With the new connection set in place later this year, consumers who are part of the networks and payers served by Trizetto will be able to import their claim and other relative healthcare information into the HealthVault.  You will be aware one way or another or I should say have the availability to have this information in a PHR.  One good reason I always say to get active with a PHR is to get the records and check for errors, they do exist as we are taking data from potentially many years back from various data bases so you could in fact find information that is not correct. 

We will all have business intelligence soon with healthcare, or will have it available everywhere it appears.  BD 

CareMore Health Plan Invests in Business Intelligence for Acute and Chronic Illness Management

The TriZetto Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TZIX) today announced an agreement with Microsoft Corp. under which TriZetto will develop a connector for its payer customers that enables members of health plans to use TriZetto™s Member Benefit Profile„ application with Microsoft HealthVault„. 

The Member Benefit Profile software gives plan members a Web-based, personalized healthcare financial statement. A display summarizes information about health status, medical treatments, insurance claims, remaining deductibles, status of pre-authorizations, reimbursements and medical account fund balances, available online or as a hard-copy. HealthVault is a secure Web-based platform that helps patients collect, store and share health information with family members and participating healthcare providers. It brings together third-party applications and tools that enable individuals to manage their fitness, diet and health.

The connector between the Member Benefit Profile software and HealthVault will provide improved portability of information for consumers, as well as provide a health information portability solution for payers that will enhance their ability to serve employer groups.

TriZetto Agreement with Microsoft Helps People Manage Their Own Healthcare

Technorati Tags: Trizetto,healthcare,Microsoft,HealthVault,PHR,personal health records,payers,claims,reimburements,EOB,business intelligence,healthcare cost

This somewhat goes with the times and inventors are facing the same, as technology is moving so much faster, royalties are getting hard to come by and as consumers we pay.  There’s nothing wrong with rewarding inventors and those with patents, but like the lifespan of almost every other technology out there, something new is replacing the technology before the patent or rules of intelligent property expire.  Even the pharmaceutical companies are fighting among themselves on this one.  Teva is one example with bringing questions about Singulair and the Merck patent in place.

Merck and Teva Go to Court over Singulair Going Generic

Sanofi Patent Protections Expiring – Looking to Joining the Generics

If the judges do not make the patents retro-active, it seems like the pharma company could be challenged in another legal area, the generic companies wanting to manufacture a version of the drug.  BD 

WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has said it would rehear a fight between drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L) and the patent office over new rules aimed at cutting a backlog of patent applications.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had largely sided with the Patent and Trademark Office on March 20, upholding all but one of the four rules that Glaxo had opposed.

But the court vacated that ruling in an order dated July 6 and said it would rehear the case en banc, which means 12 judges will consider the case. The original panel was three judges.

Glaxo had argued that the rules were substantive, and beyond the scope of the patent office to change unilaterally.

The new rules were designed to force companies to submit shorter patent applications, but a decision to make those rules retroactive prompted fears from companies like Glaxo that they would have to refile applications that exceeded the new limits.

U.S. court to rehear spat over patent office rules | Deals | Regulatory News | Reuters

Technorati Tags: drugs,pharmaceuticals,Merck,Teva,healthcare,Intellectual property Glaxo Smikh Kline,patent office

If we end up having a government insurance plan, somebody has to mind the shop, and even if not, the states are having a terrible time anyway with the big monster, even though some think it is working, well ask any citizen or physician what they think, and you might get a different answer. 

If for no other reason, companies need to try to operate closer to the same standards in each state, which now varies quite a bit.  BD 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's congressional allies want to create a powerful insurance commissioner to oversee medical plans nationwide. State regulators say it would duplicate what they do without better protecting consumers. Conservatives bemoan the big government mentality.

The issue could flare as lawmakers push to meet an ambitious schedule for votes on health care legislation before their August vacation.

Like the notion of a government insurance plan to compete with private companies, designating a single official appointed by the president to oversee the market goes to the heart of the federal role.

When adding those two to the mix, five federal agencies would be involved with health insurance regulation, joining the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury.

Proponents of having a federal commissioner say a national health insurance purchasing pool needs a regulator at the federal level. "If we're going to have a national insurance exchange, you can't have it run by 50 regulators in the states," said Vaughan.

The Associated Press: Need for federal insurance czar is questioned

Technorati Tags: health insurance,healthcare,HHS,health reform,government

This is a great use of technology for someone wanting to donate, but the individual to receive the kidney is not compatible, so they go to the data base and find a matching recipient, and at the same time, find a donor that would match.  This is really good news and makes the organs available where as otherwise the patient may not be able to have the surgery.  The donation process is still the same, the donor is giving a kidney, but the recipient may be someone else, but the intended recipient wins too as the software locates a compatible donor, a real win-win all the way around.  BD

AP) -- A transplant surgeon who completed an unprecedented eight-way kidney swap this week said Tuesday he believes such intricate, multistate exchanges can drastically reduce the number of patients waiting for eligible donors.

A transplant surgeon who completed an unprecedented eight-way kidney swap this week said Tuesday he believes such intricate, multistate exchanges can drastically reduce the number of patients waiting for eligible donors.

Dr. Robert Montgomery, chief transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and doctors at four hospitals in four states transplanted eight kidneys over three weeks in what he called the largest chain of donations in history.

Multiple-kidney transplants occur when several people who need transplants have friends or relatives who are willing to donate kidneys but aren't compatible. A chain of surgeries is arranged in which each donor is matched with a transplant candidate who they don't know but is compatible with the kidney being given up. The chain of transplants typically also involve a so-called altruistic donor, who's willing to give a kidney to anyone and is located through a database.

Md. doctor: Kidney transplant record achieved

Technorati Tags: kidney transplant,networking,healthcare,Johns hopkins,surgery,transplant surgeons,multiple transplants

I have written many times over here about CRM software and how it can be used by a hospital and here’s an example of one in the Chicago area using the intelligence to improve sales/physician relationships.  There is a special version for healthcare of Microsoft Dynamics that will integrate with Amalga, Microsoft Business Intelligence software and more.  What makes it simple and easy is the learning curve, or I should say a smaller learning curve as the information integrates with Microsoft Office, that’s Outlook, Word, Excel, etc. and many in today’s business world are already pretty well acquainted with MS Office. 

Microsoft Introduces Major Incentive Offerings: Payment Options and Money Saving Pricing with CRM Dynamics

The hospital system is also using it to help physicians refer patients to the facilities of Resurrection Health.  Sales individuals can talk more intelligently too about what the facilities have to offer and solve issues outside of direct healthcare, such as billing, etc.  BD 

In most sectors, CRM products are used for managing customer relationships. But for some health care organizations, CRM is helping to manage and grow relationships with physicians.

That's the case for Resurrection Health Care, a Chicago-based integrated healthcare provider that operates eight hospitals, home health services, occupational health services, free-standing medical imaging centers, nursing homes, assisted living, sleep centers, and more.

Resurrection is using CRM to assist its sales staff and others in getting the word out to physicians that Resurrection's array of healthcare offerings should be top of mind when doctors help patients line up care, treatments, testing and other medical services.

The notion of hospitals and other healthcare providers promoting patient services to doctors might be a bit startling to outsiders. But doctors often have a myriad of local healthcare organizations available to refer patients to--whether it's for sleep analysis, physical rehab, home health care, MRIs, or any other zillion health services.

Resurrection's sales staff is using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which was customized by reseller Sonoma Partners, to help manage relationships with physicians in Resurrection's quest to have more doctors refer their patients to Resurrection facilities for services ranging from medical imaging to rehab.

 

Sonoma extended the basic sales, marketing and customer service modules of Microsoft Dynamics so that physician alliances--which are often complex in their relationships with multiple hospitals, practices, and other facilities--can be more easily managed.  Because Microsoft Dynamics CRM is integrated to other Microsoft applications--including Excel, Word and Outlook, Resurrection's sales person can easily calculate and track expected additional revenue in an Excel spreadsheet, for instance, says Arnone.

For instance, if a sales person has a meeting with a doctor and discusses sending more of the practice's patients to Resurrection imaging centers for MRIs-- but the doctor complains that he's had trouble getting radiology reports quickly from the centers in the past--the sales person can use the CRM tools to set up a customer service case. The sales person can notify the imaging center personnel about the doctor's complaint, and then document this in the sales person's tracking of the physician.

Using CRM To Keep Doctor Relationships Healthy - Global CIO Blog - InformationWeek

Related Reading:

University of Miami and HealthVault Pilot Program – Communicating with Diabetic Patients

What does CRM have in Common with EHR/EMRs

Business Intelligence Provides Support for Difficult Times – Hospitals

GE Healthcare Centricity Software to Integrate Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 CRM

Technorati Tags: Hospital,CRM Software,Microsoft Dynamics,healthcare,business intelligence,Sales and Marketing,physicians,MRI,imaging,relationships. Resurrection Healthcare

The technology is not slated to be ready for prime time for at least another 5 years, so I guess Viagra and Cialis are still safe.  The entire process is to help men who are infertile.  Here’s a couple other related Sperm posts of interest.  BD 

Sperm Made from Female Stem Cells- All Female Baby Possible

Prostate Gland grown from stem cell - But Who Would Want One?

 

The stem cells had been removed when the embryo was a few days old and were stored in tanks of liquid nitrogen.

The stem cells were brought to body temperature and put in a chemical mixture to encourage them to grow. They were "tagged" with a genetic marker which enabled the scientists to identify and separate so-called "germline" stem cells from which eggs and sperm are developed.

The sperm cannot be used for fertility treatment as this is prohibited under UK law. The scientists in Newcastle say it will be at least five years before the technique is perfected - when they believe it should be available to help infertile men.

BBC NEWS | Health | Scientists claim sperm 'first'

Technorati Tags: Stem Cells,Sperm,healthcare,science,biotech,genetics,eggs,fertility

Caraco has been in the news quite a bit lately, first with the raid and then laying off 350 employees in Michigan, so now with the approval of a new generic drug for prostate cancer, odds are that it will come from another location.  BD 

After US Marshall Seizure 350 Employees lost jobs at Caraco in Michigan

DETROIT -- Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. said Tuesday it started shipping a generic version of Casodex, a prostate cancer drug, after receiving marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The application was filed by Caraco's subsidiary Sun Pharmaceutical Laboratories ( PHLB.PK - news - people ) Ltd. Mylan Inc. of Pittsburgh also received FDA approval for a generic version of Casodex, or bicalutamide tablets, on Tuesday, and began shipping the product.

Caraco: FDA approves generic prostate cancer drug - Forbes.com

Technorati Tags: Caraco,Casodex,prostate cancer,generic drugs,raid,FDA,Michigan,Sun Pharmaceutals

The process is an alternative to having a tubal ligation.  A tiny device the size of a piece of rice is inserted and within 3 months the tubes are blocked as tissue grows back around the area where a low level of radiofrequency energy is introduced.  BD 

Hologic Inc., the Bedford, Mass.-based women’s health care company, has won approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell its Adiana permanent contraception system.

Company officials say the system is designed to provide women a less-invasive alternative to tubal ligation. The procedure does not involve an incision and can be performed in a doctor’s office using local anesthesia.

The Adiana procedure is indicated for women who desire permanent birth control by occlusion of the fallopian tubes.

FDA okays Hologic birth control system - Boston Business Journal:

Technorati Tags: Hologic,Adiana,sterilization,healthcare,procedures,no incision,FDA

Certification seems to be moving right along, but the pending lists seem to be getting a little longer so I assume this means that the full functionality other than live installations and reporting is there.  BD 

Ten more ambulatory electronic health records products in recent weeks have received certification under 2008 criteria from the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology.
Most of the products are conditionally certified. "Pre-market certification" means a product will be fully certified when operational use in a physician office is verified. This is common for new versions of existing products. "Pending e-prescribing" means the vendor is verifying the product's ability to conduct medication history, formulary and eligibility checking through an e-prescribing national network.  Some products also received additional certification for functionality specific to certain specialties, such as child health and cardiovascular medicine. The certified products are:

* CentriHealth Inc.: CentriHealth Individual Health Record Release 2009.1.17, Pending e-prescribing;
* Complete Medical Solutions LLC: MyWinmed EMR 1.2, Pre-market and additionally certified for child health and cardiovascular medicine;
* InteGreat Concepts Inc.: InteGreat EHR Release 6.3, Pre-market;
* MDTablet: mdTablet 4.0.0;
* MedConnect: MedConnect EHR 1.0
* MedNet System: emr4MD Version 6.0.2; Pending e-prescribing;
* NexTech Systems Inc.: NexTech Practice 2010 9.3;
* Noteworthy Medical Systems Inc.: * NetPracticeEHRweb 7.0, Pre-market;
* Prime Clinical Systems: Patient Chart Manager 5.5, Pending e-prescribing; and
* Secure Infosys LLC: MyEMR 2.0, Pre-Market.

More EHRs Get Certified

Related:

CCHIT – One physician’s opinion and My 2 cents

CCHIT to Certify Personal Health Records

CCHIT Offers PHR Web Site – Personal Health Records

Technorati Tags: EHR,medical records,pre-market certification,pre-eprescribing,e-prescribing,healthcare,Health IT,certification,CCHIT

This is for the women who read this blog, it’s a few day for us at the ePremier Women’s Empowerment Expo.  You can purchase tickets to attend online and if you are interested in participating as an exhibitor there are still a few booths available.  If you are interested in participating as an exhibitor you can use the link to contact me the blog, it’s up at the top of the page in the “bar” area and I can get you set up.  There will be several pavilion areas available, one for non profits to help further your cause, health and wellness, business information, and a spiritual and holistic area to name a few.  All the forms are online at the site that you will need and are in pdf format.  If you market a product for women, this is the place to be. 

You can also follow the event on Twitter. 

As an exhibitor the field is open for anything that relates to women.  Again, email or call me from the “contact” area and I can help you out with getting set up.  Attendance for the event is anticipated to be around 30,000 or more.  There will be several celebrity speakers at the event and sponsorships are also available.  Fashion shows are also on the agenda.  Hope to see you there.  BD

 

 

Exclusive Premier Empowerment Women’s Expo is just not a trade show full of exhibitors but rather an Expo that provides self empowerment to women presented in the art of sophistication!  The three day event features celebrity motivational speakers, women’s beauty workshops such as skincare, hair replacement, cosmetic and nutrition. Attendees can meet, shake hands and obtain autographs from their favorite authors and enjoy the evening, which features fashion charity show presented by top designer Andres Aquino from Couture Luxury.
The Exclusive Premier Women's Empowerment Expo is an event to address the mind, body and soul with an emphasis on balancing natural and enhanced beauty.  The New You will retain those elements with an added emphasis on feeling good, looking beautiful and living healthy and living fun. So grab your friends, bring your family, but get ready to have fun, shop, sample and taste and you might even rub elbows with some celebrities or win a fabulous prize!
Featured at Exclusive Premier Women's Empowerment Expo

• · Women Empowerment
• · Celebrity Speakers/book signing
• · Beauty Workshops
• · Charity Fashion Show
• · Celebrity Performers
• · 450+ International and Local Exhibitors
• · Workshops Give Away Prizes

http://www.epremierwomensexpo.com/

Technorati Tags: ePremier,Women's Expo,Long Beach,Charity,Workshops,Aesthetics,Nutrition,Beauty,Plastic surgery

Anyone that read this blog often enough should know what an algorithm is by now.  Those are the formulas that create all the business intelligence decisions that are made.  Wall Street and the Health Insurance business are 2 of the heaviest investors.  This brings me back to a few former posts that are worth a read, one here where the actual programmers on Wall Street spoke out about what they were instructed to do last year.

If you need a reminder on why we need smart people, you can reflect back here on the SEC hearings. 

How Similar is Wall Street to the Health Insurance Business

Madoff's Scheme – One Reason To Put the “Smart People” in the Right Places So We Don’t Get Fooled Again

Software engineers design these algorithms which bring in billions of dollars, and the programmers probably don't get a big piece of the pie either, otherwise this guy would probably have not been steeling if he had been paid high enough.  The scary thing today is that we seem to be dumbing down our math and science curriculum in our public schools when we need it the most.  One item worth a mention too is that Goldman admits the fact that they have the ability “to manipulate markets in unfair ways too”.  Might health insurers who we do not trust be capable too?    Let’s look back to the Ingenix Inquisition.  Health Insurers are looking for new algorithms all the time.

Health Care Insurers Suggest Algorithms and Business Intelligence solutions to provide health insurance solution

Now they are worried that if someone outside knows how to run the code that all types of financial disasters could happen.  I’m going to stop and delve down in the minds of folks who write code, we get a “buzz” out of watching what we wrote run, it’s just the way real code head geeks think.  Is there someone else around that will know how to run it, of course there is.  Geeks share code, mostly called open source but with propriety code and money at stake we enter into the world of black hat trading.  It’s done all the time and unspoken as most of the world doesn’t understand it.  I don’t know much about it but these folks below do and why the government is hiring them.

Homeland Security Appoints Black Hat Founder to Advisory Council

My own personal thoughts on this too is the fact that yes it is valuable code, so I might guess that it may have been modified and sold to other banking institutions too, that’s kind of the way this stuff works, or they have have done some off site server calculations, but we shall see when the rest of the story comes out.   We saw that type of activity with health insurance too, with the data base used by Ingenix as many of the other carriers outside of United Healthcare subscribed to the information provided and used it for their decision making processes.  A couple recent posts below somewhat explain a bit further.  BD

AIG: You Bring the Nerds and the Algorithms and I’ll give you a AAA Rating…a little history from 1987

Senate Testimony – Insurers Confuse Consumers and Dump Those Who are Sick, a Wall Street Run System

 

July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. may lose its investment in a proprietary trading code and millions of dollars from increased competition if software allegedly stolen by a former employee gets into the wrong hands, a prosecutor said.

Sergey Aleynikov, an ex-Goldman Sachs computer programmer, was arrested July 3 after arriving at Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, U.S. officials said. Aleynikov, 39, who has dual American and Russian citizenship, is charged in a criminal complaint with stealing the trading software. Teza Technologies LLC, a Chicago-based firm co-founded by a former Citadel Investment Group LLC trader, said it suspended Aleynikov, who started there on July 2.

Goldman May Lose Millions From Ex-Worker’s Code Theft (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

Technorati Tags: Sergei Aleynikov,Goldman Sachs,Federal Bureau of Investigation,Wall Street,white collar crime,Zero Hedge,FBI,Code,Smart People,Ingenix,Business Intelligence

This is an update from last week, after the FDA directed seizure 350 employees were let go.  What happens now, does production go overseas?  Caraco is affiliated with Sun Pharmaceuticals, the 5th largest pharmaceutical company in India, which transferred the technology for 25 products to be manufactured here in the US.  The company also has another facility in Puerto Rico.  BD 

The company manufactures generic drugs such as equivalents for Fosamax, Zyrtec, Vicodin, to name a few.  The notice also stated that diabetes medicine metformin, and the pain reliever tramadol are safe to continue and that all defective drugs they feel have been seized.  The factory is located in Michigan.  BD 

U.S. Marshals, at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, today seized drug products manufactured by Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. (Caraco), at the company’s Michigan facilities in Detroit, Farmington Hills, and Wixom. The seizure also includes ingredients held at these same facilities. “The FDA is committed to taking enforcement action against firms that do not manufacture drugs in accordance with our good manufacturing practice requirements,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Compliance with these standards prevents harm to the public.”

After Fed Seizure, Caraco Axes 350 Employees

Technorati Tags: FDA,generic drugs,Caraco,heathcare,pharmaceuticals,Michigan,drugs,prescriptions,Sun Pharmaceutals

More details are said to come out later.  This is interesting that a nurse has filed suit and where it goes from here is anyone’s guess.  One thing the suit does is make the point that privacy is on one person’s mind and she has spoken.  BD 

A registered nurse in Durham, N.H., has filed a civil suit against three officials of the Obama Administration alleging the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's health information technology provisions unconstitutionally violate the HIPAA privacy rule, Privacy Act and Federal Common Law.
In a complaint filed June 25 and seeking class action status, Beatrice Heghmann names as defendants Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform; and Charlene Frizzera, Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The suit alleges that under the stimulus law, "the White House Office of Health Reform is in the process of designing a new system for delivering medical care to every person in the United States and HHS is in the process of implementing the new system."

The lawsuit alleges eight counts of violating the Plaintiff's right to privacy, due process and personal security; and violations of the Privacy Act and Federal Common Law.
The suit, Heghmann et al v. Sebelius et al, was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and assigned to Judge Barbara Jones. The case number is 09-CV-5880. Attorney Robert Heghmann, husband of Beatrice, is representing his wife. Text of the suit soon should be available on the PACER legal database at pacer.gov.

Lawsuit Filed Against Stimulus Act

Technorati Tags: Stimulus,lawsuit,healthcare,Sebelius. nominations,Deparle,Frizzera,White House,HHS,CMS

Only Oregon allows assisted suicide in the case where the quality of life is gone with terminally ill patients and he has just gotten out of prison.  He never charged anyone for his services.  The movie is being made for HBO.  We all remember the 60 minutes show that lead to his conviction.  BD

Al Pacino will play the role of Jack Kevorkian, the enigmatic pathologist known as "Dr. Death" and "Jack the Dripper," who assisted in more than 130 suicides with his "mercy machine."

The flamboyant doctor, who served eight years in prison on a second-degree murder charge, was released from a Michigan maximum security prison in 2007 with a parole pledge that he never kill again. 

The made-for-television movie, "You Don't Know Jack," directed by Barry Levinson ("Rain Main") with a script by Adam Maser ("Breach"), won't air on HBO until the spring of 2010.

But the project -- five years in the making -- is already inflaming leaders in the assisted death community, which for decades has eyed Kevorkian with suspicion and disdain.

Kevorkian was unwilling to talk to ABCNews.com, but his longtime lawyer said the 81-year-old doctor was "enthused about helping with the film."  But it was a 1998 episode of CBS's "60 Minutes," showing Kevorkian giving a lethal injection to Thomas Youk, 52, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, that led to Kevorkian's conviction on second degree murder charges.

Al Pacino Stars in Controversial HBO Film on Dr. Kevorkian - ABC News

Technorati Tags: Kevorkian,healthcare,movie,Al Pacino,HBO,suicide,assisted suicide

The clinics are convenient and helpful with selected issues, good place for a flu shot if you don’t want to wait.  What is interesting here is that the emphasis is on bringing some medical information with you to the visit.  This may catch on soon with the ER Rooms too, you think?  It only stands to make sense.  Some of the clinics now also take insurance.  BD

What’s the easiest way to do this, a personal health record, unless you want to run around with a lot of paper.  Minute Clinics use an electronic health record and your visit can easily be imported into your PHR as well as your medications at the pharmacy.  Once more a look at HealthVault or Google Health could save a lot of time and offer some credible records and when you return to your regular family practice doctor, you can also share the information them as well.  BD

 

CVS and Walgreens Adding Services to Retail Clinics

CVS to Offer Records Via HealthVault

Walgreens Partners with Microsoft HealthVault to Populate Medication History in PHR

Healthcare At The Supermarket - CBS News Video

Technorati Tags: CVS,Walgreen,healthcare,personal health records,PHR,clinics,Minute Clinic,Take Care Clinic

We are starting to see more advertisements both on You Tube and on television with medical devices and the budgets appear to be quite large.  It’s funny they all have happy smiling people, just like the drug commercials do.  If you want to learn more click on the pictures to see how this banding procedure works and how the physician can adjust by injecting saline to reduce the size.  BD

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In the video, Viki, a middle-age blonde, tears up recounting her moment of truth: A couple of years ago she was so obese that she could not chase after her toddler to keep him from running into the street.

DTC device marketing is not new, but Ethicon's YouTube effort is a first for a device.

If this sounds like a setup for a weight-loss ad, that's because it is. But not for a diet shake, pill or plan. The video is for Ethicon Endo-Surgery's Realize adjustable gastric band -- a device placed around the stomach that restricts food intake. The video is on Realize Band's branded YouTube channel.

"Overall, the importance is to be sure that you have truthful, non-misleading balanced risk information, regardless of media," said Khatereh Calleja, associate VP-technology and regulatory affairs at AdvaMed. Ethicon's parent company, Johnson & Johnson, is a member of the trade association.

Last year, Ethicon spend nearly $12 million on measured media for Realize Band, according to TNS Media Intelligence. In the first three months of 2009, Ethicon spent $3.5 million. Ethicon declined to comment on the cost of the YouTube investment.

Realize Gastric Band Reaches Out With YouTube Channel - Advertising Age - News

Technorati Tags: Diabesity,obesity,gastric banding,surgery,Johnson and Johnson,Realize,advertising,Pharma

Related Reading:

Johnson and Johnson and Abbott Labs – Battle for Intellectual Property Solved – Expensive for Abbott

Ok, just when you thought you could get away from the computer to sleep, well not so fast, as the computer can now help you sleep too.  To me it seems like a lot of work to sleep but perhaps my problems are not that bad though and someone with real insomnia might find it to be of help.

I did like the snoring Moon at the end of the presentation though (grin), and hopefully I don’t have that issue too.  BD

Press Release: 

UVA Health System Study Finds Nearly Three-Fourths of Patients Reported Notable Sustained Improvements in Sleep

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 6, 2009 – The estimated one-third of adults who suffer from insomnia could soon find effective treatment without ever leaving their homes. Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have developed a unique Internet-based intervention, based on well-established face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, that has shown remarkable results in improving patients’ sleep.

In the pilot study, Lee M. Ritterband, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the UVA School of Medicine, and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of the Internet intervention among 44 adults who had a history of sleep difficulties lasting more than 10 years on average. A total of 22 participants were randomly assigned to a control group and 22 received the Internet intervention, called SHUTi.

“All 44 patients were in the moderate severity range for insomnia when we began our study,” Ritterband says. “After completing our study 73 percent of those who used our system reported no severity of insomnia, whereas all patients who didn’t use the system continued to have the same level of moderate severity.”

Furthermore, Ritterband reports that all patients with improved sleep after using the Internet intervention maintained these improvements six months after the study’s completion. The study, supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, appears in the July 2009 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

The highly interactive nine-week program uses text, graphics, animations, vignettes, quizzes and games to present behavioral, educational and cognitive techniques for improving sleep. For instance, patients were advised to avoid reading and watching television in the bedroom, stop daytime napping and change unhelpful beliefs and thoughts (including worries about the consequences of insomnia) that may exacerbate sleep difficulties.

“Our program is unique in that it engages the user and tailors the treatment to an individual’s particular needs,” says Ritterband. “These interactive components make it like no other online intervention for insomnia out there right now.”

Participants completed daily sleep diaries before and after the intervention and also rated their symptoms on the seven-item Insomnia Severity Index, which produces a score from zero (no symptoms) to 28 (severe insomnia). Among individuals who received the intervention, scores on the index improved from 15.73 to 6.59, whereas scores did not change for the control group. These gains were maintained at a six-month follow-up assessment.

“One of the exciting pieces of Internet-based interventions is to be able to provide treatment to people who otherwise might not get treatment,” says Ritterband.

Cognitive behavioral therapy—a psychological treatment focusing on the behaviors and dysfunctional thoughts that contribute to sleep problems—is one of the most effective treatments for insomnia.

“Unfortunately, availability of cognitive behavioral therapy is severely limited for many reasons, including lack of trained clinicians, poor geographical distribution of knowledgeable professionals, expense and inaccessibility to treatment and clinicians,” says Ritterband.

“An Internet intervention has the potential of meeting the large unmet treatment needs of the population with insomnia by providing effective treatment through the Web. An effective and inexpensive Internet intervention would expand treatment options for large numbers of adults with insomnia, especially those whose geographical location prohibits access to relevant care, and could be a substantive first-line treatment choice.”

Related link:

The study is available in the Archives of General Psychiatry, Volume 66 (No. 7), July 2009, or at www.jamamedia.org.

Technorati Tags: Insomnia,healthcare,computers,technology,intervention,sleep,Mental Health,program,Univeristy of Virginal Health

What did we have to celebrate this last weekend I want to ask?  When it comes to healthcare, not much.  With 43% of the hospitals already in the red this is going to hurt in California, no doubt.  Nursing homes will also feel the brunt.  We have been through times like this before, just last year as a matter of fact but not at a time like this when financials for healthcare facilities are nearing rock bottom or have already been there.

The state offices will now be closed 3 days a month here in California too.  I had a monthly report on hospitals here on the blog that tracked layoffs and bankruptcies and you can see the entire listing at the link below. 

Desperate Hospitals – May 2009

Two industries need to come in to the fold though, pharma and health insurance.  We are at a cross roads where even with the best philanthropy out there, the money is not enough to cover driving R and D costs, do we simply let all of the expertise move offshore so we can afford it?  That is what is currently happening and will continue.  There are pressures in the pharma areas from companies like Teva who are working to lower drug costs, even by taking big pharma to court.  As a note, Teva is a company founded in Israel.  Sure they want sales too, but perhaps not at the same levels as we have been paying for expensive name brand drugs. 

Merck and Teva Go to Court over Singulair Going Generic

We are pricing ourselves right out of the affordability market so what value do we have when we can’t pay for the drugs and insurer continue to stipulate where coverage lies?   The days of the big profits are going, small profits are still alive, but paradigms need to change.  Hospitals are big consumers in both industries and are they too getting priced out of the market of affordability.  I am afraid we are in for some real tough times not only in California, but all over.  BD 

The nine leading hospital company stocks are looking pretty bearish on their daily charts.

Reports and rumors in Washington late last week that the three large hospital associations are about to agree to give Congress and the Obama administration $150 billion in cost concessions over the next 10 years obviously have not been good for the hospital companies.

In addition, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) is looking for cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals and physicians.

And how many hospitals can run on California’s IOUs? Not only California, but most states are having budget problems because of Medicaid.

Hospital Stocks Down on Rumored Medicare Cuts -- Seeking Alpha

Related Reading:

Envision Hospital Corporation Leaves the Fate of 2 Hospitals up in the air - Bankruptcy filings

Sutter plans to stop operating San Leandro Hospital – September 30th

Shriner Hospital in Sacramento Came to the Rescue with Burn Victims from Fire in Mexico – Some Facilities are Facing Closure

What’s in a Drug Patent for Pfizer – There are several Court Cases are Challenging Others Too

Here Come the Bio Similar Drugs – Bill in Congress to allow Follow Me Provisions for the FDA

Technorati Tags: health insurance,healthcare reform,generic drugs,Teva,R and D,cost,hospitals,paradigms,Magpie Healthcare,Budget cuts,IOUs

One more reason healthcare reform needs to take place, as numbers continue to dwindle, carriers raise prices so are we looking at a market that is pricing itself out of affordability in many areas?  As the economy effects keep hitting businesses, those numbers are also hard to maintain.  By running algorithms that cherry pick not only individuals who cover, the number that fit the mold get smaller too.  The mold is not changing and people are starting to live healthier lifestyles, but what is also bothersome is this recent report that preventative care is not impacting or having enough impact on the bottom line. 

U.S. Congress has an inadequate understanding Value of Health IT – HIMMS Opening Session

Even patients who do have insurance are struggling as well, the business model appears to be on it’s way to a breakdown. 

Patients with Insurance are struggling with Medical Bills too – The Ticking Time Bomb

The Congressional Budget Office states preventing disease doesn’t save money, so now where do we go, insurers say preventive care does, but it’s not making a dent on affordability by any means.  None of this makes any sense anymore as all the current business plans simply stink and “greed” is no longer fashionable in today’s world.  Education, once some at the top get some, and begin sharing the wealth will be a prime key to survival.  BD

Preventing Disease Costs More Money and Doesn’t Save Healthcare Expense – Congressional Budget Office

ATLANTA – The percentage of Americans with private health insurance has hit its lowest mark in 50 years, according to two new government reports.

About 65 percent of non-elderly Americans had private insurance in 2008, down from 67 percent the year before, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, nearly 80 percent of Americans had private coverage, according to CDC officials.

CDC: Private health care coverage at 50-year-low - Yahoo! News

Technorati Tags: health insurance,Congressional Buget Office,healthcare,prevention,Obama Health Reform,Congress,education

It is finally beginning to take place, looking to see where there are possible duplicated efforts as well as trying to determine whether perhaps a device or a drug is the best answer for certain treatments and of course, cost is right in there.  One good example in the text below is the treatment for prostate cancer, with one treatment being 4 times the amount of another.  At this point, the question arises too, is the more expensive treatment the better choice as far as the cure and treatment?  We may not know the ultimate answer for a while and there will be other emerging technologies no doubt as well.

What is also interesting too is the comparison of aspirin to Plavix by one insurer, stating Plavix is only slightly more effective than aspirin?  Yikes, we need more numbers I think to see if that is in fact true, especially since Plavix was the 2nd most expensive item under Part D.  That is almost scary if in fact it would turn out to be true as the numbers between cost on the 2 items is huge. 

Biotech is not left out either, with some hospitals saying they can use low tech to fight the spread of MRSA better, but that could also be tweaked a bit as hospitals are all on such tight budgets and can’t afford a lot more.  BD 

Desperate Hospitals – May 2009

TWO GOVERNMENT REPORTS TUESDAY OFFERED early hints of the potential industry impact of a $1.1 billion federal program to compare the medical benefit and cost-effectiveness of surgeries, medicines and medical devices. The reports -- by the Institute of Medicine and the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research -- suggest priorities for spending $700 million of the research program's funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Neither report identifies particular products or companies for scrutiny, but many suggested studies clearly would zero in on money-makers from identifiable companies. At the top of the Institute of Medicine's list (at http://www.iom.edu) is the comparison of heart-arrhythmia drugs with device-based treatments marketed by Medtronic (MDT) and St. Jude Medical (STJ). Surprisingly high among research priorities is the need to examine "balance training" services that home-health-care outfits such as Amedisys (AMED) promote for the prevention of injurious falls by older adults. Such programs have been a fast-growing source of profits in the home-health business.

Another top priority is examining the use of pricey biologics for fighting auto-immune diseases such as arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Those biotech treatments include Humira from Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Remicade from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Orencia from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY). Not far behind on the research program can be spotted the expensive tests for antibiotic-resistant staph germs, now sold by Cepheid (CPHD) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX). Many hospitals have said they can better contain resistant germs by paying careful attention to low-tech anti-infection practices.

The Institute of Medicine experts also urge a comparison of conventional prostate-cancer surgery with surgery that uses the $1.3 million robot from Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) or treatment with radiation.  Health insurers complained further that proton-beam treatment for prostate cancer, as sold by Varian Medical Systems (VAR), costs four times as much as radioactive-seed implants, with little evidence for its comparative superiority.

Health insurers decried the overprescribing of the anti-clotting drug Plavix from Bristol-Myers, for preventing the recurrence of a stroke. Plavix costs $1,500 per year, noted one health-insurance trade group, but is only slightly more effective than $15-a-year aspirin. Medicare data for 2007 showed Plavix was the government's second-largest expenditure under the Part D drug benefit, after Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor.

Marshalling Evidence for What Makes Sense in Health Care - Barrons.com

Technorati Tags: Obama Healthcare,healthcare,medical devices,drugs,pharma,treatment,cancer,heart illness,hospitals,biotech

After having read a few articles, what I find interesting here is the fact that several of them relate to the fact that doctors use electronic medical records, well maybe, but they seem to rely on the fact that Michael Jackson’s medical history will inherently be found in one of them, do you think? I would almost bet not in this case and think that even if they were a practice using electronic records, an old paper chart might be around for high profile patients, at the physician’s office.  Obviously the hospitals in the area are all on electronic record systems, but perhaps not the treating doctors at their offices.  Here’s one article from TMZ that makes the point about records being electronic. 

On the prescription side of things, there are more doctors using e-prescribing, but the DEA still wants paper.  Physicians who do use e-prescribing have complained about it too, everything else is electronic, but when it’s time for a controlled substance, they have to drop the computer and pick up a pen and pad. 

American Hospital Association urges DEA to pilot test proposed e-prescribing rule

Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances - Are we getting any closer?

Anyway, if controlled substances were e-prescribed it could help with investigations as such, with readily identifying the physician instead of using the DEA tracking number to find the doctor and it would give a secondary audit trail in case one failed.  I just think it would tend to make it a bit more difficult to create those prescriptions on controlled substances, but the DEA has not come to a conclusion yet.  Would it have made the drugs a little more difficult to get, possibly?  We will all be waiting to see what the reports state as the actual cause of death is for sure.  BD 

Investigators are focusing on at least five doctors who prescribed drugs to Michael Jackson as they try to unravel the circumstances surrounding the pop star's death, according to law enforcement sources.
Authorities removed drugs and other medical evidence from the Holmby Hills mansion where Jackson was stricken and are trying to determine whether the medications were properly prescribed and whether they played any role in his death.

One of the most significant clues so far is the discovery of what one source described as "numerous bottles" of the powerful sedative Diprivan( Generic Name: Propofol) at the home. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an ongoing investigation, said some of the bottles were full and others were empty. None had prescription labels, and investigators are trying to determine how Jackson got the drugs.
Diprivan is an extremely potent drug that is supposed to be dispensed by a person trained to administer anesthesia, such as an anesthesiologist or a certified registered nurse anesthetist, and it is typically used in hospitals. Experts expressed alarm that it would be used at a private home.

But medical experts said Diprivan should never be used for insomnia. John F. Dombrowski of Baltimore, a member of the American  Society of Anesthesiologists, said that in a hospital setting, he has EKG equipment, a blood pressure cuff and a blood-oxygen monitor in order to watch a patient's status. Also on hand in a hospital is supplemental oxygen, he said.
"But unless you have a trained physician to rescue that patient, all of the monitors in the world mean nothing. Machines are great, but this is where you need the skill set of a physician."

Investigators focus on five Jackson doctors - Los Angeles Times

Technorati Tags: Michael Jackson,drug abuse,Diprivan,Propofol,drugs,pharma,DEA,investigation,deaths,side effects,medical records

For Oncologists, this stands to represent a big help in the chemotherapy area as the cost of maintaining the expensive drugs has been a rising cost over the last few years.  The proposed changes are not due until the year 2010.  Radiologists will be looking at a 30% reduction with the proposed adjustment and cardiologist around an 11% cut with left heart catheterizations, transthoracic echocardiograms, and EKG payments being reduced.  I just posted about a hand held ECG device and perhaps devices as such might be having an impact too on the compensation.

Hand Held Electrocardiogram (ECG) Device – Add 2 Drops to the Device and Send the Information to the Cardiologist or Physician (No paper required)

AMA Now Says Government Funded Insurance Would be OK – CMS Proposes 21.5% Medicare Physician Pay Cut

"Welcome to Medicare" visits are something new that is added for a higher reimbursement for primary care physicians as well as changes to the consultation fees and codes with "evaluation and management" being selected that pays at a lesser rate which may result in lesser pay for specialists.  CMS is accepting comments on the new rules until the end of August and the final ruling is expected by November 1st.  BD

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced proposed changes that will increase Medicare payments for primary care physicians by an estimated 6% to 8%.

Changes include refining the definition of practice expenses, eliminating payment for consultation codes, and revising treatment of malpractice premiums, as well as adjustments to the physician fee schedule (PFS), according to a CMS press release.

One of the biggest changes would remove physician-administered drugs, such as chemotherapy agents, from the "physician services" category used under the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.

Doctors have long lobbied CMS to put the drugs under Medicare's Part D drug benefit, rather than keeping them in Part B, the section of Medicare that determines how much physicians are paid.

CMS has finally agreed.

CMS will accept comment on the new rules until Aug. 31 and will issue a final rule by Nov. 1. The new payment rules will apply to physician services provided after Jan. 1, 2010.

Medical News: CMS Announces New Payment Rules that Benefit Primary Care Docs - in Public Health & Policy, Medicare from MedPage Today

Technorati Tags: Medicare,coding,consultation,Welcome to Medicare,cardiology,imaging,radiology,primary care,specialists,compensation,CMS,payments