Sale of Leukemia Drug Halted Due to Substantial Number of Blood Clots and Heart Disease

<p>The drug was only approved a year ago so the numbers of people with clots and other issues arose quickly.  A few people died after only taking the drug for a couple of weeks<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="160" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Z0mrchJ4VKA/UnNQs3Nw_zI/AAAAAAABIYk/RwJeiuwaDJ0/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="123" /> and many had no risk factors with heart disease.  The side effects were much worse than imagined and the FDA will research to see if there is in fact any smaller group of individuals that the drug could still help.  8 percent is a pretty high number for developing blood clots and it was recently updated by the FDA to 48 percent with a group of patients studied over a year.  </p> <p>The treatment was not cheap either at around $100k a year and it was meant to be given to patients with a certain genetic mutation that made their cancer resistant to other drugs.  BD  </p> <p> <hr />Sales of a promising leukemia drug, Iclusig, are being suspended because of “the risk of life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels,” the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/food_and_drug_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Food and Drug Administration</a> said on Thursday. </p> <p>The drug, also known as ponatinib, has been linked to severe and sometimes fatal heart attacks and strokes, <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/blindness/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier">blindness</a> and <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm370945.htm">loss of blood flow in the extremities</a> serious enough to require amputation. In some cases, the problems or deaths occurred as soon as two weeks after patients began taking the drug, the agency said in <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm373040.htm">a statement</a>. It also said some of the people affected had no risk factors for heart disease, and some were in their 20s. </p> <p>Iclusig was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/business/fda-gives-early-approval-to-leukemia-drug-iclusig.html?_r=0">approved less than a year ago</a> to treat chronic myeloid leukemia. The risk of blood clots was known, and the label carried a warning. But over time, the problems turned out to be much worse than they appeared in the studies performed before the drug was approved. In those studies, 8 percent of people taking the drug had serious blood clots in their arteries, and 3 percent had blood clots in veins. </p> <p><a title="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/business/serious-danger-of-blood-clots-halts-sale-of-leukemia-drug.html" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/business/serious-danger-of-blood-clots-halts-sale-of-leukemia-drug.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/business/serious-danger-of-blood-clots-halts-sale-of-leukemia-drug.html</a></p>

Sale of Leukemia Drug Halted Due to Substantial Number of Blood Clots and Heart Disease

The drug was only approved a year ago so the numbers of people with clots and other issues arose quickly.  A few people died after only taking the drug for a couple of weeks and many had no risk factors with heart disease.  The side effects were much worse than imagined and the FDA will research to …

Read more »

Food Stamps To Be Cut By $5 Billion- November 1st, Millions of Americans Will Face Benefit Cuts–Farm Bills Pending With Maybe More Cuts

<p>Below is an image that has some statistics on those who are on Food Stamps, 1 in 7 households and many have children and of course seniors make up a large group as well.  Food banks are already preparing to help where they can with the upcoming shortage and many of those centers are already overwhelmed.  Some are just barely getting by and now we can add hunger to the other problems we have in the US.  If you want to look at the economic side, this also means less income for grocery stores.  I don’t know if you have watched the news about grocery stores profits have fallen and they are closing up shop in Chicago and Cerberus, a private equity firm is looking to buy them and all the company executives are selling out their stock, so multiply that out against many grocery stores and this does not help at that end either.  Safeway is also looking to sell their Canadian stores.  </p> <p><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="186" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yX98HV0UB3E/UnNNZmH9gSI/AAAAAAABIYY/NiuA5iDpY2k/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="528" /></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Meanwhile the GOP in Congress wants to look at cutting even further and remove more people from the food stamp rolls by attaching a work clause to the benefits but in some areas of the country people still can’t get jobs, so you end up with jobless hungry people.  There are bills in both the House and the Senate.  States could even act on their own to further reduce benefits.  </p> <p>The Vets get hit again as well as 900,000 former military personnel lived in households with food stamp benefits.  This is not going to do much for healthcare either as people will eat more junk and not have the same focus on healthy eating if they can’t afford it and we all know it’s costs more to eat healthy these days.  Money that was there for doctor’s visits will now be used to eat and for other basic needs.  Four million families in California will be affected.  Again it is always the poor that are affected.  BD </p> <p> <hr />That is when Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits are set to fall for more than 47 million lower-income people -- 1 in 7 Americans -- most of whom live in households with children, seniors or people with disabilities. Barring congressional intervention, the maximum payment for a family of four will shrink from $668 a month to $632, or $432 over the course of a year.</p> <p>That amounts to 21 meals per month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The cuts will leave participants in the program, better known as food stamps, with an average of $1.40 to spend on each meal. The amount people get could sink even more if Congress makes deeper cuts later this year when House and Senate lawmakers try to hammer out a farm bill.</p> <p>Another group with lots of members in SNAP: Veterans. U.S. Census Bureau data show that, in 2011, some 900,000 former U.S. military personnel lived in households that used food stamps. </p> <p><a title="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57609936/millions-on-food-stamps-facing-benefits-cuts/" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57609936/millions-on-food-stamps-facing-benefits-cuts/">http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57609936/millions-on-food-stamps-facing-benefits-cuts/</a></p>

Food Stamps To Be Cut By $5 Billion- November 1st, Millions of Americans Will Face Benefit Cuts–Farm Bills Pending With Maybe More Cuts

Below is an image that has some statistics on those who are on Food Stamps, 1 in 7 households and many have children and of course seniors make up a large group as well.  Food banks are already preparing to help where they can with the upcoming shortage and many of those centers are already overwhel…

Read more »

Congressman Issa Issues Subpoena to HHS to Obtain Documents Related to Website Project And What Role QSSI Played All The Way Around As A Contractor On the Project

<p>I’m using a political video here as it does contain some good points but in my post I’m going to try and separate reality of complex data systems and the politics.  Some like to believe in magic and some do math, I prefer the latter as it’s not just a “perception” it <img align="right" height="137" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-I5DHxK01ND4/UWWRTkIAlEI/AAAAAAABGbQ/MsscEcwywhE/image%25255B10%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" width="163">is the reality of what is happening today all around us and the “bliss” or inability of our lawmakers all over the place, going beyond Congress to grasp. <strong> First of all we had the story about consumers getting their policies cancelled, well insurers have been doing this for years, happened to me years ago before Obama was President</strong> as insurers do have complex math formulas and they end and create new policies all the time.  The new ACA law had certain requirements to be met to avoid having more “under insured” types of consumer policies issued and that’s the rub. You can read more at the link below.</p> <h5><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/provisions-of-affordable-care.html">Provisions of Affordable Care (Complexities) Act to Help Eliminate “Under-Insuring” Ends Up With Insurance Companies Cancelling Many Policies, Most Offering Replacements And Conversions and Some Not, What’s Next…</a></strong></h5> <p>Remember insurers are creating the new policy amounts given out based on their risk assessment algorithms and not the government so if you have one that blows the premium prices out of the water, get on the phone and talk with your insurer to find out why.  Their calculations are intense and detailed so ask them why.  <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/06/mib-solutions-and-hooper-holmes-working.html">Maybe they ran a mortality assessment</a> like the MIB and Hooper Holmes provide to insurers?  Maybe it’s where you live having an impact but yes do <img align="right" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmQCQK-KLTS53DO5NRDgnVJnvbZij8gQTou-YVM2Dy6Lg6HSWrtQ" style="float: right; display: inline">ask questions as insurers make mistakes too, like being able to send letters out with keeping it straight on what doctors are in and out of network, been a few examples of those mistakes to where the insurer said “never mind” when the mail letter algorithm went into action.  <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/insurance-company-in-network-complex.html">Read more here</a> on that topic.</p> <p>I know the next place to look are insurance exchanges for quotes and I don’t have to repeat the many stories on this now but pick up the phone there and search out the alternative methods of getting quotes, <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/health-insurance-exchange-contractors.html">which by the way I said on 9-11</a> were probably going to be the best route to go.  When I heard the report from contractors, not hard to figure out coupled with the last minute contingency contracts awarded in June.<strong>  If the confidence was there in June for the website, those additional contracts would have have been granted.</strong>  I’m not a super brain at all but I use logic and connect dots and have a good understanding of Health IT having been a former programmer, so not much different than having a mechanic that understands all about your car, same thing.  </p> <div id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:0c52f9ed-c202-42dc-85bd-f97b7e7d762c" class="wlWriterSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><div><object height="252" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1R7pp-sa7h4?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1R7pp-sa7h4?hl=en&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="448" height="252"></embed></object></div><div style="width:448px;clear:both;font-size:.8em">ISSA Subpoena for HHS Obamacare Documents</div></div> <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/one-good-reason-to-fix-sequester-as.html">Congress also needs to fix the sequester</a> as I don’t think they realize the hardship this is putting on hospitals right now, so much to the point that they are ready to go to court, money is getting squeezed and this makes it even worse when you are sick and just trying to get care.  As I said in February of <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/kathleen-sebelius-kansas-governor-for.html">2009 we needed a secretary of HHS that had “some” tech</a> as right now exactly what I said is sadly playing out as she’s no contest for the extreme math models used by complex business intelligence math models of the insurers.  <strong>As predicted, she’s been duped and duped again.</strong>  If you want to understand how math models and quants figure into the profitability of banks and insurance companies and see how the Algo Duping occurs, <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">watch the videos at the Algo Duping page and cross over to the “math” perceptions and realities and dump the “magic” perception that does not exist,</a> except in the news for sensationalism to get hits on the news websites.  I’m not here to win any popularity contest, just telling you it is what it is.  You can also scroll down to the footer here and watch a few of the videos also at the <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">Algo Duping</a> page.  A lot o folks have been finding their way over there.  </p> <p><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-kBA-dLfLLGU/UIepz3XA3GI/AAAAAAAA_Kk/8WllR3a7ChM/image%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800"></p> <p>You know what the cold hard reality here is, banks and insurance companies have morphed into big software companies…don’t believe me, <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/it-is-business-states-cio-of-bank-of.html">listen to B of A, IT is the business.</a>   On a rare occasion I agree with the banker’s assessments on that one, read below.  <strong>We are under the <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/attack-of-killer-algorithmsdigest-links.html">Attack of the Killer Algorithms</a></strong></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/04/banks-are-actually-just-software.html">Banks Are Actually Just Software Companies and the Same Can Pretty Much Be Said for Health Insurance Companies As Well-5 Unspoken Reasons Tech Projects Fail</a></h5> <p><strong>At the end of the video Congressman Issa is asking why all the secrecy with QSSI</strong> and there’s been ton of conversation with that company and how United bought it two weeks after HHS award.  Issa is now saying they won’t even cooperate as all the other technology companies were and keep in mind they are now head of the project.  <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="176" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BKxvOBavNYg/UnKSkrXLYlI/AAAAAAABIYA/J1pBLHHeV9k/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="127">I had my own questions here as far as timing and the fact that both <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/daily-showjon-stewart-takes-on.html">Oracle and Microsoft had turnkey software state exchange platforms built,</a> I know as I blogged them in 2011 when announced and never a word mentioned about either.  </p> <p><strong>So my question was QSSI (subsidiary of United Healthcare)  who is domiciled in India on the United Healthcare SEC filings page, writing code from the bottom up?</strong>  Of course that costs more money and require a lot more time too.  At the link to the blog post below I included a link to the 15 pages of subsidiary companies United has, take a look.  I have been doing this with insurers for about the last 4 years so people know where their dollars really go and sometime people make different choices if they know big corporate conglomerates are the end ones to profit.  </p> <h5><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/india-technology-to-fix-us.html">India Technology To Fix US Healthcare.Gov Website Now And Has Assumed The Lead Project Manager and Integrator Role, QSSI Listed As Indian Domiciled With United Healthcare SEC Filings</a></strong></h5> <p>All during the time the “federal hub” was being built, you could find tons of articles besides me asking why all the big secrecy with QSSI…companies when they go into a big project normally put out press releases talking about what they are doing and with who, but we didn’t get that all here.  If you go back in time with United to 2007 I think it still stands as the <a href="http://www.dandodiary.com/2007/12/articles/options-backdating/unitedhealth-derivative-settlement-largest-ever/#comments">biggest derivatives court case settlement in history.</a>  </p> <p>Issa continues on that QSSI would not even answer simple questions about people that work for them and he states he believes he should have the information he needs to investigate soon.  BD</p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R7pp-sa7h4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R7pp-sa7h4</a></p>

Congressman Issa Issues Subpoena to HHS to Obtain Documents Related to Website Project And What Role QSSI Played All The Way Around As A Contractor On the Project

I’m using a political video here as it does contain some good points but in my post I’m going to try and separate reality of complex data systems and the politics.  Some like to believe in magic and some do math, I prefer the latter as it’s not just a “perception” it is the reality of what is happen…

Read more »

One Good Reason to Fix the Sequester as Hospitals and Providers Are Ready to File Lawsuits Against Insurers Passing Back 2% Sequester Cut-HHS and CMS Have Some Real “Perception” Issues And Can’t Model Worth A Darn..

<p>The sequester if you don’t remember, started in April and since that time doctors and hospitals are getting paid 2% less from Medicare.  For one doctor’s office that may not sound like <img align="right" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-iAYIxCUQzBg/UV2UCP7NHQI/AAAAAAABGWM/TQKKLzd0GCk/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" />a big sum of money but for a hospital it is big.  So keep that in mind that all hospitals are getting paid 2% less on their Medicare claims and have been for months.  In addition they have to deal with the outpatient/inpatient billing nightmare as even as a patient, you don’t know if you are admitted or not and it’s complex billing situation and hospitalists deal with it all the time.</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-bugging-hospitalsnot-obamacare-as.html">What's Bugging Hospitals–Not Obamacare As An Entirety But Rather the 2% Loss of Reimbursement Due to Sequester and CMS Rules Lacking Better Models Along With CMS Dissolving Annual Payment Increases</a></h5> <p>Ok so next chapter, we have the sequester cuts and now they get it from another angle, from the insurers who are also on <strong>Medicare Advantage plans deducting that 2% cut</strong>.  Now what even makes tempers fly even more was that in April about the same the sequester hit, CMS gave the insurers who provide Medicare Advantage plans a 3.3% rate hike, so they get a raise and instead of a cut for 2014,  and then turn around and take 2% from the <img align="right" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRp9TBlvWqtr16ku9oa-uGY_yLITLV9hYmtozmPi5XdbJ5RW7Sm" style="float: right; display: inline" />doctors and hospitals now.  Did you read that right, they are getting 3.3% more and then keeping 2% from what they pay doctors and hospitals.</p> <p>Insurers claim the sequestration cuts along with the rate cuts and taxes under the healthcare reform law is forcing them to scale back, but anyone see any health insurers not pumping a big quarterly profit..no.  Now in 2014 there is a reduction in premiums coming forth after the increase given this year, so members will pay lower premiums.  <strong>That is why doctors are being fired</strong>.</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/united-healthcare-firing-thousand-of.html">United Healthcare Firing Thousand of Doctors Caring For Medicare Advantage Plan Patients in Connecticut, Florida and Rhode Island-Attack of the Business Intelligence Killer Algorithms…</a></h5> <p>This might look to be a slow ending to Medicare Part D as it seems<img align="right" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TKYXI9HNaQI/AAAAAAAAh1M/7da7_nnWx-c/image_thumb%5B7%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" /> United is seeing it that way with firing doctors who take care of Medicare Advantage patients so the scramble begins with doctors and patients.  <strong>United is firing them, and now Aetna is wanting to expand their Medicare Advantage network in the same area United is firing doctors, does that make sense when Aetna filed a form with the SEC stating that the rates for Medicare Advantage were going to be a challenge?</strong>  Look at them with their models at times that make no sense.  </p> <p>Back to the 2% Aetna and United are the two aggressive carriers passing the 2% cut back to the hospitals and doctors, who else. <strong>I don’t know about you but I have about heard enough from CMS and their budget, their cuts, their penalty programs and last but not least the non qualified folks trying to create the websites</strong> and data services for insurance exchanges. <strong>Congress should just flat out realize these are costs that are not going away and all of this is pitting people and departments against each other that should no be there and patients and doctors suffer over this bull shit.</strong>  Read this post on this Senator <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/senator-pushing-on-behavioral.html">who thinks that algorithms that change our behaviors are the cure alls too</a>, boy is he duped big time.  </p> <p>Sure there is room for improvements in costs and we need to go after flat fraud as well, but this is getting bad and I’m flat tired of reading in the news about the <strong>fairy tale studies</strong> insurers and their groups like the <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/senator-pushing-on-behavioral.html">Lewin Group owned by United and others put out promising “trillions”</a> in savings as it’s flat out not there without hurting people.  Go to the footer and<img align="right" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-IlL8hr8WM9Q/UkTbAp58D0I/AAAAAAABH9k/EsFwbFuC004/image%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" /> watch the first video on how you get sucked in with all of this and insurers do it to elevate profits and I have no problem with companies make a dollar but not this way with <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">Algo Duping and running a government agency around chasing it’s tail all the time,</a> as they have shown they can’t do it.</p> <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/kathleen-sebelius-kansas-governor-for.html">As I said back in 2009, Health IT would eat up our current HHS Secretary</a> and it is as <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">Algo Duping is alive and well</a> and government is duped and duped again, even to the point to where Congress is buying in on a lot of this “marketing” promising big savings that are a farce, and then come back and blame sick patients and over worked doctors, sometimes the <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-aafp-confronts-united-healthcare-on.html">insurers are paying doctors “less” than Medicare itself.</a>  HHS Secretary is so Algo Duped she seems to think that all you need is an app and everything is solved.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/hhs-secretary-sebelius-still-looking.html">HHS Secretary Sebelius Still Looking for Tech Breakthroughs To Save the Day</a></h5> <p>It’s time to get past the phony marketing here and get a real perception on what is taking place out there.  All these big savings are a pie in the sky and the less you read of some of bogus marketing news and press releases you see, the better off you are. <strong>These frigging experts simply do not exist, watch the video at the link below and see what I mean.   </strong></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/02/relying-on-experts-when-they-may-not.html">Relying on Experts When They May Not Exist–Many Intelligent and Smart People But Do We Have Misconceived Paradigms-TED</a></h5> <p>We have one huge perception problem in the US and it’s not getting any better with an Algo Duped HHS and CMS agency.  BD</p> <hr />Healthcare providers are threatening to sue insurers that pass along a 2% rate cut imposed on their Medicare Advantage plan payments under the federal budget sequestration law. <br />Hospitals, physician groups and post-acute care providers accuse the Medicare Advantage plans of breaching contracts by unilaterally reducing payments. They are considering legal action by the end of this year to block the cuts, said attorneys who represent provider groups. Federal spending on the Medicare Advantage program totaled about $135 billion last year, so the dispute is over 2% of a large pot of money. <p>Medicare Advantage insurers say they have to pass along the cuts because they're increasingly squeezed by reduced payments because of sequestration and Medicare spending reductions included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. </p> <p>A March report from the Government Accountability Office found overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans of up to $5.1 billion in years 2010 to 2012, heightening political pressure to reduce payments to the plans. <br />The plans had been facing a 2.3% cut for 2014—until the CMS reversed course in April and gave them a 3.3% rate hike. Nevertheless, the ACA still mandates a $156 billion payment reduction to Medicare Advantage plans over 10 years.</p> <p><a title="http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131012/MAGAZINE/310129973" href="http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131012/MAGAZINE/310129973">http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131012/MAGAZINE/310129973</a></p>

One Good Reason to Fix the Sequester as Hospitals and Providers Are Ready to File Lawsuits Against Insurers Passing Back 2% Sequester Cut-HHS and CMS Have Some Real “Perception” Issues And Can’t Model Worth A Darn..

The sequester if you don’t remember, started in April and since that time doctors and hospitals are getting paid 2% less from Medicare.  For one doctor’s office that may not sound like a big sum of money but for a hospital it is big.  So keep that in mind that all hospitals are getting paid 2% less …

Read more »

Mexican Billionaire and Philanthropist Carlos Slim Helú Gives $74 Million Dollar Gift the Broad Institute For Genomic Research

<p>If you read the news of late, Mexico has been stated as raising to the number one spot with obesity ahead of the United States.  Along with obesity comes<img align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iW8HY9dTkLk/TuDibJZbJiI/AAAAAAAA4mI/kNtZaam8Jxc/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" /> diabetes and wanting to further genetic research and this was one example he used to explain why he was donating the money.  He also stated that genetic research needs to be universal as well.  His fortune came from the telecommunications industry.  If you are not familiar with the Broad Institute the link below will give you a good idea as to what goes on there.  Math models and algorithms are right on the top of the list with research for sure.  Nice video with Dr. Lander who is referenced in this article.  He runs the place.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/01/dr-eric-lander-director-of-broad.html">Dr. Eric Lander Director of the Broad Institute–There’s Power in Those Numbers And Algorithms For Cures and More–Video</a></h5> <p>Of course like anyone would do representing their country he wants to ensure that Mexico is also in line to benefit, especially with studying the genes of Mexican and Latino people with diabetes type two as the number affected is disproportionate.  BD </p> <p> <hr />CAMBRIDGE — Mexican billionaire and philanthropist Carlos Slim Helú visited the Broad Institute on Monday afternoon to announce a $74 million gift to the genomics center that will advance biomedical research that benefits people in Latin America. </p> <p>The money is aimed at helping to correct a bias in genomic studies of human disease, which often analyze DNA taken from people of European descent. That approach may overlook important genetic causes of disease in non-European populations — and could one day result in people at the highest risk of a disease not getting the best treatments.</p> <p>“I try to support this kind of project — that is for the interest of everyone in the world, but with some focus in Mexico and Latin America,” Slim said in an interview at the Broad. He said the largest share of his philanthropy is in Mexico and Latin America, and this contribution to a Boston-area institution is in keeping with that mission because he hopes the investment will spark progress in human health more universally.</p> <p><a title="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/10/29/billionaire-carlos-slim-million-gift-aids-genome-research-benefit-latin-america/MVgnYDxYbANAY7ALNmzvjJ/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw" href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/10/29/billionaire-carlos-slim-million-gift-aids-genome-research-benefit-latin-america/MVgnYDxYbANAY7ALNmzvjJ/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw">http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/10/29/billionaire-carlos-slim-million-gift-aids-genome-research-benefit-latin-america/MVgnYDxYbANAY7ALNmzvjJ/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw</a></p>

Mexican Billionaire and Philanthropist Carlos Slim Helú Gives $74 Million Dollar Gift the Broad Institute For Genomic Research

If you read the news of late, Mexico has been stated as raising to the number one spot with obesity ahead of the United States.  Along with obesity comes diabetes and wanting to further genetic research and this was one example he used to explain why he was donating the money.  He also stated that g…

Read more »

Saturday Night Live–Does Healthcare.Gov Sebelius Style..

<p>This is funny and in case you missed it.  Blue Cross Blue Balls…Be sure<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="92" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qhsZCeU50Ac/Um9EBHBMUWI/AAAAAAABIWo/hwSolG7WTHQ/image%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="131" /> to like us on Facebook, yes the real Sebelius is stuck on Facebook contests more than once….</p> <p>Here’s a couple related posts…</p> <h5><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/india-technology-to-fix-us.html">India Technology To Fix US Healthcare.Gov Website Now And Has Assumed The Lead Project Manager and Integrator Role, QSSI Listed As Indian Domiciled With United Healthcare SEC Filings</a></strong></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/daily-showjon-stewart-takes-on.html">Daily Show–Jon Stewart Takes on the Healthcare.Gov Website And My Questions On Why Were Oracle and Microsoft “Turnkey” State Exchange Platforms Not Used or Mentioned–Could Have Saved Writing A Lot of Code</a></h5> <p><iframe height="259" src="http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n42305" frameborder="0" width="460"></iframe></p> <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/sebelius-has-bees-in-her-bonnetgiving.html">She’s got bees in her bonnet</a>…BD  </p>

Saturday Night Live–Does Healthcare.Gov Sebelius Style..

This is funny and in case you missed it.  Blue Cross Blue Balls…Be sure to like us on Facebook, yes the real Sebelius is stuck on Facebook contests more than once…. Here’s a couple related posts… India Technology To Fix US Healthcare.Gov Website Now And Has Assumed The Lead Project Manager and Int…

Read more »

Provisions of Affordable Care (Complexities) Act to Help Eliminate “Under-Insuring” Ends Up With Insurance Companies Cancelling Many Policies, Most Offering Replacements And Conversions and Some Not, What’s Next…

<p>How many bare bones policies are there out there, a lot.  Right now all are not too happy with their policies being cancelled and most do not mind as long as they are offered something comparable along with affordable payments.  That has not been the case though for all and it’s the automated algorithmic math formulas of the insurance companies that calculate this. <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="168" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-r4elvfQxLSk/Um8whhza7PI/AAAAAAABIWY/dMcD7KAanrA/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="229" /> Again the Affordable Care Act wanted to ensure that consumers had a policy that in fact offered “enough” coverage  as to the parameters established.  I can’t remember how many articles I have read about “the under insured” which is just about as big of a problem as the non insured.  I know all the articles have been out there with the big bang effect and are impacting everyone differently.</p> <p><strong>Let’s not forget this is how “your insurer” is handling this</strong>.  This is not a new phenomena as <strong>insurers have done this for years, cancel one type of policy and covert members over to new policies.  It will continue to happen as insurers run their extreme math modeled business intelligence algorithms that execute for profit.  It happened to me years ago</strong>.  Some folks are getting a policy that may have around the same premium amount but get lesser benefits and higher co-pays and out of pocket limits.  That part has been going on for years with insurers within their own risk groups so nothing changed there and with or without Obamacare that process will continue.  Even in the business end with employer provided insurance, they too are getting the same treatment but maybe not as fast or drastic but they are getting less as well.  <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/nancy-ann-deparle-and-kathleen-sebelius.html">I had my doubts back in 2009 that Sebelius and DeParle had the IQ for the math business models to work with insurers.</a>  </p> <p>Here’s the story about Walgreens and on top of moving to a private exchange, you have an investors relations/broker running the exchange to where the interests of the shareholders will always be number one.  As you can see AON must have some pretty high profile clients to advertise and offer kidnapping and ransom insurance:)  It begins next year and employees will be given a non established amount of money to spend for their choice of plan and there are jillions on this private exchange.  They too will find themselves with higher deductibles and a bit less for the same out of pocket expenditures, the only difference is the contribution made by Walgreens.   Interesting for a company that makes about a billion a year selling out data.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/walgreens-plans-to-move-180000.html">Walgreens Plans to Move 180,000 Employees Over to Insurance Exchange Managed By AON Consultants, Risk Management, Re-Insurance, Kidnap and Ransom Coverage…And So On</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/walgreens-cashing-in-big-in-data.html">Walgreens Cashing in Big In the Data Selling Epidemic Arena–Incentives Connected to Apps and Devices That Sell, Re-Query and Re-Sell Our Data And Data Profiles</a></h5> <p>Now the the folks that are getting blasted with “huge” policy increases, that’s another story and again keep in mind this is due to the risk pool of the insurance company.  Remember here I am NOT talking about policies bought through the exchanges.  Your insurance company is telling you what it will cost and it’s their math models and algorithms, not Obamacare here.  <strong>The role that the ACA has here to make sure you are not under insured by requiring certain elements be covered.</strong> </p> <p>I read a few stories and yes some are priced out of the market and again this is<img align="right" height="71" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRJsy5_-1cPjzaPKJ1bNbOsyA0E5vLocojVTXPwC_UMW1X2avqTmg" style="float: right; display: inline" width="180" /> YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY with or without Obamacare than can decide to make these changes.  Again it has gone on for years long before Obamacare even existed.<strong>  So, when this happens with a huge increase with premiums from your insure, head to to exchanges.</strong>  I have read enough to see if the folks being hit with big premiums are those who are ill and have chronic conditions, but it would not surprise me a bit as that’s how the analytics are modeled at insurers.  </p> <p>I just thought this should be explained and how it is happening and it’s not all the blame on Obamacare at all and again I would think some of the bare bones currently polices that people have are being affected a lot as again the ACA wants to insure people are not “under insured”.  </p> <p><strong>You should also be aware that there’s a pretty good chance that your doctor will be paid less on a policy bought from the exchange and it’s about 30% less here in California as some doctors have told me.</strong> <u> I also get the fact that you can’t be protected from being under insured to being put to where you can’t afford it as well</u> and that’s how the math formulas of insurers shake it out.  They are still making big profits as a reminder.  <strong>Hospitals that may<img align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-RrH6Ye85qZs/UWn8u4wvbNI/AAAAAAABGeg/n93eqzk8w8Q/image%25255B15%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" /> treat you don’t want the “under insured” patients either as another note as <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-bugging-hospitalsnot-obamacare-as.html">many of them are struggling to stay alive today</a> too and are dealing with getting paid 2% less since April due to the sequester.</strong>  </p> <p>As I wrote back in April it is not Obamacare that is failing (outside the website) right now but it is the complex math formulas used for profit by insurers.  I called it the Affordable Complexities Act and right now with the insurance exchanges you are seeing how complex life with IT infrastructures has become.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/04/not-obamacare-that-is-failing-its.html">Not ObamaCare That is Failing, It’s the Models and Subsequent Algorithms that Execute Within IT Infrastructures Intersecting, Changing And Conflicting– The Affordable “Complexities” Act…</a></h5> <p><strong><em>Unintended Consequences = Algorithms in Models That Execute, Where Everyone Forgot About Their Inclusion…when aggregating data sources….you can read below even before the exchanges began that CMS and the Inspector General were duking it out over errors on the first website..</em></strong></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/04/cms-and-inspector-general-duking-it-out.html">CMS and Inspector General Duking It Out Over Government Website Data That Helps Consumers Find Health Plans- Just Wait Until the Exchanges Get Going And We Find Those Shortcomings…</a></h5> <p>The way this is shaking out is all designed with math models and algorithms and how it shakes out depends on the machines and thus today I tell everyone to ask questions and <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/on-being-data-skeptic-modelers-have.html">be a skeptic when you need to be</a> and something is not right so ask questions, ask a lot of questions.  As we are seeing today with the data selling epidemic in the US, the amount of flawed data is on the rise as sadly it is not always checked for accuracy but rather is checked for profitability.  <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">Visit the Algo Duping page</a> and it will change how you view all of this and you will understand why and the videos are all at the layman level.  They won’t make you very happy but if nothing else it will instill upon you to ask questions and demand answers as there’s a lot of flawed data out there and bad models with dirty algorithms that float amongst the good.  BD </p> <p> <hr />President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.</p> <p>Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”  </p> <p>Yet President Obama, who had promised in 2009, “if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan,” was still saying in 2012, “If [you] already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance.”</p> <p>“This says that when they made the promise, they knew half the people in this market outright couldn’t keep what they had and then they wrote the rules so that others couldn’t make it either,” said  Robert Laszewski, of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, a consultant who works for health industry firms. Laszewski estimates that 80 percent of those in the individual market will not be able to keep their current policies and will have to buy insurance that meets requirements of the new law, which generally requires a richer package of benefits than most policies today.</p> <p><a title="http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/28/21213547-obama-admin-knew-millions-could-not-keep-their-health-insurance#comments" href="http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/28/21213547-obama-admin-knew-millions-could-not-keep-their-health-insurance#comments">http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/28/21213547-obama-admin-knew-millions-could-not-keep-their-health-insurance#comments</a></p>

Provisions of Affordable Care (Complexities) Act to Help Eliminate “Under-Insuring” Ends Up With Insurance Companies Cancelling Many Policies, Most Offering Replacements And Conversions and Some Not, What’s Next…

How many bare bones policies are there out there, a lot.  Right now all are not too happy with their policies being cancelled and most do not mind as long as they are offered something comparable along with affordable payments.  That has not been the case though for all and it’s the automated algori…

Read more »

Woman in Tennessee Infected With Injection From New England Compounding Company Meningitis Case Faces Bills and Collections From the Same Hospital That Gave Her the Injection…This Needs a Fix

<p>The story goes back to October of 2012, a year and the woman has permanent <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="82" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Icar4X5NYJk/Um8gP5lW7PI/AAAAAAABIWA/gJZkJYWSDmI/image%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="217" />damage but at least she survived where many did not.  She has gone through months of treatment and the stress from the bills is mounting and she has gone through her life’s savings!  The patient said in an interview, they made me sick and I should not have to  pay a penny and she is right.  She has to sue and has no other choice.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/10/fungal-meningitis-infections-linked-to.html">Fungal Meningitis Infections Linked to Steroid Injections Manufactured by New England Compounding Center In Massachusetts</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/10/fungal-meningitis-cases-up-to-91-and-7.html">Fungal Meningitis Cases up to 91 and 7 Deaths So Far</a></h5> <p>750 people nationwide were sickened with the injections.  Her speech is now slurred and she’s been left clumsy, can't put her hand behind her head and has memory lapses.  Now she has to file a lawsuit to recover anything and get the hospital off her back.  You know what the hospital said…<strong>God forbid they frigging deviate and said they can’t violate Medicare and private insurance contracts…see how afraid the money tight hospitals are</strong>.  </p> <p><em>“Saint Thomas West spokeswoman </em><a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Rebecca+Climer%22"><em>Rebecca Climer</em></a><em> said in an email response to questions that the hospital is following its normal billing practices and that "legal and contractual issues in the </em><a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Medicare%22"><em>Medicare</em></a><em> program and in private insurance contracts restrict a provider's ability to deviate" from those practices.”</em></p> <p>Saint Thomas Health is a system of nine hospitals, 65 medical practices, 13 chest pain centers, 16 outpatient rehabilitation centers, 14 ambulatory surgery centers and five community clinics and is a part of Ascension Health.  Ascension is a not for profit hospital group and they are part of the <a href="http://www.ascensionhealthventures.org/partners.asp">Ascension Health Ventures VC group,</a> so they pump some money over there.  BD</p> <p align="left"><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="250" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BFfldVj9Dm8/Um8gQYTtEGI/AAAAAAABIWE/_Nxr06UixD4/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="478" /></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Sign of the times, the story of the patient and hospitals being Venture Capitalists, Catholic hospitals too.  BD  </p> <p> <hr /></p> <p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — More than a year after a routine steroid injection turned into a painful fungal infection that nearly killed her, <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Marjorie+Norwood%22">Marjorie Norwood</a> is still suffering physically and emotionally. She also carries a huge stress: the hospital that houses the clinic where she contracted the infection has billed more than half a million dollars for her treatment.</p> <p>Norwood argues that she should not have to pay <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Saint+Thomas+West+Hospital%22">Saint Thomas West Hospital</a> for the months of painful treatment and expensive medicines that fought the infection but did not restore her health.</p> <p>"They made me sick, and they made me come to their hospital to take care of me. And it was their fault that I was there," she said during a recent interview. "I shouldn't have had to pay a cent, not a dime."</p> <p>The 60-year-old says the disease left her with permanent nerve damage. Despite months of therapy, Norwood sometimes slurs her speech. She has a hard time opening things. She can be clumsy. She can't put her hand behind her head. She sometimes doesn't remember recent conversations with her daughter.</p> <p>Like many of the victims, Norwood is suing the hospital, the clinic and the New England-based pharmacy that provided the medication. She hopes a jury will award her enough damages to at least pay her medical bills.</p> <p>"Our savings is gone. We have no savings, no retirement. Everything we've got is gone," Norwood said.</p> <p>Norwood's attorney, <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Mark+Chalos%22">Mark Chalos</a>, said several other victims he represents are also facing large hospital bills.</p> <p><a title="http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Meningitis-victim-now-facing-huge-medical-bills-4930324.php" href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Meningitis-victim-now-facing-huge-medical-bills-4930324.php">http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Meningitis-victim-now-facing-huge-medical-bills-4930324.php</a></p>

Woman in Tennessee Infected With Injection From New England Compounding Company Meningitis Case Faces Bills and Collections From the Same Hospital That Gave Her the Injection…This Needs a Fix

The story goes back to October of 2012, a year and the woman has permanent damage but at least she survived where many did not.  She has gone through months of treatment and the stress from the bills is mounting and she has gone through her life’s savings!  The patient said in an interview, they mad…

Read more »

Amongst Discussion For More Regulation Over Hydrocodone FDA Approves First Pure Non-Combination Extended Use Hydrocodone Drug–Zohydro ER

<p>This is interesting since we have one panel at the FDA wanting more regulation on Vicodin, the brand name for the combination drug that has been on the<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="97" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-L3H5O5DDHqY/Um6JzR-ZgDI/AAAAAAABIVw/F7x1zzsGTYg/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="194" /> prescription market for years.  the drug belongs to a class of drugs called opiates or opioids because they are chemically similar to opium. Morphine, heroin, oxycodone, codeine and methadone are in the same family of drugs.</p> <p>Some drug companies such as Purdue have created tamper resistant versions of the hydrocodone which is a combination drug adding aspirin or acetaminophen.  The FDA is also discussing moving the drug from a class 3 to a class 2 for the combination drug; however Zohydro will be a class 2 drug which carries a restriction that it cannot be refilled.  Presently the combination drugs can be refilled 5 times and can also be prescribed by nurses.  Zogenix in San Diego is the drug company that has produced the single ingredient drug and it also carries the extended use classification.  I might guess we could be hearing more from the DEA on this topic in the future as well with the addictive nature of hydrocodone as it is one of the most widely abused drugs in the US.  BD</p> <p> <hr />The Food and Drug Administration has approved a stronger, single-ingredient version hydrocodone, the widely-abused prescription painkiller.</p> <p>The agency said Friday it approved the extended-release pill Zohydro ER for patients with pain that requires "daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment" that cannot be treated with other drugs.</p> <p>Hydrocodone is currently sold in combination pills like Vicodin to treat pain from injuries, surgery, arthritis and migraines. The new drug from Zogenix is the first pure hydrocodone drug approved in the U.S.</p> <p><a title="http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/4814026" href="http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/4814026">http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/4814026</a></p>

Amongst Discussion For More Regulation Over Hydrocodone FDA Approves First Pure Non-Combination Extended Use Hydrocodone Drug–Zohydro ER

This is interesting since we have one panel at the FDA wanting more regulation on Vicodin, the brand name for the combination drug that has been on the prescription market for years.  the drug belongs to a class of drugs called opiates or opioids because they are chemically similar to opium. Morphin…

Read more »

Oracle Buys BigMachines Sales Order Automation Systems-Already Integrated With Oracle And Others For Single Sign On To Quote, Calculate and Display Complex Pricing With Multiple Parameters

<p><strong>Sorry I have to say this but when I read I immediately thought about health insurance exchanges as they are already using Oracle Access and ID as one of the main stream<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="54" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XITJ5gsLRzA/Um1r3r1x5CI/AAAAAAABIVQ/u1lUWCgaP20/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="183" /> functionalities of the entire project.</strong>  Right now QSSI has created the Federal Hub and <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/india-technology-to-fix-us.html">with what technologies we don’t know</a> but this sounds like a platform that could fit right in and again a lot of coding has been done already.  <a href="http://www.bigmachines.com/pricing-quoting.php">From the website</a>, it also offers Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance.  </p> <p><em>“The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) prompted companies across the United States to reexamine their corporate governance and financial reporting systems. Although compliance efforts regarding the sales process are often overlooked, a typical inquiry-to-order process introduces a high probability for SOX compliance issues to arise. Manual sales processes with high levels of manual interaction are fraught with SOX compliance risk. BigMachines can assist companies in their SOX compliance efforts by providing solutions to these issues. Three areas where compliance issues often occur are customer discounts, quote/order approval, and channel discounts/promotions.”</em></p> <p>The CEO and founder of the company spent over 15 years at Oracle and the list of company executives is interesting when you look at the mix of where they all came from.  BigMachines has financial and healthcare offerings.  It will do order execution and has a complete ERP integration not only with Oracle but Microsoft, SAP, JDEdwards, BaaN, and many other legacy systems (legacy, think gov).  It has an approval tracking process with full audit trails.  The process of using the “cloud” is how this works and again the integration with CRM is tops here so people can communicate and follow up and get reports along with sales analytics as needed.  BD</p> <div id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:23ee3892-9a14-412b-a64b-296f7d28eb80" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><div><object height="252" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/orSM7ofzykU?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/orSM7ofzykU?hl=en&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="448" height="252"></embed></object></div><div style="width:448px;clear:both;font-size:.8em">Big Machines–Introduction</div></div> <p> <hr />IDG News Service (Boston Bureau) — Oracle is hoping to differentiate its CRM (customer relationship management) software from the competition with the acquisition of BigMachines, whose cloud-based system helps salespeople quickly put together and price complex orders.</p> <p>Terms of the deal, which was announced Wednesday, weren't disclosed. It is expected to close this year.<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="100" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-eCyAWLC6WU4/Um1r4E5k3hI/AAAAAAABIVU/fR_qJr4Hxo4/image%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="297" /></p> <p>BigMachines' software will be combined with Oracle's products for marketing, sales, customer service and e-commerce, according to a statement.</p> <p>Some 275 companies, including Coca-Cola, ADP and Siemens, use BigMachines' software, according to Oracle. It has products for both small companies and large enterprises.</p> <p>Oracle had been working on cloud-based CPQ (configure, price, quote) software already but buying BigMachines will help it get this functionality into its Sales Cloud more quickly, according to the FAQ.</p> <p><a title="http://www.cio.com/article/741878/Oracle_Buys_Sales_Order_Automation_Specialist_Bigmachines?source=sflowtweet&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=sflow_tweet" href="http://www.cio.com/article/741878/Oracle_Buys_Sales_Order_Automation_Specialist_Bigmachines?source=sflowtweet&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=sflow_tweet">http://www.cio.com/article/741878/Oracle_Buys_Sales_Order_Automation_Specialist_Bigmachines?source=sflowtweet&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=sflow_tweet</a></p>

Oracle Buys BigMachines Sales Order Automation Systems-Already Integrated With Oracle And Others For Single Sign On To Quote, Calculate and Display Complex Pricing With Multiple Parameters

Sorry I have to say this but when I read I immediately thought about health insurance exchanges as they are already using Oracle Access and ID as one of the main stream functionalities of the entire project.  Right now QSSI has created the Federal Hub and with what technologies we don’t know but thi…

Read more »

India Technology To Fix US Healthcare.Gov Website Now And Has Assumed The Lead Project Manager and Integrator Role, QSSI Listed As Indian Domiciled With United Healthcare SEC Filings

<p>One has to wonder how much of the code for the website was written overseas and with government contractors we know that purchasing commercial software is not always a pre-requisite as the contractors won’t make as much money if they integrate off the shelf software into an entire project solution, so again this may offer some answers as to why there were limitations on the amount of US created software was used.  Again keep in mind there were very short timelines to meet and one does wonder if the two even crossed.  This is a screenshot from the SEC page from United Healthcare.  If you have not seen it, it’s well worth a look to see <a href="http://www.secinfo.com/dMajp.xa.7.htm">15 pages of subsidiary companies and entities.</a>  </p> <p><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="70" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-CtRLBt23MAc/UmymhriqGLI/AAAAAAABIU4/jrSX-Z5ndFs/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" title="image" width="609" /></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>There was quite a bit of scuttlebutt when United purchased the company as it was not initially listed at the SEC and there’s a rule about “significant operations” that may have come into play here with the SEC where subsidiaries don’t have to be listed if they are not significant and I don’t don’t know if this applies to owned companies outside the US as QSSI has a domicile country of India listed.  We all know there has been nothing but secrecy surrounding the build of the Federal Hub.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/06/sec-rules-ask-for-disclosure-only-when.html">SEC Rules Ask for Disclosure Only When Subsidiary Operations Are “Significant”-Was The Federal Hub Contract Awarded to QSSI Not Significant When the Company Was Bought By United Health Group?–Subsidiary Watch</a></h5> <p>Another interesting bit of subsidiaries has to do with Health Net as United when Health Net was in the process of losing the big Tri-Care contract a few years ago in the northeast, which they eventually got back as Aetna cheated who was the first awardee, was put in a big cash issue and they area  much smaller carrier.  They had to sell to United upon the news of losing Tri-Care as it was such a huge part of their business and thus so if you are with Health Net in New York, Connecticut, Bermuda  or New Jersey, your policies are really owned by United Healthcare.  Here’s from <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/09/united-healthcare-purchase-of-healthnet.html">2009 when I blogged it,</a> a “subsidiary watch” post as I call them.  </p> <p><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="100" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-m0Wbxl-VjPk/UmymiNmYHKI/AAAAAAABIVA/emgpQvqaDbY/image%25255B9%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" title="image" width="611" /></p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left"><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/09/united-healthcare-optum-owns-consulting.html">CanReg which is listed as a Canadian domicile</a> (2011 post) is a subsidiary that helps drug and device companies get introduced to the FDA and works with the consulting of the submittal and approval process.  <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/05/unitedhealth-subsidiary-ingenix.html">ChinaGate in China and Hong Kong</a>, another interesting subsidiary, post form 2010.  <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/07/hospice-in-for-profit-sector-as.html">Evercare</a> is hospice and palliative care for profit.  H&W Indemnity, (SPC), Ltd. in the Caymans and I don’t know what exactly this subsidiary does.  Ingenix Innovus (Netherlands) B.V. and OptumHealth International B.V. kind of got my attention as many companies, and big ones with name you will recognize use the Netherlands as a a location to protect their intellectual property due to the country’s laws and I don’t know what these entities are but this documentary <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-tax-free-tour-documentary-on-how.html">“The Free Tax Tour”</a> will show you how Wal-Mart and many others do it.  Remember when you see OptumInsights that’s the software creation and analytics arm as the company advertises, not insurance services but a lot of what they have get’s sold to healthcare organizations along with the software under Optum itself.</p> <p align="left">I see a ton of the IPAs from California listed (formerly independent physician’s associations) as subsidiaries.  I’m sure you may have heard of the Lewin Group with their<img align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AiPngFSVfCk/UcDpraNTYvI/AAAAAAABG_8/VmtyC7Q1TUk/image3.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" /> reports, this is United as well.  I still see the old PacifiCare on there which United bought and I might guess there’s a reason for it with perhaps some unsettled business as otherwise it’s been pretty well absorbed and all employers in the OC had to change from their PacifiCare contracts to United contracts.  I’ve blogged about others you don’t see here to where they own 51% controlling interest of several partner owner ships and then <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/07/unitedhealth-group-owns-bank-with.html">there’s the bank they own</a>.  <strong>I follow these stories as I try to inform my readers to where the absolute bottom line is on who’s profiting on the money we spend.</strong>  </p> <p align="left">Back on topic in another post I asked about the turnkey <strong>“state exchange software platforms”</strong> built by Oracle and Microsoft, and I happened to remember they were there because I blogged them in following the news.  I mixed it with a little Daily Show content here as Stewart is right on most of the time and always makes me laugh but scroll down pas the videos for the meat and potatoes. </p> <h5 align="left"><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/daily-showjon-stewart-takes-on.html">Daily Show–Jon Stewart Takes on the Healthcare.Gov Website And My Questions On Why Were Oracle and Microsoft “Turnkey” State Exchange Platforms Not Used or Mentioned–Could Have Saved Writing A Lot of Code</a></strong></h5> <p align="left">I had a couple developers and a former CMS executive tell me too that contractors really don’t want to look at projects like these to where a lot of the code is already done so I am interested to see how much code was written from bottom up, how much was <img align="right" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cIz5WUMxG_o/UWhK8UL1qiI/AAAAAAABGdg/owfLIBsZAVQ/image%25255B13%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" />done in India and<strong> last why these two platforms were never mentioned as they would be “HUGE” time savers and the CGI project is already using Oracle ID and Access manager which works with Oracle Fusion Middleware which can be used, and probably already is used in government installations</strong> to  help old legacy systems scale and fetch data.  With the platforms, all you need to do is write apps for the integration built in and add some code and scripting to complete all.  </p> <p align="left">So how much was outsourced of this project is a question that’s going to asked by more than just me I am guessing and again why were our own resources we have in the US not fully evaluated as I am reading?  In June the same company, QSSI was busted for security non compliance.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/06/qssi-subsidiary-of-united-healthcare.html">QSSI, Subsidiary of United Healthcare Building Federal Data Hub Gets Busted by the Inspector General Regarding USB Security And Compliance With Federal Requirements</a></h5> <p>Here’s a long post below that covers a bunch of questions and even goes back to the scuttlebutt on when Steve Larsen left HHS and become a VP at Optum.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/06/states-slowly-getting-insurance.html">States Slowly Getting Insurance Exchanges Set Up as Federal Exchange Hub Built By United Health Group Subsidiary. QSSI Still Remains a Mystery</a></h5> <p>This was from June of this year and everyone all over the web was asking as was I “why all the secrecy” and now one wonders was it to hide all the code writing going on in India possibly?  Sebelius is just flat lost in all of this <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/kathleen-sebelius-kansas-governor-for.html">like I said in 2009 that Health IT would eat her up</a> and it was so obvious in the CNN interview and even some with the Daily Show discussions.  The Gupta interview even started irritating me and I’m in on this pushing for the program but it was too much to stomach with the “canned” and “rehearsed” same lines spouting stats over and over.  </p> <p><strong>I know that routine of “throw numbers at them” I was in sales for 25 years</strong> and recognized it and worked people who did nothing but “canned” presentations they learned as rookies and if you interrupted them, they had to start over.  I used to toss <img align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TH3dFFGqOqI/AAAAAAAAhB4/fDL92s30VnE/image_thumb%5B5%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" />numbers at folks right and left to get them to buy, but not “canned” and like a broken record as I knew my product too and if you don’t then all you have are the “canned” lines to fall back on.  <strong>Ok enough of that..and we could also use a break on everyone’s addiction to “how many people have signed up, reported in real time, every couple days for an update is fine.</strong>  I was right too in 2009 that “data addiction and abuse is going to be the next and upcoming 12 step program” for many (grin).  Yes we do have those spasmodic algorithms and data with lack of integrity floating around out there.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/08/data-addiction-and-abuse-up-and-coming.html">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</a></h5> <p><strong>So are we waiting for a tech surge of developers from India to rescue us now?</strong>  Are they writing code from the bottom up without looking at what was available to work with that was already done?  If Fusion Middleware was scripted and coded from Oracle to help legacy data bases and equipment scale and if  the connections were already there with Oracle to send insurance information to insurers (hint the insurers all use Oracle in a large way already) what are we doing here?  </p> <p>Software is the easiest thing to dupe a non tech person with as far as a sale, been going on for years and then you end up with a mess if you don’t allow your trusty <img align="right" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-iAYIxCUQzBg/UV2UCP7NHQI/AAAAAAABGWM/TQKKLzd0GCk/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" />CIO and CTO to run everything with the business and engineer it.   <strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/cios-have-everything-to-worry-about.html">Now the poor CIOs will end up with another tick on their backs</a> with a silly non tech “chief digital officer” as well with no more than another “I want list”.</strong>  A chief digital officer better have some tech in their background otherwise they will not end up being an asset to the Health IT CIO, and we are burning those guys up like crazy wanting magicians where there are none.  <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/healthcaregovhhs-sebelius-testimony.html">The show down hearing on Thursday at the House</a> should be interesting so get your popcorn, enough digital illiteracy to go around from all sides.  </p> <p><strong><em>So while we are sucking up this fantasy here about Chief Digital Officers and and how important the “I want” lists are with some very silly perceptions created by whack job marketing, we have India in charge of building our Health Insurance Exchange?  BD</em></strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">Algo Duping 101 and the Attack of the Killer Algorithms…reality video education available here…</a></p> <hr /> <p>WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has turned to a technology company run by Indian-Americans to fix the problem ridden website for Americans to buy <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Insurance">insurance</a> under President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. </p> <p> <br />Columbia, Maryland, based <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Quality-Software-Services-Inc">Quality Software Services Inc</a>, or QSSI, will now serve as a general contractor to oversee repairs to Healthcare.gov launched Oct 1 under the 2010 law nicknamed "Obamacare," said a management consultant hired by the White House to fix it. <br />The website that runs online insurance exchanges for 36 states to buy compulsory health insurance under the new federal law should be working smoothly for most users by the end of November, Jeffrey Zients, assured reporters in a conference call Friday. </p> <p><a title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Obama-administration-taps-contractor-to-fix-health-website/articleshow/24715915.cms" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Obama-administration-taps-contractor-to-fix-health-website/articleshow/24715915.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Obama-administration-taps-contractor-to-fix-health-website/articleshow/24715915.cms</a></p>

India Technology To Fix US Healthcare.Gov Website Now And Has Assumed The Lead Project Manager and Integrator Role, QSSI Listed As Indian Domiciled With United Healthcare SEC Filings

One has to wonder how much of the code for the website was written overseas and with government contractors we know that purchasing commercial software is not always a pre-requisite as the contractors won’t make as much money if they integrate off the shelf software into an entire project solution, …

Read more »

FDA Approves Nonin BlueTooth Smart Finger Model Pulse Oximeter

<p>This is a professional product it appears but I could be wrong, the company Nonin has both and as we have learned with a few other products, a lot of the time the difference may be the software application or the physical branding of the product.  Back in 2008 I made a blog post about one of their first products, which was for the consumer.  It was the Onyx II and connects with HealthVault to hold your data.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/05/pulse-oximeter-transmits-wirelessly.html">Pulse Oximeter Transmits Wirelessly</a></h5> <p>You can see another one of their products has either a prescription or non prescription version and the one with a prescription is ordered by the doctor to use to work with patients being treated for COPD, asthma and other diseases.  All the company prescription products have FDA approval.  </p> <p><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="300" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4131m6F51aU/UmyJDkpvQ2I/AAAAAAABIUQ/REfBhjJctY8/image%25255B13%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="562" /></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>The company wireless products are all designed to meet<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="47" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LgbhNjlvCEU/UmyJD2IEL_I/AAAAAAABIUU/OFB0WcynivI/image%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="81" /> Continua Version One Design Guidelines.  </p> <p>You can buy one that is <a href="http://www.nonin.com/OEMSolutions/WristOx2-Model-3150-OEM">worn like a watch</a> as well.  This one is interesting as well with a simple USB plug in to use whenever you want with your computer.  </p> <p>And let’s not forget the dogs and cats, yes they have them for out pets as well and of course<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="47" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-KNGV55Z_bwk/UmyJEaNR_WI/AAAAAAABIUg/pBs47y4GCP4/image%25255B19%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="83" /> this more what a veterinarian would be using.  BD </p> <p> <hr />Nonin Medical, Inc., the inventor of finger pulse oximetry and a leader in noninvasive medical monitoring, has received the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its Nonin Model 3230 Bluetooth Smart finger pulse oximeter for use in the United States. The highly <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="169" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-w1OPDoYwH4w/UmyJFBM08GI/AAAAAAABIUo/9xRUNNJbaCc/image%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="218" />accurate and reliable Model 3230 is one of the first medical devices to incorporate Bluetooth Smart (low energy) wireless technology.</p> <p>The Model 3230 features Nonin’s exclusive CorrectCheck technology, which provides feedback via a digital display if the patient's finger is not placed correctly in the device. CorrectCheck is helpful since improper finger placement may lead to incorrect readings. <br />Another innovative feature is SmartPoint capture, an algorithm developed by Nonin that automatically determines when a high quality measurement is ready to be wirelessly transmitted. This helps to ensure that each reading transmitted by the Model 3230 is accurate.</p> <p><a title="http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=78414&sid=2" href="http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=78414&sid=2">http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=78414&sid=2</a></p>

FDA Approves Nonin BlueTooth Smart Finger Model Pulse Oximeter

This is a professional product it appears but I could be wrong, the company Nonin has both and as we have learned with a few other products, a lot of the time the difference may be the software application or the physical branding of the product.  Back in 2008 I made a blog post about one of their f…

Read more »

FDA Finally Gives Approval To Abbott MitraClip–Has Been Approved for Use In Europe Since 2008 To Help Leaky Heart Valves

<p>In March this year the FDA panel recommended against the device stating there was not enough evidence to show safety.  The device works to fix leaky heart valves <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="95" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-6rU3IMdWLzU/UmyDJp1m-bI/AAAAAAABIUA/7OsVNSusLIs/image%25255B12%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="159" />in patients who are not candidates for surgery to replace a heart valve.  30 other countries outside the US have been using the device to treat mitral regurgitation when the left chambers don’t close all the way.  When this occurs the heart has to work harder.  </p> <p>The FDA does not always follow the panel advice and this is one example, took a while but the device was approved.  This is an interventional heart procedure where a catheter is used to guide the placement in heart.  </p> <p>The clip moves with the heart valve and it made of metal with a coating.  Ultra sound imaging is also used to help with placement.  BD  </p> <div id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:fed8a6d5-d4c2-4b86-9f07-9536c75bdfdd" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><div><object height="252" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j8TIkOyAHOU?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j8TIkOyAHOU?hl=en&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="448" height="252"></embed></object></div><div style="width:448px;clear:both;font-size:.8em">MitraClip from Abbott</div></div> <p> <hr />(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Abbott Laboratories' MitraClip medical device, used to stop heart valve leakage in patients deemed unable to endure valve repair through open heart surgery, the company said on Friday.</p> <p>The MitraClip treats mitral regurgitation, a condition in which the mitral valve of the heart does not close properly, causing blood leakage that can lead to stroke, heart attack or even death.</p> <p>It has estimated the disorder affects about one in 10 people aged 75 and older.</p> <p>Those with the condition who are too frail for open heart surgery are typically treated with medicines and have high rates of heart failure and rehospitalizations.</p> <p>The MitraClip was approved in Europe in 2008 under a system in which medical devices often reach the market several years ahead of the United States.  There are 20,000 to 30,000 patients in the United States who would likely qualify for MitraClip implantation, Capek said.</p> <p><a title="http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2013/oct/25/abbott-says-fda-approved-heart-valve-medical-device/" href="http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2013/oct/25/abbott-says-fda-approved-heart-valve-medical-device/">http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2013/oct/25/abbott-says-fda-approved-heart-valve-medical-device/</a></p>

FDA Finally Gives Approval To Abbott MitraClip–Has Been Approved for Use In Europe Since 2008 To Help Leaky Heart Valves

In March this year the FDA panel recommended against the device stating there was not enough evidence to show safety.  The device works to fix leaky heart valves in patients who are not candidates for surgery to replace a heart valve.  30 other countries outside the US have been using the device to …

Read more »

Hospital In Wyoming Says They Are Too Poor To Handle ICD Coding Changes Next Year–Don’t Have A Big Enough Bankroll To Cover Transition Period With Reimbursements–Would Need To Get A Bigger Line of Credit If They Can

<p>At first this might sound odd but when you read below the recommendations are to have $5 million in the bank during the transition as with all new data systems it takes a while to transition over and ICD Coding will impact everything from medical records, to insurance claims to government reports and will be touching many IT infrastructures.   <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="170" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nfJ7sPDPKRw/Umx-7Z0HxqI/AAAAAAABIT0/5BZbCxsL_hU/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="282" />Many have said, <a href="http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/2013/10/lessons-learned-from-health-insurance.html">including Dr. Halamka at Harvard that this is an added IT headache of sorts</a> but even an organization that size will have disruptions even larger than this hospital in Wyoming is anticipating.  Below is a clip from his blog, <a href="http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/">Life as a Healthcare CIO</a> from a couple days ago….</p> <p><em> “As I've written in my blog many times, ICD-10 will become a crisis for the Obama administration.   Payers and providers will not be ready by October 1, 2014.   Documentation systems and clinician billing process changes will not be mature enough to support a successful go live.   <strong>More time is needed</strong>.    My experience with IT crises is that you can survive one at a time, but<strong> a succession of problems creates a pattern that users and oversight bodies will no longer tolerate.   I hope the premature go live of the Health Insurance Exchange results in a review of ICD-10 go live dates.”</strong></em></p> <p>The new coding system was fine when it was created but right now it is also creating more sales of Health IT software and not just a coding program itself, but now platforms too that integrate and translate from the 9 format to the 10…this hospital says they only have a million on hand and could only operate 19 days without getting paid and that’s tight.  Kind of the industry standard out there being spoken to be prepared for is to be able to go up to 145 days without payments…and that may not be a bad estimation at all as remember we have a lot of other things going on in Health IT today.  It takes money for the software and there’s no guarantee how it will work or how long hospitals and doctors will have to wait for payment.</p> <p>We hear that insurers are ready but we have heard things like that before and they really don’t know until the new claims come in so there’s even a new interest with clearinghouse services that scrub billings too.  BD  </p> <p> <hr />With changes to health care stemming from the Affordable Health Care Act beginning to roll, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County is anticipating a big financial hit.</p> <p>The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems is slated to be revised, taking effect Oct. 1 of next year, said Ned Hill, hospital CEO. Those changes are an entire revision of the coding system used by the health industry. Hill estimated that it would take four to five months for the industry to get used to the system and begin using it correctly.</p> <p>During that entire time, the hospital should not expect to be paid at the rate it has been being paid, Hill said. Every hospital in the country should not expect to be paid at the same rates by insurance companies.  </p> <p>So, to prepare for that change, the government is recommending hospitals retain about $5 million cash in the bank — four to five months’ worth — until the new system is operating properly.</p> <p>The hospital does not have $5 million cash in the bank, Hill said. The hospital has $1 million, and it will not likely be able to save $5 million in one year.</p> <p><a title="http://www.rawlinstimes.com/news/article_8eacdf2c-3d1e-11e3-abf7-001a4bcf887a.html" href="http://www.rawlinstimes.com/news/article_8eacdf2c-3d1e-11e3-abf7-001a4bcf887a.html">http://www.rawlinstimes.com/news/article_8eacdf2c-3d1e-11e3-abf7-001a4bcf887a.html</a></p>

Hospital In Wyoming Says They Are Too Poor To Handle ICD Coding Changes Next Year–Don’t Have A Big Enough Bankroll To Cover Transition Period With Reimbursements–Would Need To Get A Bigger Line of Credit If They Can

At first this might sound odd but when you read below the recommendations are to have $5 million in the bank during the transition as with all new data systems it takes a while to transition over and ICD Coding will impact everything from medical records, to insurance claims to government reports an…

Read more »

Update on D.r Afridi, Who Helped US Capture Bin Laden, Pakistani Premier Pledges to Reconsider Case As The Doctor Is Still Incarcerated

<p>If you go to the bottom of my blog after the posts you may have already seen the campaign for the doctor and if not you can find out more information here on how <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/26/exclusive-pakistani-premier-pledges-to-reconsider-jailed-doctor-case/"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="216" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-qudMv4fIUxc/Umxq-LFkrzI/AAAAAAABITc/vihdfuMDfF0/image%25255B5%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="263" /></a>to get involved at the <a href="http://www.freeafridi.com/">Free Dr. Afridi</a> website. </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/doctor-who-helped-us-find-bin-laden.html">Doctor Who Helped US Find Bin Laden Sits Jailed in Pakistan–Will Zero Dark Thirty Nominated for an Oscar Help Free America’s Abandoned Hero?–Update</a></h5> <p>Bob Lorsch, MMRGlobal, a sponsor of the Medical Quack has had a campaign in force for several months now and he recently traveled to Washington and took part in a meeting with the Pakistan's national security adviser Sartaj Aziz and finance minister Ishaq Dar along with Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Rep. Ed Royce, from California.  </p> <p><strong>Representative Royce was asking if if a pardon could be in order for the doctor as he is still held in prison even though the original 33 year sentence was over ruled.</strong>  In the US one would be out walking and not still in jail.  It is stated to be a tense situation as the doctor still represents US involvement in the affairs of the region.  There could be a re-trial, more or other charges, and so on, but at minimum a re-consideration effort was agreed to at the meeting in Washington.  You can read the full article and watch the video at the <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/26/exclusive-pakistani-premier-pledges-to-reconsider-jailed-doctor-case/">link from Fox news.</a>   BD  </p> <p><em><a href="http://www.freeafridi.com/">Help Free Dr. Afridi</a> </em></p> <p> <hr />Congressional and private activists lobbying to free the doctor who h<a href="http://www.freeafridi.com/"><img align="right" border="0" height="105" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-N0iF78z_bns/UVmb0ss1t-I/AAAAAAABGUM/bRygAt-xC0o/image%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" width="186" /></a>elped the CIA pinpoint Usama Bin Laden have won assurances from Pakistan's prime minister that his government will reconsider the case, Fox News has learned.</p> <p>In a rare and carefully stage-managed private meeting between a world leader, congressional representatives and a non-government individual during a closed-door official House of Representatives event in Washington, the newly elected Nawaz Sharif committed to task his top law officials with reviewing the prosecution process for Dr. Shakil Afridi, according to those who attended the impromptu meeting.</p> <p><a title="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/26/exclusive-pakistani-premier-pledges-to-reconsider-jailed-doctor-case/#" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/26/exclusive-pakistani-premier-pledges-to-reconsider-jailed-doctor-case/#">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/26/exclusive-pakistani-premier-pledges-to-reconsider-jailed-doctor-case/#</a></p>

Update on D.r Afridi, Who Helped US Capture Bin Laden, Pakistani Premier Pledges to Reconsider Case As The Doctor Is Still Incarcerated

If you go to the bottom of my blog after the posts you may have already seen the campaign for the doctor and if not you can find out more information here on how to get involved at the Free Dr. Afridi website. Doctor Who Helped US Find Bin Laden Sits Jailed in Pakistan–Will Zero Dark Thirty Nomina…

Read more »

Dendreon, Drug Maker For Provenge Prostate Cancer Drug Is Seeking A Buyer

<p>Just a few years ago this company was quite a ride on<img align="right" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/S5cn8R1lqBI/AAAAAAAAc3Q/glU2b2DDCj4/image%5B35%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" /> the investment circle and not short of being a soap opera as well.  The company has been burning through money and reducing jobs for a while now, a far cry from where the company was when their new treatment technology first appeared.  The drug is expensive and now faces competitors such as J and J with their prostate cancer drug, Zytiga which is a pill and a simpler delivery process.  In addition J and J recently purchased another biotech company, Aragon which is also developing a prostate cancer  drug which will eventually work with Zytiga and is still working in the pipeline.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/07/dendreon-to-close-new-jersey-plant-and.html">Dendreon to Close New Jersey Plant and Cut 600 Jobs</a></h5> <p>The company was in the news constantly and the link below talks about how the CEO dumped his stock and cashed out before the news of the company’s fate in 2011 made the news.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/08/dendreon-ceo-dumped-1m-stock-before.html">Dendreon CEO Dumped $1M Stock Before Admitting They Will Not Meet Their Projections for the Year–Layoffs?</a></h5> <p>One does wonder where the future lies here with their technology and I would guess that there has to be something to salvage, maybe?  BD <hr /></p> <p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/DNDN:US">Dendreon Corp. (DNDN)</a>, the drugmaker whose market value has shrunk by more than half since August, is seeking a buyer after sales of its prostate-cancer treatment failed to meet expectations, said people familiar with the matter. </p> <p>Dendreon, the maker of Provenge, is working with <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/JPM:US">JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)</a> to find suitors, said one of the people, who asked not to be named as the process is private. The company, whose market value once topped $7 billion, has generated about $2 billion in <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/DNDN:US">losses</a> over the past decade. That market capitalization now hovers at about $400 million. </p> <p>Dendreon, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Johnson, has burned through money for at least six straight quarters. Cash and short-term investments had dropped to $207.4 million as of June from $538.6 million at the end of 2011. </p> <p><a title="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-25/provenge-drug-maker-dendreon-said-to-be-seeking-takeover-offers.html" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-25/provenge-drug-maker-dendreon-said-to-be-seeking-takeover-offers.html">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-25/provenge-drug-maker-dendreon-said-to-be-seeking-takeover-offers.html</a></p>

Dendreon, Drug Maker For Provenge Prostate Cancer Drug Is Seeking A Buyer

Just a few years ago this company was quite a ride on the investment circle and not short of being a soap opera as well.  The company has been burning through money and reducing jobs for a while now, a far cry from where the company was when their new treatment technology first appeared.  The drug i…

Read more »

Not To Be Outdone by Walgreens In the Data Selling Business, CVS Pushing a New “My Weekly Ad”, Former White House Healthcare Czar Nancy DeParle Now Sits On Their Board, Discloses Award of 562 Shares..

<p>Here we go, more behavioral analytics when they look at what you buy so they can personalize it, but remember they sell that data too and prescription sales can be linked to the “ID” that does not contain your name.  Is there anyway to escape.  This is <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="116" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-a8XNK46pLc8/Umrf325xoTI/AAAAAAABISE/-Vx12uOaG_A/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="205" />big business profits with Walgreens making about a billion a year selling data.  Of course you can opt out, same old same old.  Here’s a video and you should read the comment on YouTube…here it is…and it is a good statement as consumers are getting tired of all the procedures to follow for each company, each website and so on…gee for a short minute there I thought I was talking about doctors and electronic medical records…same issues….<a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/ftc-tries-to-bring-strong-case-for.html">time to license and quarterly tax the data sellers making billions out there on selling out data</a>..that have little concern for accuracy or what it ends up creating for consumers when the data is flawed.  </p> <p><em>“Fine. After watching the video several times I still don't have a freakin' CLUE as to how this is supposed to work. The information that the app asks for does not even match what your video shows, but I tried anyway--then it blows away everything I typed and starts over again at the stupid screen where you have to LOG IN. Sorry, ONE TIME logging in was enough!”</em></p> <div id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:d2ab58d8-6e43-42d4-8b4b-d0119a5e7934" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><div><object height="252" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ulUAHRrSjg8?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ulUAHRrSjg8?hl=en&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="448" height="252"></embed></object></div><div style="width:448px;clear:both;font-size:.8em">CVS Card on Phone…</div></div> <p>Right now I am making it a point to when I go shopping to turn '”OFF” the GPS location finder and sometimes even the phone while I’m in the store.  I like peace and quiet when I shop.  In the other news former White House Czar who was the official architect of the Obamacare Healthcare reform now sits on the board and was given 562 shares of stock, nice deal when you can get it.  She has also returned to the realms of private equity as this article from August states.  When she had previously ran Medicare and left after the Clinton administration <a href="http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/deparle-portfolio/story/deparle-profited-health-care-companies-under-scrut/">she sat on a lot of boards like this</a> and racked in some major money before coming to work for the Obama Administration.  It’s an interesting article as she cashed in on the very same companies she made decisions about while at Medicare and five of the companies have settled fraud or product cases that involved tax dollars paid by Medicare.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/nancy-deparle-returns-to-what-she-knows.html">Nancy DeParle Returns to What She Knows, Private Equity-Technology Experience, Knowledge And Being In Touch With Reality Is What Government Needs Today</a></h5> <p>Again, back in 2009 I had my questions not only about Sebelius having enough business intelligence to run HHS also had a few questions along this line as well, as Cerner was one of the boards she sat on before returning to the White House.  Now with the website issues was she in on the design of the CMS group to administrate the entire project?  Berwick said he didn’t’ have a thing to do with it so I guess stay tuned as the story evolves.  You do have to say one thing she knows how to take a government position and roll it in to income and with this CVS board placement and stock, it looks like it might be the same pattern.  BD </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/nancy-ann-deparle-and-kathleen-sebelius.html">Nancy-Ann DeParle and Kathleen Sebelius – Business Intelligence?</a></h5> <p> <hr />Loyalty cards seem to be everywhere in the retail industry these days. They help customers save money, obtain coupons and collect bonus points for future purchases.</p> <p>They are also a source of big data that help companies improve their business by knowing as much about their customers as they can.</p> <p><a title="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/big-data-download/cvs-tries-pushing-loyalty-cards-next-level-164157214.html" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/big-data-download/cvs-tries-pushing-loyalty-cards-next-level-164157214.html">http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/big-data-download/cvs-tries-pushing-loyalty-cards-next-level-164157214.html</a></p>

Not To Be Outdone by Walgreens In the Data Selling Business, CVS Pushing a New “My Weekly Ad”, Former White House Healthcare Czar Nancy DeParle Now Sits On Their Board, Discloses Award of 562 Shares..

Here we go, more behavioral analytics when they look at what you buy so they can personalize it, but remember they sell that data too and prescription sales can be linked to the “ID” that does not contain your name.  Is there anyway to escape.  This is big business profits with Walgreens making abou…

Read more »

My eMHR–An ONC-ATB and HIPAA Certified Personal Health Record Announces First “Patient Owned/Managed” Interoperable PHR, But Don’t Expect Any Real Privacy Here…

<p><strong>If you have not seen this one, here’s one more PHR and this one claims to be the only one approved by the ONC.</strong> When you read through it it sounds like we have a freestanding or a doctor prescribed PHR program here.  I do have to say their <a href="https://www.myemhr.com/PageFiles/HHS%20privacy%20Statement.pdf">privacy statement</a> is a little easier to read as it’s in a chart and<strong> yes they distribute your data and it can go directly to your insurance company, yuk!  So much for privacy:)</strong>  </p> <p><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="200" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gJDZrG-XCwE/UmrS798cRlI/AAAAAAABIRs/1jZN6pDMuvo/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="531" /></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Anymore I have been noticing the disclosure that basically says if our company<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="196" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4WFngqpI35M/UmrS8EguSBI/AAAAAAABIRw/YsB9_XYNGYc/image%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="334" /> is bought, well it’s up to them what they do and you are SOL for the most part, it’s like cookie cutter statements anymore.  The system also talks about connecting to devices and has a picture of a watch on the site.  After reading this, what do you really own?  Give me a break.  </p> <p>There’s one free version and the rest you have to pay for and the services include security email which I am guessing is using the “Direct” program from the government but don’t quote me for sure on that one, just a guess.  BD</p> <p> <hr />In direct response to the ever growing debate and interoperability issues involving the exchange and, more importantly, the availability and transferability of patient medical health records from one care setting to another. Personal Health Records have been around for some time.</p> <p>Some are stand-alone while others are integrated with commercially available EHR/EMR or HIS systems as may be deployed in hospitals, clinics and physicians practices. The problem has been and continues to be the inability of these legacy systems, and even newly developed medical records systems to communicate with other disparate systems. One could say that it is by design, from a stand-point that the health care industry is a very competitive environment. Limiting access and more importantly, mobility of a patient medical record to a competing health care system has been one method of keeping a captive and loyal patient base for large competing health care systems.</p> <p>The My eMHR represents an EHR/EMR Class Personal Health Records solution. Designed to be owned and managed in part by the consumer/patient and supported by care providers throughout the country by way of the system's unique ability to communicate with disparate system. The My eMHR has the ability to communicate with every “Certified Medical Records” system in North America.</p> <p><a title="http://www.whatech.com/members-news/practice-management-software/16708-icucare-llc-announces-a-new-release-of-my-emhr-the-nation-s-first-patient-owned-managed-interoperable-electronic-personal-health-records-system" href="http://www.whatech.com/members-news/practice-management-software/16708-icucare-llc-announces-a-new-release-of-my-emhr-the-nation-s-first-patient-owned-managed-interoperable-electronic-personal-health-records-system">http://www.whatech.com/members-news/practice-management-software/16708-icucare-llc-announces-a-new-release-of-my-emhr-the-nation-s-first-patient-owned-managed-interoperable-electronic-personal-health-records-system</a></p>

My eMHR–An ONC-ATB and HIPAA Certified Personal Health Record Announces First “Patient Owned/Managed” Interoperable PHR, But Don’t Expect Any Real Privacy Here…

If you have not seen this one, here’s one more PHR and this one claims to be the only one approved by the ONC. When you read through it it sounds like we have a freestanding or a doctor prescribed PHR program here.  I do have to say their privacy statement is a little easier to read as it’s in a cha…

Read more »

Serco CEO Resigns in Midst of UK Government Fraud Investigation, US CEO Assigned Responsibilities, Company Is Holder of One the HHS Health Insurance Exchange Contingency Contracts

<p>In July Serco in the US was given a contract from HHS to set up the warehousing operation to handle applications for Health insurance.  Their corporate offices are located in the UK and this is where the CEO is stepping down.  The link below tells about what they do as far as the company’s broad spectrum of services they provide.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/07/obama-administration-doles-out-yet-one.html">Obama Administration Doles Out Yet One More Contract to Help With Eligibility Infrastructure And to Operate One Massive Mail Room-With Insurance Exchanges - Serco The Biggest Company You Have Never Heard Of</a></h5> <p>The fraud investigation is due to be completed next month.  For now the US CEO has been appointed as acting CEO.  Individuals Serco was billing<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="61" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lmXaHUUxM00/UmqMCbHP9QI/AAAAAAABIQk/1-P3XGQEUFo/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" title="image" width="153" /> for monitoring (prisoners) was not being done as some of the individuals billed for and listed were dead…amazing when it comes to billing how with technology folks can still make money and keep one technically alive on the web and where ever data is sold and accumulated…flawed data for profit.  Actually back in 2011 I wrote about this as one of the Chapters of the Killer Algorithms..they didn’t kill anyone but produced profits from dead people in the case of Serco. BD  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/12/flawed-datamined-by-corporations-online.html">Flawed Data–Mined by Corporations Online Provides Background Checks Riddled With Errors–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Part 7</a></h5> <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/sercogroup"> <hr />Serco</a>, the services company facing an investigation into its government contracts, has begun an urgent search for a new chief executive after Chris Hyman quit in a desperate attempt to rebuild the company's reputation.</p> <p>After <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/aug/28/police-serco-alleged-fraud">allegations that Serco overcharged the government for electronic tagging of offenders</a>, the operator of hospitals, prisons and railways around the world needs to improve its relationship with the UK government, which provides 25% of its revenue.</p> <p>Hyman, who is leaving after 20 years with the firm and 10 years as chief executive, said: "At this time, nothing is more important to me than rebuilding the relationship with our UK government customer. In recent weeks it has become clear to me that the best way for the company to move forward is for me to step back."</p> <p>The UK and Europe division is to be split in two to focus on the "UK government customers" and the other on activities in the wider public sector. Three new non-executive directors are to be appointed along with a new general counsel. A board committee for corporate responsibility is also to be created.</p> <p><a title="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/25/serco-chief-quits-government-contracts-chris-hyman" href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/25/serco-chief-quits-government-contracts-chris-hyman">http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/25/serco-chief-quits-government-contracts-chris-hyman</a></p>

Serco CEO Resigns in Midst of UK Government Fraud Investigation, US CEO Assigned Responsibilities, Company Is Holder of One the HHS Health Insurance Exchange Contingency Contracts

In July Serco in the US was given a contract from HHS to set up the warehousing operation to handle applications for Health insurance.  Their corporate offices are located in the UK and this is where the CEO is stepping down.  The link below tells about what they do as far as the company’s broad spe…

Read more »

Verizon Adds Health Management Platform For Remote Patient Monitoring–Converged Health Management

<p>This looks from the wording that it is both a clinical and a consumer platform as when you watch the video you do see some consumer mHealth devices. Not too long ago Verizon announced their Secure Messaging and email service for doctors and hospitals.  I know, it’s hard to keep it all straight at times:)  Verizon has received FDA approval for the software platform <img align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NdhLSmyNzYY/UTWMOkDQ4dI/AAAAAAABGIE/zPB0MBkm8QQ/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: right; display: inline" />and is HIPAA compliant, what ever that is any more (grin).  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/03/verizon-becomes-latest-to-jump-on.html">Verizon Becomes the Latest to Jump on the Secure Messaging and Email Service for Doctors and Hospitals With One More Choice</a></h5> <p>Like all the other big corporations out there they are also a member of the “code for cash” club to where they can get developers to write for their platforms as well.  We see this everywhere anymore and <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/one-more-cash-for-code-innovation.html">insurers, like United do it all over the place</a> as the big corporations save money with starving developers writing some of their code for carrots.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/verizon-latest-to-enter-code-for-cash.html">Verizon Latest to Enter “Code for Cash” Prize Format With $1 Million Top Pay Out for Writing Healthcare Apps That Use Their Platform, Is This the New “Corporate Business Model” To Yield Inexpensive Code?</a></h5> <p>We can’t have an article on such platforms without mentioning the data selling that goes on and SAP is anxious to get their hands on wireless data and re-query and repackage it and split the additional revenue with wireless carriers.  This is why we need to license and excise tax data sellers as we don’t know how many times our data or the profiles made about us are resold.  <strong>New tools for matching, anyone want to toss in a FacePrint?</strong>  Of course when data is flawed and full of errors, consumers are free labor for banks and companies as we are stuck doing it on our own dime as we get denied something along the line if we don’t.  SAP is also clearly aware of the basic privacy issue. In its release, it makes a point of referring to the data it would gather from wirelesss operators as "anonymized." </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/06/so-much-money-and-profit-in-data.html">So Much Money and Profit in the Data Selling, Epidemic, SAP Now Coming in as a Middleman Broker to Interpret Data & Share Profits With Wireless Carriers- Banks/Companies Making Billions</a></h5> <p><iframe style="height: 315px; width: 488px" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/i_dySd2Fsjo" frameborder="0" width="420" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>Again the clinical portions of the platform have to be confidential and HIPAA compliant but the consumer side we don’t know enough about yet, but anything’s possible as with de-identified data we even have <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/united-healthcare-adding-yet-one-more.html">United Healthcare selling data from the Mayo Clinic</a> today.  BD   </p> <p><strong> <hr />BASKING RIDGE, N.J.</strong> – Addressing yet another critical issue faced by the U.S. healthcare system, Verizon Enterprise Solutions today announced the immediate availability of <a href="http://www.verizonenterprise.com/us/industry/healthcare/converged-health-management/">Converged Health Management</a>, a remote patient-monitoring medical platform designed to help clinicians and patients manage patients’ health in between doctor visits.</p> <p>Verizon’s newest solution addresses the day-to-day communications gap that has historically existed between patients and clinicians. These gaps may contribute to patient health problems, decreased care compliance, increased emergency room visits and longer hospital stays. </p> <p>The Converged Health Management solution enables patients to use biometric devices to take health information such as blood pressure, oxygen saturation levels, glucose levels and weight from home or on the go. Patient data is then automatically transmitted through a wireless connection to a secure server that resides in Verizon’s HIPAA-ready cloud for analysis and intervention by the patient’s clinician, including a reward system that incents patients to make healthier lifestyle choices. Patients can access this information and find personalized health-enhancing suggestions via the Converged Health Management smartphone app or Web portal.</p> <p>Converged Health Management is available for purchase by U.S. health insurance companies, integrated delivery networks, hospitals, and large provider groups and self-funded employers that are looking for ways to monitor at-home care compliance, engage patients in healthier lifestyle choices and reduce hospital readmissions. </p> <p><a title="http://www.verizonenterprise.com/news/2013/10/Converged-Health-Management-Healthcare-Announcement" href="http://www.verizonenterprise.com/news/2013/10/Converged-Health-Management-Healthcare-Announcement">http://www.verizonenterprise.com/news/2013/10/Converged-Health-Management-Healthcare-Announcement</a></p>

Verizon Adds Health Management Platform For Remote Patient Monitoring–Converged Health Management

This looks from the wording that it is both a clinical and a consumer platform as when you watch the video you do see some consumer mHealth devices. Not too long ago Verizon announced their Secure Messaging and email service for doctors and hospitals.  I know, it’s hard to keep it all straight at ti…

Read more »