FDA Approves a New Drug From Johnson and Johnson, Edurant To Treat HIV

The drug is for treatment for those who have not had any prior treatment for HIV and is taken once a day.  The drug is said to have less side effects and works better with patients who have a lower viral load of HIV infections.  BD 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new drug to treat HIV infection on Friday. The drug, made by an arm of Johnson & Johnson, will be sold under the name Edurant, and is designed to be used in combination with other antiretroviral drugs in HIV-positive adults who have not received any prior treatment or therapy.

Once-a-day Edurant, or rilpivirine, is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, which blocks replication of HIV and lowers the level of the virus in patients' blood. It was approved by the government based on the results of clinical trials that involved more than 1,300 adults with HIV.

In the trials, patients were given either rilpivirine or efavirenz (Sustiva) — an older FDA-approved drug — in combination with other antiretroviral drugs, a treatment approach known as highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART.

FDA Approves a New Drug To Treat HIV – TIME Healthland

Technorati Tags: Edurant,Johnson and Johnson,HIV,FDA,clincal trials,therapy,rilpivirine

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Two More Medical Billing Start Up Companies Create Dashboards for Health Insurance Benefits/Payments-Over Crowded Area of Healthcare IT and Few Consumers Use

There are 2 new start ups that basically can carry items that you could pretty well put in your Personal Health Record and actually that’s what these folks should do is pair up with personal health record companies so we don’t yet have one more place to go get information we need.  Some pharmaceutical companies have reduced their mobile applications as they were not used so will the consumer run over to these 2 new start ups?  Both were written up on Tech Crunch and you can bet the author who wrote this isn’t using either program:)

Being I have billed and wrote a medical records system years ago and try to bring in real life situations, shoot there’s doctors and patients who don’t even know what a PHR is and I could almost bet that you may not find many who work at these 2 companies using their own software, as it takes time and yet one more place to go with healthcare information.  First of all there’s Simplee which is free and on the web and I could be wrong but given those 2 parameters in healthcare there could be some anonymous data profiling and selling going on here. 

The next is Cake Health and it’s kind of the same thing, log in, create an account and go forward and again profile and scraping I’m assuming are in line here too.

Getting the information from insurance carriers is nothing new as many IPAs already do this and provide it for members and also allow communication services with their doctors as well, so again a stand alone that is not connected with some other types of services when they can be had like this all over the place today, well don’t know how much demand there will be for a couple new start up stand alones.  A year ago Intuit did their study as they have their product, Quicken Health Expense that works with many insurers as well. 

Intuit Does a Study That Reveals Most American Do Not Understand Medical Bills and and EOBs – Not Big News Here

Intuit last year bought another company trying to expand their sales and efforts here too so again how much consumer interest and is this an over crowded field? 

Intuit Acquiring Medfusion and Will Build On To Integrate with Quicken Health

We just have so much duplication in healthcare and it takes time to sit down and do all of this and again as mentioned above I can bet the folks that create these problems are probably not avid consumer Health IT users themselves but rather wrote some algorithms to pitch and make money through other areas than subscriptions from consumers, i.e. anonymous profiling data for sale or something along that line.  BD 

Just like with Mint and your financial accounts, you give Simplee access to your medical insurance accounts. It then brings in all of your medical, dental, and pharmacy bills and presents them in an easy-to-understand dashboard. Simplee tells your total medical costs, how much you’ve paid out-of-pocket, your deductible, and how many doctor’s visits you and your family have had.

This is all pretty basic information, but health insurance statements are so obtuse that most people have no idea how much they spend on health care. I know I don’t. Simplee does a good job of breaking it all down and showing you what you’ve spent, how much your insurance has paid, what you’ve paid, and how far along you are towards your deductible. It does this for every member of your family under the same insurance plans

Simplee Makes Your Medical Bills Understandable

Technorati Tags: Simplee,Cakehealth,healht insurance,software,aggregation,consumers,Health IT

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HealthGrades 'Best Hospital' List Algorithm Needs Work Again - Flawed Data

Frankly I don’t know how a complete and accurate ranking can be accomplished by anyone.  You would also think that as far as just a Yellow Page type of listing of practicing doctors would be possible, but not so.  You can read my post from back in September of 2010 where I found my former doctor, who had been dead for 8 years still listed as active and accepting patients.  Of course since this hit the news she has been removed and a few other updates on removing some “dead doctors” has been accomplished. 

HealthGrades And Other MD Rating and Referral Sites List “Dead Doctors” on Their MD Information Pages And Even Include the Insurance Plans the “Dead Doctors” Honor

I would also be guessing that investors might be peering in here to see what they are getting for their dollars since the company was purchased by a private equity firm in 2010 as well.  HealthGrades is not alone though as there are other rating service on the web and I found some of the same instances and the same dead doctors which leads me to wonder if one development company works on the information and sells it to the other sites? 

Health Grades Hospital/Provider Rating Service Purchased by Private Equity Firm

There are 2 sides to the rankings, one for doctors and the other side for hospitals.  In speaking with some of my doctor clients here I asked a few of them to look at their ratings and verify for accuracy.  One doctor told me his was flawed in the fact that he was listed with 3 hospitals he has never set foot in and he’s in southern California. 

One of the 3 hospitals he was listed with was in northern California and he has never practiced up there, so go figure.  I mention this as when it comes to hospital rankings how do the doctor ratings tie in here?  Are they skewed with doctors listed as being on staff there and they don’t really exist at that hospital?   The answer for Healthgrades was to put out a tool so doctors could go in and fix what they have erroneously reported, give me a break as this tends to shift the responsibility back to the doctors and a company selling services for additional information on doctors should get their information right and not dump this down to the MDs. 

When it comes to verifying whether or not a doctor or anyone for that matter is alive, there is the Social Security Death Index and back last year when I found the numerous errors, obviously this had not been checked in years.  The Social Security Death Index is available on DVD by subscription and goes back to the year 1936 for deaths in the US.  There are also online services where you can check as an individual, one of which is hosted at RootsWeb. 

From the website:

“The Death Master File, available as an online search application or as raw data files, is important for death verification.   Medical researchers, hospitals, oncology programs all need to track former patients and study subjects. Investigative firms use the data to verify the death of persons, in the course of their investigations. Pension funds, insurance organizations, Federal, State and Local governments and others responsible for payments to recipients/retirees all need to know if they might be sending checks to deceased persons. Individuals may search for loved ones, or work toward growing their family trees. Professional and amateur genealogists can search for missing links.

The Death Master File (DMF) from the Social Security Administration (SSA) contains over 89 million records of deaths that have been reported to SSA. This file includes the following information on each decedent, if the data are available to the SSA: social security number, name, date of birth, date of death, state or country of residence (2/88 and prior), ZIP code of last residence, and ZIP code of lump sum payment. The SSA does not have a death record for all persons; therefore, SSA does not guarantee the veracity of the file. Thus, the absence of a particular person is not proof this person is alive.”

Here’s another website offering the same type of information that made a big splash and press release back in November of 2010.  Several top rated by consumer hospitals have questioned the fact that they were not listed in the ratings to include Harvard Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston not too long ago and I noticed an absence of hospitals like Johns Hopkins in many areas too, so again it leaves many questions unanswered on their algorithms.  How does a doctor admitted convicted of Medicare fraud still carry a 5 star rating one wonders? 

Avvo Physician Rating Service Can’t Get Accurate Information Listed on Doctors - One OC Oncologist Sitting in Jail for Fraud

Is this an easy task to keep updated?  I don’t think so but if the services are to be sold and marketed for consumers to make decisions, it should be correct.  We have the same issues boiling over too with digital illiteracy with members of Congress thinking that putting Doctor Medicare claim data on line should be a cinch, well think again about accuracy and that data base needs millions of dollars worth of work before it could be presented in a format that you and I could use, and for what? 

If the Senators understood Health IT and just general consumer IT today we would not have time wasting bills generated, see more at the link below.  We have changed with data being connected all over the web through companies and government entities so the old days of telling IT I want this and cook it up for me quickly are gone, but those who live in the past have not come to grips with this today and as you can read at the link below, one Senator thinks 6 months is enough and it should be up and running with doctor Medicare claims, get a clue!  HHS, has been working on their hospital and doctor listings for about 2 years now and it is still being refined so this guy thinks 6 months for Medicare claims is reasonable, digital illiteracy with lawmakers and some still think all of this grown on trees.  In addition we have Dow Jones suiting HHS over the Medicare claims and I am guessing they may see this as a Health IT opportunity to outsource to generate money and profits to have a company provide this service and they may be biting off a bit more than we are all ready to chew. 

Two More Senators Propose More Bills to Publish Medicare Claims Data Without A Hint of Digital Literacy Relative to Cost and Time

Bottom line of all of this is realize that there’s a lot of flawed information floating around out there and when you get past using some of these services beyond a Yellow Page type of listing for doctors and hospitals, be ready for flawed data and don’t get your confidence level too high on what you expect to find.  BD

DENVER – HealthGrades has identified what it calls three major flaws in a recent study published in the Archives of Surgery that says its '50 best hospitals' list "falls short."

The findings of the journal article are fundamentally flawed and could undermine patients' ability to find high-quality hospital care, according to HealthGrades.

The article, "Evaluating Popular Media and Internet-Based Hospital Quality Ratings for Cancer Surgery," compared outcomes for gastrointestinal cancer patients who underwent surgery at hospitals on HealthGrades’ “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” and US News and World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” lists. The study asserts that hospitals with the best outcomes for three surgical procedures were often not among those listed as top performers by HealthGrades and US News.

'Best hospital' lists come under fire | Healthcare Finance News

Technorati Tags: HealthGrades,data bases,health insurance,human resources,tech denial,infrastrucure,lazy,employer insurance HealthGrades,employer insurance

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Orthopedic Implants From OrthoSensor to Monitor Knees-Wireless Chips and Accelerometers Inside the Your Body

Well you would have to be living under a rock not to be aware of the recalls on the DePuy implants.  Here’s another company that offering monitoring, GPS, etc. on that implant.  In addition the company has software that assists the surgeon during surgery to ensure a proper placement.  You can read further and see that Stryker is one of their partners.  With the implant your knee can be monitors and condition sent back at all times via wireless and your knee data of course will be stored in a cloud network.  At this point I say hurry up with stem cells that can regenerate growth so hopefully I won’t need wireless in my knee, but that’s my own personal opinion here.  Perhaps when I get into a new Ford vehicle this will integrate to tell me when my knee is about ready to take a dump when I apply the brakes:)

Orthopedics Implants

The software for the surgical procedure looks good though and anything that helps with better placement is ok by me. The company is also stating via the software that they can integrate right into your medical records, personal health records an so on.  Looks like more big money for Health IT integrators here.  The software will generate warning signs upon potential fail of a device, bone degradation and you will have a full business intelligence type report on that knee.  The video below explains how the implant works with the implant. 

Sensors in the knee

The obvious answer of course is to build a good knee that wouldn’t require all of this monitoring but we are not there yet, but keep in mind this is one more item that comes to live within your body.  It also appears from the picture that all the information and reporting has an IPad version, so the analytics are covered here.  Again, interesting technology for audit trails for the implant and so forth, but again do you want one more device in your body?  The surgical interface though looks good for allowing surgeons to place and optimize the implant for sure and no problem there with development in that area, but also keep in mind there are many others who offer such software too and I think all companies in the orthopedic business have a graphical interface as it simply can see better than the naked eye.  The bottom line of all of this is to save cost as the company states on their website.  BD  

OrthoSensor’s Sensor Assisted Surgery platform provides kinematic data that monitors both soft tissue balancing and alignment. Sensor data is transmitted wirelessly via radio frequency (RF) telemetry to OrthoSensor’s external signal processing and monitoring system, informing the surgeon, hospital or patient.

Intra-operatively, OrthoSensor’s graphic user interface (GUI) displays real-time, dynamic feedback during surgery to quantify appropriate soft tissue gap balance. With OrthoSensor Intelligent Implantables—implant devices with embedded sensors—the system will facilitate ongoing assessment of the device’s load, stability, and overall functionality.

OrthoSensor’s technology platform will enable evidence-based orthopedic surgery and comparative effectiveness by streaming data from the surgical suite, physician’s office or the patient centered medical home. The ability to wirelessly transmit the data demonstrating optimal surgical techniques or the effectiveness of various treatment protocols will help enhance clinical outcomes, while reducing cost.

Wireless Systems and GUI | OrthoSensor

Technorati Tags: OrthoSensor,implants,medical devices,wireless,surgery,monitoring devices,accelerometer,design,reports,analysis,Ipad,EHR,PHR,Health IT

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Ford Adding Biometric Health Monitoring to Cars–And How Long Before the Cars Are Driving Themselves (Video)

We all know about the biometric monitoring on devices and on your computer, but now the next territory seems to be moving to the car.  We already have blue tooth connected cars for cell phones, which is a good thing but again how much more do we want to add on is the question.  Granted there’s a lot of technology that is a good thing but when you get into the car do you want all of this?  I guess time will tell how consumers will react.  If it comes standard someday I hope there are options to turn off or turn on.  Will the “chip implant” find its way back here too? 

How dependent do we want to be with technology?  Last year Nike filed for a patent that will tie our shoes for us, I know a bit out there at times.  So your car becomes a “health monitoring” center and we can’t tie our our shoes anymore:)

How Dependent Are We On Technology–Nike Has Filed for a Patent That Will Tie Our Shoes for Us

Speaking for myself even when using handsfree as I always do in the car I sometimes even miss off ramps when the conversation gets quite entailed and I am having to really think on questions being posed, and right there to me that kind of says a lot for the types of conversations I am having as well.  I do ok with conversations that are just that, but if I am driving and someone wants me to get very technical, to where I have to tap in to some extreme knowledge, that can distract me.  I like my music when I drive and a small bit of handsfree conversation is ok but my car is the place to where I can escape some of the alerts and other areas of technology.  Again, there’s the privacy question as to where does this information go and who sees it and is there the standard disclaimer to sign to allow the technology to work?  Stanford has an update too on the autonomous car and a video from Smart Planet shows what’s going on with that end of car technologies.  You can search around here and find several past articles about “Junior” the Stanford car that was developed for the DARPA challenge a few years ago with servers in the trunk. 

Are we combining technologies just because we can?  Granted there will be some good come out of all of this and it may not stick to the “proof of concept” we see but rather parts of it will stay and other parts may go elsewhere.  That happens all the time with technology today.  At the same time the government is considering cell phone jammers in cars too, so who knows exactly where all of this will go.  The article states there’s a pollen report and frankly some days when in a hurry to get to my next appointment, I may not have time and nor will I care to see the daily stats, so again preferences enter into the picture here as well. So what’s next, dialysis in the car while one drives:)   Perhaps once the cars are driving themselves we may have time for the other added technologies:)  BD

DETROIT — Within the next couple years, your car will notice if you have low blood sugar and tell you to have a snack; check local pollen counts and roll up your windows to prevent an allergy attack; and at lunch time, give you directions to the nearest healthy-eating establishment, pausing your iPod to broadcast the restaurant’s menu.

Ford executives said they are not planning to have car apps that monitor blood alcohol, however, which seems like an obvious health and safety solution, especially when the company pointed to prevention of crashes involving hypoglycemic patients. The focus is on chronic disease monitoring and general wellness, Ford says.

Ford showed off some prototypes at a press briefing Wednesday. Press a button, say the word “allergy,” and the Sync allergy app advises you about environmental irritants in your zip code, which can cause allergic reactions and asthma attacks. The system uses the car’s GPS system, local weather info and pollen data. In Dearborn, Mich., on a drizzly Wednesday, birch and maple pollen was the predominant problem.

Another app, developed with the health monitoring company Medtronic, would connect to wireless-enabled glucose monitors used by diabetics. The driver would use voice commands to access his or her blood sugar records, which are stored in the cloud, and the car could ask questions to ensure that the driver’s blood sugar is not too low — such as, “did you eat breakfast yet today?” If the data suggests the driver is at risk of losing concentration or fainting due to low blood sugar, the car would recommend a snack, explained Dave Melcher, a Ford research engineer. The system is meant to help diabetics monitor their illness, but also to prevent accidents.

Ford Wants Your Next Car to Monitor Your Vital Signs as You Drive | Popular Science

Technorati Tags: Ford,Medtronics,car,health,wireless,technology,healthcare,apps,diabetes,heart rate,illness

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HHS Issues Final Rule for Health Insurers To Justify Increases–Need to Certify Insurance Algorithms For Calculation Just Like We Certify Electronic Record Algorithms

This certainly makes good sense to me as that’s how they make their money with mathematical formulas and we see the results every quarter so why not certify their algorithms and of course this may mean some additional Health IT capabilities for HHS, but why not, they need it every where they can get for infrastructure. 

Back in 2009 I suggested a Department of Algorithms or something along that line as if you can’t see an actual working visual model how does anyone know how it works and they don’t have to divulge any code to do this with proprietary system, just give a visual that others can use and and see.  We need some digital laws here soon anyway as the current process is getting to be such a mess anyway. This is also getting more confusing with 3rd party software algorithms come in to play when processing claims so you can read the link below and see how both Blue Cross and Med Solutions had some bad algorithms. 

Med Solutions and Blue Cross Caught On the Stress Test Denial Algorithm (video)

Again back to the laws they are so complex that even the judicial system needs some updated technology to get a correct interpretation, nobody wants the hot potato here.  If you don’t predict and simulate there will be tons of unintended consequences, and boy do we have tons of those. 

Healthcare Reform Law– Is Any Judge Fully Capable of A Decision on a Law That is Challenged By Constantly Changing Algorithms?

We certify software from medical record vendors, so why do we not certify that he algorithms run by insurers and their agents are also performing correctly?

Here’s my post from back in 2009 with the suggestion of a Department of Algorithms and of course you need high powered technology to run it, so either rent some space from the DOE or bring in some IBMWatson servers and Congress needs that capability too.  It’s fine to have a rule out there but when you have companies that figure out immediately how to adjust their algorithms beyond what information is made available, they just adjust the algos, so I hope there’s more to this rule than printed text that will be hard to enforce with the technology the insurance carriers use for their calculations.  Must be good stuff as Medicare claims are all processed by contractors who are insurance carriers either direct or wholly owned subsidiaries of health insurers. 

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

Just this week we have new algorithms for hospitals to attain with goals and incentives set.  They use a lot of software as a service for additional intelligence.

WellPoint Creates Reimbursement Algorithm to Cut Down Hospital Annual Payment Increases and Reward Only Those Who “Score” Well–Analytics on Steroids

SAS® Business Analytics – Algorithms Used by Blue Cross Blue Shield For Business Intelligence, Integration, and Analytics

The medical loss ratios are not having such a good effect either, again the insurers have the highest levels of business intelligence and Health IT systems so they adjust and some regional business models can be changed in as little as 48 hours and rolled out, so how does a law or rule compete with that!  Even their own agents who sell the policies are getting screwed with less money, so talk about maybe biting the hand that feeds you or is it just they want all done on line without those folks? 

Medical Loss Ratios Showing Devastating Effects With Health Insurance Agents and Consumers

The data tentacles go out all over the place today and without having a visual and working model to see, how in the heck does anyone figure anything out?   This guy likes pay for performance and thinks everyone should be on it, but it doesn’t work for every type of job.

United Health CEO Compensation Grew 21 Percent–Pay For Performance/Salary Yielded 4.7 Million of An Almost $11 Million Pay Out

Ok so we are going to have rules for 10% and above, so how about this non sense of wanting members to play games on line to scrape more data?  I don’t get this with the games and it’s oxymoron as they want all of us active and moving around so how in the world is this going to do anything except tie one down to the computer more and when it comes to a choice of an Aetna or Humana game or WOW, guess what wins!  Its more algorithms to get data to sell and analyze so see it’s not about you living a healthier life.

Aetna To Offer Online Game Social Game For Personal Wellness- Joins Humana As They Have An Online Game Called FamScape

It’s the algorithms for profit, rate increases, risk assessments and so forth and again audits (with technology) and a better grip on all of this is what it’s going to take and the “trust me” days are pretty much gone.  If you are interested in privacy,watch the video at the link below from Stanford, it will explain and open your eyes.  We need to do something better than text on paper any more in the digital era as it is obsolete before it gets printed.  BD

You Are the Product–Privacy Anonymity and Net Neutrality On the Internet - Excellent Stanford University Lecture (Video)

WASHINGTON — Alarmed at soaring premiums and profits in the health insurance industry, the Obama administration demanded on Thursday that insurers justify proposed rate increases of more than 10 percent, starting in September.

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, issued a final rule establishing procedures for federal and state insurance experts to scrutinize premiums. Insurers, she said, will have to justify rate increases in an environment in which they are doing well financially, with profits exceeding the expectations of many Wall Street analysts.

Consumer advocates generally welcomed the rule. “The days of insurance companies running roughshod over consumers and jacking up rates whenever they want are over,” said Ethan S. Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now, a coalition that includes labor unions and civil rights groups.

Insurers Told to Justify Rate Increases Over 10 Percent - NYTimes.com

Technorati Tags: Wellpoint,SAS@ Business Analytics,Blue Cross Blue Shield,Software,business intelligence,analytics,health insurance,HHS,government,policies,Rules

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Center for Disease Control Issues Preparedness 101 for Zombie Apocalypse

This is funny and actually a good bit of public relations here describing on what needs to be done to prepared for an emergency.  This is real and you can visit the CDC website here and check it all out.  BD

“If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts, and infection control (including isolation and quarantine).

It’s likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals: determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases, and how patients can best be treated. Not only would scientists be working to identify the cause and cure of the zombie outbreak, but CDC and other federal agencies would send medical teams and first responders to help those in affected areas (I will be volunteering the young nameless disease detectives for the field work)”.

In movies, shows, and literature, zombies are often depicted as being created by an infectious virus, which is passed on via bites and contact with bodily fluids. Harvard psychiatrist Steven Schoolman wrote a (fictional) medical paper on the zombies presented in Night of the Living Dead and refers to the condition as Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome caused by an infectious agent. The Zombie Survival Guide identifies the cause of zombies as a virus called solanum. Other zombie origins shown in films include radiation from a destroyed NASA Venus probe (as in Night of the Living Dead), as well as mutations of existing conditions such as prions, mad-cow disease, measles and rabies.

The rise of zombies in pop culture has given credence to the idea that a zombie apocalypse could happen. In such a scenario zombies would take over entire countries, roaming city streets eating anything living that got in their way. The proliferation of this idea has led many people to wonder “How do I prepare for a zombie apocalypse?”

Well, we’re here to answer that question for you, and hopefully share a few tips about preparing for real emergencies too!

Good basic preparedness advice put in a really accessible format - kudos to someone for doing this! It should go without saying, btw, that your zombie preps are also good if something really weird happens - you know, those unlikely things like flood, fire, tornado, etc...

http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp

Technorati Tags: CDC,Zombies,emergencies,advice,preparedness,cultures,healthcare

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SEC Issues Community Health A Subpoena Related to Emergency Room Practices-The Gang’s All Here With Tenet, HHS and So On

After refusing the last offer Tenet has re-filed it’s lawsuit and now we have the SEC involved along with HHS, so they are in the spotlight now after the hostile take over attempt with Tenet.  In addition two shareholders have also filed suit against the company.  Below is the post about Tenet changing their lawsuit conditions.

Tenet Healthcare Seeking Damages and Costs for Resistance of Hostile

If nothing else the hostile take over attempt sure brought a lot of items to court and opened up interest with investigating how Community Health System does business so they seem to be under a larger magnifying glass than before.  BD 

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a subpoena to Community Health Systems for documents related to the various probes of its emergency room practices and observation visits, according to a company securities filing.

The Franklin, Tenn., company received the subpoena on May 13. The SEC also seeks documents that the company relied upon in making its responses to the securities lawsuit filed against it by Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, according to the filing. Tenet filed an amended complaint Monday in the case in U.S. District Court in Dallas, as Community's filing noted. The company continues to believe that the case is without merit, according to the filing.

Community Health Systems receives SEC subpoena - Healthcare business news, research, information and opinions | Modern Healthcare

Technorati Tags: Community Health,Tenet,hopsitals,mergers and acquisitions,healthcare,for profit,public trading,deals,Health IT,lawsuit,SEC

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Doctors Reattach Leg Backwards On Purpose-Reconstructive Surgery for Cancer

The procedure is for Malignant lesions of the distal femur as a reconstructive technique.  The patient had a few options here besides this surgery to choose from and one was a complete amputation below the knee, which would be at the bottom of anyone’s list I would think and he could have had a bone from a deceased body or a rod put in place and he chose the surgery with the leg on backwards.

The video from the Mayo Clinic shows how this works and how a prosthetic device is used later but the benefits of having a longer leg for the device of course is a lot more support.  I had never seen this procedure and it’s fascinating to see how it works and is certainly better than losing the entire leg below the knee.  BD

Van Nes Rotationplasty,

It’s called a Van Nes Rotationplasty, and it preserved a rare cancer patient’s ability to play baseball.

After 12-year-old Dugan Smith was diagnosed with osteosarcoma – and a tumor on his thighbone – he had the option of having the diseased bone replaced with a cadaver bone or a manmade rod. Or it could be amputated altogether.

But instead, the doctors from Ohio State University Medical Center did the following:

1. Cut off the middle part of the leg (including the knee and most of the thigh).
2. Remove the tumor from the femur (thighbone).
3. With the nerves still connected, turn the bottom part of the leg around 180 degrees.
4. Reconnect the blood vessels.
5. Then sew the lower half of the leg onto his hip – again, backwards – making the calf act as the thigh and the ankle act as his knee (pictured). The foot faces, well, backwards.

Within two hours, he could move his foot and toes – which slid into a partial prosthetic leg and foot to compensate for the missing lower half of the right leg.

Doctors reattach a pitcher’s leg backwards, on purpose | SmartPlanet

Technorati Tags: Van Nes Rotationplasty,baseball,cancer,surgery,healthcare,tumor,amputation,leg

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Verizon (VCast) And Medco Health Release Mobile Application for Smartphones to Find the Cheapest Drugs

First of all though is that you need an Android or Blackberry smartphone and I guess the rest may come in time.  In addition you also can receive some drug interaction information as well.  There are a bunch of applications that provide that information.  If you have Verizon as a carrier then you know you can add on via their VCast applications which pretty much does it on auto pilot.  I have been using Epocrates as a consumer for years and I think I will stick with it and you can also use the Epocrates link on this site to research drugs. 

I am wondering if the program is going to tell you to go to Medco where it is cheaper to get your prescriptions via mail order:)  To use the program you do have to enroll online at the Medco website.  Last year Medco also bought another company that the FDA can outsource with for research related to device and drug approvals. 

Medco Buys Medical Research firm United BioSource for $750 million–Subsidiary Watch

Computerworld - Verizon Wireless and Medco Health Solutions today released a mobile application that guides BlackBerry and Android smartphone users to locations where they can purchase the lowest-cost prescription drugs.

Verizon said the new Medco Pharmacy mobile app can also identify potentially harmful drug interactions based on Medco members' medication histories.

The Medco Pharmacy mobile app is built on Medco's My Rx Choices prescription savings and patient safety program, which was launched online in 2006. To use the app, patients must first register at the Medco website. Once registered, their medication histories and drug plans are made available online.

Verizon releases mobile app that finds cheapest meds - Computerworld

Technorati Tags: Medco,Verizon,VCast,mobile applications,prescriptions,drugs,health IT,cost,healthcare

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Web Connected Breathalyzer That Tweets

Here’s another invention that is well, interesting.  From the picture all it looks like that is necessary is an Ethernet connection and the power cord and the dot net application does it’s thing. This is a mash up, a strange one and who knows where this technology might end up.  As you can see from the pictures it’s still very much in the rough and you also need the right hardware for sensing alcohol.  Now as far as the tweeting goes, it would make me nuts to see how sober or drunk one is, but again who knows. 

You can manually tweet or put it on auto pilot and the 2nd choice would certainly encourage me not to follow:)  BD 

There are many reasons to never tweet drunk, but reasoning is never high on the list of priorities under the influence. This is why you should just let this .NET-enabled breathalyzer mashup tweet for you.

Developer Matt Isenhower posted this cool project to Channel9′s Coding4Fun community today as a sample implementation of his MicroTweet Twitter library for the .NET Micro Framework. Together with Netduino Plus, an open source electronics platform and an alcohol gas sensor, he essentially created an internet-connected breathalyzer that tweeted the results.

.NET Micro Framework enables breathalyzer to tweet – istartedsomething

Technorati Tags: breathalyer,tweets,twitter,strange,social networks,alcohol

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Vermillion Gets Receives Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Biomarker Patent–Blood Test

PAD is kind of the silent disease that is many times found by accident and the patent received here is for a blood test to predict the likeliness of developing the disorder in the leg or ankle area.  When you look at risk it’s all of us over 50 and a few other factors added in.  A few months ago I had a chance to chat with Dr. Peter F. Lawrence, Director of the UCLA Gonda Vascular Center at UCLA on some of the new and innovative treatments they are performing for PAD with also providing a one stop shop for patients. 

The UCLA Gonda Vascular Center Treats PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease)-Interview with Dr. Peter Lawrence Chief of Vascular Surgery

From the website:

“In collaboration with researchers at Stanford University, Vermillion is developing a novel blood test to stratify an individual’s risk of developing PAD, a serious disease estimated to affect up to 12 million Americans.

VASCLIR^® is a blood test that has been evaluated in four studies comprising almost 1,000 patients. It simultaneously evaluates various biomarkers for PAD and creates an index score. Vermillion studies have shown that patients with a high index score are seven times more likely to have PAD than patients with a low index score.”

There’s also the possibility of stem cell treatment with wound care, which is still considered investigational and not yet FDA approved yet, and the link below explains how it works.

Stem Cells Used to Treat Peripheral Arterial Disease–Clogged Arteries in the Legs

Vermillion is also very active in women’s health with biomarkers for ovarian cancer and as mentioned works very close with Stanford University and the patent adds to their existing intellectual properties.  BD

Press Release:

AUSTIN, Texas, May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRML), a molecular diagnostics company, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a notice of allowance for a patent entitled "Panel of Biomarkers for Peripheral Artery Disease" to the company. The patent covers biomarker panels for the diagnosis of Peripheral Artery Disease. The data supporting the patent were published in an article titled, "A biomarker panel for peripheral arterial disease," in Vasc Med. 2008 Aug; 13(3):217-24. This work was done in coordination with Dr. John Cooke at Stanford University. Dr. Cooke is Professor and Associate Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute at Stanford University School of Medicine.

"The notice of allowance for this PAD biomarker patent expands our intellectual property portfolio and adds to our first mover advantage. This is an asset the company believes could have significant commercial opportunity as we continue to develop and commercialize our VASCLIR(TM) test for PAD," said Gail S. Page, CEO of Vermillion.

About Vermillion:
Vermillion, Inc. is dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel high-value diagnostic tests that help physicians diagnose, treat and improve outcomes for patients. Vermillion, along with its prestigious scientific collaborators, has diagnostic programs in oncology, hematology, cardiology and women's health. Additional information about Vermillion can be found on the Web at www.vermillion.com.

Technorati Tags: Vermillion,Vasclir,lab test,Quest,healthcare,Stanford,patent,United States Patent and Trademark Office,biomarkers,diagnosis

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Heineken and Pepsi Get Social–Blue Tooth Bottle Opener And Social Vending Machine Vices for Devices(Videos)

We have all read how soda, beer and many other items are bad for you and how we need to improve and do better, well the vices for devices folks are not giving up easy:)  First off here’s the Blue Tooth bottle opener from Heineken that talks to your cell phone and goes right to Facebook once you open a bottle.  Just make sure if you are using a device to record heart rates and anything else, do that first and then open the beer bottle and send all your information to Facebook. 

 

Heineken - The Invite from Max Gebhardt on Vimeo.

You create an event at your location and you can invite friends to RSVP and who ever gets the most wins a free case of beer and you can start all over again.  Keep in mind that all of this is shared so those scraping data and building profiles, depending on how many events you have may see you as a lush and those insurers out there may think you have an alcohol problem or would use it in their risk assessment to give you a score, probably not the kind you want. 

Now for those who don’t want beer, Pepsi has their vice and you can send someone a Pepsi if you happen to stumble across one of their new vending machines.   Now with all of this marketing do you think anyone is going to stop drinking soda and beer?  Not a chance but again it’s stuff out there for someone to profile you with, so just keep that in mind and gee someone could really set you up with all of this as we all know that insurers just can’t get enough data these days and will use any inth of data in a risk assessment.  There’s no social tie in yet with social networks but there are coupons there and online too, and we all know what coupons collect, data. 

Pepsi Game

Aetna and Humana though have better idea, they want you to plop your fanny down and play a Farmville type of game, now who’s wants to do that and yet one big oxymoron with trying to get folks to be healthier so you can’t believe everything you read today and maybe it’s just your data they really want as that’s big money selling it today as Walgreens said their data selling business was worth $800 million so see what the beverage folks are looking at too, maybe:)

Aetna To Offer Online Game Social Game For Personal Wellness- Joins Humana As They Have An Online Game Called FamScape

Here’s a nice idea to start a party: A bottle opener that connects with your Facebook and invites all of your friends, from the moment you crack a bottle!

Heineken: Bluetooth bottle opener | Creative Criminals

Technorati Tags: Heineken,Pepsi,vices for devices,soda,beer,Facebook,email,Aetna,Humana,advertising,blue tooth,data,privacy,marketing

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Stryker To Buy Orthovita Bio Surgical for $316 Million

The company makes regenerative medical products to harvest bone marrow to help bone healing.  One product is plant based and does not need surgery to use.  You can read the information below that describes the product lines they offer all relative to bone regeneration.  BD 

From the Website:

Orthovita is an orthobiologics and biosurgery company that develops and markets innovative medical implants. Our orthobiologics platform offers products for the fusion, regeneration and fracture fixation of human bone, while our biosurgery platform currently offers products for controlling intra-operative bleeding, also known as hemostasis.

Our current fusion and regeneration products are based on our proprietary, market-leading Vitoss™ Bone Graft Substitute technology which addresses the non-structural bone grafting market with synthetic, bioactive alternatives to patient- and cadaver-derived bone tissue. Cortoss™ Bone Augmentation Material, an injectable polymer composite that mimics the structural characteristics of human bone, provides the basis for our fracture fixation portfolio. Cortoss Bone Augmentation Material is cleared in the U.S. for treatment of vertebral compression fractures. Our hemostasis portfolio includes Vitagel™ Surgical Hemostat, a unique, collagen-based matrix that controls bleeding and facilitates healing, and Vitasure™ Absorbable Hemostat, a plant-based product that can be deployed quickly throughout surgery.

Stryker said on Monday that it will pay $3.85 a share for Orthovita, a 41 percent premium over the company's closing share price on Friday. The value of the transaction includes net debt of $12 million.

Orthovita competes in the $5 billion market for orthobiologics, which are proteins and other agents designed to boost the body's healing process. It is a leader in synthetic bone grafts.

The deal should help Stryker better compete against larger rivals Medtronic Inc (MDT.N) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), while Stryker's marketing heft should bolster sales of Orthovita's product lines, analysts said.

Stryker to buy Orthovita for $316 million | Reuters

Technorati Tags: Stryker,Orthovita,medical devices,orthobiologics,bone grafts,mergers and acquisitions,orthopedics,regenerative medicine

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Asante Solutions Gets FDA Approval for “Pearl Cartridge Insulin Pump”

The device just a month ago has also received the European CE Mark of approval.  The device makes insulin use easier with using a pre-filled insulin cartridge and I would also guess that of course this is not only more convenient but more sanitary instead of having to poor the liquid drug into a pump for use.  BD 

Press Release:

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Asante Solutions, Inc. (Asante), a medical device company focused on diabetes care, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted 510(k) clearance for the company's Pearl Insulin Pump. Last month, the Pearl also received the CE Mark, a European proof of conformity that certifies the product meets EU safety, health and environmental requirements.

"We are pleased to accomplish these important regulatory milestones, and we are particularly proud to be the first fully-programmable insulin pump cleared under the FDA's new more comprehensive and stringent infusion pump guidelines," said Phil Hopper, Asante's CEO and president. "These milestones validate our sensible approach to solving some of the fundamental challenges faced by more than 500,000 people worldwide who use an insulin pump or are considering insulin pump therapy. These clearances now allow us to focus on establishing the capabilities necessary to provide world class operations and customer service as the product becomes available."

"The Pearl Insulin Pump's utilization of a pre-filled insulin cartridge is an evolutionary step forward for those on intensive insulin therapy," said James Chamberlain, MD, medical director for Diabetes Services at St. Mark's Hospital and St. Mark's Diabetes Center. "The fact that the Pearl minimizes all the 'plumbing' issues associated with reservoir filling in other insulin pumps makes it an attractive choice as a starter pump for those initiating insulin pump therapy as well as for those seeking greater ease of use. The Pearl is designed to reduce steps, add convenience, and save time."

About the Pearl Insulin Pump

The Pearl Insulin Pump's many user-friendly features are designed to make the Pearl an easy-to-use system for those on intensive insulin therapy. The pump features a unique modular product configuration that allows significantly lower pump therapy initiation costs through pay-as-you-pump pricing. It is the only insulin pump using glass pre-filled 300 unit insulin cartridges for use in pumps for up to seven days. More product details will be available in the near future at www.asantesolutions.com.

About Asante Solutions, Inc.

Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Asante Solutions, Inc. is a privately-held medical device company developing simple solutions for diabetes. For more information, visit www.asantesolutions.com.

SOURCE Asante Solutions, Inc.

/CONTACT: Steve Bubrick of Asante Solutions, Inc., +1-408-716-5622, sbubrick@asantesolutions.com

/Web site: http://www.asantesolutions.com/

http://www.asantesolutions.com/Phase_2/News.cfm?langid=1

Technorati Tags: Asante Solutions,diabetes,diabetes pump,healthcare,medical devices,FDA,therapy,insulin

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Publix Closing ‘Little Clinic” Retail Medical Clinics in Stores-Most Have Already Been Closed After a 5 Year Run

40 clinics within Publix grocery stores in Florida and Georgia still operated under the name The Little Clinic but are no longer owned by Little Clinic and are being closed out.  This entails 40 locations and Publix has not stated what they are going to do with the space yet.  Retail clinics seem to do better in a drug store atmosphere than being in a grocery or other type of setting.   Little Clinic still has retail locations open and alive in other states and many Kroger stores still house them. 

Boston WorkStation Automates Registration Process Interfaces with Little Clinic Retail Medical Clinic – Excellence Award Given To the CIO for Most Productive Use

Customers can receive their medical records by calling (877) 852-2677 or sending a request to medicalrecords@thelittleclinic.co  and if you remember from a short while back the clinics used eClinicalWorks and the medical record system has options to provide your patient information to include HealthVault and Google Health as a PHR to hold your medical records from past visits.  BD

Publix Super Markets has pulled the plug on its in-store miniclinic network where shoppers could get flu shots and minor ailments treated for less than a visit to a doctor's office.

The decision ends a five-year run for all 40 Little Clinics staffed by nurse practitioners in Publix stores. Last week 10 of the 12 locations in the Tampa Bay area closed, while the last day for the remaining two in Tampa and Land O'Lakes have not been set.

Solera Capital, a New York private investment fund that last year sold the rest of its Little Clinic network in other states to Kroger, said it is exploring its next step for Florida. Publix decided to terminate the leases to "focus on its core food and pharmacy" businesses.

Publix pulls plug on five-year run of in-store Little Clinics - St. Petersburg Times

Technorati Tags: Software,Heatlhcare,Task Automation,Health,eClinicalWorks,IT,Scripting,Workflow,Center,medicalrecords,EMR,EHR,business intelligence,Little Clinic,Publix

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Federal Prosecutors Seeking $1Billion From Johnson and Johnson Relative to Risperdal Marketing

For a little history we can go back to the Omnicare with the nursing facilities and seniors so this is coming full round here with the recent case and J and J has put money aside with anticipating some major expenses.  Back in 2009 Omnicare paid out their share of fines of $100 million.  Risperdal a couple years ago has now gone generic and the marketing could have been related to anticipating the date when the patent was gone.  BD

Omnicare, Johnson & Johnson, Risperdal, Whistleblowers and Legal Woes Back in the News Again

Omnicare Agrees to Pay Close to $100 Million To Settle Case with Justice Department – Paying and Receiving Kickbacks From Ivax and Johnson and Johnson

Oh, if were given a nickel, or a penny, or even one tenth of one penny, for every dollar coughed up by the pharmaceutical industry in fines for improper drug marketing, we’d be blogging poolside from the roof our our own Caribbean hotel while these guys played live behind us, over and over, day after day.

And were that the case, we’d quite possibly get a lot richer very soon.

Turns out, federal prosecutors are seeking roughly $1 billion to resolve a long-running probe into Johnson & Johnson’s marketing of the antipsychotic drug Risperdal. That’s right, $1 billion. Click here for the WSJ story.

In its latest filing Tuesday, the New Brunswick, N.J., company said it had set aside an unspecified sum to settle potential civil and criminal charges.

J&J said its discussions with the government “are ongoing and it is inappropriate to speculate.” Spokespeople for federal prosecutors in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., said they don’t comment on such matters.

Feds Seeking $1B From J&J Over Risperdal Marketing - Law Blog - WSJ

Technorati Tags: Risperdal,Johnson and Johnson,marketing,Federal Government,Departmetn of Justice,prosecution,abuse

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