HIMSS 2011 To Use RFID To Track Attendees This Year-Chip Is In the Name Tag But Booth Tags Would Have Been Fun & Interactive

No doubt this is probably done to promote and bring a higher awareness to spotlight how RFID technology can be used in healthcare and for hospitals in keeping items like wheelchairs and stethoscopes, not to mention more expensive items too, this is a great idea and it works well in many hospitals.  One hospital in the OC, Hoag, has implemented RFID in the ER room so as not to lose patients and know where they are at all times, and they are a pretty big facility. This is excellent and helps find equipment like crash carts for example really fast too. 

This did kind of strike me as being a bit odd though but there is a (partial) option as I understand to opt out.  When I say partial, this protects one from their email address, phone number and other information being given out, but your company name and your name will be available as I understand it, even as you opt out. For conventions and with the push to educate and promote mHealth issues I wonder why they didn’t opt for a more social/optional program that is actually a bit more fun and can get all attendees in the mood for some good old mHealth too, like this program, Booth Tag.  I wrote about it a few month ago.  It’s actually pretty cool and brings 4Square and Twitter into the picture too so someone could be the Mayor of HIMMS.  Besides that to have Microsoft Tags on your booth and other information, how many times have you run out of brochures at a convention or have your material arrive on the day the show closes. 

Microsoft Tags (Booth Tags) Coming to A Convention Soon – Maybe A Healthcare Show?

Booth Tag

When you watch the video, the participants are saying it definitely picked up traffic in the booths.  This technology stands to somewhat put the registration list of scanning name tags out of business perhaps. 

“BoothTag is the next generation of tradeshow marketing, creating immediacy and
personal engagement while leveraging the convenience and accessibility of mobile
phone and barcode technology.”

BoothTag encourages event attendees to seek the exhibitor out and creates an instant rolodex of contacts at any time, archived by show name and date. No business cards to enter into a spreadsheet after a long day at a tradeshow!

It can be integrated right into the registration process and you get real analytics so just add a heat map from Bing if you like away you go.  This makes participation optional and gives real time information to both attendees and the exhibitors if they used their own bar codes to distribute their company information.  It sure beats the heck out of dragging all that stuff around, and I mean the papers, not the free pens and stress balls, those are ok as we don’t’ get those anywhere else. 

If one really wants you can combine the Microsoft Tags technology with RFID and that’s a good thing for a healthcare organization but not sure what it would do at a convention per se.  I’m still trying to get the FDA, Medical device companies and drug companies to collaborate and work together on FDA recalls, but you know it’s that word “collaborate” that everyone talks about but nobody does much of it <grin>. 

Not too long ago the National Conference of State Legislatures tried this out to allow people to scan and get their information at the conference and most of what I have seen in the way of folks in government are in the non participant area of general consumer digital knowledge, so not sure how that worked out.  Actually the link below has more links to additional uses for bar coding too and gosh knows this holiday season coupons were alive and well on cell phones. 

National Conference of State Legislatures Using Microsoft Tags At This Year’s Convention to Allow Attendees to Stay Informed and Engaged

Being this technology with Booth Tags was developed and promoted mobile communications it looked like it could have added to the show and again it has many enticements to add involvement rather than being on a mandatory tracker, plus you design it to give out prizes too.  Oh well, will have to hear about how the RFID stuff works, opt out.  I should also mention that I have seen marketing folks mess up a bit as they did in New York with putting bar codes on trash trucks for people to scan too and that image of someone chasing a trash truck to scan a bar code on it still sticks in my memory in very funny way.

If anyone going to HIMSS this year want to do their own thing, just make up some Tags for the show and that way you will be covered should you run out of “paper” and gee is this not a show about encouraging paperless medical records? <grin> BD

HIMSS will be utilizing RFID technology at this year’s conference to identify individuals’ movement and collect demographic information in select areas of the conference. These will include such areas as the exhibition floor, exhibitors booths, and Exhibitor Solution Sessions. If you do not wish to participate in this technology you will be given an opportunity to opt out when completing your registration.

http://www.himssconference.org/registration/policies.aspx

Technorati Tags: HIMSS,technology,RFID,barcoding,4 Square,Health IT,exhibitors,Bing,cell phones,Booth Tag

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Blue Cross/Blue Shield in North Carolina Developed Algorithm To Limit Access to Selected Spinal Procedures To Save Money

Here we are again faced with keeping costs down and one more stipulation by health insurers to limit access based on numbers which are generated to show evidence based medicine.  We have one problem here though as that new products and procedures are approved by the FDA all the time, and many are minimally invasive so from what I read here, these are not being included and thus you may see new procedures that are cost effective too get left out.  It’s all about those cost saving algorithms that are not current with the technologies evolving and approved today by the FDA. 

In the article it stated that Blue Cross could slash their administrative costs up to 20% by 2014 with this enactment, but again this is based on what is out there today and thus such figures are only as good as published today, which means in essence they don’t allow for growth and new technologies and in real meaning end up being pretty useless.  Granted these new procedures should be priced to where they are affordable too.  If you have degenerative disk disease, you are out of luck and will have to live with your pain.  I wonder if they will entertain stem cell injections as that is the up and coming treatment for spinal pain and discs.  Read the article below to where patients can already receive this treatment. 

Regenerative Medicine for Herniated and Degenerative Disc Diseases–Stem Cells

These new rules go into effect on January 1st with an approval needed before the procedure can be done.  Some issues such as scoliosis, back injury and tumors will still be covered so the diagnosis coding here is key and if you are not in one of those categories, it looks like the patient is out of luck.  Will Blue Cross consider this FDA procedure just approved in November of 2010?  Good question and and is minimally invasive too, good for the patient. 

X-spine Announces New FDA Product Approval for Spinal Fusion–Minimally Invasive

In the meantime another insurer has agreed to pay for minimally invasive spinal procedures as offered by FDA approved NuVasive. 

Big Insurers Consider NuVasive Spine Surgery Procedure Experimental But Laser Spine Is Ok With United Healthcare

It just all depends on who they cut a contract with as to what quality of care a patient might receive and this is getting worse, even with drugs and recalls as access is being limited to studies created to substantiate decisions.  Studies are based on running a series of algorithms that can produce either “accurate” results or in some cases “desired” results and the 2 are not always the same, look at Wall Street algorithms for that example. 

Now back to stem cell treatment, we have no mention of items as such and again this shows only one of of focus and algorithmic formulas run to keep cost down with this treatment.  This is what you get with insurers that live and die by cost cutting algorithms.  I said this 2 years ago and I think really is beginning to apply as we don’t get to see the insurance company algorithms either as they are propriety. 

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

Spinal Fusion surgeries are changing all the time and to use old methodologies to determine what is evidenced based is hard in this quickly evolving area of treatments and cures and the study mentioned here with projections leaves out new technologies 100% and will cost patients access to even potentially less expensive procedures based on making this policy move so I guess we have folks from the 70s working here too that only focus on cost and not intertwining care.  BD 

The state's largest health insurer is coming under fire from surgeons across the country for implementing tougher restrictions on an increasingly common type of spinal surgery.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina's new rules, which take effect Jan. 1, are designed to reduce overuse of spinal-fusion surgery, a costly and controversial procedure to ease patients' lower back pain . The Chapel Hill-based insurer says it wants to ensure the surgeries are approved based on the latest medical evidence.

A coalition of surgeons representing nine medical associations, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the North American Spine Society, wrote to Blue Cross this month, urging the company to reconsider.

The group also suggested various changes that would ease the new restrictions.

Wilson estimates that he performs about 100 spinal-fusion surgeries a year. Only a small percentage of his practice's patients would be ineligible for coverage under the new Blue Cross rules.

"Even if it's just a few patients, if we're limited in how we can help them, it doesn't sit right with us," he added.

Limit set on popular procedure on spines - CharlotteObserver.com

Technorati Tags: Blue Cross,Blue Shield,North Carolina,websites,patents,queries for money,algoirthims,FTC,consumer watchdog,FDA,spine injuries,minimally invasive procedures,spinal fusion

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UK Biotech Company Expanding DNA Testing to Include Drug and Alcohol With Social Services To Test Teenagers Under The Eye

Currently the company is licensed in the UK to test on behalf of lawyers in divorce cases to find the real “daddy”, so this appears to be an added service up and coming?  Also the company tests animals to find out who the daddy is to ensure pedigree information has not been altered.  Teenagers under the jurisdiction next year may find it more difficult to hide drug and alcohol abuse.  BD 

A NORTH East biotech company is aiming for a major expansion in the New Year by moving to drug and alcohol testing.

Sunderland-based Complement Genomics is currently best known for its Dadcheck DNA paternity testing, which it carries out for legal clients and also customers from the general public.

Biotech company plans move into drug testing - Business News - News - nebusiness.co.uk

Technorati Tags: Biotech,UK,DNA,paternity,labs,social services,genomics

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California Nurses Strike Against World’s Largest Hospital For Profit-HCA While a $4.6 Billion IPO is Filed After Owners Received $2 Billion Dollar Dividend in November

One of the largest complaints from the nurses is the “staffing by numbers”, in other words all patient conditions are not equal and one nurse may have 6 patients who require a lot of care and when the mix of patients who require less care is not considered, the nurses state patients are not getting the care they need. This is a good point and shows that the human element has to be considered as no two patients are the same and you can’t offer good care simply by the algorithms.  This is a big issue I write about all the time as you cannot do everything by the numbers when it comes to care and certainly reports can help generate better care with finding items that were overlooked, you can just shove nurses and patients into a pool of formulas and say “this is what you get”.  It’s cold, calculated and something none of us really want to experience, even the bean counters that develop some of these models they sell as profit making procedures wouldn’t enjoy it. 

SoCal Hospital Workers Plan to Stage a 24 Hour Walk Out Later This Week–Breakdown of Negotiations With HCA For Profit Owner- Its Not Money But Rather Working Conditions

HCA

KKR, based in New York, and Boston-based Bain, along with Merrill Lynch & Co., bought HCA in 2006 for $33 billion..  HCA runs 164 hospitals in the US and almost as many surgery centers.  This is the third IPO for the company.  The support from state legislators and Governor elect Jerry Brown is also interesting here as well.

Bain Capital, is the current HCA owner and Florida Governor elect Rick Scott was forced to resign as HCA CEO due to Medicare fraud  scandals.  The DOJ settled the largest healthcare fraud case in history against HCA.  It’s amazing that the former CEO was elected governor in Florida. 

With this current track history on record it does leave some big questions to be answered about how HCA is really run and what type of algorithmic formulas are used for profit making.  HCA has netted $924 million in net income.  Now let’s take a loo at something else non related when it comes to profits, you have a big hospital chain and then look at this small Medicare HMO and what they pocket, interesting isn’t it.  This is a big part of why healthcare is so expensive in the US as those big profit have to be paid out while hospitals and doctors struggle, all in those financing algorithms. 

HealthSpring To Pay $545M For Bravo Health Medicare Company With Profits of 1 Billion in 2009-Over 800 Million in 2010 Thus Far

The private equity owners of HCA paid themselves a $2 Billion dollar dividend in November, so now with the IPO, there’s a reach out for gaining even more money for the current PE owners of KKK & Company and Bain Capital, LLC.  Not comforting to know if you just want to get care and I’m sure the nurses are aware of some of these factors as well when then make their move to ensure better patient care and again it’s the bean counter algorithms for profits that forget about the humans once more it appears.  Wait until they need care.  BD

With support from California Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield and California State Senator Fran Pavley, along with an enthusiastic nod from Governor-elect Jerry Brown and sanctioning from LA Federation of Labor, Central Labor Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, registered nurses from Riverside Community Hospital (Riverside) and West Hills Hospital (San Fernando Valley) took to the streets at 5:30AM on December 23rd to begin a five day permitted strike against the world’s largest for profit hospital chain and billion dollar felon, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA).

Assemblyman Blumenfield similarly endorsed the nurses concerns in his letter to Vice President Battista:

“On behalf of the Registered Nurses and the community of West Hills, I’m asking your hospital to bargain in good faith with SEIU Local 121RN; to make sure that workers are treated fairly and equitably; to insure that changes in staffing or working conditions do not put patients and caregivers at risk; and, finally, to agree on a contract with strong protections for patients and workers.”

CA Nurses Strike Against Billion-Dollar Felon, HCA « SpeakEasy

Technorati Tags: Strikes,nurses,HCA,Hospital Corporation of America,for profit,non profit,healthcare,hospitals,working conditions,doctors,patients,medical care,errors,California,IPO

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The North Pole Implements Extormity EHR Just in Time for Christmas

As with any EHR medical records system, productivity does reduce during the learning curve and the Santa EHR is no exception and they can only see 2 pint size patients a day!  This definitely is putting the toy delivery behind schedule as the elves have become empowered patients and decided this year they want all their records too and the direction of Claus is working over time to make this happen. 

The group still has reservations about whether or not they needed to add on the expensive death panel module that Extormity has added to their portfolio of software earlier this year.  During an encounter, elves are able to click on a “Play” button in the EHR that will randomly select an end-of-life plan and generate applicable documentation — saving valuable time and shifting responsibility to the elves, but the problem is these guy don’t die they are eternal so this could have been software that was oversold.

Extormity Introduces A Death Panel Module For the Algorithmically Challenged IT Illiterate Crowd And Is “Seedie Certified” (Humor)

Things have been a little tough this year at the North Pole, so the Claus group further invested in the Medicare Fraud Module to see about how revenue cycling could be maximized.  The elves are getting old and are costing Claus a huge amount of money will all their chronic conditions they have developed.

Extormity EHR Launches Medicare Fraud Module (Humor) Up Coding Made Simple

The elves have been particularly happy with the fact that their medical visits do smell better though and the Aromatherapy module has made their elongated visits much more enjoyable. 

Does Your EHR Stink? Extormity Has the Answer With Adding A New Feature - Aromatherapy

The physician contracted to the Claus group was really happy to see this addition as his visits with Santa were not really too pleasant when discussing his cholesterol problems and adhering to his medications and he always seem to fall asleep during his visits. The fragrance from the EHR module made the physicians and exams with Santa much more bearable without having to deal with with the constant gas that Santa passes.  Being contracted to the Claus group, the physician has not been able to make a buck off of his pay for performance program no matter much he documents in his EHR  so again the fragrance really helps make Santa’s visits bearable and let’s not even talk about the PSA exam.  

The doctor decided this year too that Mrs. Clause needed a break and found the perfect present for Santa and he hopes that Medicare might find it in their heart to reimburse him for this under the new PECOS guidelines as this is “durable equipment” of the utmost need.  

Sleep Farting – There’s a Solution, The Better Marriage Blanket (Video)

All in all the organization is working around all the complex situations that this new EHR has created and being Seedie certified guarantees a most time consuming and most time intense system to fully address chronic illnesses.  Again these folks are here every year and they have been around a lot longer than us so a complex complicated EHR like Extormity seems to be the perfect fit and there’s no guarantee this is ever going to lead to any better healthcare at the North Pole!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND THANKS TO SEEDIE AND EXTORMITY FOR THEIR PERIODIC UPDATES ON THE EXTORMITY EHR SYSTEM.  BD

Electronic health record vendor Extormity today announced that its EHR solution has been implemented at the on-site employee health center housed within Santa’s workshop.

“Healthcare delivery at the North Pole is challenging and expensive, given elfin genetic dispositions toward diabetes and Santa’s smoking history,” stated Extormity CEO Brantley Whittington. “Implementing the Extormity solution shows that Claus, Incorporated is interested in a token gesture designed to give its workforce the impression it cares.”

The Extormity solution went live on November 1. “In retrospect, we should have implemented right after the holidays,” said Claus director of health promotion Hermie Jingleheimerschmitt. “Given the expense of the Extormity EHR and the fact that we can now only see two pint-sized patients per day with this cumbersome solution, we won’t be able to deliver toys to children in South Dakota, Manitoba, and most of South America this year. “

About Extormity
Extormity is an electronic health records mega-corporation dedicated to offering highly proprietary, difficult to customize and prohibitively expensive healthcare IT solutions. Our flagship product, the Extormity EMR Software Suite, was recently voted “Most Complex” by readers of a leading healthcare industry publication. Learn more at www.extormity.com

Technorati Tags: EHR,Extormity,humor,ONC,medical records,spoof,meaningful use,Seedie,Upcoding,billing,death panels

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Indian IT Industry Voices Concerns Over US HealthCare Policies

This is always a hot topic anywhere no matter how you look at it and we have plenty of outsourcing in healthcare in the US and not limited to India but China and other countries as well.  With the new bill passed, taxes will be forthcoming on goods and services coming to the US from overseas.  With current economic conditions in the US we need jobs too, and I think that is somewhat of a cry all over the world.  Infosys, the huge conglomerate mentioned here also gets contracts from other countries such as this one from the UK back in 2008. 

Infosys of India wins IT Outsourcing deal from AstraZeneca

As mentioned in the article below, many were surprised that the enactment came so quickly but again here in the US we are facing economic conditions that need to be addressed on our home ground too. 

It is a challenge today for CIOs and other healthcare executives to determine what can and what cannot be outsources for sure.  Cost of course is driving the move but again with Health IT services there are some that are better kept in house.  BD

The resilient Indian IT industry on Friday expressed outrage over the latest US law to increase the visa fee on its skilled workers to share the healthcare burden of 9/11 victims. "It's a retrograde step targeting the Indian IT industry again to meet the healthcare costs in the US. It is a

disappointing move," Infosys Technologies Ltd chief executive S Gopalakrishnan said in Bangalore.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, passed by the US Congress late Wednesday, is aimed at raising $4.3 billion over the next five years by taxing goods and services sourced from countries like India, China and Thailand.

"The latest protectionist move is inconsistent with the ethos that were exchanged during the visit of US President Barack Obama to India," Wipro executive vice-president Suresh Senapathy said.

Indian IT industry upset over US healthcare cost burden - Hindustan Times

Technorati Tags: Health IT,technology,big pharma,AstraZenaca,healthcare,outsourcing,India,Infosys

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Registration for EHR Incentive Program To Register for Stimulus Money Opens Jan 3rd

This is a date and page to put into memory as if you have invested in a certified EHR  system and have demonstrated meaningful use, get your money, or rather sign up with the intentions of wanting to get your money.  I wonder if this is the data base designed by Northrop Grumman as the tracking data base for all these payments where they were awarded $34 Million?

CMS Outsourcing Creation of “Meaningful Use” Database to Northrop Grumman in a $34 Million Contract

It could be this or something different and this is only the point of registration.  At any rate this represents the taxpayer contributions to make this possible and this is only part of the expense.  Give this some thought too when folks talk about repealing healthcare reform, would we just flush $34 Million down the toilet? 

All laws and regulations need IT infrastructure to run them today and the folks living with the values of the 70s appear yet to come to terms with this fact and realization. 

You have to register to begin the process.  PEOS has been kicked around a bit but according to the page today, you will need your PECOS number along with your NPI number.  Last I read on PECOS, the deadline has been moved to June of next year but it has been changed a few times prior to that change too. 

If you have already enrolled in PECOS then that user name and password will work here.  There’s actually a phone number where you can call for help too. 

Data systems and red tape don’t excite doctors, curing and treating ailments as well as saving lives does.  BD 

Physicians and health care providers who’ve been busy implementing certified electronic health record (EHR) systems this year soon can focus their sights on the fun part: collecting their reimbursement from the federal government for demonstrating meaningful use of those systems. Registration for the EHR Incentive Program opens in less than two weeks. On Jan. 3, a link to registration will be available on the program’s registration and attestation Web page.

As Health IT Pulse mentioned in November, providers will be able to track their EHR incentive payment status via the Web using an online service implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Providers are encouraged to visit the CMS’ EHR Incentive Program website early, to ensure they have everything they need to register for the program.

Registration for EHR Incentive Program begins Jan. 3 - Health IT Pulse

Technorati Tags: CMS,Northrop Grumman,health insurance,meaningful use,outsourcing,infrastructure,data bases,technology,data,contractors,doctors

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Cook Medical Releases Initial Results From Its STABLE Clinical Trial Stent Endovascular Treatment of Aortic Dissection

Aortic dissection now can be treated with interventional procedures with a stent.  This is good news all all patients are not healthy enough to sustain a surgery to where the entire chest cavity is opened.  This stent is for the treatment of Type B aortic dissection and the results from the clinical trial are looking good.

This is a 2 part system and procedure with an endograft that seals the torn aortic section, and a second, uncovered stent that helps to support the aorta and is the first tent of its kind.  BD

Press Release:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Study investigators reported positive steps in Cook Medical’s efforts to gain FDA approval of the treatment assessed in the STABLE clinical trial, designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a proximal endograft and a distal uncovered stent for the endovascular treatment of Type B aortic dissection for purposes of seeking FDA approval. The findings were presented by Dr. Joseph Lombardi at the 37^th annual VEITHsymposium. The trial is the first and only one of its kind to focus on a device uniquely designed for the endovascular treatment of Type B aortic dissection. The system as a whole is an investigational device not available in the United States.

“The initial data for the STABLE clinical trial show promise”

“The initial data for the STABLE clinical trial show promise,” said Joseph Lombardi, M.D., the study’s principal investigator and chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at Cooper University Hospital and associate professor of surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey. “Aortic dissection can be a life-threatening condition, and surgical intervention is a highly invasive procedure. If confirmed, these initial results are a positive step toward proving the safety and efficacy of a minimally invasive treatment for aortic dissection.”

“We’re very pleased with the initial data, and this signifies an important step forward for Cook’s minimally invasive system for treating aortic dissection,” said Phil Nowell, vice president and global leader of Cook Medical’s Aortic Intervention strategic business unit. “Open surgery to repair dissection can take a devastating toll on a patient, and we hope the STABLE trial final results support an endovascular solution.”

Aortic dissection, the condition that took the lives of actor John Ritter and, more recently, a highly prominent U.S. diplomat, is a tear in the wall of the aorta, the major artery that carries blood out of the heart. Some dissections can be treated with blood-pressure medication, but many require open surgical intervention, which involves opening the chest cavity, clamping off the aorta and surgically implanting a graft that repairs the damaged vessel wall.

The Cook stent-graft system is comprised of two components: an endograft that seals the torn aortic section, and a second, uncovered stent that helps to support the true lumen of the aorta and promote apposition of the dissected vessel wall.

About Cook Medical

Founded in 1963, Cook Medical pioneered many of the medical devices now commonly used to perform minimally invasive medical procedures throughout the body. Today, the company integrates medical devices, drugs and biologics to enhance patient safety and improve clinical outcomes. Since its inception, Cook has operated as a family-held private corporation. For more information, visit www.cookmedical.com.

Technorati Tags: endograft,Cook Medical,heart surgery,healthcre,clinical trials,chest,graft,aortic intervention

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My Strange Addiction Talks About Some Very Strange Issues–New TLC Series

We live in a strange society today with sometimes trying to find what is normal and this show seems to go to the edge to find out what is not normal.  The video with the woman addicted to her “blow dryer” is a scream, and you wonder if this was not made up for the show, at least I felt that way.  There some other strange folks here that eat cleanser (didn’t know if it was Ajax or Comet)and eat toilet paper and they have some issues that could affect their health.  The sad thing about some of this though is that insurance companies here and there are cutting mental health coverage from some of their policies.  BD 

A new TLC show called MY STRANGE ADDICTION  is a series of compelling stories of people battling strange, obsessive, and addictive behaviors. MY STRANGE ADDICTION premieres this Wednesday, Dec. 29 and runs until Feb. 2011.
Some of the addicts - and strange addictions - featured over the course of the series include:

• Lori, who is addicted to her blow dryer, sleeping with it (running) every night;
• Kesha, who admits to consuming half a roll of toilet paper a day;
• Davecat, who is addicted to his silicone wife, treating his life-size doll like a human;
• Crystal, who eats household cleaner and has been doing so since she was 12;
• April, whose devotion to ventriloquism made her give up her fiancé for her puppets; and
• Debbie, who is addicted to cats, and despite being allergic has over 20 of them

My strange addiction

The series allows viewers to explore the bizarre ways these individuals cope, as well as the often relatable stories that led each addict to where he or she is now with addiction expert Dr. Mike Dow.

Technorati Tags: My Strange Addictions,mental heatlh,TLC,addicts,addictions,drugs,psychology

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Dell Acquires InSite One-Medical Image Sharing, Storage Cloud Services

Currently InSite has one of the largest medical image data bases with over 3 million images stored in addition to clinical studies.  For those needing PACS storage this is one of the companies that can provide that service.  The data bases of Dell and InSite combined will offer storage for retrieval and use when needed.

All will of course be HIPAA compliant and free up room at the hospital PACS servers if desired by using Cloud storage.  Dell already is established in the healthcare business and this stands to bring additional offerings to new clients as well as existing.  Many hospitals today back up in more than one location and InSite uses current virtualization technologies.  BD  

Dell has announced it will buy InSite One, the developer of a medical archiving cloud application to make it easier for physicians to share medical images and make quick diagnoses by collaborating on images online.

Terms of the Dec. 22 agreement were not disclosed.

The deal will combine InSite's InDex Vendor-Neutral Enterprise Archive (VNA) cloud-based product with Dell's Unified Clinical Archive and DX Object Storage Platform.

EHR (electronic health record) and HIE (health information exchange) applications can retrieve images from InDex with zero resource footprint, InSite reports.

Dell Acquires InSite One to Ease Medical Image Sharing, Storage - Health Care IT - News & Reviews - eWeek.com

Technorati Tags: InSite One,Dell,Health IT,healthcare,mergers and acquisitions,imaging,cloud services

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Hedge Fund Developed An Algorithm That Can Analyze Twitter To Pick Stocks

This is a small break from the normal healthcare posts but related in the fact that we are talking about “those algos” again and now this British Hedge fund says they have mastered and created an algorithm by searching sentiments on Twitter to find and determine their markets and trades.  If you are out there tweeting today, well you might be helping them out and you didn’t know it. <grin>.

Now if the folks doing the tweeting are not being honest, well you might the return that you want either so I am guessing this algorithm is going to be based on the fact that they believe most people are going to be showing and tweeting their real feelings and emotions. 

What if government started doing this <grin>.  Might not be a bad idea. 

Now this is different from another company called “StockTwits” to where you can actually watch and build a “Twitter strategy”.  Below are a couple screenshots that show this is an actual tool for tracing and the tool mentioned by the Hedge Fund is yet to be seen and who knows maybe they will end up marketing it. 

After you fill out some basic information then you connect it up to Twitter and start tracking.  I am not a finance person at all, just working the program here to evaluate how the software process works.  It found 7 people who follow me on Twitter and I’m connected with Twitter now so I have 7 friends on StockTwits so maybe even a geek like me could stand to learn something by participating.  Ok the twist on healthcare, is this going to evolve there next?  Just a question and something I pondered this evening as we never really know exactly where social networking will take us next.  BD 

Well, you knew this was coming eventually. A new $39 million hedge fund will use sentiment analysis on Twitter to pick its trades, Bloomberg says.

The founders of the British hedge fund, called Derwent Absolute Return, say they have an algorithm that can analyze sentiments on Twitter and has been successful at predicting good trades

BUBBLE WATCH: New Hedge Fund Uses Twitter To Pick Stocks

Technorati Tags: Hedge Fund,Twitter,algorithms,Britian,sentiments,tweets,analytics,StockTwits

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Abbott Diabetes Care Recalls Tons of Glucose Test Strips–The US Has the FDA Recall Blues-Solution Has Been Touted Here for a Year-It’s Time for a Fix–Readers Have Voted

It’s just about one year now since I started this campaign with using Bar Codes, Microsoft Tags and I’m up to around 60 posts on the topic now, and just about every time there’s a recall, I do another post.  Look how retailers and consumers are using this technology but when it comes to something like recalls and counterfeit drugs can we do anything, nope.  I would say look at some other products if diabetics can’t rely on the accuracy of the read and now see what hassle Medicare gives you on using another brand if that has to happen. 

Better yet, you could game on a J and J product as so far their strips have been ok but tons other recalls, so I guess it’s time to play “musical glucose strips” and hope they are in the affordable tiers of your insurance plan.  There’s no way they are going to update formularies in time to accommodate any extra expense here and patients may end up with tons of time explaining to insurance carriers as to why they bought another product when it comes to reimbursements…hmmmm…let’s see how about a recall formulary to add in to the mess <grin>.  Of course I am saying that tonge and cheek as a bar code is better.  Your reimbursements from your insurance and Medicare unfortunately are at the bottom of the totem pole with anything to make it easier for you.  

Can we get some of those luddite pharma companies to get on board, nope.  How about those folks that recall devices, have they done anything, nope.  That means we now have post # 61 right here for my readers and the deaf ears of others to ignore I guess.  Granted this would take a pilot program to begin with but you have to start somewhere.  Microsoft Tags can be combined with RFID systems too, which some pharma companies are using, but it doesn’t do anything about recall information and does help recover stolen products.  We have 359 million products here subject to recall. 

Now if the the device and drug companies had their business intelligence wits about them, they would recognize this would stand to save them money.  A while back I had a nice tweet from an executive at Sanofi that said those exact words too.  If the FDA were thinking in the same realm, well guess what, audit trails for compliance on recalls, duh, duh, and duh again.  I have sent the suggestion to a few places as well as the FDA.  At the FDA it takes me 2 weeks to get the canned response that they received it and then it dies.  Most websites do that immediately and confirm receipt of an email, so we are a little slow there and sounds like we have human doing it when they have time to open the mail. 

EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT WANTING TO ENGAGE THE CONSUMER WITH MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY – OPEN EARS AND LISTEN AS THIS IS THE TICKET AS IT SHOWS VALUE IMMEDIATELY THEN OTHER PROGRAM WILL FOLLOW.  (One more big duh) 

Here’s one big hint, look at this survey and it’s always on the Medical Quack, beat the heck out of votes we see in Congress and many pharmacists like the idea too. 

Furthermore, you can use your cell phone to scan a tag on big chunk of hamburger meat but you can’t find out what has been recalled and what could maybe cause harm or kill your, let’s keep that a secret, right?  See the image to the right with a bar code you can scan with your phone.  FDA are you listing, Johnson and Johnson, are you listening as you are the poster child in all of this.  Well in the meantime if you are a diabetic do what the luddites want you to do to protect yourself from using strips that may give you the wrong results.  This of all products should be bar coded as we have so many people needing glucose strips!!  One more duh! 

Microsoft Tags on CBS Early Show – Wake Up FDA, Pharma and Medical Device Companies –Scan Those Drugs, Medical Devices and Synchronize with an FDA Tag Data Base – Recalls, Theft Tracking and More….

Scan that knee, hip, defibrillator before you use it, takes a few seconds and will help hospital registries function and less mistakes.

Medical Devices Controlling Costs and Creating Tag Registries for Implanted Devices Could Help

Want to put your lab reports or other document into your personal health record, that can be done too, scan and import.  The same technology can be used by the DEA to authenticate physicians too. 

RAZCODE (Microsoft Tags) Using Smart Phones to authenticate MDs When e-Prescribing Controlled Substances

Here’s my heat map so I can see who has scanned my tags, this would be nice for a pharma company to be able to help in the recall and to find stolen drugs. 

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

So far folks it doesn’t look like the drugs and device companies want to invest in safety and items here that show real value for the consumer, but will keep at it until he luddites wake up one day and I hope that is sooner than later.   In the meantime you can go to the FDA page, instead of having the convenience of scanning your strips with you phone and spend time reading and calculating to see if your strips are in the recalled lots.  BD

The FDA announced today that Abbott Diabetes Care has agreed to recall more than 350 lots of its blood glucose test strips because the products may give falsely low test results. According to the agency, such results may lead patients to try to raise their blood glucose levels unnecessarily, or patients may fail to treat elevated levels because of a falsely low reading. Either scenario poses risks to patients' health, say FDA officials.

The 359 lots of test strips being recalled are sold under the following brand names:

• Precision Xceed Pro,
• Precision Xtra,
• Medisense Optium,
• Optium,
• OptiumEZ and
• ReliOn Ultima.

The affected strips are used with Abbott's Precision Xceed Pro, Precision Xtra, MediSense Optium, Optium, Optium EZ and ReliOn Ultima blood glucose monitoring systems. The systems themselves are not included in the recall, which is related to the test strips' inability to absorb adequate blood for monitoring.

Abbott Diabetes Care Recalls Hundreds of Lots of Glucose Test Strips -- AAFP News Now -- American Academy of Family Physicians

Technorati Tags: Abbot Labs,recalls,FDA,medical devices,drugs,pharma,technology,Twitter,luddites,Microsoft,MicrosoftTags,cell phones,scanning

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ONC To Sponsor Open Community for Developers to Create Solutions That Hinder Meaningful Use With Medical Record-Try That New Left Curve Technology Gives Us Daily

There may be some good ideas to come from such meetings, but the over all factor that drives everyone nuts is the technology itself.  Just when you think you have a solution designed that will hold everyone at bay and have use for a period of time, there comes the next wave of technology and it’s time once again to shift gears.  It's kind of like do I upgrade Windows now or do I wait for the next version? 

In addition the big glut of software out there is not doing anyone any favors either and don’t forget mHealth too as it has an impact on meaningful use and a while back I thought it was the element of of meaningful use that got left out, not necessarily for demonstration purposes, but included to acknowledge it’s existence.  For that matter a bonus point or two could have been added for those who went the extra measure beyond meaningful use to show innovation and collaboration with mobile technology.  Constant shifts with payers also is a factor here as even the websites have issues so not that this is meaningful use but is can be an additive to contribute some real disruptive technologies while practicing meaningful use.  Nothing happens until the bills start getting paid.  On top of that this constant shuffle with new rules and regulations being issued to frequently is going to drive the Health IT folks to funny farm as there’s no instant algorithms for this. 

CIO Confidence In Meaningful Use Drops-The New Left Curve of Technology That Arrives Daily Contributes-Don’t Burn These Folks Out

Back on track, to the average doctor, yes they know about meaningful use and now they need to participate in an ACO, so gee which comes first <grin> MU or ACO?  The doctor will choose MU (meaningful use) and the hospitals will be pushing both and in which order remains to be seen at times, and it’s stressing the hospital CIO on top of everything else on their plate.  I laugh a bit when I hear about involving the patient in an ACO and most don’t even know what a personal health record is so my suggestion for all for everyone to get some hands on experience in the consumer side for starters as we are all patients at some point and grow from there.

We need to dump this paradigm that plagues everyone of “it’s for those guys over there” and we get this all the time from Congress, to our boss, to our neighbor and you name.  Everyone is the expert at something they have never tried but will tell you how to do it.  Maybe this new vendor is going to be one of those?  Perhaps we might get a surprise and get one that will roll up some sleeves?  If we are talking doctor resistance, just go out and talk to some of them and you will hear plenty to gather a ton of information and it might be cheaper than this committee and it will certainly serve to be faster and then just have someone put it all together in a report.  Talk to the folks who are not in the meaningful use loop, that’s the best best.  It’s the same thing that I have said about PHRs, go get one and try it out and the answer come faster that way as we are all consumers and a PHR is NOT “just for those guys over there”.  Jump in and quit trying to figure out how to get folks to use a product that you may not use. 

Personal Health Records – PHR Roundtable At the ONC-Hope All Experts and Attendees Actually Use a PHR-Hands On Experience Coupled with Other Knowledge Is The Best

The link between curiosity and intelligence has been established <grin>.  BD

The Link between intelligence and Curiosity Is Discovered

WASHINGTON – The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology plans to sponsor an open community of practice for developers of health IT. The goal is to create solutions to challenges that prevent rapid and widespread meaningful use of electronic health records.

To accomplish that, ONC will hire a vendor to provide an infrastructure that supports the development of innovative tools through organized and coordinated competitions, according to a Dec. 20 announcement.

ONC plans health IT innovation community | Healthcare IT News

Technorati Tags: ONC,Medical records,healthcare,meaningful use,technology,Health IT

Technorati Tags: Technology,CIOs,hospitals,data,healthcare,Health IT,information,think tanks,collaboration,PHR,personal health records,ACO,accountable care organzations

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Fake Viagra And Cialis Bust In North Carolina One of the Biggest in Years–Still Need Bar Coding of Products and Devices to Help Out

This is good to see one of those folks get caught as I like everyone else get tired of the spam that seems to to along with this, so perhaps with a major bust like this maybe the spammers might have less to spam us with?  That of course is the bonus of getting the fake products off the market. 

A good point here is made too, if it is fake, then what is it?  It could be nothing but maybe sugar pills but then again it could be some other drug that could kill you too.  The FDA puts out notices all the time about food supplements that come in from over seas that contain the same active ingredient that is found in Viagra so those with heart issues could have problems.  I keep promoting use bar codes that have encrypted data inside, so if the consumer scans the product and no results, which also can be monitored with the tag with only allowing authentic products to go through, then don’t touch it.

Counterfeit Alli Warning from the FDA – We Should Be Using Technology for Easier Identification

A while back I wrote a few posts about using Microsoft Tags for identifying items that had been recalled.  In giving this some further thought, this process could also be beneficial for finding counterfeits as well.  In addition, those scans can be read and followed up with a heat map too so the scans can be registered and again with an encrypted tag and gateway this could be a pretty good solution and make it harder for the counterfeits to do business.  Devices are counterfeited too so one software solution for many cures.  BD

Counterfeit Johnson & Johnson OneTouch Products Investigation – One More Good Reason to Start “Tagging” Products for Consumers So We Can Scan for Authenticity

CHARLOTTE, NC – It’s one of the biggest counterfeit busts in recent history.

Thursday, authorities arrested 54-year-old Awni Zayyad. The Wilson, North Carolina resident is accused of trafficking over a thousand fake Viagra and Cialis pills.

“My first reaction when I hear that is, ‘If it’s fake, what is it?’ You have absolutely no clue what could be in these drugs,” says Charles Odell, with the Dilworth Center for Chemical Dependency.

Odell says he often sees overdoes from fake drugs.

Fake Viagra Bust Sheds Light on Counterfeiting Issues | Charlotte News | Weather | Carolina Panthers | Bobcats | FOX Charlotte | Top Stories

Technorati Tags: FDA,Johnson and Johnson,Becton Dickinson,technology,cell phones,recalls,medical devices,tech denial,mobile communications,Microsoft Tags,bar coding,diabetes,Roche

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Lenovo Non Profit Contest Winners Announced: Each Recipient Won 5 Touch Screen M90Z PCs

Thanks to everyone who participated and one of the winners was from the Medical Quack, Picture Me Happy, congratulations!  Miller’s Children’s Hospital in Long Beach participates with the program and last year I did an interview with the CFO of the hospital and was able to see the pictures as they were being posted, as contributed by the children.  The touch screen computers will be used by the children in the hospital, neat! 

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

Below is a short recap of the contest and each recipient will be receiving a set of 5 touch screen Lenovo computers. 

Lenovo is also giving away three packages of 5 M90z units each, destined for worthy social/non-profit causes such hospitals, clinics, schools, community centers , and the like, a process in which all participating site owners will be invited to assist soliciting entries for consideration.

3 packages of five (5) M90z units will be awarded to a worthy medical or educational institution such as a clinic, hospital, school, community center, adult education facility, etc located in US/CA will be given away. 

Here are the winners:

Recipient: Picture Me Happy  (http://www.picturemehappy.org/)    
Locale: Many Hospitals in the US  
Submitted by: Barbara Duck, The Medical Quack (http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/)
Back story: The children involved use the computers directly and the touch screen capability of the computers would make them user-friendly for the children, especially those confined to a hospital bed where using a mouse can be difficult. Being immersed in the creative process provides a necessary diversion away from illness and toward the healing power within. Picture Me Happy provides a mechanism for regular involvement in the creative process by providing onsite Arts in Medicine equipment, supplies and programs that are available 24 hours a day. Picture Me Happy is the first Arts in Medicine program which is non-reliant on the schedules of voluntary artists, enabling participants to work with the program when the time is right for them.

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Recipient: Harbor Science and Arts Charter School (http://www.boysandgirlsharbor.net/programs/charterschool.htm)    
Locale: NYC
Submitted by: Helena Stone, chipchick.com (http://chipchick.com)
Back story: The Harbor Science and Arts Charter School is located in the Upper East Side of Harlem in New York City and primarily serves students in 1st through 8th grade. Any child that is a resident of New York City is eligible for enrollment through a lottery process. The school is committed to providing a challenging, rigorous, standards-based curriculum and by drawing upon the most successful practices in education, students at Harbor Science and Arts Charter School are prepared for success while at the school as well as to succeed in higher level institutions (high school, college). In our on-going commitment to support our school so that students meet and exceed standards, our curriculum and instructional practices are systematically assessed and renewed by staff and administration on a consistent basis.

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Recipient: Clairview School    
Locale: Greensburg, PA
Submitted by: Vicki Davis, coolcatteacher.com (http://www.coolcatteacher.com/)
Back story: Westmoreland Intermediate Unit's Clairview School offers a range of learning experiences that build upon the strengths of each student and offers a caring, supportive atmosphere to learn skills needed for independence. We are a school for students with special needs; we service students with physical and mental disabilities, so these touch screens would be wonderful for the students to access the computer. Our website is here: http://www.wiu.k12.p...ite/default.asp (http://www.wiu.k12.pa.us/clairviewsch/site/default.asp).

Technorati Tags: Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z,technology,computer,evaluation,Windows 7,speech recognition,Medical

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St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix Ends up Losing It’s Religion

Last week the controversy was there and this week it happened.  So away go all the Catholic masses and other items related to the church.  Mercy Care Plan, a nonprofit health insurance plan for poor patients was also said to be tied in to the violations of the Church.  BD 

Catholic Hospital in Arizona at Risk of Losing Their Religion

PHOENIX — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix stripped a major hospital of its affiliation with the church Tuesday because of a surgery that ended a woman's pregnancy to save her life.

Bishop Thomas Olmsted called the 2009 procedure an abortion and said St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center — recognized internationally for its neurology and neurosurgery practices — violated ethical and religious directives of the national Conference of Catholic Bishops.

St. Joseph's does not receive direct funding from the church, but in addition to losing its Catholic endorsement, the 697-bed hospital will no longer be able to celebrate Mass and must remove the Blessed Sacrament from its chapel.

Ariz. hospital loses Catholic status over abortion case - USATODAY.com

Technorati Tags: Phoenix,religion,St Joseph's Hospital,abortions,healthcare,Catholic Diocese

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