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FTC Says No to Omnicare Take Over of PharMerica and Files Lawsuit to Block as The Combined Company Would Control 60% of Drugs Supplied to Nursing Homes

1/28/2012 08:30:00 PM  , ,  

Omnicare on its own had revenues of over $6 billion and Pharmericas is just under 2 billion so this would be big financially as well.  We all know what lack of competition does in the pharma world and this probably would be no exception.  Just a few months ago we had Walgreens swap businesses with Omnicare so they got out of the long term care business, so Omnicare picked up business there as well and Walgreens picked up the home infusion business.

Walgreens and Omnicare Swap Businesses–Giving Long Term Pharmacy Care to Omni and They Get Omni’s Home Infusion Business

This is not the first time the eyes of the government have been watching Omnicare as they agreed to pay fine for kickbacks from the pharmaceutical business a couple years ago.  Kickbacks in nursing homes are watched a little closer due to the fact that patients can be subjected to over prescribing drugs for patients with Alzheimer's and other aging or mental issues. 

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

Omnicare Kickbacks Payments to Illinois Nursing Homes – Alleged Violation of Medicare/Medicaid

So in view of the past history with drugs, it’s not a big surprise that such mergers and acquisitions are monitored as along with monitoring for kickbacks, the prices would go higher too.  BD 

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. regulators sued Omnicare Inc. to block its $440.8 million takeover of rival drug-supply company PharMerica Corp., a deal they said would increase prices for elderly nursing-home residents covered by Medicare.      Omnicare’s acquisition of Louisville, Kentucky-based PharMerica would give it the bargaining leverage to raise medicine prices for those covered by Medicare prescription drug plans, passing those costs on to U.S. taxpayers, the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday in a statement.

Omnicare offered $15 a share in August in an unsolicited bid for PharMerica, which the Covington, Kentucky-based company extended yesterday for a fourth time before the FTC’s announcement. The regulators’ complaint leaves little room for Omnicare to make changes or negotiate further, probably killing the deal, said A.J. Rice, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group LLP in New York. That would make PharMerica attractive to private equity firms, he said.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-28/omnicare-sued-by-u-s-regulators-to-block-takeover-of-pharmerica.html

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FDA Approves First and Only Weekly Diabetes 2 Shot Therapy in the US

1/28/2012 06:46:00 PM  ,  

Bydureon took three tries to make it through approval with the FDA.  The active ingredient comes from a synthetic version of saliva from the Gila Monster.  I am imageoriginally from Arizona and I know what those are and way back in 2007 the talk was in the exploration of saliva with lizards.  Bydureon is not insulin and is not for people with diabetes type 1.  Byetta is the non extended version of the drug that has been around for a once a day injection and has been associated with acute pancreatitis, so I would guess the same warnings would apply here as well. 

Lizard spit and bongs - Medication Origins and Future

BYDUREON has been approved with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) and there are a number of post market requirements to assess the impact of the drug relative to thyroid cancer or heart disease as some rats in the testing phase had those issues. 

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alkermes Plc succeeded in their third attempt to gain U.S. clearance for Bydureon, a once-weekly version of Amylin’s diabetes shot.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for adults with imageType 2 diabetes, the agency said today in a letter posted on their website.

Bydureon is a long-acting form of Byetta, a twice-daily injection that San Diego-based Amylin developed with Eli Lilly & Co. in a partnership that ended last year. Amylin lost almost half its market value on Oct. 20, 2010, after the FDA rejected Bydureon for a second time and sought a study on cardiac effects. The companies refiled for approval last year after the trial didn’t tie the drug to dangerous heart-rhythm changes.image

The active ingredient in Byetta and Bydureon, known as exenatide, stimulates pancreas cells to produce insulin when blood sugar is high. It is a synthetic version of a substance found in the saliva of the Gila monster. Bydureon uses technology developed by Alkermes to slowly release exenatide into the bloodstream with one dose a week. The drug won European Commission approval in June.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-28/amylin-alkermes-diabetes-drug-wins-approval-on-third-try.html

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Aneesh Chopra US Chief Technology Officer Resigns to Possibly Pursue A Political Career

1/27/2012 10:06:00 PM  ,  

Well here’s one more and Mr. Chopra was good and got everybody motivated but time to move into the next phase with implementation and perhaps a little different leader is needed to pass the baton.  We have had the word “innovation” up to our ears and now it’s time to begin some serious efforts with “collaboration” and perhaps a different personality to move to the next level with government IT.  About a year ago I made the post below saying pretty much the same thing.  BD   

Innovation Without Collaboration Is Fouling Up The US Healthcare IT System–We Need Both As We Can’t Stand on Innovation Aloneimage

Aneesh Chopra, the first White House chief of technology, has resigned after almost three years on the job.

Chopra's resignation was announced in a post on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's blog that did not explain why he's leaving the Obama administration. The Washington Post reported that he is rumored to be considering a run for lieutenant governor in Virgina.

"When President Obama came into office in January 2009, the administration found a federal government relying too heavily on 20th century technology," John P. Holdren, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in the blog post. "On his first day on the job, the president created the position of 'chief technology officer.'"

The White House under Obama has used technology -- social media in particular -- much more than previous administrations. This can be attributed to the rise in popularity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, but Chopra may have had an influence as well.

Before entering public service, Chopra was managing director with the Advisory Board Company, a publicly-traded healthcare think tank.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2012/01/aneesh-chopra-white-house-resigns.html

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Over 100 Cardiac Patients in Pakistan Have Died from Tainted Heart Medicine

1/27/2012 07:42:00 PM  ,  

This is sad and scary and makes you appreciate the FDA for sure.  I read elsewhere that the chemical content of the drug was ok but now we are left with imageother compounds, coatings, etc. to be checked as well.  The government shut down 3 companies where the drugs are made and by the way they also export drugs to other companies, US not mentioned as one. 

Patients all had a sudden drop of white blood cell count and broke out bleeding in some area of their body.  This all happened over a 3 week period.  The drugs were administered by the government hospital and were free.  Samples of the drug have been sent to London and Paris outside the country for additional tests. 

Pakistan Drugs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2j2Llf31S4

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Wellpoint to Begin Paying Family Practice Doctors a “Little” More–Enough to Make A Difference? Pay For Their Full Time Billing Expenses and A Lot of Doctors Would Happy

1/27/2012 07:05:00 PM  ,  

Ok so I made my point in the title and this article too dissects the potential demographics of the situation too as if only 10-20% of the patients are covered by Blue Cross, is there enough incentive for the doctors to make a difference?  On the other hand if the insurer paid all their insurer overhead, now that would make a huge difference and get attention.  Let’s also look at the amount of the investment here since doctors only represent 8% of healthcare expenses.image

Physician Salaries Represent 8% of Total US Healthcare Cost

Certainly the clinical information shared is always of value as knowledge helps all the way around.  For those doctors going broke as this recent article talked about, and there’s a lot of truth to this in the family practice area for sure, this won’t make a dent and there are doctors in affluent areas like Newport Beach, CA also going broke, so go figure. 

Doctors Going Broke–You Can’t Even Give a Practice Away–Only Folks Buying Them Are Hospitals and Insurance Companies As It Relates to Reimbursement and/or Profits

Best I can figure is that some numbers were crunched and some new algorithms were produced to show an effort here and that’s kind of what I see here to make news and show something positive, you think?  Speaking of Newport Beach, acquisitions by other insurers are creating problems too so when insurance contracts are not being bounced around maybe this tiny incentive that is built up to be such a big story will help? 

United Healthcare Acquisition of Monarch Healthcare HMO Already Causing Confusion and Access Problems for Blue Shield Patients in Orange County

So what does this promise of Wellpoint giving doctors data and staffing entail?  Are they going to cover the doctor’s red tape billing expenses?  Don’t hold your breath on that one but I guess more will roll out later but the staffing I am guessing will be more in the area of efficiencies for them to “improve” and how that rolls out will remain to be seen too.  If all the insurers kicked in to cover all the doctor’s billing expenses that would be a story

The nation's second-largest health insurer is shaking up its approach to paying doctors, putting a major investment behind the idea that spending more for better primary care can save money down the road.

Starting this summer, WellPoint Inc., which insures some 34 million Americans, will offer primary-care doctors a fee increase, typically of around 10%, with the possibility of additional payments that could boost what they get for treating the patients it covers by as much as 50%.

The new approach could pour an additional $1 billion or more into primary care, which WellPoint is betting will pay off in the form of fewer emergency-room visits and hospital stays.

Primary-care doctors, such as pediatricians and family physicians, often make less than half of what top-paid specialists like orthopedic surgeons earn, and the idea of changing how they are paid has been around for years. Insurers and government agencies are experimenting with a variety of approaches. But WellPoint, with its network of about 100,000 primary-care doctors, could have a much broader influence.

The impact could be amplified by another new effort, by health insurer Aetna Inc., which will start paying the 55,000 primary-care doctors across its network an extra fee—of $2 to $3 per patient per month—if their practices are certified as meeting certain standards for providing access for patients and coordinating their care.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203363504577185270518129952.html

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California Legislature Urging Health Insurance Companies to Cover Chemotherapy–Especially With Breast Cancer Treatments

1/27/2012 04:01:00 PM  ,  

The bill in the legislature will force insurance companies to cover oral cancer chemotherapy instead of making patients take a trip to the hospital for each treatment.  This is especially important with breast cancer as patients can take the medication in the privacy of their own home.  This would allow for patients to spend more time with family.  image

Patients with good insurance are not covered either as the policies are not covering and they are paying out of pocket.  It’s about time to catch up with the times and science and offer quality of life.  Bi-partisan support has been given in the Legislature.  The costs for oral chemo can add up to $10,000 a month, that is huge.  Good more and insurance companies should cover this but the insurers are saying they would rather wait to see the impact of healthcare reform as this would increase premium cost…what?  Time for some new forward thinking here instead of better access I think.  BD 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Some cancer patients, even those with good insurance, are paying thousands of dollars a month for treatment because they're taking pills to fight their disease, instead of regular chemo. And some lawmakers in Sacramento say it's time to change that.

The American Cancer Society says cancer is the second-leading cause of death in California. There's a push for better access to treatment, by including oral chemo, in health plans.

Perea says expanding such access would especially benefit women greatly because a number of anti-cancer pills are used for treating breast cancer. In all, more than three dozen medications have FDA approval for different types of cancer. The Central Valley Democrat just wants insurance companies to catch up with science.

Opponents still put up a fight. Without knowing how much the federal health care reform will effect medical costs, critics say they would rather wait.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=8520940

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Stem Cells Used to Build a Better Reconstructed Rat Penis

1/27/2012 08:05:00 AM  , ,  

The article states this is clearly for reconstruction and not for growing one from scratch.  The next level up is to test with primates and then hopefully lead to where procedures as such will evolve for humans.  However, if you go over to Wake Forest they might be ahead of the game as far as building one as they created one from scratch for a rabbit and it worked so there is research on both ends here with repair and building from scratch it appears.  BD  image

Regenerative Medicine News – Fully Functional Rabbit Penis Created That Works

Men in need of penis reconstruction could soon enjoy the benefits of a special ingredient: stem cells. A new study in rats shows that lacing a penis graft with adult stem cells yields better healing and sexual function than using the graft alone. The finding may point the way to improved treatments for a variety of human penile impairments.

Men with penis injuries, deformities, or severe Peyronie's disease—which causes excessive scarring that can curve or shrink the penis—sometimes need surgery to reconstruct their genitalia and restore their sexual function. Many receive a graft made of their own tissue, cadaver tissue, or pig intestines, but the surgery can cause complications, including erectile dysfunction.

"This is an excellent study, with lots of clinical implications," says Trinity Bivalacqua, a urologist at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland. But he notes that the method applies only to reconstructions, not to cases where a surgeon may need to build a new penis from scratch. And although the technique works well in rats, "this doesn't always translate to humans," Bivalacqua says.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/01/stem-cells-build-a-better-rat-pe.html

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Morgellons Disease Study Comes Up Empty With Finding a Cause–But Still Exists In Patients Minds

1/26/2012 05:47:00 PM  ,  

Kaiser Permanente finally finished the study requested by the CDC and there was nothing to indicate a cause.  As you can read below the study was not cheap and I have covered a few stories about it and is has been perplexing and mysterious.  It is somewhat rare with the feeling of bugs running under your skin and the mysterious “threads” that appear.  Below is the backlink with CDC requesting the study from Kaiser.  BD 

CDC Launching Investigation Of Morgellons Disease - the mysterious illness

(CBS/AP) What if it felt like there were tiny bugs crawling all over your body, causing oozing sores and mysterious fibers sprouting from your skin? That's how many people described their symptoms to government doctors several years ago, with health officials sometimes receiving up to 20 calls a day from sufferers.

Many of these people lived in California, prompting one of that state's U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein, to ask for a scientific study. In 2008, federal health officials began to study people who said they were affected by this freakish condition called Morgellons disease - named from a 1674 medical paper that described similar symptoms.

The study, published Jan. 25 in the journal PLoS One, cost nearly $600,000. It focused on more than 3 million people who lived in 13 counties in Northern California. After researchers went through Kaiser Permanente patient records, they flagged 115 people who had what sounded like Morgellons. That's the equivalent of roughly 4 out of every 100,000 Kaiser enrollees. "So it's rare," said Mark Eberhard, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who was part of the 15-member study team. But when the researchers dug further to find a cause for the disease, they came up empty.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57366616-10391704/morgellons-disease-exists-only-in-patients-minds-study-shows/

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FDA Approves Picato Topical Skin Gel For Treatment of Actinic Keratosis Which Can Lead to Skin Cancer

1/26/2012 05:17:00 PM  ,  

This is great news as it can be used for as little as 2 or 3 days and be effective as you don’t really know which AK will turn into cancer or not.  In clinical trials more imagetreated with the gel were cleared from the actinic keratosis than those with a placebo.  BD 

FDA approved ingenol mebutate (Picato, LEO Pharma) gel (0.015%, 0.05%) for the topical treatment of actinic keratosis (AK). It is the first topical AK therapy that can be used for as few as 2 or 3 consecutive days.

AK is a precancerous condition caused by cumulative sun exposure that has the potential to progress to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the second most common type of skin cancer.  Picato 0.015% gel is used once daily on the face and scalp for 3 consecutive days; Picato 0.05% gel is used once daily on the trunk and extremities for 2 consecutive days.

“The approval of Picato gel is very exciting as it will give physicians and health plans an effective 2- or 3-day topical solution for actinic keratosis, which can lead to squamous cell carcinoma,” John Koconis, president and CEO of LEO Pharma, told Formulary.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of their lifetime. Studies show that about 65% of SCCs begin as untreated AK, and guidelines from the AAD estimate that 60% of predisposed persons older than age 40 years have at least 1 actinic keratosis.  

http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Clinical+News/FDA-approves-first-gel-for-short-term-topical-AK-t/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/757176?contextCategoryId=40153

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Hospital To Pay Garth Brooks $1 Million For Not Building Woman’s Health Center In Honor of His Mother With His $500,000 Donation

1/26/2012 04:52:00 PM  ,  

This is a strange case indeed but with half a million dollars and no name anywhere imagefor Mom, I guess this is where the lawsuit came from and the donation goes back to 2005 so there was plenty of time to act on this one.  The hospital had suggested an intensive care unit but Mr. Brooks said that did not fit and wanted a Women’s Center.  There might be more to come on this one as who knows he could just take the money and donate to another hospital and get the women’s center built elsewhere.  BD

CLAREMORE, Oklahoma (AP) – An Oklahoma hospital in Garth Brooks' hometown must pay $1 million to the country singer because it failed to build a women's health center in honor of his late mother, jurors ruled Tuesday evening.

Jurors ruled that the hospital must return a $500,000 donation to Brooks plus pay him $500,000 in punitive damages in Brooks' breach-of-contract lawsuit against IntegrisCanadian Valley Regional Hospital in Yukon. Brooks said he thought he'd reached a deal in 2005 with the hospital's president, James Moore, but sued after learning the hospital wanted to use the money for other construction projects.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/story/2012-01-24/garth-brooks-hospital-settlement/52783732/1

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Bill Gates Speak About Challenges of Global Health - Healthcare Budgets in the US - Video

1/25/2012 06:58:00 PM  , ,  

The Wall Street Journal caught up with Bill Gates on his way to Davos and talks imageabout quite a few healthcare subject here, including budgets.  He says through the foundation he learns a lot about healthcare and urges continuation of funding. 

The conversation goes back to the market fall and the impact it had with budgets being immediately squeezed. 

He says he’s spending a lot of his money and Buffet’s money that it puts him in a seat that perhaps those in politicians get to see and he hope the attention will continue to benefit.  Will the people who need AIDS drugs be able to get and afford them is a big question. He has no problem with financial taxes but says they are difficult as they are political.  He says it’s going to be another decade before we see real change.  Private philanthropy is a big help but it can’t carry the entire burden by any means.  Again Bill Gates make the case for immunization and reflects again on polio where vaccines have a big impact to eradicate the disease.  BD 

http://online.wsj.com/video/bill-gates-the-challenges-of-global-health/C280B38B-A80F-4AC0-8755-95D4A0E7C4FC.html

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Heart Headed for Transplant Dropped On the Street Along the Way, But Recovered Quickly and Patient Received Her Heart–Video

1/25/2012 05:52:00 PM  ,  

Who was here I wonder to capture this video?  How did the reporters zero in on this one. This goes to show how resilient the human body is, including transplants.  It was wrapped of course so the heart itself did not touch the street.  BD 

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

The organ, wrapped in yellow plastic, spilled out and lay briefly on the ground before the medics hastily put the heart back into the cooler and ran inside the hospital.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/01/25/donor-heart-recipient-unaware-it-was-dropped-on-the-street/

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Abbott Labs To Lay Off Close to 700–Big Impact At Vascular Stent Manufacturing Plant in Temecula, California

1/25/2012 05:39:00 PM  , ,  

It was just a few months ago that the company announced they were splitting the device and the drug divisions into 2 separate companies and it looks like this is part of the overall restructuring plan.  When the plan was announced, 1900 jobs were the targeted number and thus far as indicated below the diagnostics area has been saved so far.  BD 

Abbott Labs To Split Drugs and Devices Into Two Separate Companies

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Abbott plans to lay off around 700 employees as part of an ongoing restructuring, and though a couple hundred of those job cuts will come from its diagnostics business its molecular diagnostics operations will be spared, a company spokesman told GenomeWeb Daily News on Wednesday.

News of the layoffs was first reported by the Associated Press following Abbott's release of its fourth-quarter and fiscal-year 2011 financial results. Though Abbott didn't mention the cuts on its conference call Wednesday, its financial statement noted a $332 million pre-tax charge for "restructuring/integration/other."

Most of the layoffs will affect employees that manufacture vascular stents in Temecula, Calif., as well as some employees in the firm's core diagnostics business in Illinois, and pharmaceutical manufacturing, the spokesman said. He added that the cuts in the diagnostics business are a continuation of a restructuring plan begun in 2008.

http://www.genomeweb.com/mdx/abbott-job-cuts-spare-mdx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+genomeweb%2Fgenomeweb-daily-news+%28GenomeWeb+Daily+News%29

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Jon Stewart Talks Affordable Care Plan And Exchanges With HHS Secretary Sebelius –” It’s Still Not Affordable Yet”

1/24/2012 12:01:00 AM  , , ,  

This is not Jon’s usual rhetoric but is very tame and is more informative.  He puts her imageon the spot about premiums going up.  They go over medical loss ratios for insurance companies and the 80/20 plan.  The discuss waivers and how folks will get check back if the companies do not meet the ratios. 

There are 2 parts so here’s one. 

In Part 2 a few more politics are mentioned with exchanges and the states.  Jon asks how do you balance the lousy states.  Tax credits are discussed and the question about the “fine” being less than dropping employees is debated a little.  Tell that to these folks as this company doesn't seem to foresee any problems with upcoming fines in the years ahead, that is if they are still in business, another issue today with smaller businesses. 

Aviation Safeguards Company-Services Big Airlines With Skycaps, Wheelchair Assistants and Security at LAX Dumping All Healthcare Benefits for Employees February 1st 2012

This was nice but not the real world totally as the portion of big business and their crafty algorithms was missed as insurers live off their “algos”.

Sure the insurers feed information in but the data is created by the insurer algorithms….hope our new financial protection czar digs in here with some “real” math as the talk is all great but things change daily it seems. 

I think corporate USA will find some holes when they craft some new formulas as they haven’t let us down yet if you read the news on some of this, so with all the money they make selling data, license and tax the insurers with a usage tax as they are seeing record profits right? 

I think this kind of stuff every time I have to pay an excise tax to buy a tire for my car.  BD

The Alternative Millionaire’s Tax–License and Tax Big Corporations Who Mine and Sell Taxpayer Data They Get for Free From the Internet-Phase One to Restore Middle Class With Transparency, Disclosure and Money

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-23-2012/exclusive---kathleen-sebelius-extended-interview-pt—1

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Aviation Safeguards Company-Services Big Airlines With Skycaps, Wheelchair Assistants and Security at LAX Dumping All Healthcare Benefits for Employees February 1st 2012

1/23/2012 05:21:00 PM  , , ,  

This is not good news for the employees who service major airlines who are seeing big profits so next time you need a skycap or if you need a wheelchair think of imagethese folks if you will.  Here’s a a video of one woman who is pregnant and it appears her coverage will be gone.  The clients the company services includes Virgin, Continental, Air France, Alaska Airlines and more. 

As the article states no layoffs but benefits will be gone and yes one more example of big corporate profits here coming first before benefits for employees.  It all comes down to budgets and algorithms for profit. 

GoodJobsLA

The big profitable airlines make a ton of money selling personal data they get for free so tax them and give some money back to companies who need to provide healthcare benefits, the alternative millionaire’s tax.  BD 

The Alternative Millionaire’s Tax–License and Tax Big Corporations Who Mine and Sell Taxpayer Data They Get for Free From the Internet-Phase One to Restore Middle Class With Transparency, Disclosure and Money

Good Jobs LA, a grassroots group that sympathizes with labor unions and the Occupy movement, says that the company's clients at LAX include Virgin Atlantic, United, Continental, Air France and Alaska Airlines.

Those carriers have seen more than $2.5 billion in profits collectively last year, according to the organization.

image

Aviation Safeguards employs sky caps, wheel chair assistants and security personnel. Mendoza works as a dispatcher who sends wheel chair assistants to travelers who need them.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/01/lax_worker_health_insurance_pregnant_jennifer_mendoza.php

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Israeli Family Doctors Concerned That Internet Medicine Is Causing a Dramatic Turn for the Worse With Doctor-Patient Relationships Using Expanded HMO Services

1/23/2012 03:48:00 PM  , ,  

I think we hear the same thing here in the US as this is all pretty new technology and they make some of the same points made by our doctors, what can be done remotely and what should not be.  The HMO group has a few months running here with experience and soon patients will be able to see their entire medical records on file…sound familiar with what’s happening here in the US?  image

What is mentioned…”marketing”…we have that here too and sometimes things get spun today in all areas when marketing goes on steroids.  In the end though if you read through here, I think they have the same fears and ideas common all over, leave it up to the doctor as to whether or not a remote visit will suffice.  In the meantime though with patient access to all their records, I’m sure there’s many in the US that will be watching the evolve as it does promote the involved and educated patient with healthcare and why should patients be restricted from seeing their own medical records.  Last week we had a bizarre situation here which ends in a legal suit of investors being able to see patients records that they themselves are not able to see.  BD  

Accretive Health Debt Collector Employee Has Laptop Stolen With Non Encrypted Patient Data from 2 Hospitals And Had Access to All the Data Via Revenue Cycling - Patient Information Was Shared With Wall Street Investors – Algorithms For Profit Again?

Turning to journalist Gideon Reicher in a new commercial video clip by the Clalit health maintenance organization, a cartoon character smiles and says, "I didn't rush and I didn't run around." The clip, starring Hamudi, one of the HMO's mascots, presents new digital services offered by Clalit to its insurees - making it possible to use the Internet to renew prescriptions, and to request referrals to specialists, a variety of permits, consultation with experts and personally adapted medical advice. The HMO plans to expand the service so that, in half a year's time, insurees will be able to see their entire personal medical file online, including hospitalization in Clalit hospitals.

The online service has been in operation for more than half a year, but only now, after the commercial, are doctors in the field complaining that it is causing a dramatic change for the worse in doctor-patient relations in the country's largest HMO, which insures 3.9 million people. The Israel Association of Family Physicians has been voicing serious concerns in recent weeks. The family doctors are afraid the service is downgrading their professional status.

“Notice how they're marketing us," a senior family doctor warned recently in correspondence among association members. "You no longer have to go to the doctor - the clerk in the branch will do what you ask via the Internet. Do you feel comfortable with such a method of advertising doctors/clerks? What has happened to the relationship between a doctor and his patient, when we're being marketed this way?"

Another doctor said, "It's true that the service makes it possible to ask patients to come [to the clinic], but isn't it a waste of our time? Isn't it better for us to invest it in treating patients? In consultations? Isn't it a shame to have all the unnecessary 'arguments' with patients that Hamudi promised them?"

Dr. Baruch Itzhak, head of a committee of community health doctors in Clalit, says the committee is working in coordination with the Association of Family Physicians regarding the contents of online medicine. "We support Internet medicine, when it's done in the right dosage and with the proper structure," he says. "It must be restricted to matters that don't require physical contact with the patient, without undermining privacy and the Patients' Rights Law, and there is agreement between us and the Israel Medical Association that the use of online medicine is up to the doctor's judgment."

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/israeli-family-doctors-fear-internet-medicine-is-causing-a-dramatic-change-for-the-worse-1.408732

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Catholic Healthcare West Ending It’s Affiliation With the Catholic Church–Changing It’s Name

1/22/2012 11:29:00 PM  ,  

Back in December of 2010 we had the hospital in Phoenix who “lost their religion” over a procedure that was deemed an abortion and so perhaps this was an event that started the move in this direction?image

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

There are quite a few just in Los Angeles county alone.  If you read the article it’s all about money and staying in business to merge with other hospitals.  In the news of late there’s been quite a bit about a Jewish hospital merging with a Catholic hospital I believe in Tennessee and that has been a little rocky.  Is this the future of hospitals to survive to be non affiliated with the church?  In case you missed it, 2 big hospitals in Hawaii closed down at Christmas time.  BD

Hawaii Medical Center Closes Emergency Rooms As New Buyer for the Facility Fell Through And Facilities Will Be Closed When All Patients Have Been Transferred

Catholic Healthcare West, one of the nation's largest hospital systems, is ending its affiliation with the Catholic Church and changing its name, two steps intended to help the system expand throughout the states in which it operates — California, Arizona and Nevada. The changes, which executives plan to announce today, underscore the challenges facing Catholic hospitals in the marketplace, where there are tremendous financial pressures for hospitals to merge or form alliances with other health care providers to survive and thrive.

The change will have no effect on patients or the medical care provided at the 25 Catholic and 15 secular hospitals in the system. But executives hope it will make it easier to merge or affiliate with other hospitals, doctors' practices and other health care providers.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/national-digest/article_160dd704-1ae3-5a32-b6cf-43f503f5c005.html

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The Presidential Medical Formula–Self Contained Medical Clinics All Controlled Remotely By Doctors Located in Residences and Ocean Containers

1/22/2012 10:59:00 PM  , ,  

This is a pretty neat concept and not without cost something of a special feature here at the Medical Quack.  How often do we read about the shortage of doctors in the US and it does not seem to be getting any better. I had the opportunity to talk to a company that is doing just that, with a full clinic, some stocked with medications that only a remote switch can open for prescriptions.  This concept is also used presently in a small way with planned parenthood clinics that open a drawer after a video conference for one medication, but this is the whole clinic.

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So who’s buying these clinics? 

Folks who are acutely aware how important  health care is to the quality of their life.  When you stop and think about folks like Bill Gates for an example and others blessed with the means to have the finer things in life , wouldn’t it make sense to have a clinic in your mansion?  A lot of them have already done so.  Some are like big hedge fund managers that was privacy and don’t want to venture out into the public for general care and may not want such items publicized.

The President does it and clinics as such are on board jets as well.  This company was founded by doctors who cared for the President and thus the name Presidential Medical Formula. 

Below is an image of what a bed room would look like.  When you look further down you can see how this room changes and all the furniture swaps around and opens up all the medical equipment.  When I first saw the video it reminded me of some of the James Bond movies as the furniture swirls around and medical devices come out. 

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I asked about how expensive are these things?  Well they run from starting at less than 100k for the base model all the way up to one individual who installed an entire operating room in his house that can run up in to the 7 figure area and that person does not live in the US so you can guess where it might be located.  The company in following with client privacy efforts does not disclose who their clients are and where the clinics are installed, again this part is for those who obviously have big funds to afford them. 

Below is a picture that shows a pop up screen with the doctor ready to go to work with consulting the patient.  You can see a few of the medical equipment items in the drawers.  They are all built with the patient in mind to where the doctor instructs the patient on where to hold and use each on so the information can be relayed to his end. 

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One of the portable cameras cost around $4000.00 and is small enough to hold in sshot-4your hand.  So any folks reading here that want one of these get in contact with me and I can send you some contact information. 

As mentioned above there is one that is a full operating room and this is it, the image below and I was able to watch how this one is completely hidden, as all the clinics are located in houses but this one has an elevator that comes up out of the floor and transforms the room.  We did not discuss details on the remote surgical procedures but you have probably read in the news the last couple of years how this is also becoming a possibility and has been practiced in some areas of the world.  I believe if I remember correctly this was one of the most expensive installations ranging around $40 million and again it is not in the US. 

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The next level of expansion is to provide such clinics ready-made in ocean containers.  We have all read about telehealth and mHealth and this is the next level up.  We have seen some of this already with companies providing a van like Cisco has but it has not been constructed to the full automated level and that is where the company is with the full solution with just the patient and the MD remotely connected. 

When you stop and think about it having an automated clinic in rural developing country areas, medical care becomes available in areas where there has been little or no presence.  In addition using such contained services in some military operations is in the plan as well.  Granted on the front line you are not going to replace emergency units but in other non-war zones this could work.  If you have read this far, here’s a video that shows a room transformation. 

Presidential Medical Formula

This is pretty neat when you flip a switch and the medical equipment comes out of the cabinets and the doctor is in the mirror for the consultation.  In some of the clinics the doctor is imaged right on the wall for a presence that pretty much brings the MD right into the room. 

Again if you find this interesting and want additional information use the “contact me” email form at at the top of the Medical Quack and I can put you in touch.  BD 

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