Hospital Workers Are Worth More to Society Than Bankers–Work Shows Value That Everyone Understands And Not The Same With Understanding Algorithms to Include Our Leadership

This article from the BBC is brilliance in my opinion as it goes along with what I somewhat preach and that is finding “value”.  In today’s world there’s a lot of struggle going with “value” in many areas and healthcare in my opinion is right up there at the top of the ladder.  I believe I cross over into many areas here with this blog interacting from the absolute geeks that see value in every new piece of software that is written for example. I am so tired of reading about “new apps” right now I could scream.  I am not saying they are not good by any means but there’s a glut out there.  I have said the same thing about medical record software too. 

The problem with too much software is that at the bottom line, all of it needs to come together on common ground and communicate with all, and we don’t have that and this is why we have “data aggregators” to try and make this work.  The aggregators too have full plates as just as soon as they get a few programs in the grind, tomorrow there’s 10 more new ones popping up.  Like I said, we have a “glut” and it is over done and secondly think about the consultants like yours truly here that has to help offer support here – it’s a big nightmare. 

As a patient or a doctor in a hospital, do we see value in having clean beds, floors, etc, of course we do.  As a doctor or patient do we see value and for that matter “comprehend and understand” each new algorithm or program that comes out for use in healthcare – a big no – and I’m sure those in Health IT will agree with me along this line.  Not too long ago one hospital CIO made the comment that he is doing more outside the area of just general CIO responsibilities today as the information overload along with gluts of software and choices is over whelming.  This has nothing to do with his ability, but rather someone who is honest enough to tell it like it is. 

What is a Creative Technologist – Hybrid Executives - We Have a Big Shortage in Healthcare

The elite bankers world all revolves around money making algorithms and the general public has no clue on what they are, so do they see value?  I think it’s hard to comprehend value when you don’t understand what is being discussed and it’s dangerous too as that is what is running the decision making processes today.  Some algorithms make for stupid decisions too.  Advertising executives are also on the list of little or no value, why?  Everybody does not understand what they are doing and for that matter neither do a lot of those executives.  I get emails that are marketing “algorithms” from the same party, same stuff and they can’t even get it together enough to acknowledge an answer I send.  It’s that bad and I see it in my email all the time.  Also I dig deep to see what is “value” with what is sent and what is “marketing” with someone just wanting a free plug.

HHS National Plan to Improve Health Literacy – Not Going To Happen Until We Focus on Using Technology (The Tool for Literacy) Which Includes Role Models at HHS And Other Places in Government

If something has what I believe is value, I post it and for those wanting a “free” plug they get referred to my advertising page, that is if I think their products have value and are related, otherwise my blog would look as bad as some of the others out there as I am not here to market but hopefully provide some interesting information that’s worth reading and some commentaries that may be unique to what else is out there on the web.  I look at things through 2 different view points of marketing and computer coding algorithms which is a strange combination and I’m only that way because I have done both, so hopefully what comes out here is a “hybrid” view that encompasses more of a big picture, and that is my intention. 

If I see value, it’s get on the Quack!  Now back on track here, this study takes a common entity that everyone can see as “value”.  Technology has value too but only to those who understand it and thus again here’s the call for digital and Health IT consumer literacy and we can do without all the stories that pick on the general public for this fact and we can certainly use some role models to help guide consumers and not people like this:

US Congressional Representative Gets Pulled Over for Using a Cell Phone While Driving And Was Live on the Air Doing Radio Interview

This is what we get at the link below, someone defying the rules that are for everyone because in his own mind he’s more important than anyone else out there.  Who needs more role models like this?  Hospital workers definitely have more value than this Congressman in my opinion as there’s no value in what he was doing by defying rules and laws and his lack of technology literacy was definitely out there for all to hear and perhaps some day he might learn to “get over himself” and become a real team player.  We need those today more thane ever, and hospital cleaners do work as a team, and again there we have real value.  BD

Hospital cleaners are worth more to society than bankers, a study suggests.

The research, carried out by think tank the New Economics Foundation, says hospital cleaners create £10 of value for every £1 they are paid.

It claims bankers are a drain on the country because of the damage they caused to the global economy.

They reportedly destroy £7 of value for every £1 they earn. Meanwhile, senior advertising executives are said to "create stress".

A total of six different jobs were analyzed to assess their overall value. These are the study's main findings:

The elite banker

"Rather than being wealth creators bankers are being handsomely rewarded for bringing the global financial system to the brink of collapse

Paid between £500,000 and £80m a year, leading bankers destroy £7 of value for every pound they generate".

Childcare workers

"Both for families and society as a whole, looking after children could not be more important. As well as providing a valuable service for families, they release earnings potential by allowing parents to continue working. For every pound they are paid they generate up to £9.50 worth of benefits to society."

Hospital cleaners

"Play a vital role in the workings of healthcare facilities. They not only clean hospitals and maintain hygiene standards but also contribute to wider health outcomes. For every pound paid, over £10 in social value is created."

Advertising executives

The industry "encourages high spending and indebtedness. It can create insatiable aspirations, fuelling feelings of dissatisfaction, inadequacy and stress. For a salary of between £50,000 and £12m top advertising executives destroy £11 of value for every pound in value they generate".

Tax accountants

"Every pound that a tax accountant saves a client is a pound which otherwise would have gone to HM Revenue. For a salary of between £75,000 and £200,000, tax accountants destroy £47 in value, for every pound they generate."

Waste recycling workers

"Do a range of different jobs that relate to processing and preventing waste and promoting recycling. Carbon emissions are significantly reduced. There is also a value in reusing goods. For every pound of value spent on wages, £12 of value is generated for society."

BBC News - Cleaners 'worth more to society' than bankers – study

Technorati Tags: hospital,hospital workers,hospital cleaners,value,software,algorithms,economy,ROI,study,congressman,cell phone,Heatlh IT

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Surgeon Frank Ryan Dies in Car Crash–Lost Control While Texting and Tweeting–Plastic Surgeon for Many Celebrities

This is sad news and he will be missed and the doctor was best know for all the plastic surgery performed on Heidi Montag, the plastic surgery addict as news has portrayed her of late with so many procedures.  He was also the surgeon that cut her off stating that he would no longer perform any additional procedures.

His vehicle went off the side of the road while tweeting and the image contained here in was slated to be the last message sent before the car lost control and went off the road.  Just a couple weeks ago too a US Congressman felt he was so important as not to pull off the side of the road while doing a “live” radio interview and received a warning notice in the middle of the radio show, so we don’t have vey good role models at all and if he were in his own state when it happened, he would have received a ticket.  This is a big part of why citizens have such low opinions of public officials as we see very few examples and they defy laws themselves. 

US Congressional Representative Gets Pulled Over for Using a Cell Phone While Driving And Was Live on the Air Doing Radio Interview

In essence here it’s sad the doctor lost his life this way and hopefully it will bring more attention to the fact that while driving we need to keep phones and other items that take our eyes off the road where they should be.  At add more to this topic, besides the President, we see little action there with role models in Congress and in the Administration either with safety or being examples themselves with healthcare information and mobility, and yet we get headlines like the link below and it somewhat appears that we just seem to be stuck with the paradigm below when it comes to those in positions of power and authority.  They want to make things “fun” in healthcare, but do they try out any of the “fun” themselves, not a chance. 

HHS National Plan to Improve Health Literacy – Not Going To Happen Until We Focus on Using Technology (The Tool for Literacy) Which Includes Role Models at HHS And Other Places in Government

Sad we lost the doctor with a needless death, but sometimes we need to get over ourselves and think about safety sometimes and multi tasking and where we are doing such as what happened in this tragic case where it cost the doctor his life.  BD

Dr. Frank Ryan, 50, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon known for his Heidi Montag makeover and work on stars like Gene Simmons, Vince Neil, Adrianne Curry and Shauna Sand, was killed in a car accident yesterday afternoon.
TMZ reports that Ryan's jeep went off the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, smashing onto some rocks. "Lifeguards initially tried to help Ryan, to no avail," TMZ writes. Ryan was trapped in the vehicle with major head injuries; he died at the scene.

Celebrity Plastic Surgeon Frank Ryan Dies in Car Crash | PopEater.com

Technorati Tags: healthcare,personal,social networks,Kathleen Sebelius,non participants,algorithms,money,e-Patient,survey,role models,Congress,non-participants,tech denial,Frank Ryan,accidents,mobility

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Little Fockers Movie Trailer–Hollywood Finds Another Potential Hit with ED–Sustengo And Robert DiNero

Maybe Sustengo is the new placebo to hit town around Christmas time this year.  Also on the agenda later this year is the Viagra movie too so it appears Hollywood is having fun creating movies where we can laugh at how we view one medical issue and it’s treatment or mistreatment:

Viagra the Movie Trailer (Video)–The Number One Sales Rep In “Love And Other Drugs”

The trailer looks great and in time there may be other cures for this chronic issue. You can read more about the ducks and rabbits below and the rabbit are ahead so far <grin>.  BD

If You Don’t Use It You Lose It–Ducks Engineer Their Own Phallus Relative To Their Social Surroundings

Regenerative Medicine News – Fully Functional Rabbit Penis Created That Works

Little Fockers

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1289511/The-Fockers-hi-jinks-installment-comedy-series.html

Technorati Tags: Fockers,Hollywood,ED,drugs,pharma,sales rep,Humor,Medical humor

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CIGNA's Mergers and Acquisitions Will Help Distinguish Them From Other National Carriers–Health Insurance Bragging Rights

You can see from this press release that’s about what we have here with talking about how big, mighty and organized the company is becoming.  With marketing today everyone is trying to squeeze out any little angle they can.  In this press release they are talking about getting some of the best analytical algorithms possible to ensure that money is saved and that they are going to grow and buy up some other companies. 

We are going to be so strategized we are not going to be able to stand it pretty soon.  This is just one of many that I read on the web every day.  We also have the big behemoth of United that is on a huge shopping spree for the last couple of years and it all related back to analytical algorithmic processes, so Cigna appears not to want to be outdone here with keeping the same type of presence in the public eye.  What good it does for the consumer is little other than cloud issues when everyone is struggling for health care and hospitals are laying off individuals. 

UnitedHealthGroup Behemoth Continues to Grow With Executive Health Resource Acquisition–Subsidiary Watch

I really don’t care who’s a leader these days, but just want good care so all the “mighty powered” press releases out there today are pretty useless when it comes to care, and on that same issue, so are the press releases that rank hospitals and doctors, all of this is becoming more useless as the days go on.  When it comes to hearing about how Cigna operates, I prefer to listen to what Wendell Potter has to say as he was there for a number of years. BD

And Now A Word From Wendell Potter About Healthcare Reform and Medical Loss Ratios..

Press Release:

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that while CIGNA plans to demonstrate that it can grow organically by competing for local government contracts, mergers and acquisitions are also part of its strategy to grow its medical benefit membership.

According to the recent National MCO Analyzer: CIGNA, Inc., acquisitions have allowed CIGNA to gain new product lines such as voluntary, limited benefit and low-cost health plans. Furthermore, adding Kronos Optimal Health to its portfolio this year has expanded the amount of health coaches, health education and lifestyle management programs to its offerings.

"CIGNA is looking for acquisitions that complement its consumer engagement strategy and robust wellness programs, similar to its purchase of Kronos Optimal Health in February 2010," said HealthLeaders-InterStudy Product Director Jane DuBose. "With the ability to customize benefit plans and demonstrate through its own research how wellness and health management programs pay off, this is one area where CIGNA can distinguish itself from other national carriers."

In addition to providing detailed analysis of how CIGNA is poised to expand, the National MCO Analyzer: CIGNA, Inc. report also provides information on CIGNA's:

• Markets, products, benefits and enrollment trends
• Information on contracts with government and state entities
• A detailed SWOT analysis and a look ahead

About National MCO Analyzer

National MCO Analyzer is the account manager's tool for in-depth analysis of national MCO corporate strategies, opportunities and challenges. Profiling the country's largest managed care organizations, each report includes:

• Market analysis from HealthLeaders-InterStudy's managed care market experts, along with an overview of opportunities and challenges for a plan in the year ahead.
• Competitive analysis outlining a managed care organization's strengths, challenges and opportunities.
• Plan dashboard providing national-level enrollment mix and trends.

About HealthLeaders-InterStudy

HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a Decision Resources, Inc. company, is the authoritative source for managed care data, analysis and news. For more information, please visit www.HL-ISY.com.

About Decision Resources, Inc.

Decision Resources, Inc. is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Please visit Decision Resources, Inc. at www.DecisionResourcesInc.com.

All company, brand or product names contained in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

CIGNA's Mergers and Acquisitions Will Help Distinguish Them From Other National Carriers -- NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ --

Technorati Tags: Cigna,healthcare,health insurance,Ingenix,EHR,transactions,algorithms,HHS,mergers and acquisitions,HealthLeaders-InterStudy,Wendell Potter

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US Federal CIO Kundra Challenges Feds To Spend Smarter On IT Technology –”Stop the Madness”

I think as well as with the government we have seen a “madness” when it comes to Health IT, it sure feels that way as I post all of that type of information on this blog and I would venture to say that if I am having issues keeping up on general news here that the overall study and implementation is also suffering.

US Federal CIO Vivek Kundra to Review 30 High Risk IT Projects – Federal IT Dashboard Used to Identify Rating Concerns

Everybody wants those new “Algorithms” to help with efficiency and save money; however this is not always the answer to keep building one system on top of another and in some areas there’s not much choice, but there are smarter ways to spend money with Health IT.  In my small opinion here we spend a lot of effort on the medical record side of the coin and none with insurance carriers for certification with software giving appropriate and correct values?  We don’t’ seem to have the full circle captured here as none of this rest takes place until someone gets paid. 

Rules on EHR Certification Should Take Back Seat to Certifying Insurance Algorithms At Present – We Need This First

You can read a recent post to where the White House is really looking at these projects and you need individuals with IT knowledge to make decision as to whether adding on new algorithmic processes or transferring to a new systematic approach is the way to go.  BD

White House Pauses $3 Billion In IT Spending – Office of Management and Budget Conducting Review – One of the First Projects on the Agenda is the Veterans Administration

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra acknowledged that the federal government has to "stop the madness" when it comes to wasting money on data centers and other IT resources that aren't working effectively. Speaking at the NASA IT Summit on Thursday, Kundra outlined some accomplishments the federal government has made to trim the fat of IT operations.

Still, while Kundra is optimistic about the federal government's ability to shape up IT operations, others - including some federal IT executives themselves -- are more skeptical, particularly when it comes to data-center consolidation.

Kundra Challenges Feds To Spend Smarter On IT – InformationWeek

Technorati Tags: White House,IT,budgets,management,high risk IT,infrastructure,VA,claims,business intelligence,analysis,Vivek Kundra,algorithms

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Beverly Hospital in Massachusetts Cutting Jobs–Hired Management Firm

Its going to be another year for hospital layoffs unfortunately.  As the money jars empty and management firms come in to help with efficiencies jobs are still at risk.  BD

Citing a “rapidly changing health care environment,’’ the new chief executive of Northeast Hospital Corp. in Beverly told his staff yesterday that 75 to 100 jobs will be eliminated and the company’s senior management structure streamlined in the next four to eight months.

Northeast is the parent of 220-bed Beverly Hospital, 58-bed Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, 64-bed psychiatric BayRidge Hospital in Lynn, which provides psychiatric care, and a Danvers outpatient hospital.

Northeast, which has been dogged by management problems over the past two years, eliminated 22 jobs last fall. Then, as now, it hired FTI Consulting, a management advisory firm specializing in restructuring, to identify where staffing cuts could be made without jeopardizing clinical care or patient safety.

Beverly hospital group to cut jobs - The Boston Globe

Technorati Tags: hospitals,layoffs,Northeast Hospital,Massachusetts,hospital chains,healthcare reform,budgets

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Wireless Home Devices Working at the Hospital to Monitor Patients in New Jersey With Pilot Program

Ocean Medical Center in New Jersey using technology to work with patients with monitoring patient vitals.  This is a pilot program in use with an off the shelf wireless scale.

Every day the patient weight is sent to the hospital and the technician monitors the weight and if the weight goes up it could be a sign of congestive heart failure. If the patient gains 2 pounds or more weight, the hospital calls.  The company has also joined with another company named Cypak that has a card that use cryptology to send the information back from the patient, a number of questions the patient answers. 

We certainly have a lot of options with devices reporting data today and hopefully we will develop some standards here too so we are not over run with devices that require a lot of training.  BD 

FORTUNE -- Health care in the country is changing, but it's not the wholesale socialization of medicine that Obama administration critics have feared. Some of the best, most cost-effective changes are happening as states take their pieces of federal healthcare reform and tweak their own systems from the ground up, or reexamine their existing programs with an eye towards eliminating inefficiency. As it turns out, those little tweaks can add up to serious savings.

Several states have started "medical home" programs, which centralize patient information around one home base, and one primary care provider. So far, these programs have saved states hundreds of millions of dollars in medical costs.

Medical homes could also help with President Obama's project to computerize all medical records over the next five years. Obama just allotted $975 million to develop better technology in health care. Much of that money is going towards digitizing medical records. That'll be much easier to accomplish when records are held at a single point, like a medical home. In Illinois, medical home programs are partnering with a third-party company called Automated Health Systems, which organizes the information for the program, providing further savings.

Common sense saved Illinois $140 million in health care - Aug. 18, 2010

del.icio.us Tags: Ocean Medical Center,Tags,healthcare,wireless,hospital,home monitoring,medical records,preventive care,monitoring devices,medical devices

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Nuance Dragon Medical Mobile Search Now Available From the Apple App Store

Recently the desktop version of Dragon was released and now with the iPhone application speech recognition comes to the phone with being able to speak and search with a query and will include mapping to ICD-9, ICD-10, CPT®, and SNOMED CT terminology.  BD

Clinicians Can Search Medical References Any Time, Any Place, and Get Results from Online Medical Web sites such as Drugs.mobi, IMO®, MedLine, MedScape and Google – All at Once on the iPhone

Nuance Releasing Version 11 of Dragon Naturally Speaking Soon With More Accuracy And Some Other Improved Visual/Functionality Features

Press Release:

BURLINGTON, MA – August 18, 2010 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced the availability of its Dragon Medical Mobile Search App on the Apple App Store. The intuitive voice-enabled medical search app for iPhone gives clinicians a smarter way to search for medical information. Dragon Medical Mobile Search is an advanced form of Nuance’s world-renowned Dragon NaturallySpeaking software, optimized to service millions of speakers’ simultaneous open-ended search queries; and is an extension of Nuance’s Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search consumer apps for the iPhone. The Dragon Medical Mobile Search App is currently being offered at no cost for a limited time.

Clinicians can simply dictate a search query and within seconds the Dragon Medical Mobile Search Carousel displays results from a variety of sources such as Drugs.mobi, IMO®, MedLine, MedScape and Google. For example, say “pneumonia” and the Search Carousel will direct users to related diseases, drug references, alternative medications, correct billing codes, journals and related articles from across all the search sites.  Say “naproxen” and you get similar results simultaneously from these sites, as well as the drug description, dosing and contraindications from Drugs.mobi.

Dragon Medical Mobile Search is the first of four planned medical mobile solutions from Nuance that are designed to help streamline clinician workflow at the point-of-care. Dragon Medical Mobile Dictation, Dragon Medical Mobile Recorder and Dragon Medical Mobile SDK will be made available later this year; details on these apps can be found in this previous press release: Nuance Extends Power and Experience of Mobile, Voice-Enabled Documentation and Search to the Healthcare Industry; Unveils Dragon Medical Mobile Apps for Smartphones.

“As next generation smartphones like the iPhone become ‘must-have’ devices for clinicians, Nuance is committed to extending its market leading mobile speech technologies to the healthcare industry to provide clinicians with simple and intuitive speech-powered capabilities for these devices,” said Peter Durlach, senior vice president, marketing and product strategy, Nuance Healthcare. “With Dragon Medical Mobile Search, clinicians can take full advantage of the iPhone to improve patient care and clinical workflow at the point-of-care, without having to locate a PC or carry another device to search for necessary medical information and references.”

Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO®), a leader in clinical interface terminology, delivers provider-friendly medical terms to document the correct diagnoses and procedures within the EHR. In practice, clinicians use many different synonyms, acronyms, eponyms, abbreviations and other terms to describe the same diseases and problems. Using IMO® ProblemÍITЙ, clinicians gain easy access to the more than 100,000 clinically relevant medical terms, which help them express their intent while at the same time to ensure the correct coding is mapped to ICD-9, ICD-10, CPT®, and SNOMED CT®.

“By applying speech-enabled search capabilities to IMO® ProblemÍITЙ through the Dragon Medical Mobile Search App, clinicians can now utilize the power of IMO’s clinical interface terminology products wherever they are via their smartphone. The combination of IMO’s robust clinical terminology, paired with the speech-powered search capabilities of Nuance’s mobile speech recognition app will enhance clinicians’ mobile search experience of capturing the clinical intent of a term through one of the fastest growing healthcare communication devices,” says Frank Naeymi-Rad, chief executive officer, IMO.

The Dragon Medical Search App is available for free for a limited time from the App Store via iPhone or at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragon-medical-mobile-search/id383721108?mt=8

To learn more about Nuance’s healthcare offerings please visit http://www.nuance.com/healthcare/. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @NUAN_Healthcare, @DragonTweets and @NuanceMobile, and become a fan of Dragon Medical on Facebook.

ABOUT IMO

Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO) develops, manages, and licenses medical vocabularies and software applications using the medical vocabulary for health care organizations. IMO’s Clinical Interface Terminology products, including IMO Problem ÍITЙ, provide seamless mapping of diagnostic terminologies to billing codes and medical concepts. IMO provides the tools necessary for health care organizations to authoritatively support uniform labeling of health profiles, services rendered, and outcomes across their enterprise. This intersection of clinical and financial data provides health care organizations with dependable quality information to deliver services, bear risk, and to enable efficient, cost-effective operation and accountability. IMO’s products improve physician satisfaction, facilitate physician adoption, speed the coding process, reduce unnecessary physician-coder communication, and result in fewer rejected claims. More information is available here: http://www.imo-online.com.

Nuance’s Healthcare Business

Nuance’s healthcare portfolio of proven, speech-enabled clinical documentation and communication solutions enable healthcare provider organizations to improve financial performance, enhance patient care, and increase patient safety. With more than 5,000 healthcare provider organization customers worldwide, Nuance has the experience and solutions that meet the individual needs of any size healthcare provider organization.

Nuance Communications, Inc.

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

Technorati Tags: Nuance, iPhone, speech recognition, healthcare, Health IT, Dragon Naturally Speaking, Dragon Dictation app, Facebook, Twitter, pdf reader, app store

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St. Jude Recalls Introducer Device Used During Interventional Procedures to Implant Catheters in Blood Vessels–Urgent As Defective Devices Could Cause Fatal Bleeding

There are just a little over 5000 units to be recalled and this is one more case to where the packaging units as well as a synchronized data base at the FDA could have been used to find the recalled products.  The concern is that the Introducer device could become detached during use.  The actual recall date was June 24, 2010 and the company has sent out notices and is relying on sales reps to follow up with facilities who purchased the units. 

Microsoft Tags – Microsoft MSDN Posts Ideas from the Medical Quack About Use in Healthcare!

If each lot had their own tag a cell phone could easily be used to find them.  Some hospitals have RFID systems that help but they are not many so you rely on the “human” to find the lot numbers by researching the FDA and company pages to find them, and then either the same “human or another “human” to go pull the product from the shelf.

When you have the interventional surgeon doing a roto rooter type placement of a catheter in your veins you do not want a unit that could malfunction and potentially kill you. 

READ THIS ARTICLE ABOUT A MAN WHO DIED DUE TO A SURGICAL CLIP THAT HAD BEEN RECALLED AND IT DID NOT GET PULLED AND WAS IMPLANTED. 

Now after reading this please take time to vote on my poll so perhaps we can get moving in this direction.  Again by using a synchronized data base with the FDA compliance on the recalls would be easier for them too.  The units to be recalled were only manufactured in about a 45 day time frame, so that means there’s a lot of devices out there that are ok too, so again with a cell phone that could scan with bar codes that could be updated to show the recall on the lots affected, it sure beats relying on sales reps and notices put on the web as a sole area for information. 

One more note worth the mention is that a bar code tag of what devices a patient has implanted could be stored in a PHR too, as the coding work for that is already here, just a matter of using and connecting with proper design.  BD 

Connecting HealthVault/Google Health and More to RazCode Encrypted Microsoft Tags – Automate Data Input

---

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an urgent Class I recall of several batches of 6 French (6F) Engage Introducer devices of medical devices giant, St. Jude medical (STJ). The Class I recall is the most serious type of recall as it affects products, which can be potentially hazardous or even cause death.

The recall is based on the concern that the 6F Engage Introducer devices have the potential to cause fatal bleeding during their use. The FDA is apprehensive about the possibility of separation of the shaft from the hub or break in the hub assembly in these affected devices, which may lead to bleeding thereby, threatening life.

The Engage Introducers, which are being designed to improve interventional procedures (from vascular access to closure), were approved in the U.S. and Europe in March 2010. These devices are used to implant catheters and electrodes (electric conductors) into blood vessels during surgery and help prevent hemorrhage. According to St. Jude, the affected batches of the devices were manufactured between April 27 and June 3, 2010

St. Jude Recalls Introducer Device

Technorati Tags: St Jude, FDA recalls, medical devices, healthcare, bar codes, Microsoft Tags, bleeding, defective devices, technology, Razcode, PHR, interventional procedures, hospitals, doctors, cell phone

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Shire Stated They Did Submit Info to FDA But Now That They Looked, There’s Not Enough Money In it, So ProAmatine’s Off The Market

Well thank you FDA for bringing this to our attention as clinical trials today versus what they were when the drug was created has grown and only 1% of our over all sales are attributed to this drug, so we’ll just throw in the towel here and take the drug off the market. 

The drug was approved in 1996 so as I commented above the company is basically saying “see you later” if what we submitted didn’t fill the requirements.  Perhaps the 2 may end up sitting down and maybe coming to a better conclusion?  The drug has been out there for over 14 years and has some generic companies using the formulation now too. 

This is kind of crazy as if the FDA needs data, get it from some pharmacy benefit managers or insurance companies at this point, they’ll have it as they have tons of everyone’s data when it comes to how drugs are working these days as they need the information to generate their own approved formularies. 

The 2 go hand in hand and since 1996 there’s of ton of data gathered here.  The company actually had notified the FDA back in 2009 about withdrawing the product from the market.  BD

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Drug maker Shire PLC (SHP.LN) Tuesday said it will remove its low-blood pressure drug ProAmatine from the market, as it isn't profitable enough to justify the additional clinical tests U.S. regulators are demanding to maintain its marketing authorization.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed removing ProAmatine from the market, saying the required follow-up clinical studies haven't been conducted.

But a Shire spokesman Tuesday said, "Shire did conduct and complete the post-marketing trials that the FDA required--however, the FDA viewed these trials as inconclusive and, as a result, said additional trials associated with ProAmatine are needed in order for this medicine to maintain its marketing authorization in the U.S."

The FDA first approved the drug in 1996 under the agency's accelerated-approval mechanism. That mechanism allows drugs to be approved on clinical data that suggests a drug has benefit but requires follow up studies to prove a product works.

Shire To Take ProAmatine Off The Market, No Trials Planned - WSJ.com

Technorati Tags: Shire, FDA, ProAmatine, low blood pressure, drugs, healthcare, generic drugs

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In Hawaii Even Kaiser Has Trouble Making Money And Tough Economic Times Are Felt By All Hospitals on the Islands

This was one of the headlines back in November of 2009 and it doesn’t look like it is getting a whole lot better, although Hawaii has the type of medical coverage we would all like to have on the mainland. 

Hospitals in Hawaii Continue to Lose Money – Desperate Hospitals

Patient satisfaction in Hawaii is high but it doesn’t fit the operating expenses.  BD 

The Hawaii region of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. more than tripled its net loss over the previous year to $5.1 million in the second quarter, as revenue remained flat, expenses rose and investment income shrank, the company said.

The company said it will seek a rate increase next year.

"Kaiser Permanente anticipated the first half of 2010 would be tough economically with recovery coming slowly to our state, and we planned for the effects of continued job loss and its impact on revenue," said Thomas Risse, chief financial officer, in a prepared statement.

"Although Kaiser's losses increased in the second quarter, we hope with the continued improvement in the economy, they'll turn the corner and earn a profit in the third and fourth quarters," said Gordon Ito, state insurance commissioner. "Their losses are relatively moderate, and we hope the rate increases will be minimal, if any."

As of June 30 Kaiser's membership was about 226,000.

It is Hawaii's second-largest health insurer, following the Hawaii Medical Service Association, which dominates the market with 683,187 members.

Kaiser losses up to $5.1M - Hawaii News - Staradvertiser.com

Technorati Tags: awaii, Desperate Hospitals, healthcare, health insurance, economy, Cobra, healthcare reform<Kaiser

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All 7,500 Walgreens Stores, Clinics and Duane Reade, Offering Flu Shots for Walk Ins and Online Resources Available to Complete Forms Ahead of Time Too

It looks like Walgreens is going to be up on the flu shots this year which is a good thing as most primary care doctors may or may not decide to stock them so we have it open on a somewhat massive basis here.  Walk ins are fine the article states and this is at the stores or in their clinics. 

I never thought of a gift card for a flu shot before, but they have those too for $29.95 that will be honored at any Walgreen’s pharmacy or Take Care Clinic.  Cigna and United have announced a direct bill if you are covered by one of those carriers and Medicare and Medicaid also have coverage for flu shots as well.  IN case you missed it, Walgreens can now text you as well on prescriptions. 

Walgreens Mobile Application Now Includes Text Messaging To Notify When Prescriptions are Ready and Mobile Refills – In English and Spanish

While there you could also get an assessment on your health too as the pharmacists are motivated with pay for performance for their efforts.

UnitedHealthCare To Use Data Mining Algorithms On Claim Data To Look For Those At “Risk” of Developing Diabetes – Walgreens and the YMCA Benefit With Pay for Performance Dollars to Promote and Supply The Tools

I expect the the other guys to have a flu shot press release soon as when one chain does something, it’s usually only a short time before the other folks have their program announced.  BD 

DEERFIELD, Ill., Aug 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --Nation's largest retail network of more than 25,000 certified immunizers providing unprecedented access to flu shots

Walgreens is offering unprecedented access to flu shots, with immunizations now available at every Walgreens pharmacy and Take Care Clinic nationwide, every day, during nearly all pharmacy and clinic hours -- with no appointment necessary. Most New York City-area Duane Reade pharmacies are also now offering flu shots daily, with all Duane Reade stores expected to be offering them during all pharmacy hours by September. State, age and health condition-related restrictions may apply.

All 7,500 Walgreens Stores, Including Take Care Clinics and Duane Reade, Offering Flu Shots Daily During Nearly All Pharmacy and Clinic Hours with Walk-ins Welcome - MarketWatch

Technorati Tags: Walgreens, text messages, prescriptions, technology, mobile, cellphones, mobility, drug stores, refills, coupons, flu shots

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Nation’s Largest Telehealth Network Launches-California Telehealth Network With Governor Schwarzenegger & Aneesh Chopra

The presentation starts out with Governor Arnold speaking about healthcare and the meaning of technology and how it will help with healthcare.  Before his speech several organizations were recognized for their contributions to the telehealth network.  ATT&T and United HealthCare were a couple names.  Recently in the news there have been other related posts.

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

Mentioned here in the kick off is UCI Irvine who also works with Miller’s Children’s Hospital in Long Beach where I did an interview and walk through with the CFO and was able to see the educational side of being able to connect the operating rooms in Long Beach to those in Irvine, CA.  When you watch and listen to the doctors being able to connect to the university facilities it really drives home how the patients are getting the care they need with the technology.

Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach – Brand New Pavilion Carries Focus on Patients and “Green”

You can also read more about the new facility at UCI that opened in February and all the new medical students received IPads.

UCI Opens New $40 Million Dollar Medical Education Center - Televideo Auditorium Teleconferencing to Watch Real Time Medical Procedures

Earlier this week Governor Schwarzenegger joined Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell to discuss the importance of investing in the nation’s infrastructure system and it’s nice to have a Governor that realizes the value of infrastructure.

California Telehealth Network – Launch Event

On Tuesday, August 17, 2010 the California Telehealth Network, the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) and the California Center for Connected Health Policy will join together to launch the California Telehealth Network (CTN.)

Propelling California as a leader in telemedicine, and providing an example nationwide for what broadband technology can do for healthcare services, CTN will allow patients in rural and underserved areas of California to receive the specialty care they need. CTN will connect more than 800 California healthcare facilities to a statewide and nationwide broadband network of healthcare and emergency services.

The $30 million project is funded by $22.1 million from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with $3.6 million in matching funds from CETF and other public and private entities.

Join special guests Aneesh Chopra, United States Chief Technology Officer and Assistant to President Barack Obama, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Invited), and the California Telehealth Network Board of Directors and partners as we usher in a new era in healthcare in our state.

When: Tuesday, August 17, 2010; 12 – 1 pm
Where: UC Davis Cancer Center
              4501 X Street
              Sacramento, CA (corner of 45th Street and X Street)

 

http://www.caltelehealth.org/welcome.html

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, telehealth, Aneesh Chopra, broadband, wireless, Connected Heatlh Policy, UCLA, UCI Irvine, UC Davis, technology, remote technology

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Adult Stem Cells Also May be Cell Of Origin for Lung Cancer–UCLA Study

The tests are indicating that  many if not all cancers are caused by stem cells and if so they could be used as markers for more aggressive treatments for those patients who have cancerous stem cells.

UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has more than 240 researchers and clinicians engaged in disease research, prevention, detection, control, treatment and education and the facility opened in June of 2009.  BD

Integrative Oncology Care – UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Opens

Press Release:

ADULT LUNG STEM CELLS VITAL FOR REPAIR ASSOCIATED WITH POOR PROGNOSIS WHEN FOUND IN EXCISED LUNG CANCER TUMORS

Adult stem cells that are vital for airway repair in the lung but that persist in areas where pre-cancerous lesions are found are associated with a poor prognosis in patients who develop cancer, even those with early stage disease, researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

These adult stem cells are found in repairing areas after injury and also are found in pre-cancerous areas, suggesting that these cells may mutate and become cancer causing stem cells, making them a potential cell-of-origin for lung cancer and a possible target for prevention strategies and new targeted therapies.

The study found that when these adult stem cells are found in excised tumors, they are associated with a poor prognosis and could be used as markers to dictate the need for more aggressive treatment for those patients, said Brigitte Gomperts, an assistant professor of hematology/oncology, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher and co-senior author of the study.

The presence of the adult stem cells in the tumors also was found to be associated with a higher likelihood that the cancer had spread to other organs.

“We can use the presence of these adult stems cells to identify patients with a high likelihood of relapse and risk of the cancer spreading, even in those where the tumor is small and can be entirely removed,” said Gomperts, who is also a researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.

The study appeared Aug. 15, 2010 in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research.

There is a growing body of evidence that shows many if not all cancers are caused by stem cells. Cancer stem cells are resistant to therapy and lie dormant, ramping up sometimes years later and recreating the tumor. If the cancer stem cells can be identified and studied, targeted therapies could be developed to kill them.

In this study, Gomperts and her team screened around 900 tumors removed from patients with non-small cell lung cancer at UCLA and MD Anderson Cancer Center, looking to see whether the adult stem cells could be found in the tumor. In her lab, Gomperts is now studying the pre-cancerous lesions where the adult stem cells persist in an attempt to uncover the cascade of molecular events that may transform these cells into lung cancer stem cells.

More than 222,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year alone. Of those, more than 157,000 will die, according to the American Cancer Society.

“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and is responsible for more deaths each year than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney and skin cancers combined. The overall five-year survival for lung cancer is only 15%, and this is mostly due to cancer recurrence and distant spread of the cancer,” Gomperts said. “This fits nicely with the idea that adult stem cells in the lung that are normally involved in repair become cancer stem cells, which are resistant to our conventional therapies. Having a targeted therapy to use against these cancer stem cells may be the key to reducing mortality from this disease.”

The study was funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, the American Thoracic Society/COPD Foundation and the Concern Foundation.

UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has more than 240 researchers and clinicians engaged in disease research, prevention, detection, control, treatment and education. One of the nation's largest comprehensive cancer centers, the Jonsson center is dedicated to promoting research and translating basic science into leading-edge clinical studies. In July 2010, the Jonsson Cancer Center was named among the top 10 cancer centers nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, a ranking it has held for 10 of the last 11 years. For more information on the Jonsson Cancer Center, visit our website at http://www.cancer.ucla.edu.

 

Technorati Tags: UCLA, UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center, lung cancer, basal cells, prevention, diagnosis, research and development, studies, stem cells

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Viagra the Movie Trailer (Video)–The Number One Sales Rep In “Love And Other Drugs”

The trailer looks pretty good and appears to have a lot of humor.  Pfizer had no part in the movie other than being aware it was being made.   Speaking of movies we have not heard much about this one that is supposed to be up and coming.

Reese Witherspoon a 'Pharm Girl' – A New Pharma Rep Movie in the Making

The movie is based on“Hard Sell” by Jamie Reidy, who had worked for Pfizer and stated he was the company’s top Viagra salesman.  As far as lawsuits and other negative issues the trailer doesn’t show any signs but I guess we will see when the movie is released.  BD 

The PR people at Pfizer (PFE) are likely girding for the release of “Love and Other Drugs,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, which is about a Viagra sales rep with less-than-sterling ethics. The movie is based on the book “Hard Sell” by Jamie Reidy, a former Pfizer rep who claimed to be the company’s top Viagra salesman.

The PR people at Pfizer (PFE) are likely girding for the release of “Love and Other Drugs,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, which is about a Viagra sales rep with less-than-sterling ethics. The movie is based on the book “Hard Sell” by Jamie Reidy, a former Pfizer rep who claimed to be the company’s top Viagra salesman.

For the record, Pfizer says, “Pfizer is aware that a film is in development.  We were not involved in any way in the making of the movie.”

Viagra, the Movie: How Bad Will Anne Hathaway’s New Film Be for Pfizer? | BNET

Technorati Tags: Pfizer, Viagra, movie, sales, pharma, drugs, ED, humor, Hard Sell

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Ingenix Acquires Health Information Exchange Services/EHR Provider Axolotl-United Health Group Behemoth Continues to Grow–Subsidiary Watch

It does make one wonder how large can it grow.  United Health Group is certainly growing by leaps and bounds with technology and it’s getting difficult to keep up with all the subsidiaries they have these days to include a bank, several wellness companies, other data base companies and we still have all the Ingenix lawsuits going with the now defunct non credible data base that underpaid everyone.

They certainly keep cranking out the software almost as fast as Microsoft these days it seems I post all this stuff related to Health IT.  You need algorithms written for profit, Ingenix is the one who will do it for you. 

Ingenix (UnitedHealthCare Subsidiary) Creates Desktop Software for Employers to Analyze Employee Benefit Use To Help Cut Costs – More Analytics and Algorithms To Save That Buck

Axolotl primarily is involved in connecting hospitals through electronic interchanges and has a their own group of software to sell and they will also sell you an EHR too.

The virtual health record is one product that aggregates data across several platforms and they work with 3rd parties to move the data and yup there’s transactions in there too.  So if Ingenix doesn’t sell you their Care Tracker if you are looking at an EMR, well they have a back up now and it will be interesting to see if any efforts are made to merge the 2.  I tried to look at the product videos and all the links were broken as of today. 

Ingenix has other subsidiaries that buy companies too like this one who’s focus is to bring more Chinese medical devices and drugs to the US and already has a line of communication with the US FDA.

UnitedHealth subsidiary (Ingenix Subsidiary I3) Acquires ChinaGate – Working to Sell Chinese Products Globally

They make money selling your medication data to underwriting insurance firms so they make money from other insurance companies and all your medication records are for sale from Ingenix.

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

They also sell patient data base information to companies soliciting for Clinical Trials and I am again thinking this is the pharmacy benefit management data base information that does not fall under HIPAA.

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

Big private equity owned companies like Trizetto use Ingenix software to maximize profits and get those big transactions fees, some of the biggest money in healthcare with transaction fees and sometimes I wonder why fraud is at a slow pace a when fraud is discovered away go the transaction fees and it it’s a big loss…well you can think that one out. 

TriZetto Group, Owned by Apax Partners-London Based Private Equity Firm, Rolls Out Payer Based PHR

By the way time is getting close if you have not filed for your underpayment charges from the AMA via the Ingenix data base that was used for years and there’s more lawsuits file on that one and on the way.

AMA Has Online Assistance and Forms For Filing Claims For UnitedHealthCare/Ingenix

In short here we have a combination of a lot of software that gets added to the Ingenix portfolio. 

UnitedHealth Group Owns a Bank With Deposits Surpassing a Billion – OptumHealth Bank FDIC Insured

In short as each acquisition moves in there’ absolutely no way that United is missing out on any claim transaction fees as they are embedded all over the place and now we have more software to throw out there under the same roof.  BD 

(RTTNews) - Ingenix, a unit of healthcare services company Unitedhealth Group, Inc. (UNH: News ) announced Monday that it is acquiring Axolotl, a provider of health information exchange services. Details of the transaction were not revealed.

Axolotl develops and implements HIE solutions for states, communities, hospitals and health systems, which in combination with decision-support capabilities provided by Ingenix, would improve efficiencies. The Axolotl management team would remain in place.

Ingenix offers database and data management services, software products, publications, consulting and actuarial services, business process outsourcing services, and pharmaceutical data consulting and research services.

Unitedhealth Unit Ingenix To Acquire Health Information Exchange Services Provider Axolotl; Terms Undisclosed - Update

Technorati Tags: health insurance, legislation, database mining, algorithms, formulas, I3, business intelligence, TrendView, Ingenix, UnitedHealthcare, technology, AMA, heatlhcare

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$46 Million in Grants To Help States Regulate High Health Insurance Premiums Hikes–First Stop for the Funds Are New Algorithms & Infrastructure Updates So The Money Works

When you look at how the money can be used, it says it right there, go to the IT folks first otherwise none of the rest will work.  You need all the algorithms to analyze and come up with game plans before you do you anything, so hopefully each state will figure out best where to use the money. 

Hopefully each state has Insurance Commissioners too that realize this and are not just there to make public statements which get nowhere.  You can read every detail for each state here.  The money will definitely buy some infrastructure but may not be enough to fully

I think I was off a bit when I said HHS directors were going to be consumed with about 70% Health IT delegations and decisions – it’s more like 80% now or more!

HHS to Work With State Governors on Health Insurance Exchanges– Algorithms Beyond Comprehension And Functionality?

“States have proposed to use this funding in a variety of ways.

• Additional Legislative Authority: 15 States and the District of Columbia will pursue additional legislative authority to create a more robust program for reviewing or requiring advanced approval of proposed health insurance premium increases to ensure that they are reasonable;
• Expand the Scope of Health Insurance Premium Review: 21 States and the District of Columbia will expand the scope of their current health insurance review, for example by reviewing and requiring pre-approval of rate increases for additional health insurance products in their State.
• Improve the Health Insurance Premium Review Process: All 46 State grantees will require insurance companies to report more extensive information through a new, standardized process to better evaluate proposed premium increases and increase transparency across the marketplace;
• Make More Information Publicly Available: 42 States and the District of Columbia will increase the transparency of the health insurance premium review process and provide easy-to-understand, consumer friendly information to the public about changes to their premiums; and
• Develop and Upgrade Technology: All State grantees will develop and upgrade existing technology to streamline data sharing and put information in the hands of consumers more quickly.”

45 States and the District of Columbia to Receive $1 Million Each to Make Health Insurance Markets More Consumer-Friendly and Transparent

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced grant awards of $46 million to 45 States and the District of Columbia. These Affordable Care Act grants will be used to help improve the oversight of proposed health insurance premium increases, take action against insurers seeking unreasonable rate hikes, and ensure consumers receive value for their premium dollars.

For too long, insurance companies in many States have increased health insurance premiums with little oversight, transparency, or public accountability. Health insurance premiums have doubled on average during the last 10 years, much faster than wages and inflation, putting health coverage out of reach for millions of Americans and business owners. Today, just 26 States and the District of Columbia have the authority to reject a proposed increase that is excessive, lacks justification or otherwise exceeds State standards. Many States that have the authority lack resources to exercise it meaningfully. This lack of authority and resources for States has unfortunately contributed to unjustified premium increases in some States.

“The Affordable Care Act puts in place critical market reforms to improve quality and reduce the cost of health care for employers and individuals. Increased competition, lower insurance overhead, and better risk pooling in health insurance Exchanges in 2014 are expected to reduce premiums in the individual market by anywhere from 14-20 percent according to the Congressional Budget Office,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Between now and then, we will continue to work with States to ensure consumers are receiving value for their premium dollars and to avoid the kind of double digit premium increases seen recently. The State proposals approved today demonstrate the need and desire for new resources and tools to help them protect against unjustifiable premium increases.”

$46 Million in Grants to Help States Crack Down on Unreasonable Health Insurance Premium Hikes

Technorati Tags: HHS, health insurance, technology, profits, exchanges, government, Sebelius, states, Health IT, grant, insurance commissioners

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