Are Target Stores Now Selling Data Too? California Store Scanned My Driver’s License When I Bought One Bottle of Wine–How Much Business in the US Is Living Off of Data and Algorithms, Partly Why We Have Job Issues

I about flipped out on this one and if there wasn’t a big long line behind me I would walked but ok so now there’s one bottle of wine listed that I purchased that connects back to data on my driver’s license.  When the clerk asked for my driver’s license, being a person in my mid 50s, we all take as a back door compliment but when she scanned it…oh boy wait a minute.  I talk about the misuse and abuse of data analytics all the time here and it happens and you don’t need to look any further for that than the Governor of Arizona if you want a glaring example of digital illiterates that couldn’t find that small amount of dollars relatively speaking for transplant patients.  Anyway, being I research this all the time, it’s the data selling game as Target has pharmacies and we all know the ton of money made selling our prescription data.   This is a full on rant here, so you are warned.

I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER BOTTLE OF WINE AT TARGET AGAIN. 

The article clip below talks about how Walmart is now going back to selling data back to Nielsen again, selling it.  They don’t give it away, nobody gives any data away today, so Target’s probably right in there too. Walgreens recently stated their data selling business was valued at just short of $800 million.  No wonder Silicon Valley’s economy sits so well, most of this stuff is coming from that direction with software.  I’m not picking on the folks up there as there’s a lot of good stuff that comes out of there too, but the value?  The banks jump in there and push that button too.  Even when you listen to our US CTO, he talks about “getting rich” writing code, not necessarily to help and create better ways of life. 

Now this is a goldmine as I have said before we can’t control the data but we could certainly begin requiring resellers licenses and start taxing it.  This would give law enforcement a leg to stand on as well for those who either don’t pay taxes or sell data without paying a hefty licensing fee.

Privacy Wanted–So Let’s Require Those Who Sell Web Data to Register and Tax the Transactions and Publicly Disclose Who They Sell To With a Federal Registry

If you have not watched it, this video is excellent from Stanford and they also lightly touch on the digital illiterates too with speaking of the “internet tubes’…tubes??  It’s worth the watch!

You are the Product…

Even HHS is a bit off their rocker with a Facebook contest…do we talk privacy and Facebook in the same sentence here? 

HHS Seems To Be Confused on Social Networks–Facebook for Disaster Support Contest, Give Me a Break

I did read all over the web and I am not the first one who became alarmed over this process at Target, and an IT guy in Texas beat me to it and he said the same things I say here with privacy and selling data almost to the tee.

So somewhere along the line someone is going to compare data they get from the connection of my driver’s license and I’m going to end up being some degenerate in some digital illiterates analytic process.  I’m telling you we have illiterates that DO NOT know how to use data and instead of perhaps coming up with community type numbers, they get it down to an individual level and misconstrue and this is where you and I as consumers get fleeced and screwed.  I know a few high tech folks that will jump right in here with me on this as they work with data too.  When you work with it and know the processes, you flat out see it for what it is. 

The problem is not so much the data being collected but it’s rather two other factors, the digital illiterates that mis use the information and have no clue how they judge and hurt others needlessly with stupidity and the other side of the very smart elite that use it to profit buy hiring the digital illiterates and telling them to run such analysis processes.  What do you think the high frequency folks do on Wall Street with their algorithms and it’s going to get worse now as the hardware side of profiting is getting close to an end so the next move is more algorithms to fragment and reformulate faster to get yet one more edge on the next guy.

I read on Forbes the other day (thanks to a tweet that alerted me) where a woman who worked at a drug store in San Francisco was fired as she was a diabetic and was having a low blood sugar attack and grabbed a bag of chips to keep from passing out.  Now was she wrong in the fact that she ate the chips before paying for them and should she have passed on the floor first?  Is this yet one more way to get rid of employees who cost the companies money with health insurance by getting rid of the employees with chronic conditions by catching them on this fine line of eating the chips before she paid for them?  I don’t know all the details but that’s exactly what it sounds like as she was quoted as having a perfect employee record for 18 years.

Why in the heck did Target need to scan my driver’ license?  How much are they making selling their data?  Some states even sell their DMV data too, so you know this is going on.  The governments had to resort to this practice due to lack of money, so I guess this is everyone’s excuse somewhere along the line!  Here’s Rite Aid doing it in the video…these average folks got it with analytics and the potential damage it can and will do. 

Here’s more with banks competing with Groupon and LivingSocial and selling your data…again how long can an economy last on the primary business of selling data with their highly inflated algorithmic processes? 

"Banks plan to compete with Groupon and LivingSocial by targeting coupons and deals at credit card holders based on their shopping habits. They found a way to do it without violating financial privacy laws: 'They're "selling" shopping habits the same way Facebook "sells" personal data about its users: in-network. It's a clever privacy work-around. Just as Facebook allows advertisers to specifically target certain kinds of users based on their profile information (without actually providing that profile information to the advertisers), banks plan to allow advertisers to send deals and coupons to their customers based on what they've bought before. That way, no user data actually leaves the network — instead, deals just enter the network. Each time a customer cashes in on one of those deals, the bank gets a commission.'"

This has become just a huge market and just think some of this money used to go to pay for employees to work at companies.  So let's go back to another post I made about a year ago…it’s been a big hit and well read here…let’s start finding some of those who are addicted and have to analyze every spec of data they can sniff..

Data Addiction and Abuse –The Up and Coming Next 12 Step Program Is On the Horizon–Side Effects Include Lack Of Data Quality, Integrity And Spasmodic Algorithms

BEWARE OF THE DATA ADDICT AND THEIR CO-HORTS THAT SUPPORT THEIR HABITS.  WE NEED GOOD SOUND DATA FOR IMPORTANT BUSINESS DECIIONS BUT NOT A BUNCH OF QUERIES COMPOUNDED INTO WHAT APPEARS TO BE A BIG PRESS RELEASE RELATED REPORT AND BOY DO WE SEE THIS IN THE NEWS TODAY.   Nobody has done squat to help engage the consumer so far as they are so wrapped up in analytics, the consumer is still left out in the cold and heck we don’t even see any leaders using any technology themselves, just search on Google and you see very few leaders with even so much as a cell phone in hand.

After this big event of discovery here with even more data being sold, I’m going to do the right thing the next time I want a bottle of wine, Target will not get my money for the 4-6 bottles of wine I may buy in a year, but instead the owner who runs an independent convenience store near my house is going to get my business and I can go else where for groceries as that’s what I went to Target for anyway.

Who knows where this data ends up and let’s hope it doesn’t end up at some place like FICO that runs mis matched “marketed” data.  I like technology and work with data bases to create answers and solutions and that is also how data base developers can also smell a rat at the same time and I wish more would speak out when issues as such occur.  Read up on the link below and you can see this is only to sell more data and will be totally inconclusive with the results they promise with being able to predict if you will take your medications. This is flat out math marketing fleecing the public and anyone else they can sell their analytics too who will buy in here. 

FICO Analytics Press Release Marketing Credit Scoring Algorithms to Predict Medication Adherence–Update (Opinion)

So I guess in a few year I’ll maybe find out who connected to my driver’s license purchase connected with the one bottle of wine that is now connected.  Some of this has been going on a very long time with retailers and their collecting and selling data.  I used to do some training for Intel and one day while doing a gig at Best Buy talked an employee into doing something he was not supposed to do and that was to let me see on the screen all the data they had on me, and this was about 4 years ago.  Their data went back around 4 years or so and I could plainly see a couple bags of M & Ms I bought in the store on a couple occasions, so they had it all down to the last munchie purchased as well as all my other items bought, so they must be selling some data too:)

So again, what’s next, scanning my driver’s license when I buy a pack of M & Ms too?  Is is going to get this bad to where my entire purchase anywhere I go will be tied to my driver’s license as it’s bad enough already with all the stores and their “savings cards and coupons”.  Those are all data mongers and I can live with a certain amount of that even though I don’t like it, but come on, driver’s license for one bottle of wine?   License and tax these folks as with all the mergers and acquisitions out there we do not know what they are doing with the data, flat out and some may not be truthful about it either.  As you cans see regulatory agencies are wanting those “ those algorithms” and perhaps they should be asking a few more industries.  I suggested something like a Department of Algorithms in an archived post way back 2 years ago, again a coder’s insight or fear.  BD

FINRA and SEC Asking High Frequency Trading Firms To Hand Over the Algorithms of Their Trading Strategies And Code–Time for That Department of Algorithms?

Walmart says it wants to better understand its customers. That's why the company has reversed its position and agreed to share its scan data with outside research firms. The company has already reached a deal with Nielsen and is reported to be very close on a similar deal with SymphonyIRI.

Since Walmart first made the decision not to share its data, suppliers to the company have been able to see how well their products sold, but not competitors. Having this additional information is seen by many as critical to fully understanding the market.

http://www.retailwire.com/discussion/15396/walmart-to-share-scan-data

Technorati Tags: security,privacy,advertising,license,data,browsers,algorithms,registry,government,internet,healthcare,Target,drivers license,wine,marketing,Walmart

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MediSens Graduates from UCLA's On Campus Technology Incubator–Funded and Moving to Northern California–Body Monitoring Systems

The Clinical Movement Assessment System (CMAS) is designed for a wide variety of medical applications and could potentially benefit health care professionals and facilities specializing in the areas of physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, orthopedics, and physical and occupational therapy.  Clinical trials began in January of 2010. 

MediSens at UCLA Begins Clinical Trials After Receiving FDA Approval – Devices That Report Data and Participatory Sensing

If you are old enough to remember the TV show “Get Smart” then you remember the agent’s telephone in his shoe, but this has been developed much more than just a phone and now one’s walking gate is measured from the “shoe”.  In the same way that PEIR monitors your travel habits, a CENS project called "footsteps" measures your walking activity.

Part of the study included “participatory sensing” in other words participation patients with systems that do not disrupt and distract.  In addition to healthcare there are a few other interesting programs going on at the NanoCenter.   Funding was given by an investor in the Los Angeles area.  The sensing in the shoe is also being expanded to using on a “bed sheet”.  Diabetes with sensing in the foot area was one of the first targets developed with the technology. 

What is seeming to make this technology a little different in addition to running a clinical trial is the effort to make the technology “non disruptive” and we barely see that anywhere else but rather have developers creating more and more software applications that in fact take a good portion of our time and actually disrupt.  On that note, there are still those in executive and other type of jobs that can’t figure out why user’s are not jumping into their algorithms:)  I can’t even begin to think about all the social chatter that’s out there with experts who have never used the technology themselves but pound on the social networks telling everyone else about what is good for them.:)  Even all the way up to the government level we see that too and then find out, they don’t use any of the technologies or devices they profess:)

If technology like this can be developed and work without disrupting human life and still have success, there’s a lot to be said for that and it’s the way monitoring should be done versus the heavy “marketing” approach we see in so much of mobile health today with so many having similar products with another company out there.  Shoot if we use too many monitoring technologies, we would have devices in our ears, on our neck, in our hair….well you get the picture, and with that every program requiring interactions that takes time. Planned and devised for human participation is key.  BD 

Press Release:

MediSens Wireless, which in 2009 was one of the first startup companies selected for the UCLA on-campus technology incubator at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), has received funding from a strategic investor in the greater Los Angeles area. The young company, the first to 'graduate' from the incubator, will now set up its own base of operations in Northern California.  

The technology incubator was established two years ago to nurture early-stage research and to help speed the commercial translation of technologies developed at UCLA. It was inspired by the success of Nano H2O, a California startup that licensed water purification technology developed by UCLA researchers and conducted proof-of-concept research at CNSI.

MediSens, which focuses on the development and manufacture of personal body-monitoring systems for medical and health applications, moved into the incubator to begin commercializing technology invented by Majid Sarrafzadeh, a professor of computer science and engineering at UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and co-director of the Wireless Health Institute at UCLA.

Sarrafzadeh and his team formed the startup when they created a "smart shoe" — a shoe equipped with a device allowing it to monitored remotely, enabling health care professionals to keep track of patients with balance problems, such as those with diabetes or those starting a new medication regime. This technology will be used to develop body-monitoring systems with specific applications for diabetics with peripheral neuropathy — the loss of sensation in the foot — and those with health issues that affect their balance.

MediSens began clinical trials in 2010 on its novel Clinical Movement Assessment System (CMAS), a wireless monitoring technology for assessing muscle and neuromotor functions in the upper extremities. CMAS is designed for a wide variety of medical applications and could potentially benefit health care professionals and facilities specializing in the areas of physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, orthopedics, and physical and occupational therapy, among others.

It is anticipated that the system will provide clinical assessments of fine motor movement, muscle strength, hand-eye coordination and patient responses to treatment. Repeat assessments could lead to early warning and detection of deteriorating conditions.

Additionally, MediSens-patented technology is being implemented on a "smart bedsheet" to monitor patients in bed in real-time, with quantifiably preventative objectives in mind.

According to Behrooz Yadegar, the CEO of MediSens, the company will move to Santa Clara in the Silicon Valley area, where it plans to double its staff — currently at five employees — within a year. At its new base of operations, the company plans to further product hardware and software development and begin marketing and development for its wireless technologies.

MediSens Wireless was the first spinoff from the Wireless Health Institute, which Sarrafzadeh helped create. UCLA's Wireless Health Community is made up of experts from many disciplines across campus, including engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing, public health, and theater, film and television.

The California NanoSystems Institute is an integrated research facility located at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. Its mission is to foster interdisciplinary collaborations in nanoscience and nanotechnology; to train a new generation of scientists, educators and technology leaders; to generate partnerships with industry; and to contribute to the economic development and the social well-being of California, the United States and the world.

The CNSI was established in 2000 with $100 million from the state of California. An additional $850 million of support has come from federal research grants and industry funding. UCLA CNSI members are drawn from UCLA's College of Letters and Science, the David Geffen School of Medicine, the School of Dentistry, the School of Public Health and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. They are engaged in measuring, modifying and manipulating atoms and molecules — the building blocks of our world. Their work is carried out in an integrated laboratory environment. This dynamic research setting has enhanced understanding of phenomena at the nanoscale and promises to produce important discoveries in health, energy, the environment and information technology.

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-start-up-company-and-creator-213383.aspx

Technorati Tags: biometrics,behavioral underwriting,health insurance,privacy,devices that report data. UCLA,telemedicine,FDA,MediSens,participatory sensing,nanoscience,incubator

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Mitochon Free EHR/PHR/HIE Systems Connecting to Medicity HIE (Subsidiary of Aetna) at Hoag Hospital in the OC

Mitochon software as a service is located in Orange county as well.  Along with Practice Fusion, they are another free medical records system for doctors to take advantage of and received their stimulus package for attesting and using the product.  Not being familiar with their business model I am guessing to support the free offering that data is some where along the line here sold as that is usually the business model found as something has to support the free offering unless there’s a few big millionaires that are donating all the money.  A little history here the HIE services used by Hoag are a subsidiary of Aetna the insurance company and Hoag was already into their integration and use of Medicity before the Aetna acquisition.  You can clearly begin to see the effects with mergers and acquisitions today in healthcare. 

Hoag Memorial Hospital Connects 250 Community Physicians To Their HIE Via Medicity (Recent Acquisition By Aetna)

Aetna to Acquire Medcity-Health IT Connectivity Vendor-Former CEO Takes Position on Board at Boeing

A few days ago the biggest HMO group in Orange County was purchased by United Healthcare, so insurer stakes in Health IT are all around us and thus I try to bring this awareness around so when making a purchase today you know where your bottom line profits could be going, especially in light of trying to get more smaller and mid size companies in existence in the US to create jobs. In Health IT areas it’s getting down to the linking and competiveness of the insurance IT infrastructures going way beyond just processing medical claims with all the various subsidiaries that are out there today and sometimes hard to recognize as some have some pretty long daisy chains.  I also wonder how much life there will end up being for the non profit HIEs that were set up as commercial competition here seems to be knocking on their doors all over the US. 

United Healthcare To Buy Huge Chunk of Orange County, California Managed Care Business with the Purchase of Monarch Healthcare–Subsidiary Watch

Mitochon systems uses a partner named BAC Medica Marketing who also has a long list of consulting and Health IT support they sell, so again I don’t know in full the partnership relationship in detail between the two companies and the Mitochon systems website has a number of other partners listed.  The EHR  has been certified by the Drummond Group to quality for stimulus money and users of the system will be able to connect to Hoag Hospital for electronic exchanges.  BD 

Mitochon Systems Demo

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sep 8, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Mitochon Systems, a provider of free certified electronic health records systems and connectivity solutions for physicians, has announced that it now has built in connectivity from its EHR to Hoag Hospital's Health Information Exchange, which is powered by Medicity, an industry leader in the architecture, implementation and support of HIEs across the US, bringing robust content, proactive care communities, and meaningful applications together in a coherent, connected environment.

"Medicity is a fine partner for Hoag and we are thrilled to be working with them to connect physicians, patients, outpatient offices and Hoag itself," said Andre Vovan, M.D. Mitochon Founder and Hoag affiliated Physician. "This is a tremendous step toward our goal of generating better outcomes for patients, controlling costs and saving lives."

Mitochon Systems, located in Newport Beach, California, is a free certified HIE/EHR/PHR service that connects physicians, hospitals and patients into a Healthcare Information Exchange (HIE). Mitochon offers a free EHR (Electronic Health Record) and PHR (personal health record) systems for the synchronization of healthcare information. Mitochon seeks to empower physicians, hospitals and patients to make the most accurate, efficient and cost effective healthcare decisions through the deployment of its HIE and EHR products. More information about Mitochon Systems is available via its corporate website at www.mitochonsystems.com or by calling 1.877.817.0902.

Technorati Tags: Mitochon,Aetna,Medicity,mergers and acquisitions,healthcare,health insurance,Heatlh IT,technology,medical records,EHR,Hoag Hospital

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FTC Charges mHealth Apps With False Advertising–No Scientific Evidence for Curing Acne So There’s Not An App for That

This is good as consumers “need to know” and if you read here enough you can hear me rant about all the mHealth devices that only do “one thing” and to have value and make it easier for consumers, having software that can do more than one thing is important.  There are many good apps out there today as well and knowing the difference just simply due to the times we live in today with some really good breakthrough technologies makes is difficult at times.  We live in world where everyone is marketing every inch of a product or software do we do get overwhelmed and a while back I talked about this fact, it is all around us as well as some flawed data lurking around the web too. 

Why Is Almost Everyone In Healthcare Marketing Their “Ass” Off

The FDA of course is working on their plans to verify and ensure that both professional and some consumer products do what they say and of course comply with all HIPAA and other standards.  I think all of the apps should at least register with the FDA for class one and then the agency can take a look and determine which ones need their expertise for approval and at least this way they have a data base of all that is out there as apps change too with adding new features.  With adding new features, a product that perhaps didn’t need approval before may in fact graduate t that category for a simple example.  This way the FDA can use some real business intelligence to have a handle on all that is out there since their job is to protect and this would allow for better collaboration too with the FTC and the bonus part here is the fact that if apps have to register (and don’t make this a cost item) we will have less of a glut of mHealth software and better consumer protection.  

FDA Mobile Medical Applications NPRM From the FDA–Register All With Categories and Create New Classification for “Clone Apps”

Groups like Continua do their best to ensure standards are met and basically if an app and company were part of the group, all could be submitted in a data base to the FDA to save time and effort with registering too.  So if you have acne, these apps are not the cure for you.  BD 

Marketers who advertised that their smartphone applications could treat acne have agreed to stop making baseless claims in order to settle FTC charges. The mobile applications, commonly referred to as "apps," were sold in Apple's iTunes Store and Google's Android Marketplace. The settlements in two separate cases would bar the marketers from making certain health-related claims without scientific evidence.

"Smartphones make our lives easier in countless ways, but unfortunately when it comes to curing acne, there's no app for that," said FTC Chairman, Jon Leibowitz.

The cases involving mobile apps "AcneApp" and "Acne Pwner" are the first the FTC has brought targeting health claims in the mobile application marketplace.

The settlements would bar the marketers from making acne-treatment claims about their mobile apps and other medical devices, as well as the safety, performance, benefits, or efficacy claims about any device, without competent and reliable scientific evidence. The two marketers of AcneApp would also be barred from misrepresenting research, tests, or studies.

Finally, the settlement orders would require Koby Brown and Gregory W. Pearson, doing business as DermApps, to pay $14,294, and Andrew N. Finkle, doing business as Acne Pwner, to pay $1,700.

http://www.fiercehealthit.com/press-releases/acne-cure-mobile-app-marketers-will-drop-baseless-claims-under-ftc-settleme

Technorati Tags: FDA,medical devices,mobile medical apps,advisory board,software,MRC,compliance,wireless,heatlhcare,Heatlh IT,FTC,acne

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Sermo/Fierce Pharma Survey of Oncologists Named Amgen and Novartis As Being The Top Contributing Drug Companies

This is another in the series of contributions of surveys and polls to provide actual MD comments and results on which drugs companies they feel are the biggest contributors to cancer with the best outcomes.  Amgen and Novartis are the top and there were others as well.  The actual report goes into more detail and you can read the entire report here.  Roche was right in there as well as #3.  BD   

In this new free report from Sermo, oncologists share which companies they believe are the top contributors to their field and what drugs they believe yield the best outcomes for their patients.
A total of 101 oncologists participated in the survey, a majority of which spend their time in clinical practice, treating between 50 and 150 patients per week.

http://clients.sermo.com/Article?art=0009&rs=fpct0009wsx&utm_source=fiercepharmacontent&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=sermosurvey&utm_content=ctws_ssurvey_pharma_0009

Technorati Tags: FierceMarkets,Sermo,partnership,doctors,regulatory information,patients,cancer,surveys,healthcare,social networks,reimbursement

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LA-ABC News Anchor Gets a Stress Test from Dr. Oz–And As the Show Moves to Channel 7

I am busy working all the time so I don’t have much opportunity to catch his show but in Los Angeles his show will be now seen at 3 pm.  We all watch David Ono here and he had his visit with Dr. Oz.  The Race for the Cure is coming soon in Orange County and this year Dr. Oz will be attending that event as well that begins at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.  Back in December I actually had the opportunity to participate in a phone interview along with a few others from the press and was able to ask a question or two about his 11 week diet plan that began at the beginning of the year.  You can use the link below to read more. 

Dr. Oz “11 Weeks to Move It and Lose It” Revolutionary Weight Loss Challenge to Launching Jan. 3, 2011

Our new anchor got a good report so he doesn’t have any current worries according to the video below.  It was kind of nice to see Dr. Oz back in MD format and he may do more of that on the show but I’m working when his show is on the air.  BD

My story is a snapshot of what America has become, a country whose families are torn apart prematurely because of heart disease, our number-one killer.

More than anything else, my job as a father is to change my genetic course, to buck the trend. You do it through diet and exercise and Dr. Oz helped me gauge if I was, in fact, doing it right.

I took an echocardiogram. It basically looks at the rhythm of your heart and detects any abnormalities. The news was good: Mine was normal.

Finally, level seven. I was 18 and a half minutes in. My breathing was getting shorter and my heart rate was at a stressed 171.

It's time to stop the treadmill so doctors can take a good look at it.

After that, the doctors re-imaged my heart. The ultrasound allowed them to see all the chambers. If any part of the heart wasn't pumping properly, they'd see it.

"What's the verdict? It's perfect. It really is wonderful," Dr. Oz said.

The news was good, but it was just a reminder that I'm on the right track. If I stop my healthy habits tomorrow, my good health goes away with it.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/health&id=8345688

Technorati Tags: Dr Oz,belly fat,nutrition,waist measurement,healthcare,11 weeks,dietary supplements,fitness carbs,ABC News,Los Angeles

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Volunteer, Sponsors And Supplies Needed for The Largest Ever “Free Clinic” At the Los Angeles Sports Arena October 20-23, 2011

We have another free clinic coming up in October in Los Angeles and CareNow is looking for volunteers, professions, food, and more.  There are already quite a few sponsors and one worth a note is Bill Maher, the comedian.  Most sponsors are in the healthcare business, but not all, and you don’t have to be a healthcare related business to contribute.  Los Angeles over the last couple of years is becoming a regular host to the free clinics for those who can’t afford care and do not have health insurance.  RAM has put on a couple clinics in LA and even more in other cities in California, the last was in Sacramento and CareNow coordinated with their efforts. 

All the details are listed below in the press release and as of tonight, the website appears to have more updates coming soon.  If you can donate time or can volunteer, all the information is included below.  Feel free to refer this post on to anyone in the Los Angeles area as well.  BD 

Press Release:

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CareNow, a local nonprofit organization formed to bring help and hope to the uninsured and underserved in America's urban centers, will transform the Los Angeles Sports Arena into a giant clinic to provide free healthcare services to men, women and children needing medical, dental and vision care. CareNow is looking for healthcare professionals (dental, vision and medical) to volunteer for the event. Volunteers may sign up for half day or full day shifts. CareNow/LA will take place on October 20 to 23 from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Sports Arena located at 3939 S. Figueroa Street in Los Angeles.

"Los Angeles is an epicenter of healthcare need, but there is much we can accomplish together to meet that need. There are vast healthcare resources in our community eager to help, and we're expanding our services with every event, providing not only quality care but continuing care for those who need it," said Don Manelli, president of CareNow. "Our success depends on medical professionals who are willing to donate their time."

Last October, CareNow partnered with Maria Shriver to produce the Modern House Call – a massive free clinic in Long Beach that ran in conjunction with the Women's Conference. Prior to that, the same team of local providers and organizers collaborated with Remote Area Medical (Knoxville, Tennessee based) to produce two large free clinics in Los Angeles. Together, these three events served 15,330 Angelenos and provided 36,120 medical, dental and vision services – free care valued at more than $7.1 million. This year, the same group of dedicated community stakeholders and CareNow team of volunteers will undertake yet another groundbreaking effort.

CareNow is looking for the following healthcare provider volunteers:

"As a returning sponsor of the country's largest free health clinic, we've seen firsthand the difference this clinic will make in peoples' lives," said Howard Kahn, CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation's largest public health plan. "We're proud to be a part of the LA healthcare community that has been inspired to continue the event."

In addition to professionally trained medical specialists, CareNow is looking for non-medical volunteers to help register patients, manage patient flow and assist professional staff. For more information or to register as a medical or non-medical volunteer please visit www.CareNowUSA.org.

"The Los Angeles medical, vision and dental communities have shown an amazing level of commitment, from our local medical and dental schools and businesses, to individual volunteers and the entertainment community, we have received overwhelming support," said Manelli.

To date, CareNow has confirmed the following sponsors and partners: Bill Maher, Mark Gordon, Jason Flom, Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, L.A. Care Health Plan, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Geffen School of Medicine of UCLA, VSP Vision Care, Marisa Foundation, Live Nation, Molina Healthcare, Southside Coalition of Community Clinics, Los Angeles Dental Society, VOSH, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, Henry Schein Dental, Western Reserve University, Southern California School of Optometry, and more than fifty other healthcare organizations, manufacturers and suppliers.

CareNow is also seeking in-kind donations, including bottled water/refreshments, food, pharmaceuticals (excluding narcotics) ultrasound equipment, dental, vision and medical supplies.

For more information on sponsorship opportunities or to provide an in-kind donation, please contact Adrian Marquez at 323.202.1453 or adrian.marquez@edelman.com. 

While most supplies and equipment are donated, there are significant expenses in putting on an event of this magnitude and contributions are still needed. 

For more information about CareNow/LA, please visit the event page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CareNowUSA or follow CareNow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CareNowUSA.

About CareNow

CareNow brings help and hope to the uninsured and underserved in America's urban centers. The organization works with local community resources and volunteers to produce free clinics providing comprehensive medical, dental, and vision care to individuals and families who are without access to the healthcare they need. There is no cost to the patient for the services provided. Clinics are staffed by professional and general volunteers, and supported by donations – both financial and in-kind – from local and national supporters. To learn more about CareNow and this year's clinic, please visit the organization's website at www.carenowusa.org.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/volunteers-and-sponsors-needed-for-largest-ever-free-clinic-at-la-sports-arena-129474573.html

Technorati Tags: CareNow,free clinic,healthcare,Los Angeles,doctors,nurses,drugs,food,water,health insurance,volunteers,uninsured,donations,patients

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More Court Debates over Medicaid Contracts in Louisiana–Health Insurance Wars

Contracts are almost getting to be impossible today and here’s one more to where a judge had to intervene over the state Health Secretary’s choice to run Medicaid.  If it isn’t Medicaid contracts, it’s Tri-Care or something else….in this case it appears Aetna gets to stay in place.  Just a few months ago we had the big legal battle with Tri-Care with United suing the DOD as they seem to think they somewhat “deserve” the business.  All they do is fight anymore and no matter who wins, the analytics are the next step to see where cuts and costs take place.  BD

Update: UnitedHealthcare Sues Department of Defense Over Tri-Care Contracts–They Said They Would Do This – Is This A Case Of My Algorithms Are Better Than Yours?

District Judge Judge Janice Clark on Tuesday granted Aetna's request to block the plan. Aetna is protesting the state's selection of three firms—Louisiana Healthcare Connections, a subsidiary of Centene; Amerihealth Mercy of Louisiana; and AmeriGROUP Louisiana—to run "pre-paid coordinated care networks." Louisiana's health secretary, Bruce Greenstein, also selected UnitedHealth of Louisiana and Community Health Solutions of America to operate as "shared savings networks."

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20110908/NEWS/309089931/#

Technorati Tags: Medicaid,insurance,contracts,judge,ruling,Louisiana,healthcare,Health IT,Aetna

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World Economic Forum Rankings–US Falling Again in Most Categories–5th in Global Competitiveness and 90th in Macro Economics (Math)

In trust with politicians we are ranked at 50th place, and not a big secret there with digital illiteracy running rampant through our Lawmakers at every level including Washing ton.  In macro economics (this includes math) the US is in 90th place.  There are others of course worse than the US, but when you think back to just a few years ago, the US was at the top of almost all the categories.  We hear this from companies who operate in the US and have international interests as well, Intel is one example.  Bill Gates too has testified year after year in front of Congress trying to get a stir going as well, folks that code predict but many have not figured out this bit of wisdom yet. 

Intel CEO States the US Faces Decline in Tech Jobs–Announces Purchase of German Wireless Chip Company Infineon

Intel CFO – US Not Taking High Tech Job Creation Serious Enough – A Reminder That We Are Falling Behind

in 2010 at Berkeley, Bill Gates said asked “are the brightest minds working on the most important issues”.  Well one look at Washington and that answers that with many that work on the Hill but still live in the 70s.  BD 

Bill Gates speaks at UC Berkeley Global Health, Education and Thoughts on Philanthropy

The US has fallen in the World Economic Forum's competitiveness rankings for the third year running. "The United States used to be very much in first place. Now it has dropped to fifth. Some elements suggest it may fall further in the future," Robert Greenhill, chief business officer of the World Economic Forum, told CNBC.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000043936

Technorati Tags: World Economic Forum,US,rankings,politicans,digital literacy,emerging nations,politics,trust,technology,economics

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Security Breach at Stanford Hospital - Patient Found it - Not the Fault of the Medical Records System but Rather a Careless 3rd Party Analytics/Billing Company

This is important to note as this time it was not the university or their IT systems, it was rather a spreadsheet from the ER that was to be used by the 3rd party, Multi-Specialty Collection services for analytics purposes.  We all know how medical billing gets analyzed by many 3rd parties, and some are even owned by insurance companies too as a subsidiary.  This one does not appear to be. 

I can imagine the patient was not happy to find this spreadsheet on the web and the fact that it had been there over a year is not good.  Browser searches are getting so good with their algorithms today that many breaches are being located just by doing a simple search.  There are services that monitor the web for items as such but that doesn’t mean they are 100% and that something doesn’t slip under the radar here and there, but the services are worth it.  Needless to say the 3rd party is history with Stanford now and all will get the customary free credit services.

One more note, with all the behavioral analytics going on today and with patient data being compared against algorithms to predict, this can get very sticky as one patient noted here that her son had this happen and data was compared against certain parameters for mental illness.  With all of this going on today, a digital illiterate would misinterpret the data and the person could very well be tagged as having mental illness in their background when in fact it was just a query done to see if it applied.  Even so, without the patient being aware, this is still a huge eye opener and maybe that’s where they come up with these ridiculous reports that half of us in the US have mental problems.  We are seeing all types of data being matched and analyzed and some of it is mismatched and can work against you. 

With everyone “marketing their ass off” in healthcare, they dig and create “algorithms for sale” that are not a correct match all the time and basically are using some rogue algorithms.  You can read about the FICO claim below with using a patients’ credit rating and combining it with free information on the web.  They say they can score and determine whether or not you as a patient will take your meds.  Fail.  This is nothing but marketing and a total mismatch of analytics that will be used to deny drugs and care in order to save money.  I have brought this up many times and for the life of me I guess everyone else is too digitally illiterate to confront this as it is rogue and not proven, only there to make a buck.  So what happens if data like this gets out there?

The fact that behavioral analytics are often done outside a big data system leads to problems just like this one at Stanford, with the company trying to sell them some type of analytics service, but instead was careless in their own handling of patient data, so would you trust them, heck no.  I can bet Epic, the EHR  system installed might be glad I wrote this post:)  Things are already tough enough around Stanford with the expiration of Blue Cross benefits so patients will have to start looking elsewhere for care unless a miracle happens or if Blue Cross decides to come in and buy up the physicians group, which by the way is happening all over the US with insurers buying up MD groups, had 3 large ones in the last 4-5 months in southern California.  BD 

Stanford Hospitals and Clinics No Longer Accepting Blue Cross Health Insurance–Contract Expire-Patients Have to Go Elsewhere While the Cost Algorithms Churn With Contract Negotiations

A medical privacy breach led to the public posting on a commercial Web site of data for 20,000 emergency room patients at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., including names and diagnosis codes, the hospital has confirmed. The information stayed online for nearly a year.

Since discovering the breach last month, the hospital has been investigating how a detailed spreadsheet made its way from one of its vendors, a billing contractor identified as Multi-Specialty Collection Services, to a Web site called Student of Fortune, which allows students to solicit paid assistance with their schoolwork.

Gary Migdol, a spokesman for Stanford Hospital and Clinics, said the spreadsheet first appeared on the site on Sept. 9, 2010, as an attachment to a question about how to convert the data into a bar graph.

Although medical security breaches are not uncommon, the Stanford breach was notable for the length of time that the data remained publicly available without detection.

The spreadsheet included names, diagnosis codes, account numbers, admission and discharge dates, and billing charges for patients seen at Stanford Hospital’s emergency room during a six-month period in 2009, Mr. Migdol said. It did not include Social Security numbers, birth dates, credit-card numbers or other information used to perpetrate identity theft, he said, but the hospital is offering free identity protection services to affected patients.

The breach was discovered by a patient and reported to the hospital on Aug. 22, according to a letter written four days later to affected patients by Diane Meyer, Stanford Hospital’s chief privacy officer. The hospital took “aggressive steps,” and the Web site removed the post the next day, Ms. Meyer wrote. It also notified state and federal agencies, Mr. Migdol said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/us/09breach.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes

Technorati Tags: Stanford,Blue Cross,Health Insurance,hospitals,healthcare,Heatlh IT,doctors,patients,in network,disruptions,co-pay,contracts,security breach

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Is Provenge the Drug That Even Dendreon Is Having Issues Affording–Laying Off 500

This is the latest chapter with the biotech company which has had a long running soap opera to say the least.  In addition the COO will be leaving.  It was just last month the CEO dumped a bunch of stock before announcing they were not going to be even close to goal.  I guess the Medicare ruling that they will still pay for the $93k treatment still stands or will other treatments, such as the new J and J drug move up in the ranks, which is less expensive but still costs money.   I had a reader write to me about Zytiga and said he had insurance but it was still going to cost him $25,000 for his treatment, again with insurance coverage of some sort. 

Dendreon CEO Dumped $1M Stock Before Admitting They Will Not Meet Their Projections for the Year–Layoffs?

The FDA has just approved the opening of another facility in Atlanta, so will it open?  I’m sure that approval process was long in the works before August arrived with the gloom news about the drug.  In addition Sermo and Fierce Pharma also ran a survey to get the word straight from the doctors about how they felt about prescribing the medication for prostate cancer patients and reimbursement issues mattered. 

When Will MDs Prescribe Life Extending Drugs Such as Provenge–Reimbursement And Delivery Matters

So what remains of Provenge moving in the mainstay with immunotherapy drugs I think remains to be seen.  There are other companies using the same immunotherapy processes in biotech to create similar types of drugs, and the cost associated with some of those are yet to be seen, but one thing after all of this that we know now, the drugs need to be affordable and covered by insurance.  In the meantime, the country still faces shortages for the workhorse chemotherapy drugs across the US that “are” affordable.  BD 

(Reuters) - Dendreon Corp said on Thursday it would cut 500 jobs as it seeks to trim expenses in light of diminished sales expectations for its high-priced Provenge prostate cancer vaccine.

The total employee-related cost of the restructuring is expected to be about $21 million, the company said, citing a need to align staffing "with the shift in the (Provenge) launch trajectory and meet the company's manufacturing requirements."

Investors appeared to be pleased by the moves, sending Dendreon shares up more than 4 percent in extended trading.

"Their SG&A (Sales, General and Administrative) cuts are more than expected and will mean $120 million in SG&A savings," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Yee.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/08/us-dendreon-plan-idUSTRE7876WD20110908?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FhealthNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Health+News%29

Technorati Tags: Dendreon,Provenge,prostate cancer,software,Intellivenge,biotech,FDA,technology,algorithms,active cellular immunitherapy,software as a service

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Two Orange County Doctors Arrested on Medicare Fraud–Data Analytics Algorithms Were Used to Identify the Activity

Ok here's one for the “good algorithms” that audit and track back and match up claims to ensure everything was in divine order.  With analytics those who bill for things out of the ordinary stick out like a sore thumb when a large dollar amount is shown and good to see it’s finally being used to track down fraud.  In addition to lawmakers efforts there’s also the HHS Most Wanted List you can check as well if you think you have seen any of the individuals out on the loose.  Chinese medicine that was administered obviously didn’t code right:)

HHS Creates 'Most Wanted' List Website for Healthcare Fraud - Office of the Inspector General

Last year it was announced that the data base analytics would be available for law enforcement to use when looking for Medicare fraud.  BD 

Medicare Federal Investigators Getting Algorithms to Analyze And Find Fraud-Good Move as Contractors Efforts Are Weak With Risking Loss Of Transaction Revenue

A doctor and an administrator at a Garden Grove medical clinic have been arrested for allegedly billing Medicare for physical therapy treatment that was never provided, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Dr. Byung Ho Pak and Mary Lim were arrested Wednesday morning as part of federal sweep in six regions of the U.S. Pak and Lim, while working at Seoul East West Medical Center, billed Medicare $2 million for physical therapy, according to an indictment. Patients, however, were given treatments that weren’t covered such as acupuncture and moxibustion, a traditional Chinese medicine skin treatment.

The clinic collected more than $1.4 million in payment, according to the indictment.

In all, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force charged 70 people across the U.S. with $264 million in Medicare fraud. The multi-agency team uses data analysis to help identity fraud.  Also arrested in the sweep was a Los Angeles doctor who once practiced in Fountain Valley. He was charged with fraud for allegedly performing unnecessary tests or billing for ones never performed. Dr. Owusu Firempong, 60, submitted $1.3 million in fraudulent claims, according to prosecutors.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fraud-315957-pak-million.html

Technorati Tags: HS,fraud,Medicare Fraud,healthcare reform,Office of the Inspector General,websites,report,tips,hotline,FBI

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Audit Finds Dead Consumers Still Getting Social Security Checks

Wait a minute, this is the most relied upon data base in the US that everyone uses, right?  Well when you look at it though we still have clerical input errors and some part of the data chain that may not flow together correctly, but we are getting better with transparency in data.  The audit came up with 6000 folks that need to be identified and when you look at Social Security as a whole and how many collect, that’s not a big percentage and some were noted going back to the 90s.  By contrast though, paying health insurance on dead employees is to me much worse and someone was asleep at the wheel.  Didn’t anybody who worked with these folks look for them?  Obviously it was the paper and/or data trail here with an HR department who stressed out in their own words and as I understand it, they have to take the insurers who collected premium payments (no medical claims here free and bottom line profit) to court. 

City of Buffalo Has Paid Over $2 Million to Provide Health Insurance for Hundreds of Dead People-Some as Many as 4 Years

Probe finds dead doctors used in Medicare scams

Then of course we have all these online doctor referral sites who have their share of dead doctors, retired doctors and just flat out flawed information out there too.

Dead Doctors and Inaccurate MD Listings On the Web Can Be a Real Hunting Ground of Information to Mine For Crooks Relative to Fraudulent Medical Billing

Again, if it came down to 6000 individuals, that’s not a bad percentage at all for all the claims they handle on their old, but still steady as a rock COBOL data system.  BD

Pundits and policymakers love to brawl over who should be receiving Social Security benefits--but it's hard to imagine any of them vying for deceased Aunt Edna.

According to a Social Security Inspector General report, $40.3 million in social security benefits have been paid to the dead since 2008. Typically, family members or funeral homes are supposed to notify the Social Security Administration (SSA) that a person has died, at which point the information is put in the SSA’s Death Master File. However, people sometimes fail to report this information and even when they do—the SSA continues to make erroneous payments.

The report finds that the SSA has made payments to more than 6,000 beneficiaries for months or even years after receiving notice that the person has died. The IG estimates that about 1,760 of these people are actually dead—the rest of the entries are mistakes. According to the IG, these erroneous death entries can also lead to “severe financial hardship and distress to affected individuals.”

Technorati Tags: Social security,dead consumers,clerical errors,SSA,healthcare,data reform,Health IT

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PHR Company MedeFile International Trying New Route for Awareness/Sales–Infomercials With ION Television & Other Networks

Is this going to do it?  Time will tell as not much has enticed most consumers today with getting a personal health record started.  There are closed system, like Kaiser Permanente who automatically provide a PHR for their patients and so far the closed system seems to be working a bit better.  I have around 500 posts up at the top if this blog about personal health records and keep links here for anyone who is interested to get more information.  I keep listings of those that are free of charge, but there are many others out there as well.  The cost is from $8.50 up to $21.00 a month.  It appears you get both a usb drive and have access to your online records as well.  We shall see if this works but again I keep saying that consumers can’t see the value here yet and it’s a little work to put a PHR together and again I go back to getting consumers value in their mobile phones, like being able to find FDA recalls and then the rest will soon fall in place, mobile folks looking for a vehicle, that would be the key.  Read the link below too and see if you agree.  BD 

Healthcare Bar Code Posts

 

BOCA RATON, FL, Sep 06, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- MedeFile International, Inc. (otcqb:MDFI) (pinksheets:MDFI), a leader in Internet-enabled Personal Health Record (iPHR) management solutions, today published the official schedule for its nationally televised advertising campaign, which began airing in key U.S. metro markets on ION Television last month and will continue through August 25, 2012.

The ad campaign provides for the airing of 60-second infomercials and four different six-minute interviews with MedeFile's Chairman, President and CEO Kevin Hauser. The ad spots will endeavor to promote mass consumer awareness of MedeFile and the need for and the many benefits of MedeFile's personal health record management solutions.

The televised infomercials and interviews will air a minimum of 1,000 times over the contracted one-year period on ION Television, and may be substituted at FMW's discretion on FOX, ABC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC in the following metro markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco/San Jose, Atlanta, Washington and Houston.

Technorati Tags: PHR,Medefile,medical records,ION,television,infomercial,TV,advertising,healthcare,Health IT

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FDA Has A New Training Program for Medical Device Reviewers

This is good thing and it’s the same process that should and does take place when creating medical records, seeing and understanding both sides of the story.  We also know that the FDA desperately needs engineers just like the rest of businesses in the US as well due to the fact that many more devices have software attached either directly or wireless use.   BD

FDA and Medical Devices-Who Doesn’t Get This, They Are Looking for Engineers Just Like Technology Companies Are Doing- Get Some Congressional Digital Literacy in Place

Press Release:

SILVER SPRING, Md., Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Training a key step to improving device review program, strategic priorities

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced two new training programs designed to improve the consistency of medical device reviews by enhancing the skills of those reviewing premarket applications at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH).

The Reviewer Certification Program, which began as a pilot in April 2010 with participants from CDRH's Division of Anesthesia, General Hospital, and Infection Control and Dental Devices, will launch this month and is intended to include all new device reviewers.

The program includes up to 18 months of training, aimed at complementing the skills and knowledge that new reviewers bring to CDRH from fields such as biomedical engineering and health care. Reviewers in the program will complete online training modules, instructor-led courses, and obtain practical experience in the medical device review process. Courses include medical devices, food and drug law and regulatory requirements, the CDRH review process, device design, and the impact of human factors.

"We are investing resources so that new device reviewers at CDRH are equipped to handle the range of issues that arise during the premarket device reviews," said CDRH director Jeffrey Shuren, M.D. "This investment will improve the quality of submission review and make the process more consistent and predictable."

CDRH is also developing a pilot Experiential Learning Program for premarket reviewers. The program will include visits to academic institutions, manufacturers, research organizations, and health care facilities and is intended to give reviewers a better understanding of how medical devices are designed, manufactured and used. The program will also help new medical device reviewers understand the challenges of technology development and the impact of medical devices on patient care.

"Providing our review staff with opportunities to experience medical device development and use from outside the agency will provide new reviewers with a broader view of the regulatory process for medical devices," Shuren said.

The Experiential Learning Program is in the design stage and scheduled to begin as a pilot program in 2012.

Enhancing staff training is one of the 25 action items listed in the FDA's Plan of Action for Implementation of 510(k) and Science Recommendations announced earlier this year to increase the predictability and transparency of regulatory pathways and to strengthen the 510(k) process. The 510(k) is the most common pathway to market for medical devices.

For more information:

CDRH Plan of Action for 510(k) and Science http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/CDRH/CDRHReports/ucm239448.htm

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

Media Inquiries: Karen Riley, 301-796-4674, karen.riley@fda.hhs.gov Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fda-announces-new-staff-training-for-medical-device-reviewers-2011-09-06

Technorati Tags: FDA,medical devices,healthcare,Health IT,software,training,510k,science,safety,technology

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