Nuance Announces Veriphy 4.0, Critical Test Result Management for Radiology, Pathology, Cardiology and Clinical Laboratories

This is a web based notification system built for radiologists that tracks notifications and integrates with existing Nuance speech recognition technologies. 

It can be used with a phone or with a computer to acknowledge receipt of results and comes with a full audit trail and is HIPAA compliant.  BD 

Press Release:

CHICAGO-- Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) is today announcing the availability of Veriphy 4.0, a Web-based critical test result management (CTRM) solution for hospital diagnostic departments. As the only end-to-end healthcare enterprise solution for communicating critical test results from the lab, radiology, cardiology, and pathology departments to ordering clinicians, Veriphy helps to ensure quick and auditable communication of patients’ urgent test results, allowing for reliable caregiver communication workflow, as well as expedited critical patient care.

As of 2008, The Joint Commission Standards for national patient safety have required that hospitals improve the effectiveness and timelines of caregiver communication and track the results for critical tests and diagnostic procedures. Veriphy is already helping nearly 175 hospitals nationwide to automate the delivery, verification and documentation of critical test results (CTR); Veriphy 4.0 introduces more than 20 new and enhanced features, including:

• Multi-Facility Support for Local, Regional and National Organizations – Regardless of facility size, geographic location(s), or IT infrastructure(s), Veriphy 4.0 will support multi-facility integrated delivery networks (IDN). The multi-site functionality expands the IDN’s ability to consistently track, document and report real-time communication of critical results across each facility.
• Customizable Criteria for Defining Critical Tests – Veriphy can now analyze order information based on facility defined rules to flag critical tests (i.e. stroke protocol) that must be communicated to the patient’s caregiver each time a particular order is placed. The critical test rules defined by the facility can include multiple variations and combinations of order parameters, which allow the facility to be inclusive of all high-priority tests requiring 100 percent communication. In addition, Veriphy provides statistical and compliance reporting to show documentation for the full-lifecycle of a critical test, including the communication to the patient’s caregiver.
• Mobile Message Retrieval Enhancements – Via the receipt of a text (SMS) message, with one-click, clinicians can easily access the Veriphy system, listen to their critical messages and confirm receipt of the message.
• Improved Search and Viewing Capability – Veriphy messages can now be searched and viewed in accordance with various clinical and administrative inquiry needs, including by patient last name, medical record or test number, open messages, delivered messages, etc.
• New Interface Tools – Based on customer feedback, Veriphy 4.0 offers several interface enhancements, including customizable drop-down menus, audio control for easy message recording, screen minimization tool, encrypted passwords and many other new capabilities.

“We have been using Veriphy, critical test result management, for nearly four years. The Veriphy system is integrated into our PowerScribe reporting solution, which gives all of our radiologists the option to easily communicate high-priority patient findings as they are identified and during the documentation process,” said Terence Matalon, MD, radiologist, Albert Einstein Medical Center. “Managing effective, critical communication should be part of every healthcare organization’s commitment to quality and patient safety. Albert Einstein decided to use Veriphy before the Joint Commission’s patient safety measures specified the need for timely communications as part of our goal to proactively ensure that our critical communication is reliable, documented and auditable. Today, 97 percent of our significant findings are delivered from the diagnostic department to the ordering physician without any human interaction. Knowing information is sent where and when it needs to go is a tremendous advantage in patient care. It only takes one miscommunication to ruin the life of a patient and the many other lives that touch that patient.”

Hospitals that use Veriphy report that they receive high marks from surveyors for The Joint Commission. Additionally, the American College of Radiology (ACR) has taken Veriphy’s capabilities into account in drafting its Practice Guidelines for radiological communications. Most hospitals that use Veriphy for CTRM, meet the requirements of The Joint Commission, ACR, and College of American Pathologists (CAP).

“The Joint Commission, the Institute of Medicine, the American College of Radiology, and other healthcare authorities have identified delays and failures of communicating patients’ critical findings as a leading patient safety concern,” said Peter Durlach, senior vice president, healthcare product strategy and marketing, Nuance. “The Veriphy system is an affordable solution that helps to automate caregiver communication based on the most effective delivery vehicle specified, no matter if it’s a phone call, text message or email. With critical test result management, diagnostic departments can ensure that high-priority patient information is shared and received when, where and how it should be.”

As part of the Veriphy workflow, reporting clinicians (such as radiologists) create messages from a phone or computer, and Veriphy alerts ordering clinicians (the doctor who ordered the patient’s diagnostic test) that the CTR is pending; indicates the urgency of the CTR and continues to send alerts until the message is retrieved. If the message is not retrieved, the Veriphy system automatically escalates notification according to pre-set rules as to who should be contacted next in the patient care cycle. Throughout the entire process, Veriphy documents the workflow.

Veriphy 4.0 Pricing and Availability

Veriphy 4.0 is available immediately. For more information on how to purchase this system please call 1-866-325-1096 Ext. 106. Because Veriphy is a hosted application and is purchased on a yearly subscription basis, it requires no investment in new hardware or software. Additionally, Veriphy can be easily integrated with Nuance’s speech-driven radiology reporting tools, PowerScribe and RadWhere. There is a ramp-up period in which Nuance’s Veriphy team works closely with the customer to develop CTR policies, turnaround time goals, and an updated clinician directory, where ordering physicians indicate their preferred contact device, e.g. pager, phone, fax.

For more information on Veriphy and all of Nuance’s healthcare solutions, visit Nuance’s booth #3416 (South Building - Hall A) at the annual RSNA Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 29 – December 3, McCormick Place, Chicago.

Nuance Healthcare

Nuance’s healthcare portfolio of proven, speech-enabled clinical documentation and communication solutions includes closed-loop radiology management solutions to support the radiology practice from start to finish. Nuance’s solutions significantly improve the diagnostic imaging workflow by adding radiology decision support (RadPort) to enable data driven, real-time e-Ordering, speech recognition reporting (PowerScribe and RadWhere), critical test result management (Veriphy) communication, and a business intelligence solution (RadCube) for utilization management, patient and outcomes analysis, as well as clinical and operational trending.

Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Nuance, RadWhere, Veriphy, PowerScribe, and the Nuance logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Technorati Tags: Nuance,speech recognition,healthcare,Health IT,Veriphy,software,radiology,RadWhere

Millions of Seniors Could Be Spending More Than They Need to on Drugs – Complicated Health Insurance Policies at the Heart of the Issue

We have totally built one big nightmare for our seniors and why they have to spend hours and days trying to figure this out is beyond me.  When the Part D supplements were created we didn’t have near the amount of drugs we have available today and add on some other additional complicated clauses and you have just created a nightmare that is way too complicated for Grandma and Grandpa to figure out. 

It’s those complicated algorithms used to create the plans at the bottom of this too.  I think right now everyone is a bit tired of all of this and the fact that insurance coverage and the time it takes to research and do all of this in a time where most of us are searching to find more time for ourselves is an outrage.  The future holds more drugs, more diagnosis processes, more treatments and the decisions in those areas are getting complicated too, can’t we get a break on the plans and at least simplify this part of the equation?   For that matter we have done the same thing with electronic medical records too, way too many vendors and getting way to complicated.  When things get this complicated, more competition is about the last thing needed. 

If we have a public plan that could simplify this, people might jump on board in a hurry just to get out of the nightmare the health insurance companies keep building.  When it comes to choices, more is not better here and muddies the water when it goes beyond what one can evaluate in an hour or so.  Come to think of it, seniors are not the only ones who hate this process, we all do.  There are counseling centers out there for help, but hey it takes a while to train the counselors too, and things keep changing so again not a real good solution when a bit of simplicity here could really help out.  BD  

Seniors have until the end of the year to switch Medicare drug plans to get a better deal. But many will pass up the chance to save hundreds of dollars a year in prescription costs.

The reason: With dozens of drug plans on the market, many seniors get overwhelmed at the prospect of changing plans, even if a different one would better suit their needs and lower their costs. But with the average premium for a Medicare drug plan increasing 11 percent in 2010, consumer advocates say seniors have even more reason to check out the options and consider their costs.

Robert Lowenstein, a 91-year-old retired Washington attorney, chose a UnitedHealthcare-AARP drug plan in 2006, when the stand-alone policies first became available. He trusted AARP, which was UnitedHealthcare's marketing partner, and has stuck with the policy because he figured changing would be confusing and time-consuming. But a look at the "Prescription Drug Plan Finder" on Medicare's Web site (http://www.medicare.gov) indicates that Lowenstein would save about $400 a year by selecting a different UnitedHealthcare plan or a policy offered by CVS Caremark. Similarly, his wife, Elizabeth, 82, would save $450 a year by switching from her UnitedHealthcare plan, reducing their drug costs by more than 20 percent.

Millions of seniors may be paying too much for drugs - washingtonpost.com

Technorati Tags: Health insurance,AARP,healthcare,drugs discounts,prescriptions,Part D. Medicare Advantage,complication,Seniors

Cymbalta(R) Gets FDA Approval For Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

It looks as if Cymbalta is getting close to being an “everything-anything” drug when it comes to treating depression.  Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or GAD is now a “chronic condition”?  In reading the last paragraph about the problems, it appears the economy and our current state of affairs could almost lay this diagnosis on anyone of us, controlling worry, irritability, sleep disturbance, and poor concentration.  I think we are creating some of the poor concentration these days too with what we are expecting from others at times too. 

I states that this could be a disorder if all of the above continue on for longer than 6 months, well let’s see it has been over a year since the crash of the stock market so in those terms does it mean we are all candidates?  (grin).  It’s going to take more than Cymbalta to cure this depression.  BD 

NDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cymbalta® (duloxetine HCl) for the maintenance treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in adults, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced today.

"Since generalized anxiety disorder can be a chronic illness, it is important that doctors and their patients find a treatment option that is effective in both the acute and maintenance phase of treatment," said James M. Martinez, MD, U.S. Medical Director for Cymbalta. "With this additional approval, Cymbalta offers a new option for the maintenance treatment of this often-debilitating condition."

Cymbalta also is approved for the acute and maintenance treatment of major depressive disorder, the management of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia, and for the acute treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, all in adults.

Generalized anxiety disorder affects nearly 7 million Americans at any given time.(i) While the symptoms of GAD can vary from person to person, they may include excessive worry or anxiety over a period of six months or longer, difficulties controlling worry, irritability, poor concentration, sleep disturbances, fatigue, restlessness and muscle tension.(ii) If left untreated, symptoms may get progressively worse.(iii) Additionally, GAD can have a negative impact on a person's ability to function well in work, family and social situations.(iv)

FDA Approves Cymbalta(R) for Maintenance Treatment of Generalized Anxiety

Technorati Tags: FDA,Cymbalta,depression,Lilly,heatlhcare,GAD,Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Stryker plans to buy Ascent Healthcare Solutions – Company That Recycles/Rebuilds Medical Devices

Stryker has been in the news quite a bit lately and the last post discussed the indictment of some of their top management, but on with today’s news they are buying a company that re-works medical devices, good business to be in today.

Stryker Biotech and its Top Management Indicted – Alleged Illegal Bone Putty and Medical Device Marketing

From the Ascent website:

“Ascent Healthcare Solutions helps hospitals act more environmentally responsible and improve the quality of healthcare through more sustainable resource allocations. We do this by reprocessing (cleaning, testing/verifying, packaging and sterilizing) and remanufacturing (disassembling, repairing, and manufacturing) delicate and costly devices that are marketed in North America as "single use" by the original manufacturer and often needlessly thrown away.
We provide the services to our partners needed to realize improved sustainability in medical device use:

Initial assessment of opportunity to redirect important funds to patient care quality initiatives

Education of clinical and support personnel”

On the partner page are listed the Mayo Clinic, Shriners Hospitals, Catholic Care West and many other large hospitals and healthcare organizations.  With all the devices coming out today and technology burstin at the seems, there appears to be a large calling for this type of business.  BD

Stryker Corp. announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Ascent Healthcare Solutions Inc.

Stryker will acquire Ascent for $525 million in an all cash transaction, a release said.

Ascent, which is privately held, was formed in the December 2005 merger of Alliance Medical Corp. of Phoenix and Vanguard Medical Concepts in Lakeland. Ascent, which Stryker said is the market leader in the reprocessing and remanufacturing of medical devices in the United States, currently has reprocessing facilities in Phoenix and Lakeland, and employs about 900 individuals in the two locations. Ascent provides services to 1,800 hospitals and group purchasing organizations throughout North America.

Stryker plans to buy Ascent Healthcare Solutions - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

Technorati Tags: FDA,Stryker,indictment,medical devices,Bone putty,healthcare,surgery,marketing,Ascent

Dr. David Winn Founder of e-MDs EHR Responds to “Money Driven Medicine” With Suggested Solutions for Healthcare Reform

Dr. Winn is the founder of e-MDs ambulatory electronic medical records systems located in Austin, Texas.  After seeing the post on my blog and watching the video, he offers his response.  By the way, this is the last evening you can watch the documentary for free and for a reasonable fee you can purchase the DVD as well.  It is suggested material for use at hospitals and other healthcare institutions.  I happen to know Dr. Winn and his sentiments are real and authentic.  I have had a few others email to say thanks for including this information at the blog from hospital CEOs and a few others. 

I do have to also mention that he shares the same sentiments I often mention with healthcare reform, and that is the lack of confidence with our current Congress to fully understand what is happening and in my opinion, it lags from most members probably not being an active participant in their own healthcare.  In other words with the prescription being talked about for everyone for managing healthcare, you have to participate to see value and without that experience, you just can’t get what everyone else is doing and talking about.  It sadly appears we have no participating role models today, just a lot of “its for those guys over there” and items in the news that seem to indicate mixed or little progress with true reform of US healthcare.  BD 

“Money drives everything in a free market, capitalistic system and that, in theory, improves competition and quality.  Due to the complexity of illness and the difficulty for consumers to comparative shop and due to a perverse payment system by the insurance industry (Wall street rewards insurance companies with higher stock prices for cutting costs – ie. withholding/denying payments), U.S Healthcare does not operate efficiently in such a free enterprise model (and certainly not in the best interest of patients) when constrained by such factors.  Intermountain has an interesting model of employed physicians who are expected to apply quality metrics to the treatment of certain conditions. 

Aided by an EMR, they track physician performance along best practices and meet regularly with physicians to show them how they are doing.  Actual performance data compared to peers helps outlier physicians to understand where they are deviating from best practices and modify their performance accordingly.  Without good data, personal bias and anecdotal experience tend to blind physicians to where they might have deficiencies.  As a self insured, not for profit entity, Intermountain is able to wield the EMR to show higher quality and do so at a lower price than traditional hospital/physician groups. 

Many healthcare providers are happy with the status quo.  They know how to ‘game the system’ by cranking up ‘visit’ volume, invasive procedures or gimmicks like chelation therapy – and get quite rich doing so, but this is not in the best interest of their patients or society in general.  I believe the U.S. will continue to lag behind the world health community (W.H.O.) in quality scores and morbidity/mortality until something drastic is done. 

By drastic, I believe the entire health insurance industry needs to be disbanded in favor of not for profit physician/hospital owned communities like Intermountain.  I believe the savings from eliminating the insurance middleman would more than pay for a universal healthcare system.  EMR technology and the expansion of chronic disease management and prevention as envisioned by such models as Intermountain and the primary care driven Medical Home will make this possible.  Whether or not Congress has enough courage and moral conviction to stand down the insurance industry is the rate limiting step IMO.”

In addition, here’s a letter Dr. Winn furnished that he has written and sent to President Obama.  You can double click or follow this link to read the enlarged version.  BD

Dr. Mr. Obama - Dr. David Winn

Money Driven Medicine The Documentary – Streaming During the Month of November So You Can Watch for Free

I should have been on to this sooner, but thank goodness for Twitter as I received a message about it today and say thanks for letting me know.  There are a few days left in November so you can watch the 85 minute documentary.  I have written about it and watched myself so here’s a few notes below from my prior posts.  Part of the entire theme here is to practice medicine wisely and not just do more to get paid more, and, involve and care for the patient, make healthcare revolve around the patient and care, not paperwork and administration. 

Money Driven Medicine – Taking Back Healthcare from the Bill Moyer Show

Related Reading:

E-mds solutions software released to include continuity of care ...

e-MDs and QuadraMed Join Forces to Integrate and provide solutions for ambulatory EHRS and Hospitals

The Medical Quack: Money Driven Medicine The Documentary – Streaming During the Month of November So You Can Watch for Free

Technorati Tags: EHR,EMR,e-MDs,medical records,ambulatory medical records,HIT,Health IT,integration,hospitals,healthcare reform,Obama,Money Driven Medicine

Lehigh Valley Health Network Can Have Your Medical Records in the Palm of Your Hand – Video

To participate, patients fir need to be enrolled, in other words you need to have a record and information to access, and so far 1500 patients are registered at Lehigh Valley.  Like anywhere else in healthcare, it’s a matter of participation again and many choosing to be the non participants.  It cannot be shared and also you have to be alive and have blood running through your veins for the device to recognize who you are, do the morgue is out for that use.  Patients at El Camino Hospital in California are using the same technology from Fujitsu.

Patients at El Camino Hospital Check in with Biometric ...

 

 

It is the exact same light that comes out of a television remote control of all things.  BD 

Lehigh Valley Health Network has got your whole world, or at least your medical records, in the palm of your hands.
With a little black box that uses infrared light to scan vein patterns in palms, the network can identify patients and link the image to a bar code used to pull up medical records.
It may sound more like a new spy gadget, but at LVHN and at several other hospitals across the country, the biometric technology is being used to streamline hospital check-in and combat medical identity theft -- or when someone steals another's ID to get medical treatment.
''It reduces duplicate medical records, which is a big deal, and the patient doesn't have to give any critical information to the registrar,'' said Fred Armbruster, a member of the network's Wild Idea Team, which brought the technology to LVHN.

Legally, the palm scan can't be shared without a patient's written consent because it's technically a part of the medical record. But the most compelling argument for most people, including Sylvain, was having medical information readily accessible to doctors in an emergency.

Exactly how much the technology costs depends on how elaborate the system is and how many palm scanners are needed, Weiner said. For a hospital, it could cost as much as $50,000 to set up the little black boxes and install the software needed to run them across all departments.

New device gives doctors at Lehigh Valley Health Network a hand with patient information -- themorningcall.com

Technorati Tags: biometics,healthcare,hopsital,technology,viens,patients,medical records,EHR,ER room

Ceramic Floor Tile Gets Antimicrobial Protection – Dal-Tile Introduces Outstand Floor Covering That Fights Bacteria

It looks like everything today is going to contain some form of product to fight bacteria and ceramic tile is no exception.  If you look at the main page for Microban you can see they are already involved with the process with many medical products.  Perhaps if you are a healthcare facility looking to add on or re-do the floors, this could be helpful.  BD 

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C., Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Microban International, Ltd., the global leader in built-in antimicrobial product protection,  is pleased to announce their exclusive North America partnership with Dal-Tile Corp., the largest U.S. manufacturer and distributor of ceramic tile and natural stone. Dal-Tile Corp is launching two new lines of ceramic tile with OutStand Technology(TM) featuring Microban(®) patent pending silver based technology, in order to create a line of ceramic tile that will stay cleaner for longer than ever before.

On an unprotected surface, microbes can double in number every 20 minutes! Microban antimicrobial protection works continuously to fight the growth of stain causing bacteria, keeping Dal-Tile ceramic tile cleaner between cleanings. And, because Microban silver technology is infused into the ceramic tile glaze during the manufacturing process, it won't wash off or wear away, providing an additional layer of durable, long lasting protection.

"We are very excited to partner with Dal-Tile Corp on this new and innovative line of ceramic tile which addresses concerns about the growth of bacteria in different public space environments," says David Meyers, President and CEO of Microban International.

Dal-Tile Corp. has unveiled two new product collections under the Daltile and American Olean brands which are the first to be manufactured with OutStand Technology. For more information on these new product collections please visit www.daltile.com/outstand.

About Microban

Microban International, Ltd. is a global technology and marketing company dedicated to enhancing high quality consumer, industrial and medical products with branded built-in protection from microbes. Microban International licenses the Microban® global brand name, sells custom-engineered compounds, and provides a range of services, including regulatory and marketing support. The Microban® brand promises continuous and durable antimicrobial product protection, built-in during manufacture to not wear out for the useful life of the product. Microban International is headquartered in North Carolina with operations in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information on Microban, please contact (704) 875-0806 or visit www.microban.com.

About Dal-Tile Corp.

Dal-Tile Corp., a division of Mohawk Industries, is the largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of ceramic tile and natural stone tile in North America. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company has more than 7,000 employees at its North American facilities and sells its products through a network of more than 250 company-owned sales service centers, independent distributors and leading home center retailers nationwide

Dal-Tile Corp. Launches Two New Lines of Ceramic Tile with Microban(R) Silver

Technorati Tags: Microban,Dal-Tile,bacteria,antimicrobial protection,floor coverings,healthcare

If You Are Too Fat You Can’t Graduate From This University Unless You Take the “Fitness for Life” Class

This is drawing a lot of fire and in addition to using the BMI rule, they also measure the circumference of their waste to ensure folks with heavy muscle mass are not caught up in this.  One student makes the comment that she feels this should be mandatory for all students, which in a way makes sense as making it a requirement for everyone I think, so if you missed out on gaining healthy habits earlier in life, well here’s a chance to catch up.  It’s almost like bringing “Phys Ed” class back with some additional requirements.  Students of course can take a self test and have an official test all year long though.  BD 

(CNN) -- Most college students expect to receive their diplomas on the basis of grades, but at a Pennsylvania school, physical fitness matters too.

Students at Lincoln University with a body mass index of 30 or above, reflective of obesity, must take a fitness course that meets three hours per week. Those who are assigned to the class but do not complete it cannot graduate.

Now that the first class to have this requirement imposed is nearing graduation day -- students who entered in the fall of 2006 -- the school faces criticism from both students and outsiders about the fitness class policy.

One of those students is Tiana Lawson, 21, whose recent editorial in the student paper has drawn national attention to the issue. Lawson wrote in The Lincolnian that she would be more understanding if the requirement applied to everyone. She thinks all students, not just those with a high BMI, should have to take the class.

The fitness course, called "Fitness for Life," consists of activities including water aerobics, Tai Bo and aerobic dance, he said.

Because BMI is not a perfect measure of obesity, students also have their waist circumference measured, he said. There are some people who have a high BMI because of their muscle mass, but are not actually obese, and the waist measurement is meant to weed out those people.

College's too-fat-to-graduate rule under fire - CNN.com

Technorati Tags: College,Graduation,BMI,fitness course,heatlhcare,Lincoln University

Why Does a Hospital CEO Blog – Inquiring Minds Wanted to Know – Paul Levy Talks About It

First of all he runs a “big” hospital in Boston affiliated with Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess with 600 beds.  Mr. Levy talks opening about the blog and how it all got started in 2006 and being aware of what you can say and what you can’t say.

What is also a bit humorous too is “correcting something on a blog” and being safer, and anyone blogging knows this reality.  He talks about his blog being used by reporters.  One other item worth mentioning too is that how we all get connected through the blogosphere.  He mentions on his trip to India about meeting “Scanman” in person, a radiologist in India, who you can find under my blog roll and Dr. John Halamka, the hospital CIO is mentioned and of course he’s in the blogroll here too being one of the authorities on Health IT all over the internet. 

I took time out to meet Berci from Science Roll in person, and I should now say Dr. Mesko from Hungary, when he was here attending a convention in Long Beach, California last year. I have been the traveler many times in the past and it is really nice when folks you have corresponded with take the time and yes Dr. Mesko is in the blog roll too.  We had a very interesting chat comparing healthcare and life in the US to that of Hungary, I learned a lot.

When you stop and think about it, where else can you get such a diversified group of people together and communicating?  We all have our main areas of focus, but share interest in what each has going on too.  Nice interview and we could certainly use some additional hospital CEOs in the blogosphere too.  One other great comment he makes is the point that so many others seem paranoid about having a blog and he states the rules of thumb there are pretty simple, common sense and you don’t disclose anything that you wouldn’t also say in giving a public speech for an example and the same goes for pictures that are shared.   The blog makes information available immediately to all, and that is the real purpose of a blog.  Could you imagine if you had to use email to communicate such information:)   Transparency rules on his blog for sure.  BD   

Interview with Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on Vimeo

Technorati Tags: CEO,hospitals,Paul Levy,Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital,healthcare,blogs,healthcare blog,blogroll,technology

Former HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt Creates His Own Company – Leavitt Partners

Former HHS Director has created his own company, Leavitt Partners?   One area of focus from the website is “Private Equity”.   Will there be encouraging advice here on where to invest? 

You can read about all the areas of focus here.    Taylor Leavitt is part of the team, (related?).  At any rate he is listed as bringing the venture capital arm of the company into the fold.  At any rate you can take a look at the new company and see what it is all about.  One item for sure is that he has an advantage of seeing things from the inside after his years as HHS, but by today’s standards it is not all that is required as technologies are throwing us a new left curve every day, something our Congress doesn’t seem to openly acknowledge as somewhat being non-participants with their own healthcare from what I read in the news, in other words, no role models available yet.  BD 

Salt Lake City, UT, September 8, 2009 – Michael O. Leavitt, the former three-term governor of Utah, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and EPA Administrator, has formed a new company called “Leavitt Partners.” Leavitt Partners will advise companies in the practice areas of health, environment and trade, helping clients to enhance the value of their products, enter new markets, navigate complex regulatory and reimbursement systems and improve communications. Prominent colleagues from Leavitt’s time in public service have joined Leavitt Partners to create a premier team.

ABOUT LEAVITT PARTNERS
Leavitt Partners advises clients in the practice areas of health, environment and trade. Led by former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and EPA Administration Michael O. Leavitt, Leavitt Partners proves strategic input and counsel to a broad range of companies and governmental entities.

Former HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt Launches New Firm « Leavitt Partners

Technorati Tags: Leavitt Partners,Leavitt,healthcare,Health IT,HHS,Michael Leavitt

Sanofi Making Phone Calls Today to Lay Off Drug Reps

Is this “Black Monday” for many drug reps?  I am guessing we will hear later as to how many reps actually lost their jobs at Sanofi.  As you can read below there was a preview of this event just before Thanksgiving and at least the news didn’t ruin the holiday, or should I say this holiday as Christmas and New Years is right around the corner. 

Drug rep layoffs have been in the news of late with many pharma companies, a couple recent examples are listed at the links below.  BD

Drug Rep News – No Overtime for Novartis Reps and Astra Zeneca Offers Buy Outs for US Reps

Johnson and Johnson To Eliminate More Than 7000 ...

Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) began calling hundreds of its drug sales reps today to tell them whether they were being laid off or keeping their jobs. A company spokesperson declined to comment when asked by BNET how many reps were affected.

The Sanofi message board on Cafe Pharma has been on fire all morning, with more than 300 users reading and commenting on a stream of threads about the layoffs. Those threads indicate that district managers were given lists of who they had to cut yesterday, but were under instructions not to start making their calls until this morning.

Note to HR and PR managers: If you want your workforce to publish derogatory material about your company on the internet, then ask them all to stay at home on a day when you’ve got bad news to announce.

BNET broke the news on Wednesday that the layoffs were to take place today. That led to a stressful Thanksgiving for many.

Sanofi Calls Hundreds of Reps With Layoff News | BNET Pharma Blog | BNET

Hat Tip:  Pharmagossip

Technorati Tags: Drug Reps,layoffs,healthcare,pharma,Sanofi-Aventis,buy outs,drug companies

The Hoff – Back in the Hospital Again and Released – David Hasselhoff

One other source had quoted the actor as being put under involuntary psychiatric care and hold.  He’s out of the hospital now and gee I hope he survives all of this as the other source stated it was a seizure. 

The Medical Quack: HASSELHOFF Taken to Cedar Sinai – Alcohol

The above link is from May of this year about his prior event.  Again, I hope the Hoff gets everything back in divine order as he’s such a great entertainer.  BD 

David Hasselhoff was taken to a Los Angeles area hospital after he was found passed out at his home, according to RadarOnline.

News: David Hasselhoff taken to hospital for drug reaction, not excess drinking, says rep

"Paramedics were called to the [location] in Encino for medical aid," Los Angeles City Fire Depa rtment spokesman Erik Scott told RadarOnline. "Paramedics arrived at approximately 11:51 am [on Friday] and later transported the patient [to] a nearby hospital."

David Hasselhoff Taken to Hospital After Being Found Passed Out

Technorati Tags: David Hasselhoff,The Hoff,alcohol,Cedar Sinai hospital,celebrity

Cancer Vaccines – Harnessing a Patient’s Own Immune System to Fight the Disease by Sensitizing Dendritic Cells From Our Blood

There are many companies working with this type of formulation, instead of giving our body an element to fight cancer, the drugs such as Dendreon, now submitted to the FDA are the targets and could in time become a vaccine with adjusting how our cells react and use this to target the growth of tumors and cancer cells.  On the other side of the coin the company Dendreon experienced quite a soap opera of history with it’s development and investors over a 2-3 year period. 

Dendreon Day - What Got People More Excited, the Announcement or the Stock?

This research takes the process one step further with placing an implant under the skin to attack the likes of skin cancer as well as tumors.  QI is attempting to work the same type of process for breast cancer that Dendreon has done for prostate cancer with dendritic cells.  Some of the other companies working in this direction include Celldex Therapeutics, Inovio Biomedical and MannKind Corp.  The full article has details on these companies and a few more.  This treatment program certainly sounds to have some real value to patients for sure in being either a potential replacement or enhancement to work with current chemotherapy processes.  BD 

Despite the setbacks and pitfalls experienced by early-stage pioneers in the cancer immunotherapy / therapeutic cancer vaccine space such as Cell Genesys, Favrille, and Genitope; recent advancements and study results are encouraging while Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) awaits a FDA decision that is expected by May 2010 for its prostate cancer vaccine, Provenge, which is poised to become the first active cellular immunotherapy approved by the Agency to harness a patient’s own immune system in the fight against the disease.

Last week, a group of Harvard bioengineers and immunologists reported encouraging preclinical results for a novel delivery mechanism for therapeutic cancer vaccines that utilizes tiny plastic disks embedded with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin to mobilize the immune system to attack melanoma (skin cancer) tumors in mice. The implants utilized in this study were made of an FDA-approved biodegradable polymer that is just 8.5 millimeters in diameter and highly porous (90% air) to make them highly permeable for interaction with cells of the immune system.

Quantum Immunologics (QI) is a privately held, clinical-stage company that is engaged in the research, development, and production of innovative therapeutic and diagnostic products that are based on the universal cancer antigen (oncofetal antigen or OFA) that also had news last week in the form of a pact with Auburn to develop a cancer immunotherapy product for use in animals.

QI’s approach to cancer immunotherapy involves sensitizing the dendritic cells from a patient’s own blood to recognize and direct the body’s immune system to attack breast cancer sites in a targeted effort to eradicate or stabilize the disease. This approach does not involve breast surgery (e.g. complete or partial removal of breast tissue), chemotherapy, or radiation - with the goal of eliciting a targeted immune response directed at cancer cells which may prove to be more effective and safer (i.e. a few days of temporary flu-like symptoms following treatment as the immune system attacks the cancer cells) than existing treatments.

Dendreon follows a similar approach for prostate cancer as it prepares to become a commercial-stage company with a pending FDA decision for Provenge (sipuleucel-T) expected by 5/1/10, following positive Phase 3 results announced earlier this year. Provenge is derived from a patient’s own immune system (dendritic cells, hence the name Dendreon) and is poised (upon FDA approval) to become the first of a new class of therapeutics called active cellular immunotherapies (ACI) which are also referred to as therapeutic cancer vaccines.

» Cancer Vaccines: Investing Opportunities Beyond Dendreon | OneMedPlace » Archive

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Participatory Sensing with Cell Phones – New Study to Determine If This Works and How Disruptive It Could Be

I talk quite a bit about medical devices that report data and send text messages here and the need for proper implementation.  We have a bit of a Catch 22 situation going on here as the companies that make the devices and software want a return on their investment, with many being backed by Venture Capital and a short life line to revenue.  That side of the coin wants the product out there selling, meanwhile, the other side says hey wait a minute, how can humans handle all of this.  This is really something that needs balance before devices are thrown at both patients and doctors right and left with the accountability to respond to data generated. 

Wireless Monitoring With Medical Devices – There are Many Posts About These at the Medical Quack

There is a similar study ongoing at UCLA for the very same reason.  We already complain about just phone calls and some of the resultant rudeness that occurs, so wait until we add on some additional software and data functions.  I have seen this already at a retail store when the employee was completely oblivious to me standing there as a customer and was so wrapped up with his device responses that he stood in front of me for over 3 minutes with the priority on the the device and not serving a customer.  Remember the US Airline pilots, same stuff if you will, disruption and distraction is at the forefront.  

 Participatory Sensing – Medical Device Study at UCLA With Reporting Data

The Wireless Community wants to educate you on this topic as well.  As I have mentioned so many times and it seems to be ignored in Health IT today, these devices report data that constitutes part of a medical record and data entry is being left in a large part to our devices, literally!

ZigBee Alliance Creates Group to Educate Healthcare Professionals ...

One other item of interest to make note of as well is that many drug companies are working to change the way we take drugs, inhalers, why?  With devices such as the Blue Tooth Inhaler we can have a full detailed data trail, think about it as these are on the horizon now and will allot technology to monitor patient compliance with taking their medication.  Cambridge Consultants states that drug delivery of the future relies on technology.

The Future of Drug Delivery Lies with Technology – Panel of Experts From Cambridge Consultants

As this article states the first leg is to send messages and see how much disruption we can take and how it makes us feel with the second leg of the study to actually start capturing data with devices, like I have mentioned here numerous times.  Again that VC money is time sensitive and they want sales, but we also need balance with proper implementation so we are not “drones” tied to a device disrupting the normal “human” priorities we have for the sake of dollars being made.  If nothing else I have said in all these posts that last sentence is one we all need to remember so we don’t end up with a big brother implementation with those with the technology and devices changing our human values for the sake of making immediate dollars.  Without proper balance this will happen and we won’t like it one bit.  BD 

Early next year, 350 or so Penn State students and staff, as well as local retirees and others, will wander around State College, Pa., for three weeks, pausing intermittently to drop their heads down as they tap on smart phones to answer detailed questions about how they feel immediately after nearly every social interaction they have.

The potential for Nittany collisions aside, the tappers will be engaging in a novel $1-million research project designed to paint a rich, nearly real-time picture of how people experience their everyday interactions and maybe teach them how to be happier. Rather than aiming for a random sample to generate tedious trend results or one model that only describes the average behavior of all subjects or subsets of them (how bored I am of people protesting, "Not me!" when told of population results), the researchers plan to use the data to generate 350 models—one for each individual in the study.

So if you're a subject in this study, it'll be the sociological or psychological equivalent to having your genome sequenced. You're going to know the excruciating details of how irrationally you respond to life, minute-by-minute, scenario-by-scenario.

The smart phones will be loaded with software that prompts subjects to regularly describe what happened in an interaction and their perceptions of their general, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal health, as well as whether specific interaction made them feel angry, happy, sad, etc., and whether they perceived the others involved as cold or friendly, dominant or submissive.

Observations: Finally: Social science data that could be all about you

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Shopping for the Medical Care – New Websites Appearing to Engage the Process

One of the sites mentioned in this article has been covered a couple times on the blog here.  It began in the state of Washington and recently went nationwide.  There’s quite a difference in price on the story quoted below on an MRI for a knee from $2500 to the $300 actually paid.  Who would have ever thought we would be “shopping” for healthcare and the internet has largely been responsible for this new effort. 

“Deal or No Deal” Price.com Launches Nationwide – Priceline for Doctors

“The initial pilot was done in Washington and now it is moving into a nationwide effort.  I posted about the company back in Augusts and you can see a video and find more details at the link below.  You can also follow the site on Twitter.

Health care consumers are encouraged to comparison-shop on things like doctor’s fees and heart surgery rates. But unfortunately, most of us have little clear or useful information to go shopping with.”

Also from the prior post on the one website you can actually put your surgical procedure up for bid.  Recently I attended the World Healthcare Tourism conference in Los Angeles and they also want your business.  One comment made by most all the individuals I spoke with was the item of cost whereby they could quote and in the US it is still much of an unknown with fee for service. 

World Medical Tourism Conference 2009 – A Learning and Awareness Event

With the current state of affairs for many hospitals in the US, with around 55% already operating in the red, this serves to benefit the patient but perhaps not the hospitals who are struggling to survive.  BD 

“When you go to the doctor, how much you fork over when all is said and done is often just a mystery,” said Dr. Anthony P. Geraci, a Manhattan neurologist who is trying to buck that trend by posting his prices on his Web site.

Having seen an ad for PriceDoc.com, a new Web site that lists doctors throughout the country who are willing to post their prices and negotiate with patients, she decided to try it. Ms. Kyser found a nearby clinic where doctors charged only $75 for the exam.

“I was a little nervous at first because the price was so cheap, but when I got there, it was wonderful,” Ms. Kyser said. “Everyone was so professional and helpful.”

HealthcareBlueBook.com compiles prices paid for specific treatments and procedures in ZIP codes throughout the country, then lists what the site determines is a range of fair prices. Consumers can then use these ranges as a jumping-off point for negotiating with their providers, said Dr. Jeffrey Rice, the chief executive of the concern.

Another Web site, OutOfPocket.com, combines price information that users send in to determine a going rate for specific health care costs throughout the country.

Dr. Rice tells the story of a woman in northern Ohio who had been quoted a price at a local hospital of $2,500 for an M.R.I. of her knee. When she looked up the test on the site, she found the fair price in that area was more like $500.

She went back to the hospital where she had been quoted the high price and started asking questions. The clerk told her it would be much less expensive if she went to the clinic down the street instead of the hospital. The woman followed that advice and paid $300 for her M.R.I.

Patient Money - Shopping Around for the Best Prices in Medical Care - NYTimes.com

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Doctors in Maine in Connection with Blue Cross and Blue Shield Piloting Electronic Visit Program

Patients who use the pilot program will have no co-pays the article states.  The e-visits consist of emailing the doctors and patients need to be members insured by Blue Cross/Blue Shield.  The program can also be used to schedule appointments with doctors, request prescription refills and find out test results.  This doesn’t appear to be a web cam type of visit, but more or less a follow up of visits made at the doctor’s office. 

The future seems to be that you will email your doctor and he will respond as we see more of these types of programs coming online.  No mention on the compensation for the physician here for e-visits which has been a hot topic as it does take time just as a face to face visit does.  BD  

BANGOR, ME – Physicians in Maine are piloting electronic visits with their patients as part of a program developed between Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS) and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine.

The initial phase of the program will allow physicians at selected primary care practices at Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) in Bangor and The Aroostook Medical Center (TAMC) in Presque Isle to conduct "e-visits" with their patients who are Anthem members. The program will also allow Anthem members to send health related messages and questions and communicate via email with their doctors about non-emergent issues, in addition to scheduling appointments, checking on test results, or requesting prescription refills.

"In addition to the added convenience," Liscomb said, "members who choose to use the pilot will not have co-pays."

EMMC and TAMC - both members of EMHS - are also participating in a similar pilot with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Sabbagh said EMHS staff has worked hard to develop a number of protocols to ensure the interactions are both secure and appropriate to a patient's treatment plan.

Maine docs pilot 'e-visits' | Healthcare IT News

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Former Doctor Admits To the FBI He Was Building Pipe Bombs in His Apartment in Ohio

How did they find him, well according to this article one went off in his apartment, so this of course would bring the investigators.  The doctor gave up his license back in 2006 after a long history of drug abuse problems in Ohio.  In 1993 he gave up his medical license to practice in West Virginia, same issues with substance abuse. 

On this occasion he has some serious damage to his hands and arms so perhaps building pipe bombs is off his list of hobbies for now.  BD  

CLEVELAND — A former doctor who practiced medicine in Ohio and West Virginia has admitted to making pipe bombs that were part of an arsenal seized at his apartment after two explosions, federal agents say.

An affidavit filed in federal court in Akron said Mark Campano told an FBI agent that he "did indeed" build the pipe bombs found this week at his apartment in Cuyahoga Falls.

Neither Campano nor the FBI agent who talked to him described a motive or possible target in the affidavit, which was filed late Wednesday.

His defense attorney, Donald Hicks, said Friday that he had no comment. A woman who answered the phone at a number provided to police by Campano said she was a housekeeper and could not provide a family contact.

The Associated Press: FBI: Ex-doctor in Ohio admitted making pipe bombs

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i3 An Ingenix Company (United Health Care) Partners With Acurian For Business Intelligence With Clinical Trials Marketing for Investigators

United Healthcare has so many entities in healthcare and here is one more, i3 that is partnering with clinical trial company Acurian to provide business intelligence data mining to work towards increasing participants with clinical trials by mining and identifying the individuals.   Ingenix as we all have probably heard about is and has been the target of the corrupted data base whereby patients using out of network doctors and facilities were overcharged with some being pretty large dollar amounts.  The corruption was created by the insurers themselves feeding the information to the data base and many of the major insurance companies licensed and participated in using the software.  United had a cash cow for a number of years with the data base which is now being replaced as not only generating revenue from the patients but also other insurers.

 “Fair Database” to Replace Unfair Ingenix Data Base – Run by Non Profit ...

Other divisions of Ingenix buy and sell our medication records to underwriters, as HIPAA regulations do not apply to pharmacy benefit managers and I question if some of this information will be utilized with further marketing medication records in this division of the company.   Again, with proprietary data bases we don’t really know exactly how far some of our personal information will be mined and marketed. 

Health Insurance Underwriting Practices With Prescription Data – How Does This Work

From the Website:

Through a user-friendly interface, you can examine the relationships between various metrics to create revealing population profiles. Built-in filtering, grouping options, and custom report utilities help you to:

• Identify and examine trends such as prescription volumes and shares over time, variations by prescriber specialties and/or sources, and competitors’ share gains that result from new patient starts and/or switches
• Segment your market by prescribers or groups of prescribers
• Track and compare the performance of health plans and custom provider groups, including their performance in relation to specific marketing initiatives
• Detect and follow product-level switching patterns in your market

From what I am reading here it appears those PBM data bases of what doctors prescribe and when look to be a potential part of the plan here, so Acurian may be marketing individuals based on their current medication records, again those being for sale.  With having a rich data base and marketing to those doing clinical trials we could be entering into a whole new world of pushing more clinical trials to the forefront.  I still think the individual search for participation is the better route, my opinion only, instead of additional marketing and selling and buying our medication records and those folks make some big dollars doing this as there are no HIPAA restrictions here, although HHS is working in that direction.  BD

Pharmaceutical services company i3 announced today it has entered into an agreement with Acurian, a leading provider of patient recruitment and retention solutions, to provide study sponsors with a unique, more robust solution to recruit investigators for clinical trials. Acurian’s vast patient database will be complemented by new i3 services that offer statistics for improved planning and identification of trial sites with greater access to appropriate patient populations. 
With its proprietary access to a large database of information relating to private insurance claims, i3 can identify potential investigators throughout the United States and rank them according to the number of patients available who match the required study-specific criteria. The effectiveness of this informatics capability was confirmed in a study that i3 published earlier this year, which demonstrated that the top-ranking investigators enroll patients twice as fast. With 70 percent of all trials missing their timelines, according to an industry survey, the application of i3’s clinical informatics can make an appreciable difference in meeting customers’ enrollment goals.

i3, a global Ingenix company, provides integrated scientific strategies and solutions throughout the pharmaceutical product lifecycle. It is composed of i3 Research, a therapeutically specialized contract research organization; i3 Drug Safety, engaged in pharmacovigilance and epidemiology; i3 Pharma Informatics, a data, science and technology provider of market analytics; i3 Statprobe, a leader in comprehensive data services; i3 Pharma Resourcing, a world-class staffing partner; and i3 Innovus, delivering the science and solutions to achieve marketplace success. i3 helps companies gain sharper insights that lead to better patient care

Life Science Leader - i3 Partners With Acurian To Provide More Robust Site Selection Services To Clinical Trial Sponsors

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Ranbaxy Launches Generic Valtrex In US As Patent Expires

One more drug that is coming off patent and Ranbaxy in New Jersey will have a 180 day exclusive for marketing.  Valtrex now having a generic should be cheaper and more affordable real soon. Ranbaxy is a division of Daiichi Sankyo in Japan.  For a little history on the purchase of Ranbaxy, formerly an Indian owned company you can read up here.  Ranbaxy has been under the eye of the FDA more than once.  They hired Rudy Giuliani to help get them through the legal portions of the purchase. 

Ranbaxy Finds Rudy Giuliani is for hire..

Valtrex has been a big cash cow for Glaxo and now faces competition in the field of generics.  The original post below discusses 3 drugs given approval in 2007 for Ranbaxy to produce.  BD 

First-Time Generic Approvals: Focalin, Valtrex, Hydrodiuril

BANGALORE (Dow Jones)--Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (500359.BY) Friday said it has launched a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK.LN) anti-herpes medicine Valtrex in the U.S., a development expected to significantly boost its financial results.

Ranbaxy--a unit of Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co.--launched the generic drug, valacyclovir hydrochloride, in the U.S on Nov. 25.

The news underscores Ranbaxy's confidence that, despite facing regulatory issues in the U.S., it will not miss out on opportunities stemming from being the first to file generic applications with the Food and Drug Administration.

Ranbaxy will have a 180-day exclusive marketing period for the medicine as "first-to-file" status lets it be the only maker of the drug, other than GlaxoSmithKline, for the first six months from the patent's expiry.

Ranbaxy had previously lost out on a lucrative opportunity to be the first to launch a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's migraine drug Imitrex in the U.S. because of a delay in receiving FDA approval.

UPDATE: Ranbaxy Launches Generic Valtrex In US, Shares Rise - WSJ.com

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