whole, not breaking down any individual groups or interests.  Celebrity stories, online games, etc. are always there but it is up to us to prioritize where they fall in to place and what the real impact will be.  

Again, distraction and distortion can come easy and creeps up on all of us, but now more than ever is the time to once in a while step back and take a look and evaluate what is really important and where the country and our thoughts are going, and perhaps see if there is time wasted or overdone in some of these areas.  I’m not the first blogger to write about this and won’t be the last, and almost on any given day you can probably find a post very similar to this one on the web as they are potentially observing the same thing.  BD 

The American historian and educator Daniel Boorstin once wrote, “Time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities.”

We have just experienced an historic presidential campaign of unprecedented proportions, our economy is in peril, our military struggles to fight two wars, and our health care system is facing impending collapse. With all of these pressing issues weighing on the hearts and minds of America’s families, what seems to be on the covers of every magazine and tabloid these days? Celebrity nonsense. Does anyone really care which teen-aged pop star will give birth next? Do we need to know every happening inside the birthday party of a power-couple’s toddler? Is the diet that worked for the soap opera star really going to work for anyone else?

http://brainblogger.com/2008/11/20/are-we-worshipping-celebrities-or-heroes/

Howard Hughes Medical Institute pilot program funds people and a few projects

 imageIf you are not aware of how much leading research comes from the facility, check back on a few posts I have done in the past, the HHMI makes a lot of research possible without the red tape and strings that perhaps come along with grants and restrictions from other investors. 

With the slowing of our economy donations and research from the institute for cures and treatment of disease will play even a more important role with healthcare.  The related reading section has a couple video links done by 60 minutes that does a great job in detailing what the facility is doing now and what the future R and D looks like, including some interviews with scientist currently working there.  This is a nice outreach to go beyond the normal funding and grant process especially when it is needed the most.  BD 

In an expansion of its mantra "people, not projects," the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for the first time is funding small groups of scientific collaborators working on specific ideas that reach beyond their primary research focus. The biomedical research philanthropy today announced $40 million in grants over four years to eight groups led by HHMI investigators, including two from Harvard University and one from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The Collaborative Innovation Awards, which range from $700,000 to $1.4 million per year, make up a pilot program intended to spur innovation in a time of tighter federal funding for research. Typically HHMI supports scientists who become Howard Hughes investigators while continuing to work at their own institutions.

HHMI pilot program funds people and a few projects - White Coat Notes - Boston.com

Related Reading:

Howard Hughes Medical Institute to Invest $600 Million in Medical Research

Howard Hughes: Medical Research Institute Is America's Second Largest Charity

Medical Research Institute Is America's Second Largest Charity Howard Hughes

Pacific Biosciences Raises $20M in New Funding

The manufacturers of the machines that run our DNA are still very much in the forefront, gaining investors with DNA sequencing.  BD image

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Menlo Park, Calif.-based Pacific Biosciences today said that it recently received $20 million in funding from new investor Blackstone Cleantech Venture Partners.

With the new funds, Pac Bio has raised $120 million in its latest financing round. It plans to use the resources to support its efforts to bring its Single-Molecule, Real-Time DNA sequencing platform to the market by the second half of 2010. The company said it has raised $193 million since it was founded in 2004.

http://www.genomeweb.com/issues/news/150837-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

Co-Pilot has mental break down in flight

Stressful times for all, doctors on board were able to help with a quick diagnosis and then he had to be restrained.   He was a long time veteran of Air Canada.  BD 

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- An Air Canada co-pilot having a mental breakdown had to be forcibly removed from the cockpit, restrained and sedated, and a flight attendant with flying experience helped the pilot safely make an emergency landing, an Irish investigation concluded Wednesday. An Air Canada pilot and flight attendant are applauded in a report for their life-saving thinking under pressure. An Air Canada pilot and flight attendant are applauded in a report for their life-saving thinking under pressure. The report by the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit into an incident in January applauded the decision-making of the pilot and the cockpit skills of the flight attendant, who stepped into the co-pilot's seat for the emergency diversion to Shannon Airport in western Ireland.

Report: Co-pilot had breakdown, flight attendant helped land jet - CNN.com

GE, Mayo Clinic, others to develop health record technology

This will be interesting to see which direction this may go, as today, we certainly have so many modules of code that have already been written and portions of one module could be combined with others.  Just earlier this year Mayo announced working with Microsoft Health Vault for Personal Health Records so you can almost guess which ever direction the project may lead, PHRs will be in the picture somewhere.

Just earlier this week GE had announced a web based version of their Centricity EHR/EMR will be released soon as well as their new endeavor with University of Pittsburgh Medical Center with a global focus, so it has been a busy week for GE.  Johns Hopkins has signed up with Microsoft Amalga for their hospital system, which of course will integrate with the HealthVault. 

image

One other item that struck my curiosity was if any of the new development areas might just happen to include the Common User Interface?  Just one thought in that area since the code is already there for screens and it would sure beat starting from scratch to create something as dynamic. 

As mentioned in prior posts, hospital branding is a hot ticket today as other facilities will want to usually follow and pay for the same technologies and sciences that were developed at the main facility, thus branded facilities open up bearing the health institute name globally and add to the bottom line of income in many instances, so working with a major branded health care facility usually can’t do any harm by any means.  BD 

NEW YORK -- Industrial powerhouse General Electric Co. hopes a push into medical electronic records and information with some of the top health care institutions in the nation will put it at the front of what is expected to be a rapidly growing market. The Fairfield, Conn.-based company's health care unit plans to spend $200 million over the next five years to develop electronic systems for medical information and patient records. Its partners are among top medical institutions, including the Mayo Clinic and Montefiore Medical Center.

GE's partners on the initiative include the Mayo Clinic, Intermountain Healthcare, Montefiore, and the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center.

GE, Mayo Clinic, others develop health record tech

Related Reading:

GE Collaborates and will offer new web based version of Centricity EHR

UMPC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) and GE going global

GE to Market Home Monitoring Appliance

Is there a CPT Code for Maggots Yet?

Specially prepared maggots have been approved by the FDA since 2004 for neuropathic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers,venous stasis ulcers, and traumatic and post-surgical wounds.  Insurance companies spend thousands of dollars for an amputation but back off at a $100.00 maggot treatment. 

The American Medical Association and the CMS clarified its reimbursement guidelines to the wound care community for medicinal maggots imageand maggot therapy last week, so perhaps a code and overall approval will follow.  It is a very low cost item and seems worthwhile to try if it has the potential of saving a limb or other body part from amputation.  For now we can stand by and wait for the CPT code to arrive as it appears there finally might be some movement in this area and the treatment is FDA approved.  BD  

Maggots, the larval stage of certain flies, are already a federally approved treatment for people with nasty bed sores, chronic post-surgical wounds and diabetic foot ulcers. Now, maggot therapy has received a boost from the medical establishment that could make it easier for patients and doctors to get insurance reimbursement for this treatment, which was noticed as effective against war wounds by Napoleon's surgeon general as well as by orthopedic surgeon Dr. William S. Baer during WWI, among others.

"They liquefy or dissolve the dead tissue (by secreting their digestive enzymes into the wound), so the wound is debrided [cleaned] whether the liquefied tissue and debris is eaten or simply drains out of the wound," he said. Larvae, being immature, are unable to reproduce in the wound, he added.

Insurance may soon cover maggot therapy - Health care- msnbc.com

Common User Interface – Update and walk through video

American Well – Video Consults for Physicians

If you are a participating physician, you just log on and wait for the patients to connect, pretty simple on that end.  Health plans pay American Well a license fee per member to use the software, as well as a transaction fee of about $2 a patient each time a patient sees a doctor.  This system also files the claim for the physician and compensation is somewhere between an office visit and a phone consult, so somewhere in the middle of the 2. 

Malpractice insurance is from our old friend from Wall Street, AIG for the site and for the most part the insurers are covering it as the charge is pretty small, or at least it is for the time being.

A webcam diagnosis is not for everyone, but I have posted along with many other bloggers about Jay Parkinson and the early success he had with consults via web cams and patients were happy!  Uninsured patients will be able to use the service as well and you get 10 minutes of webcam time with the doctor. 

image

One added benefit here too is the agreement with Microsoft HealthVault share any records with the physician while connected with a webcam consult, so if you needed to reference a lab stored in the Vault, you can by sharing, and you can also share any documents you choose as well even when offline, but doing it while connected when there is a need sure will make in convenient.  Shoot, for that matter if you have a device that does glucose or blood pressure readings you could connect the units via USB to your computer and share those as well through the Health Vault. 

It appears there will be more forthcoming soon with feedback from Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Hawaii, since they have been the first to sign on for the service.  Not having to do your own billing is one big plus and the screens appear very user friendly, so we all need to get out web cams going, physicians and patients!  BD 

image

Hospitals and delivery networks partner with American Well™ to extend their services into patients' homes and the community at large. Typically, hospitals and delivery networks grow by building new care and treatment facilities. With American Well, hospitals and delivery networks can engage patients in a broader geographic area, and allow their patients access to more physicians.

In the new healthcare marketplace, hospitals and delivery networks can:

  • Expand their services and create a direct "retail" relationship with consumers
  • Build a widely recognized brand
  • Provide patients with convenient, high-quality care
  • Strengthen recruiting message to physicians and build a broader physician network
  • Offer delivery network physicians a flexible way to generate revenue
  • Optimize physician schedules with an innovative mix of online and office visits

image

Consumers whose health plans use American Well will log on to their health plans’ Web sites to access the service. The first plan to sign on is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawaii, which starting in January will offer patients virtual visits with its doctors. Other states and health plans, yet to be announced, will also activate it in 2009.

American Well has formed a partnership with HealthVault, Microsoft’s electronic medical records service, so patients can get access to and share their medical information with doctors while using American Well.

Patients who are members of the health plan pay a co-pay, just like at the doctor’s office. Doctors hold 10-minute appointments, which can be extended for an optional fee, and can file prescriptions through the system. Uninsured patients can also use it, for a fee that the health plans choose but which will be less than $50, much less than a visit to the emergency room, which is where the uninsured often end up. Health plans pay American Well a license fee per member to use the software, as well as a transaction fee of about $2 a patient each time a patient sees a doctor.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/the-doctor-will-see-you-now-online/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Tom Daschle To Head Health and Human Services Secretary

He will be busy no doubt looking for directors and managers for the FDA, the CDC, Medicare and Medicaid soon and probably the biggest looming question of all the departments is the FDA, who’s up next?  BD 

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former US Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle to be Health and Human Services secretary. Daschle, of South Dakota, was an early Obama supporter, who encouraged the first-term senator from Illinois to make his presidential run.

Daschle was also one of the Senators most committed to the failed Clinton health reform plan of the early ’90s.

Obama Picks Tom Daschle To Head HHS // Pharmalot

Wound V.A.C Medical Device Helps Wounds Heal After Cancer Surgery

This technology is amazing.  I have included a video from YouTube that is home made and not related this this patient or case,  but shows the procedures used with the machine and how the unit and dressing is changed.  The cancer was so rare that it has only been seen twice at the M.D. Anderson Center where he spent 6 weeks. 

The funny part about the story is the fact that the patient had purchased some stock in the company a while back for actually needing the device to help with the surgical recovery from his operation. BD 

A few years ago, Steve Bayless bought some stock in an upstart biotechnology firm that brought him a handy profit when he sold it a few Steve Bayless and his cellomonths later. Little did he know the company one day would play a major part in his recovery from a rare type of cancer.

After complex surgery to remove tumors caused by a type of appendix cancer called pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), Bayless was left with a 13-inch incision wound reaching from his bladder to his breastbone. Then, he suffered a wound infection that required his entire incision be opened. 

To help the healing process progress faster and more smoothly, Bayless’ medical team used wound vacuum-assisted closure (Wound V.A.C.®). This technology is manufactured by the company Bayless held stock in years before.

With Wound V.A.C., a foam surface dressing is applied and sealed with a plastic tape-like sheet. A pump applies negative pressure to the wound, removing fluids and other materials that might enable infection to progress. It maintains optimum moisture level for healing, draws the edges of the wound together and, most importantly, encourages more rapid growth of new blood vessels.

When Bayless was released, he was given a portable Wound V.A.C. that worked on rechargeable batteries. Sponge changes were required three times a week. When the unit was removed three months later, the wound was almost completely healed.

http://www.cancerwise.org/November_2008/