Anthem and Cigna Merge, What’s In It For Consumers, Nothing Really, But There Will Be a Massive Data Mess of Analytics, Budgets, and You’ll Never Get An Accurate Listing of MDs in Network…

<p>That’s about the size of it as today you have to look at the massive IT sides of business and if you don’t give that some thought, well you might be living under a rock as that’s pretty much what banks and insurance companies are today, huge software companies that manage a lot of money as well as your access to it.  We all know too that regulators have to approve not only this merger but Also the one with Aetna and Humana.  For years insurers have made money making things complex out there as that means profit and I’m not the first and won’t be the last to make that statement.</p> <p>Designing business operations as well as insurance policies has changed.  I wrote a while back about<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="102" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0TZ6_gpU4Is/VbOdvwoCeOI/AAAAAAABMdo/CNbC06J1Ov8/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="241" /> the large number of “Quants” the insurance business has hired.  You could say these folks are a step above the actuaries as they work with different models and actually at some point they might even be auditing the work of an actuary.  Sometimes a Quant will use the same math model as an actuary as well, even though they may not openly admit it, but it happens.  I started noticing this years ago, especially with United Healthcare as so many of their subsidiaries are not insurance and work around the software, analytics, hearing aids, etc. that they sell, and oh yes, let’s not forget their hospice for profit subsidiary too.  If you don’t know what a Quant is or what they do, scroll on down to the footer and watch video #2, the Quant documentary and it tells about what they do in banking and just relate that to health insurance as what we get are financial models that have been somewhat modified to use in the health insurance business.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/10/data-scientistsquants-in-health.html"><strong>Data Scientists/Quants in the Health Insurance Business–Modeling Beyond the Speed and Capabilities of Humans To Keep Up With The Affordable Care Act–Turning Into A World of Killer Algorithms That We All Hate..</strong></a></h5> <p>The numbers, of course the real benefits of these mass mergers today as otherwise, they wouldn’t bother as it’s big IT mess and will require spending a lot of money with adding new software, analytics, etc. as well as getting rid of some.  In addition with subsidiary companies, it allows them to sell more of our personal data as well. Health insurers do that, again not right out with the arm that is insuring you, but rather a subsidiary <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="112" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6hS--mUFG9w/VbOdwoIgaPI/AAAAAAABMdw/tAEOCXqaIak/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="238" />that contains a lot of “scores” about you, and in turn, they buy a lot of this data as well.  A while back I commented about this as I saw this coming for a few years…</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/09/health-insurance-business-is-driving.html">Health Insurance Business Is Driving Itself Off a Cliff & Doesn’t Know When to Stop With Collecting, Analyzing and Processing Non Relevant Data With Little Or No Impact On Giving Good Care..</a></h5> <p>We all complain a lot about inaccurate MD “in network” listings, well that will get worse and I do have to somewhat chuckle a bit at the digital illiterates that get up and demand insurers provide accurate listings.  Think about it, don’t you think they would be doing that if they could?  Of course they would be they are buried in lake of data that involve constant change, again thank the Quants that model the profits and tie in stock prices daily, they have their fingers on this pulse all the time and shift the numbers and the models around to keep the profits rolling.  I think even Wall Street is wise to this as the insurance stocks went down on this announcement as well.  Wall Street works the same way with analyzing business models for investing.  In California, doctors can’t even keep up with Anthem on reimbursement policies.  It was less than 90 days from the last update when they rolled out yet another policy change.  Who can keep functioning like this and keep providing good medical care forever?  It’s a big part of the reason doctors are retiring and that the drop out rates in medical school are growing.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2015/07/anthem-issues-yet-another-change-to.html">Anthem Issues Yet Another Change to Physician Reimbursement Policies Less Than 90 Days After the Last Change–Here’s A Look at the Other Side of ICD 10 Complexities-Aetna Just Fired Some MDs Over This E/M Services Costing Factor</a></h5> <p>Well maybe by now you could be getting the picture here.  The only benefit that could occur is having a larger group to spread the expense over and when you talk about that, well now you are getting closer to looking at a single payer again.  This has been something I think United Healthcare has been positioning themselves for, if you look at the very close relationship they have had and currently have with HHS and CMS.  Those two agencies have depended for years on United Healthcare “mentored” business models and still do.  Where do you think population health came from?  I saw the beginnings of that years ago with brochures in doctors offices.  Like anything else with analytics, how far will they take it and invade privacy is a big question.  Using registries to get information is a good thing but with all the algorithmic formulas and proprietary code that United runs for profit, you can’t trust everything they put out by all means.  </p> <p>While this is billed to create the largest insurance company,  it’s kind of a joke as United is much larger when you bring in all their entities that are not in the insurance business, everything from a bank to low income housing now and now they want to be in the urgent care business too.  So don’t just look at health insurers as that being their only business, as it’s not and you are fooling yourself if you do.  Actually I think Marylyn Tavenner is the CEO over at the big insurance lobby group right now that United left to further some of the efforts to make this a little bit more fair out there over at HHS and CMS with other insurers having a voice without United controlling everything. </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2015/07/marylyn-tavenner-takes-over-ceo-job-of.html">Marylyn Tavenner Takes Over CEO Job of AHIP, Major Health Insurance Lobby Group in DC And United Healthcare Dropped Out a Few Weeks Ago…</a></h5> <p>So again, what do you as a consumer get out of this merger, pretty much nothing other than having to learn how to click on more websites and study what the new algorithms put out there for you to analyze so you can get some healthcare.  Again there may be the need to spread the cost over a larger group here and of course there’s the subsidies from the government in here too with Obamacare that have an impact.  So again, consumers benefit here?  Not a chance and there will be new algorithms rolled out and more work for you to just get some healthcare when you need it.  </p> <p>Insurance companies are functioning pretty much like bank financial models and there’s a lot of flawed data out there and trickery you could call it as we are seeing this a lot today.  As a consumer you have to be aware of the constant changes and with Quant Modeled polices and business models, they are using tools and analytic way above and beyond the comprehension of the average consumer today, so the financially the battle is rigged, as well as some of the news you read today about such mergers, so be a skeptic when you need to be and try and swim as best you can in the world of “Algorithmic Health Insurance for Profit”…as I can’t think of any other way to describe what’s going on out there.  Check out the videos at the Killer Algorithms page to learn how this works as folks a lot smarter than me have taken time to create some good material that will give you a real good idea on how the math models and algorithms all work today and impact what care you do and don’t get.  BD  </p>

Anthem and Cigna Merge, What’s In It For Consumers, Nothing Really, But There Will Be a Massive Data Mess of Analytics, Budgets, and You’ll Never Get An Accurate Listing of MDs in Network…

That’s about the size of it as today you have to look at the massive IT sides of business and if you don’t give that some thought, well you ...

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Microsoft Launches the “Smart Band” To Work With the Microsoft Health Platform–Much More than Just A Fitness Band

<p>Here’s the answer to the Apple Healthkit and watch and does quite a bit and the video below from tells you all about it with a hands on<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="217" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_Kqq9jHbbDM/VFLlgZL3ZhI/AAAAAAABLrw/kvgx0h_N6iU/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="397"> beginning with the unboxing.  It was announced last night and it’s already in the stores.  This was nice and not having to wait.  It comes in 3 sizes, small, medium and large.  You can also order one online.  The cost is $199 and there’s an extra charger available for $19.95. </p> <p>It has a 48 hour battery life to begin with and there’s some additional perks here than just another band that monitors your heart rate.  The magnetic charger looks neat too.  It is water resistant but not water proof so don’t shower or swim with the Band.  You turn it on and download the app and it connects to your phone and does the Blue Tooth pair up.</p> <p>The app works on Windows Phone, IOS, and the Android phones so all phones are covered.  The touch screen on the Band looks nice and you can scroll through the icons.  It does text messaging.  You get your heart rate and it will check out the quality of your sleep.  It has a UV sensor and that’s a first that I have seen on any device.  <strong>All the social networks are there.  It uses machine learning technologies to coach you along and eventually HealthVault will be in the to synchronize.</strong>  </p> <p>You get a lot more here than just the standard fitness band.  Good marketing to include emails, etc.  There are guided work outs.  You create your profile and enter some basic information.  You can customize the look of the band and there’s Microphone Cortana to use as well.  There’s a total of 20 sensors in the unit and room for the extra battery too.  </p> <p>  <iframe height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/g7a-GTyEEbg" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Did you like that video?  Ok here’s one that uses a journobot, just for fun and see how long you can stand it:)  Long Tail is the name of some patented software that does some of this.  I sure hope the nightly news doesn’t turn into this.  </p> <p><iframe height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jqER3WpljJM" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Overall this is probably the best Fitness Band I have seen because it does much more than just sensors.  BD</p> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/Microsoft-Health/en-us">http://www.microsoft.com/Microsoft-Health/en-us</a></p>

Microsoft Launches the “Smart Band” To Work With the Microsoft Health Platform–Much More than Just A Fitness Band

Here’s the answer to the Apple Healthkit and watch and does quite a bit and the video below from tells you all about it with a hands on beg...

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Dr. Oz And the Senate - And Now for Something Completely Different-Has Everyone Forgotten to Use Their Off/On Button or Channel Changer on Their Televisions?

<p>Oh you have to watch this and kind of laugh as a physician and surgeon, Dr. Oz is top notch and supplements are<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="162" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3LVqdHz4gsw/U6DrsbBlb8I/AAAAAAABKoo/0NeEVn0tL0w/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" title="image" width="139" /> not regulated by the FDA at all.  We all know there are program managers that put a little hype out there as well, but I do wonder, were there any Senators who used the weight loss product and didn’t loose weight (grin).  You have to laugh as this becomes such a big deal when there are more pressing things that need to be dealt with in Congress.</p> <p>Again the time wasted here accomplished nothing but I guess some Senators felt they had to make some kind of stand?</p> <p>He offered very good rebuttal and explanations I do have to say. Senator  McCaskill, she was really funny just going on and on, and what cranky old lady but he handled it well.  She could take off a few pounds:)  Fix the data selling that’s going on out there and don’t worry about Dr. Oz, he’s just all talk but the algorithms are killing us denying access.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-true-dangers-with-corporate.html">The True Dangers With Corporate Obsessive Algorithmic Scoring of US Consumers - It Creates More Flawed Data For Sale And Makes Banks and Companies Wealthier As the Pace of Inequality Accelerates …</a></h5> <p><iframe height="234" src="http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#/video/health/2014/06/17/erin-dnt-cohen-dr-oz-weight-loss-hearing.cnn" frameborder="0" width="416"></iframe></p> <p>Nobody is dying over the supplements and yes he has taken folks to court as well for using his name and I get his name used in junk mail all the time too so it’s all over the place.  </p> <p>Thank goodness Dr. Oz does not perform abortions I guess:)  Well they didn’t address why he has folks on the show that talk to the dead:)  BD</p> <p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/17/health/senate-grills-dr-oz/">http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/17/health/senate-grills-dr-oz/</a></p>

Dr. Oz And the Senate - And Now for Something Completely Different-Has Everyone Forgotten to Use Their Off/On Button or Channel Changer on Their Televisions?

Oh you have to watch this and kind of laugh as a physician and surgeon, Dr. Oz is top notch and supplements are not regulated by the FDA at...

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Gates Foundation Giving Begins to Slow..

<p>This is kind of an interesting article to where nobody really knows why the foundation gifts are slowing down but there’s a lot of guessing here and there.  We certainly are better off due to the Foundation by all means.  Perhaps I might guess tha<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="67" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-EXo8FN7KdYQ/U4Qs6fZXwZI/AAAAAAABKas/QkRWL3fo1k8/image%25255B2%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="187" />t the guidelines are changing a bit?  As mentioned below the big gifts are complex in nature.  We have also been reading too about some of the charity work from hospitals beginning to slow down.</p> <p>For whatever reason it’s slowing down I hope it doesn’t go away…BD  </p> <p> <hr />John Pinette, a spokesman for Mr. Gates, declined to address specific reasons for the change of pace in giving, but he did point to the challenges of distributing large amounts of money where it can be most effective. Giving away $3.9 billion, as the foundation did in 2012, “is a massive task and a big responsibility,” Mr. Pinette said.</p> <p>Because the vast majority of potential grant recipients are relatively small, “finding organizations that have the capacity to productively use large grants can be challenging,” said Melissa A. Berman, president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which advises donors including the Gates foundation on how to achieve their goals. She said 75 percent of nonprofits in the United States had annual budgets of less than $500,000.</p> <p>Paul Brest, a Stanford law professor and former president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, said, “It’s very easy to give away money, but hard to give away money to have real and lasting impact.”</p> <p>Some other Gates investments combine his expertise in software with disease-fighting goals that echo those of his foundation. He has invested $30 million in a drug-discovery start-up, Schrodinger. He has also invested in Nimbus Discovery, which aims to use computers to discover drugs.</p> <p><a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/as-his-foundation-has-grown-gates-has-slowed-his-donations/?smid=tw-dealbook&seid=auto">http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/as-his-foundation-has-grown-gates-has-slowed-his-donations/?smid=tw-dealbook&seid=auto</a></p>

Gates Foundation Giving Begins to Slow..

This is kind of an interesting article to where nobody really knows why the foundation gifts are slowing down but there’s a lot of guessing ...

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FDA Approves Microsoft Kinect To be Used for Stroke Recovery Rehabilitation

<p>Now this neat and how “gamification” should work and not some portal wanting to play a game to ente<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="118" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Ce1bJhZca_M/U3Wx6HMFZGI/AAAAAAABKSw/yvA30CfBgTA/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="208" />r data to sell:)  The system uses game like exercises to evaluate motor skills.  Coordination and motor skills are the focus.  You get to see your scores if you are the patient as well.  The final program is a game that allows exercise with reflexes.  <a href="http://www.jintronix.com/">Jintronix</a> is the company who created the Kinect software.</p> <p>It can be used in a clinic or as a stand alone therapy device at home.   This type of virtual values is ok as it’s serving a purpose to help rehab for a persona in the “real world”.   Here’s a couple videos that shows how it works.  A couple other classic posts below are interesting as well with Kinect being used in a PACS system and with the DaVinci Surgical robot.    I always found that one kind of fascinating to have a million dollar or better robot work with the $150.00 Kinect unit.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/02/kinect-and-davinci-surgical-robot-do.html">Kinect And DaVinci Surgical Robot Do Simulated Surgery Suturing Together (Video)</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/12/microsoft-kinect-working-with-pacs.html"><strong>Microsoft Kinect Working with a PACS Server-Images on Steroids Via Gestures (Video)</strong></a></h5> <p><iframe style="height: 268px; width: 494px" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VAwzQ9LLsfA" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p><iframe style="height: 269px; width: 493px" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WQ4IQC2hA0M" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>In addition for more information visit the <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/healthblog/archive/2014/05/09/dancing-with-the-fda-jintronix-wins-milestone-clearance-for-microsoft-kinect-gamified-rehabilitation-software.aspx">MSDN Health blog  where Dr. Crounse from Microsoft</a> tells you more about the story on the FDA process and more about Jintronix.  This was the first FDA approval for a Kinect product.  BD  </p> <p> <hr />We’ve seen how the Microsoft Kinect device can be used for more than just gaming. We’ve seen it being <a href="http://www.ubergizmo.com/2014/05/xbox-one-kinect-is-therapy-device-for-cerebral-palsy-kids/">used in the medical field</a>, and now the FDA has recently approved the Kinect for use in the treatment of patients who have suffered from a stroke. Jintronix is a company that makes physical rehab software, and one of their software is designed for the Kinect and used to help treat patients who have had a stroke.</p> <p>According to Shawn Errunza, Jintronix CEO, <em>“We’re very excited about receiving FDA clearance, which paves the way for Jintronix to help in the rehabilitation of countless stroke victims.”</em> One of ways that stroke patients can recover proper use of their limbs is by participating in physical activities and exercises.</p> <p><a href="http://www.ubergizmo.com/2014/05/fda-approves-use-of-kinect-for-stroke-recovery/">http://www.ubergizmo.com/2014/05/fda-approves-use-of-kinect-for-stroke-recovery/</a></p>

FDA Approves Microsoft Kinect To be Used for Stroke Recovery Rehabilitation

Now this neat and how “gamification” should work and not some portal wanting to play a game to ente r data to sell:)  The system uses game l...

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Microsoft’s Cortana And Apple’s Siri Personal Mobile Assistants Duke It Out - Humor (Video)

<p>This is so funny and nice to see some potshots here and there.  Arsenio Hall does it.  This could really be fun!  Imagine what this can do for healthcare (grin), what would they call patients and doctors (grin).  I have been using the Bing Speech Assistant for quite a while now on my Windows phone it works great so the new Cortana features will be interesting to explore.  BD </p> <p><iframe style="height: 257px; width: 426px" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-iznLyIYzts" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <hr />Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian best known for hosting The Arsenio Hall Show which was <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="104" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-DGi4OG7f2KI/U0WI8sj2uxI/AAAAAAABJ1w/ISijZTpX_SU/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" title="image" width="132" />recently revived from September last year. Microsoft revealed Cortana digital assistant for the first time last week and it created lots of positive press for Microsoft. In this show, Arsenio was shown using Cortana and Siri for completing a task and things get out of control when Microsoft’s Cortana and Apple’s Siri started a conversation between themselves. This is just for fun, so watch the video above and enjoy it. <p><a href="http://wmpoweruser.com/check-out-this-heated-conversation-between-microsofts-cortana-and-apples-siri/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter" title="http://wmpoweruser.com/check-out-this-heated-conversation-between-microsofts-cortana-and-apples-siri/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter">http://wmpoweruser.com/check-out-this-heated-conversation-between-microsofts-cortana-and-apples-siri/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter</a></p>

Microsoft’s Cortana And Apple’s Siri Personal Mobile Assistants Duke It Out - Humor (Video)

This is so funny and nice to see some potshots here and there.  Arsenio Hall does it.  This could really be fun!  Imagine what this can do f...

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Bill and Melinda Gates Talk About Why Giving Away Their Wealth Has Been So Satisfying - Video

<p>This is a nice interview and they didn’t have to mine and scrape our data to do this.   When you look at <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="138" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GrUXfQYoCIY/Uz0UecyPelI/AAAAAAABJyU/Tq6Lm6vCXMc/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="238" />what’s coming out today with billionaires, they mine and scrape out data to do it and with the Gates, we have maturity with money made by helping us being more efficient.  </p> <p>They talk contraceptives, things that are helping the “real world” and not just a virtual world.  Those do something in the real world versus just a bunch of data.  </p> <p>Also they talk about vaccines and the few number of children that are dying.  Again we have tangibles here with technology being used for vaccines.  Their mission is “silent” Bill Gates says as it is invisible.  The two of them collaborate and learn from each other Melinda stated and are “interested” in what the other has to say.</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/02/big-difference-between-philanthropy-and.html">Big Difference Between the Philanthropy and Technology Efforts Of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, Gates Is Focused On “Real World Tech Solutions” While The Zuckerberg Focus Remains in “Virtual World Solutions”–The Gates Maturity Has It’s Rank And Value</a></h5> <p>The have had some failures as Bill Gates talks about and they were more of lessons of learning.  This is the first time they actually show pictures of their kids and talk about them a bit.  BD  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/06/bill-gates-warren-buffett-call-for.html">Bill Gates & Warren Buffett – Call for Philanthropy To Give 50% of Their Fortunes To Help Others With “The Giving Pledge”</a></h5> <iframe height="215" src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/bill_and_melinda_gates_why_giving_away_our_wealth_has_been_the_most_satisfying_thing_we_ve_done.html" frameborder="0" width="460" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen"></iframe> <p> </p> <p>In 1993, Bill and Melinda Gates—then engaged—took a walk on a beach in Zanzibar, and made a bold decision on how they would make sure that their wealth from Microsoft went back into society. In a conversation with Chris Anderson, the couple talks about their work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as about their marriage, their children, their failures and the satisfaction of giving most of their wealth away. </p> <p><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_and_melinda_gates_why_giving_away_our_wealth_has_been_the_most_satisfying_thing_we_ve_done?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TEDTalks_video+%28TEDTalks+Main+%28SD%29+-+Site%29#" title="http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_and_melinda_gates_why_giving_away_our_wealth_has_been_the_most_satisfying_thing_we_ve_done?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TEDTalks_video+%28TEDTalks+Main+%28SD%29+-+Site%29#">http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_and_melinda_gates_why_giving_away_our_wealth_has_been_the_most_satisfying_thing_we_ve_done?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TEDTalks_video+%28TEDTalks+Main+%28SD%29+-+Site%29#</a></p>

Bill and Melinda Gates Talk About Why Giving Away Their Wealth Has Been So Satisfying - Video

This is a nice interview and they didn’t have to mine and scrape our data to do this.   When you look at what’s coming out today with billio...

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Bill Gates Lecture At The NIH: Why The Future Needs Biomedical Innovation

<p>Lately Bill Gates is making the speaking and presentation rounds, and just spoke at<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="198" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9B4F6W1kP5w/Up7PrI15TNI/AAAAAAABIv8/yC1LI1KkQz8/image%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" title="image" width="291" /> <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/11/bill-gates-bit-unwired-harvard-campaign.html">Harvard a few days ago</a>.  He talks about what he learned from starting the Gates Foundation.  Every day, one child at a time he states is where the focus needs to be.  Vaccines are at the top of the list and he said the only reason we still have measles is that we don’t have enough distribution.  </p> <p>Polio is the biggest campaign right now at the Foundation and the goal is to eradicate by the year 2018.  GAVI, Global Alliance for Vaccines is one of the big organizations that does a lot of the footwork.   He moves on to talk about the irony that the money for research in the US is going down as he travels the world to look to get more money from other countries for Global Health.  </p> <p>After his summary he sits down with Francis Collins of the NIH for a short question and answer session.  </p> <p><a href="http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=13311">Here’s the link as the NIH</a> has issues with their embedding and the code doesn’t work and will tell you to allow java in your browser, even though you already have…more government bugs I guess.  BD</p> <hr /> <p>The David E. Barmes Global Health Lecture is the single most important named lecture at NIH on global health. This year's speaker is Bill Gates. The lecture series honors the late David Edward Barmes, special expert for international health at NIDCR. The lecture was established in 2001 to honor his lifelong dedication to<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="228" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-FcdonL5qZEU/Up7ProVM0EI/AAAAAAABIwA/vslVksLgY4c/image%25255B17%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" title="image" width="385" /> research aimed at improving health for people in low-income countries. <br />About Bill Gates: Known for his philanthropy, Mr. Gates advocates for research and innovation to help people live healthy and productive lives. He also is an outspoken supporter of federal investment in basic scientific research. <br />In 2000, he and his wife Melinda established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve international public health through the development of vaccines, therapies, diagnostics, agricultural products, and other technologies.</p> <p>The foundation partners with the private and public sectors to ensure that these technologies can be delivered successfully to the people who need them. In the United States, the Gates Foundation supports innovations that improve public education. To date, the Gates Foundation has invested $27.6 billion in grants. <br />The Gates Foundation also partners with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) to support global health research. Through this collaboration, ongoing programs are studying diseases such as malaria, enteric infections, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, as well as training researchers and medical personnel in the developing world. </p> <p><a href="http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=13311" title="http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=13311">http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=13311</a></p>

Bill Gates Lecture At The NIH: Why The Future Needs Biomedical Innovation

Lately Bill Gates is making the speaking and presentation rounds, and just spoke at Harvard a few days ago .  He talks about what he learne...

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Bill Gates (A Bit Unwired) The Harvard Campaign Video Interview..

<p>This is probably one of the best off the wall interviews with Bill Gates<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="172" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-QcW9faI1erA/UpqOfGVAtcI/AAAAAAABItk/RJ-4FaB7Zw0/image%25255B6%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="142" /> that I have seen, and there’s plenty of humor and he discusses a bit about his personal life and how Microsoft grew from the early days.  He talks a bit about Steve Jobs and Apple and how they were friendly competitors and they financial help Microsoft gave them.  It is funny listening to him talking about how he dropped out of Harvard.  </p> <p>The big focus here in the last half is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and how Warren Buffet and Bill Gates got together and play a lot of Bridge with each other.  He chats about folks coming to him for money all the time and how he deals with it.  </p> <p>What excites him is getting rid of Polio when asked about what gets him going.  Bill Gates talks about there are tons of things he’s not good at and he looks for the experts to help him.  </p> <p> <div id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:34269b4c-a42a-44c4-9a0c-243d2027862d" 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/cBHJ-8Bch4E?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cBHJ-8Bch4E?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">Bill Gates–Unwired, The Harvard Campaign…</div></div> </p> <p>Will he ever slow down, Bill Gates says probably in his 80s he will slow down..and will he in his 80s come back and get his degree.  Gates takes a lot of online university courses and recommends them for all.  </p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBHJ-8Bch4E">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBHJ-8Bch4E</a></p>

Bill Gates (A Bit Unwired) The Harvard Campaign Video Interview..

This is probably one of the best off the wall interviews with Bill Gates that I have seen, and there’s plenty of humor and he discusses a b...

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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

<p>As I said this is going to be a meeting of the digital illiterates, both sides. <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="138" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UGRAkc1FH70/UmchhXH_wDI/AAAAAAABIQE/y-Kt28qODW8/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" title="image" width="150" /> Seriously though this was a crying shame…I was very vocal in 2009 saying <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/kathleen-sebelius-kansas-governor-for.html">HHS is all about Health IT get someone in there who can focus on this</a> when she was nominated…</p> <h5><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/10/healthcaregovhhs-sebelius-testimony.html">Healthcare.Gov–HHS Sebelius Testimony With House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Technologists Pull Up a Chair And Get the Popcorn Ready for “One Heck of a Show”- We Are Going To Learn About The Sorry State of Affairs Of Digital Literacy With Our Government All The Way Around…</a></strong></h5> <p>This is Part two below of the 3 Part video series.</p> <p>With IT costs of the exchanges, the government is sharing the love that hospitals are experiencing today as well.  I did also tell my  readers to be prepared to use the old style methods in September as well as when we heard <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/speed-up-rate-of-change-in-health.html">“Speed up Health IT”</a> those were the words of a very tech novice Sebelius and that told me we are in trouble and plus just being in tech and knowing about the complexities today you know they got a very late start at all of this.  <strong>Again I thought using the word “beta” would have bought some sympathy here as well.</strong>  </p> <div style="width: 520px; background-color: #000000"> <div style="padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px"><iframe height="288" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:cms:video:thedailyshow.com:429813" frameborder="0" width="512"></iframe> <p style="margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; padding-bottom: 4px; text-align: left; padding-top: 4px; padding-left: 4px; margin-top: 4px; padding-right: 4px; background-color: #ffffff"><b>The Daily Show</b> <br />Get More: <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/">Daily Show Full Episodes</a>,<a href="http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow">The Daily Show on Facebook</a></p> </div> </div> <p>Here’s a paragraph clip of what I told my readers on September 11th.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/health-insurance-exchange-contractors.html">Health Insurance Exchange Contractors Give Update Report to House Energy & Commerce Committee–The Federal Data Hub Beta</a></h5> <p><em><strong>“As I said before so what if all the automation is not ready, the fact is you will be able to apply for health insurance on that day, whether it is the old paper and faxing methods or if the big Beta Federal Data Hub is up to the task.</strong>  This is a lot of data work and there will be updates and the states can more than likely look forward to updates to their systems for connectivity as the Hub and the rest of it will be updated.  Come on who makes a perfect data system out there today..nobody.  Just this week speaking of code issues, United had another recall on one of their medical systems.  It was the sixth one but this was the first we heard about it.  They wrote a fix and distributed the update so the exchange system can join the crowd in that respect:)”</em></p> <hr /> <p>Now we have the tech surge…I do have to say it sounds like running to the Alamo…this one is funny as he’s “stuck in the code”…..and PacMan comes running through to get him…</p> <div style="width: 520px; background-color: #000000"> <div style="padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px"><iframe height="288" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:cms:video:thedailyshow.com:429814" frameborder="0" width="512"></iframe> <p style="margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; padding-bottom: 4px; text-align: left; padding-top: 4px; padding-left: 4px; margin-top: 4px; padding-right: 4px; background-color: #ffffff"><b>The Daily Show</b> <br />Get More: <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/">Daily Show Full Episodes</a>,<a href="http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow">The Daily Show on Facebook</a></p> </div> </div> <p>I have couple questions of my own and the big one is why did the government<strong> build</strong> a integrated ID and Access system as well as a full on exchange when there were two off the shelf models from Oracle and Microsoft that could have done the trick with some scripting and code adjustment, beats the heck out of writing it from the bottom up and there’s a ton of Oracle technologies in the system so why not? <strong>You know time was of the essence…and as I understand the government did buy the Oracle Access and ID component from Oracle so why not an integrated turkey exchange platform to go with it as technologies were written to integrate!  </strong></p> <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/09/oracle-announces-insurance-exchange.html"><strong><font color="#ff0000">Oracle turnkey State Exchange Software platform…</font></strong></a></p> <p><img height="189" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-OShAUorkm_c/ToPkWCvH91I/AAAAAAAA33c/LeKCE2MR_Ok/image_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" width="528" /></p> <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/02/microsoft-announces-new-low-cost.html"><strong><font color="#ff0000">Microsoft turnkey State Exchange Software platform…</font></strong></a></p> <p><strong><u>Microsoft’s HIX</u></strong> offering also gives states access to the extensive Microsoft partner network for solid expertise in crucial areas such as systems integration, Medicaid Management Information Systems and Medicaid Information Technology Architecture requirements.  Microsoft integrates with Oracle and has for years, like since Windows 95 with open data base driver connectivity and it’s better and beyond that today.  </p> <p><img height="316" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TVHgrz_OnpI/AAAAAAAAq2g/AD6rTrdaQ18/image_thumb%5B4%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" width="534" /></p> <p>Did I miss anything here?<strong>  I am really am curious as to why CGI and QSSI were writing a platform as I understand it from the ground up when there was already a lot of coding work done.</strong>  Granted I understand as being a former coder myself you have to script and modify some code to integrate but<strong> damn buying some code sure beats building form the ground up and when I wrote software, I bought  a few VB 6 modules to use in my software, I’m not a fool and in thinking I needed to re-invent the wheel by all means.  I would use those modules and adapt and change my models to work with it in Microsoft Visual Studio.  </strong></p> <p>There’s nothing wrong at all with this thought process as software folks  all do it and pay for it if it has the value to do what we need to have done, so again my questions here are what the heck went on with writing it from scratch?  If I have missed something in all of this, let me know.  BD  </p> <p><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-21-2013/the-weakest-link" title="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-21-2013/the-weakest-link">http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-21-2013/the-weakest-link</a></p>

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

As I said this is going to be a meeting of the digital illiterates, both sides. Seriously though this was a crying shame…I was very vocal i...

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Microsoft Providing Office 365 Free To Students When It Is Licensed For University Facility and Staff…Office 365 Pro Plus At No Additional Cost

<p>This sound like a good deal and I would think some medical schools might want to check this out.  As mentioned in the article below there has been a<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="67" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-69QfSqpjQmQ/Ul7yERI2C6I/AAAAAAABILE/Y7vu0F41PBc/image%25255B10%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="316" /> plan to where a very steep discount was given but nothing beats free in my book.  If I am reading this correctly the use of two different plans together makes this free for students by combining the A3 tiered discounts along with the new Student Advantage Plan.  </p> <p>Don’t ask me to explain the licensing in detail as we all stumble with Microsoft licenses at times, and it’s been kind of a joke amongst many for years; however the universities are no doubt aware of the A3 Tier and probably will read up on the new Student Advantage plan too:)  </p> <p><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/academic/compare-office-365-education-plans-FX103045755.aspx"><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="173" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-P3Aktw3YYOI/Ul7yFE_ROGI/AAAAAAABILM/GS5dMVJXvnw/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="556" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>What I like though is the flexibility of having both the web and desktop applications for my use and it would make me nuts with the volume of emails I get to be limited to Outlook on the web only but if you don’t have a heavy email drop, then the web works fine.  BD  </p> <p> <hr />For years, Microsoft, Apple, and others have offered educational discounts to students. Now, Microsoft has gone significantly further, providing a free copy of Office to students whose schools license it for their faculty and staff. </p> <p>The Student Advantage program essentially extends an Office 365 subscription to the student body. Beginning Dec. 1, any academic institution that licenses Office for staff and faculty can provide Office 365 ProPlus for students at no additional cost, Microsoft announced at the Educause 2013 conference. </p> <p>But only the paid A3 tiers and above offer desktop versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Publisher, Access, Lync, and OneNote; under that plan, students pay $2.50 per month per user, and faculty and staff pay $4.50 per user, per month. Students can also buy a four-year Office 365 University license for $79.99. </p> <p>But Microsoft said that the new Student Advantage plan can be used with the A3 tier, essentially making the portion of the costs normally assessed to student licenses essentially free. </p> <p><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2054395/microsoft-gives-office-to-students-whose-teachers-buy-it.html" title="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2054395/microsoft-gives-office-to-students-whose-teachers-buy-it.html">http://www.pcworld.com/article/2054395/microsoft-gives-office-to-students-whose-teachers-buy-it.html</a></p>

Microsoft Providing Office 365 Free To Students When It Is Licensed For University Facility and Staff…Office 365 Pro Plus At No Additional Cost

This sound like a good deal and I would think some medical schools might want to check this out.  As mentioned in the article below there ha...

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HealthVault PHR Creates API for Developers to Write and Create HealthVault Apps

<p>If you are not a developer then this may not be too exciting but if you have a friend that is one, you can pass this along:)  You will need a Visual Studio Kit and know a bit about programming, but if you are a consumer you can probably expect to see some HealthVault applications soon.  One thing <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="66" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bJ7zazdIiZI/UgGbi2S3AII/AAAAAAABHZI/AbZBOsPamq8/image%25255B5%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="167" />about HealthVault is that it is “non-tethered” so the information contained is yours to share with how you desire and is not sold to 3rd parties.  <strong>So as not to be confusing though there are 3rd party applications like Fitbit and others who do sell data or data profiles that do connect to HealthVault, but when choosing to use them to connect, they have already collected the data or data profiles they want to sell by use of “their” app. </strong>  That’s how that works, so if your device connects directly to HealthVault without an app, then there’s nobody else collecting the data. </p> <p><strong>The Blue Button and the Direct Project of course are direct imports or connections where data is secured</strong> and not exposed to a 3rd party application.  One former Microsoft HealthVault employee now has sock sensors, Sensora,  that will eventually connect to HealthVault and again no data sold here either.  I like the privacy statements of those who don’t sell data, they are real simple, i.e. “we don’t sell your data” versus 2-15 pages of a privacy statement that some lawyer wrote that is confusing as all get out, where you have no clue as to half of what you have read.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-computer-is-in-your-sockssensors_2007.html">The Computer is in Your Socks–Sensors and Monitoring Discreetly at Your Feet…Beyond the Accelerator With Mobile Health Monitoring</a></h5> <p><strong>Sean from HealthVault pretty much says what you read here all the time…used in context with whatever blog post I am adding.</strong>  </p> <p><em>“In the world today --- </em><a href="http://www.code.org/"><em>code is power</em></a><em>. Code runs virtually everything around us, so making sure our users have code-level access to their information is the most real and sincere way we can possibly say: it’s yours, do with it what you want.”</em></p> <p>So stay tuned and you might start seeing HealthVault applications for use soon…and I might guess Microsoft might put a few of their own creations out there as it’s kind of been their history to do so with a lot of their projects.  Here’s another project in the making too that will not sell your data and who knows perhaps the Tri-Coder when it’s ready might also connect to record your data.  BD</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/06/scanadu-tricoder-scoutone-mhealth.html">Scanadu Tricoder Scout–One mHealth Device Not Selling Data For Profit Goes To Crowdfunding, Will the FDA Consider Privacy in Their Mobile Device Approval System</a></h5> <p><a href="http://healthvault.com/"> <hr />HealthVault</a> is a pretty great aggregator of health data. We have more than <a href="http://healthvault.com/devices">200 biometric monitoring devices</a> connected to the platform: fitness and activity monitors, weight scales, blood pressure and glucose monitors, peak flow meters, and more. We have hundreds of <a href="http://healthvault.com/programs">connected web and mobile apps</a>, many of which are built to capture personal observations using everything from simple manual check-ins to camera and audio captures.</p> <p>But best of all --- we have an API and extensible data model that makes it incredibly easy for developers to add even more data to the mix, and to work with it holistically and efficiently. One query and data across domains comes back for correlation and pattern-searching. No database to worry about. Automatic integration of clinical data. <a href="http://msdn.com/healthvault">SDKs available</a> for all modern platforms. And a fully-functional test environment you can start using in five minutes. It’s pretty awesome.</p> <p>Let’s be really clear about what this is. You now have one, universal, consistent API that you can use to work with your data from (let’s just take a sampling off the top of my head):</p> <ul> <li>Fitness devices from: <a href="http://www.fitbit.com/apps/healthvault">Fitbit</a>, <a href="http://withings.com/en/services/mshv">Withings</a>, <a href="https://account.healthvault.com/Directory?id=97e149d1-9513-4f29-a9a7-0f2d325d1b7e">Nike</a>, <a href="https://account.healthvault.com/Directory?id=c04e377e-dc82-471e-b5e7-56a177126a84&target=1&queryparam=FT80">Polar</a>, <a href="https://account.healthvault.com/Directory?id=97e149d1-9513-4f29-a9a7-0f2d325d1b7e">Garmin</a>, <a href="http://healthvault.com/devices">more</a>…</li> <li><a href="http://healthvault.com/devices">Blood glucose meters, blood pressure cuffs, weight scales, peak flow meters, more…</a></li> <li>Healthcare providers (<a href="http://healthvault.com/bluebutton">Blue Button</a>, <a href="https://apps.healthvault.com/messagecenter">Direct Project</a>, more…)</li> <li>Clinical lab results from <a href="https://account.healthvault.com/Directory?id=f51f5fe7-cbc4-40d8-8e87-1b7aee69bdc6">LabCorp</a>, <a href="https://account.healthvault.com/Directory?id=59382c01-2e29-4fdc-b883-a5e0068fee66">Quest</a>, <a href="https://account.healthvault.com/Directory?id=7780435c-980e-4f17-900e-58cc4b1cc5c8">MyMedLab</a>, more…</li> <li>Mobile apps on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-healthvault/id546835834?mt=8">iOS</a>, <a href="https://www.itriagehealth.com/">Android</a>, <a href="http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/healthvault/daa5bf42-cf02-4327-97cf-0721ca4ff7a2">Windows Phone</a>, <a href="http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/healthvault/728f1c88-7e2f-4b40-95c1-74fc09983689">Windows 8</a>, more….</li> <li><a href="https://www.healthvault.com/us/en/connection-center">Medical images</a> in DICOM format…</li> </ul> <p><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/familyhealthguy/archive/2013/08/06/quantified-self-check.aspx">http://blogs.msdn.com/b/familyhealthguy/archive/2013/08/06/quantified-self-check.aspx</a></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:f181eb5c-c8bf-4ee8-9a61-3dd38afd6648" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/PHR" rel="tag">PHR</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/HealthVault" rel="tag">HealthVault</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Microsoft" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/medical+records" rel="tag">medical records</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/programming" rel="tag">programming</a></div>

HealthVault PHR Creates API for Developers to Write and Create HealthVault Apps

If you are not a developer then this may not be too exciting but if you have a friend that is one, you can pass this along:)  You will need ...

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Wall Street and Other Financial Institutions Spending Big Bucks Teaching New College Graduates How to Use Spreadsheets–Is This An Emergence of “Mini Modelers”Without Borders?

<p>I had to somewhat laugh when I read this as 15 years ago even before I learned a stick of code I was working in an outside sales job for a Fortune 500 company and my sales manager literally thought I was terrorizing him with my<img align="right" border="0" height="65" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRp9TBlvWqtr16ku9oa-uGY_yLITLV9hYmtozmPi5XdbJ5RW7Sm" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" width="138" /> Excel Spreadsheet expense accounts:)  This was long before there was speech recognition and I used to embed little sound byte files in the corner of the cells to explain any big expenditures, was easier that way to just record a complete explanation instead of typing all of it.  Due to fear I had to stop and type a of it as they were somewhat afraid of voice sound byte files (grin).  </p> <p><strong>I also used to use simple macros to pop in some small Visual Basic modules, which you can still do today so when I read this about the college graduates I did have to chuckle a little bit and especially when I saw the dollar amounts being spent:)</strong>  A couple days ago I did a post about SaaS software that allows anyone who knows how to use a spreadsheet to become a “modeler”.  I can’t help but think this is where some of this is going so banks and insurance companies can have armies of “mini modelers” all over the place.  Here’s the post at the link below so you can catch up.  <strong>All you need to be able to do is “dump in a spreadsheet” and you too can be a  modeler</strong> and even sell your model on the site.  It does require data if I am reading it correctly so it can be verified if you are going to market and make money from machine learning technologies that is made available to you. </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/05/bigdata-modeling-and-analytics-goes.html">BigData Modeling and Analytics Goes Into Mass Production Based on SaaS Machine Learning Platform to Create Predictive Models in Minutes–Accountability, Accuracy Still Needed By All Means – “Models Without Borders”</a></h5> <p>If you look at all the job openings for insurers, this is what you find today, analytics and data miners wanted so they are right in here too with the banks.  Ok now talk to any professional modeler, a Quant, and see how many times it takes them to get it right…bingo…now the machine learning technologies are going to make you winners every time…don’t think so.  Again when you <img align="right" height="244" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-fpaB8yOE0io/USv18tNlXUI/AAAAAAABFxM/25MkrAmeTq8/AlgoFairy1%25255B11%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" width="292" />look at the marketing of some of this you do have to laugh.  This is why half of the analytics that come out are going to be useless.  Learning is great and when models are created this can be a good education experience but wait until the banks and insurers demand perfection and ways to lower risk.  Will the machine learning help the employees then?  It all depends on what is programmed in…it’s like this picture I have here called “The Algo Fairy”.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/half-of-analytics-investments-by.html">Half of Analytics Investments By Companies and Banks Will Be a Waste–What Do We Analyze with Big Data and Does It Have Value–Some Algo Fairies Would Do Better at Disneyland…</a></h5> <p>Now let’s talk about those who want to be professional modelers and I urge you to watch this video here and<strong> listen to the guy who’s paying over 60k in New York to become one…yes the money is good but the nerds don’t get to make the big decisions or get the real big money, they</strong> end up being grunts at times while the CEOs and front offices rake in the money.  Remember Jamie Dimon when he was asked about their models<a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/person-hardest-on-jamie-dimon-was-jamie.html">…”I don’t know” was the most quoted answer:)</a></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.hk/2012/09/quants-alchemists-of-wall-street-video.html">Quants: The Alchemists of Wall Street Video Documentary - Why It Needs to Matter What Companies Do and Not Focus Only On the Price of Stock With So Called Value - Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 44</a></h5> <p>Anyway, I see this as a focus here with spending the big bucks to train new employees so they can dump those spreadsheets into these new SaaS web programs and become “mini modelers” with no boundaries. <strong> Granted there will be some use here, especially with small data mining and analytics but in no way will this solve huge complex <img align="right" border="0" height="183" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TH3dF8eqPMI/AAAAAAAAhCA/bwcX2Xp7eVg/image_thumb%5B7%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" width="280" />algorithmic issues of banks and insurance companies.  One thing that I do question though is the integrity of being a fully qualified Quant with a lot of responsibility and then seeing the mini modeler as a comparison?</strong>  Who will be accountable here<strong> when models are made just for making money and no concern for how it plays out to the end consumer, anyone?</strong>  Will the fact that the automated models can be sold have an impact?  We will just have to wait and see.  </p> <p>Analytics help make us smart and make better educated decisions but again will the wholesale marketing of this process, relying on machine generated technologies really pay off….or will our entire business intelligence process end up like the stock market to where algos run wild and flash crashes appear?  It will be interesting.  Off the cuff here, an old post of mine from 2010 that I think has reached it’s fruition and with a few more flash crashes, well…BD</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> <hr /> <p>Newly minted university graduates who have landed coveted jobs on Wall Street may have impressive résumés and sought-after references. But often, nuts-and-bolts skills like spreadsheet building and database extraction are not part of university curriculums.</p> <p>When millions of dollars can be won or lost on one calculation, firms are finding it essential that their new hires can tell the difference between a pivot table and a header row.</p> <p>Enter specialized boot camps where — for fees that sometimes exceed $1,000 a day — would-be masters of the universe can perfect Excel modeling techniques and financial analysis. Each year, tens of thousands of students at the nation’s top business schools, and scores of new hires at financial firms, including <a href="http://dealbook.on.nytimes.com/public/overview?symbol=GS&inline=nyt-org">Goldman Sachs</a> and <a href="http://dealbook.on.nytimes.com/public/overview?symbol=BX&inline=nyt-org">the Blackstone Group</a>, now take courses run by companies like Training the Street and Wall Street Prep.</p> <p>Nineteen of the country’s top 20 business schools now use Training the Street to teach an estimated 20,000 business majors every year in how to interpret financial statements, value corporations and run spreadsheet analyses.</p> <p>As boot camp training becomes more common, a saturation effect could occur. If everyone is taking classes like Excel Best Practices and Restructuring Modeling, doing so may not make one candidate stand out in job interviews.</p> <p><a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/wall-street-turns-to-boot-camps-to-bring-new-workers-up-to-speed/">http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/wall-street-turns-to-boot-camps-to-bring-new-workers-up-to-speed/</a></p>

Wall Street and Other Financial Institutions Spending Big Bucks Teaching New College Graduates How to Use Spreadsheets–Is This An Emergence of “Mini Modelers”Without Borders?

I had to somewhat laugh when I read this as 15 years ago even before I learned a stick of code I was working in an outside sales job for a F...

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EP Global Communications Medical Device Company to Use Google Glass Technology

<p>So far I only see one product but the article below states they have around 50 patents and other products in development.  So far they have an FDA 510k cleared device to help diagnose pain.  BD <hr /></p> <p>EP Global Communications, Inc. (the Company), (Stock Ticker: EPGL) will be among the first Medical Device Makers to Implement Google Glass technology and the API Mirror platform for use with its medical devices. EPGL Medical, a new medical device maker specializing in advanced technology for innovative hand-held medical devices, has several new devices in<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="77" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-kY0FFAZACsA/UWt5NTgZ15I/AAAAAAABGfY/QNP9Rt7kjgc/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="208" /> development under direction of <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=business%2Fprweb&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22David+T.+Markus%22">David T. Markus</a> Ph.D., which are being developed with the latest smart platforms in mind. "Physicians using our devices will be able to utilize technology such as Google Glass while performing procedures, using our devices and viewing feedback data in real-time." Said David T. Markus, Ph.D. "The advancement of these exceptional new technologies are ideal for medical applications as doctors need a hands-free reference to feedback data while performing procedures." Markus said. </p> <p>The Company is in the process of filing more than 50 patents to protect this unique and valuable innovation. "It so happens that our new devices are being developed right at the same time very cool smart technologies such as Google Glass are in their infancy". Said Company President <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=business%2Fprweb&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Michael+Hayes%22">Michael Hayes</a>. </p> <p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Google-Glass-to-be-Integrated-by-Medical-Device-4426324.php#ixzz2QEC1bC2b">http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Google-Glass-to-be-Integrated-by-Medical-Device-4426324.php#ixzz2QEC1bC2b</a></p>

EP Global Communications Medical Device Company to Use Google Glass Technology

So far I only see one product but the article below states they have around 50 patents and other products in development.  So far they have ...

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Orion Health and Caradigm to Expand Upon Orion EHR, Business Intelligence & Apps,–Some of the Technologies Formerly Known as Amalga HIS

<p>This makes sense since Orion purchased the Amalga HIS platform from Microsoft and as such the Orion EHR software<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="65" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-VI7r0ULqUWo/UWMbGxyb6cI/AAAAAAABGZ4/NyjDItaIqMo/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="118" /> is set to integrate further with Caradigm, the company formed by Microsoft and GE a short while back.  Amalga HIS is the “complete” EHR solution with several modules that was not sold in the US, so there’s was always a difference between what is sold in the US and what is sold outside the US for solutions.  One hospital in in Southeast Asia had the full Amalga HIS solution and I think it was one of the first international sales for Microsoft (before the sale to Orion) as <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/10/interview-with-curtis-schroeder-ceo.html">I interviewed the hospital CEO</a>.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/10/orion-health-to-acquire-microsoft-his.html">Orion Health to Acquire Microsoft HIS and RIS/PACS Assets–Focus on Asia Pacific Hospital Market For Medical Records and Collaboration with Amalga UIS</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/07/microsoft-to-halt-sales-of-amalga-his.html">Microsoft to Halt Sales of Amalga HIS Systems – Full Speed Ahead With Amalga UIS and HealthVault</a></h5> <p>The target area for the solution as it states here is Europe, which again goes with what I stated above.  Orion is also an HIE vendor and offers an EMR Lite solution as a web based solution to help doctors qualify for meaningful use.  Orion will be marketing the Caradigm Intelligence Platform.  <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="58" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Pv52WNV-Gu0/UWMbHd5DV0I/AAAAAAABGaA/sm3XVhYoHUI/image%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="123" />Being a little out of touch here and with so many companies merging and integrating software, it’s a little confusing for me to actually see what is new and what is some of the Amalga technologies but I guess at this point, there’s not much difference to sort out as long as it all works:)  Orion has a US corporate office in California but I think overall their international footprint is larger than what is in the US but they are growing.  BD <hr /></p> <p>Caradigm, a Microsoft and GE Healthcare company, and Orion Health, a global leader in eHealth technology and interoperability, today announced they have expanded their alliance agreement to integrate Orion Health's market-leading Electronic Health Records (EHR) solution with the Caradigm Intelligence Platform (CIP) and ecosystem of applications, which will allow healthcare communities to more rapidly address today's most complex challenges - including new models of care delivery and payment, population health management and patient engagement - while also helping to reduce costs and increase revenue.</p> <p>Orion Health will expand the Caradigm application ecosystem by developing new applications for the Caradigm Intelligence Platform that take advantage of the extensive data available through Orion Health EHR. These new applications will be aimed at addressing customer needs in the areas of decision support, quality improvement and metrics, and population health management. </p> <p>Under the new agreement, Orion Health will act as a sales partner for the Caradigm Intelligence Platform, and resell and provide services for the Caradigm Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions in Europe. The IAM suite includes Caradigm Provisioning, Caradigm Single Sign-On and Caradigm Context Management, products designed to accelerate caregiver access to the right patient data across multiple applications, helping organisations improve patient safety, reduce errors and spend more time with patients. </p> <p><a href="http://www.ehealthnews.eu/orionhealth/3454-orion-health-and-caradigm-expand-partnership-to-deliver-integrated-electronic-health-records-intelligence-platform-and-applications?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hitsphere-twitter+%28HITSphere+Feeds+%28Twitter%29%29">http://www.ehealthnews.eu/orionhealth/3454-orion-health-and-caradigm-expand-partnership-to-deliver-integrated-electronic-health-records-intelligence-platform-and-applications?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hitsphere-twitter+%28HITSphere+Feeds+%28Twitter%29%29</a></p>

Orion Health and Caradigm to Expand Upon Orion EHR, Business Intelligence & Apps,–Some of the Technologies Formerly Known as Amalga HIS

This makes sense since Orion purchased the Amalga HIS platform from Microsoft and as such the Orion EHR software is set to integrate furthe...

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Bill Gates on Washington DC–You Don’t Run a Business Like This…

<p>Bill Gates begins talking about the Gates Foundation and their success with <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="185" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FRk_3OPA1k8/UUjiLm9ptTI/AAAAAAABGQE/NtLFByJ0g0w/image%25255B11%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="173" />eradicating polio and other vaccine efforts.  Somebody cancelled a meeting with Gates to see Obama and there’s a little laugh.  Nobody says who it was.  This was recorded at POLITICO’s Playbook Cocktails first annual event.  He talks about models being needed.  He says government is dysfunctional where people don’t know what their budgets are.  “We might have money or we might not” is what he says is part of where the problems lie and he’s referencing the sequester. </p> <p> He does talk about cyber crime and how it needs to stop and needs focus.  He varies off on other topics and keeps coming back to healthcare, science and engineering.  He thinks Obama has done a good job on education and is unappreciated in those efforts.  He says some days he wished we had a system like the UK but says the US system seems to work better and wishes the President had a little more power to avoid so many of the deadlocks.  Bloomberg says Bill Gates reads everything.  BD</p> <p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="312" id="flashObj" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=2225900175001&playerID=1409164951001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAETmrZQ~,EVFEM4AKJdRjek0MS21pRzf_GTDAM-xj&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=2225900175001&playerID=1409164951001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAETmrZQ~,EVFEM4AKJdRjek0MS21pRzf_GTDAM-xj&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="312" height="420" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></p> <p>Gates has waded into everything from AIDS research funding to infant mortality. He and his wife have interacted with some of the world’s most influential leaders through their charitable work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. </p> <p>Gates pointed to Twitter as “the best thing right now” for big audiences, assured the demise of print textbooks and even weighed in on the gay Boy Scout ban. Should the rules change? “Yes,” he said without hesitation. “It’s 2013.” </p> <p><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/bill-gates-on-dc-you-dont-run-a-business-like-this-88830.html#ixzz2O1TtlTvV">http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/bill-gates-on-dc-you-dont-run-a-business-like-this-88830.html#ixzz2O1TtlTvV</a></p>

Bill Gates on Washington DC–You Don’t Run a Business Like This…

Bill Gates begins talking about the Gates Foundation and their success with eradicating polio and other vaccine efforts.  Somebody cancelled...

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Augmented Reality With Using Kinect and a Tablet to See Inside Your Skull (Video)

<p>This is wild and was done in the Microsoft UK research office.  They are using actual MRI scans and putting them in the proto-type head.  This way <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="137" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-YrT7NBaJEuA/UT_8jRvWRHI/AAAAAAABGKE/EuhXfZCr6K0/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="182" />they can see how the tumor they are looking for is located and can get a 3-D view.  We have seen Kinect work with a million dollar Davinci robot for surgery and now this.  Amazing…BD</p> <p>Using a touch screen tablet, some duct tape, brain scans, and the newest Kinect application programming interface (API) called Fusion, a team from Microsoft Research Cambridge in the UK built an augmented reality system aimed at helping brain surgeons. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><iframe style="width: 468px; height: 272px" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MvP4cHfUD5g?rel=0" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>Ben Glocker, a post-doc researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge, recently showed a prototype of the setup to <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/medical-robots/microsoft-kinect-fusion-augmented-reality-neurosurgeons">IEEE Spectrum</a> during Microsoft TechFest 2013. In the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MvP4cHfUD5g">video</a> above, he discusses how the team duct-taped a USB-powered touchscreen device to the Kinect Fusion, which allows them to 3D model just about anything.</p> <p>As Glocker demonstrated, the system captures the patient’s skull in 3D and then incorporates that info with two-dimensional MRI brain scans that doctors took of the patient in preparation for surgery. Those combined images form an augmented reality: When surgeons look at the patient’s head in the operating room, they also see images of the brain underneath.</p> <p><a href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/12/hacked-kinect-skull/">http://mashable.com/2013/03/12/hacked-kinect-skull/</a></p>

Augmented Reality With Using Kinect and a Tablet to See Inside Your Skull (Video)

This is wild and was done in the Microsoft UK research office.  They are using actual MRI scans and putting them in the proto-type head.  Th...

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Telus Health Acquires MD Practice Software Which Makes the Company the Dominant Force With EHRs in Canada

<p>Telus has now become the largest EMR vendor in Canada with this acquisition.  They have around 9,000 physicians out of the 50k market of Canadian doctors.  Back in 2010 Telus also licensed the Microsoft Health Vault Platform for personal health records.  </p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/06/telus-canada-pilot-phr-goes-online-with.html"><font size="2"> <br clear="all" />Telus Canada Pilot PHR Goes Online with Their Own Employees Using Microsoft HealthVault To Start</font></a> <br clear="all" /></h4> <p>What is interesting is to look at this chart to see where both the US and Canada stand compared to other countries and granted both countries have a much larger population than other countries where EMRs are around 90% use.  <br clear="all" /><img alt="image" border="0" height="250" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3t5u6mZYs84/US2TF0klSzI/AAAAAAABF5M/GPvYjJKvhgg/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="288" /></p> <p> <br clear="all" /> <hr />Telus Health, a division of telecommunications giant Telus Corp., announced today it is acquiring  Ontario’s largest  electronic medical records company, making Telus the dominant provider of online health records in Canada.  </p> <p>The acquisition, which is due to close March 4, will more than double the number of Canadian doctors using Telus Health’s EMR service and give Telus more than 50 per cent of the market share among doctors who use electronic health records instead of paper charts.</p> <p>Financial details of the acquisition of MD Practice Software LP, a member of the MD Physician Services Group and a subsidiary of the Canadian Medical Association, were not released.  The announcement is the third EMR acquisition for Telus Health, building on earlier acquisitions of the British Columbia-based Wolf Medical Systems and Quebec’s KinLogix. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2013/02/26/telus-health-acquires-ontarios-largest-electronic-medical-records-company/">http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2013/02/26/telus-health-acquires-ontarios-largest-electronic-medical-records-company/</a></p> <p> <br clear="all" /></p>

Telus Health Acquires MD Practice Software Which Makes the Company the Dominant Force With EHRs in Canada

Telus has now become the largest EMR vendor in Canada with this acquisition.  They have around 9,000 physicians out of the 50k market of Can...

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Code.Org, The Video Coming to a Theater, or School Near You Soon Starring Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and More..An Outreach for Education

<p>This is great and there are all different levels of writing code.  I’m old one that wrote from the bottom up with VB6 and today we have platforms and even dot net from Microsoft where part of the code you will need is already done for you, so you write application on top of what has already been done.  This means getting new applications out there faster.  There’s challenges of course to make sure that what you are building on has been done properly too.  In all due respect Facebook can probably tell you all about it and of course Microsoft over the years has not been without hiccups, it’s the way the business works.  <strong>Complexities are all around us and we are light-years away from where it all started with Bill Gates and Microsoft in the early days.</strong>  Bill Gates wrote a program to play Tic Tac Toe he says.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong>Bill Gates in an interview himself reflecting back <img align="right" height="189" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-fpaB8yOE0io/USv18tNlXUI/AAAAAAABFxM/25MkrAmeTq8/AlgoFairy1%25255B11%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" width="225" />on the early days that he had to finally realize he could not go home at night and be able to be a lone developer and write an update for Windows 95:)</strong>  Complexities have grown tremendously since then.  You keep hearing me hammer on this blog about how I try to bring some of this understanding down to layman's terms, and the fact is you will probably never have the same perceptions as I do or anyone who has written any bit of extensive code, because you can’t when you don’t know the mechanics.  That is what I try to bring forward and it’s not an opinion at all, it’s fact, its what it is, code is written and algorithms run.  I know I scare a few folks here and there but reality is what this is all about and I’m trying to help differentiate what is real and what is written just for profit with flawed data only to make money.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong>That is also a source of some of my rants when those who do know or understand the mechanics come out with these ridiculous perceptions and statements…huh???</strong>  What cabbage<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="153" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-6-kSrRNRxVo/US0MHoPFPXI/AAAAAAABF1E/NmIj6mGOA04/image%25255B15%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="230" /> leaf did they emerge from, stay quiet if you don’t know:)  The more people that are a little educated it will definitely <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/"><strong><u>have some impact on Algo Duping</u></strong></a> with weird and feared perceptions that is taking place.<strong>  In government though we know figureheads are still stuck on that old paradigm of “it’s for those guys over there”.</strong>  The problem is, and listen to this film is you have people like me and thousands of others that think we are smarter, and we are in our own field where we understand the mechanics.  <strong>As I keep saying<u> </u><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/24/1189518/-US-Needs-To-Hire-Technologists-To-Fight-Crime#"><u>we need technologists running government departments today</u></a><u> </u>so they can walk and chew a little code and get an “accurate” perception with knowledge of know how the mechanics of code works and not the Algo duping fairy effect.</strong> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/no-more-unsubstantiated-blame-shifting.html"><font size="2">No More Unsubstantiated Blame Shifting on EHRS, Doctors, Hospitals, Developers, Patients Or Whatever Your Role Happens To Be–Government Executives Wake Up On How Corporate USA Eats Your Lunch With Models, Math, and Formulas for Profit (Algorithms)</font></a> <p> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><iframe style="width: 430px; height: 281px" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nKIu9yen5nc?rel=0" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> </h4> <p>Sunshine Foundation is right on here…and we talk about it all the time but some just remain at levels of being “non participants’ and we get those weird perceptions and it gets amplified by all the OMG stuff in the media too, and we sit at home and watch Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert and laugh like crazy.</p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/congress-needs-bigger-brainrestore_18.html"><font size="2"> <br clear="all" />Congress Needs a Bigger Brain–Restore the Office of Technology Assessment And Truly Assess What is Useful And Remove The Algo Duping Permeating In Government–Fantasy Perceptions That Are Not Real Can Be A Dangerous Thing</font></a> <br clear="all" /></h4> <p>When you watch the video listen to people at all different levels <img align="right" height="48" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TJcGp1oHKzI/AAAAAAAAhfM/jyY8xKNrAKY/image_thumb%5B4%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" width="113" />and see what they have to say.  There are a lot of interfaces that making writing code easy, let’s say for kids and I remember the early Microsoft auto code, a big help for writing routine expressions.  Now when this become more main stay we won’t have to have all these start ups around to the degree they exist today.  We will have more people who can see when code is written<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="107" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-EUEFz9fQ68A/US0MIhD7ZrI/AAAAAAABF1M/6yLbyqmMU7g/image%25255B9%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="167" /> just to make a buck or if they really have something useful for mankind.  There’s both out there and the selling of data is an epidemic and actually standing to ruin a lot of good programming too when exploited.  Write something that you can use yourself and you will hear almost everyone one in here using their own stuff, unlike what some do, write code to just to make a buck, you have to have part of you in it.  You can pretty much tell on the web with the content as to who has themselves in it and who’s just writing code and queries to make a buck.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />One more thought here too in the case of white collar code crimes, where do you find a jury today of peers…hard…Goldman tried it and his crime was reversed.  Microsoft is paying to have the video shown at movie cinemas starting at the end of this week…good move on their part and teachers across the US will be getting word as well.  <strong>I didn't see anyone on the list for Washington DC, but they have have personal visits with testimonials from Bill Gates for years and it never sinks in there anyway, sadly.  Very nice!  BD</strong> <hr /></p> <p> <br clear="all" /><strong>It’s the first big outreach by Code.org, a nonprofit formed by entrepreneurs Hadi Partovi and Ali Partovi to expand computer literacy and improve education in America.</strong> They recruited Lesley Chilcott, producer of documentaries “Waiting for Superman” and “An Inconvenient Truth,” to direct the film, which may reach 500,000 teachers and <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="176" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-cQ295jtVBSU/US0MI01AZEI/AAAAAAABF1U/w1uzvW4kQRs/image%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="320" />10 million students over the next few weeks.</p> <p>Then there’s the social media outreach through the project’s supporters, who combined have more than 100 million followers, Hadi Partovi said. </p> <p>The film is part of a broader effort by Code.org to encourage more schools to offer programming classes and give students who study computer science credit toward graduation, comparable to the credits provided for the study of math and other sciences. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><em><strong>“The programmers of tomorrow are the wizards of the future. You’re going to look like you have magic powers compared to everybody else,” Newell said in the film. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></strong></em>Microsoft is also paying to have the film shown before movies at Regal Cinemas starting on Friday, according to Hadi Partovi, who was an MSN manager before he left to start the music business iLike in Seattle. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://blogs.seattletimes.com/brierdudley/2013/02/26/new/?cmpid=2628">http://blogs.seattletimes.com/brierdudley/2013/02/26/new/?cmpid=2628</a></p>

Code.Org, The Video Coming to a Theater, or School Near You Soon Starring Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and More..An Outreach for Education

This is great and there are all different levels of writing code.  I’m old one that wrote from the bottom up with VB6 and today we have plat...

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Time Has Come to License and Tax the Data Sellers of the Web, Companies, Banks, Social Networks..Any One Making a Profit-Latest Microsoft/Google Privacy War Helping the Cause –Consumers Deserve to Know What Is Being Sold and To Who in a Searchable Format

<p>I originally called my blog posts the “Alternative Millionaire’s Tax” but it seems that it’s more than that now.  Consumers are tired of being <img align="right" height="84" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/S20T_wMTeTI/AAAAAAAAcZE/lmCuiFEtDMA/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" width="165" />screwed seeing these legal policy statements on websites and then if you want something you sign it all away, what’s up with this being any kind of privacy?  Have you read the news about the FDA and NIH being cut on funds?  This is a good reason to license and tax data sellers to keep our science going and with such good cause, banks and companies should not complain with the billions and billions of dollars they make mining and selling data.  Read all the links in here, they are from the Quack. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/12/alternative-millionaires-taxlicense-and.html"><font size="2">The Alternative Millionaire’s Tax–License and Tax Big Corporations Who Mine and Sell Taxpayer Data They Get for Free From the Internet-Phase One to Restore Middle Class With Transparency, Disclosure and Money</font></a></h4> <p> <br clear="all" /><strong>Why do you think there’s no incentive for companies to expand and factories?  Easier to mine and sell data and digital illiterates who make laws have no clue with this type of intangible as they are pretty much non participants and thus their ignorance, meanwhile the middle class is crunched and beat up.</strong>  All this leads to the next step, analytics for profit and data being queried and put together that doesn’t’ belong like the big FICO rip that says they can use your credit report to see if you will take your prescriptions.  I mention that one and there are others because what in the heck are you believing these days?  Chances are it’s anything you are sold.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/06/privacy-wantedso-lets-require-those-who.html"><font size="2">Privacy Wanted–So Let’s Require Those Who Sell Web Data to Register and Tax the Transactions and Publicly Disclose Who They Sell To With a Federal Registry</font></a> <br clear="all" /><img height="488" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-uqViBGoaJjg/T4X9GIkqJII/AAAAAAAA6Wo/z4t9C52pinI/image_thumb%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="412" /></h4> <p> <br clear="all" />Microsoft has ethics and I don’t think they would mind one bit if the tax went to fund science as they give a lot already.  This would give everyone else making data a little more ethically responsible too.  No jobs, why would a company expand and hire people, hire a few geeks and write some algorithms and make millions or billions.  Walgreens made just under $800 million selling data only in 2010..tell you how big that multi billion dollar pool is?  You go buy a device to help you stay healthy and all that data gets sold somewhere?  I wouldn’t buy any tracking device that goes through a 3rd party.  Looks what this guy did as Fitbit didn’t give him “all” the information.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/12/patients-want-their-datathis-guy-hacked.html"><font size="2">Patients Want their Data–This Guy Hacked a Fitbit to Get it Along With The API Algorithms</font></a></h4> <p> <br clear="all" />And for those dumb enough to wear a fitbit during personal times…well look here… <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/07/fitbit-profile-sexual-activity-shows-up.html">Fitbit Profile Sexual Activity Shows Up In Google Search Results–Default Privacy Settings Allow Search Engines To Post</a></h5> <p> <br clear="all" /><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-HJagWvPa_gE/ThFmPDNk8WI/AAAAAAAA0rs/zn6UUsWOX3E/image_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" /> <br clear="all" />People are matching anything sometimes if they can convince you that it is real so they can make a buck and it’s gets mixed in with the good stuff out there as we do have both.  Look at this guy who doesn’t classify himself as a credit agency, so he operates outside any regulation of the government and sends information right and left about us, we don’t know what it is either, you can’t get it. </p> <p> <br clear="all" /></p> <br clear="all" /> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/e-scoring-credit-algorithms-invisible.html">E-Scoring Credit Algorithms Invisible To Consumers Used to Market and Evaluate, Does Not Fall Under Federal Law And Such Are Used by Insurance Companies - How Will This Work With Exchanges –Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 42</a></h5> <h4> </h4> <p><b><i>Actually if more economists would collaborate with more mathematicians I think we might have a little better forecasting going on as many economists sometimes get those “flawed” reports and rely on antiquated methodologies of math too, so bump head guys and see what collaboration might do. <br clear="all" /></i></b> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/05/digital-illiteracy-still-plagues-law.html"><font size="2">Digital Illiteracy Still Plagues Law Makers–Severe Focus on Abortion Rights Proves It–Is This Where Our Lawmaking Knowledge Leaves Off or Even Begins? Scary…</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><img align="right" height="124" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wOXxMLSsw8g/TrtQmdA2xWI/AAAAAAAA4P8/FU3qnBNcXLo/image_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" width="197" /></h4> <p><strong>So keep it up Microsoft and Google with the battle as this helps get some information out there and perhaps it will drive some lawmakers out of some caves soon</strong> so they will perhaps entertain making laws with IT infrastructure in this area instead of laws with no balls.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong>By the way I was hit with a rogue algorithm from Google plus as all of a sudden one day “their machines told me” that my “real name” did not comply with Google Name Policies.</strong>  I had been there since beta days too:) It was a Killer Algorithm attack for me #2 as #1 was my car insurance company putting the new owner of my sold home on my policy as a second driver, months I had moved and sold the house and had all my information updated.  If you look in the Killer Algorithms, that story is there too.  So what did Google’s machine do when scanning data…read it below…machines talking to machines… <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/im-sorry-your-google-plus-name-does-not.html"><font size="2">“I’m Sorry Your Google Plus Name Does Not Comply With Google “Names Policies”…Barbara “Duck Algorithm” & Was Using My Real Name All Along…Killer Algorithms Chapter 52</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></h4> <p><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-KSB5S33qBpo/UOzGbup5u9I/AAAAAAABCmc/qT3muViz1o8/image%25255B15%25255D.png?imgmax=800" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <p>Those algorithms have teeth and are biting us in the behind every where we turn and they move money good and bad, the ones who get the money are the ones designing the code and algos.  <strong>Hopefully this battle will bring it forefront so we can kill a few birds here and use the license and tax money to fund the NIH and FDA, a good place for it, so they don’t have to worry about budget cuts as those two agencies are on the top that serve consumers.  There are many companies people buy stock in today too that were started with grants and funding from the NIH and we should not forget that.  BD </strong></p> <br clear="all" /> <p> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/feb13/02-06Gmail.aspx">http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/feb13/02-06Gmail.aspx</a></p>

Time Has Come to License and Tax the Data Sellers of the Web, Companies, Banks, Social Networks..Any One Making a Profit-Latest Microsoft/Google Privacy War Helping the Cause –Consumers Deserve to Know What Is Being Sold and To Who in a Searchable Format

I originally called my blog posts the “Alternative Millionaire’s Tax” but it seems that it’s more than that now.  Consumers are tired of bei...

Read more »