FDA Clears Import of More Saline Solution to Help Ease Shortages In the US

<p>There has been a saline shortage going on for a while now and the FDA has<img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6zecct4J_aM/U2Hb14XRXMI/AAAAAAABKGk/8rrnnzSxd4k/image%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="104" align="right" height="187" /> cleared Baxter to being importing from their plant in Spain.  Also another company Fresenius Kabi, was given the ok to export saline to the US.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/01/spike-in-flu-creating-shortage-with-iv.html">Spike In Flu Creating Shortage With IV Saline Solutions In Hospitals Across the US</a></h5> <p>In addition we this shortage to deal with.   BD</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/nitroglycerin-iv-is-latest-drug.html">Nitroglycerin IV Is the Latest Drug Shortage With Sole Producer Baxter Rationing Orders, These Are Tangibles That We Need In the “Real” World, Meanwhile The Virtual World Seems To Be Bordering On Insanity Of Late..</a></h5> <p> <hr />WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators are allowing a U.S. medical supply company to import saline solution from its Spanish plant to address a national shortage of the hospital staple.</p> <p>The Food and Drug Administration announcement is the latest effort to increase U.S. supplies of the salt solution, which is used to rehydrate hospital patients and assist in the delivery of drugs</p> <p><a title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/fda-clears-more-saline-imports-to-address-shortage/2014/04/29/c3cb0d72-cfc3-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/fda-clears-more-saline-imports-to-address-shortage/2014/04/29/c3cb0d72-cfc3-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/fda-clears-more-saline-imports-to-address-shortage/2014/04/29/c3cb0d72-cfc3-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html</a></p>

FDA Clears Import of More Saline Solution to Help Ease Shortages In the US

There has been a saline shortage going on for a while now and the FDA has cleared Baxter to being importing from their plant in Spain.  Als...

Read more »

FDA Pays Out A Half A Million To Consortium to Find Out What Patient Preferences Are With Risk Assessments Relative to Medical Devices?

<p>This sounds like another one of those types of studies to “find out how people <img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-pLRkWkgmK_0/U2HW3AkUTaI/AAAAAAABKGY/XhSiW-ABlJk/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="160" align="right" height="218" />work” from reading the article.  It sounds very strange and all these folks, advocates, industry representatives,  and regulators have to be involved in the process.  I don’t know about you but the average patient I don’t think is too concerned here or want to be other than being educated on the device they are using or have implanted.  That part is very important and we do it now. </p> <p>What is the patients perspective here going to be?  I could see if a device company used a patient as a sounding board as an example in design but that doesn’t sound like what this is.  Again most patients until they need one or want one are not interested in medical devices as they have enough on their plate working and trying to keep up in the world.  BD </p> <p> <hr />What role should patients play in the development and approval of medical devices? FDA is handing the <a href="http://mdic.org/"><u>Medical Device Innovation Consortium</u></a> (MDIC) half a million dollars to try to answer that question.</p> <p>The MDIC, a public-private partnership formed in 2012 with the goal of advancing regulatory science, will use the money awarded by the agency to fund its Patient-Centered Benefit-Risk Project, an effort that will bring together patient's advocates, industry representatives, regulators, and academics to find ways to bring patients’ perspective into benefit-risk determinations for medical devices.</p> <p>“FDA has emphasized that ‘patient tolerance of risk and perspective on benefits’ is an important consideration, and the tools studied in this project will help both industry and the FDA to assess patient preferences for benefit and risk in a meaningful way,” Bill Murray, president and CEO of the MDIC wrote in an e-mail.</p>

FDA Pays Out A Half A Million To Consortium to Find Out What Patient Preferences Are With Risk Assessments Relative to Medical Devices?

This sounds like another one of those types of studies to “find out how people work” from reading the article.  It sounds very strange and a...

Read more »

Layoffs Coming to Kern Hospital in Bakersfield - Return of Desperate Hospitals

<p>Here’s another hospital in financial straits and hates having to lay people off as this is their income to support families.  I know sometimes people forget that side of it when layoffs occur, the real<img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-FZ1Xd8ncIYY/U2HSTblK27I/AAAAAAABKGQ/FiT-HH0P9kQ/image%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="187" align="right" height="149" /> impact it has on families.  They sound like a good candidate for ICD10 risk pools so they don’t anyone else back.  Again I hear all the companies and profitable hospitals complaining but if it’s an all in, don’t you think efforts would go out to pool revenue and brings the others into the fold if they are having financial issues?  </p> <p><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/icd10-enough-already-set-up-some-risk.html">ICD10 Enough Already, Set Up Some Risk Pools To Help The Poor Hospitals That May Not Have Enough Money To Come On Board When the Next New Date Approaches.. </a></strong></p> <p>The hospital is looking at a $30 Million dollar deficit.  Things have improved a little in the last month but time will tell.  BD  </p> <p><iframe height="315" src="http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/health/Layoffs-planned-at-Kern-Medical-Center-257252901.html?embed" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" seamless="seamless"></iframe></p> <p><a title="http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/Layoffs-planned-at-Kern-Medical-Center-257252901.html?tab=video&c=y" href="http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/Layoffs-planned-at-Kern-Medical-Center-257252901.html?tab=video&c=y">http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/Layoffs-planned-at-Kern-Medical-Center-257252901.html?tab=video&c=y</a></p>

Layoffs Coming to Kern Hospital in Bakersfield - Return of Desperate Hospitals

Here’s another hospital in financial straits and hates having to lay people off as this is their income to support families.  I know sometim...

Read more »

Bill Clinton States He’s Tired of Being “Click Bait” for the News Media When It Comes to News Articles About Obamacare and the ACA

<p>He basically said stop making up stories:)  We do a lot of different news today and it’s not always the reporters fault as some papers now evaluate part of their job performance on how many “clicks” their news story gets.  This actually has nothing to do with the content but it’s rather about ad impressions and clicks as you<img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-vCItXW9LMsE/U2Ff0MYkJxI/AAAAAAABKGA/oCml7L7exSw/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="210" align="right" height="200" /> might be living under a rock to have not read about the declining revenue of news paper medias.  They are looking to replace what they have lost.  <strong>I think it’s a crying shame that all the cash rich companies don’t spent some serious money with papers.  Why, because news media moves their stocks and they need news feeds so what’s the deal here, starve off the media so the rest of us get left with “click bait” quality articles out there?  We appreciate good journalism as consumers and don’t want it to  go away.  </strong></p> <p>Data stories are cheaper to produce as well and we are swimming in those too and I get tired of them with a bunch of the same thing with magpies quoting stats.  All those stories are not that way and we still do get quality hard news too and I don’t want that vanish, so papers need money.  If you are cash rich corporation, spend a little on the media, otherwise this is what we get, Clinton disgusted with all the “click bait” stories out there.  Bots are even used to write some of the news and the link below can tell you more about how that works.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/hhs-to-release-data-from-cms-on-what.html">HHS To Release Data From CMS On What Doctors Get Paid By Medicare, It’s Big Deal For the News Media And Journobots, But Whoopee, Not a Lot For The Average Consumer To Get Excited About</a></h5> <p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="270" id="flashObj" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=3524740457001&playerID=2368596066001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAETmrZQ~,EVFEM4AKJdQ1C14r5oirecGfDLVsGgSQ&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=3524740457001&playerID=2368596066001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAETmrZQ~,EVFEM4AKJdQ1C14r5oirecGfDLVsGgSQ&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></p> <p>We end up with some quantitated justifications for news articles for some stuff that is just not true..give them the word President Clinton:)  Watch video #1 in my footer “It’s all about Context” and you’ll get the story.  Again cash rich companies, think about what you are creating here and spend some money!  When I watched the CEO of Pepsi speak at one of the Davos videos, I don’t think she had a clue when she attacked the press at all.  You have to look at things in full circle today.  That’s what I try to do.  BD  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/01/context-is-everythingmore-about-dark.html">Context is Everything–More About the Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception–Professor Siefe Lecture Given at Google’s New York Office–Big Healthcare Focus</a></h5> <p>When talking about healthcare today, let’s talk about all the Killer Algorithms that are making everyone miserable with not working together with government, insurers, etc.  That’s a lot of the issues out there today.  BD  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/obamacare-one-big-attack-of-killer.html">Obamacare - One Big “Attack of the Killer Algorithms” No Matter Which Direction You Turn, Compounded With a Lot of Government and Consumer “Algo Duping”….</a></h5> <hr />Former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday jabbed the “political press” for its relentless pursuit of a particular “story line” regardless of reality, including when it comes to Obamacare. <p>Clinton made the remarks during a lengthy speech at his alma mater, Georgetown University, with his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in the audience.</p> <p>Clinton said the problem was particularly notable on the media’s coverage of President Barack Obama’s health care law.</p> <p>“I think that it’s very important to understand we live in a time when, for a whole variety of reasons, policy-making tends to be dimly understood, often distrusted and disconnected from the consequences of the policies being implemented,” he said. “I have felt that most intensely in the development, the passage and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”</p> <p>“We have newspapers that have people devoted to doing nothing but covering a campaign that doesn’t exist. So then they have to decide to create stories,” the former president told Fusion’s Jorge Ramos at the time. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/bill-clinton-obamacare-press-coverage-106197.html#ixzz30P3CjXul">http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/bill-clinton-obamacare-press-coverage-106197.html#ixzz30P3CjXul</a></p>

Bill Clinton States He’s Tired of Being “Click Bait” for the News Media When It Comes to News Articles About Obamacare and the ACA

He basically said stop making up stories:)  We do a lot of different news today and it’s not always the reporters fault as some papers now e...

Read more »

“Markets Are Not Rigged” Spoken Like A True Data Mechanics Novice, It’s Like Sebelius at HHS All Over Again, Looking For Algo Fairies at The SEC, One More Government Agency Wrapped Up in “The Grays”…

<p>You can do a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=mary+jo+white&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb#channel=sb&q=markets+are+not+rigged&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=nws">Google search and see tons of articles</a> that are basically written in astonishment of this statement from Mary Jo White, Head of the SEC.  It is getting old when you have people that write code and math models that try to educate and advise consumers of what’s going on with servers 24/7, some of which<img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-kZsRydPyrsc/UrTuy_0LlMI/AAAAAAABI7k/P766pc27ui0/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" align="right" /> in the past have written some of that code, and then we hear “bliss” like this.  I guess we are back to “if I don’t acknowledge it, it doesn’t exist.  Example in the image to right, do you believe in “perfect handshakes”?  Some folks do as they can’t separate virtual and real world values.  </p> <p>The sad thing about all of this denial is that it ends up allowing bad behavior and the folks who know how to manipulate and control with flawed math models, some that lie, get to keep doing it until one day it breaks again.  You have never lived until you have seen a “fried” data base that’s beyond repair with corruption and we still keep putting the “bliss”, normally lawyers who only worry about verbiage in control of “tech heavy” agencies.  </p> <p>They do some good work though as sometimes there’s some low hanging fruit that ends up being substantial out there but it never touches the root of the problem, where lying models and killer algorithms are created.  So it looks like another ride like HHS in reference to believing in Algo Fairies.  It’s never going to be <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/it-will-never-be-100-bottles-of-beer.html">100 Bottles of Beer</a> when it comes to math models…and that’s what runs the markets. </p> <p><object height="300" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=ed2FWNWwE3I&start=149&end=235&cid=2520036"></param><embed src="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=ed2FWNWwE3I&start=149&end=235&cid=2520036" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="300"></embed></object></p> <p>On another area, look at how much Google is spending on lobbying, both sides.  It’s kind of scary to see how they have been able to “work the bliss’ with the Heritage Foundation (along with some money) to keep those beliefs alive too and when they are done they leave and the other folks go back to their favorite past time of discussing women’s health and abortions.  It’s smart but also scary marketing.  </p> <p>We once again have the wrong type of people in charge of trying to be a figure head with technologies they know nothing about and thus so choose to not believe they exist..sad.  Should we talk a little Madoff maybe?  Even he knew how to build a system to fake everyone out.  If the same course keeps rolling I guess I might fully expect the entire data selling epidemic to be ignored too.  Again people smarter than me have taken time to research and bring 0 and 1 facts to light but seems like bliss and denial it’s going to be.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/world-privacy-forum-report-scoring-of.html">World Privacy Forum Report - The Scoring of America: How Secret Consumer Scores Threaten Your Privacy and Your Future - One Big Element that Fuels the Continued Attack of Killer Algorithms & Demise of the Middle Class Creating Profiteering</a></h5> <p>It’s sad we have <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/secretary-sebelius-at-hhs-resigns-wrong.html">another wrong person</a> in the wrong job again and “The Grays” live on with one heck of a spoof that’s killing the nation, using one server at a time and a lot of bliss.  What we had at t<img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-sbUi46nJiZw/U1b17atb1qI/AAAAAAABKBQ/Bi1w5aidsvg/image73%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" align="right" />he <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/va-hospital-in-phoenix-broken-model-of.html">VA in Phoenix,</a> same symptoms with not being able to “make a left turn” to save a life, the same “Grays”.  I’m not the smartest person out there by far but even I can see this clear as day.   Here’s what I call “The Grays” at the link below where folks can’t tell the difference between virtual world and real world values.  Banks and corporations love it as complexities mean profit with having systems that are too complicated for the average person to even understand portions of what’s going on.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/virtual-worlds-real-world-we-have.html">Virtual Worlds, Real World We Have A Problem And It’s A Big One With A Lot of Gray Areas Finding Where The Defining Lines Exist, Confusing Many With A Lot of Weird Values And Strange Perceptions…</a></h5> <p><object height="244" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=ed2FWNWwE3I&start=2810&end=2845&cid=1746075"></param><embed src="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=ed2FWNWwE3I&start=2810&end=2845&cid=1746075" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="244"></embed></object></p> <p><strong>Consumers and investors need a fair shake and as long as “The Grays” permeate, those elements in the virtual world that hurt others will continue to creep over into the “real world”.</strong>  If you look at banks moving away from commodities, there’s a reason for that and their actions in the virtual trading worlds over there affect the real world, mining operations can be shut down based on trading activity so I would say at this point they are vacating as they don’t want that on their heads as it’s easy to track back to a trade, unlike what we having going on here with “code running hog ass wild”..and praying for some kind algo fairies to show up and save the day.  </p> <p>If you look at what we have in health insurance, sure it’s a good thing more people have coverage and I keep the link to the government site even on my blog but again we have some issues with a bunch of killer algorithms that don’t work together and everyone is having hassle after hassle here as again nobody wants to look at the models and make things work together, it’s math and algo battles all the way and consumers are stuck with it.</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/obamacare-one-big-attack-of-killer.html">Obamacare - One Big “Attack of the Killer Algorithms” No Matter Which Direction You Turn, Compounded With a Lot of Government and Consumer “Algo Duping”….</a></h5> <p>So again, do a Google search and look at all the articles in disbelief that one person in charge, can make such a statement that has no tech background at all…I just wonder how long we are going to live in “The Grays” and when reality is going to government over the head.  <strong>Inequality is modeled and not just something that has occurred.</strong>  Watch video #3 in my footer for more on that and actually watch all of them and it will give you a new perspective on the bliss. If you want more I have a collection of links and videos from folks smarter than me at the <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">Algo Duping/Killer Algorithm page</a> and I put it together just as an effort to help educate as to what’s really going on. </p> <p><object height="244" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=ed2FWNWwE3I&start=42&end=134&cid=1746132"></param><embed src="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=ed2FWNWwE3I&start=42&end=134&cid=1746132" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="244"></embed></object></p> <p>So I guess it’s Mary Jo White and “The Grays”..for a while until the “real world” comes calling and we know what that feels like and it isn’t good when it ripples down Main Street as quantitated justifications for things maybe are not true continue.  I guess we keep reliving ‘Groundhog Day” once agency at a time?    </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/12/quantitated-justification-for-believing.html">Quantitated Justification For Believing Things That Are Not True And Using Mathematical Processes To Fool Ourselves-The Journalistic Bot Functionality Debuts As Media Can’t Resist the Formulas…</a></h5> <p>Here’s what we got from the Department of Justice investigating the sub prime refinance situation…not much.  BD</p> <p><iframe style="height: 269px; width: 448px" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FHWTsDPaCXk" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>

“Markets Are Not Rigged” Spoken Like A True Data Mechanics Novice, It’s Like Sebelius at HHS All Over Again, Looking For Algo Fairies at The SEC, One More Government Agency Wrapped Up in “The Grays”…

You can do a Google search and see tons of articles that are basically written in astonishment of this statement from Mary Jo White, Head o...

Read more »

Palm Drive Hospital In Santa Rosa Shuts Down, No Money

<p>Here’s yet one more in northern California that’s been struggling to say alive for a few years with a couple of bankruptcies.  It’s that same old subject that nobody wants to talk about, <img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-MluYVHGyL0Y/U2BwV70XsTI/AAAAAAABKFw/ABzc8ZtxIiY/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="221" align="right" height="135" />“hospital inequality”  </p> <p><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/hospital-inequality-yet-one-more.html">“Hospital Inequality” - Yet One More Growing Issue With Healthcare In the US..</a></strong></p> <p>The hospital was subsidized with taxpayer money.  Hospital officials are trying to keep negotiations open to again open the hospital again but once closed, that might be hard to do.  The hospital had been in business for 73 years.  BD  </p> <p> <hr />“It’s a very sad day. This is a wonderful hospital,” said Palm Drive CEO Thomas Harlan.</p> <p>Harlan, who came out of retirement in 2012 and became the hospital’s 10th CEO in five years, was charged with bringing the 73-year-old hospital back to financial stability but instead saw the facility’s final day.</p> <p>“It’s the last thing in the world I ever anticipated in my career,” said Harlan.</p> <p>Inside the hospital, nursing staff took a final inventory of the medical and pharmaceutical supplies. Some of the drugs, such as narcotics, were boxed up and arrangements made to send them back to drug companies</p> <p>For years, Palm Drive Hospital has endured difficult financial times, including two bankruptcy filings in the last seven years. Palm Drive officials say the district hospital has suffered crippling declines in overnight patients, reduced payments from insurance companies and staggering competition from Santa Rosa hospital giants Sutter, St. Joseph Health and Kaiser Permanente.</p> <p>Langridge said she and others would have done anything to keep the hospital open. Last summer, she and other managers took a 20 percent pay cut for three months and later a permanent 10 percent cut. In January, she stepped down from a management position to save the hospital money.</p> <p><a title="http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140428/articles/140429562#page=0" href="http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140428/articles/140429562#page=0">http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140428/articles/140429562#page=0</a></p>

Palm Drive Hospital In Santa Rosa Shuts Down, No Money

Here’s yet one more in northern California that’s been struggling to say alive for a few years with a couple of bankruptcies.  It’s that sam...

Read more »

UCLA Rejects Donald Sterling $3 Million Dollar Donation For Kidney Research on the Fall Out of the Decision Made by the NBA To Ban Him…

<p>Of course normally any donation is nice but not any more in this case.  <strong>This is Los Angeles and I’m sure there might be plenty others to step in singly or a group and replace the $3 Million as there’s<img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BiNcidWbe8U/U2AvIkOd2gI/AAAAAAABKFg/cgOFnmz-u_c/image%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="187" align="right" height="147" /> lots of folks that can do it here and UCLA is not on the “desperate hospital” list either.</strong>  There was no arrangement to have to create a plaque so no issues there.  </p> <p>We all know by now what happened and this was not the first negative exposure for Donald Sterling.  Maybe he’s a bipolar that’s never been diagnosed.  I say that after I listened to the phone call which was not only insulting but just listening to him bounce up and down with voice tones was weird.  The girlfriend knew how to work it I do have to say with the conversation as he went up and and down mad and then calm..nuts. </p> <p>The foundation had only paid $425,000 so far as a first installment so it was not all in the UCLA bank yet.  At this point if I were him and needed surgery or care, he might certainly look elsewhere as UCLA would not appear too happy to have hi as a patient either.  Sterling even took an ad out in the LA Times to announce his donation as well and who does that?  Normally that gets press on it’s own so I guess even there he wanted to make sure he has press…go figure.  Also remember he wouldn’t pay for prostate cancer surgery either for one of the Clipper coaches and the team had to take up a collection?  This is just a very nasty person.  BD</p> <p><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/03/la-clippers-team-members-chipped-in-to.html">LA Clippers Team Members Chipped in to Pay for Coach’s Treatment for Prostate Cancer When the Team Owner Declined Coverage</a></strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/university-of-california-los-angeles-OREDU0000192268.topic"> <hr />UCLA</a> will return $425,000 recently donated by the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/economy-business-finance/real-estate/donald-sterling-PEBSL0000930.topic">Donald T. Sterling</a> Charitable Foundation for kidney research and will cancel an agreement that would have brought Sterling’s gift to $3 million over seven years, the university announced Tuesday.</p> <p>The university also denied Sterling's previous boasts that his donation and pledge were supposed to lead UCLA to name a lab after him and his wife.</p> <p>The agreement called for an initial $425,000 payment and for the remainder of the $3 million to be paid out over seven years and “nothing else was touched on,” Stogsdill said.</p> <p>The gift agreement did "not contemplate signage or the naming of a research laboratory,” she said.</p> <p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-donald-sterling-foundation-ucla-cancels-gift-20140429,0,2760188.story#ixzz30JnhsB7R">http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-donald-sterling-foundation-ucla-cancels-gift-20140429,0,2760188.story#ixzz30JnhsB7R</a></p>

UCLA Rejects Donald Sterling $3 Million Dollar Donation For Kidney Research on the Fall Out of the Decision Made by the NBA To Ban Him…

Of course normally any donation is nice but not any more in this case.  This is Los Angeles and I’m sure there might be plenty others to ste...

Read more »

Practice Fusion and Merck Partner With Vaccine Notification Data

<p>This is interesting and normally a medical record component has a place for vaccine monitoring so not quite sure where the “real” value is here with this collaboration other than Merck having some access to data?  I see mentioned a lot the comparison of the community as being “valued” information for the<img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-sPXLgUFY7ak/U1-7z9SbLoI/AAAAAAABKFQ/BABefeO2XMA/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="222" align="right" height="82" /> doctor and you know what, I don’t average MD has time to even look, but rather focuses on the patient they are caring for as that’s what matters.  Sure if there’s some spare time they might look around but again correct me if I missed something here on the communality stats..just more of the same drilling stats down for folks to read.  </p> <p>Merck is also an advertiser on Practice Fusion so that makes things interesting as well.  With all the records held by insurers in such in depth detail today some of those folks also have vaccine follow up programs that doctors coordinate with as well. <strong> This appears to be more of a potential to build more business for Merck if you will to sell more vaccines with having access.  </strong>We all know that Practice Fusion sells de-identified data from their medical records program and that’s been a model since day one and the trade off to cover the cost of a free medical records system.   The company a few months back landed more funding and is not in a spot to where any profits have been shown yet to my knowledge.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/practice-fusion-land-70-million-funding.html"><strong>Practice Fusion Lands $70 Million Funding To Keeps The Wheels Rolling To Provide Free Electronic Medical Records Along With Selling Data To Support Revenue Streams–Plans an IPO At Some Point In Time</strong></a></h5> <p>Dr. Oz a while back has also given the company some PR with one of his shows. We keep seeing more and more partnerships develop along the way.  BD  </p> <p> <hr />SAN FRANCISCO, April 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --  <a href="http://www.practicefusion.com/?utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pressrelease&utm_campaign=popmanlaunch042814">Practice Fusion</a> , the country's largest physician-patient community, today launched its Population Health Management offering in collaboration with <a href="http://www.merck.com/index.html">Merck</a> <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/MRK">MRK</a> +2.98% ,  a global healthcare leader committed to increasing access to health care for patients  through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. </p> <p>Practice Fusion's 112,000 monthly active medical professionals now have a real-time dashboard that compares each provider's patient population to those of other Practice Fusion providers, allowing them to actively track the percentage of their adult patients that have received select vaccinations based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This gives them a quantified view of their vaccination rates. During patient office visits, the program notifies providers within the EHR if a vaccine is recommended for that particular patient based on guidelines from the CDC. </p> <p><a title="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/practice-fusion-teams-with-merck-on-population-health-management-initiative-2014-04-28" href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/practice-fusion-teams-with-merck-on-population-health-management-initiative-2014-04-28">http://www.marketwatch.com/story/practice-fusion-teams-with-merck-on-population-health-management-initiative-2014-04-28</a></p>

Practice Fusion and Merck Partner With Vaccine Notification Data

This is interesting and normally a medical record component has a place for vaccine monitoring so not quite sure where the “real” value is h...

Read more »

ICD10 Enough Already, Set Up Some Risk Pools To Help The Poor Hospitals That May Not Have Enough Money To Come On Board When the Next New Date Approaches..

<p>Nobody wants to talk about this we have hospital inequality…so I’ll say it again.  Hospitals with money are complaining due to their investment to meet the original date.  It’s a break for the poor hospitals to get credit lines and have more time to set up.  Ok so we know you lost money on your investments but are the poor hospitals to blame because they are poor?  Besides after the roll out of Healthcare.Gov do you think folks are real<img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-weMWm6OFYO0/U1x6KRYemUI/AAAAAAABKFA/S8sZ2dATHvg/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="255" align="right" height="166" /> trusting of HHS and CMS right now?  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/hospital-inequality-yet-one-more.html">“Hospital inequality” - Yet One More Growing Issue With Healthcare In the US..</a></h5> <p>It’s time for some business intelligence and ethics I guess.  The hospitals with money can figure out if it is worth their time to help the poor hospitals or would that investment be worse than losing some of the money already invested?  If not then chuck it up and realize the delay is now the law.  <strong>If the poor hospitals were not ready and couldn’t afford it, would it be a good decision to put them over the edge here too?</strong>  Those are questions worth thinking about as this is something everyone is in together and maybe that’s the crux of the issue here is nobody is thinking that way.</p> <p>CMS gets more time for testing too and they have a tight budget too for ICD10.  I know CMS says they were ready, and that sounds good politically too, but we don’t know really as they were ready for Healthcare.Gov too. <strong> The fact that CMS was not even going to do some end to end testing originally tells you there’s a <u>tech novice</u> making some of those decisions</strong>.  We have no tech folks running these agencies so you can’t really count on all that they say.  Of course CMS went quiet, what did you expect?  This is not as simple as an off/on switch.  There’s one less leader over there too as of a few days ago.   </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/complexities-are-winning-medicare.html">Complexities Are Winning - Medicare Principal; Deputy Administrator Calling It Quits - Time For Folks To Come Out of “The Grays” And Look at the Reality of the Complex Systems We Built - Beyond Humans And Even the Machines To Handle At Times-IT on Overload </a></h5> <p>The hospitals with money could help those that don’t have the resources, pool some money.  UPMC has a billion laying around in excess profits for one example.  We also have the doctors to think about too so again if they want to avoid another delay, start thinking about this as an “all in” situation and lend a helping hand if needed to make it go next time.  BD </p> <p> <hr />Buenning said that CMS looked at the law and that its general counsel will be developing an option to present to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavener, who will take it to the management level and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary for approval – but she added that the “actual announcement will come from HHS.”</p> <p>“The messaging will come through CMS,” Buenning explained.</p> <p>In answering a smattering of questions from the audience, Buenning used the approximately 20-minute appearance to offer several pieces of information:</p> <p>About rumors that that CMS was not ready: “We were ready. (We) didn’t expect it (the delay) to come from Congress.”</p> <p>On plans for end-to-end testing: “They (CMS) had been planning end-to-end testing in July, but with that date change they’re not certain.” Buenning also explained that CMS only has so much money for testing. “What this (the delay) gives us is another year for testing, and (it) would allow for more robust testing with providers,” she said.</p> <p><a title="http://icd10monitor.com/enews/special-bulletin/item/1188-cms-breaks-silence-on-icd-10" href="http://icd10monitor.com/enews/special-bulletin/item/1188-cms-breaks-silence-on-icd-10">http://icd10monitor.com/enews/special-bulletin/item/1188-cms-breaks-silence-on-icd-10</a></p>

ICD10 Enough Already, Set Up Some Risk Pools To Help The Poor Hospitals That May Not Have Enough Money To Come On Board When the Next New Date Approaches..

Nobody wants to talk about this we have hospital inequality…so I’ll say it again.  Hospitals with money are complaining due to their investm...

Read more »

Local Arizona Television Station Becoming a Major Patient Advocate In Battling Denied United Healthcare Insurance Claims For Consumers…”Healthcare Nightmares” (Videos)

<p>This is amazing, 3 videos here and the other day I blogged one about the station helping on an Aetna denied claim.  This shows how complex health insurance has become.  In addition I was reading an article <img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lcxYfjOfcfY/U1xx_dXjT_I/AAAAAAABKEw/HPXm6y6MWDA/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="239" align="right" height="69" />the other day that relates to coding and billing and now that electronic medical records are using SNOMED terminology in the “patient problem lists” that opens up yet another area for insurers to scrutinize and potentially use as a reason for denying a claim as more and more insurers are comparing every last detail on every claim.  You can than the extensive analytics they use for that.</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/injured-good-samaritan-gets-165000-bill.html">Injured Good Samaritan Gets $165,000 Bill Denied by Aetna - Local Television Station Helped Him With Part of the Resolution </a></h5> <p>Here’s the first one, a burger flipper who had a failing kidney and got a hospital bill for $12,000.00 and was covered by his father’s insurance.  United Healthcare said he should have insurance through his own insurance, but he only worked part time and is 18 years old.  United said they never received answers and the patient says that was not the case.  Look at what this did to his life, credit shot, etc.  12 for action stepped in to help.  </p> <p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="270" id="flashObj" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=3497251542001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true&autoStart=false" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=3497251542001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true&autoStart=false" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="false" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></p> <p>Here’s an 87 year old woman, a coding issue that turned into a nightmare for $32,000.00.  She went to the ER and thought she was having a heart attack and spent 3 days having cardiac tests.  She was insured by United Healthcare.  Their issue goes back to the hospital coding and Banner hospital would not change.  It went back and forth between the hospital and United.  12 for action stepped in to help.  </p> <p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="270" id="flashObj" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=3501127622001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true&autoStart=false" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=3501127622001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true&autoStart=false" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></p> <p>Here’s yet another story and these are all recent within a couple weeks.  This story is a little more complex with a teenager with a rare disorder and her mother had one heck of a fight.  The plan is Medicaid and the doctors want her to go to Pittsburgh for treatment as this is such a rare disease.  United Healthcare has denied the treatment twice.  The girl keeps gaining weight and east 1100 calorie a day diet.  She needs care that is not available in Arizona.  Multiple doctors have written letters.  12 for action stepped in again and no luck so far and now she has to go to a court hearing.  It’s some type of genetic treatment it sounds like.  </p> <p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="270" id="flashObj" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=3508452638001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true&autoStart=false" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=3508452638001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true&autoStart=false" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></p> <p>This is where we are at now, no pre-existing but narrower networks kick in. </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/pre-existing-conditions-with-health.html">Pre-Existing Conditions With Health Insurance May Be Gone But Narrow Networks Are Providing The Same End Result For Many Ill Patients With Not Being Able To Get Care - Extreme Cases Of New Killer Algorithms Popping Up With Insurance Business Models…</a></h5> <p>This is interesting after looking at those 3 cases above, the company had not problem paying for a $175,000 hammer to procedure in New York for the wife of a banker, but they even got mad over the charges.  BD</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/17509880-to-fix-hammer-toe-billed-by.html">$175,098.80 To Fix A hammer Toe Billed by New York Podiatrist And the Insurer Paid It, Well Sort Of As They Sent the Check to the Patient By Accident, A New Investigation For “Out of Network” Charges Has Resulted</a></h5>

Local Arizona Television Station Becoming a Major Patient Advocate In Battling Denied United Healthcare Insurance Claims For Consumers…”Healthcare Nightmares” (Videos)

This is amazing, 3 videos here and the other day I blogged one about the station helping on an Aetna denied claim.  This shows how complex h...

Read more »

VA Hospital in Phoenix A Broken Model of Care With Health IT Scheduling Implementations Where Virtual World Values and the Real World Collide, A Deadly Case of “The Grays”…

<p>I’ doing a little guessing here and speculation from what I am reading about the latest article about the VA hospital in Phoenix.  You can read through and see the explanations of how a new scheduling system was making improvements and that I don’t doubt at all was rolling through a lot of hoops with trying to<img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0d-wRKfNcL8/U1vwfK1KEfI/AAAAAAABKEQ/2r61ac4e5Pw/image%25255B10%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="251" align="right" height="177" /> implement a new system and I am also somewhat guessing this is software that was brought in to work in harmony with the VA medical records system Vista.  We have layers of software today that we work with and making them all work together for the end result of better outcomes is a challenge.  When I read about the “secret” waiting list it some what says that these were patients that were in some kind of  a limbo stage somewhere along the line.</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/va-hospital-in-phoenix-and-secret.html">VA Hospital in Phoenix And The Secret Waiting List - Patients Are Victims Of A System Where Meeting Analytical Goals Trumps Any Sort of Ethics And Care-“The Grays” Where People Can No Longer Tell the Difference Between “Virtual” and “Real” World Values </a></h5> <p>You can get blinded too with implementing such systems here and there are all kinds of ways that measurements can be taken in or out of context too when it comes to quality reporting.  When I read about Dr. Foote, the whistle blower MD here I seem to think this is what he’s talking about because in such transitions, people do get lost in systems.  If you running a factory for example sure product gets lost in such transitions but here we have people’s lives, which is different than an inventory system of product.  </p> <p>When it comes to the deaths of vets, well again sometimes when working a “system” and getting a patient in the system collide, well the real world has to step in here.  Sure it’s rocky and there’s not getting around it but when you have people who need immediate care, you have to sometimes change the system at least temporarily to get care for those vets.  In addition, I read here where the VA is limited on staff and needs more doctors.  I don’t care what kind of system you have there if you are down from 6 doctors to one, there’s no technology that’s going to solve that problem.  Sure there are efficiencies that can help but this is a math problem here that doesn’t add up with available clinicians to meet the needs.  It’s kind of uncanny that I wrote this post a few days before the VA story hit the news and it’s worth a read as when you watch the video the comments here relate to exactly what this post says, “there’s no ethics with machines in a working system” and again we come back to the collision of the real and the virtual<img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hMNM7ZAnyGo/U1vwfhttruI/AAAAAAABKEY/bpgVfXP0mL4/image%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="187" align="right" height="152" /> world values.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/limitations-and-risks-of-machine-ethics.html">Limitations And Risks Of Machine Ethics (That Really Don’t Exist) - Abstract Basically Substantiating the Existence of What I Coined As “The Attacks of the Killer Algorithms”… </a></h5> <p><strong>Will people out of frustration with safety goals hammering on them every day in a situation such think about trying to use a data system to make it not look so bad?</strong>  Happens all the time when the virtual world comes in and people want to see numbers and that seems like part of the problem here. <strong>I watched this video and the lack of “humanity” in their voices kind of bothers me quite a bit.</strong>  Sure you have the one doctor speaking and he gives his stand point which is good on what “he” has been able to handle.  Again it sounds like the math here with available clinicians versus those needing care is the real problem.  </p> <p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="270" id="flashObj" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=3497030754001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=3497030754001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></p> <p>Sure the system was starting to work with improving wait times but in the meantime you need to look at the “real” world and see who’s not getting in at the same time.  Nowhere do you hear that we saw some flaws that need immediate attention in the video and those things do occur.  Sharon Helman sounds very out of touch here with how her system is or was working.  The doctor describes the system improving appointments and that’s a good thing of course but again “the real world” comes calling in the midst of all of this and it’s a balance to stop the wheels in motion and make a left turn at times when people’s lives are in danger.  That’s what I see here is the fact that the “virtual appointment system” is making improvements again which is a good thing but there’s no sense of urgency here to catch what’s falling out the bottom in the process, in other words <strong><u>“The Grays” (link below). </u></strong>I wrote about that a short while back too and it’s everywhere.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/virtual-worlds-real-world-we-have.html">Virtual Worlds, Real World We Have A Problem And It’s A Big One With A Lot of Gray Areas Finding Where The Defining Lines Exist, Confusing Many With A Lot of Weird Values And Strange Perceptions… </a></h5> <p>Again the lack of concern here with Helman’s voice in the video is what<img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-plljo-PUd4Q/UV2UCf3JAXI/AAAAAAABGWU/TJC27hEzgmA/image%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" align="right" /> disturbs me, the perceptions and the mention of “systems” over and over and her “perception” of the problem.  Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Office of the Inspector General is looking at “the real world” here with the bottom lines with patient safety and care. <strong>I wrote about this topic quit a bit with the implementation of “Healthcare.Gov” too in the fact that instead of sometimes looking at what was going on in the “real world” we just kept getting numbers over and over and over about how many had enrolled.</strong>  </p> <p>That in itself is not a bad thing but when such stats are used to overshadow real world issues and difficulties? <strong>We had that and the news was like a bunch of magpies repeating stats over and and over.</strong>  I don’t know about you but when there are “real world” issues that need to be dealt with, it’s gets very old to not see more of those stories out there and we just get beat over the head with enrollments numbers all the time.  We need to hear both and not slide one under the carpet and I think this is relative here.  CMS is under this spell too with their recent “5 star hospital rating system”…<strong>we don’t need that but rather we need to know what hospitals are going to be available with the closure of so many, especially rural hospitals.  Time to take a serious look at what virtual and real world values are.</strong>  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/cms-plans-to-begin-five-star-hospital.html">CMS Plans To Begin Five Star Hospital Rating System - Add A Column For “Hospital Mortality Projections” Or Stop the Ratings All Together As Lack of Money Today Is More of a Determining Factor With US Hospital Inequality That Keeps Growing.. </a></h5> <p><strong>Again what is most disturbing to me about what I read and listened too was the lack of the “human side”.</strong>  Here’s a video clip that I have used a few times that somewhat says it all and if you like it, scroll on down to the footer and watch video #2 and see how virtual and real world financial markets have devastating results too when virtual values substantiate more “Gray” thinking.  You could say the patients are representative of the “oysters” if you will.  “With software you can do something about anything, you can modify and make the virtual world that you want”…</p> <p><object height="244" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=ed2FWNWwE3I&start=2810&end=2845&cid=1746075"></param><embed src="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=ed2FWNWwE3I&start=2810&end=2845&cid=1746075" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="244"></embed></object></p> <p>So anymore with the touting of “systems” you have to ask questions to find out what’s going on in the “real” world too and not just rely on data, as taken out of context, it can tell any story you want.  If you go back a few months you can also read where Bill Gates said <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2486084/The-internet-NOT-save-world-Bill-Gates-rubbishes-Zuckerbergs-joke-claim-online-access-priority-developing-world.html">“the internet will not save the world”</a> so again maturity here with technology and where it can really benefit.  You can also take a look at this <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/02/generation-like-relentless-marketing-of.html">PBS report on Facebook,</a> it’s a total “virtual” world so what’ more important here the number of” likes” you have or if you have a place to sleep and food to eat?  Again these are examples of where the virtual world values are on a collision course with the “real world” and that’s what I am seeing here with the VA sadly.  <strong>Dr. Foote is telling us about the “real” world of patients dying and the VA administration is tell us about “virtual” values..</strong></p> <p><strong>Now we have the questions of Dr. Foote not voicing his concern before.</strong>  Well we all know what happens when that occurs while one is still working, the are the trouble makers.  A while back I had a couple doctors telling me about a situation they had at their hospital to where over and over<img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GbJ97I17XPI/U1vwge9M30I/AAAAAAABKEg/QmIUPLCLCzs/image%25255B6%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="227" align="right" height="151" /> they had voiced complaints about the anesthesiologists talking on their cell phones during surgery.  I heard that years ago and if they were to be whistleblowers, they wouldn’t be working today and it took years to get a situation like that resolved as it involved a long series of reports, getting a new group of anesthesiologists possibly, disciplinary action, etc.  So being a whistle blower is not an easy choice either.  </p> <p><strong>There were a number of complaints filed with the Inspector General by patients so if you follow the paper trails it somewhat says this was not a story just trumped up as people will talk when their voices can be heard without fear of retaliation.</strong>  It sounds to me that the transition from a paper based system into the electronic system was maybe the “fake list” we hear referred to and the inability to get people into the electronic system may be what is being referenced here. <strong>When I read that if a primary care doctor leaves that 1200 to 1400 patients are removed from the scheduling data base, well that’s a bit scary as they need to be reassigned and if there’s no available slots with under staffing and not enough primary doctors to see them?  60</strong>,000 unmet appointments in 2012, that’s a big number.  </p> <p><strong>The urology department which normally had 6 doctors was down to one, so I don’t care what kind of scheduling system one has has, this is the real world to where the number of patients needing care can’t be fixed with any kind of software model.</strong>  When you have to send patients all the way to Tucson and Albuquerque to make up for this shortage?  Outside the VA the US is having the same problem with “narrow networks” and maybe not as extreme with the number of miles but again doctors and hospitals are not available “in network”.  </p> <p>Anyway, that’s my take here is that tight budgets and folks looking for ways to solve the math shortage of lack of primary and other doctors available for veterans receives a big “F” for fail and we need a much better awareness of the virtual and real worlds soon, and people need to understand the difference as deadly perceptions such as what occurred here will continue…<a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">Algo Duping and Killer Algorithm attacks</a> as I call it.  </p> <p>At the link below you can also read about a useless Nobel Prize winning algorithm for matching medical students to universities.  Medical students said it was useless as it only focused on the student and university as was not the slated full answer solution it was sold to be, not much different than a dating website.  Student has wife and kids, nothing about that as far as finding any solutions there which is the “real world” as student do have wives and kids that need to going along:)  See the correlation with what the VA was doing here perhaps with leaving out the affected humans?   BD  </p> <h5><strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/10/nobel-prize-for-residency-match-system.html">Nobel Prize for Residency Match System Not Much Different Than What You Get From a Dating Site These Days– Flow Sheets And the Dangers of An “Algo Duped” Naïve Society That Gets Sucked In Too Often</a></strong></h5> <hr />A July e-mail exchange among employees at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix questioned whether administrators were improperly touting their Wildly Important Goals program as a success because it showed a dramatic reduction in wait times for patient appointments. <p>Hospital officials had claimed they wiped out a longstanding access problem for new patients, reducing delays that had sometimes lasted nearly a year to an average of just 14 days.</p> <p>But, in the message string nine months ago that included Phoenix VA Health Care System Director Sharon Helman, an employee named Damian Reese complained the data were misleading.</p> <p>Earlier this month, after allegations surfaced that wait times for Arizona VA patients were being falsified, Helman said it was news to her. However, that e-mail exchange nine months ago shows she was aware of the issue and concluded that the concerns warranted an internal ethics review.</p> <p><a title="http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/26/va-bosses-wrestle-criticism-care-veterans/8191033/" href="http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/26/va-bosses-wrestle-criticism-care-veterans/8191033/">http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/26/va-bosses-wrestle-criticism-care-veterans/8191033/</a></p>

VA Hospital in Phoenix A Broken Model of Care With Health IT Scheduling Implementations Where Virtual World Values and the Real World Collide, A Deadly Case of “The Grays”…

I’ doing a little guessing here and speculation from what I am reading about the latest article about the VA hospital in Phoenix.  You can r...

Read more »

Data Selling Grows A Bit More Today With Verizon Wanting to Monitor Both Your Mobile and Home Computer Tracks - We Knew This Was Coming As SAP Wanted Some of This Action to Further Define Targets and Broker It…

<p>Ok so the question is, did SAP get in the door here to make a few bucks too?  It seem like all we do any more is support banks and on line advertising.  All of this for targeted marketing so I’ll have to start using Tor more often I guess and make sure I have a strong enough scanner to find these hidden cookies. <img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lGrL3tPxOsQ/U1qp01a5raI/AAAAAAABKEA/6LDy_AtddyU/image%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="187" align="right" height="119" /> A few months ago when I moved and had FIOS installed, the tech said it was “mandatory” that he install the software on my computer to control my router…lol..right.  I wasn’t born yesterday.  First thing I did was disable it and take it off the start up with Windows.  I just corrupted it for the most part.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/06/so-much-money-and-profit-in-data.html">So Much Money and Profit in the Data Selling, Epidemic, SAP Now Coming in as a Middleman Broker to Interpret Data & Share Profits With Wireless Carriers- Banks/Companies Making Billions</a></h5> <p><em>“The Journal said SAP will share profits from the service with the mobile operators that provide data. The paper also reported that SAP hasn't said which mobile operators, specifically, it's working with.”</em></p> <p>Target advertising has been around for a while but has changed with the folks advertising wanting too much information and I should actually change that around a bit in the fact that Verizon, Google and others are telling them they absolutely have to have this so they can make more money.  I’m already tuned out to ads anyway for the most part, have never used one on my phone and rarely on the web, so they lose money with me and gain all my behavior information, no thanks.  Google’s already in bed with the data brokers on their new test pilot program to follow you through stores now.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/google-partnering-with-data-brokers.html">Google Partnering With Data Brokers Acxiom And Others To Follow You Around While You Shop On a Test Project-Data Selling Data Businesses Benefit And Tech Companies Operate Off Shore Tax Havens-Do Google and Facebook Pay US Taxes on This Revenue?</a></h5> <p>And this next link, watch the videos as the #1 quant in the world tells you why this will never a complete science as the folks who want to target you want to find that 100 bottles of beer you want to buy but in the real world, you may only want 80 or 200 or not buy any at all so going beyond standard<img style="float: right; display: inline" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmQCQK-KLTS53DO5NRDgnVJnvbZij8gQTou-YVM2Dy6Lg6HSWrtQ" align="right" /> methodologies and really narrowing down my behavior, no thanks as this seems like some additional quantitated justifications for things that are not true or have way too distant relationships with the way they are trying to do this and the buyers of the ads, well there’s some duping on there as far as what Verizon, Google, etc. will claim to be a reliable gauge for directing your marketing.  It’s going too far non linear now.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/it-will-never-be-100-bottles-of-beer.html">It Will Never be 100 Bottles of Beer, Healthcare, Financials, Etc.-A Simple Explanation and Guide To Think About With Reports and Analytics Floating Around Out There Today When You Look for Value..</a></h5> <p>So what other technologies and companies are in with this?  We don’t know, time to license and excise tax some data sellers as I have been saying for the last 3 years.  BD</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/05/licensing-and-excise-taxing-data.html">Licensing and Excise Taxing Data Sellers, Facial Recognition Yet One More Tool Used To Secure & Match Data - The Epidemic, Billions in Profits for Banks and US Corporations Using Killer Algorithms to Further Erode Consumer Privacy</a></h5> <p> <hr />As far as corporate notices go, they don't get much creepier than this recent alert from <a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/economy-business-finance/computing-information-technology-industry/telecommunication-service/verizon-communications-ORCRP016243.topic">Verizon Wireless</a>.</p> <p>The company says it's "enhancing" its Relevant Mobile Advertising program, which it uses to collect data on customers' online habits so that marketers can pitch stuff at them with greater precision.</p> <p>"In addition to the customer information that's currently part of the program, we will soon use an anonymous, unique identifier we create when you register on our websites," Verizon Wireless is telling customers.</p> <p>This identifier may allow an advertiser to use information they have about your visits to websites from your desktop computer to deliver marketing messages to mobile devices on our network," it says.</p> <p>That means exactly what it looks like: Verizon will monitor not just your wireless activities but also what you do on your wired or Wi-Fi-connected laptop or desktop computer — even if your computer doesn't have a Verizon connection.</p> <p>The company will then share that additional data with marketers.</p> <p>Joanne Schwartz, 65, of Tustin received the Verizon Wireless notice last week.</p> <p>This is one of the more outrageous examples of how businesses loudly proclaim their commitment to safeguarding consumers' privacy while quietly selling us out to the highest bidder.</p> <p><strong>But here's the thing: Google and Yahoo offer lots of cool free services, such as Gmail and Yahoo Finance. Their aggressive data collection is how they help subsidize these offerings.</strong> </p> <p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140425,0,2539606.column#ixzz2zv0q4UDc">http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140425,0,2539606.column#ixzz2zv0q4UDc</a></p>

Data Selling Grows A Bit More Today With Verizon Wanting to Monitor Both Your Mobile and Home Computer Tracks - We Knew This Was Coming As SAP Wanted Some of This Action to Further Define Targets and Broker It…

Ok so the question is, did SAP get in the door here to make a few bucks too?  It seem like all we do any more is support banks and on line a...

Read more »

Doctors A Big Target This Year With Tax Fraud, Many Are Finding They Can’t File With The IRS Because Someone Already Has Filed Under Their Name

<p>This year an unusual large number of physicians have been targeted, much so to the fact that various state medical societies and boards are also doing their investigation.  The AMA also confirmed that they have been hearing from an unusually large amount of doctors as well.  When they to file the return, it doesn’t go<img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WqCEqa4P8Os/U1qAudCm9lI/AAAAAAABKDw/7hnuzz2K8Ns/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="259" align="right" height="180" /> through as the taxes have already been fraudulently filed.  One of doctors mentioned in the article was for a refund of less than $100 so why even bother is a question I would ask on that thief but who knows maybe it was one of many.  The thief must have found one of those doctors getting paid less than Medicare from insurers:)</p> <p>In New Hampshire 111 doctors have reported their IRS fraud so it’s not a tiny issue and the medical society said this is first time he’s had an issue like this come up.  At first the issue of the Medicare data dump was questioned as the NPI numbers became available and the AMA answered that question as not being a cause as NPI numbers have been out there in some form or another for a long time; however folks that do billing fraud, that’s one prime piece of information they look for.  </p> <p>The AMA is hearing from quite a few as well but also stated that it’s not only a target of doctors, but rather “professionals” in general but doctors seems to a group in this category.  Those doing billing fraud in some instances have found “dead” doctors where they can file claims against as well.  The websites such as <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/09/healthgrades-and-other-md-rating-and.html">Healthgrades and Vitals</a> don’t update their information very often and if you read here you know I’m always on their case, but if fake biller finds them still listed as active on one of those sites they can pretty much bet that the state board records are not updated either and that can signal a “go” for a rash of fraudulent medical claims.  </p> <p>Anyone in the healthcare business also knows that fraud is on the rise and is the #1 industry now that is targeted and there’s not a state left untouched.  <strong>The World Forum for Privacy, which I wrote about in the post below, has a link to an interactive map you can view to see the dots and more.</strong></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/world-privacy-forum-report-scoring-of.html">World Privacy Forum Report - The Scoring of America: How Secret Consumer Scores Threaten Your Privacy and Your Future - One Big Element that Fuels the Continued Attack of Killer Algorithms & Demise of the Middle Class Creating Profiteering And/Or Denial of Access </a></h5> <p>Much of the time with data breaches in healthcare, it ends up being a 3rd party that has access and either just gets hacked or doesn’t take proper precautions.  With the data selling business being an epidemic, healthcare data is I would say at premium here.  Any insurer or subsidiary of one depending on their line of business would have data rich files on doctors too.  Again it’s across the country with doctors from California to Maine.  So be aware that this is happening out there.  Again who knows perhaps the information became available for crooks to buy too.  The bad guys do need to get an IRS PIN as well to electronically file a return.  </p> <p>So in short, be warned as this is the next blast out there.  I have been on a campaign for over 3 years with the FTC to require all data sellers, including banks and companies to have to buy a license to sell and keep up a page on a website that lists what kind of data they sell and to who.  Here’s some relative past blog posts on the data selling business that might also be helpful.  BD </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/two-data-brokers-get-fined-by-ftc-for.html">Two Data Brokers Get Fined by the FTC For Non Compliance, One Gets Most All Of The Million Dollar Fine Reduced as They Could Not Afford To Pay By the Court, But If You Are A Consumer With Medical Bills You Go To Bankruptcy Court..</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/one-really-good-reason-to-license-and.html">One Really Good Reason to License and Excise Data Sellers, Huge Breach As the “Data Selling Epidemic” Both Legally and Illegally Continues To Grow-All We Have Are Lawyers Who Only Do Verbiage While “Code Runs Hog Ass Wild” -Due Diligence is Dead</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/60-minutes-blasts-data-sellers-ftc.html">60 Minutes Blasts The Data Sellers, FTC Admits They Have Lost Control - Time To License and Excise Tax “ALL” Data Sellers, Banks, Companies, Etc. - Congress Needs to Act On This…</a></h5> <p> <hr />An unusual number of physicians in several U.S. states are just finding out that they’ve been victimized by tax return fraud this year, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. An apparent spike in tax fraud cases against medical professionals is fueling speculation that the crimes may have been prompted by a data breach at some type of national organization that certifies or provides credentials for physicians.</p> <p><strong>Scott Colby</strong>, executive vice president of the <strong>New Hampshire Medical Society</strong>, said he started hearing from physicians in his state about a week ago, when doctors who were just filing their tax returns began receiving notices from the Internal Revenue Service that someone had already filed their taxes and claimed a large refund.</p> <p><strong>Gordon Smith</strong>, executive vice president of the <strong>Maine Medical Association</strong>, said his office has heard from approximately 30 physicians in his state about tax fraud over the past couple of weeks.</p> <p><strong><em>If you become the victim of identity theft, either because of tax fraud — or due to fraud outside of the tax system — you are encouraged to contact the IRS at the Identity Protection Specialized Unit, toll-free at 1-800-908-4490 so that the IRS can take steps to further secure your account.</em></strong></p> <p><a title="http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/04/states-spike-in-tax-fraud-against-doctors/#more-25741" href="http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/04/states-spike-in-tax-fraud-against-doctors/#more-25741">http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/04/states-spike-in-tax-fraud-against-doctors/#more-25741</a></p>

Doctors A Big Target This Year With Tax Fraud, Many Are Finding They Can’t File With The IRS Because Someone Already Has Filed Under Their Name

This year an unusual large number of physicians have been targeted, much so to the fact that various state medical societies and boards are ...

Read more »

Three American Doctor Shot to Death in Afghanistan At Hospital

<p>These were doctors working for a charity from the US, mostly helping children <img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MwzvMFRxa1Q/U1obch_5uDI/AAAAAAABKDg/sLSqBro12ig/image%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="187" align="right" height="143" />and women.  A guard opened up fire and a nurse was also injured in the attack.  He was the guard that had been hired to protect the doctors. </p> <p>The Cure International Hospital was founded in 2005 and sees 37,000 patients a year.  The attacker emerged from surgery as he survived. </p> <p>No motive has been identified yet as a reason for the attack but stay tuned as I’m sure we’ll hear more.  BD  </p> <p> <hr />The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan confirmed Thursday that three American doctors -- including a father and son -- were killed by an Afghan security guard who opened fire at a Kabul hospital.</p> <p>"With great sadness we confirm that three Americans were killed in the attack at CURE Hospital," said a <a href="https://twitter.com/USEmbassyKabul/status/459251688248205312">statement</a> posted on the Embassy's Twitter page. "No other information will be released at this time." </p> <p>The shooting was the latest in a string of deadly attacks on foreign civilians in the Afghan capital this year.</p> <p>Two of the dead Americans were a father and son, Minister of Health Soraya Dalil said, adding that the third American was a Cure International doctor who had worked for seven years in Kabul.</p> <p>"Five doctors had entered the compound of the hospital and were walking toward the building when the guard opened fire on them," Torkystani said. "Three foreign doctors were killed."</p> <p>According to its website, the Cure International Hospital was founded in 2005 by invitation of the Afghan Ministry of Health. It sees 37,000 patients a year, specializing in child and maternity health as well as general surgery. It is affiliated with the Christian charity Cure International, which operates in 29 countries with the motto "curing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom of God."</p> <p>On April 4, an Afghan police officer shot two Associated Press staff working in the eastern province of Khost, killing photographer Anja Niedringhaus and wounding veteran correspondent Kathy Gannon.</p> <p><a title="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/04/24/afghan-security-guard-shoots-dead-3-foreigners-in-hospital/" href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/04/24/afghan-security-guard-shoots-dead-3-foreigners-in-hospital/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/04/24/afghan-security-guard-shoots-dead-3-foreigners-in-hospital/</a></p>

Three American Doctor Shot to Death in Afghanistan At Hospital

These were doctors working for a charity from the US, mostly helping children and women.  A guard opened up fire and a nurse was also injure...

Read more »

Injured Good Samaritan Gets $165,000 Bill Denied by Aetna - Local Television Station Helped Him With Part of the Resolution

<p>A few years ago we had lots of these types of stories about insurers not covering major medical bills and it seems like they are now returning and the best help patient can get with some<img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-22mMSvb7VLM/U1oRMIPDvCI/AAAAAAABKDQ/qzdS_5x5uY8/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="246" align="right" height="146" /> of the issues is to go to a television stations and blast it all over the place.  This man tried to save an accident victim and received burns in the process and had to be hospitalized and then Aetna with some algorithmic claim process denied it.  Remember these are all mathematical formulas now that dissect each individual part of a bill down to the very bottom. </p> <p>The bill came for $165,000 and Aetna said no. Watch the video for the details.  He has first, second and third degree burns.  Aetna didn’t think his injuries were severe enough to have inpatient treatment.  He appealed and Aetna denied the claim, then hired an attorney.  Aetna through a 3rd party agent paid half of it and the hospital wrote off the rest.  So if you get in this type of a spot, get your story on TV.  BD  </p> <p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="270" id="flashObj" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=3505460439001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=3505460439001&playerID=1659202266001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAABvZFMzE~,IXjx0MpOF0p74gQ0oxWK0L1cZBcoHPoi&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></p> <p>In addition we have also heard a lot in the news about narrow networks, and that has pretty much become the replacement for the old pre-existing clause for keep risk factors down to allow profits.  BD</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/pre-existing-conditions-with-health.html">Pre-Existing Conditions With Health Insurance May Be Gone But narrow Networks Are Providing The Same End Result For Many Ill Patients With Not Being Able To Get Care - Extreme Cases Of New Killer Algorithms Popping Up With Insurance Business Models…</a></h5> <p><a title="http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/consumer/call%2012%20for%20action/2014/04/24/injured-good-samaritan-billed-aetna/8129925/" href="http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/consumer/call%2012%20for%20action/2014/04/24/injured-good-samaritan-billed-aetna/8129925/">http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/consumer/call%2012%20for%20action/2014/04/24/injured-good-samaritan-billed-aetna/8129925/</a></p>

Injured Good Samaritan Gets $165,000 Bill Denied by Aetna - Local Television Station Helped Him With Part of the Resolution

A few years ago we had lots of these types of stories about insurers not covering major medical bills and it seems like they are now returni...

Read more »

18 Months After Hurricane Sandy, NYU Medical Center Emergency Room Re-Opens

<p>Obviously it was remodeled after the damage that occurred and now the ER is much larger as well.  This took a long time to repair and get back in working order.  There was a temporary emergency area a block down the road but it not able to take ambulances in.  180 patients were there for opening day.  BD  </p> <p> <hr />A striking sight appeared earlier this week outside the emergency room of NYU Langone Medical Center: an ambulance. Then another. And then many more.</p> <p>The emergency chairman, Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, watched a procession<img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-fAUZztyslks/U1oDlHsF1NI/AAAAAAABKDA/B55EQaPLT_A/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="238" align="right" height="195" /> of stretchers throughout the day as if he was welcoming long-lost friends. Other doctors came around so they could witness it for themselves. The occasion was so moving that Dr. Steven Hofstetter, a surgeon, felt that one Yiddish expression for feeling pride was not enough. So he used two.</p> <p>For NYU Langone, the expanded emergency room, now 22,000 square feet, also has social implications. Patient advocates had long accused the hospital of trying to keep away poor patients and sending them to Bellevue, its affiliated public hospital nearby.</p> <p>While emergency rooms are not allowed to turn people away, “you can make it a very hostile environment, and they did,” Judy Wessler, a patient advocate, said this week.</p> <p><a title="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/nyregion/nyu-langone-reopens-emergency-room-that-was-closed-by-hurricane-sandy.html?rref=homepage&_r=0" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/nyregion/nyu-langone-reopens-emergency-room-that-was-closed-by-hurricane-sandy.html?rref=homepage&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/nyregion/nyu-langone-reopens-emergency-room-that-was-closed-by-hurricane-sandy.html?rref=homepage&_r=0</a></p>

18 Months After Hurricane Sandy, NYU Medical Center Emergency Room Re-Opens

Obviously it was remodeled after the damage that occurred and now the ER is much larger as well.  This took a long time to repair and get ba...

Read more »

VA Hospital in Phoenix And The Secret Waiting List - Patients Are Victims Of A System Where Meeting Analytical Goals Trumps Any Sort of Ethics And Care-“The Grays” Where People Can No Longer Tell the Difference Between “Virtual” and “Real” World Values

<p><strong></strong></p> <p>Update: Sharron Helman, Director of the Phoenix VA made almost $10,000 in bonus money as well. </p> <p>We all know the VA is under pressure almost all across the country and this is the sad result when such methodologies are used to hide what is actually happening in the “real” world and virtual statistical<img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-19Mm6uHW9Gs/U1km1d-dunI/AAAAAAABKCo/5RPg8SxjPe4/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="254" align="right" height="182" /> reporting has taken over.  This not only exists at the VA but everywhere your turn today as people can’t tell the difference anymore between “virtual” and “real” world values.  <strong>Any mathematician or quant will tell you about this and as a matter of fact watch the videos in my footer here to get a better idea on how this works.  Furthermore at the link below, and this may be a bit advanced for the average reader, is a written abstract that basically discusses how using analytics and numbers for solutions and expecting some type of ethical concerns is just not there</strong>.  This is where the lines is drawn where you have to be careful in where and how you get distracted at times, and we all have to do this under various circumstances.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/limitations-and-risks-of-machine-ethics.html">Limitations And Risks Of Machine Ethics (That Really Don’t Exist) - Abstract Basically Substantiating the Existence of What I Coined As “The Attacks of the Killer Algorithms”… </a></h5> <p>Here in the video a retired doctor tells all in the video below.  We have a Congress that’s pretty ineffective in doing much at all.  Patients are dying waiting for care.  40 veterans waiting care died and the extreme methodologies used of a “sham” list that was hidden.  Think about this when you read all the stats that we are fed.  There’s a reason for this is if you fed the same thing over and over, you being to think it’s correct and I call that Algo Duping and its all around us.  1600 in all were on a “secret list” and it even went so far as to shred the evidence of charts and files.  Who knows where else such “lists” could exist and I certainly hope there’s are not anymore models like this being used.  </p> <p>The appearance of improving waiting times was the name of the game here.  Until the vet received an appointment they were placed on the “secret list”.  <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/virtual-worlds-real-world-we-have.html">Here’s another case of “The Grays”</a> for sure to <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/virtual-worlds-real-world-we-have.html"><img title="image734" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image734" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8D2TAtHlpL0/U1km15LsxnI/AAAAAAABKCw/pUFruscpO8Y/image734%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="180" align="right" height="92" /></a>where the facility and top executive was stuck in meeting goals of the numerical “virtual world” and couldn’t tell the difference with the virtual and the real world and people died.</p> <p>The top management defended the use of the “secret list” and that is sad.  Again we come  back to “scoring” and of course whether it was in writing or just verbal, a “scoring” system of some sort was used to create the “secret list”.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/world-privacy-forum-report-scoring-of.html">World Privacy Forum Report - The Scoring of America: How Secret Consumer Scores Threaten Your Privacy and Your Future - One Big Element that Fuels the Continued Attack of Killer Algorithms & Demise of the Middle Class Creating Profiteering And/Or Denial of Access </a></h5> <p>I have even addressed this with CMS <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/cms-plans-to-begin-five-star-hospital.html">having a huge case of “The Grays”</a> with their latest focus on their 5 star rating system, which really very silly and sad but the folks at the top can’t tell where virtual and real world values are anymore and it’s beat into their heads that “this” has to be a priority.  “You can do anything with software” but what you create may not work at all in the real world and values could be flawed for profit.  I wrote here too that death panels have not gone away, they are just algorithms not that might kill you one at a time when services and access are denied…the machines make the decisions based in parameters that entered by humans.  This VA facility sadly figured out how to do that.  Even at <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/secretary-sebelius-at-hhs-resigns-wrong.html">HHS, former secretary Kathleen Sebelius was totally wrapped up in numbers and had difficulties sorting things out herself as she publicly in front of all of us displayed some very strange perceptions</a> and and ended up calling it the “Sebelius Syndrome” which is alive and well in many other places as well, but she was just so darn public you couldn’t miss it with again being so infested with “The Grays’.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/death-panels-have-not-vanished-just-re.html">Death Panels Have Not Vanished, Just “Re-invented” As Powerful Algorithms That Run On Servers 24/7 Making Life Impacting Decisions About All of Us - Flawed Data Driven Attacks of the Killer Algorithms Persist</a></h5> <p>The sad thing here too is that anyone of us could get caught up in such a system and again it’s this huge problem of confusion of virtual versus real world values.  Doctors such as the retired VA MD interviewed here, deal with the real world every day, and there’s a name for that, it’s called patients and the staff, well they are wrapped up in “cooking books” with algorithmic formulas to make themselves look like they are in compliance with all the virtual goals set in the real world, that offer punitive actions in the real world if not accomplished.  </p> <p><iframe height="234" src="http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#/video/us/2014/04/23/ac-dnt-griffin-va-deaths-covered-up.cnn" frameborder="0" width="416"></iframe></p> <p>All records now have to be preserved at the VA Phoenix center.  What do you get from the VA after this story, “we are improving waiting times” they are still stuck in “The Grays”…nobody is being held accountable, just meet those numbers and virtual compliance standards set and everything will be fine, right…well let’s hope folks start waking up and soon.  Take time and watch the 4 videos in my footer when you have time as there’s some very smart people that will offer you some education on how this works and it all stems from the financial district of Wall Street for profit.  BD  </p> <hr />-- At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list. <p>The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait months to see a doctor, according to a recently retired top VA doctor and several high-level sources.</p> <p>For six months, CNN <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/">has been reporting on extended delays in health care appointments</a> suffered by veterans across the country and who died while waiting for appointments and care. But the new revelations about the Phoenix VA are perhaps the most disturbing and striking to come to light thus far.</p> <p>"The scheme was deliberately put in place to avoid the VA's own internal rules," said Foote in Phoenix. "They developed the secret waiting list," said Foote, a respected local physician.</p> <p>The VA requires its hospitals to provide care to patients in a timely manner, typically within 14 to 30 days, Foote said.</p> <p>According to Foote, the elaborate scheme in Phoenix involved shredding evidence to hide the long list of veterans waiting for appointments and care. Officials at the VA, Foote says, instructed their staff to not actually make doctor's appointments for veterans within the computer system.</p> <p>Foote says Breen is a perfect example of a veteran who needed an urgent appointment with a primary doctor and who was instead put on the secret waiting list -- where he remained hidden.</p> <p>Foote adds that when veterans waiting on the secret list die, they are simply removed.</p> <p>"They could just remove you from that list, and there's no record that you ever came to the VA and presented for care. ... It's pretty sad."</p> <p><a title="http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/23/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter" href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/23/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter">http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/23/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter</a></p>

VA Hospital in Phoenix And The Secret Waiting List - Patients Are Victims Of A System Where Meeting Analytical Goals Trumps Any Sort of Ethics And Care-“The Grays” Where People Can No Longer Tell the Difference Between “Virtual” and “Real” World Values

Update: Sharron Helman, Director of the Phoenix VA made almost $10,000 in bonus money as well. We all know the VA is under pressure almo...

Read more »

World Privacy Forum Report - The Scoring of America: How Secret Consumer Scores Threaten Your Privacy and Your Future - One Big Element that Fuels the Continued Attack of Killer Algorithms & Demise of the Middle Class Creating Profiteering And/Or Denial of Access

<p>I included this report in another post and the more I thought about it, the more I thought it should have it’s own post as it’s very important and relative.  You hear me talk about my “coins” of “<a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">The Attack of the Killer Algorithms”</a> and “Algo Duping” all the time, well the “scoring” is exactly that, with algorithms and math <img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-PC0UBew423k/U1iD1aE7lwI/AAAAAAABKCQ/AuyWjFk_CD8/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="241" height="214" />formulas that score you.  Today when laws are created they are attached to some kind of technology which means automation will run the processes on servers 24/7.  I don’t care how far they go and another abstract confirms my thoughts too  that machines don’t and won’t have ethics.  Sure they can respond a programmed which they learn by patterns but that’s as far as they go.  The abstract is pretty interesting as a software engineers tries his best to substantiate doing it, but doesn’t work.</p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/limitations-and-risks-of-machine-ethics.html">Limitations And Risks Of Machine Ethics (That Really Don’t Exist) - Abstract Basically Substantiating the Existence of What I Coined As “The Attacks of the Killer Algorithms”… </a></h5> <p><strong>So when laws get passed, the machines go to work and then everyone falls apart when the machines do what they are programmed to do.</strong>  We should get upset though as there’s a lot of flawed data and models that get through.  The whole problem with <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/03/obamacare-one-big-attack-of-killer.html">Obamacare is a bunch of killer algorithms and some “scoring” that is not accurate</a> taking place and everyone is in some kind of turmoil.  </p> <p>I don’t like to predict and don’t consider that a talent per se but here we go again, link below as I’m wired to visualize and when I learned how to code with data mechanics it became more pronounced so I talk as I see it and I can’t even explain it but it seems to roll the way I have been visualizing.  I’m not the only one who does that but rather I blog it I guess.  This first link is a post form 3 years ago where I said “data used out of context will be huge discriminatory practice against consumers” and again I saw that 3 years ago as it was already happening and really was the basis of the Occupy movement.  Even the Occupy movement didn’t understand it but knew enough that something wasn’t right.  They know now though and even wrote a book on alternative banking.  <strong>There’s a video at the link below with Ford, NASA and others discussing how “what they don’t know about big data and using their internal quants”…</strong></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/11/big-dataanalytics-if-used-out-of.html">Big Data/Analytics If Used Out of context and Without True Values Stand To Be A Huge Discriminatory Practice Against Consumers–More Honest Data Scientists Needed to Formulate Accuracy/Value To Keep Algo Duping For Profit Out of the Game</a></h5> <p>Another post a few months after the one above, saying kind the same thing, lying with math models and the clash of the virtual and real world.  Recently I decided to call this syndrome “The Grays”.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/hiding-falsifying-and-accelerating-risk.html">Hiding, Falsifying, And Accelerating Risk Has Become the Achilles Heel of the US Economy As the “Real” World” Clashes With the Values Created From a World of “Fictional Values” Of Formulas and Math</a></h5> <p>Here’s more from the archives, basically addressing the same thing and I have more in the archives too but this enough.  </p> <hr /> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/05/credit-agencies-mining-social-networks.html">Credit Agencies Mining Social Networks To Verify Identities and Assess Consumer Credit Worthiness</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/05/health-insurers-and-others-trying-to.html">Health Insurers and Others Trying to Track Junk Food Consumers Purchase–Attack of the Killer Algorithms for Corporate Profits</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-moocher-classjon-stewart-explains.html">The Moocher Class–Jon Stewart Explains-Humorous Look at Models and Algorithms For Profit A<img style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TJcGp1oHKzI/AAAAAAAAhfM/jyY8xKNrAKY/image_thumb%5B4%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="183" height="68" />ffecting Consumers, Those Created By “Rich Data Modeling Moochers”</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/03/mhealth-and-other-technologies-in.html">mHealth and Other Technologies in Healthcare Experience Slow Growth Is As the Data Selling Epidemic for Shear Profit in the US Continues to Grow Leaps and Bounds Leaving Manufacturing in the Hole and Non Competitive</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-datathe-data-science-code-of-ethics.html">Big Data–The Data Science Code of Ethics-Designed By Those Who Create Models - Don’t Fall Victim To Write Fictitious Code and Models Just to Make Money With Clients Demanding Such</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/03/insurance-companies-are-buying-up.html">Insurance Companies Are Buying Up Consumer Spending Data-Time is Here to License and Tax the Data Sellers-As Insurers Sell Tons of Data, Gets Flawed Data When Data Buyers Uses Out of context Too</a></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/cathy-oneil-mathematicianquant-wall.html">Cathy O’Neil, Mathematician/Quant: Wall Street Quants The Culture, Big Data Mechanics, Algorithms, Data Mining, Lack of Privacy, Web Profiling, Health Insurance Profiles and Modeling Abuse…</a> </h5> <p>Here’s the very important report and it’s done very fair and the rest of the world is watching the insanity of the “scoring of America”.  They couldn’t have picked a better title either.  </p> <p><iframe height="480" src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-22pC35LPWPcGt3TURRenctbDQ/preview" width="640"></iframe></p> <p>So all this scoring comes back around to another post, link below I made about 2 years ago too, that half of the analytics purchased will be a waste as some of the math formulas used will be based on “scoring” that is not accurate, had not been replicated or has proprietary code where we just sit there and take banks and companies for their word, while they pack the money away.  Ever wonder why banks and corporations are so cash rich today…well thinks scoring and algorithms.  <strong>Again some scoring is ok if if can be replicated, verified for accuracy and shared with the one who is “scored”as models and code “runs hog ass wild” if nobody’s watching the shop.</strong></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/half-of-analytics-investments-by.html">Half of Analytics Investments By Companies and Banks Will Be a Waste–What Do We Analyze with Big Data and Does It Have Value–Some Algo Fairies Would Do Better at Disneyland…</a></h5> <p>Everyone has all their privacy meetings and again keep in mind what this report says, so many “scores” are secret and they make profits as data get sold too and there’s absolutely nothing in the world that any lawmakers can do, short of stopping all data selling and we know that’s not going to happen, if we don’t have an index of ALL the data sellers and this could be done with a license as “scoring” and “data selling” go together hand and in hand for profit.  </p> <p><strong>I can’t believe we have intelligent people that I guess succumb to lobbyists here and cannot see that you need to identify who are going to regulate and again that index would be a license requirement as well as a page on a website for every seller to list what kind of data they sell and to who</strong>.  Data brokers would probably not like that but hey they sell our data that’s out there in public records and elsewhere, <strong>why should the person’s who’s data gets sold not know who bought it as well, as it’s our data and information all about us.</strong>  </p> <p>I wouldn’t mind that at all to see who all has purchased data about me.  It would certainly slow down the automation a bit and would require the billion dollar businesses to clean up some of their data messes too. <strong>When you read the link below, one data broker got off the hook with a million dollar fine and got his find reduced to $60,000 because he didn’t have the money.  What’s wrong with the judge who did that</strong>? </p> <p>If that were a consumer with a million dollars worth of medical bills, they would go to bankruptcy court and create more credit problem data for the data sellers to to sell and get richer.  </p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/04/two-data-brokers-get-fined-by-ftc-for.html">Two Data Brokers Get Fined by the FTC For Non Compliance, One Gets Most All Of The Million Dollar Fine Reduced as They Could Not Afford To Pay By the Court, But If You Are A Consumer With Medical Bills You Go To Bankruptcy Court..</a></h5> <p>This is also holding up a lot of innovation in healthcare too as everyone wants their mobile he<a href="http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2014/02/breach-map/"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-taFqrStJ5rQ/U1iD2BVevsI/AAAAAAABKCY/V_GsY5Gkjck/image%25255B10%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="346" height="218" /></a>alth apps and devices but not as long as there’s this cloudy privacy statement to read that you don’t understand and then your data get sold and you have no clue to who or where and people and companies can lie about it too as there’s no due diligence at all.  </p> <p>So the secondary problem here is the data sellers get richer as the scoring is one of the key elements that makes data worth more as something has assigned value to the queries that were created and everyone’s privacy is busted.  </p> <p>Also just for fun, the Privacy Forum has this <a href="http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2014/02/breach-map/">interactive map on all the medical privacy breaches</a> and this seems a like a good place for that that too:)  I didn’t see on state untouched.  BD  </p> <hr /> <h4>Brief Summary of Report</h4> <p><em>“This report highlights the unexpected problems that arise from new types of predictive consumer scoring, which this report terms consumer scoring. Largely unregulated either by the Fair Credit Reporting Act or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, new consumer scores use thousands of pieces of information about consumers’ pasts to predict how they will behave in the future. Issues of secrecy, fairness of underlying factors, use of consumer information such as race and ethnicity in predictive scores, accuracy, and the uptake in both use and ubiquity of these scores are key areas of focus.</em></p> <p><em>The report includes a roster of the types of consumer data used in predictive consumer scores today, as well as a roster of the consumer scores such as health risk scores, consumer prominence scores, identity and fraud scores, summarized credit statistics, among others. The report reviews the history of the credit score – which was secret for decades until legislation mandated consumer access — and urges close examination of new consumer scores for fairness and transparency in their factors, methods, and accessibility to consumers.”</em></p> <p><a title="http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2014/04/wpf-report-the-scoring-of-america-how-secret-consumer-scores-threaten-your-privacy-and-your-future/" href="http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2014/04/wpf-report-the-scoring-of-america-how-secret-consumer-scores-threaten-your-privacy-and-your-future/">http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2014/04/wpf-report-the-scoring-of-america-how-secret-consumer-scores-threaten-your-privacy-and-your-future/</a></p>

World Privacy Forum Report - The Scoring of America: How Secret Consumer Scores Threaten Your Privacy and Your Future - One Big Element that Fuels the Continued Attack of Killer Algorithms & Demise of the Middle Class Creating Profiteering And/Or Denial of Access

I included this report in another post and the more I thought about it, the more I thought it should have it’s own post as it’s very importa...

Read more »