Medical Quack

Obama Chooses the “Smart People” for Tech Advisors : Google’s Schmidt and Microsoft’s Mundie

<p> Well it’s official now, the “Smart People” are technical advisors for Obama.  Where did they come from, Google and Microsoft.  Craig Mundie is no <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/microsoft-mundie-gives-campuses-peek-at.html"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="86" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfYE1H6W3KI/AAAAAAAAPXQ/m3I2kDfGv9A/image%5B13%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="112" /></a>strange to the blog here with his presentations covered at MIT and other locations and everyone knows Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google too.  Click on the images to refer back to a couple posts on both individuals.  </p>  <p>Thank goodness there is an awareness coming around to bring technology into healthcare and other areas of government.  Even the NIH needs this type of assistance and help with advisors, as the job and data functionalities are huge!  <strong>Obama made some very good choices here.  BD  </strong></p>  <blockquote>   <p><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/eric-schmidt">Eric Schmidt, </a>Google’s CEO, and <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/craig-mundie">Craig Mundie,</a> Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, have been named to President’s Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). According to a <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Members-of-Science-and-Technology-Advisory-Council/">statement released</a> by the White House, PCAST is an advisory group of the the country’s foremost scientists and engineers who will help the President and Vice President form <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/eric-schmidt-ceo-of-google-speaks-with.html"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="85" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfYE51TFLzI/AAAAAAAAPXU/TY6yecNl_cE/image%5B14%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="125" /></a>policy related to science, technology, and innovation. </p>    <p>The council includes a who’s who in the science and technology fields, with leaders in climate change,<strong> medicine,</strong> <strong>physics, chemistry, and computer science all holding positions on the council.</strong> The group is co-chaired by John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Eric Lander, Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project; and Harold Varmus, <strong>President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, former head of the National Institutes of Health and a Nobel laureate</strong>. </p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/27/googles-schmidt-and-microsofts-mundie-appointed-as-obama-tech-advisors/">Google’s Schmidt and Microsoft’s Mundie Appointed As Obama Tech Advisors</a></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/microsoft-mundie-gives-campuses-peek-at.html">Microsoft's Mundie gives campuses peek at Tech's future – Tablet PC</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/09/microsoft-outlines-future-of-computing.html">Microsoft outlines the future of computing – MIT Emerging Technology</a></h6>  <p><font color="#669966" size="1"></font></p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/madoff-scheme-one-reason-to-put-smart.html">Madoff's Scheme – One Reason To Put the “Smart People” in the Right Places So We Don’t Get Fooled Again</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/kathleen-sebelius-kansas-governor-for.html">Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas Governor for HHS – Please not! Put the “Smart” People in these key positions</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/do-you-know-what-your-doctor-is-talking.html">Do You Know What Your Doctor Is Talking About – Read up and help stamp out “Magpie Healthcare”</a></h6>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/us-congress-has-inadequate.html"><font size="1">U.S. Congress has an inadequate understanding Value of Health IT – HIMMS Opening Session</font></a></h4>  <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:2ceeb6aa-a1a3-4d1b-8686-d18f903df564" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Algorithms" rel="tag">Algorithms</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/technology" rel="tag">technology</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Health+IT" rel="tag">Health IT</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/stimulus" rel="tag">stimulus</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/budets" rel="tag">budets</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Mundie" rel="tag">Mundie</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Schmidt" rel="tag">Schmidt</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Google" rel="tag">Google</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Microsoft" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Obama" rel="tag">Obama</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Smart+People" rel="tag">Smart People</a></div>

Obama Chooses the “Smart People” for Tech Advisors : Google’s Schmidt and Microsoft’s Mundie

Well it’s official now, the “Smart People” are technical advisors for Obama. Where did they come from, Google and Microsoft. Craig Mundie...

Monday, April 27, 2009

Personal Genome Project looking for next wave of volunteers for an entire sequencing

<p> If you are looking to qualify for an opportunity for a free sequence of your DNA, you could apply here.  I have covered quite a bit about the Personal Genome Project here and information from those who have shared their experience and what it meant to them. <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfX9znWUthI/AAAAAAAAPXA/TqHLFWC6uW8/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="144" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfX901YuO7I/AAAAAAAAPXE/mbTjIdbmSXw/image_thumb%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="125" /></a></p>  <p>One most notable participants in the first round is <strong>Dr. John Halamka,</strong> and I feature many of of his posts from his blog <strong><a href="http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/">(Life as a Healthcare CIO)</a></strong> as he is in my opinion the most <u>connected, sequenced, quoted, chipped, smartest Health IT individuals</u> that I can think of.  There could be more,<strong> but the time he takes to educate and share is so valuable</strong> and I have not seen anyone else on the web take the opportunities he does to share and display the level of transparency he does. <strong> You can always find a link to his blog here too under the blog roll section.  In the picture below, he’s #1 in the second row.  </strong></p>  <p><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/steven-pinker-harvard-professor-of.html">Steve Pinkerton</a></strong> also wrote quite extensively about what it meant to him, so if you are thinking about this, check out the related reading below.   He’s number 4 in the second row in the picture below.  There’s also George Church, who is number 3 in the first row in the picture below.  BD  </p>  <blockquote>   <p>The <a href="http://www.personalgenomes.org/">Personal Genome Project</a>, an initiative founded by George Church that ultimately seeks to sequence the complete genomes of 100,000 people, has <a href="http://www.personalgenomes.org/newsletter/01.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Campaign_Monitor&utm_content=157503234&utm_campaign=DNA_Day+_+ttjkdi&utm_term=View+it+in+your+browser">called for the next wave of volunteers</a>. The PGP will sequence your genome and give you back the data for the bargain-basement price of <b>zero dollars</b> (not bad compared to the $68,000 that <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/geneticfuture/2009/04/knome_to_auction_whole_genome.php">the Knome auction</a> is starting at).       <br />The <a href="http://www.personalgenomes.org/whyparticipate.html">benefits to volunteers</a> are straightforward: you get <b>access to your own genome sequence before most human beings on the planet</b>, and you get <b>the warm fuzzy glow that comes with benefiting humanity</b>. I'm not being at all sarcastic about the latter benefit. The PGP is an audacious experiment in overcoming both the technological and social challenges of providing access to large-scale genetic information, and whatever progress it makes will have a very real impact on the future of human genomics. </p>    <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfX94uk1rxI/AAAAAAAAPXI/fzJkfX643qY/s1600-h/image%5B7%5D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="178" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfX97a0Cf8I/AAAAAAAAPXM/GZuC39vC-Oc/image_thumb%5B3%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="244" /></a> </p>    <p>Thus far 10 brave volunteers (the <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/geneticfuture/2008/12/look_into_the_eyes_of_the_pgp1.php">PGP-10</a>) have agreed to have their genetic and health data <a href="http://www.personalgenomes.org/public/">splashed onto the web</a>; two of these intrepid souls, <a href="http://genomeboy.com/">Misha Angrist</a> and <a href="http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/">John Halamka</a>, have blogs that you can follow. The PGP aims to recruit a further 100 volunteers in the next wave, followed by a further 1,000, and so on until the 100,000-recruit target is reached.      <br />Volunteering to participate is not simply a matter of filling in a few forms: the PGP takes the notion of "informed consent" to a new level, requiring that you <b>prove just how informed you are by taking an entrance test</b> that assesses your "comprehension of concepts relevant to providing informed consent to participate in the PGP" including "concepts such as potential risks of participating, project protocols, and basic genetics".</p>    <p>To register for updates on how you can participate in the PGP fill in <a href="http://www.personalgenomes.org/register.html">this form</a>.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/geneticfuture/2009/04/personal_genome_project_lookin.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink">Genetic Future : Personal Genome Project looking for next wave of volunteers</a></p>  <p><strong><u><font size="1">Related Reading:</font></u></strong></p>  <h6></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-church-talks-about-dna-genomic.html"></a></h6> <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/interpreting-genome-understanding-all.html"><font size="1">Interpreting the Genome - understanding all the data</font></a>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/steven-pinker-harvard-professor-of.html">Steven Pinker, Harvard Professor of Psychology talks about his genome, what he found out, what he learned, and how the psychological interpretations are somewhat still up for discussion</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/interpreting-genome-understanding-all.html">Interpreting the Genome - understanding all the data</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/introduction-to-genomics-humans-have.html">An Introduction to Genomics – Humans have Bugs just like Windows does and It’s all about the Code</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/precision-medication-lack-of-education.html">Precision Medication – Lack of Education Holding up Progress for Personalized Medicine</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-church-talks-about-dna-genomic.html">George Church Talks about DNA Genomic Mapping in Plain Terms</a></h6>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/introduction-to-genomics-humans-have.html"><font size="1">An Introduction to Genomics – Humans have Bugs just like Windows does and It’s all about the Code</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/burden-of-knowing-genetic-sequencing.html"><font size="1">The Burden of Knowing – Genetic Sequencing and what you might find out</font></a></h4>  <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:0993be53-9750-4b27-ba9f-8eb0c8da343e" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Genomics" rel="tag">Genomics</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/DNA" rel="tag">DNA</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/personalized+medicine" rel="tag">personalized medicine</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/pharmacogenomics" rel="tag">pharmacogenomics</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/sequencing" rel="tag">sequencing</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/genes" rel="tag">genes</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/George+Church" rel="tag">George Church</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Steve+Pinkerton" rel="tag">Steve Pinkerton</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/John+Halamka" rel="tag">John Halamka</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Personal+Genomics+Project" rel="tag">Personal Genomics Project</a></div>

Personal Genome Project looking for next wave of volunteers for an entire sequencing

If you are looking to qualify for an opportunity for a free sequence of your DNA, you could apply here. I have covered quite a bit about t...

Monday, April 27, 2009

Man in Iowa Charged with Attempted Murder After Cutting His Father’s Pacemaker from His Chest

<p> This a pretty demented story to say the least and what was he going to do with the pacemaker afterwards?  We live in a world with some very strange people out there.  BD  </p>  <blockquote>   <p>MANCHESTER, Iowa - Authorities in northeast <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/us/iowa-PLGEO100102200000000.topic">Iowa</a> say a rural Manchester man has been charged with attempted murder after cutting his father's pacemaker from his chest.       <br />The <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/us/delaware-PLGEO100100300000000.topic">Delaware</a> County sheriff's office says 32-year-old Jesse Fierstine struck his 63-year-old father, Charles Fierstine, over the head with a flashlight and a piece of firewood on Saturday, then cut the pacemaker from his chest using a pocketknife.       <br />Charles Fierstine was taken to a hospital in Manchester then transported to <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/university-of-iowa-OREDU000042.topic">University of Iowa</a> Hospitals and Clinics in <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/us/iowa/johnson-county-%28iowa%29/iowa-city-PLGEO100101101011120.topic">Iowa City</a>. His condition wasn't immediately available on Sunday afternoon.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-pacemakerattack,0,5082083.story">Authorities: IA man cut pacemaker from dad's chest -- chicagotribune.com</a></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Pacemaker Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/medtronic-1000s-of-sprint-fidelis.html">Medtronic – 1000s of the Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator Cables May Stop working in the next few years</a></h6>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/biotronik-home-monitoring-cardio.html"><font size="1">Biotronik Home Monitoring – Cardio Implant that sends email, SMS or faxes</font></a></h4>  <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:282399ee-8667-4bb5-bb54-c51eddceca6b" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Murder" rel="tag">Murder</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Iowa" rel="tag">Iowa</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/pacemaker" rel="tag">pacemaker</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/heatlhcare" rel="tag">heatlhcare</a></div>

Man in Iowa Charged with Attempted Murder After Cutting His Father’s Pacemaker from His Chest

This a pretty demented story to say the least and what was he going to do with the pacemaker afterwards? We live in a world with some very...

Monday, April 27, 2009

A Cyber-Attack On Morgan Hill – California Hospital Reduced to Paper for a Day

<p> This story probably did not get a lot of press, but when an attack of such, cutting the cables occurred, the town of Morgan Hill, California has an emergency situation at hand, immediately.  What was left functioning were stand-alone radio systems and not much else.  Cell phones were dead.  </p>  <p>The regional ham radio club was contacted and brought to the community hospital where they dispatched ambulances and doctors and handled all the emergency situations with phones that were still working.  The fact that the local hospital’s network stopped working is scary in itself.  <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfXsRC5idcI/AAAAAAAAPW4/Zk27WFZFKrM/s1600-h/image%5B6%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="112" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfXsSU6_DxI/AAAAAAAAPW8/AgYYu0Jc5to/image_thumb%5B4%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="194" /></a> </p>  <p>The big saving grace here were the volunteers who arrived on their own time, with their own equipment.  The manholes, of course are not under lock and key, thus it was easy enough for the attackers to cut the cables.  The community survived with little issues after everything was repaired, but what this story should bring to light for all of us is the importance of emergency back up plans.  Anyone too who needed cash from the bank was out of luck for the ATM machines.  BD </p>  <blockquote>   <p>Just after midnight on Thursday, April 9, unidentified attackers climbed down four manholes serving the Northern California city of Morgan Hill and <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_12106300">cut eight fiber cables </a>in what appears to have been an<strong> organized attack on the electronic infrastructure of an American city</strong>. Its implications, though startling, have gone almost un-reported.</p>    <p>That attack demonstrated a severe fault in American infrastructure: its centralization.<strong> The city of Morgan Hill and parts of three counties lost 911 service, cellular mobile telephone communications, land-line telephone, DSL internet and private networks, central station fire and burglar alarms, ATMs, credit card terminals, and monitoring of critical utilities. </strong></p>    <p><strong>In addition, resources that should <em>not</em> have failed, like the local hospital's <em>internal</em> computer network, proved to be dependent on external resources, leaving the hospital with a "paper system" for the day.</strong></p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-cyber-attack-on-an-american-city-2009-4">A Cyber-Attack On An American City</a></p>  <p></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-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:8c270178-39ca-4086-b0dd-15cab4e50d38" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/emergency" rel="tag">emergency</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/cyber+attacks" rel="tag">cyber attacks</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/911" rel="tag">911</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/hospital" rel="tag">hospital</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/ham+radios" rel="tag">ham radios</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/volunteers" rel="tag">volunteers</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/back+up+plans" rel="tag">back up plans</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/medical+records" rel="tag">medical records</a></div>

A Cyber-Attack On Morgan Hill – California Hospital Reduced to Paper for a Day

This story probably did not get a lot of press, but when an attack of such, cutting the cables occurred, the town of Morgan Hill, Californi...

Monday, April 27, 2009

Swine Flu: Dr. Oz Speaks Out and Gives Some Advice and Information

<p>We all heard the news on Sunday with the outbreak of Swine Flu, and the obvious of course is not to travel to affected areas in Mexico.  Dr. Oz in his video on ABC News offers some realistic and sound advice, and stating we don’t know all the facts yet.  Washing hands as usual and contacting your doctor are the normal and usual procedures if you think you could be infected.  </p>  <p>Carry hand sanitizer with you, which I do all the time in my purse, but now perhaps a little more important.  You can buy small bottles at most drug stores.  You can still eat pork as that has nothing to do with the virus transmission.  The flu can be treated with Tamiflu and Relenza.  </p>  <p>If you get sick, stay home and don’t go to work.  Additional information can be found here at the CDC page:  <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/">http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/</a></p>  <p>As more information develops we will know more and I’ll post here.  The question here is that yes it has been declared an emergency, but how to react and what to do are the big questions.  BD  </p>  <p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7437667">Dr. Oz Video from ABC News</a></p>  <blockquote>   <p>Health officials learned over the weekend that <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=7437927">more than 1,600 people in Mexico are possibly infected with the swine flu virus</a>. With the first confirmed case in Spain, the disease has hit European shores. And the tally of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has now hit 40, according to a statement by the World Health Organization on Monday. Health officials have warned that this number is likely to rise.</p>    <p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7437667"><img alt="image" border="0" height="179" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfXldpKLDzI/AAAAAAAAPWs/cyd6sU8VDYU/image%5B12%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" width="325" /></a> </p>    <p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7437667"><img alt="image" border="0" height="178" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfXlg4Emy-I/AAAAAAAAPWw/_uvmS_Du7Yo/image%5B13%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" width="327" /></a> </p>    <p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7437667"><img alt="image" border="0" height="177" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfXljxDjYQI/AAAAAAAAPW0/cmYj23h2dQg/image%5B14%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" width="330" /></a> </p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFlu/story?id=7436694&page=1">Swine Flu: Facts, Myths and Whether to Worry - ABC News</a></p>  <p></p>  <p></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-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:595d4bf7-2c04-425b-b4e1-d8dd3dcf6ce6" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Swine+Flu" rel="tag">Swine Flu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Dr.+Oz" rel="tag">Dr. Oz</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Flu" rel="tag">Flu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Fever" rel="tag">Fever</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Cough" rel="tag">Cough</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Symptoms" rel="tag">Symptoms</a></div>

Swine Flu: Dr. Oz Speaks Out and Gives Some Advice and Information

We all heard the news on Sunday with the outbreak of Swine Flu, and the obvious of course is not to travel to affected areas in Mexico. Dr....

Monday, April 27, 2009

General Mills Using Microsoft Tag On Food Products

<p> A while back I made a post about Windows Mobile Tags and perhaps it went a bit unnoticed, but now we have some commercial use starting.  At the <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVbhH5d4QI/AAAAAAAAPWQ/UWGky-JU9H0/s1600-h/image%5B10%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="98" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVbhvP_nsI/AAAAAAAAPWU/EcTLPCygPwI/image_thumb%5B3%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="132" /></a>same time, I put my tag on the blog and it’s on the right hand side under the advertising information so if you want, download the software and try it out with your camera on your cell phone or use this one to the right.  </p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/01/windows-tag.html"><font size="2">Windows Tags – Bar Coding Information Made Easy from your Cell Phone</font></a></h4>  <p>Here’s mine in case you missed it on the site.  The software can be <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/tag/content/download/">downloaded here.</a>  This is really very cool.  Just last week it was announced that Windows Mobile units will soon be able to do ultrasounds for medical imaging.  </p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/windows-mobile-smart-phones-on-horizon.html"><font size="2">Windows Mobile Smart Phones on the Horizon for Imaging Kidneys, Liver, Bladder, Eyes, Prostate and Uterine Screenings</font></a></h4>  <p><strong><a href="http://kurtsh.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!DA410C7F7E038D!5124.entry?wa=wsignin1.0&sa=133932917">Kurt Shintaku</a></strong>, who I’ve known for a number of years through the Windows Mobile Users group made the announcement on his blog at the link below. At any rate, be it the grocery store or medical imaging the cell phone lives!  I remember those very early days, oh about 10 years ago when the Mobile Users Group started and we had black and white PDAs that didn’t even include a phone.  This User’s Group by the way is the longest running and one of the first Users Groups started by Microsoft and we all kind of grew up together with mobility.  I’ll have to keep an eye out and try the phone at the grocery store.  BD  </p>  <blockquote>   <p>General Mills, as part of their Brand Marketing Strategy, is leveraging Microsoft Tag, to reach out to their customer base and encourage more interaction with consumers beyond just “reading an advertisement”. </p>    <p>By integrating Microsoft Tag, they actively engage their customers at a richer level by bridging them from static advertisements to immersive ones online that provide stronger context, interactivity, and optimally, greater consumer value. <img alt="image" border="0" height="186" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVbj8lBguI/AAAAAAAAPWY/pOQXmBP0RVc/image%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="235" /></p>    <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVbmhNCz3I/AAAAAAAAPWc/qrFeu2-A2iE/s1600-h/image%5B14%5D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="145" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVboAZf3XI/AAAAAAAAPWg/X_1pnzO71JE/image_thumb%5B5%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="234" /></a> </p>    <li><font size="1"><strong>Client Software:<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVbqdafE-I/AAAAAAAAPWk/xcSV4DgRHPk/s1600-h/image%5B15%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="175" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVbsiAYILI/AAAAAAAAPWo/Pn2bqTni48g/image_thumb%5B6%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="241" /></a>          <br /></strong>The client software runs on virtually any camera phone on the market, including Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s Blackberry series, Nokia’s Symbian phones, and of course Windows Mobile devices.  The software captures and interprets the tags and sends the user to a mobile web site. </font></li>    <li><font size="1"><strong>Tag Format:         <br /></strong>The “Microsoft Tag” itself is a Microsoft-developed format that distinguishes itself from other camera-consumable 2D coding systems by being very versatile in it’s usage.  It’s EXTREMELY “durable” and readable even if blurred from motion, distance, or lighting.  It can be placed on magazine ads, product boxes, and traditional surface mediums as usual, but it can also be used on: </font>      <ol>       <li><font size="1">Billboards, bus ads, and other “distance” advertising mediums </font></li>        <li><font size="1">Computer screens & TV ads           <br />(For example, the Microsoft Tag images in this blog post are VERY small… but they’ll still work with a 640x480 camera using the tag reader despite being blurred or of poor visibility)</font></li>     </ol>   </li>    <li><font size="1"><strong>Service Backend:</strong>        <br />The Microsoft Tag software not only sends the consumer to the appropriate mobile web site, it also tracks the users hit centrally on the Tag Services’ backend so companies advertising with it can see how effective they are and potentially when, where (based on ad placement), and how often people are responding to their ads in REAL TIME – metrics that have to date been unavailable to marketers.</font></li>    <p> </p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://kurtsh.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!DA410C7F7E038D!5124.entry">NEWS: General Mills leveraging M icrosoft Tag as part of their Brand Marketing Strategy - Windows Live</a></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/01/windows-tag.html"><font size="1">Windows Tags – Bar Coding Information Made Easy from your Cell Phone</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/xray-viewing-with-iphone-on-microsoft.html"><font size="1">XRay Viewing with an iPhone on Microsoft Surface</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-send-email-text-messages-to-any.html"><font size="1">How To Send Email Text Messages To Any Cell Phone (for Free) from your computer</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/kiosks-feature-ocr-card-readers-ocr-for.html"><font size="1">Kiosks Feature OCR Card Readers, OCR for Cell Phones and Biometrics to read your hand – Medical Records Input methodologies…</font></a></h4>  <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:1cdbef62-b91e-423f-a148-92dc5d24dbc6" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Microsoft" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Tags" rel="tag">Tags</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Windows+Mobile" rel="tag">Windows Mobile</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Bar+Code" rel="tag">Bar Code</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Contact+Info" rel="tag">Contact Info</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Movie" rel="tag">Movie</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Announcements" rel="tag">Announcements</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/General+Mills" rel="tag">General Mills</a></div>

General Mills Using Microsoft Tag On Food Products

A while back I made a post about Windows Mobile Tags and perhaps it went a bit unnoticed, but now we have some commercial use starting. At...

Monday, April 27, 2009

Kaiser Permanente offers Abbreviated Personal Health Records on a Read Only USB drive for $5.00

<p> This actually is not a bad idea as it is not a complete PHR, but rather the information one would need while traveling out of the area or in the ER room.  The fact that it is “read only” and can’t be tampered with is great.  It can be updated the article states on the next visit to a Kaiser facility and is password protected and encrypted.  Having contacts, both personal and MDs on the drive is helpful as well as having a list of medications, labs, procedures, etc. on the drive.   Also, recent EKGs and x-ray images are included.  </p>  <p>Right now the service is being offered in Northern California and hopefully soon throughout the rest of the system after the successful pilot program in Oakland.  BD </p>  <blockquote>   <p>April 24, 2009 <a href="https://www.kaiserpermanente.org/">Kaiser Permanente</a>, a nonprofit health care system, is now offering about 3.3 million of its 8.6 million members <a href=" http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases/ncal/2009/041509portableemr.html">a USB flash drive</a> that contains their personal medical information.<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVSNCU8MLI/AAAAAAAAPWI/yt2wY_cW4Nc/s1600-h/image%5B5%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="125" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVSN58CoQI/AAAAAAAAPWM/p8pVND1P--g/image_thumb%5B3%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="178" /></a> </p>    <p>The read-only drive, designed for use while a person is traveling or during a health emergency, is a sort of stopgap effort as the U.S. works to build a national electronic health records system that can provide easy access to patient health information anywhere.</p>    <p><strong>The flash drive, which costs members $5</strong>, does not contain a patient's entire health record, but it does hold emergency contacts, past hospitalizations (with the diagnoses and procedures performed), physicians and contact information, medical issues, immunization records, allergies, current medications, lab results for the past year, and readings and images from recent EKGs and chest X-rays.</p>    <p>The USB drives are available through Kaiser's medical secretaries departments. When a member requests a USB drive, the medical data is downloaded to the drive from Kaiser's Electronic Medical Record while the patient waits. The patient then enters a password as the final step, before the drive is removed from the computer. It's all done while the patient is visiting a facility.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9132099">Kaiser Permanente offers up medical records on a USB drive</a></p>  <p></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/kaiser-permanente-adds-new-online.html">Kaiser Permanente Adds New Online Health Tools for Chronic Conditions – Personal Health Records with more added value</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/kaiser-permanente-has-most-hospitals-in.html">Kaiser Permanente Has Most Hospitals in Nation With Inpatient Electronic Health Record</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/09/kaiser-permanente-and-veterans-affairs.html">Kaiser Permanente And Veterans Affairs Preview Electronic Health Record Interoperability</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/06/kaiser-launches-kiosk-project-in.html">Kaiser launches kiosk project in Southern California</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/08/kaiser-and-stanford-get-389m-to-study.html">Kaiser and Stanford get $3.89M to study heart disease with linked medical records – California</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/kaiser-finds-some-low-tech-solutions.html">Kaiser finds some low tech solutions along with high tech..</a></h6>  <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:a5dab9b7-bca2-4298-967a-3cade0f13dc5" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Healthcare" rel="tag">Healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Kaiser+Permanente" rel="tag">Kaiser Permanente</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Kaiser+Foundation" rel="tag">Kaiser Foundation</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/hospitals" rel="tag">hospitals</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/HMO" rel="tag">HMO</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/health+insurance" rel="tag">health insurance</a>,<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/personal+health+records" rel="tag">personal health records</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/medical+records" rel="tag">medical records</a></div>

Kaiser Permanente offers Abbreviated Personal Health Records on a Read Only USB drive for $5.00

This actually is not a bad idea as it is not a complete PHR, but rather the information one would need while traveling out of the area or i...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

One More Reason for Statins – May Lower the Risk of Prostate Cancer and Better Senior Sex Life

<p>Gosh it sure seems like one way or another we will all be directed at some point to look at or consider statins from all the recent reports and now it’s helping with prostate cancer and a better sex life in senior years.  In other related prostate cancer news, <a href="http://lpn.advanceweb.com/editorial/content/editorial.aspx?CC=192273">another drug, Degarelix, was approved by <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVC-2XBf6I/AAAAAAAAPWA/6hyxxIebbFk/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="54" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfVC_fz2DTI/AAAAAAAAPWE/qDiXhQK9BAs/image_thumb%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="129" /></a>the FDA</a> that suppresses testosterone production from Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.  The one product that everyone is waiting for though is <strong><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/30389525">Provenge</a> </strong>and there will be some excitement and news this week with Tuesday being called "Dendreon Day" at the <a href="http://www.auanet.org">American Urological Association</a>.</p>  <p>Back on the topic here, Merck is actually <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2007/12/fda-weighs-statins-without-prescription.html">trying to get a statin product approved for</a> over the counter.  Can we live with the side effects is the big question as there’s no shortage of information on that side of the coin.  Studies are still ongoing to find other potential side effects as well.  BD</p>  <p> <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/07/statin-side-effect-test-worth-price.html"><font size="2">Statin Side Effect Test: Worth the Price?</font></a> </p>  <blockquote>   <p>April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Cholesterol drugs taken to prevent heart attacks may also lower the risk of prostate cancer and impotence in aging men, researchers said. </p>    <p>Men taking any of several different statin drugs for their cardiovascular health had a threefold lower chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer compared with those not taking the drugs, according to a 15-year study of men ages 40 to 79 by the <a href="http://www.mayo.edu">Mayo Clinic</a> of Rochester, Minnesota. Those taking any of the medicines, including <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MRK%3AUS">Merck & Co.’s</a> Zocor and <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=PFE%3AUS">Pfizer Inc.’s</a> Lipitor, also had a lower incidence in later years of erectile dysfunction, benign prostate enlargement and urinary problems. </p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aV64TO0MxcwQ&refer=home">Cholesterol Drugs May Protect Prostate, Sex Potency, Study Says - Bloomberg.com</a></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/pomegranate-juice-pom-wonderful.html"><font size="1">Pomegranate Juice – Pom Wonderful Promotes better health</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/provenge-verdict-is-near-for-dendreons.html"><font size="1">Provenge – the Verdict is Near for Dendreon’s Prostate Cancer Drug</font></a></h4>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-drug-is-better-than-your-drug.html">My Drug is Better than Your Drug – Prostate Cancer</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/prostate-gland-grown-from-stem-cell-but.html">Prostate Gland grown from stem cell - But Who Would Want One?</a></h6>  <p><a name="6728209852382484197"><font color="#669966" size="1"></font></a></p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/florida-medicare-paying-for-gps-for.html">Florida Medicare Paying for “GPS for the Body” - Prostate Cancer</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/doctors-are-backing-wider-consideration.html">Doctors are backing a wider consideration of prostate drug – Proscar</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/prostate-cancer-drug-from-oncogenex.html">Prostate Cancer Drug from OncoGenex, Isis Prolongs Lives - Another Prostate cancer drug Degarelix reduces testosterone levels in as little as 3 days</a></h6>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/fda-approves-fenofibric-acid-for-lipid.html"><font size="1">FDA approves fenofibric acid for lipid target controls – Lower LDL, Increase HDL</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/11/crestor-may-save-lives-according-to.html"><font size="1">Crestor May Save Lives according to recent large study</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/cholesterol-lowering-drugs-may-also.html"><font size="1">Cholesterol-lowering drugs may also lower PSA, but stopping cancer risk effect is unknown</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2007/12/fda-weighs-statins-without-prescription.html"><font size="1">FDA Weighs Statins Without Prescription - Mevacor</font></a></h4>  <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:a8471620-e8a3-4b03-88dc-5478054e47f0" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Provenge" rel="tag">Provenge</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/prostate+cancer" rel="tag">prostate cancer</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/drug+development" rel="tag">drug development</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/cancer+immunotherapy" rel="tag">cancer immunotherapy</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/FDA" rel="tag">FDA</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Degarelix" rel="tag">Degarelix</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Dendreon" rel="tag">Dendreon</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Statins" rel="tag">Statins</a></div>

One More Reason for Statins – May Lower the Risk of Prostate Cancer and Better Senior Sex Life

Gosh it sure seems like one way or another we will all be directed at some point to look at or consider statins from all the recent reports ...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Pomegranate Juice – Pom Wonderful Promotes better health

<p> Pomegranate juice is high in antioxidants, which of course makes it a desirable beverage to include in your diet.  The FDA considers the studies to <a href="http://www.pompills.com/index.aspx"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="89" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfU8eataUKI/AAAAAAAAPVo/SZLZkH8OC6U/image%5B9%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="123" /></a>be too small and actually the company is really not pursuing FDA approval.  If you don’t want to drink the juice, yes you can get a pomegranate pill to take or a bottle of concentrate to take a spoonful every day.  </p>  <p>As far as being helpful for prostate cancer and carotid arteries, a good healthy diet is good for both and has been covered many times in the press.  I had a case of the product sent to me not too long ago, and I do have to say it’s not bad, tastes ok.  It does make one good vodka martini too, actually more tasty than cranberry juice in my opinion.  </p>  <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:0b02cafc-108a-4ef7-88e2-1dc650848940" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="f05d2931-3e49-4655-a706-bb771edf39ca" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgs-S3IROqU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" target="_new"><img alt="" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('f05d2931-3e49-4655-a706-bb771edf39ca'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"253\" height=\"189\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/Qgs-S3IROqU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/Qgs-S3IROqU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"253\" height=\"189\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfU8fFi24jI/AAAAAAAAPVs/iX5WYqH5XPk/video2bd633fd9dc5%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none"></a></div></div></div>  <blockquote>   <p>I do have to say their marketing it top notch and it’s certainly nothing that could hurt you, but drink and enjoy and hopefully good things will result.  The website has a page of <a href="http://www.pomwonderful.com/the_science.html">published research</a> that can be found here.  BD</p>    <p>What exactly does it mean when a bottle of fruit juice wearing a cape declares, "I'm off to save prostates!"? What are we to think when we see the same bottle with a hangman's noose cut from its neck and are told it can "cheat death"? And what about when it's lying on a psychoanalyst's couch and is declared to be in "heart therapy"?   </p>    <p>Pom Wonderful is in the midst of an effort to transform the deep-red and difficult-to-eat <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfU8gCASzvI/AAAAAAAAPVw/t57gO5Sb3MY/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="97" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfU8hAMWUJI/AAAAAAAAPV0/1YeifqxzBrw/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="244" /></a>pomegranate from a novelty fruit to a drinkable Fountain of Youth. Its strategy employs science, humor and rhetoric that obscures as much as it reveals.</p>    <p>What can or can't be said about a food or its components is a complicated issue governed by two agencies -- the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food labeling, and the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates advertising.</p>    <p><strong>Exactly where the FDA's interest in "labeling" ends and the FTC's interest in "advertising" begins is somewhat fuzzy.</strong></p>    <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfU8i8MUQNI/AAAAAAAAPV4/ul7fiov_FIo/s1600-h/image%5B17%5D.png"><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="143" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfU8j4XZulI/AAAAAAAAPV8/RYth8h-ndjw/image_thumb%5B10%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="85" /></a>The dozens of studies funded by Pom Wonderful have been done in numerous laboratories in the United States and Israel. The most active researcher is Michael Aviram, a biochemist on the Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel, who has co-authored 31 pomegranate-related papers since 1999. In an e-mail exchange, he said that Pom Wonderful pays only for research, not for advocacy, and that he has no ownership interest in the company.</p>    <p>- A 2004 study of 19 people found that those who drank the juice for a year had carotid arteries with thinner walls -- often a sign of less atherosclerotic plaque -- as well as less damaging "oxidative activity" of their cholesterol than when they entered the study. Their systolic (or "top") blood pressure fell 21 percent.</p>    <p>- A study in 2006 of 46 men who'd been treated for prostate cancer found that drinking pomegranate juice slowed the rise of prostate specific antigen (PSA), which is sometimes a sign of a recurrence of the tumor.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/20/AR2009042002428.html?wprss=rss_health">Pom Wonderful Heavily Promotes Pomegranate Juice. But are Its Benefits Clear? - washingtonpost.com</a></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p></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:ae67f69e-0ef1-41d7-9497-bd0f2a3254e8" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Pom+Wonderful" rel="tag">Pom Wonderful</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Pomegranate+juice" rel="tag">Pomegranate juice</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/diet" rel="tag">diet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/antioxidants" rel="tag">antioxidants</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/heart" rel="tag">heart</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/prostate+cancer" rel="tag">prostate cancer</a></div>

Pomegranate Juice – Pom Wonderful Promotes better health

Pomegranate juice is high in antioxidants, which of course makes it a desirable beverage to include in your diet. The FDA considers the st...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Ear Infection Sufferer Gets Her Condition Pimped on Twitter

<p> Well the solution to this one is perhaps keep your ear aches to yourself <strong>if you don’t want to be marketed with products</strong> for the problem (grin).  You could also set up a private following as well if you just wanted a close group of friends to know what is going on.  Just like everything else we are getting sold every time we turn around.  Funny too how <strong>Home Depot</strong> stepped right in there too about painting her room.  </p>  <p><strong><a href="http://www.eardoc.info/">Eardoc</a> </strong>was the company who tweeted back with their product related to her Ear condition.  Not too long ago I did a post on <strong>Blue Cross</strong> in the Chicago area scanning Twitter posts and having someone from customer service tweet back.  We could fill up the tweets with health insurance claims and service too.  We could fight back and post some “fake” conditions and questions and overload poor Twitter, but no that wouldn’t be appropriate as Twitter has enough issues of it’s own here and there.  It appears we are entering a new era in shopping, just put a tweet out there and let the vendors come to you, maybe in groves.  As this continues to grow, this could get very interesting.  </p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/customer-service-with-twitter-blue.html"><font size="2">Customer Service with Twitter – Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Will find You</font></a></h4>  <p>As Twitter continues to grow, businesses will continue to find ways to reach us, and the same is true with other social networks as well.  BD</p>  <blockquote>   <p>April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Rachel Gard, who started using <a href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter</a> two months ago to keep in touch with friends, says she may stop using the site if companies keep contacting her. <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfUuR_CVSQI/AAAAAAAAPVg/Qq0tmuaPteo/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="40" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfUuSUjc-cI/AAAAAAAAPVk/-nT7LcB_zNQ/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="158" /></a> </p>    <p>Already <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=HD%3AUS">Home Depot Inc.</a> has wished her luck painting her room, a medical company recommended its device for her ear infection, and a DJ told her to check out his single. </p>    <p>“I don’t want random people contacting me,” said Gard, 21, who lives in Clearwater, Florida. “Don’t try to sell yourself through my Twitter.  While these approaches may not be intrusive, some companies are using the service to send spam and unsolicited marketing -- a problem Twitter is taking steps to fix. The company disabled a feature this month that allowed users to automatically “follow” people who follow them. Spammers used this feature to quickly set up mass networks.</p>    <p>Twitter gets some revenue from <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MSFT%3AUS">Microsoft Corp.</a>, which sponsors a site that carries Tweets from executives. While Twitter hasn’t said how it will make money apart from that, the company has indicated that it may charge businesses for access to its users. There are numerous outside programs, such as <a href="http://www.twittertroll.com/">TwitterTroll</a> and <a href="http://www.tweefind.com/">Tweefind</a>, that companies use to comb the site for references to their products.</p>    <p>Twitter users can also be part of the problem. Services such as <a href="http://be-a-magpie.com/">Magpie</a> and <a href="http://adcause.com/">AdCause</a> pay Twitter users for the right to post ads in their streams of messages. The posts are formatted just like regular Tweets, with a label to show they are ads.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aQunwC1qoJZ8">Twitter Posts on Paint Projects, Ear Infections Annoy Users - Bloomberg.com</a></p>  <p></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/customer-service-with-twitter-blue.html"><font size="1">Customer Service with Twitter – Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Will find You</font></a></h4>  <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:f570dea7-a725-446c-8646-c178d4b3d3e0" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Twitter" rel="tag">Twitter</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/marketing" rel="tag">marketing</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/ear+infection" rel="tag">ear infection</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/shopping" rel="tag">shopping</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/tweets" rel="tag">tweets</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/advertising" rel="tag">advertising</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Eardoc" rel="tag">Eardoc</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Home+Depot" rel="tag">Home Depot</a></div>

Ear Infection Sufferer Gets Her Condition Pimped on Twitter

Well the solution to this one is perhaps keep your ear aches to yourself if you don’t want to be marketed with products for the problem (g...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

The “Sweaty Palms” Surgeon Loses His License – Serving 10 Years for Operating on a Healthy Patient

<p> This is pretty scary seeing over 1000 surgeries performed on healthy people in return for cash, so the procedures could be billed for profit. His <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfUoFQZfhNI/AAAAAAAAPVY/7TZCrZ7NRc4/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="168" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfUoGqDieOI/AAAAAAAAPVc/bnhNUyqJk6o/image_thumb%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="133" /></a>attorneys say though he is still an excellent doctor and I would hope so after the surgeries he performed to at least not give anyone who participated grief down the road.  </p>  <p>The Sweaty Palms surgery involves cutting the nerves that stimulate the sweat glands and requires collapsing the lung, which to me is a bit risky when the lung is involved.  He’s not done yet though, more court appearances for another fraud scheme in the works.  With 180 sweaty palm surgeries on 178 patients in a four-month span it would seem to be a bit suspicious once anyone ran their business intelligence software with some analytics and perhaps this is how he was caught with billing Aetna, they are after all a risk management company that does this for a living.   This all happened a couple years ago, when more individuals still had health insurance.  An undercover patient was the <strong>secret shopper</strong> here.  BD  </p>  <blockquote>   <p>A Seal Beach, CA doctor, who is in prison for performing an unnecessary <strong>sweaty-palm surgery</strong> billed to an insurance company, has lost his medical license, effective this week.</p>    <p>Dr. William Wilson Hampton is serving 10 years in federal prison in Lompoc after his conviction in 2007 for defrauding Aetna by operating on a healthy patient, who was recruited to give false symptoms, according to legal documents filed by the California Medical Board. </p>    <p>Hampton, 53, is also awaiting an October trial in Orange County in connection with a $30.5 million <strong>fraud scheme run from Unity Outpatient Surgery Center in Buena Park. At the time of his arrest two years ago, authorities said Hampton and two other doctors performed unnecessary surgeries for sweaty palms, hemorrhoids or cysts on more than 1,000 healthy, insured patients..</strong></p>    <p>According to court testimony, recruiters targeted young people who were in need of cash to undergo the surgeries.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hampton-insurance-surgeries-2370833-medical-surgery">O.C. doctor loses license in sweaty-palm surgery case | hampton, insurance, surgeries, medical, surgery - Life - OCRegister.com</a></p>  <p></p>  <p></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-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:2b58f3e2-e452-46ba-8483-bee906fc7213" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Healthcare+fraud" rel="tag">Healthcare fraud</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Sweaty+Palms" rel="tag">Sweaty Palms</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Surgery" rel="tag">Surgery</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Secret+Heatlhcare+shoppers" rel="tag">Secret Heatlhcare shoppers</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Surgeon" rel="tag">Surgeon</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Orange+County" rel="tag">Orange County</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Aetna" rel="tag">Aetna</a></div>

The “Sweaty Palms” Surgeon Loses His License – Serving 10 Years for Operating on a Healthy Patient

This is pretty scary seeing over 1000 surgeries performed on healthy people in return for cash, so the procedures could be billed for profi...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

ITGI Medical Gets FDA Approval on Two Pericardium Tissue Covered Revolutionary Stents

<p> There are many stents and stent stories out there, but this appears to be the <strong>first of it’s kind for the US</strong>, as the product has been approved for use in other countries for over a year now, such as India and Israel.   As noted, the product received an award for being a revolutionary stent with the <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfUi9MVY3YI/AAAAAAAAPVM/sIAz0vaCQcU/s1600-h/image%5B5%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="104" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfUjBNAk5WI/AAAAAAAAPVQ/uUtlePKltCY/image_thumb%5B3%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="112" /></a>tissue covering. </p>  <p>A while back I had the opportunity to <strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/interview-with-bart-e-muhs-md-yale.html">discuss stents with Dr. Muhs, Assistant Professor of Vascular Surgery and Radiology Co–Director of Endovascular Surgery from Yale University.</a></strong>  He had practiced overseas and stated we are a bit behind the rest of the world with approving new developments and products in this area, and it was really nice to arrive at Yale with having prior experience in other countries with products already being utilized.  </p>  <p>One of the target areas for the new stents is for treating aneurysms. Dr. Muhs is also an  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interventional_radiology">interventional radiologist</a> whereby minimally invasive procedures are mapped via images, to plan the course of action and navigation to target the affected area, in other words with software imaging the surgical procedure is fully planned and charted out before beginning a procedure. If you need this type of surgery, you are going to want the interventional radiologist involved too.  I also had an interview a while back with Cook Medical and their new efforts to support an entire <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/cook-medical-announced-new-strategic.html">business unit devoted to interventional radiology.</a>  </p>  <p>In order for hospitals to have many types of stents on hand, they are not charged until the stent is actually used, and with the cost, and RFID tracking system for the tiny items is definitely in order.  The video below is probably one of the best animations I have seen showing how the stents are placed.  Also the website has additional information on the process.  BD </p>  <blockquote><em><strong>       <p>         <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:ad54dea1-4cf4-4fa4-ad6b-003d10502673" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="772d7d40-e115-4634-a033-35441809029f" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP7gMpgwmxA&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" target="_new"><img alt="" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('772d7d40-e115-4634-a033-35441809029f'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"271\" height=\"203\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/UP7gMpgwmxA&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/UP7gMpgwmxA&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"271\" height=\"203\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfUjDtRiT7I/AAAAAAAAPVU/QQe37fBBO8A/video03651e5189a6%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none"></a></div></div></div>       </p>        <p>ITGI Medical Ltd</p>  and its subsidiary <strong>Design & Performance (DPC)</strong> are a bio-medical engineering group specializing in the research and development, design, manufacture and distribution of <strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterologous">heterologous</a> </strong>tissue covered stents and products for vascular applications.</strong></em>    <p><a href="http://www.itgimedical.com/">ITGI Medical Ltd.</a> (TASE:<a href="http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/">ITGI</a>) has obtained US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for two cardiovascular stents as humanitarian use devices (HUD). The Or Akiva-based company's share jumped 320% to NIS 0.21 on the news.  </p>    <p>ITGI obtained approval for its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericardium">pericardium</a> covered Over and Under Stent and its Aneugraft Stent. Both stents are already marketed in Israel, Europe, and Latin America. In 2008, the company won a Frost and Sullivan award as a "revolutionary stent company". </p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=1000445102&fid=1725">Stent co ITGI Medical soars on FDA nod</a></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h6>   <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/cook-medical-announced-new-strategic.html"></a></h6>   <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/cook-medical-unveils-microwires-to.html">Cook Medical Unveils MicroWires to support Leg Therapy - Peripheral Arterial Disease</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/interview-with-bart-e-muhs-md-yale.html">Interview with Bart E. Muhs, M.D., Yale School of Medicine – Aneurysm Repair Surgery</a></h6>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/robin-williams-to-have-heart-surgery.html"><font size="1">Robin Williams to have Heart Surgery</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/heart-valves-implanted-without-having.html"><font size="1">Heart valves implanted without having open-heart surgery</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/cook-medical-announced-new-strategic.html"><font size="1">Cook Medical Announced the new Strategic Business Unit – Interventional Radiology</font></a></h4>  <p></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-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:1b2a8618-339c-454b-9bf0-b260178e637d" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/ITGI" rel="tag">ITGI</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Stents" rel="tag">Stents</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/cardiology" rel="tag">cardiology</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/heart+disease" rel="tag">heart disease</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/aneurysm+repair" rel="tag">aneurysm repair</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/FDA" rel="tag">FDA</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Yale+University" rel="tag">Yale University</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Interventional+Radiology" rel="tag">Interventional Radiology</a></div>

ITGI Medical Gets FDA Approval on Two Pericardium Tissue Covered Revolutionary Stents

There are many stents and stent stories out there, but this appears to be the first of it’s kind for the US , as the product has been appro...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Physician Tries to Report Child Sex Scandal at Clinic in Texas – Get’s Fired

<p> This is a video from the Texas Medical Association with an interview of a physician wanting to report a case to the authorities she deemed necessary from her visits with the children, but when discussed with management, she was relieved of her job.  Do organizations listen to doctors or do they know better?  In the age of transparency we live in today, there’s not much to hide, so you can watch the video and make your own conclusion.  </p>  <p>If children are being abused and a clear case has been determined, why did they not listen?  Last month at a hospital in Texas, the ER staff was fired in what appears to be a catch 22 situation with admission being down, ER staff was told to admit more, then were fired for admitting those who who should not have been.  Video at the link below.  BD</p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/hospital-admissions-are-down-er-doctors.html"><font size="2">Hospital Admissions are Down – ER Doctors are Fired – Texas Medical Association</font></a></h4>  <blockquote>   <p>Why did the owners of a residential treatment center try to stop a doctor from reporting a child sex scandal to authorities? Why did they fire her when she did report it? Watch Dr. Linda Adair tell...</p>    <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:e7bf4a71-c510-42cf-9aff-86c5731ca7fc" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="fad3a2f6-fb8f-45c7-a501-d8ffbf55e82c" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBBXBZX5RuY&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" target="_new"><img alt="" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('fad3a2f6-fb8f-45c7-a501-d8ffbf55e82c'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"285\" height=\"214\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/bBBXBZX5RuY&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/bBBXBZX5RuY&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"285\" height=\"214\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfILAagBpUI/AAAAAAAAPUc/ibq_SWPPEwY/video647aa2ecb98d%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none"></a></div></div></div>   <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBBXBZX5RuY"></a></blockquote>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/will-greed-lead-to-meltdown-of-health.html"><font size="1">Will Greed lead to Meltdown of the Health System?</font></a></p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/schwarzenegger-and-celebrities-lobby.html">Schwarzenegger and Celebrities Lobby for Better Health Care</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/help-your-hospital-new-york-budget-cuts.html">Help Your Hospital – New York Budget Cuts threaten Hospital Funds</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/consolidation-in-health-insurance.html">Consolidation in Health Insurance Carriers – Who will be the king of risk management?</a></h6>  <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:71a4b39c-3d0c-4244-bd89-151892177b9a" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/hospital" rel="tag">hospital</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/budget+cuts" rel="tag">budget cuts</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/funding" rel="tag">funding</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Texas+Medical+Association" rel="tag">Texas Medical Association</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/child+abuse" rel="tag">child abuse</a></div>

Physician Tries to Report Child Sex Scandal at Clinic in Texas – Get’s Fired

This is a video from the Texas Medical Association with an interview of a physician wanting to report a case to the authorities she deemed ...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Jay Leno in the hospital over the weekend for observation – misses his first show taping, ever

<p> There’s no report on what Jay experienced, so maybe later we might have some additional details and perhaps when he returns, as expected on <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfIGfiSAIkI/AAAAAAAAPUU/9PqEIh4OCoY/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="101" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfIGgsy94DI/AAAAAAAAPUY/62kHgNEEDVg/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="108" /></a>Monday he might even enlighten us himself.  BD</p>  <blockquote>   <p>Late-night funnyman <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Jay+Leno">Jay Leno</a> has checked himself into a hospital with a mystery illness - and Thursday night and Friday's "<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+Tonight+Show+with+Jay+Leno">Tonight Show</a>" tapings were canceled. </p>    <p>Leno, 58, wasn't feeling well, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/NBC+Universal+Inc.">NBC</a> spokeswoman <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Tracy+St.+Pierre">Tracy St. Pierre</a> said, but she was quick to shoot down Internet chatter that he had had a heart attack. </p>    <p>"No! My gosh!" St. Pierre said. "He's doing fine... He was kidding around with the hospital staff and running his monologue jokes by the doctors and the nurses. He's expected back to work on Monday. </p>    <p><strong>"This is first time he's missed a show - period!"</strong> </p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/04/23/2009-04-23_jay_leno_cancels_tonight_show_taping_host_who_rarely_misses_work_in_hospital_wit.html">Jay Leno cancels 'Tonight Show' taping; in hospital with mystery illness</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-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:64486e6a-2d3e-4418-96bd-2e64dc357f20" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Jay+Leno" rel="tag">Jay Leno</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/hospital" rel="tag">hospital</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Tonight+Show" rel="tag">Tonight Show</a></div>

Jay Leno in the hospital over the weekend for observation – misses his first show taping, ever

There’s no report on what Jay experienced, so maybe later we might have some additional details and perhaps when he returns, as expected on...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Slow Down Diabetes By Eating Nuts – So Let’s Make some Available without Salmonella

<p> I thought this study was very relevant to the recent tainted peanut case that has been all over the news and FDA for the last number of months.  If eating nuts is a food that can help with controlling diabetes, well let’s get with it and make sure they are not tainted.  <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfIChHlvxmI/AAAAAAAAPUI/HlUga8Krc58/s1600-h/image%5B5%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="169" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfICjcnMmUI/AAAAAAAAPUQ/Dmsqe-qKmSk/image_thumb%5B3%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="176" /></a></p>  <p>On the blog, I keep the widget that shows the latest food recalls from the FDA.  The latest efforts from the FDA is to <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/fda-wants-states-to-handle-compliance.html">outsource the inspections</a> to state authorities.  </p>  <p>Kroger has used some technology to keep the potentially contaminated products out of the hands of consumers, so could we perhaps see something along these lines with the FDA in the way of some business Intelligence software to help police the reporting and compliance end?  Enforcement agencies need software to help them do their job, and alerts ahead of time for potential issues before they go to the market place for the consumer.  I have mentioned this quite a bit in past posts with a bank of servers that would collect batch information and report in, and then the FDA as well as the factory has the numbers, before anything is shipped.  It needs to be done electronically as humans can only be in so many places at one time.  BD</p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/kroger-uses-technology-to-help-identify.html"><font size="2">Kroger uses technology to help identify and inform consumers of recalled products</font></a></h4>  <blockquote>   <p><img align="left" alt="FDA Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak 2009. Flash Player 9 is required." height="172" src="http://www.cdc.gov/widgets/images/Salmonella_425x254.jpg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" width="132" />For those of us who are savvy on health food, what I’m about to tell you will come as no surprise, if not, hold onto your hats. If you have heard about “good fats” such as poly-unsaturated fats and omega fatty acids, found in fish and olive oil, then you know that researchers and nutrition professionals agree that these fats should replace the “bad fats” including trans fats and saturated fats found in junk food.</p>    <p><strong>Another tool in this arsenal is surprisingly common: nuts. That’s right; you can munch your way to a lower glycemic index and control diabetes all while snacking on some peanuts.</strong> </p>    <p>Study findings showed that the group given the supplement with all mixed nuts had a significantly reduced LDL (bad cholesterol) and total cholesterol levels compared to the full dose muffin group. Additionally, there was also a <strong>significant reduction in HbA1c levels in participants</strong> with full dose mixed nut supplement than the other two diets. This indicates a greater glycemic control and higher degree of effectively managing diabetes.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/erin039s_spin/slow_down_diabetes_going_nuts">Slow Down Diabetes By Going Nuts</a></p>  <p></p>  <p></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/fda-wants-states-to-handle-compliance.html"><font size="1">FDA wants states to handle compliance with food inspections</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/peanut-seller-rejects-voluntary-recall.html"><font size="1">Peanut Seller rejects voluntary recall – states FDA tested the nuts and they are OK</font></a></h4>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/peanut-corp-of-america-files-for.html">Peanut Corp. of America files for bankruptcy – Chapter 7</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/kroger-uses-technology-to-help-identify.html">Kroger uses technology to help identify and inform consumers of recalled products</a></h6>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/kellogg-chief-calls-for-overhaul-of-us.html"><font size="1">Kellogg chief calls for overhaul of U.S. food safety</font></a></h4>  <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:6e6c407e-cce7-4879-bdee-b89994849c75" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/FDA" rel="tag">FDA</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Recalled+products" rel="tag">Recalled products</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/tainted+products" rel="tag">tainted products</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Peanut+butter+recalls" rel="tag">Peanut butter recalls</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Peanuts" rel="tag">Peanuts</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Salmonella" rel="tag">Salmonella</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Kroger" rel="tag">Kroger</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Diabetes" rel="tag">Diabetes</a></div> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=3741684961227307530&widgetType=Text&widgetId=Text1&action=editWidget"></a>

Slow Down Diabetes By Eating Nuts – So Let’s Make some Available without Salmonella

I thought this study was very relevant to the recent tainted peanut case that has been all over the news and FDA for the last number of mon...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Freddie Mac – Executive had been discussing taking time off – Stress Related Suicide?

<p> The former CEO who stepped down last month will be returning to help out.  Freddie Mac, in view of what has occurred in today’s economy more than likely was a pretty stressful work place.  With all the financial algorithms and the fall of Wall Street and trying to rectify and turn the scenario around, if that can be accomplished could at minimum lead anyone to have sleepless nights.  <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfH8HETViXI/AAAAAAAAPUA/pqKoXBsWvEU/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="115" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfH8IYKTO1I/AAAAAAAAPUE/h-uXcf3HTDc/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="127" /></a>I have issues related to some of the work I do with security and healthcare that keep me aware a night, of course perhaps minimal compared to what he had on his plate.</p>  <p>How do you run the business intelligence algorithms to create a solution?  Anyone in the financial section can verify how complicated this is and becomes, and if the desired results can’t be produced, well where do you go from there?  To what levels can one be pushed to ascertain desired results when perhaps the revenue required to do so can’t be generated?  BD   </p>  <blockquote>   <p>David B. Kellermann, the Freddie Mac executive who was found dead Wednesday in what appeared to be a suicide, discussed taking time off with the company's human relations department Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.      <br />Kellermann, a longtime employee of the troubled mortgage giant who had been acting chief financial officer since a government takeover in September, told officials that he was feeling stressed and working long hours, and that he needed to take a break, the person said.</p>    <p>Freddie Mac assured Kellermann he could take a week off, effective immediately, and his subordinates could run the finance operation without interruption. On Tuesday night, Kellermann apparently decided to take the vacation and delegated responsibilities to two senior members of his staff, the person said.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-freddie24-2009apr24,0,2148802.story?track=rss">Freddie Mac executive David Kellermann sought time off before apparent suicide - Los Angeles Times</a></p>  <p></p>  <p></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-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:1d9f66c2-9d6c-4139-a7dd-100e5a5e1c13" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Freddie+Mac" rel="tag">Freddie Mac</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Suicide" rel="tag">Suicide</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/stress" rel="tag">stress</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/algorithms" rel="tag">algorithms</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/economy" rel="tag">economy</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/business+intelligence" rel="tag">business intelligence</a></div>

Freddie Mac – Executive had been discussing taking time off – Stress Related Suicide?

The former CEO who stepped down last month will be returning to help out. Freddie Mac, in view of what has occurred in today’s economy mor...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Siemens Medical Investigation Resulting Appears to have resulted from a Whistleblower - Update

<p> This is an update on the raid of the Siemens facility in Pennsylvania this week and states bigger discounts were given to corporate customers with the government paying higher prices, and in reality, who really knows how often this has gone on in healthcare, and with drugs this has been a heated topic for a few years too.  </p>  <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/Se_590pkjXI/AAAAAAAAPRs/YlI1X7LXUVI/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="52" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/Se_5-0HVSEI/AAAAAAAAPRw/XcouzSOQpKA/image_thumb%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" title="image" width="122" /></a></p>  <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/2-new-hot-words-in-healthcare.html"><font size="2">The 2 New Hot Words in Healthcare: Algorithms and Whistleblowers</font></a></p>  <p>The initial suit goes back to an initial filing in 2004.  As the ability to create income and profits become stretched and challenging who knows, will we see more of these types of investigations?  BD  </p>  <blockquote>   <p><a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/related_content.html?topic=Siemens%20Medical%20Solutions%20USA%20Inc">Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc.</a>, whose Malvern, Pa., complex was <a href="http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2009/04/20/daily36.html">searched by Defense Department agents Wednesday</a>, is a defendant in a whistle-blower lawsuit.</p>    <p>The unit of German conglomerate Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) is accused in the suit of <strong>giving corporate customers of its medical imaging equipment bigger discounts than it gave the federal government</strong> while assuring the government that it was getting the best discounts Siemens offered.</p>    <p>The filer, William A. Thomas, was an executive with Siemens and also worked for a company that bought equipment from it and a company it acquired.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2009/04/20/daily44.html">Siemens Medical Solutions USA defendant in whistleblower case - Philadelphia Business Journal:</a></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/04/siemens-and-draegerwerk-at-odds.html">Siemens and Draegerwerk at odds...</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/04/siemens-ceo-of-health-care-sector-to.html">Siemens CEO of the health care sector to resign</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/04/siemens-is-technology-and-market-leader.html">Siemens Is The Technology And Market Leader For Connectors Associated With The Electronic Health Card</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/07/siemens-cutting-16750-jobs.html">Siemens Cutting 16,750 Jobs</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/07/siemens-to-resell-kiosks.html">Siemens to Resell Kiosks</a></h6>  <h6>   <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/11/siemens-introduces-new-standard-of-care.html"></a></h6>    <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:7c59811f-5f4d-4340-88ea-ecaa8310c9c3" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Siemens" rel="tag">Siemens</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/whistleblowers" rel="tag">whistleblowers</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/contracts" rel="tag">contracts</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/DOD" rel="tag">DOD</a></div></h6>

Siemens Medical Investigation Resulting Appears to have resulted from a Whistleblower - Update

This is an update on the raid of the Siemens facility in Pennsylvania this week and states bigger discounts were given to corporate custome...

Friday, April 24, 2009

X Prize Foundation – Bid on have your Genome Sequenced on EBay Auction

<p> This looks like a new and different way to raise money for the <strong>X Prize Foundation.</strong>  The medical side of the foundation has recently been in the news but the genomics side of the business has been established for quite a while.  The related reading below gives some of the history.  A few months <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/DucknetServices/SGNEfD5zjdI/AAAAAAAAH2U/pb0p5B4wosA/s1600-h/image%5B32%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="52" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/DucknetServices/SGNEf8r7I-I/AAAAAAAAH2Y/uTUoyLT1FPQ/image_thumb%5B17%5D.png?imgmax=800" title="image" width="168" /></a>ago, Harvard Professor <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/steven-pinker-harvard-professor-of.html">Steve Pinkerton</a> wrote about what it meant to him to have his complete genome sequenced.  Its a lot of information and how and what you do with it all is still evolving.  If you are not sure what this is all about, the link below has a video and will give you a quick run down.</p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/introduction-to-genomics-humans-have.html"><font size="2">An Introduction to Genomics – Humans have Bugs just like Windows does and It’s all about the Code</font></a></h4>  <p>We are getting closer to getting the process to be within an affordable range, especially with Complete Genomics and their recent “wholesale” offering soon to come, no analysis, just the raw data to be used for interpretation.  BD</p>  <p>Playa Vista-based <b>X Prize Foundation</b> is taking an unusual approach to fund its nonprofit efforts, and is <a href="http://www.ebay.com/DNA">auctioning off</a> a complete gene sequencing to the highest bidder on eBay. The auction--which starts at $68,000--will give the winner a completely sequenced, readout of their genetic map. The foundation is tapping DNA sequencing firm Knome for the prize, which usually costs nearly $100,000. Full mapping of a DNA sequence is still a labor-intensive process, and usually only done as part of more extensive scientific efforts. The auction will go to help fund the foundation's efforts to accelerate personalized medicine. The auction starts Friday, and runs until May 4th.</p>  <p><a href="http://www.socaltech.com/x_prize_foundation_puts_dna_mapping_up_for_bid_on_ebay/s-0021259.html">X Prize Foundation Puts DNA Mapping Up For Bid On eBay | socalTECH.com</a></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h6>   <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/uninsured-have-no-political-power.html"></a></h6>   <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/x-prize-foundation-for-healthcare-is.html">X PRIZE Foundation for HealthCare – Is the Incentive High Enough</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/genomics-who-going-to-win-x-prize.html">Genomics – Who’ going to win the X Prize?</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/x-prize-gates-foundation-providing.html">X PRIZE - Gates Foundation providing grant to explore prize for innovative breakthroughs in TB Diagnostics</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/06/bt-and-x-prize-foundation-team-up-to.html">BT and the X PRIZE Foundation Team Up to Inspire World Changing Innovations – Personalized Medicine Sequencing</a></h6>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/11/75-million-to-sterilize-pets-with-non.html"><font size="1">$75 Million to Sterilize Pets With A Non Surgical Procedure - $10 Million to Build a Better Health Care System in the US</font></a></h4>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/burden-of-knowing-genetic-sequencing.html"><font size="1">The Burden of Knowing – Genetic Sequencing and what you might find out</font></a></h4>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/interpreting-genome-understanding-all.html">Interpreting the Genome - understanding all the data</a></h6>  <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:bb75eb8e-d3a2-4d75-8031-759d09caff62" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Genomics" rel="tag">Genomics</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Personalized+medicine" rel="tag">Personalized medicine</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/George+Church" rel="tag">George Church</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/X-Prize" rel="tag">X-Prize</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Personal+Genomics+Project" rel="tag">Personal Genomics Project</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Sequencing" rel="tag">Sequencing</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/DNA+Testing" rel="tag">DNA Testing</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Complete+Genomics" rel="tag">Complete Genomics</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Ebay" rel="tag">Ebay</a></div></p>

X Prize Foundation – Bid on have your Genome Sequenced on EBay Auction

This looks like a new and different way to raise money for the X Prize Foundation. The medical side of the foundation has recently been i...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Harvard School CIO Speaks out on the move to electronic records..

<p>Dr. Halamka addresses a couple good points with his presentation, as always and he is also very good with keeping up updated on <a href="http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/">his blog</a> as well.  One topic I agree with and I think any physician does is to “maximize the ease of use”.  I had one intern tell me he had to learn 5 different systems at 5 different hospitals, so again having something somewhat uniform or familiar for the end users could really be of help.  </p>  <p>The privacy issues he discusses are important too, as when you look at the potential fines, they are big and basically could put a practice right out of business, again making the case for not having to set up servers and email exchanges at doctor’s offices and the fact that even with reimbursement, not many have 40k sitting around in their bank accounts for the initial set up.  The <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/11/common-user-interface-update-and-walk.html">common user interface</a> is a open source code project built by Microsoft that could offer relief with the design of user interfaces, complete with Silverlight and dynamic screens to keep the amount of clicking down a minimum and provide screens that would be either the same or very similar at all facilities.  BD</p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/11/common-user-interface-update-and-walk.html">Common User Interface – Update and walk through video</a></h6>  <blockquote>   <p>Moving the nation to electronic health records could save millions of dollars, simplify the health-care system and create as many as 50,000 new jobs, though it will be a tough journey to get there, <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/related_content.html?topic=Harvard%20Medical%20School">Harvard Medical School</a> CIO John Halamka said today.</p>    <p>Halamka, the keynote speaker at the sixth annual <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/related_content.html?topic=SAS">SAS</a> Healthcare and Life Sciences Executive Conference, held Wednesday and Thursday at SAS’ headquarters in Cary, was discussing the 400 pages of federal stimulus legislation related to electronic health records and key issues facing the health-care and information technology industries.</p>    <p><strong>At the same time, technology needs to be developed to maximize ease of use for physicians.</strong></p>    <p>“Putting servers and exchanges into doctors offices is not going to work,” Halamka said, suggesting a better model is using regional health-care information technology centers that use cloud computing systems to work with doctors. Massachusetts, for example, will use a cloud computing center to manage the state’s electronic health records. That system should be up and running by the end of 2010.</p>    <p>And still to be determined is the issue of privacy. Under current federal regulations, privacy breaches that affect 500 or more patients fall under <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/related_content.html?topic=Federal%20Trade%20Commission">Federal Trade Commission</a> regulations and come with fines ranging from $25,000 to $1.5 million, depending on whether the action was accidental or intentional.</p>    <p><strong>On top of that, doctors not only have to notify patients of the leak, but also the prominent news source for the region.</strong></p>    <p>“What is the value of doing this if there are such stringent rules and penalties?,” Halamka asked rhetorically.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2009/04/20/daily53.html">Harvard med dean sees long road to electronic records - Triangle Business Journal:</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:b4e5061a-b9e7-4cbf-84ed-4f57586e6b0e" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/medical+records" rel="tag">medical records</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Harvard+medical+Center" rel="tag">Harvard medical Center</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Heatlh+IT" rel="tag">Heatlh IT</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Security" rel="tag">Security</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/FTC" rel="tag">FTC</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/security+breaches" rel="tag">security breaches</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/John+Halamka" rel="tag">John Halamka</a></div>

Harvard School CIO Speaks out on the move to electronic records..

Dr. Halamka addresses a couple good points with his presentation, as always and he is also very good with keeping up updated on his blog as...

Friday, April 24, 2009

The Prosthetic Arm In Action

<p> If you have not seen this video, well worth watching how the technology works, even to using a hammer.  BD </p>  <p> <a href="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid263777539?bctid=10635445001" title="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid263777539?bctid=10635445001">http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid263777539?bctid=10635445001</a></p>  <blockquote>   <p>People who have lost an arm have not traditionally had much hope of ever regaining meaningful function. Prosthetic arms have been controlled in a rudimentary way, by transforming residual shoulder movements or muscle signals into the simplest movement commands. These artificial arms cannot do two things at once, much less three or four. Amputees often toss them in the closet out of sheer frustration, somewhat stung by the fact that leg amputees have far better products available to them.</p>    <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfFkM8SZpOI/AAAAAAAAPTo/js6AYhVuC58/s1600-h/image3.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="236" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfFkPvIGhpI/AAAAAAAAPTs/uoN-F4hDKUM/image_thumb1.png?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" width="333" /></a> </p>    <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfFkSyhlHmI/AAAAAAAAPTw/cVrofuzrNOk/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="243" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfFkWuvqI7I/AAAAAAAAPT0/K4CgNxhrTnM/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="334" /></a> </p>    <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfFkZp-WC7I/AAAAAAAAPT4/-2ktxzC7r2M/s1600-h/image%5B8%5D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="240" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfFkchixDmI/AAAAAAAAPT8/BAEF88u5PNE/image_thumb%5B3%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="330" /></a> </p>    <p>But the situation is starting to change, thanks to a team led by Todd Kuiken, director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Center for Bionic Medicine. <strong>Kuiken has developed a novel surgical technique that, when paired with both motorized prosthetic arms already on the market and experimental bionic arms developed through a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program, affords amputees a remarkable degree of dexterity</strong>. Claudia Mitchell, who lost her arm in a motorcycle wreck in 2004, remembers putting on a prosthesis after undergoing Kuiken's procedure and seeing it work for the first time: "You could not wipe that grin off of my face. I can now iron a shirt again like nobody's business." Mitchell has become a hit at parties. "People can't believe how this thing works," she says. <strong>"They want to see me do things with it."</strong></p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/22479/">Technology Review: A Lifelike Prosthetic Arm</a></p>  <p></p>  <p></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-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:90686690-7a33-46c3-afff-e2683a6698a2" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Darpa" rel="tag">Darpa</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/prosthetics" rel="tag">prosthetics</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/arm" rel="tag">arm</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/amputees" rel="tag">amputees</a></div>

The Prosthetic Arm In Action

If you have not seen this video, well worth watching how the technology works, even to using a hammer. BD http://link.brightcove.com/s...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Republicans with a roadblock to delay Sebelius as HHS Secretary

<p>I have my own personal reservations, but not because of what the GOP has going on here, but rather related to the<strong> understanding of Business Intelligence and the levels this position will require and having some IT knowledge</strong> rather than just the old political stuff is needed in a position that is around 70% focused in this area.  To get better healthcare, we need someone in the know in this area and not just another person who has risk management as a background, as that is what tearing up healthcare, but there are some that don’t seem to get the picture on this yet.</p>  <p>Again, when I watched the testimonies in the Senate earlier this year, almost hands down in the committee, nobody knew what a PHR was and I <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfCpjB081UI/AAAAAAAAPTg/rdflwMH2wMQ/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="185" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/SfCpkVukuxI/AAAAAAAAPTk/jTGgizGrqu0/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" width="244" /></a>guess taking a few minutes out to visit the web ahead of time to just have a quick summary must have been out of the question?</p>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/nancy-ann-deparle-and-kathleen-sebelius.html">Nancy-Ann DeParle and Kathleen Sebelius – Business Intelligence?</a></h6>  <p>So in essence, we have a question of not only her background and being qualified, but also the folks doing the voting.  <strong>Education is a huge problem in the US and it appears to have some top level implications too</strong> from what I am reading.  Can we finally put the abortion thing to rest and get on with more intelligent solutions?  The US has spent more time on that subject and opinions are not going to change and neither is the availability for women, so that topic tends to be nothing but a filibuster anymore to detract from the real issues of where we need to be. <strong> Can we please work at a country and elevate some of the “Smart People”, we</strong> are lucky and have many in the US and we need to have the right folks in the right positions.  BD </p>  <blockquote>   <p>Republican lawmakers in the Senate have blocked a move to confirm Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as HHS secretary.     <br />In a brief exchange on the Senate floor, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pushed for a vote on the governor’s nomination today, but was rebuked by his Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).       <br />McConnell said that members of his party needed more time to consider her nomination. It is not clear when a vote will take place. It is unlikely that the Senate will meet tomorrow.</p>    <p>The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday voted 15-8 to move forward on Sebelius’ nomination to the nation’s top healthcare post. But Republican opposition could unsettle a tidy confirmation process.</p> </blockquote>  <p><a href="http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090423/REG/304239971">GOP puts brakes on Sebelius confirmation - Modern Healthcare</a></p>  <p><strong><u>Related Reading:</u></strong></p>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/us-congress-has-inadequate.html"><font size="1">U.S. Congress has an inadequate understanding Value of Health IT – HIMMS Opening Session</font></a></h4>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/right-people-but-maybe-in-wrong-job.html">The Right People, but Maybe in the Wrong Job</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/technology-its-for-those-guys-over.html">Technology “It’s for Those Guys Over There” said the CEO – I Don’t Do Digital Notes</a></h6>  <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/04/more-income-tax-issues-2nd-hhs.html"><font size="1">More Income Tax Issues – 2nd HHS Confirmation Delayed</font></a></h4>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/madoff-scheme-one-reason-to-put-smart.html">Madoff's Scheme – One Reason To Put the “Smart People” in the Right Places So We Don’t Get Fooled Again</a></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/kathleen-sebelius-kansas-governor-for.html">Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas Governor for HHS – Please not! Put the “Smart” People in these key positions</a></h6>  <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/bringing-providers-health-care.html"><font size="1">Bringing Providers, Health Care Executives and Administrators into the 21st Century</font></a></p>  <h6><font color="#669966"></font></h6>  <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/future-day-of-going-to-doctor.html"><font color="#669966"></font></a></h6>  <p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/lawmakers-consider-adding-health-it-to.html"><font size="1">Lawmakers Consider Adding Health IT to Stimulus Package – We Need some Congressional Algorithms</font></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-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:8e2f5730-2000-4a27-8d7f-1e5f49ff9b27" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Stimulus+Bill" rel="tag">Stimulus Bill</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/EMR" rel="tag">EMR</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/EHR" rel="tag">EHR</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/PHR" rel="tag">PHR</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/heathcare+IT" rel="tag">heathcare IT</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/NeHC" rel="tag">NeHC</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/HIT" rel="tag">HIT</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/HHS" rel="tag">HHS</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Senate" rel="tag">Senate</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Sebelius" rel="tag">Sebelius</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Smart+People" rel="tag">Smart People</a></div>

Republicans with a roadblock to delay Sebelius as HHS Secretary

I have my own personal reservations, but not because of what the GOP has going on here, but rather related to the understanding of Business...

Thursday, April 23, 2009

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The Prosthetic Arm In Action

Republicans with a roadblock to delay Sebelius as HHS Secretary

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