Johnson and Johnson Drops Investment for MRSA Drug Development After Failing to Meet European CE Mark & FDA Approvals

Basilea Pharmaceutica and Johnson and Johnson worked together on the drug for MRSA infections and after not meeting quality and monitoring standards with both the FDA and European Regulators, J and J says goodbye to Basilea and you are on your own, no more money.   J and J conducted the trials and with the reporting not complete, results were determined to be unreliable. 

This does not mean that there could not be another opportunity for the drug if Basilea wants to continue to pursue with their own money, and it could be the reporting process only that did not give the drug approval possibly.  I might guess Basilea might pursue a breach of contract here as well.  This is not the first incident of J and J looking a purse strings, there have been a few other incidents in the news of late.

Johnson and Johnson Pulls GeneSearch Breast Cancer Diagnosis Test – Trials Ended

Johnson and Johnson Cancels Contract with Palomar – Unfavorable Economic Conditions Stated For A Massive Product Launch

What we are seeing to be a trend here is the lack of big pharma to invest in some areas of drug and device development.  They have also had the big Tylenol recall.

Tylenol Arthritis Formula Recall Expanded to All Product Lots with Red EZ-Open Cap – Johnson and Johnson

Too bad they were not using something like Microsoft Tags that would have really simplified the recall effort and added greatly to consumer safety.

Tags for Use in Healthcare – Medical Stents, Medications - One Scan Away From Safety Information in Real Time

Windows Tags – Bar Coding Information Made Easy from your Cell Phone

The company has been making out big with billions in court settlements in the last year, which basically nobody who needs healthcare or a device really cares that much about in as much as they just want to be able to afford one especially if it is a life saving device or drug.

J and J Gets 1.7 Billion Wins Battle, Doctors, Hospitals and Patients Lose on the High Cost of “Legally” Patented Stents

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

Amidst all of the rest of the news we heard last year about reducing the job force and restructuring and recently J and J announced that performance bonuses were to be cut for some employees while some remained the same. 

Johnson and Johnson To Eliminate More Than 7000 Jobs

Small biotech companies are finding it a little bit more difficult to attract and maintain big pharma dollars as the element of risk with biotech development is a gamble and the shift is going back to the small companies who either get bought out or simply pack up and go away with all their technology developed.  BD 

ZURICH—Basilea Holding AG said Friday that U.S. health-care giant Johnson & Johnson, its development partner for its key drug ceftobiprole, handed back full rights for the drug after European regulators rejected it.

The development is the latest turn in a dispute between the two companies over the antibiotic, which targets methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus—the drug-resistant organism known as MSRA responsible for many hospital-acquired-infection deaths.

J&J Relinquishes Rights to Drug - WSJ.com.

Technorati Tags: Basilea Pharmaceutica, Johnson and Johson, healthcare, pharma, legal suits, Microsoft Tags, medical devices, drugs, recalls, FDA, CE mark, biotech, investments, MRSA

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Feinstein Proposes “National Medical Insurance Rate Authority” Legislation To Allow HHS Secretary to Review – Hope HHS Can Wrap Their Heads Around the Algorithms And Not Get Lost in the Shuffle

It looks like we have a breakthrough here with perhaps a new type of law or at least some baby steps to get there.  I have said for the last 2 years we may need a “Department of Algorithms” to legally file and enforce laws.  This is coming and it’s just a matter of time until some folks come out of tech denial and accept the fact. 

“Department of Algorithms – Do We Need One of These to Regulate Upcoming Laws?

Somebody the other day was talking about an former analyst they hired from a health insurance carrier, in other words one who does the business intelligence and feeds management the daily status of affairs on company business.  The analyst’s job was to  runs algorithms against other algorithms she uses for research.  (there’s that word again).   Further comments were made to the effect that the health insurance company changes the algorithms for claim, eligibility, according to how loud the public cried.  Until tolerance levels raise to the point of almost being intolerable, nothing changed. 

If you think all your claims are handled by a human, well guess again, they are not, they are algorithmically scored and processed, sometimes by contracted 3rd parties who charge a transaction fee for this service, so your health care claims are not 100% handled in house.  Nobody seems to want to accept this or see this is reality so this is why we have swords and daggers and the health insurance companies have machines guns, real simple.  Who’s wins that battle most of the time?  

They love, feed and thrive financially on the ignorance of others. 

How to Fight Algorithmically “Scored” Health Care Claim Denials – Line Up and Deliver Your Own Data

It’s in the data and the algorithms and the “snow” job that algorithms can create, and those who do not understand the concept, don’t know how to do battle and unfortunately this is about 90% of what we have in Congress today, and why we keep losing and why nobody does much other than starting a blog to ask for ideas – they have no clue on the impact of technology with healthcare and financial institutions today, who use these to the max and generate big profits.  You can’t fight principles and values against algorithms as they run 24/7, we don’t go 24/7 and need sleep.  In the link below, the folks over at Xconomy agree with me on this fact.

Intellectual Property Technology Has Arrived – Digital Algorithmic Formats Needed Now to Enforce and Protect

In the meantime I can perhaps hope that maybe this law will involve some algorithms so it has teeth and not just big bundles of text that nobody has time to read.  Digital laws would require some algorithmic business plans to be filed so we can determine how the insurance carriers arrive at their figures, beyond what is filed with the SEC, as those are reports and perhaps not the formulas on how their business models are run, remember Harry Markopoulos and how he stated that the SEC didn’t know how to handle or what to do with the data he gave them?  BD 

Moved to action by the proposed Anthem Blue Cross premium increases, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said Friday that she would introduce legislation to create a “national Medical Insurance Rate Authority” to prevent unfair rate increases by private insurers.

Anthem recently informed policyholders that premiums would increase by as much as 39 percent, prompting outrage among public officials in California and Washington.

Feinstein to Propose Federal Supervision of Insurance Rates - Prescriptions Blog - NYTimes.com

Technorati Tags: Feinsten, health insurance, healthcare, laws, digital laws, algorithms, SEC, tech denial, legislation, Congress, heatlhcare reform

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Forget Steroids – Gene Doping is the Next Frontier for Athletes – Genetic DNA Cell Protein Modification

With the Olympics running in full force now, this seems to be a good time to talk about the next frontier in keeping athletic competition pure and with normal human abilities.  We all know about those who have been busted for steroids, but now with genomic sequencing a whole new potential has been unlocked with varying the reactions and behaviors of protein DNA in our systems.  Back in 2008 the Salk Institute, where the targets were identified was in the news talking about a pill that will “do your exercises for you”.  This is close, but it doesn’t exercise for you but rather changes cell behavior.  This is very interesting as some of the studies at the Microsoft Research Trento center are somewhat related here with bringing computer science and biology together.  Their studies are more directed towards  DNA in food and nutrition to activate genes that could possibly prevent disease.

Microsoft Research Trento Centre: Biology and Computer Science Coming Together

It is interesting that all this comes about right around same time that solvency of NFL teams is in the press too, with some stating they need player concessions to keep alive.  Income is coming in, but profit is borderline.  One comment made is that the team owners are making less than the linebackers who play there and some NFL franchises are tarping up to 10,000 seats to avoid blackouts.  Some teams are selling off top players because they can’t afford the contracts and could they possibly be using genetic enhancements?   How much is it going to be worth to land player positions and will it increase the salary offered or perhaps put one out of the ball game if you are too good and not affordable? 

The Olympics committee is starting a move to collect DNA from participants and compare later to the results if tested.  This is kind of a tricky one I guess as one might be asked to supply this information if participation in the Olympics is the goal.  Neither product mentioned here is FDA approved and I checked and there did seem to be some sites advertising it, but I really didn’t find any straight out for sale, but that’s not to say I didn’t miss something.  BD  

Steroids are so 2008. The next way to get an edge may be gene doping.

Consider "Marathon Mouse," a rodent with an artificially tweaked protein gene that made him run twice as far as normal mice.

Want to know if your child has a future in track? Make junior say "Ah..." for a cheek swab to see if he has a gene common in fast runners.

Have an injury that just won't heal quickly enough for a game? Scientists are coming up with ways to seal those muscle tears like the cheerleader heals herself on "Heroes."

"It's not a stretch to imagine that there's an Olympic athlete -- possibly at Vancouver -- who has started this new, very risky form of gene manipulation," said Dr. Theodore Friedmann, a top scientist with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which conducts drug testing for the International Olympic Committee.

"I don't know of any particular case where a person has gene doped but the technology is here. If there isn't a case I can point to today, there will be soon," the geneticist said from his lab at the University of California-San Diego.

Gene doping is a broad term used to describe any change created purposely to a person's DNA through various means, from injection to pill. Friedmann wrote in this month's Science magazine about a few methods, including injecting IGF-1, or insulin-like growth factor, a chemical manipulation of naturally occurring IGF.

When you lift weights, you cause tiny ruptures in your muscles. That action triggers your body to reproduce multiple copies of cells that merge with muscle fiber, ultimately strengthening your muscle. When the muscle is being rebuilt, another protein called myostatin tells the nearby cells to stop multiplying; your muscle is done growing until you can get back to the gym and repeat the process.

When the chemical IGF-1 is injected in rodents, however, their muscles heal at a much faster rate and they are able to lift more weight. IGF-1 can boost that initial strength and healing process, and it's possible in another step to artificially block myostatin production, allowing the muscle to keep growing without putting in half the sweat.

The "couch potato pill," a synthetic protein called Aicar, enhanced non-exercising rodents' endurance on a treadmill by 44 percent after four weeks. Another was an experimental substance, GW1516, which improved endurance capability by 75 percent. Neither drug is approved by the FDA, said their inventor, Dr. Ronald Evans, a geneticist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, California.

"I got hundreds of phone calls from everywhere -- a lot of athletes wanting to get it," said Evans', whose research was intended to treat muscle wasting and obesity disorders.

The next frontier in athletic doping -- genes - CNN.com

Technorati Tags: Aicar, sports, NFL, Olympics, athletic doping, genomics, DNA, pills, injections, IGF-1, proteins, athletes, performance, Salks

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Molina Healthcare Acquiring Unisys Health Information Management for Approximately 135 Million

This was actually announced last month but in case you missed it Molina is purchasing the healthcare management end of Unisys.  Their area of market is HMO services in area where they presently may not be available and with the purchase expansion should be pretty rapid and the company has 900 employees at present. 

Molina’s core business is with Medicare and heavily with Medicaid.  With healthcare services here we are talking about giving financial, business intelligence, etc. types of services that many large companies currently provide.  The other side of the coin is to to work and join efforts with Medicaid in states to provide HMO-like services.  Now that states have cut back so much on budgets, this will be an interesting move to see how it works and succeeds.  Molina is a non profit company so we have no shareholder dividends to worry about.

Last time I wrote about Molina, they have our California Governor “Arnold” there to announce their new agreement and investment from Cisco with telehealth and how they plan to rapidly expand the services.   As everyone may remember, United Healthcare has invested hundreds of millions into a telehealth project with Cisco as well and who knows how much premium money goes there.  This may work out different and perhaps better, again without having to post dividends and focus on total profits. 

Cisco Systems and Molina Healthcare HMO Announce Telemedicine Pilot Program – Long Beach, California

I would also guess that telehealth, if not now, will in the future be impacting Medicaid patients with the ability to have tele-health visits with their doctors.  BD

The Long Beach-based company has signed an agreement with Unisys Corp. to acquire its Health Information Management (HIM) business, a move that will soon put Molina in 14 states.

The acquisition, estimated at about $135 million, is expected to close in the first half of this year.

For Molina Healthcare, acquiring the organization that processes information for state Medicaid programs and makes claim payments dovetails well with a health plan that takes care of Medicaid patients in nine states, said Molina CEO and Chairman, Dr. J. Mario Molina.

When acquisition is complete, the 900 or so HIM employees will become employees of Molina Healthcare.

Molina said Friday that the 900 "will remain where they are.

With this move, Molina will be able to go to a state Medicaid agency and offer a range of services, including processing information and eligibility, enrolling patients, offering a nurse advice line and disease management programs.

"We can do a hybrid where it's not really an HMO product but we can deliver some of the HMO services to state patients," Molina said. "It really gives under one roof a full spectrum of services."

About 1.45 million members are served by Molina Healthcare's licensed health plan subsidiaries in California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Washington.

Insurance News -Molina expanding to five more states: LONG BEACH: Health care firm acquires business that processes information for state Medicaid programs. [Press-Telegram, Long Beach, Calif.] - Insurancenewsnet.com

Technorati Tags: Telehealth, Cisco, Molina Healthcare, HMO, technology, mobility, California, Governor, Twitter, Web visits, Unisys

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San Joaquin General Hospital Bakersfield, CA Ending Residency Program and More to Cut Costs

 San Joaquin General Hospital in Bakersfield is looking at some serious cuts, as noted here in the article, the hospital has been operating in the “red” for many years.  Now they are looking at possibly discontinue their residency program, sad.  I hope I don’t need to revive the “Desperate Hospitals” series again.  We keep hearing about record profits from insurance companies, record profits from pharmacy benefit managers, big profits from drug companies, and big profits from medical device manufacturers, and yet at the level of service, the hospitals and doctors offices the money gets tighter and less are receiving care. 

Again, it’s like the elephant in the middle of the living room that is being ignored or many choosing not to see it.  The elephant here is the healthcare in the US.  Hospitals have fixed costs and so do many other healthcare facilities and there’s a point to where the cutting has to stop and perhaps we should explore the other side of the industry who is still making big profits to provide products and services to healthcare facilities who are getting near the end of the affordable financial rope.  BD 

The amputation was necessary to save the patient's life. That's the view of backers of the decision to radically cut spending at San Joaquin General Hospital. 

Measures passed by the county Board of Supervisors this week will end the French Camp hospital's residency program and prompt its system of clinics to convert to Federally Qualified Health Centers, and could pave the way for the eventual sell-off or leasing out of the hospital in parts or in whole.

The hospital has been losing money for nearly a decade, and this financial year the loss is expected to exceed $20 million — $8 million more than the nearly $12 million budgeted in the county's general fund.

The sluggish economy means those numbers would likely worsen in years to come.

"The sources from which public hospitals are funded — state sales tax and vehicle license fees — have declined," Culberson said. "And increased unemployment means there is a greater demand for hospital services from the uninsured.  "We're bleeding red ink here," Ornellas said. "The county is projected to lose $55 million on the fiscal year and $20 million of that will be the hospital.  The board is expected to respond to a detailed breakdown of where the job cuts could be made at its next meeting in March.

Cuts in jobs, services expected at San Joaquin hospital - San Jose Mercury News

Technorati Tags: San Joaquin Hospital, Bakersfield, Residency, hospital, Desperate hospitals, healthcare, healthcare reform

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Angel Flights – Free Flights for Patients Needing Medical Care Through Volunteer Efforts

This is something I thought was worth a mention as many may not even know this opportunity exists.  If your care needed is beyond perhaps what local healthcare facilities may be able to give and there are other hospitals outside your general travel area, you may just be in luck with a way to get there.  These are not always on big commercial airlines, but rather many individuals who have private aircraft that also donate the time and trip expenses. 

There are a few basics that need to be met and here they are below.  The website offers additional information on how to qualify and also on how to volunteer if you have a plane or other aircraft that you could volunteer.  As you see below they are also connected with “Earth Angels” who volunteer the ground expertise to get you to and from the location, if available.  The air travel is the big expense here though.  Here’s the basics from the website below.  You can also donate money to the charity as well.  BD   

1. Have financial need for assistance 

2. Be able to fly in a non-pressurized small aircraft

3. Be ambulatory and sit upright in a standard aircraft seat

4. Be responsible for their own medications

5. Not have a communicable disease

6. Provide Department of Transportation (DOT) approved supplemental oxygen and medical assistance (if required)

7. Provide own transportation to and from airport if ground transportation volunteers (Earth Angels) are unavailable

Be it a child requiring access to medical treatment in another area of the country or an adult requiring travel due to a family crisis, Angel Flight Central attempts to match each special need with a volunteer pilot who can help. A call to our toll free voice mail system, or an e-mail through this site will alert our Volunteer Mission Screeners of a need for free air transportation service. The screener will return the message and gather all necessary qualifying information.

Angel Flight Central: Passengers: Qualifying for an Angel Flight

Technorati Tags: Angel Flight, healthcare, transporation, charities, hospitals, donations, patients

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Grassley Checking Up on WebMD With Cymbalta Using Behavioral Algorithms To Sell Drugs By Eli Lilly

Do you need a test to see if you are suffering from depression?  Eli Lilly of course is thinking you should, as is probably every other pharmaceutical company who has an anti-depressant drug on the market.  If you are depressed, or I should say diagnosed, well guess what happens.  You get a prescription from your doctor and Lilly makes money.  Granted there are patients who really do have problems and issues in this area and need help, and I’m not trying to take away from that at all.  I see the ads on TV and they are all over the place, and they have a very “suggestive” undertone.  It’s like the mushrooms that are kept in the dark and fed you know what, so do we have some subliminal efforts here with commercials and ads? 

Me, I think so and actually I am getting very tired of hearing the voice that tells you to visit your doctor and find out.  I think this is suggestive and if the ad running on TV this time doesn’t get you, wait until the next break and there will be an ad from a competitor with their solutions.  It seems to be this is entirely out of hand and getting into a marketing situation and taking away from a real life clinical situation where a “real” diagnosis can be made.  Granted the economy is enough to depress anyone right now, and in normal life we may experience a day or a few hours of depression, but that is life and doesn’t mean we need to rush off and see our doctor over a temporary state of mind that corrects itself.  In my opinion, the marketing done in this area is in fact trying to capitalize on this and create areas of doubt where perhaps it should not exist. 

By doing this blog, I get emails from companies, individuals, etc. that feel they have something to offer and I try to determine as best as I can if there’s information or educational value, or is it just someone wanting a plug for marketing purposes, and even with what I get, sometimes I will ask someone else to see what they think too as perhaps my view is not how someone else would view it.  I get some that fall into some “gray” areas in my brain at times so then I ask. 

Grassley seems to be somewhat of the same opinion here, trying to bring this to light and make sure that advertising efforts are shown up front.  I like that idea too as now I can say, “gee just another drug company trying to convince me that I am depressed for market share sales with drugs”.  We all have to figure that out somewhere along the line and for those who really need help and a drug, that still takes place in the doctor’s office with a patient/doctor relationship, not all these ads we see with subliminal messages that try to create more than necessary doubts.  I have a friend who is a family practice doctor that sees those on TV (even buy doctors occasionally have a little time for TV) and he says “ what next, I’m so tired of those types of ads, pretty disgusting what pays the bills for TV shows today”.  He thinks they are distasteful too, whether on TV or an ad on the web.  “Find out what your doctor needs to know”, I don’t like the undertones here at all as it makes it sound like you need to tell your doctor how to diagnose you! 

One thing for sure and it has been documented well on the web is that pharma uses ads “because they work” and they sell drugs.  I just think the marketing and how we are fed through an electronic IV of such a steady dose has become a bit overwhelming and would like to see something a bit more positive out there rather than a pill being the answer to all ailments out there to get your “brain” back in order. When I have time for TV I want to be entertained and escape for an hour or so from all of this, so perhaps Grassley here can put a dent in some of this “over advertising” and make it clear to consumers that “this is an ad and these folks are pushing pills” so don’t begin to assume this is posted here for better health, you already know that the answer is to talk to your doctor and we could certainly do without some of the subliminal messages that flood the TV, airwaves and the web to promote the sale of pill, for the sake of selling pills.  Is it really necessary to have a “pharma sponsored” test for depression to add more fuel to the fire here? You are better off looking to your doctor and reading up with information that is not sponsored as a source of information when looking.  The algorithmic formula is not a complete answer with using an online sponsored test. 

For the sake of selling drugs, the competition may have another test online that they use and with the way marketing thrives today, each one could possibly be having you skewed toward their drug with the algorithmic formulas created to do just that.  BD

There’s that word again, algorithms, and advertising uses them too to determine behavioral trends to best sell their products.  BD 

Grassley, who is the ranking Republican on the US Senate Finance Committee, is investigating the relationship between WebMD and drugmakers after learning the web site is running a TV ad that encourage people to take a depression-screening test sponsored by Eli Lilly, which sells Cymbalta.

So he wants WebMD, which lots of folks visit for medical info, to disclose its ties to the industry, in general, because the Lilly sponsorship raises questions about WebMD’s “independence,” according to this Feb. 18 letter to WebMD exec Wayne Gattinella. The ad encourages people to visit WebMD’s site to take a depression-screening test (see here).

Grassley Probes WebMd Ties To Eli Lilly // Pharmalot

Technorati Tags: Grassley, WebMD, antidepressants, advertising, algorithms, Eli Lilly, healthcare, pharma, doctors, TV, internet, Cymbalta

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School Spies on Students At Home Via Remote Support Web Cam Screenshots/Audit Trails Without Knowledge or Consent Class Action Lawsuit Filed – Investigation for Our New Director of Privacy?

She was just appointed this week and this may or may not fall under her area of jurisdiction, but as a consumer be wary of offers from those where you do not know much about their systems and algorithms too.  Something like this could very well pop up in healthcare too.  Some folks get completely out of whack when it comes to using technology for money, or in this case, control.  From the article that is written here, wake on LAN was alive and well on the computers and this occurred not in poverty area, but one with above middle class standings. 

The camera was supposed to be there to identify a thief if the computer was stolen, but where this appears to get sticky is when someone was accused of “improper behavior at home”, which leads one to believe there was more going on here than meet the eye, as there are other ways to handle a stolen computer. 

Chief Privacy Officer Named at ONC – Health Information Technology

Wake up and “smell those servers” as there’s a lot that can be done with technology for those who advance past “tech denial”.  

Doctor Reimbursements Cut by Los Angeles County – Wake Up and Smell Some “Servers” & “Algorithms” – Let’s Plan the Next Bail Out As It Might Be Healthcare

In healthcare biometric monitoring is fast becoming something carriers are looking into and if it is not done correctly, who knows where your data could go.  This is why you need a PHR where you are in control when it comes to insurers who have stock holder dividends on the front line as they are viral for getting every stick of information about you that they can get their hands on. 

Blue Cross signed a contract with using some Ingenix algorithms to score and underwrite your policy, based on “Behavioral underwriting”.  Maybe this has something to do with the big rate increase, more money for technology investments where they need to cover new transactional fees?  This is just an off the wall guess here. 

Anthem Blue Cross Contracts with IDEAL LIFE Biometrics – Blue Tooth Wireless Body Weight Scales for Home Monitoring With Algorithms of Care Relating to Early Detection of Congestive Heart Failure (C.A.R.E.)

There are other insurers in the “information” business too and nobody beats United with technology and algorithmic formulas, like the ones that were used for out of network charges for years which will now be run by a non profit. 

Behavioral Underwriting With Biometric Employee Screenings – Red Brick Secures 3 More Clients

The school here was pretty brazen I must say if all these findings are indeed true and they used a “screenshot” from the computer to use as documentation for “improper behavior in the home”?   With all the efforts of getting parents involved in healthcare and education, spying like this to use “control” methodologies go nowhere.  This is pretty gutsy to turn the camera on at will and spy, but the smart kids may have figured this out and I’m sure there were a few who did.

Was Mom or Dad or another family member using the computer, well they are potentially violated too.  Gee can we catch Dad watching porn (just kidding here).  I think the School might be looking for some new IT help soon. 

“The plaintiffs are seeking damages in respect of not only a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, but also a host of other federal and state privacy laws, including the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, and Pennsylvania common law.”

Anyway, a word to the wise here, you have been warned and ask a lot of questions today with where your information is stored and who has access.  With algorithms being used for control and not better healthcare it runs like a virus with other algorithms created to enhance and possibly confuse and cloud the issues for the average consumer.  BD 

Remote Monitoring Yields Healthier Patients – More EHR and PHR Integration In The Works And Privacy Issues Should Be Addressed

A school district in Philadelphia faces a class action lawsuit after it allegedly issued laptop computers to 1,800 students across two high schools and then used concealed cameras within the machines to spy on students and their parents without their knowledge or consent.

Lower Merion School District in the suburbs of Philadelphia faces charges of invasion of privacy, theft of private information, and unlawful interception for providing computers with webcams that were remotely and covertly turned on by administrators.

The case, Blake J. Robbins v. Lower Merion School District (PDF), was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.

According to the filing, the actions of the school district were exposed when one of the school’s vice principals disciplined Mr Robbins’ son for “improper behavior in his home,” and used a photo taken from the computer camera as evidence.

Students Spied On With School Issued Laptops

Technorati Tags: Privacy, school, spying, computers, web camera, biometric monitoring, healthcare, education, health insurace, monitoring devices, lawsuit

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Kaiser Permanente Recognized as One of the World’s Most Innovative Companies

Not too long ago I spoke with Chris McCarthy from Kaiser Permanente who runs the Innovation Center and you can read more at the link below.  It is a refreshing change compared to what we see in some other areas of healthcare as they invest in not only the technology but are pro-active with anticipating change before it arrives.  It’s amazing what can be accomplished without a long string of share holders demanding dividends before healthcare is addressed.  Chris McCarthy has to absolutely have one of not only most challenging positions, but also gratifying when you see the hard work put into planning and listening to develop into solutions to improve healthcare. 

Innovation and Learning at Kaiser Permanente – Interview With Chris McCarthy

I also found this talk at TED this year to be inspiring along the same lines as it focuses on how to live today beyond bureaucracy and it focuses on power to the people, which is the theme at Kaiser Permanente, empower the patients. 

The Next Age of Government from TED – Changing Paradigms With Information Technology

Like any company Kaiser may not always get it right the first time, and I say that going back to their medical records system, but they made changes and worked on it until they got it right as they knew this was the way of the future.  I spoke with one of their physicians recently in an interview and Dr. Richards also spoke of how the use of electronic records was helping her in the battle and recognition of obesity with children, by empowering patients. 

Kaiser Permanente Pediatrician Patricia Richards Explains How The Use of Electronic Medical Records Enhances Knowledge With Obesity and Adds Focus to the “Let’s Move” Obesity Prevention Campaign

Also in the news today at the Washington Post there was an article about an after hours urgent care center in the Washington DC area that was going to eliminate the after hours urgent care, and a compromise has been reached on their decision, it will not close but will have reduced hours so the residents are not left without a solution. I might think that studies were done to determine where patients are best served an inline with revenue today through the use of business intelligence software, and when it came down to the voice of the consumers in the area they found that the doctor’s clinical time had been evaluated but the community side had not been anticipated, so an agreement was reached and gee, nobody had to go to court, people working and listening to each other, what a novel concept. 

There could be a few more in the Washington DC area (big hint) that could give this some thought, the art of collaboration and working together.  In today’s world nobody gets it perfect out of the box all the time so change and collaboration is the name of the game and the company is certainly focused in this direction versus what I see and read about with others in the news.  Culture as well as technology change is not only spoken here but is also expected and well anticipated.  BD   

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente has been honored in Fast Company's annual Most Innovative Companies issue as the fifth Most Innovative Health Care Company in the World for its pioneering electronic health record that is the world's largest civilian electronic health record, and for its health care innovation center that develops the future of health care.

Kaiser Permanente was recognized for its pilot medical data exchange program with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which enables clinicians from VA and Kaiser Permanente to obtain a more comprehensive view of a patient's health using electronic health record information, including information about health issues, medications, and allergies. http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases/nat/2010/010610vamedexchangepilot.html

The exchange program centers around Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®, which gives the organization's 14,600 physicians immediate access to a patient's status and medical history, as well as decision support based on evidence-based practice guidelines and the latest medical research. Kaiser Permanente's members easily and conveniently can make and reschedule appointments, check lab results, and send e-mails to care providers via My Health Manager (www.kp.org/myhealthmanager), the online personal health record that connects directly with KP HealthConnect.

Fast Company also recognized Kaiser Permanente for its Sidney R. Garfield Health Care Innovation Center (www.kp.org/innovationcenter), the only setting of its kind that brings together technology, architecture, nurses, doctors and patients with human-centered design thinking and low-fidelity prototyping and design to brainstorm and test tools and programs for patient-centered care in a mock hospital, clinic, office or home environment.

Kaiser Permanente Named on Fast Company 2010 World's Most Innovative Companies List -- OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ --

Technorati Tags: Kaiser Permanente, Innovation, Garfield Center, Simulation, healthcare, technology, Health IT, ILN, Fast Company, medical records, EHR, PHR, patients, doctors

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Business Intelligence and Enhanced Claim Processing Goes to Puerto Rico With TriZetto for Medical Claim Processing and Algorithmic Analysis Services

As you can see here the tech side of healthcare continues to beef up their resources so when you are fighting a claim denial, there’s the potential of 3rd parties in many areas now who are also involved and usually provide the algorithms that electronically determine claim status.  These are SQL statements that qualify and score claim submittals. It certainly appears our government is still in the sword and dagger business trying to deal with health insurance companies who have machine guns in the data and information departments, and again why simple figure heads don’t cut it today, need some individuals in office who “get” this without having to start a blog and look for answers all the time, those are getting to be numerous and people don’t have time for them. 

Unfortunately it’s they still focus on creating agreements and contracts with old methodologies and that is why the financial worlds and health insurance today flourishes, technology and the algorithms use to create profits. 

Expect more anger and frustration as this process continues as most citizens of the US see it, but don’t know how it happens as tech denial lives on.  I understand that business intelligence companies are part of the the way business is done, but we are missing balance here and are cutting healthcare from the wrong side sometimes as these are investors who want a return and could care less about your individuals claims and care when it comes right down to it. As written before United or their subsidiaries seem to be involved in one way or another so they are getting paid for electronic services and thus why they are making big profits, they have many embedded sources of revenue outside of just selling policies. 

Certainly with the complexity of healthcare and who gets paid for what today, companies who provide this transactional related service are making big dollars.  As you can read from the links below Trizetto works with many of the algorithmic formulas created by Ingenix (a wholly owned subsidiary of United Healthcare) for their reporting, “scoring” and algorithmic formulas to verify enrollment, pay claims and so on.   As you can see United Healthcare is in here for a cut of the profits with their subsidiary and with share holder liabilities taking the front run and we heard about the record profits made. 

TriZetto Announces New Feature for Personal Health Records – Auto Populated for the Consumer But Payer Access for Eligibility Questions from Providers

You can read more about what the 2 companies say about their collaboration here.  TriZetto was purchased by Apax Partners, a London based private equity firm for 1.4 billion so somebody wants a return on their investment somewhere along this line.  They also have a large agreement in the Netherlands for processing claims and other financial interests.   This is all about “power to the employer” so again we see more efforts directed in the way of employer controlled health insurance with continued dwindling efforts for the individual.  BD 

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The TriZetto Group, Inc., today announced that Aveta Inc., one of the nation’s largest providers of managed healthcare services, has purchased the QNXT^TM enterprise administration system for its MMM Healthcare operations in Puerto Rico and has selected TriZetto to implement, manage and host the application.

Utilizing TriZetto’s QNXT application is another step in Aveta’s ongoing commitment to develop innovative, cost-effective models of care management. The application will automate claims adjudication, premium billing, enrollment, customer service and other functions central to the administration of MMM’s Medicare HMO for more than 180,000 members across 78 counties. The system, which will reside in and be managed from one of TriZetto’s data centers, is expected to be implemented by the summer of 2010 and will replace two production versions of MMM’s legacy platform.

TriZetto’s QNXT application has 48 health plan customers, covering more than 15 million licensed members. TriZetto Services manages applications for more than 35 healthcare payers representing more than 35 million lives in the United States and internationally.

Puerto Rico’s Leading Medicare HMO Chooses TriZetto’s Hosted QNXT System to Improve Efficiency of Core Administration | EON: Enhanced Online News

Technorati Tags: TriZetto, Puerto Rico, HMO, heatlh insurance, algorithms, business intelligence, healthcare reform, investments, employers, claim processing

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Rachel Maddow Discusses Health Insurance with HHS Kathleen Sebelius And the Public Option

Kathleen Sebelius discussed the current health insurance requests for rate increases.  She discusses the profits made in the 4th quarter.  As I have always said this is a good reason to go non profit.  She is “not so much” happy with their answer, quote, huh?

People are locked out of the market as they can’t change with pre-existing conditions.  Under the current bills States would still manage insurance carriers.  Carriers would have a medical loss ratio requiring 85% be spent on healthcare cost and not CEO raises, etc. but she left out technology and they are putting a lot of money in these efforts with venture capital investment. 

Is Distraction Getting in the Way of HealthCare Reform?

Rachel wants the public option, she asks if Kathleen understands why the public wants the “public option”.  Rachel gets a round about answer and people with rate hikes are discussed, and says an option is needed, but what is the option?  Competition and choice, but will this bring affordability?  I didn’t hear much back bone here.  This video from TED perhaps sheds some light on some new focuses and I felt better after watching it than I did Rachel’s interview. 

Are We Ever Going to Get Some Algorithm Centric Laws for Healthcare

What is not being addressed is how technology is creating all of this, the algorithms and we have folks who are not perhaps IT savvy enough and thus we get the same old thing.  A year ago I said who ever took over this position needed to have some Health IT background as about 70% of the job revolves around it and I don’t see it being discussed at all and the solutions it could provide with giving the SEC some real jurisdiction, tech denial and old methodologies still stifling progress. 

Would Someone Explain Data Aggregation and “High Frequency Healthcare” to the US Congress

With current economic conditions it sounds like we are using swords and daggers when the competition is running wild with machine guns, the health insurers as they can model, create and manipulate their business in 24 hours or less to adjust to what ever they feel they need to do and show figures and everyone just buys in, sad.  How do you think they made all that money, software and algorithms folks, carving out sources of revenue where they did not exist before.  Again, Rachel was questioning but without somebody challenging this, we lose. 

The Next Age of Government from TED – Changing Paradigms With Information Technology

I think we need Rachel in the cabinet, she gets it.  BD 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/35470719#35470719

Technorati Tags: healthcare reform, healthcare, HHS, WellPoint, rate increases, Congress, White House, health insurance, Maddow, cost, politics

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Chief Privacy Officer Named at ONC – Health Information Technology

I’ll keep this short, and will say this is going to be one trying and very busy position and wish her good luck.  The position was filled right within the year deadline from ARRA.  BD 

Joy Pritts, an assistant research professor at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, has been named chief privacy officer in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, enacted on Feb. 17, 2009, mandated appointment of an ONC privacy officer within a year. Under the law, the officer is tasked with advising the national coordinator on privacy, security and data stewardship of electronic health information, and coordinating activities with other federal, state, regional and foreign initiatives.

Pritts Named ONC Privacy Officer

Technorati Tags: ONC, Chief Privacy Officer, healthcare, Health IT, technology, privacy, security

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The Next Age of Government from TED – Changing Paradigms With Information Technology

This is a great talk from David Cameron about money and politics and the changes in paradigms we need to make to survive and discusses how old political values are dead.  Power to the People is part of the big them.  It’s all about the information evolution and healthcare is very much a part of it.  

Transparency and accountability are discussed and how information is no longer behind locked doors, it’s all on the web.  Understanding of people is also discussed, why people behave the way they do.  It’s funny when he opens his talk about rats and politicians, we need to work on politicians as there are some things rats won’t do and there’s not shortage of politicians. 

Do we have an information revolution going on in healthcare, you bet.  He says a lot of what I think I say here too, we need balance and right now we don’t have it and need to work at that as the big controlling Czars that existed years ago no longer run the world.  BD 

David Cameron: The next age of government | Video on TED.com

Technorati Tags: TED, healthcare reform, government, healthare, people power, technology, economics, behavior, politicians

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Microsoft Surface – An Update From The MVP Tour This Week

Ok when is the last time you have seen this many fingers on a Surface computer, and these all belong to Microsoft MVPs at that showing off multi touch.   It recognizes fingers and Tags.  See below for more on Tags. 

Through this video we get to see some interesting sides of Surface.  The one game they bring up, or I think it is song writing software makes some really ugly sounds, funny. 

Hugo Ortega, a Microsoft MVP, once again, and Tablet PC fan was kind enough to give us an update from Redmond this week on his blog.  I have included some healthcare applications and information about Surface below if you have not seen it and how Surface works with Tags. 

 

I alike watching demonstrations with items that we might not normally try or see.   Back to the healthcare side here’s more below.  The link has another video which talks about my favorite project of influence right now for the FDA with tagging devices. 

Microsoft Tag and Surface Working Together (Video) – The Frog is the Future of Your EOB Getting to Your PHR

In case you haven’t seen how Surface works in healthcare here’s a video showing Texas Health Resources working with Microsoft HealthVault. 

 

 

 

 

 

Uber Tablet: A Tablet PC Talk Spot: Update from my Visit to Microsoft in Redmond

Related Reading:

3D Multi Touch Application for Heart Surgeries – Microsoft Surface and HealthVault

Hospital Operator Demos Health Care Application For Microsoft Surface

Protein Folding on Microsoft Surface

Technorati Tags: HealthVault, PHR, medical records, personal health records, medical devices, document management, healthcare, Microsoft, EHR, Surface computing, Surface, Microsoft Tags

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Kaiser Permanente Pediatrician Patricia Richards Explains How The Use of Electronic Medical Records Enhances Knowledge With Obesity and Adds Focus to the “Let’s Move” Obesity Prevention Campaign

No doubt you have probably heard about Michelle Obama’s new program, “Let’s Move” which is designed to draw attention to obesity problems with children and how it is our responsibility to dive in here, as we are creating some of the methodologies that are leading to this problem as adults.  As Mrs. Obama has pointed out, it’s not the kids who are creating junk foods, we are.    As the old saying goes if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem, thus her call to bring a worldwide awareness and focus to the problem.  It’s not like a disease where we are still searching for an answer.  We have answers and it’s time to act upon them. 

Today I had the chance to speak with Dr. Patricia Richards, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in Maryland, who was kind of enough to enlighten me on some of what is working for her as a doctor, and much of what she recommends has already been incorporated into how she practices medicine for quite a while.  To enhance the process, Dr. Richards stated that by using electronic medical records is a huge asset in working both with the children and their parents.  By using electronic records, it allows her to stay “on course”.   Healthcare facilities everywhere are a busy place today and it is so easy to become distracted, by a phone call, a staff member asking a question, etc. while conversing with a child’s parents.  Does this sound familiar; of course it does as it happens to all of us.     

I asked her about how she felt the records on the computer help her in her day to day routine of working with patients.   Dr. Richards said she could not imagine having to use a paper chart as all the information she needs is right in front of her with electronic records.   In addition to using the standard weight and height figures and BMI (body mass index) calculations, she relies heavily upon “growth charts” to display a picture for the parents.  She stated printing a copy of their child’s growth chart and handing it to them gives the parents a much easier format to understand, a visual.   She said that it’s standard procedure for her to provide a copy of the growth chart to parents with every visit.   We discussed how important basic vital information is in the chart with high visibility, in other words where you can’t miss it, so the BMI and other vitals are staring the doctors in the face and this helps ensure that all areas are addressed and discussed. 

If you are a parent and have had visits with a pediatrician you are probably aware of how a child’s growth is tracked via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s growth charts and perhaps have some of your own supplied by a pediatrician.    Dr. Richards stated with the use of the formatting with the Kaiser Permanente medical records, the information is automatically charted and has additional items to add information beyond the dots.  The charts are coded with a blue line and a red line.  This makes it easy at a glance to immediately track the history and show the parents where the lines need to be relative to both height and weight. 

The charts do a very good job at mapping BMI at a glance too.  BMI is a tool that has been around for a long time but its value perhaps has been underestimated and maybe underused in the last few years as a whole.  If you want to see how this if figured, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an online calculator, for children up to 19 years of age, and there’s also a link to one for adults.  The above image of a growth chart is from the CDC website. 

Dr. Richards stated that involving the parents also works with the idea of “taking ownership” as a parent.  She further states that giving handouts to patients and in addition to the charts has proven to be highly successful.  In other words in an office visit there is only so much she can cover, but when additional educational material is used in conjunction with a visit, you get many more miles added to the effort.

At age 6 Dr. Richards begins tracking BMI with patients.  She said if there were a problem with a younger child needing help in this area under this age, it certainly is addressed as well.  One of her secrets that she shared with me is about explaining to both parents and children is the difference between “treats” and “snacks”.  I never had given much thought myself to distinguish a difference but it made sense to me as an adult too. 

Treat = Candy, Ice Cream, etc. 

Snack = Vegetables, fruit, crackers, etc. 

In other words snacks should be healthy foods, and treats are the items that could become villains if their consumption overrides what should be considered a balanced diet and sensible eating habits.   

 

OK so now we have covered some of the basics here so I went a little further here to inquire about how the medical records work with parent and patient access. How’s it’s all handled today as we have some very advanced kids with technology and computer skills.  Can they use and access their medical records to enhance their own participation without requiring printed paper hands outs with each visit?   In other words how does the PHR (personal health records) from Kaiser come into play?   Is this part of the overall plan of action too? 

Oh yes, Dr. Richards stated, “we have some successful methods” that further enhance the process with patients being able to access their information online via kp.org.   With (KP.org) Kaiser Permanente's PHR (personal health records) parents can go online at any time and review the information in their child’s chart.  For that matter they can also take a moment to review their own too while they are logged on I commented.

The parents can log on any time they want to review and read up.  Dr. Richards says this has become a real valuable tool as individuals have the choice to work it into their schedule when they have the time, after work, on weekends or any other time they desire access as it is available 24/7.  I went on to ask Dr. Richards a couple other questions in this area.  At what age can the child begin seeing their information and logging on, in other words how long is this information only for the eyes of “Mom and Dad”?

She said that this is a very good question and told me that at age 13 the child moves out from being completely underneath the parents only and at this point they get their own log on established to view and interact with their medical records.  Parents of course still have access to the chart information as well.

I thought this was very smart as by 13 some children are way above the computer level knowledge of some parents so let them go for it and get involved and start the grooming process for taking ownership of their health issues and lifestyles as this is something that carries through on to adulthood.

Dr. Richards cited one other big advantage with the use of electronic medical records and that is her ability to communicate with patients via the PHR (personal health record).  She could, from her end of managing her patient care decide to “red flag” some files that she feels needs some additional interactions or just follow up. 

Patients and parents also have an avenue to communicate with Dr. Richards in between visits via secure email.   This enables her to send some friendly reminders here and there and to perhaps advise of some new material to read and study as relates to obesity or any other issues where she is consulting for the patient.  I asked her if she uses email with her patients and she said “all the time” and again she sees this as an asset to help build the doctor'/patient relationship too. 

Dr. Richards states that some of her best methods of getting patients and parents involved is to suggest small changes in lifestyle, and these represent small goals that can easily be adapted, maybe one at a time so the changes do not appear so overwhelming and work easily with day to day life.  With smaller children she also uses a small reward program for meeting goals, in other words giving some recognition, and we all like that even as adults. 

In summary, Dr. Richards confirms that better healthcare is achieved through the use of electronic medical records and with the focus on helping children in the area of BMI and weight management, sees the electronic medical records system KP.org, that she and the patients use at Kaiser Permanente as being one critical and important part of the solution.

I want to thank Dr. Richards for taking time out today and sharing some valuable information.  I agree with her assessment here as if you are trying to do all of this with old paper methodologies today, there’s no way to keep up. 

Technorati Tags: Kaiser Permanente, healthcare, obsesity, physician, pediatrician, online, PHR, Personal health records, email, growth charts, kp.org, test results

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It’s A Fat World After All (video) – How Many Pounds Per Cubic Foot Are You?

This is a bit of a funny/satirical video and after many years in logistics, that’s how we calculated cost, the density (no pun intended) and how much space the freight took up.  Cargo airlines have been doing this for a long time and now it’s moving right along into the passenger side.

In the future you could be given a code that identifies how you calculate out on pounds per cubic foot I imagine.   In the cargo business the companies also project and have to balance overall weight too, in other words in a 28 foot trailer where 22,000 pounds is the limit, you can’t put 20 of that in the head of the trailer and 2000 in the back, it would be off balance so a mix is important there too.  It’s in the cube.

Now David from the Los Angeles Times states there will be a fat section, so again using balance of weight, which is important as the fat folks will need to be scattered among all the seats as again you can’t have too much weight in one area.  If you have ever been up in a blimp for example, weight is very important and sand bag are adjusted around the distribution of people on board.  When in sales years ago and taking clients up for a ride on the Goodyear blimp I really had to get personal and ask their weight ahead of time as it only holds 6 people, unless some are pretty heavy in weight, then only 5 could ride. 

This is actually somewhat funny to hear too that Disney had a problem with the boats bottoming out at Disneyland, same issue.  This video may have some points on airline flying in the future.  BD   

Fat sections?! Bigger seats? I think it's called first class, The seats are twice the size of coach and you get a decent mean as far as airplane food is concerned.

YouTube - Lazarus: Flying fat

Technorati Tags: Transportation, logistics, healthcare, flying, weight, obesity, cargo, airlines

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