Gov. Schwarzenegger signs New Healthcare Laws for California and Creates Insurance Exchanges (Video)

In case you missed the live cast this morning, which was sent via Twitter as he always does, here’s the information and official signing of the new laws for California and an exaptation of what is changing.  I do like to hear our governor speak as he talks in real terms and is a participant with technology too.  This was land mark legislation signed into effect today. 

California is the first state to proceed with health insurance exchanges.  BD

Radiation Safety–California Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Law to Help Enforce Safety and Require Any Overdoses To Be Reported to Patients, Physicians and the Department of Public Health

Not to be left out, you can also see what Maria Shriver, Mrs. Arnold is doing next month in Long Beach with a free clinic for women in conjunction with the Women’s Conference 2010.  BD

“Modern House Call For Women” Announced by Maria Shriver for a 3 Day Clinic in Long Beach–Free Medical and Financial Services for Women In Conjunction with the “Women's’ Conference 2010”

The Governor will be joined by Assembly Speaker John Pérez and Senator Elaine Alquist for the ceremonial bill signing of AB 1602 and SB 900, creating the California Health Benefit Exchange, an entity that will help California consumers and small businesses shop for and buy affordable health insurance.

Watching Gov. @Schwarzenegger highlight health care reform legislation - live at http://tweetcast.in/1380

Technorati Tags: Schwarzenegger,health insurance,healthcare reform,legislation,laws,insurance exchanges,California,Affordable Heatlhcare,HHS

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More Congressional Testimonies About Health IT–Members of Congress Could Entertain Getting an “Algo Man” on Staff As Wall Street and Health Insurers Have Them–Don’t Leave Home Without One

So what it the world is an “Algo Man”?  For that matter it could be a woman too but these are the folks with the brains that know how to put technology to work.  Brokers on Wall Street don’t hardly ever go to a heavy meeting without their “algo man” as they realize some of the details and technological discussion are pretty heavy and involved today, so they go prepared. 

When putting any process in place today your need those algorithms and that is part of the reason I focus on this to bring this awareness to the layman's level to hopefully answer some questions as to “what is going on and what is causing these things to occur”.  We all know computers are here to stay and the layers of intelligence created are rapidly growing too, this is why lawmakers need that “algo man” to help make sense of all of it.  Could we have a “flash crash” in healthcare, you better believe we could, and with health insurance being traded on the market, their “algo men” are all over it and this is what creates profits as the mathematical processes run 24/7 and as humans we still need sleep. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission has learned a very hard lesson too in the last year with not being on top of the algorithms and the processes they run and create so no more will there be bored employees chasing porn anymore as algorithm illiteracy is something that can in fact bring down the entire economy, and thus regulations are needed to ensure rogue algorithms are not running wild.  I realize this is news for a lot of folks out there but we need to deal with it and get our intelligence up to the same levels, otherwise we end up with what we have today with algorithms carving out processes for profit where they did not exist before and everyone scratching their heads wonder, how did this happen?  Check out this new book that talks about formulas and why you can’t believe everything you are told with statistics.

“Proofiness–The Dark Side of Mathematical Deception”–Created by Those Algorithms–New Book Coming Out Soon

Anybody that reads this blog knows how I talk on this subject as algorithms giveth and taketh away.  Health insurance companies live and die by the algorithms that create their mathematical formulas for their business decisions.  This book is on my list as I found someone who can speak the same language and acknowledges that this goes on day and night.  We sleep as humans but the algorithms run 24/7, available to you at almost any time you want to consult them.

Today on “The Street” the SEC talks about regulating high frequency algorithms and the same types of mathematical processes are used when analyzing your health assessment you fill out or by insurance companies that already have data on you.  It still kind of haunts me a bit to use that terminology on Wall Street of calling safety algorithms a “circuit breaker” as that is what hangs on the side of my house and how consumers see it too, but I realize this is someone’s way to try to translate the word algorithm to make some sense for those not up to par on general consumer IT literacy. 

In healthcare we are lucky to have individuals like Wendell Potter who worked with algorithms for years and is sharing some knowledge on how insurers use them.

Wendell Potter Tell All Book–Deadly Spin–One to Put On My List as “He Knows Algorithms and How they Create Profits”

THE SEC HAS FOUND OUT TOO THAT THOSE ALGOS ARE NOT PERFECT.  Algorithms are created that bring about “accurate” results and then there are those formulas written to create “desired” results and the 2 of them are not the same all the time, know this. 

Anyone today proposing massive policy and law changes without the help of that “algo man” is lost as it helps to find out what processes are going to be required before one goes and speaks publicly and has no concept of the work behind such proposed rules and laws and then comes the old proverbial “egg on the face” when someone with some tech knowledge calls you on the carpet. 

We see politicians stumbling around today with consumer IT literacy and last week this appeared on the Rachel Maddow show with the GOP not understanding how to at least conceal the authors of their new document on their quest for America.  Need more proof on this?  These folks just needed an Adobe pdf person who works with Acrobat to tell the how to remove the author’s information, I do that all the time when creating documents if it is not going to be my personal creation and something for a client.  What gives here when we see a former lobbyist for big corporations wrote all of this? 

The Properties of an Adobe pdf Document -Rachel Maddow Rips the GOP on Lack of General Consumer IT Knowledge And Exposes the Input and Authors of the Content–Lobbyists

So when you stop and think about this, who has all the money today, banks and folks that keep an “Algo Man” tied to the hip as they realize technology and mathematical formulas create profits.  This is a balance though with healthcare as some of those algorithms may be slided over for profit only and we need the advocates out there too watch this so it doesn’t slide too far to where patient care gets denied. Does that happen, of course it does as it’s in the news all the time as the algorithms make decisions on who gets care, what kind of care and where, depending on who wrote them and how your body fits into the formulas, and all formulas are not accurate and fair. 

It has to be increasingly hard today too for people testifying to try to break down some terminology into a presentation that all will comprehend too.  I look at Bill Gates who’s been testifying for years and it doesn’t appear a lot of what he had said sinks in.  Good reason below to get one of those “Algo Men”. 

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

We had this in the news today too with studying best policies and practices for Health IT related to safety – THEIR LOT IN LIFE – STUDY THOSE ALGOS.

Institute of Medicine To Study Best Policies and Practices for Health IT Relative to Improving Healthcare Safety aka Those Algorithms

For the last 2 years HIMMS has made open statements at the annual conventions about the lack of knowledge with our lawmakers relative to technology and healthcare, and for some reason or another I feel it probably has not improved much as most of those folks still seem to be stuck on the paradigm of “it’s for those guys over there” sadly instead of seeing us all in the same boat.   BD

WASHINGTON – In testimony Sept. 30 before a congressional committee, Joyce Sensmeier, vice president, informatics for HIMSS, called for more streamlined and timely health information technology standards – and warned that without them the government risks creating marketplace confusion.

Sensmeier spoke before the The House Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, at a hearing called "Standards for Health IT: Meaningful Use and Beyond."

HIMSS calls for better, more timely health IT standards | Healthcare IT News

Technorati Tags: algoirthms,Health IT,healthcare,technology,Its for Those Guys Over There,Algo man,HIMMS,Congress,Health IT literacy,budgets,testimonies,SEC

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Institute of Medicine To Study Best Policies and Practices for Health IT Relative to Improving Healthcare Safety aka Those Algorithms

This is to be a one year study on safety and Health IT is the algorithms that we use today for most of our decision making processes.  This is a tough project too as all software at some stage has bugs, so this could in actuality be a full time committee that could stand to remain for more than a year as we have technology throwing us a new left curve every day.  When I was writing I experienced this too with always looking for new bugs.  Big corporations go through this too as we are reminded every Tuesday with our Windows updates.

Software and algorithms solve a lot of problems but they also create their own problems too.  In California our governor recognizes that as he’s a hip guy that uses and participates in technology, i.e. Twitter broadcasts, and signed a new law into effect yesterday relative to radiation treatment software and staying on top.

Radiation Safety–California Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Law to Help Enforce Safety and Require Any Overdoses To Be Reported to Patients, Physicians and the Department of Public Health

We also have CMS and the FDA collaborating on medical devices as wireless has now entered the picture to clearance for devices that report data has become a bit more complicated compared to past efforts and the FDA of all government agencies I feel is going to become the “most connected” of any agency out there.

FDA And CMS to Collaborate on Reviewing Medical Products To Help Speed Up the Coverage Decisions–Big Thumbs Up On this Decision

From the website:

T”he Institute of Medicine (IOM) is an independent, nonprofit organization that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public.

Established in 1970, the IOM is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, which was chartered under President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Nearly 150 years later, the National Academy of Sciences has expanded into what is collectively known as the National Academies, which comprises the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Research Council, and the IOM.”

Again I think this committee’s work will go on for more than a year as the best practice today, could rapidly change tomorrow.  Once we can get Congress moving forward on being participants here and acknowledge some of this, the work of the committee will become more relevant and be able to influence creating better practices for Health IT, which now in some areas just runs wild as today’s marketing has a profound effect with sometimes interfering in areas where it may need to be toned down as it helps lead to areas of confusion and misinformation.  BD 

            The Institute of Medicine (IOM) will conduct a 1-year study aimed at ensuring that health information technology (HIT) will achieve its full potential for improving patient safety in health care.  The study will be carried out under a $989,000 contract announced today by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which is charged with coordinating federal efforts regarding HIT adoption and meaningful use.

            “Since 1999, when the IOM published its ground-breaking study To Err Is Human, the Institute has been a leader in the movement to improve patient safety,” said David Blumenthal, M.D., national coordinator for health information technology.  “This study will draw on IOM’s depth of knowledge in this area to help all of us ensure that HIT reaches the goals we are seeking for patient safety improvement.”

            The study will examine a comprehensive range of patient safety-related issues, including prevention of HIT-related errors and rapid reporting of any HIT-related patient safety issues.  It will make recommendations concerning the potential effects of government policies and private sector actions in maximizing patient safety and avoiding medical errors through HIT.  Highlights of the study will include:

• Summary of existing knowledge of the effects of HIT on patient safety;
• Identifying approaches to promote the safety-enhancing features of HIT while protecting patients from any safety problems associated with HIT;
• Identifying approaches for preventing HIT-related patient safety problems before they occur;
• Identifying approaches for surveillance and reporting activities to bring about rapid detection and correction of patient safety problems;
• Addressing the potential roles of private sector entities such as accrediting and certification bodies as well as patient safety organizations and professional and trade associations; and
• Discussion of existing authorities and potential roles for key federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

            “The IOM is pleased to have the opportunity to add its expertise and convening power in helping to achieve the goals of improved safety through HIT-assisted care,” said IOM President Harvey Fineberg, M.D.

            Donald Berwick, M.D., CMS administrator and a national leader on patient safety, said, “Improving patient safety in health care depends on thoroughness in planning and execution, to find problems systematically and correct them decisively.  We have high expectations for patient safety improvement through HIT, but achieving those goals will require the same careful and vigorous approach that is needed to improve safety in any enterprise.  The IOM can help us identify a productive path to better patient safety with the help of HIT.” 

            Substantial funding under the Health Information Technology Economic and Clinical Health Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will support the adoption and meaningful use of HIT, especially through incentives for the adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health records. In July, CMS announced regulations outlining the initial requirements that eligible health care providers must meet to demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology for the Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments program, which CMS will administer.  Also in July, ONC announced regulations completing the adoption of an initial set of standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria to enable the testing and certification of EHR technology for meaningful use Stage 1.  Earlier this month, ONC named initial testing and certifying bodies.

Institute of Medicine will study best policies and practices for improving health care safety with health information technology

Technorati Tags: CMS,Don Berwick,Medicare,Health IT,technology,safety,patient care,ONC,medical records,algoirthms,FDA

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Jon Stewart Asks Where’s the Billion Dollars Pledged by the US for Haiti-Held up in Senate by Tom Coburn

Jon Stewart does it again with investigating where the US money went from the US and apparently it’s not there yet.  He states the money was anonymously held up but he finds out where the snag was and states in the video the senator saw it as a waste? 

There’s also some humor here too on Sean Penn and his contributions too.  Jon also states that there’s also some lacking support for women’s interests too.  BD 

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Tom Coburn: International A**hole of Mystery
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2010/10/1/watch_jon_stewart_gets_haiti_news_from_democracy_now

Technorati Tags: Jon Stewart,Senate,Tom Coburn,Haiti,money,donations

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Medical Scribes Still Continue to Grow Beyond Just Emergency Medicine…

Why is this happening, time is one element and complicated medical records systems are another.  Almost every doctor who has converted will tell you that in beginning there is a loss of productivity and this is due in part to the learning curve anyone has with software.  That part is not unique to doctors.

I had one doctor tell me that to get through his residency at different facilities he has to learn 5 different systems!  That deserves an award in itself.  We do have some pretty complex systems out there today and they didn’t all start out that way but with adding terminology and a few other libraries and let’s not forget coding, it’s got complicated and is far from a simple program just to contain simple SOAP notes, so evolution has contributed here too and then you have updates too. 

Scribes in Healthcare Continue to Grow At Major Hospitals–Proof that Medical Records Systems are Still Not User Friendly Enough And Can Disrupt Physician Time With the Patient

The battle is over on whether or not we need electronic records, we do but what format and which program and so on is still a big game.  I guess until we see some relief in getting some standards on screens and just where the doctor inputs data it appears the scribes will survive.  Doctors do have to remember though to check the notes they take though.  Also let’s not forget the other software that is used for admitting and providing business intelligence cost analysis parameters they need to work with too, and let’s not forget taking care of the patient and maybe talking to one too.  BD  

Jacob Casey decided he wanted to be a physician while in the Peace Corps in Jordan, working on children with cleft palates alongside Operation Smile surgeons. But with a bachelor of arts degree, he lacked the educational courses or clinical experience to get into medical school when he returned home.
An academic adviser steered him to a program at Legacy Health's five hospitals in Oregon and Washington in which college students and recent graduates interested in becoming physicians can train to be scribes. They work with emergency physicians and enter patient notes and diagnoses into the electronic medical record, freeing doctors to spend that time with patients. And scribes gain invaluable medical experience.

The demand for scribes has expanded as hospitals and the federal government push electronic record-keeping. To encourage it, last year Congress provided up to $27 billion over 10 years, and those who don't go electronic will receive lower payments from Medicare.
But it's estimated that at least initially, doctors lose about 30 percent productivity because of the greater time to fill out electronic records compared with paper ones. Dr. Robert Vissers sees that drop up close.

Companies that develop and sell electronic medical record systems are in denial about the physician productivity loss, says Dr. David Strumpf, head of Emergency Medicine Scribe Systems in California, which runs 30 scribe programs. He's seen demand rising for scribes across the country to fill that gap. Scribes record what goes on with patients. Later, doctors check for accuracy, make any additions or corrections and sign off.

Medical scribes in Oregon learn the ins and outs of health care while easing doctor's record keeping load at Legacy Health | OregonLive.com

Technorati Tags: Scribes,EHRs,technology,hospitals,healthcare,Health IT,nursing,Common User Interface,Synapse,EHR,EMR,User Interface,Medical Software,Oregon

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California Doctor Files Suit Against Blue Cross for Denying His Application To Become Part of Their Network After Agreeing to Their Terms

“Any Willing Provider” law in California is where the doctor is contesting the fact that they won’t let him in, after agreeing to all terms and payments and meeting provider eligibility criteria.  This goes back to the early HMO days where only a certain number were allowed to participate and perhaps they are up to that number if this is still being practiced?

The doctor has formerly been an approved provider and there’s not any additional details here as far as any other reasons that may enter the picture for the decision so stay tuned.  BD 

LOS ANGELES – A California doctor has filed a lawsuit against Anthem Blue Cross for allegedly denying his application to become a part of the company’s provider network, an action the lawsuit contends violates California’s “Any Willing Provider” law.

The lawsuit seeks to enjoin Blue Cross from preventing any physician who is willing to accept the terms of Blue Cross contracts and meets Blue Cross' eligibility criteria from becoming a Blue Cross provider.

The legal action revives an issue that was contested numerous times in the early 2000s, when HMOs and MCOs had established a practice of limiting the number of doctors in their provider networks as a cost-saving measure, and could bring back into focus individual states’ rights surrounding insurance regulation.

Anthem Blue Cross faces charge of violating "Any Willing Provider" law | Healthcare Finance News

Technorati Tags: Blue Cross,Health insurance,healthcare,lawsuit,healthcare reform,doctor,provider,HMO

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Stanford University Opens State of the Art Medical School

Through a computer, all the dummies can be programmed as to how much urine to release for one example and the picture below shows a room of dummies where nobody dies.  The new facility was financed through private philanthropy, debt and school resources. 

In the news too recently is that all medical school students received IPads too so those will fit right in with the state of the art facility.  Not too long ago the school did a nice video showing more about how they are working with simualtions. 

Patient Illness/Emergency Simulation at the Stanford University Goodman Center

Now that you have gone this far, check out a little humor from Stanford medical students.  BD

Bonus: Stanford Humor – Cat Scratch Fever – The Virtual Patient

There's no pulse, no consciousness -- but no panic among the young doctors. That's because they've practiced this moment before, on this same plastic patient, a bionic mannequin named Lee Majors. And each time, they get better.

"He's a patient with patience," said Kam McCowan, an engineer with Stanford's new Center for Immersive and Simulation-Based Learning, a mock hospital floor that is one of the largest and most advanced medical facilities of its type in the world.

Just a block away from real life-and-death drama at Stanford's hospitals, the simulation facility is part of the $90 million Li Ka Shing Center, christened on Wednesday.

 

The center's $60,000-$90,000 dummies are so sophisticated that they can be programmed to discharge too little urine, or too much. They may tremor, sweat or bleed. Monitors may show they're suffering from diseases including pulmonary edema and hypertension.

Stanford University opens first new medical school facility in five decades - San Jose Mercury News

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Principal Financial Gets Out of Health Insurance Business–United Health Group Will Offer And/Or Renew Coverage For Policy Holders

One thing that works in the favor of United is that he group of patients to spread expenses over is growing.  The rest of the Principal business will stay in place so it’s only the healthcare.  The bulk of patients in the Principal system are located in the middle or Midwest part of the country.  With or without healthcare reform this type of action would have happened anyway as current economic conditions are driving the same types of actions in businesses outside of health insurance too.  BD

MINNETONKA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- UnitedHealthcare today announced it has entered into an agreement to renew medical insurance coverage for The Principal Financial Group’s (The Principal^®) medical plan customers as The Principal completes its plans to exit the medical insurance business. The Principal will continue to offer life insurance, dental, disability, vision and wellness programs.
The Principal selected UnitedHealthcare to provide an easy and attractive transition option for its customers to renew their health plans. The Principal currently covers customers in 31 markets nationwide, predominantly throughout the Central United States, where UnitedHealthcare offers an extensive network of physicians, hospitals and other health care providers.

Insurance News - UnitedHealthcare in Agreement to Provide Compelling Benefit Plan Options to Principal Financial Group Medical Customers

Technorati Tags: Principal Financial Group,United HeatlhGroup,healthcare,health insurance,healthcare reform,medical,insurance

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Patient’s Own Stem Cells Used to Repair A Shattered Leg (Video)

This is pretty newsworthy to say the least as the woman’s leg had been broken for a number of years and was facing amputation and then this…as you watch the vide they put the two ends together and used a gel and further up her leg injected more stem cells.  The patient uses telemedicine to check in so doctors can see the progress of the growing bone.  BD 

A groundbreaking surgical technique has been used to rebuild the leg of a woman who suffered a bad break in a hit-and-run accident.

Video - Shattered Leg Rebuilt Using Stem Cells - WSJ.com

Technorati Tags: stem cells,regenerative medicine,bones,breakthrough,surgery,UK,procedure

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Wright Medical Technology Agrees to Pay US $7.9 Million Settle Anti Kickback Prosecution and Re-establish Ethical Marketing Efforts For Knee and Hip Replacements

The company will be monitored for 5 years as the case revolved around the use of consultants they hired to sell their products.  The article states they have agreed to amend their ways of business to ensure kick back situations do not arise in the future.  They are not the first knee and hip replacement company to be brought to the table as DePuy and Zimmer are a couple of others in the same knee and hip business. 

With all this action going on with various companies it sure makes one think there was a lot of activity in this area with getting products in use by surgeons and hospitals.  I have not heard about a corporate integrity agreement before but they have one here for the next 5 years reporting to U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi as the monitor.  This is somewhat refreshing to see ethics coming back into the picture here too, or at least as stated in this case. 

An interesting side note when looking a their website and I am seeing this more often on websites for medical devices is information to help doctors code, something that was on a few websites in the past but growing.  BD

Wright Medical Technology Inc. agreed to pay $7.9 million to resolve U.S. criminal and civil investigations into whether it paid kickbacks to induce doctors to use its hip and knee devices.

Prosecutors in Newark, New Jersey, today charged Wright with conspiring to violate a federal anti-kickback statue through consulting contracts with orthopedic surgeons. The U.S. agreed to drop the case in 12 months if a monitor agrees that Wright has reformed the way it hires consultants.

Wright Medical Technology to Pay $7.9 Million to U.S. - Bloomberg

Technorati Tags: Write Medical,hip replacement,knee replacement,healthcare,medical devices,surgery,DOJ,FDA,lawsuit

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Radiation Safety–California Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Law to Help Enforce Safety and Require Any Overdoses To Be Reported to Patients, Physicians and the Department of Public Health

This is good as if you read the news there has not been a way to track these issues and earlier this year we had some pretty tragic incidences relating to software issues with the use of medical radiation treatments.  The software issues are critical and I will mention once more in an area like this you do NOT rush the programmers for the hope of getting a product to market sooner. 

“The bill requires that radiation dose be recorded on the scanned image and in a patient's health records, and that radiation overdoses be reported to patients, treating physicians, and the state Department of Public Health (DPH). It requires the same level of monitoring for therapeutic radiation used to treat cancer.”

Radiation Over Exposure Investigation Efforts Continue–Patients With Strokes Over Exposed

This is not immediate and does not go into effect until 2013, and the article states there could be modifications to the law as if the FDA in their studies and research find additional safety precautions, they could be added.  I think if our leaders had a better understanding of consumer digital literacy they would have not been “surprised” at the findings as all software has issues at times, but this area is critical and you can’t be specific enough. 

Congress Surprised With Radiation Oversights and Treatments – Software and Algorithms Are the Key to Safety Here

You know everybody thinks the internet and software is sometimes better than it is but when you are on the web, you have servers failing all the time and you just don’t notice it as a back up flips right into place immediately as this part of data is done so well with back up, it is invisible to the average consumer, but it’s happening all the time on the web, there’s just some real good fixes out there that make it look and act in such a consistent manner.  Speaking of the FDA this video deserves a mention as they put time and effort out there to help educate us on how they approve devices and some of their processes.  BD 

FDA's MDEpiNet - Improving Medical Device Safety and Effectiveness From FDA Director of Epidemiology (Video)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California on Wednesday signed a medical radiation protection bill into law, paving the way for implementation of the first state law in the U.S. aimed at protecting patients from excessive radiation exposure received during CT scans and radiation therapy procedures.

SB 1237, which the governor signed without comment along with scores of other bills, will impose strict new procedures and reporting requirements to protect patients from medical radiation overdoses when it becomes effective July 1, 2012. The bill also provides an accreditation mandate for CT scanners that will take effect January 1, 2013, six months after the other provisions.

"Delayed implementation is going to allow the radiology community, the legislators, the regulatory agents, and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)] to continue to explore the issues and look for the best solutions," said Achermann. CRS is continuing to work with legislators to ensure that the radiology community fully understands the bill and its requirements, and that anything that's found to be unworkable can be amended, he said.

A later review found that other California facilities, including Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles; Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata; Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale; Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank; and Bakersfield Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield, among others, had also used excessive radiation doses, implicating the medical staff as well as scanner manufacturers in the errors.

http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?Sec=sup&Sub=cto&Pag=dis&ItemId=92208&wf=3975

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger,safety,nuclear medicine,radiation,patients,doctors,monitoring,healthcare,overdoses,servers,FDA

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HHS Awards $49 Million For States To Set Up Infrastructure Shops And Create The Ability To Work With And Interpret Insurance Company Algorithms With Exchanges

That’s right, nothing happens without those algos, (aka algorithms) as this process of infrastructure and querying will be necessary for all to be able to purchase and gain larger buying power coupled with saving money.  Look at the #1 purpose of the grants, hands down, it’s technology to create business models and algorithms.

When you see pictures of Congress or State Legislatures with members sitting with reams of paper in front of them, don’t be fooled it doesn’t happen that way any more with paper.  We talk about electronic medical records and their evolution so stop and think that business models are not on paper any more either, and for that matter our laws shouldn’t have to go back methodologies of the 70s either. 

“Assessing current information technology systems and infrastructure and determining new requirements”

In California we are blessed with a governor that knows this and has been hammering away at it for a while.  Information week did a nice article about his persistence and where California is going, Healthcare and the rest of the state.  He signed the bill mandating sweeping changes to the state's ailing IT operations.

Schwarzenegger Codifies California IT Reform

You won’t get insurance exchanges without infrastructure and those algorithms, so pay attention to the literacy today with candidates too running for office as if they don’t get this part of it today, they are lost and seem to create more OMG stories in the news.  As a matter of fact, back in May the folks in state government in California collaborated to set up their own CIO portal to where they can share and work together on common goals, outstanding and what a novel idea, sharing <grin>. 

California Serious About Infrastructure Updates - Creates Portal for State's 10,000 IT Workers

In essence your healthcare of the future and today depends a lot on how well your little or big in some cases, body fits into a data table and what algorithms for approval it can pass and stay within what the insurers feel they can spend on your before they face taking a loss on you and your health.  I know this sounds cold and I think so too, but it’s what we have developed today and at times leads to a lot of unjust criticism and fudging of numbers too at times.  We all need accurate data and not those studies that rather indicate someone’s “desired” results, and Wall Street can talk more about “desired” results if we look back over the last couple of years.  We have to know the difference. 

This is actually a hot topic today and there’s enough of this going on to have a book written to help bring about this awareness of how you really can’t believe everything you read today as sometimes marketing influences the creation of “desired” results with some algorithms.

“Proofiness–The Dark Side of Mathematical Deception”–Created by Those Algorithms–New Book Coming Out Soon

I used to create algorithms and it is not more effort to create one kind or the other but rather it’s directed in orders given usually by management or others in a company to the programmers to create the actions that will do what they want, so again we just need the right kind here with accurate results that don’t get mixed up with those “desired” results as they may not always be one in the same.  BD 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded nearly $49 million to help 48 states and the District of Columbia plan for health insurance exchanges, including assessing existing information technology systems and infrastructure.

The health insurance exchanges – competitive, consumer-centered private health insurance marketplaces – are called for in the Affordable Care Act. They are aimed at giving individuals and small businesses greater control and more choices.

HHS awards states $49M for insurance exchange planning | Healthcare IT News

Technorati Tags: healthcare reform,insurance exchanges,states,Health IT,infrastructure,computers,Affordable Care Act,HHS,grants

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General Accounting Office Appoints New Members to National Healthcare Workforce Commission–Hope Some Have Some First Hand Experience with Health IT And Know Algorithms

I know I beat this to death, but it’s important as without this, we end up with speakers who put their best foot forward, but have no clue on what needs to happen behind the scenes to make things work. 

With candidates today, boy do we see this all over the news too with lack of general consumer digital IT literacy and it will continue to bite as there are those who have this knowledge and more.  Policymakers, you need to know how the algorithmic processes take place and the people that do this for you before anyone gets any action today.  This is a pretty important workforce and we certainly don’t want to be let down again due to this lack of healthcare literacy that just stalls the heck out of anything happening and creates additional costly studies when first hand consumer participation can cut to the chase in lot of areas. 

This group is also supposed to work with and help Congress, that is if some of them would improve their general Healthcare digital literacy too.  We saw a good example of what the literacy is with the GOP last week with pdf documents and not something that makes me feel warm and fuzzy at all when we can see through a simple “right click” on a document who the author are of this pledge to America that was written by lobbyists who are now staff members. 

The Properties of an Adobe pdf Document -Rachel Maddow Rips the GOP on Lack of General Consumer IT Knowledge And Exposes the Input and Authors of the Content–Lobbyists

Just for the record, consumer general digital health literacy is a non partisan issue with ‘non participation” from all parties.  BD 

WASHINGTON, DC (September 30, 2010) – Gene L. Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of 15 members to the new National Health Care Workforce Commission.

“Today’s appointees bring impressive expertise and professional credentials to their role of advising policymakers on ways to improve the health care workforce which is so essential to ensuring the health and safety of the American people,” Dodaro said.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created the Commission to serve as a national resource for Congress, the President, and states and localities; to communicate and coordinate with federal departments; to develop and commission evaluations of education and training activities; to identify barriers to improved coordination at the federal, state, and local levels and recommend ways to address them; and to encourage innovations that address population needs, changing technology, and other environmental factors.

The Act requires the Comptroller General to appoint the Commission members and the members are required to be appointed for three-year terms, but staggered terms are mandated for the first 15 members appointed in September 2010. Those first set of appointments are set at one, two, or three years.

http://www.gao.gov/press/nhcwc_2010sep30.html

Technorati Tags: GAO,General ACcounting Office,National Health Care Worforce Commission,healthcare reform,heatlhcare,digital literacy,technology,consumers

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VisionShare Has Offering of Networked Algorithms to Refine and Audit Master Patient Indexes–Transaction Fee Example Of Added Fees/Purchases That Derive Profits From Mathematical Services That Run in the Background With Health IT

Here’s a quote from the press release that says it all and the big decisions these days for CIOs are how many of these do we need and how many can we afford?  There are tons of audit services out there like this and the software does what it says it will do, but expect soon a new layer that will combine the data function of a company like this and another and you can add on one more transaction fee or cha ching with the process so this side of health care with analysis services just keeps feeding itself and it takes some very savvy CIOs today to be able to make decisions and determine what is really needed beyond the expertise of an average purchasing agent with general knowledge. Big hit on this one here.  In the quote below, the company executive tells you he’s selling algorithms.

“By exposing our sophisticated network algorithms for uncovering duplications, combined with Just Associates’ years of experience in helping hospitals verify and maintain the integrity of their MPI, we are pleased to help HIM professionals across the country who are looking for a substantially lower-cost, yet highly accurate solution to this persistent problem.”

Companies as such also have other offerings too that may or may not be directly related to payment processing, and sometimes this part of software gets bundled in a deal and before you know it, it’s in your system and you are paying for it with the way some things are marketed today. 

Private industry are not the only ones doing this type of evaluation as our US CTO is doing the same, what is nice to have and what do we really need as all these transaction fees from multiple software companies drive up cost.  In 2009 the VA had to pull in the ropes on such matters. These are tough decisions as the marketers are pounding on the door with all types of new marketing strategies to get in. 

VA Halts 45 I.T. Projects and Will Be Required to Use Business Intelligence by Next Year

The Department of Veterans Affairs is scaling back plans to upgrade its core financial management system, eliminating the two most costly components of a project that was budgeted at nearly $500 million.  See they had to look at all their costly transaction fees too and some were shelved as federal CIO Vivek Kundra directed.   VisionShare will provide the services but ask a couple of questions, do we need it, can we afford it, and what’s the long time cost and update commitment.

VA Cans $500 Million Financial System Overhaul – Financial Transactions - The Business That Keeps Feeding Itself

For over ten years, VisionShare has securely connected a majority of the country’s hospitals with public health endpoints, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and has managed national network services to enable critical administrative transactions. By exposing the advanced, intelligent network services involved with identifying duplicate records in MPIs, each of VisionShare’s several thousand hospital customers can now benefit from the experience VisionShare has in processing over a million secure transactions each day.

For hospitals, clean master patient index data drives revenue cycle performance, improves patient care, increases provider satisfaction and is required for successfully implementing new EMR or healthcare information system (HIS) technology. The VisionShare MPI assessment services represent a critical step in alerting HIM professionals to potential duplicate records in near-real time, enabling gaps in patient care and safety to be quickly addressed.

VisionShare to Offer MPI Assessment Services | Business Wire

Technorati Tags: White House,IT,budgets,management,high risk IT,infrastructure,VA,claims,business intelligence,analysis,Vision Share,Health IT,algorithms

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“Modern House Call For Women” Announced by Maria Shriver for a 3 Day Clinic in Long Beach–Free Medical and Financial Services for Women In Conjunction with the “Women's’ Conference 2010”

This is an annual event held in Long Beach every year with Maria Shriver as the leader.  This year, Dr. Patrick Soon=Shiong is joining the conference. 

Free medical, dental, vision and wellness care for thousands of women will be offered, without cost to the patient who are underserved and just need the help and care.  Pre-registration begins on Sunday, October 17th from 1PM-5PM at Long Beach City College on Pacific Coast Highway.  They are looking for volunteers to help out so if you are a doctor nurse or anyone else who want to volunteer to help in this event, here’s the information below. 

T”he Modern House Call needs doctors, nurses, dentists, hygienists, optometrists and nonmedical volunteers to help provide FREE medical, dental and vision care to thousands of Long Beach residents. Sign up now if you're interested in volunteering.  If you have any questions about the event, please contact us at 877.490.9284

Services are being offered on a first come, first serve basis.  This is nice to have this focus on women’s health and the governor and his wife, Maria Shriver recognize the extra efforts and stress that we face today.  If he had healthcare solved, we would not have the continued outreaches as such today and many thanks to those who recognize this and speak up to help.  BD 

LONG BEACH (September 30, 2010) – First Lady of California Maria Shriver today announced The Modern House Call for Women, a groundbreaking three-day event that will provide a range of free medical, dental, financial and educational services to under-served women in the Long Beach area. The Modern House Call For Women will take place from Friday, October 22 – Sunday, October 24 at The Walter Pyramid at California State University at Long Beach.

“Women are dealing with so much in today’s world – from working to support their families to serving as the primary caregivers for children and aging parents – that they often have no time or money left over to take care of their own health and well-being,” said California First Lady Maria Shriver.  “The first-of-its-kind Modern House Call for Women addresses this challenge by providing free medical and financial services to women in need, all under one roof and all at the same time. We are only able to bring these life-changing services to the women of Long Beach because of the strong spirit of service and volunteerism that exists here in California.”

The Modern House Call for Women will provide free medical, dental, vision and wellness care for thousands of women, without cost to the patient. Patients will also have access to a collection of financial health resources, including money-saving programs, job resources, and housing assistance services organized through Maria Shriver’s innovative WE Connect program. The Modern House Call for Women will also include counseling services provided by non-profit organizations and government agencies to encourage healthy lifestyles and preventive care.

The Modern House Call for Women is a partnership with health clinics, medical groups and community-based organizations, including the Harbor Dental Society, CA Department of Health and Human Services, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, Amrit Davaa World Health Corp, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, CareNow, Inc., among many others. All health care and financial services offered at the event – including supplies and equipment – are being donated by generous professionals and organizations throughout California. Some of the free services include:

• Vision

• Dental

• Mammograms

• Bone Density

• Immunizations

• PAP smears

• Nutrition information and counseling

• Prenatal Care

• Chiropractic Services

• Money savings programs

• Housing Assistance

• Domestic Violence counseling and education

• Job Assistance

Patients will be able to sign up on a first-come, first-served basis during a pre-registration event on Sunday, October 17th from 1PM-5PM at Long Beach City College on Pacific Coast Highway (PCC Campus), 1305 East Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach, CA 90806. Event organizers are expecting a high level of demand for the free medical services, so all patients must pre-register and receive a wristband to access the clinic. For more information, visit http://themodernhousecall.com or call 877-490-9284.

Policy makers, advocates, and experts from a range of disciplines have joined this effort as co-chairs to offer their counsel and support to ensure that The Modern House Call for Women meets the needs of Long Beach area women and families. Current co-chairs include the following:

• Tipper Gore, Photographer, Author, Advocate, and Former Second Lady of the United States

• Dr. Susan Love, Founder of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation

• Mariska Hargitay, Actor

• Victoria Jackson, Entrepreneur and Founder of The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation

• The Honorable Bob Foster, Mayor of Long Beach

• Supervisor Don Knabe, Los Angeles County District Four

• Linda Adams, Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency

• Karen Baker, Secretary of Service and Volunteering

• Kim Belshé, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency

• Bonnie Reiss, California Secretary of Education.

• Victoria Bradshaw, Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency

• Brigadier General Mary Kight, The Adjutant General, California National Guard

• Sharon Majors-Lewis, Judicial Appointments Secretary, Governor's Office of Judicial Appointments

The Women’s Conference Organization and Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD are serving as Presenting Sponsors for the event. Official sponsors include The Josephine S. Gumbiner Foundation, Herbalife, and The California Endowment. For more information about The Modern House Call for Women, visit http://themodernhousecall.com.

About The Women’s Conference

Hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Women’s Conference is the nation’s premier forum for women. From October 24 through October 26, The Women's Conference 2010 will engage more than 150 of the world’s greatest voices, hearts and minds around the overarching theme of “It's Time." The goal of the conference is to inspire more than 30,000 women from all walks of life to see this challenging moment in history as an opportunity to come together and transform themselves and their communities as Architects of Change. The three-day forum will be kicked off this year on Sunday, October 24 with Maria Shriver's March on Alzheimer's in Long Beach. Alzheimer's disproportionately impacts women – both as victims and caretakers of loved one's suffering from it – and the disease will feature prominently both during the three days of the conference and a full week before as Maria Shriver plans to publish a groundbreaking new Shriver Report focused on Alzheimer's.  Proceeds from The Women's Conference's Main Event, Grand Finale featuring The 2010 Minerva Awards, Night at The Village, A Day of Health, Wellness & Transformation, and Night at the Theater events all support the conference organization's six WE Programs - WE Educate, WE Invest, WE Connect, WE Act, WE Inspire and WE Honor. For more details, visit: http://www.womensconference.org.

Technorati Tags: Women's’ Conference 2010,Modern House Call,Long Beach,healthcare,clinic,counseling,Maria Shriver,free care

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Microsoft–New Windows Live Applications With the “Double Rainbow” Effect (Video)

This is is just funny and I have been using both Windows Live and Office Live since the beta stages and have recommended Office Live for small practices to use too..  Windows Live Writer of course is my favorite and the tool I use for this blog, love those updates to make it easier for me to blog.  Here’s some history that goes back to my post in 2007. 

Microsoft Delivers Office Live Workspace Beta

Now the “Double Rainbow” effect, TV celebrity Jimmy Kimmel made this guy a star and now he’s the Windows Live Guy too, so the video below gives the new editions of the software the “Double Rainbow” treatment.  How do I know this, I follow Jimmy Kimmel on Twitter of course and thought it was strange tweet when I saw it, but strange things happen today so now we have Double Rainbow Windows.  This is a little toned down since his initial Double Rainbow video which seemed to go on forever but was very entertaining.  BD   

Double Rainbow

Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 doesn't come with applications such as Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. Users must download these Windows Live apps after the fact, though they are free.

Today Microsoft released a new version of Windows Live Essentials, the suite that includes these lifestyle applications. The software giant has been tweaking the apps since releasing the Windows Live Essentials 2011 beta in June.

Microsoft releases new suite of Windows Live applications

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Jimmy Kimmel,twtiter,Office Live,Windows Live,Double Rainbow,marketing

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Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Carry the Message of “The Giving Pledge” To China With Discussing Philanthropy And Yielded A Successful Exchange of Ideas From Both Sides

Recently I made a post about Bill Gates being a keynote speaker at this year’s mHealth Convention and also linked back to the events of the “The Giving Pledge” as well.  You can revisit some of this at the posts at the link below.  is there any doubt that the mHealth Summit is going to be one of the top events of the year with mobile healthcare?

Bill Gates Named Keynote Speaker at 2010 mHealth Summit To Be Held November 8-10

Back on track here, the article states that this was a great exchange for all and that the Chinese will need to develop their own efforts and ideas, but I’m sure Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffet had quite a few to share with what we are seeing here in the US. 

Bill Gates & Warren Buffett – Call for Philanthropy To Give 50% of Their Fortunes To Help Others With “The Giving Pledge”

The article continues to say that all the “rich”attendees of China wanted to remain anonymous who attended the private dinner.  That too is how some of this got rolling in the US too with the initial big “secret meeting” that was attended by some of our celebrities who took an interest too.

Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah, Ted Turner, David Rockefeller, Jr. and more – Billionaire’s Summit Meeting Held in New York

It did of course all come out eventually and it has set a precedence for giving back and is leading to not only some outstanding education programs but advances in healthcare and research as well.  BD

BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bill Gates and Warren Buffett met a group of 50 business and philanthropy leaders today to learn about philanthropy in China, and to share their own experiences with and enthusiasm for philanthropy.

“Our hopes for this meeting were to learn about giving in China, and share our own views,” said Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. “By any measure, it was a tremendous success. We had a terrific exchange of views, and learned a great deal about the good work that is already underway.”

“We’ve both been very eager to have this meeting,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and chairman of Microsoft. “We’re grateful so many people made the time to attend, and for their candor and insights. People are doing some very good thinking about how their good fortune can have a positive impact on China and the world.”

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Join Business Leaders and Philanthropists to Discuss Philanthropy in China - Yahoo! Finance

Technorati Tags: Bill Gates,Warren Buffett,Philantrhopy,heatlhcare,disease,billionaires,Charities,Giving Pledge,philanthropy,Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation

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Avalide Blood Pressure Medicine Recall Announced–Still No FDA System to Make This Easier–One More Justification to Think About Bar Coding To Scan With a Cell Phone To Locate

60 Million tablets sounds like a lot of lot numbers for all to research.  Last year when I began this little campaign I thought the number of recalls was going to grow and sure enough, just read the news every day.  So to find the lot numbers visit the FDA website or the Bristol-Myers site and get your information.  I had quite a few pharmacists like the idea of scanning with a phone too as look at the work we have here.  As a matter of fact I had an email from a reader telling me how tough it was with Target stores trying to take some over the counter merchandise back and here’s what was said below, and notice the inconvenience for the consumer as Target didn’t have it listed on their “official” list yet….if it has been scanned with a cellphone, guess what, everyone would have the same information…duh?

“BTW, last week I found more stuff that was recalled at FDA.gov and took it back to Target.  Had a nice "little" discussion with no less than FOUR!!! of their "Customer Service" people at the store. 

In spite of having a receipt, since I had consumed part and thrown the rest away, they were reluctant to give me a refund as it wasn't showing up on their corporate recall list - and this was Target!  In my opinion, until the Wall Street boys do their own shopping (and stand in the Returns lines) and are inconvenienced, nothing will change. The big money guys wheel and deal via hedge funds so they don't care if Consumers get the short end - the boys will just short the stocks and still make money.”

This could have been any drug store, but look at what the pharmacists have to do with coordinating their company data bases to get information to make a decision.

DUMIMIES THIS HAS VALUE AND LOOK AT THE READER QUOTE ABOVE!  It is going to be a long hard battle selling value with PHRs until you jump on what consumers want and this will help as well as solve the notification processes for drug/device companies and the FDA.  This is the part where everyone misses this boat with trying to get consumers involved in healthcare and then we have to hear in the news about the poor literacy rates with consumers with Health IT. 

Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Recall of One Lot of ThermaCare HeatWraps Menstrual Product–Get A Better Recall System

Here’s a post that will explain more as I have about 30-40 posts on this topic here under the campaign. 

Microsoft Tag Bar Codes–Who’s Been Scanning the Medical Quack–The Bing Heat Map Tells All And Could Help Find Stolen or Expired Drugs and Devices With This Methodology

There will be more recalls in both food, drug and device products so we need a system that can work for everyone and especially the consumer as we are the ones affected.  When you look at this map, and when products were scanned, guess what, it could give Abbott even more intelligence in knowing where the product was due to “spots” on the map so they in turn could be more pro-active here too with finding the product quicker!  What technology that is available today for implementation can do and save lives too.  Click on the Bar Code Campaign image to read more.

CHICAGO — Bristol-Myers Squibb Co is recalling 60 million tablets of the blood pressure medication Avalide in the United States and Puerto Rico.

The company said it took the action on behalf of the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi-Synthelabo partnership because of a potential variability in levels of the less-soluble form of the active ingredient in Avalide, irbesartan, which could result in slower dissolution.

Bristol-Myers said 62 lots, or 60 million tablets, manufactured before November 2009 at its plant in Puerto Rico were affected by the recall.

Bristol-Myers recalls blood pressure drug Avalide - Health - msnbc.com

Technorati Tags: Avalide,blood pressure,FDA,recalls,healthcare,drugs,pharma,technology,cell phones,Microsoft Tags,Health IT,Bristol Myers Squibb,Sanofi-Aventis

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