UCLA Improves the Study of Single Cancer Cells Of Blood From Tumors & Those Circulating

<p>The nanowires grab the cancer cells flowing through and they can hand pick cells for study as relates to Melanoma. The goal is to have a clinically applicable liquid biopsy.  BD <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong><u>Press Release:</u> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />UCLA RESEARCHERS FURTHER IMPROVE ‘NANOVELCRO’ DEVICE TO</strong></p> <p><strong>ISOLATE AND STUDY SINGLE CANCER CELLS FROM BLOOD</strong></p> <p style="padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; display: block; height: auto; padding-top: 0px" class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt"> <br clear="all" />Researchers at UCLA have further improved a method for capturing and analyzing cancer cells that break away from patients’ tumors and circulate in the blood. <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="49" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cwjtaC844P8/USfmjUgW1FI/AAAAAAABFrI/WFQluyfbr4A/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="253" />With the improvements, even single cancer cells can be accurately detected and safely isolated from patient blood samples for continuous analysis. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">These cells, called circulating tumor cells (CTCs), metastasize or spread from one tumor to other parts of the body and form new tumors, thus propagating cancer in the patient. When they are isolated from the patient’s blood early over the course of disease progression, they can provide doctors with critical information about the type of cancer, the characteristics of the individual cancer, and its possible progression. Doctors can also tell from these cells how to tailor a personalized treatment approach for a specific patient.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">In recent years, a UCLA research team led by Hsian-Rong Tseng, associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) has developed a “NanoVelcro” chip. Blood is passed through the chip, in which very small nanoscale hairs (nanowires or nanofibers) coated with protein molecules from the immune system (antibodies) that match proteins on the surface of cancer cells trap CTCs and isolate them for further studies. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">The CTCs trapped by the chip also act as a “liquid biopsy” of the tumor, providing convenient access to tumor cells, and earlier access to potentially fatal metastases. This study of the microscopic structure of diseased tissue is called histopathology analysis of biopsy samples and is considered the “gold standard” for determining tumor status. Being able to extract viable cells allows detailed analysis of the type of cancer, and the various genetic characteristics of that patient’s specific cancer. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">Tseng’s team has now improved the chip by replacing the original non-transparent silicon nanowire substrate inside the device. These nanowires grab the cancer cells as the blood passes by them. Using a new type of transparent polymer nanofiber-deposited substrate, Tseng and his colleagues were able to “pick” single CTCs immobilized on the transparent substrates by using a miniaturized laser beam knife, a technique called laser microdissection (LMD). An article on the improvement of the chip was published online today, and is featured on the cover of the March 2013 issue of the peer-reviewed journal <i>Angewandte Chemie</i>, <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">“This paper summarizes a major milestone in the continuous development of NanoVelcro assays pioneered by our research group,” said Tseng, “we now can not only capture cancer cells from blood with high efficiency, but also hand pick single CTCs for in-depth characterization to provide crucial information that helps doctors make better decisions.” <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">Using the new assay on patients’ blood that contained circulating melanoma cells (CMCs), Tseng’s team was able to isolate and preserve single CMCs. Melanoma is a deadly type of skin cancer that is prone to spreading quickly throughout the body. The ability to capture and preserve single CMCs allows doctors to analyze the DNA structure of the cells and determine genetic characteristics of the patient’s cancer, confirming that the circulating cells remained genetically similar to the tumor they came from. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">The preservation of single captured CMCs in the proof-of-concept study also allowed researchers to conduct an analysis, called single-cell genotyping, to find within the cell a specific target (BRAF^V600E) for a drug called vemurafenib. This designation describes a mutation in a protein called BRAF that appears in approximately 60 percent of melanoma cases. Drugs that inhibit BRAF are able to slow and often reverse the growth of melanoma tumors. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">“With this technology we are getting closer to the goal of a widely clinically applicable liquid biopsy, where we can sample cancer cells by a simple blood draw and understand the genes that allow them to grow,” said Dr. Antoni Ribas, professor of medicine in the division of hematology-oncology and JCCC member, and one of Tseng’s key collaborators. “With the NanoVelcro chips we will be able to better personalize the treatments to patients by giving the right treatment to stop what makes that particular cancer grow.” <br clear="all" /></font></font></p> <p style="padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; display: block; height: auto; padding-top: 0px" class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">Dr. Roger Lo, another key Tseng collaborator and an assistant professor in the department of medicine, division of dermatology and department of molecular and medical pharmacology, and JCCC member, added, “This scientific advancement <span class="st">—</span> being able to capture the melanoma cells in transit in the blood and then perform genetic analysis on them <span class="st">—</span> will in principle allow us to track the genomic evolution of melanoma under BRAF inhibitor therapy and understand better the development of drug resistance.” <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has more than 240 researchers and clinicians engaged in disease research, prevention, detection, control, treatment and education. One of the nation's largest comprehensive cancer centers, the Jonsson center is dedicated to promoting research and translating basic science into leading-edge clinical studies. In July 2012, the Jonsson Cancer Center was once again named among the nation’s top 10 cancer centers by U.S. News & World Report, a ranking it has held for 12 of the last 13 years. For more information on the Jonsson Cancer Center, visit our website at </font></font><font style="font-size: 11pt"><a href="http://www.cancer.ucla.edu/"><font color="#0000ff" face="Calibri"><u>http://www.cancer.ucla.edu</u></font></a></font><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 11pt">.</font></font></p>

UCLA Improves the Study of Single Cancer Cells Of Blood From Tumors & Those Circulating

The nanowires grab the cancer cells flowing through and they can hand pick cells for study as relates to Melanoma. The goal is to have a cli...

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Attack of the Killer Algorithms! Digest & Links for All Chapters–Read About Math and Crafty Formulas Running on Servers 24/7 Making Life Impacting Decisions About You– Updated

<p>If you have not caught up with this yet, I started this series by accident as an awareness outreach, I know just like everyone else has <img align="right" border="0" height="87" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6HDDm04lOwA/Ts0zq-EuFHI/AAAAAAAA4d8/nMT-KL0JEDY/image_thumb%25255B12%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="164" />out there, but having been a former software writer, hopefully some of this will explain in layman’s terms how some of this works behind the scenes it may offer some answers.  It’s not going to make you happy but it will open your eyes as to how the world of technology functions today with decision making and perhaps give you an idea of where it’s headed too.  More can be found at the <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/">Algo Duping page</a> where I have been the curator of educational information links and videos from people smarter than me.</p> <p> <br clear="all" /><strong><em>Be sure to watch the videos at the bottom of this post…reinforces more about bogus formulas and how naïve we are believing any of it-people lie their asses off on polls…Polls are designed to tell us what we want to hear to sell us something…they are lies in number form…errors undermine the quality of the information…</em></strong> <br clear="all" /></p> <p><strong>I like technology and how it makes me smarter and more observant<img align="right" border="0" height="183" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TdYNiZF0RQI/AAAAAAAAxks/UEJVJ2qMb7Y/image%5B8%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="146" /> but as with everything today, there’s the dark side of how formulas and math are used for profit</strong> with some very intelligent and crafty programmers and developers out there and we get fooled.  Everything in here is all public knowledge so there was no digging for any exclusive interviews and so forth, just stuff you can find on the web as well and I’m just connecting some “big dots” to where you may not see this otherwise.  </p> <p><u>This blog can be a source of discomfort at times</u> as along with years ago in learning about math, code and formulas, it transitioned me into something very scary indeed, a female that uses logic <grin>.<strong>  </strong><strong>So if you have wondered why the Medical Quack is different, there you have it and I have to laugh at myself too as I never intended to become logical and think back quite bit of the days before logic entered the picture and those are some fine memories too</strong>.  So there you have it, <u>what’s wrong with this blog…<grin> a female using logic.</u>  I have also been pondering this question since August of 2009….<u>this is a “one duck” think tank</u> <grin>. </p> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2009/08/department-of-algorithms-do-we-need-one.html"><font color="#c0504d" size="2">“Department of Algorithms – Do We Need One of These to Regulate Upcoming Laws?</font></a> <br clear="all" /></h6> <p><strong>So without further chat, here’</strong><strong> </strong><strong> </strong><strong>the Attacks as I see them as it’s all in the math and formulas…</strong>Nothing will happen until new code runs through those servers and<strong> I feel this is truly the backbone of what started the “Occupy” movement, frustration and nowhere to go for answers as we have leaders in denial that don’t have a clue of how all of this works.   Today I am adding 5 more chapters since the last update. BD <br clear="all" /></strong></p> <hr /> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/10/occupying-wall-streetits-all-about.html"><font size="2">Occupying Wall Street–It’s All About the “Attack of the Killer Algorithms”–The Unfair and Marketing Exploit of Ethics Using <img align="right" border="0" height="125" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Rt-obb4F9JA/TooBcb7jxEI/AAAAAAAA35w/3Kcdii_oYgI/image%25255B10%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="135" />Math–This Could be a Subject for Michael Moore to Explore and Document In a Movie</font></a><font size="2"> </font></h6> <h6><font size="2"></font> <h6> <hr /></h6> </h6> <h6> </h6> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/10/disturbing-news-for-consumers-with.html"><font size="2">“Killer Algorithms: Part 2” Disturbing News for Consumers With Credit Scoring Adding New Data Analytics–Some of the Same Methodologies Used by Insurers With Flawed/Potential Erroneous Data–One More Reason to Continue Occupying Wall Street</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></h6> <h6><font size="2"></font> <h6> <hr /></h6> </h6> <h6> </h6> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/10/attack-of-killer-algorithms-part.html"><font size="2">“Attack of the Killer Algorithms” Part 3–Vatican Doesn’t Like It Either–Occupy Wall Street Belongs in New York As They Don’t Do Code or Algorithms in Washington–Only Find time To Talk Abortions</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></h6> <h6><font size="2"></font> <h6> <hr /></h6> </h6> <h6> </h6> <h6><font size="2"><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/11/attack-of-killer-algorithms-occupy-wall.html">Attack of the Killer Algorithms-Occupy Wall Street Part 4 Health Insurance Style - One More App For Folks Who Are Tired of Flawed Algorithms That Require A Ton of Work and Research Time To Create “Perfect” Data Files for Insurers And Others Analytics Processes</a> <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/10/attack-of-killer-algorithms-part.html"><font size="2"><img align="right" border="0" height="128" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-WRHyZIGY15g/Tq-GdSwrmCI/AAAAAAAA4H8/Xc_nQFKH_hY/image_thumb.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="151" /></font></a></a></a></font></a></h6> <h6><font size="2"></font> <h6> <hr /></h6> </h6> <h6> </h6> <h6><font size="2"><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/11/occupy-algorithmsthe-attack-of-killer.html">“Occupy Algorithms”–”The Attack of the Killer Algorithms Part 5” - Nothing Will Improve Until Audits and Actions Takes Place To Correct Formulas Built for Profit Only by Corporations And We Battle Back With Math</a></a></font><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /></font></h6> <h6><font size="2"></font> <h6> <hr /></h6> </h6> <h6> </h6> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/12/attack-of-killer-algorithms-part.html"><font size="2">Attack of the Killer Algorithms Part 6–Discrimination With Consumer Credit-Same As Health Insurance Wanting Consumers to Reconstruct Records From Many Years Past As Middle Class Turns Into Data Chasers-Days of Taking Risks to Get Ahead Will Be Limited For Most…Occupy Algorithms</font></a></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></h6> <h6><font size="2"></font> <h6> <hr /></h6> </h6> <h6> </h6> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/12/flawed-datamined-by-corporations-online.html"><font size="2">Flawed Data–Mined by Corporations Online Provides Background Checks Riddled With Errors–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Part 7</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></h6> <h6><font size="2"></font> <h6> <hr /></h6> </h6> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/11/occupy-algorithmsthe-attack-of-killer.html"><font size="2"><img align="right" border="0" height="123" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BuuYbV4asnY/TuwfSmKZdCI/AAAAAAAA4qU/coeM87tQxPk/image_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="141" /></font></a></h6> <h6> </h6> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/01/consumers-lose-more-privacy-with-new.html"><font size="2">Consumers Lose More Privacy With New CoreLogic Credit Reporting–”Score” Marketed For Insurers and Employers To Gain Information-California Prohibits Potential Employers – From Using As Jan 1 - Killer Algorithms Part 8</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></h6> <h6><font size="2"></font> <h6> <hr /></h6> </h6> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/01/freddie-mac-found-to-be-betting-against.html"><font size="2">Freddie Mac Found to be Betting Against Home Owners Being Able to Refinance - “Attack of the Killer Algorithms” On Consumers Part Nine–Home Mortgage Style</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></h4> <h4><font size="2"></font> <h4> <hr /></h4> </h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/komen-reverses-decision-with-planned.html"><font size="2">Komen Reverses Decision With Planned Parenthood–Hard Lesson on How Business Analytics Are Misunderstood And/Or Abused–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 10<img align="right" border="0" height="70" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TSQipvOdlKI/AAAAAAAAngw/iyazuIZe0rI/image_thumb%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="146" /></font></a></h4> <font size="2"> <hr /></font> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/gamificationyou-have-won-and-now-we.html"><font size="2">Gamification–You Have Won and Now We Know All About You - It Didn’t Cost One Cent-Insurance Companies Have Games To Find Out More About You Too– “Attack of Killer Algorithms” Chapter 11</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></h4> <font size="2"> <hr /></font> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/colonoscopiesthe-bait-and-switch-on.html"><font size="2">Colonoscopies–The Bait and Switch on Screenings–If Polyps Are Found You Get A Bill-Some Other <img align="right" border="0" height="83" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TOdQEbhIH-I/AAAAAAAAjIU/qyEuoPEyi0o/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="150" />Screenings Too–Killer Algorithms Part 12–Medical Billing Codes Style</font></a><font size="2"> <hr /></font></h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/attack-of-killer-algorithms-part-13bank.html"><font size="2">Attack of the Killer Algorithms Part 13–Bank of America Style - Flawed Data With Credit Scoring Agencies–Dead Man Banking And Currently A Consumer Under Attack</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> <hr /><img align="right" border="0" height="90" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TUMTaoTKkrI/AAAAAAAApwc/pySVbI3Uljc/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="131" /></font></h4> <h6> </h6> <h6><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/insurers-to-provide-user-friendly.html"><font size="2">Insurers to Provide User Friendly Summaries of What’s Covered–Good Luck As Constant Revisions Will Be Required as Business Intelligence Algorithms For Profit Change–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 14</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <hr /></font></h6> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/story-of-duke-university-sad-case-of.html"><font size="2">Story of Duke University - The Sad Case of Flawed Data Published in Medical Journals That Was Declared Inaccurate 60 Minutes –Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 15</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> <hr /></font></h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/medicare-low-safety-rankings-at-harvard.html"><font size="2">Medicare Low Safety Rankings At Harvard Teaching Hospitals Disputed and Flawed–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 16</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> <hr /></font></h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/start-licensing-and-taxing-data-sellers.html"><font size="2">Start Licensing and Taxing the Data Sellers of the Internet Making Billions of Profit Dollars Mining “Free Taxpayer Data”–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 17 - “Occupy Algorithms”– Help Stop Inequality in the US</font></a><font size="2">  <hr /><img align="right" border="0" height="79" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cgCSHkL8dvc/T1J7eOQ_0iI/AAAAAAAA5jM/8tBslx5s-xw/image_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="109" /></font></h4> <h4><font size="2"></font></h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><font size="2"><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/pharmacies-file-suit-against-texas.html">Pharmacies File Suit Against Texas Human and Health Services Commission - Managed Care Contracts Begin Delegating Reimbursements Too Soon – Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 18</a></font><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font> <h4> <hr /></h4> </h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/ama-announces-doctors-and-patients-can.html"><font size="2">AMA Announces Doctors And Patients Can Expect To See the UnitedHealthCare/Ingenix Class Action Settlement Checks In the Mail Soon - Out of Network Short Payments–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 19</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> <hr /></font></h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/healthcare-blogger-gets-spammed-by.html"><font size="2">Healthcare Blogger Gets Spammed by Hedge Fund Using Internet “Reputation Restore” With Some Really Bad Algos–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 20 <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></a> <h4><font size="2"> <hr /></font></h4> <h4></h4> <h4></h4> </h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/03/senator-introduces-bill-to-prohibit.html"><font size="2">Senator Introduces Bill to Prohibit Companies From Using Medical Debt With <img align="right" border="0" height="132" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TWIVynbAGVI/AAAAAAAAr9E/zewiugyQmSI/image_thumb%5B4%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" width="173" />Assessing Consumer Credit Scores–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 21 With Flawed Data</font></a><font size="2"> </font> <h4> <hr /></h4> </h4> </a> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/03/ibm-watson-going-to-work-at-citigroup.html"><font size="2">IBM Watson Going to Work At Citigroup on Wall Street–Congress Didn’t See Big Data As A Tool (Hadoop Framework) When They Had Their Chance…For Consumers The Attack of the Killer Algorithms–Chapter 22</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> <hr /></font></h4> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/03/independent-pharmacies-not-able-to.html"><font size="2">Independent Pharmacies Not Able to Compete with Big Chains and Fear Going Out of Business–They Don’t Have Same High Levels of Data To Sell to Profit- Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 23</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> <hr /></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/03/cvscaremark-sends-letters-to-tufts.html"><font size="2">CVS/Caremark Sends Letters to Tufts Members Containing Personal Information Like Medical Conditions/Meds Info to Wrong Patients–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 24</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> <hr /><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/04/aetna-states-letters-mailed-to.html"><img align="right" border="0" height="92" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-1gBe9PsNo6Y/T3vxA7eI-2I/AAAAAAAA6MQ/2u0vKPNtPxg/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" width="148" /></a></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/04/aetna-states-letters-mailed-to.html"><font size="2">Aetna States Letters Mailed to Thousands of California Customers Were A Mistake–Their Doctors Are Still In Network–”Rogue Algorithms and Flawed Data”–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 25</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></h4> <h5> <hr /></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/05/san-diego-hospitals-having-issues-with.html"> <br clear="all" /></a></h5> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/04/medicare-agrees-to-settle-hospital.html"><font size="2">Medicare Agrees to Settle Hospital Reimbursement Dispute With 2,200 Hospitals in the US To Receive Approximately $3 Billion–Hospitals Paid Short–Killer Algorithms Chapter 26</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /></font> <br clear="all" /></h4> <h5> <hr /></h5> <h5> </h5> <h4><font size="2"><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/04/unitedhealthcare-sends-letter-to.html">UnitedHealthCare Sends Letter to Teenager Telling Her She Had Diabetes With No Parent or Doctor Involvement–Only Blood Test Was For Lyme Disease–Analytic Attack of the Killer Algorithms?–Reader Writes</a></a></font><font size="2"></font></a></a></a><font size="2"> </font></h4> <h5> <br clear="all" /> <hr /></h5> <h4> </h4> <h4><font size="2"><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/04/accretive-medical-collections-and.html">Accretive Medical Collections and Analytics Cited by Minnesota by Attorney General For Collecting from Patients At Bedside and Worse–Employees on Pay for Performance Too? Killer Algorithms Chapter 28</a></font></a><font size="2"> <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/04/accretive-medical-collections-and.html"><font size="2"><img align="right" border="0" height="75" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DDt9KyAUh5A/T40e7CRy25I/AAAAAAAA6gY/XQhvz81-Qak/image%25255B27%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" width="107" /></font></a></font></h4> <h5> </h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/05/san-diego-hospitals-having-issues-with.html"> <hr /></a><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/05/san-diego-hospitals-having-issues-with.html"><font size="2">San Diego Hospitals Having Issues With Anthem Blue Cross Refusing Claims for Psychiatric Emergency Services–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 29</font></a><font size="2"> </font></h5> <h5> </h5> <h4> <hr /></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/05/colbert-talks-accretive-carecollections.html"><font size="2">Colbert Talks Accretive Care–Collections in the Hospital ER (Video) Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 30!</font></a><font size="2"> </font></h4> <h5> <hr /> <br clear="all" /></h5> </a> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/05/insurers-add-4th-tier-to-prescription.html"><font size="2">Insurers Add 4th Tier to Prescription Pricing–Higher Costs for Patients–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Part 31 As That is What Calculates the Cost</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></h4> <h5> <hr /><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/03/bats-stock-exchange-ipo-rogue.html"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="91" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-OuxCe91tdIo/T-dZv5ePn4I/AAAAAAAA8Gw/2YVisHkN6eA/image%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" title="image" width="101" /></a></h5> <h4><font size="2"><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/facebook-ipo-ultimate-attack-of-killer.html">Facebook IPO – The Ultimate “Attack of the Killer Algorithms” Chapter 32 - Nobody is Immune In the World of Complicated Computer Code and Formulas Today</a></font></a></a></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /></font></h4> <h5> <hr /></h5> <h4></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/predictive-modelingbusiness-and.html"><font size="2">Predictive Modeling–Business and Consumer Algorithmic Data Screening Parameters Used With Insurance Underwriting–Same Stuff Wall Street Does - Attack of Killer Algorithms Chapter 33</font></a></h4> <h4></h4> <hr /> <br clear="all" /> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/03/bats-stock-exchange-ipo-rogue.html"><font size="2">BATS Stock Exchange IPO Rogue Algos–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 34–See How Other Killer Algorithms Occur in Every Day Life With Healthcare & Credit</font></a><font size="2"> </font></h4> <h5> <hr /> <br clear="all" /></h5> <h4></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/new-york-subway-worker-dubbed-as-hero.html"><font size="2">New York Subway Worker, Dubbed as a Hero Has Pension Reduced to $5.00 a Month–Retirement System Error–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 35</font></a><font size="2"> <hr /></font><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /></font></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/complexities-in-data-systems-growing.html"><font size="2">Complexities in Data Systems Growing Beyond Control –“Algo <img align="right" border="0" height="121" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-y7AP1nJSeL8/UCM85F5f6HI/AAAAAAAA8r8/8P5qTyYFmFI/image%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" width="114" />Duping” Society Combined With A World of Rogue Algorithms & Flawed Data Continues In Markets As Seen With Knight Capital This Week-Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 36</font></a></h4> <h4></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/no-pity-for-knight-capital-as-code-made.html"><font size="2"> <hr /> <br clear="all" />No Pity For Knight Capital As Code Made the Markets and It Will Also Destroy the Markets–Let The Quants Choke As They Should Run No Code Before It’s Time For Sake of Greed and Money To Be First To Grab a Dollar–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 37</font></a><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></h4> <h5> <hr /></h5> <h4></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/southwest-airlines-multiple-books.html"><font size="2">Southwest Airlines Multiple Books Passengers Via Advertised Discount And Ran Up Consumer Credit Cards and Charged Bank Accounts – Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 38</font></a></h4> <h4></h4> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/government-chasing-social-security.html"> <hr /> <br clear="all" /></a></h5> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/government-chasing-social-security.html"><font size="2">Government Chasing Social Security Retirees to Dock Checks for Outstanding Student Loans–Killer Algorithms Chapter 39–Excise Tax Data Sellers Where the Real Money Is Today & Fix Government Formulas</font></a> <br clear="all" /></h4> <h5> <hr /></h5> <h4></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-automatic-prescription-refill.html"><font size="2">The Automatic Prescription Refill Algorithm Causing Havoc at CVS When Not Personally Authorized By the Patient–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 40 <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></a> <hr /><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/government-chasing-social-security.html"><img align="right" border="0" height="127" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-2YFGUegevE0/UCaPXsEh5BI/AAAAAAAA8to/9Xw60_JAess/image%25255B9%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" width="142" /></a></h4> <h4></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/helium-shortage-stands-to-create-supply.html"><font size="2">Helium Shortage Stands to Create Supply Shortages and Affordability With MRIs and Some Clinical Trials– Congress Needs to Act Soon And Tax “The Other Miners”–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 41</font></a> <hr /></h4> <h4></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/e-scoring-credit-algorithms-invisible.html"><font size="2">E-Scoring Credit Algorithms Invisible To Consumers Used to Market and Evaluate, Does Not Fall Under Federal Law And Such Are Used by Insurance Companies - How Will This Work With Exchanges –Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 42</font></a> <hr /></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/09/copyright-algorithmsvideo-copyright.html"><font size="2">Copyright Algorithms–Video Copyright Censoring Bots Wired In To Video Infrastructure Could Stand to Threaten The Future of Live Streaming–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 43</font></a> <hr /></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.gr/2012/09/quants-alchemists-of-wall-street-video.html"><font size="2">Quants: The Alchemists of Wall Street Video Documentary - Why It Needs to Matter What Companies Do and Not Focus Only On the Price of Stock With So Called Value - Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 44 <hr /></font></a></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/10/insurance-company-data-mining-with.html"><font size="2"> <br clear="all" />Insurance Company Data Mining With Automated Transactions? What Is Being Done With Consumer Data–My Flawed Corporate America Data Shows Up -Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 45 <hr /></font></a></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/10/office-of-inspector-general-publishes.html"><font size="2"> <br clear="all" />Office of Inspector General Publishes Survey To Help <img align="right" border="0" height="93" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Yea0P4EbAXU/ULw_ZQLSXKI/AAAAAAABAsY/iBMRBUhI1iY/image%25255B24%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" width="151" />Study Fraud With EHR Technologies, Namely Medical Records/Billing Software Used by Hospitals– HHS And SEC Continue Getting Their Non-Algorithmic Fannies Kicked–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 46</font></a>  <hr /></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/11/big-dataanalytics-if-used-out-of.html"><font size="2">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 Killer Algorithms Part 47</font></a><font size="2"> </font></h4> <h5> <hr /></h5> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/hospital-admission-rates-at-hma.html"> <br clear="all" /></a></h5> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/hospital-admission-rates-at-hma.html"><font size="2">Hospital Admission Rates at HMA Hospitals - Doctors Pressured to Meet Admission Percentages–Algorithms Pushing the Processes Requiring Explanations for Overriding & Not Admitting-Killer Algorithms Chapter 48</font></a><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/ftc-to-investigate-data-brokers-flawed.html"><font size="2"> </font></a></h4> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/ftc-to-investigate-data-brokers-flawed.html"> <br clear="all" /> <hr /> <br clear="all" /></a></h5> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/ftc-to-investigate-data-brokers-flawed.html"><font size="2">FTC to Investigate Data Brokers: Flawed Data Attacking Consumers-Need To Dig In To The Algorithmic Bots Slowing Down Government Servers to a Crawl & Stop Processes That Keep Inequality Alive in the US–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 49</font></a><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/woman-moves-10-miles-in-california-blue.html"><font size="2"> </font></a><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/woman-moves-10-miles-in-california-blue.html"> <br clear="all" /> <hr /></a></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/woman-moves-10-miles-in-california-blue.html"><font size="2">Woman Moves 10 Miles in California, Blue Cross Raises Premiums From $418 a Month to $524–Quantified “Crap Algorithm” For Geographic Risk, Killer Algorithms Chapter 50 That Sustain Inequality In The US</font></a><font size="2"> </font></h4> <h5> <hr /></h5> <p><strong><u> <br clear="all" /></u></strong></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/presidential-inaugural-ballticketmaster.html"><font size="2">Presidential Inaugural Ball–Ticketmaster Algorithms <img align="right" border="0" height="111" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmQCQK-KLTS53DO5NRDgnVJnvbZij8gQTou-YVM2Dy6Lg6HSWrtQ" 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" width="132" />Blow It–Tickets on Sale Before Announced Sales Date– Any Companies, Markets, Etc. Know What They Are Doing Anymore With Models and Algorithms? Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 51</font></a></h4> <p><strong><u></u></strong> <hr /> <br clear="all" /> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/im-sorry-your-google-plus-name-does-not.html"><font size="2">“I’m Sorry Your Google Plus Name Does Not Comply With Google “Names Policies”…Barbara “Duck Algorithm” & Was Using My Real Name All Along…Killer Algorithms Chapter 52</font></a> <hr /> <br clear="all" /></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/cvs-prescription-drug-program-causing.html"><font size="2">CVS Prescription Drug Program Causing Headaches,<img align="right" border="0" height="64" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-xaIAkq6gC6c/URBJdCHzr2I/AAAAAAABESg/2eXqA8FpozQ/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" width="143" /> SilverScript Senior Drug Program Sanctioned by Medicare Until the Payment And Billing Algorithms are Cleaned Up-Killer Algorithms Chapter 53</font></a> <hr /></h4> <h4><font size="2"><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/60-minutes-confirms-super-attacks-of.html">60 Minutes Confirms the Super Attacks of the Killer Algorithms With Consumer Credit Information With Flawed Data and the Inability to Algorithmically Fix Errors Which Really Makes a Huge Case for Licensing and Taxing All Data Sellers in the US–Chapter 54</a></font> <hr /> <br clear="all" />A little video homework…</h4> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />This is a great video below and a must watch for sure as you can see how companies, and keep in mind insurers use a heck of a lot of “quants” as well as Wall Street use formulas partly based on fiction to make money.  <strong>Listen to the quants tell you about the fiction, that is built into business models.  </strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.gr/2012/09/quants-alchemists-of-wall-street-video.html"><font size="2"> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><iframe style="height: 239px; width: 388px" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ed2FWNWwE3I?rel=0" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></font></a> <hr /> <br clear="all" />And for a little more education material….this is a great lecture given at Google’s offices in New York.  It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes between the good stuff and the algorithms created solely for profit as again their crafters are very good and collaborate with media to ensure we have a full diet every day.  The second video is algo very good from Kevin Slavin about how Algorithms shape our lives.  BD  <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/01/context-is-everythingmore-about-dark.html"><font size="2">Context is Everything–More About the Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception–Professor Siefe Lecture Given at Google’s New York Office–Big Healthcare Focus</font></a><font size="2"> </font></h4> <h4></h4> <h5> <br clear="all" /></h5> <div id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:d18a0d87-b5c2-46a4-8c6d-681f4cccaff5" class="wlWriterSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"> <div id="811cc347-73cb-4118-abba-4945330b5ae6" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"> <div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiQwZ6inbOM" target="_new"><img alt="" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('811cc347-73cb-4118-abba-4945330b5ae6'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"375\" height=\"210\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/qiQwZ6inbOM?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/qiQwZ6inbOM?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"375\" height=\"210\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gRE8QshwOc8/TzFntSdD0dI/AAAAAAAA5Nw/j4lNENgnCvw/videoea46c8fb882f%25255B16%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-top-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-left-style: none" /></a></div> </div> <div style="font-size: 0.8em; width: 375px; clear: both">NYU Siefe talks at Google</div> </div> <br clear="all" /> <p> <br clear="all" /><font size="1">How Algorithms Affect Shape Our lives….</font> <br clear="all" /><iframe style="height: 221px; width: 387px" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TDaFwnOiKVE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" width="640" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><font size="1">Former Wall Street Quant Tells you About “being there” and they take advantage because they can…more about those “models”… <br clear="all" /></font> <br clear="all" /></p> <object height="210.67432889649018" width="412"> <param name="movie" value="http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf"> </param><param name="flashvars" value="width=412&height=210.67432889649018&video=http://video.pbs.org/videoPlayerInfo/2226463504&player=viral" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> </param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf" flashvars="width=412&height=210.67432889649018&video=http://video.pbs.org/videoPlayerInfo/2226463504&player=viral" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" width="412" height="210.67432889649018" bgcolor="#000000"></embed></object> <p style="font-size: 11px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; width: 512px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #808080; text-align: center; margin-top: 5px">Watch <a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/2226463504" style="text-decoration: none !important; height: 13px; font-weight: normal !important; color: #4eb2fe !important" target="_blank">The FRONTLINE Interview: Cathy O'Neil</a> on PBS. See more from <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/" style="text-decoration: none !important; height: 13px; font-weight: normal !important; color: #4eb2fe !important" target="_blank">FRONTLINE.</a></p> <p> </p> <div id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:b4cb5fe3-99da-468e-8c71-239644f7d7e9" class="wlWriterSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/algoirthms" rel="tag">algoirthms</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/mathmatics" rel="tag">mathmatics</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/12+step+addictions" rel="tag">12 step addictions</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/healthcare" rel="tag">healthcare</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/desired+results" rel="tag">desired results</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/rogue+algorithm" rel="tag">rogue algorithm</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Charles+Seife" rel="tag">Charles Seife</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/books" rel="tag">books</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/numbers" rel="tag">numbers</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/analytics" rel="tag">analytics</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/journalism" rel="tag">journalism</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Google" rel="tag">Google</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/drugs" rel="tag">drugs</a></div>

Attack of the Killer Algorithms! Digest & Links for All Chapters–Read About Math and Crafty Formulas Running on Servers 24/7 Making Life Impacting Decisions About You– Updated

If you have not caught up with this yet, I started this series by accident as an awareness outreach, I know just like everyone else has out ...

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150 Federal and State Agents Raid the Scooter Store in Texas Suspecting Medicare Fraud Billing

<p>Yes who has not heard of the Scooter Store as their TV ads are everywhere.  According to the video the agencies had some information from former employees.  The Inspector General <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="124" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-yVon0PfkRvw/USeMds1k5wI/AAAAAAABFpQ/Y0tXJU8YyP4/image%25255B5%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="178" />stated that 80% of power chairs were paid for in error, going to people who don’t need them.  $108 Million dollars is the amount stated in question.  One former employee stated they ranked doctors and has a persistent marketing format that “wore doctors down”.  This one will be interesting to follow.  150 Agents, that’s a lot of people to to seize the evidence.  Nobody has been arrested and no charges have been filed.  You can see the boxes of evidence being carried out.  The company did send back  $19 million to Medicare last year, and that sound like a lot of chairs.  BD <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><embed src="http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf" scale="noscale" salign="lt" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" background="#333333" width="425" height="279" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" FlashVars="si=254&&contentValue=50141453&shareUrl=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505266_162-57570450/the-scooter-store-power-wheelchair-company-raided-in-federal-probe/" /></embed> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> <hr /> <br clear="all" />On Wednesday, 150 federal and state agents raided The SCOOTER Store headquarters in New Braunfels, Texas, and agents remain on the site. CBS News just spoke to an FBI agent Thursday morning who said workers will not be allowed back into headquarters through the day as the nation's largest power wheelchair company remains under investigation. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />Late last year, former employees told CBS News the company's main goal is not to help patients -- it's to bulldoze doctors into writing prescriptions to boost profits. Former SCOOTER Store employee Brian Setzer said, "Bulldoze and get them to get the paperwork done." <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />The issue is that once a doctor has written a prescription, Medicare rarely verifies whether the chairs are actually necessary. The problem was crystallized when the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services released <a href="https://oig.hhs.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2011/wheelchair-medicare.asp">this report</a>, finding that industry-wide, 80 percent of Medicare payments for power chairs are made in error, most going to people who don't need them, or who lack proof they need them. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505266_162-57570450/the-scooter-store-power-wheelchair-company-raided-in-federal-probe/">http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505266_162-57570450/the-scooter-store-power-wheelchair-company-raided-in-federal-probe/</a></p>

150 Federal and State Agents Raid the Scooter Store in Texas Suspecting Medicare Fraud Billing

Yes who has not heard of the Scooter Store as their TV ads are everywhere.  According to the video the agencies had some information from fo...

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Mike Pence of Indiana Wants to Be Governor “Ultra-Sound Number Two”– Wants 2 Ultra-Sounds, Before and After the Taking Abortion Pill…Digital Illiteracy Keeps Enacting Vaginal Legislative Discussions

<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="138" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Pi176T12dbQ/UScOu00EWFI/AAAAAAABFnI/AKEiQRlmKJc/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="218" />Why don’t they just give this up?  When I see this I loudly think “digital illiteracy” as they don’t know what  to do and they go off into areas of insanity like this.  I do like the nick name “Governor UltraSound” as this fits.  I mean I can’t for the life of me understand why adult men are so into this topic and can’t leave abortions alone.  This is is so ridiculous I can’t even laugh!   <br clear="all" /> <h5> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/05/digital-illiteracy-still-plagues-law.html">Digital Illiteracy Still Plagues Law Makers–Severe Focus on Abortion Rights Proves It–Is This Where Our Lawmaking Knowledge Leaves Off or Even Begins? Scary…</a> <br clear="all" /></h5> <p>We have financial worries up the ying yang and this is all they can talk about. Here’s one more from last year. I mean don’t these men care or even think about how people view them? We want some intelligence out there not a redo of the Roman Empire. <img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="257" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6C7Hbj3Ewo0/UScOvXLlaXI/AAAAAAABFnQ/6pSZp47X4is/image%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="420" /> <br clear="all" />Maybe this is an age thing right?  You never see any men under 50 or so disturbed about this:)  Is this some form of mental illness or passive aggressive behavior?  When this came up again I mean you really have to laugh at trying to control vaginas.  Rachel Maddow does a good job with this too.  I don’t care what party one is but to carry on like this is so stupid and those folks were elected to make laws and this is not a law, it’s just plain stupid.  Look at the screenshot below and hold on to your hat…digital illiteracy with some just can’t get there and the vaginal focus just won’t quit.  BD  </p> <h6> </h6> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0" height="245" id="msnbc775956" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=50899424^550^318719&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc775956" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=50899424^550^318719&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object> <p style="text-align: center; margin-top: 5px; width: 420px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #999; font-size: 11px">Visit NBCNews.com for <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com" style="border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important">news about the economy</a></p> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" height="255" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1nCH1JJML8k/UScOvihu-jI/AAAAAAABFnY/rHu442i6gOM/image%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="419" /> <br clear="all" /> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/08/here-we-go-againdigital-illiteracy-with.html"><font size="2">Here We Go Again–Digital Illiteracy With Lawmakers & Those Running for Office–Back to the “Default” Topic of Women’s Health With A Need to Control Something When the Intellect Is Not There…Akin</font></a></h4> <br clear="all" /> <p><a href="http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/50899358/#50899424">http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/50899358/#50899424</a></p>

Mike Pence of Indiana Wants to Be Governor “Ultra-Sound Number Two”– Wants 2 Ultra-Sounds, Before and After the Taking Abortion Pill…Digital Illiteracy Keeps Enacting Vaginal Legislative Discussions

Why don’t they just give this up?  When I see this I loudly think “digital illiteracy” as they don’t know what  to do and they go off into a...

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Southern California Cardiologist Produces Grammy Award Winning Artist - New Age Album of the Year, Investing in a Human Being Is The Best Thing You Can Do Says Dr. Mike..

<p> <p> <p> <p> This is a little off the regular path here but the Dr.Mike Vasilomanolakis  is a long time<img align="right" alt="Omar1" border="0" height="162" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VDPHm238ZMM/USartbUB-VI/AAAAAAABFlA/A7FyVo-JFtU/Omar1%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Omar1" width="200" /> friend/client and worked 16 years promoting Omar in his spare time (and how much of that do cardiologists get this day and age).  It was a good thing he got started a number of years ago before we all tied rockets to our feet.  Also the music is nice and relaxing to the ear from Omar.  Who doesn’t need that today too, otherwise I wouldn’t have all these folks looking for the FDA approved non invasive <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/12/cranial-stimulatornon-invasive-fda.html">Cranial Simulator for the treatment of depression!</a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong>What is moving though is the acceptance speech and that is what I wanted to share here as healthcare is becoming such a mad world of those searching for the perfect algorithm to solve all their problems (and we know it doesn’t really exist in the human world) and we forget that investing in a human can be the best thing that we can do.</strong> <img align="right" alt="Omar2" border="0" height="160" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-8lDZESeARXc/USart3e21TI/AAAAAAABFlI/nLKY-j_xbo8/Omar2%25255B5%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Omar2" width="212" /> I like technology and what it offers and how it makes me more intelligent and aware but there’s an epidemic of folks looking for the algorithm for the perfect butt, the happiness algorithm (watch this video to understand how you get fooled in thinking there is such a thing) and we forget that we are humans and how to balance our lives.  I introduced Dr. Mike to tablet computers a few years back and exposed him to social and other healthcare elements out there.  Below is the text of his acceptance speech and in healthcare we need to invest in humans as that’s what the business of healthcare is so when Dr. Mike is not in the cath lab his human investments are out there working too.  <br clear="all" /></p> </p> <p> <p> <p> <br clear="all" /><em><font color="#666666">“Sixteen years ago, a friend of mine came up to me and asked, ‘How are your investments doing?’”</font></em></p> <p><em><font color="#666666">. <br />“<strong>He then said, ‘Have you ever thought<img align="right" alt="Omar3" border="0" height="142" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-CfiU8PwHRt0/USaruedrB2I/AAAAAAABFlQ/1TZI6b6zlf4/Omar3%25255B6%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Omar3" width="123" /> of investing in a human being?’”</strong><strong>.</strong> <br />“He subsequently introduced me to Omar; I was moved by his music and we have worked together ever since. I can go on and on but suffice it to say, <strong>if anyone is able to, I would encourage them to invest in a human being. </strong>What you will find is when you help someone else achieve their dreams, in some miraculous way you achieve your own dreams as well.”</font></em></p> <p><em><font color="#666666">Thank you so much.God bless. <br clear="all" /></font></em></p> <p><em><font color="#666666">Thank you Grammys for making dreams come true.”</font> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></em>Now here’s a video from the Omar Fans on You Tube…and the title song…Omar is performing at the House of Blues on Sunset in early April.  This is the music that patients hear while waiting for Dr. Mike.  Take a listen… <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><iframe style="width: 440px; height: 274px" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v5yrhCjgPwk?rel=0" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><em><a href="http://blog.omarmusic.com/">Here’s the main Omar music website</a>.  The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/omarakramfans">fan's site on YouTube</a> can be found here, with a lot more music. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></em></p> </p> </p> <p><iframe style="width: 437px; height: 250px" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d8gt1KEPw8c" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> </p> <p> <p> </p> </p> </p> <p> <p> <br clear="all" />And here’s Omar’s acceptance speech backstage at the Grammys.  </p></p>

Southern California Cardiologist Produces Grammy Award Winning Artist - New Age Album of the Year, Investing in a Human Being Is The Best Thing You Can Do Says Dr. Mike..

This is a little off the regular path here but the Dr.Mike Vasilomanolakis  is a long time friend/client and worked 16 year...

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AirStrip and Dignity Health Hospitals in Arizona Implementing Mobility Solution for Access to Cerner Medical Records Information

<p> <p>AirStrip began as a way for doctors to track and communicate<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="223" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-dpahXiJp_DI/USZy4JeQZQI/AAAAAAABFjA/u4GLwOORv-Y/image%25255B11%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="174"> with expectant mothers as an app and has grown from there with the IPhone and IPad.  Their platform is vendor neutral so it can sit on top of any medical records system and bring decision making and other important information to a cell phone.  As you can read from the back links the apps did seek and receive FDA approval.  I mention this as apps have been somewhat of a gray area with what does need FDA approval and what does not.  Obviously the information through the apps relate directly to patient care and safety so that answers their case.  Airstrip Cardiology was the second to get approval following the OBGN app.  <br clear="all"></p></p> <p><br clear="all"><u>From the website:</u> <br clear="all"> <p><em>“AirStrip built its revolutionary AppPoint™ software development platform with a vision of securely sending critical patient information directly from hospital monitoring systems, bedside devices, and electronic health records to a clinician's mobile device. AppPoint also solves core challenges in mobile software development, such as developing native applications that deliver a rich user experience while at the same time being able to scale and adapt to an ever-changing world of mobile operating systems and devices. FDA cleared, CE Marked and allowing for compliance with HIPAA regulations, the AirStrip platform delivers live waveform and other relevant clinical data - anytime, anywhere.”</em></p><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/07/airstrip-gets-fda-approval-for-critical.html"><font size="2"></font></a></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/07/airstrip-gets-fda-approval-for-critical.html"><font size="2"><br clear="all">Airstrip Gets FDA Approval for Critical Care and Cardiology – Remote Patient Monitoring</font></a><br clear="all"></h4> <p>Here a video from an AirStrip presentation on how it works.  </p><br clear="all"><br clear="all"><iframe style="width: 421px; height: 278px" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_g0bsvJQRag" frameborder="0" width="420" allowfullscreen></iframe><br clear="all"><br clear="all">In addition this video from TriStar Health also has additional details on how it is being used by interventional cardiologists and how it gets things going much faster in the cath lab which can mean life or death.  <br clear="all"><br clear="all"><iframe style="width: 432px; height: 262px" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Wqgisvh9nCo" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen></iframe><br clear="all"><br clear="all">Also worth mentioning here is the AliveCor Iphone monitor which is also getting a lot of press which is not related to AirStrip but it can be purchased by Doctors as well for that EKG on the run.  BD<br clear="all"><br clear="all"> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/fda-finally-approves-alivecor-iphone.html"><font size="2">FDA Finally Approves AliveCor Iphone Enabled Heart Monitor, Now and the Cat and Dogs Have to Share the Technology With Us</font></a></h4><br clear="all"> <hr> Launched today, <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautomation.airstriptech.com%2FAirStripONE.html&esheet=50570016&lan=en-US&anchor=AirStrip+ONE%E2%84%A2&index=2&md5=a040504be560ad81ab7588e9fecd0635">AirStrip ONE™</a> will initially be implemented at Dignity Health as the first enterprise-wide, data- and vendor-agnostic mobility solution to securely deliver patient data from medical devices, electronic medical records (EMRs) and patient monitors to clinicians anywhere across the care continuum. The long-awaited key to mobile<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="67" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DiqyP4flE2M/USZy4f7llUI/AAAAAAABFjI/V1uxmgMQPsg/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="162"> healthcare interoperability, AirStrip ONE enables more timely and collaborative clinical decision-making, and allows health systems to better track critical quality metrics, empower a mobile workforce, expand their networks, and ultimately achieve true clinical transformation. <br clear="all"><br clear="all">“Most health systems today are working with a dizzying array of different EMRs, medical devices and other systems, all from different vendors, and are unable to really unlock the true value of these investments. At the same time, the days of physicians – particularly today’s overstretched specialists – practicing in one facility are numbered, as they are increasingly required to deliver care in multiple or remote locations,” <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airstriptech.com%2FPortals%2F0%2Fnews_pdf%2FBIO_AlanPortela.pdf&esheet=50570016&lan=en-US&anchor=said+Alan+Portela%2C+AirStrip+CEO&index=3&md5=59ea76826458bdc5ee7ae07f450520cc">said Alan Portela, AirStrip CEO</a>. “As demonstrated through the commitment from Dignity Health, AirStrip ONE leverages the power of mobility to deliver the industry’s first enterprise-wide, vendor-agnostic mobile interoperability solution.” <br clear="all"><br clear="all">AirStrip ONE will first be deployed at Dignity Health, a San Francisco-based health system with more than 300 care sites in 17 states, working together to co-develop AirStrip ONE uses in the primary care setting. The first implementations will be at Chandler Regional Medical Center (Chandler, Ariz.) and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center (Gilbert, Ariz.) in support of the recently-announced Medicare Accountable Care Organization (ACO), the Arizona Care Network. Extending the clinical and platform components of AirStrip ONE, Dignity Health and AirStrip will next mobilize St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz., including a critical integration with EMR data from Dignity Health’s house-wide Cerner system and Allscripts ambulatory system. <br clear="all"><br clear="all"><a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130221006070/en/AirStrip-Launches-AirStrip-Industry%E2%80%99s-Complete-Enterprise-Wide-Mobile?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter">http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130221006070/en/AirStrip-Launches-AirStrip-Industry%E2%80%99s-Complete-Enterprise-Wide-Mobile?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter</a>

AirStrip and Dignity Health Hospitals in Arizona Implementing Mobility Solution for Access to Cerner Medical Records Information

AirStrip began as a way for doctors to track and communicate with expectant mothers as an app and has grown from there with the IPhone and...

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Portal for Personalized Wellness Programs, More Data to Scrape and Mine…And One Heck of a Terms of Use Page, Enough to Scare Any Consumer…

<p>I like software and smart analytics but all these data mining sites trying to get consumers to use and enter data with a dual purpose of defining better health are getting to be a bit much.  You know can we look at the real world here and how consumers think?  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong>I try to get people involved in their health care and they get mad at me at times, it’s the frustration and I do have<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="133" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BGTNrIAoe2U/USZEEHjJt0I/AAAAAAABFfA/wM7noiYVHa0/image%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="207" /> to realize that when I am in “internet” land it’s not the same as the “real” world, as to quote Mike Osinski from a video, “you can do anything with software” but it doesn’t’ work in the real world with people all the time.</strong>  He’s the one that admitted he wrote the software that “built the bomb that blew up Wall Street” to quote an old <a href="http://nymag.com/news/business/55687/">New York Magazine article from 2009.</a>   <strong>He had no idea as to how his software would be used and abused.</strong>   Here’s a couple of quotes from that article and today data mining makes billions in profits and has become an epidemic and stalls job creation with everyone taking an easy road that nobody regulates.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><em>“I never would have thought, in my most extreme paranoid fantasies, that my software, and the others like it, would have enabled Wall Street to decimate the investments of everyone in my family. Not even the most jaded observer saw that coming.<strong> I can’t deny that it allowed a privileged few to exploit the unsuspecting many.</strong> But catastrophe, depression, busted banks, forced auctions of entire tracts of houses? The fact that my software, over which I would labor for a decade, facilitated these events is numbing. Is capitalism inherently corrupt?” <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />“Mike,” he told me when denying my request, <strong>“can you really look for people dumber than you and then take advantage of them?</strong> That’s what trading is all about.”</em> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />Have you ever spoken to the general consumer and tried to help them with some of the information out there, I do. <strong> Believe me they do not enjoy entering data and are more and more becoming aware of all the data mining and selling even with lacking the specifics.  Myself I don’t enjoy entering data</strong> on websites either for more than I have to.  Let’s look back to this article that I wrote a couple years back for a taste of reality… <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/09/whats-on-agenda-tonightworld-of.html"><font size="2">What’s On the Agenda Tonight–World of Warcraft or Work on My Personal Health Record</font></a></h4> <p> <br clear="all" />One should acquaint themselves with the <a href="https://www.novu.com/corporate/terms-and-conditions/">Terms of Use page</a> first if you have time as assume this is why they put it out there, that’s enough <img align="right" height="111" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/Snz-cuCOWYI/AAAAAAAAZU4/-bj4Hd11M2g/image%5B5%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" width="257" />to make you think you have stumbled on to something that is like “gold” (grin). Just the license to use the site is enough to scare off folks as it contains the usual legal mumbo jumbo of complexities.  We all know about the data mining and selling business and United has been king here for years with their Ingenix division now called Optum and they started with selling your prescription data and it continues on today.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />So again…let’s get to the real world here and is this exciting…probably not to the average consumer and these win-wins are just one more way to potentially collect more data for sale, it’s an epidemic in the US and should be licensed and taxed.  When you get down to it, the people and companies that write this software don’t use it themselves and<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="62" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ty0nzE0KmP8/USZEEfVs9-I/AAAAAAABFfI/XjEwN6xUpzg/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="124" /> we get back to “its for those guys over there” again.  <strong>Commit yourselves as companies to all the technologies you want but there’s not true value in every software program, portal etc. that is created.  BD</strong> <hr /> <br clear="all" />UnitedHealthcare and Novu are launching an innovative online portal, <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uhc.novu.com&esheet=50571473&lan=en-US&anchor=www.uhc.novu.com&index=1&md5=fe06a10632e816412ba6d9f6724b8b2a">www.uhc.novu.com</a>, that enables people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plans to create their own health-improvement and wellness programs. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong>“We believe</strong> this easy-to-use online program will empower people to take a more active role in their daily health routines by enabling them to tailor personal wellness programs based on their own unique health needs,” said Tom Wicka, president of Novu. “We partnered with UnitedHealthcare to create this platform because both companies share a commitment to developing innovative technologies that help people improve their health and wellness.” <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/unitedhealthcare-novu-launch-online-portal-133000479.html">http://finance.yahoo.com/news/unitedhealthcare-novu-launch-online-portal-133000479.html</a></p>

Portal for Personalized Wellness Programs, More Data to Scrape and Mine…And One Heck of a Terms of Use Page, Enough to Scare Any Consumer…

I like software and smart analytics but all these data mining sites trying to get consumers to use and enter data with a dual purpose of def...

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Tri-West (Tri-Care Contract) Healthcare Begins Switching Members & Services To United Healthcare, The Contract Awarded After the Insurer Sued the Department of Defense

<p>The transition has begun and the former Blue Cross subsidiary who tried to hang on and the that members of Tri-Care wanted to keep<img align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/S-JfTqQMrRI/AAAAAAAAd10/o0C09WEqTDQ/image_thumb%5B3%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" /> is slowly going out of business as the loss was too big for them to sustain.  If you followed the couple of years of Tri-Care updates, and it was a long one, United wanted the south too until Humana protested the award and got it back so that only left the west and when they didn’t get it, the company sued DOD to get it.  This contract was worth around $20 billion so to the court they went to get their money to manage care.  I think they make more from all their subsidiaries be it their bank, wellness, analytics, EHR companies etc than they do selling policies.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/06/update-unitedhealthcare-sues-department.html"><font size="2">Update: UnitedHealthcare Sues Department of Defense Over Tri-Care Contracts–They Said They Would Do This – Is This A Case Of My Algorithms Are Better Than Yours?</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/06/unitedhealth-loses-tri-care-protest.html"><font size="2">UnitedHealth Loses Tri-Care Protest Again With Contract Awarded to Humana in the South-Now Protesting Contracts Awarded In Both the South and the Western States</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></a></h4> <p>Back when it looked like they were going to get the award for the<img align="right" height="120" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TdYNiZF0RQI/AAAAAAAAxks/UEJVJ2qMb7Y/image%5B8%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="98" /> Northeast before the Health Net issued a complaint and got it back, the loss that Health Net was going to incur caused the company to sell of patients and policies in a couple of states back there like Connecticut.  In July of last year Tri-West even took their campaign to the internet but they just could not compete with the business models, algorithms and math formulas that United produced.  That’s how the company makes a lot of money plus selling a lot of your data and if not from the main company, there’s ton of United subsidiaries that sell tons of data.  I wonder how much they make selling data as if Walgreens can make short of $800 million selling data alone in 2010, these folks have to be up around 2 or 3 billion in profits selling data and they were one of the first to make money selling data.  <strong>If you were to break down and really look at all the <img align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TXCfvYCDCBI/AAAAAAAAsv0/8biVjC7dBI0/image_thumb%5B1%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" />subsidiaries under the United corporate blanket they almost have a company that could handle everything from introducing a drug to the FDA all the way down to physician/hospital reimbursement.</strong> <strong> You know they make their money with mathematical formulas and analytics as if you look at job ads at any given time they are always advertising for more “Quants”. </strong> If you don’t’ know what those jobs are watch the video on the left and you can learn what Quants do on Wall Street and it’s not much different with companies as they write model and the code.  </p> <h4> </h4> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/07/tri-west-takes-their-campaign-to.html">Tri-West Takes Their Campaign to the Internet Protesting Award of The Award of the Tri-Care Contract to United Healthcare–Savemymilitaryhealthcare.com–Final Decision Date Slated for July 5th</a></h5> <h4> </h4> <p>So in essence with the data selling and algorithms Blue Cross was pretty much under direct attack here with technology from United.  It’s interesting as to when you read the article, the DOD won’t say why or give a clear answer on why United has the contract.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><em><strong>“The loss of the contract, which is renewed every five years, </strong></em><a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/story/2012-07-02/tricare-triwest-united-military/55989350/1"><em><strong>was announced</strong></em></a><em><strong> last summer. As to why, Celley said the Department of Defense hasn’t given them a clear answer.”</strong> <br clear="all" /></em> <br clear="all" />The algorithms probably backed them into a corner somewhere along the line as that’s how they operate as you can remember for 15 years their formulas and algos enabled them to pay doctors and hospitals short for out of network services.  So far it says there won’t be any change in care and patients need not worry, but we didn’t and don’t have the same here in the OC with regular insurance policies since they bought up the large physicians groups.  Crying towels came out in the OC when that happened.  Only half of the employees will get to move over to Untied and the rest will be out of work.  I wonder if they will be bused to a hotel like they did here in the OC.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h5><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/03/unitedhealthcare-lays-off-180-employees.html">UnitedHealthcare Lays Off 180 Employees In Orange County-Initial Notification Sent By Instant Message to Those Affected</a></h5> <p> <br clear="all" />April 1st is the actual cut over date and there are 80 locations in the west that are set to be closed down.  Is the word “divest” ever going to come up with this company as they are so big and even have subsidiaries in some areas that compete against themselves in the IT areas.  BD </p> <hr /> <p><a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/profiles/company/us/az/phoenix/triwest_healthcare_alliance/3262618"> <br clear="all" />TriWest Healthcare Alliance's</a> Tricare West medical clinics in Hawaii will transition to UnitedHealth Group after TriWest lost a $17 billion contract renewal with the Department of Defense last year.</p> <p>“Beginning today, we switched over operations of our various locations on the Islands and also across the Western United States and we will operate on a dual-operations period from now until April 1, at which point UnitedHealth will take over,” <a href="http://www.triwest.com/en/">TriWest</a> spokesman <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/search/results?q=Scott%20Celley">Scott Celley</a> said. “There are roughly 80 locations across the West today that we are closing down.” <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/blog/2013/02/triwest-healthcare-alliances-hawaii.html">http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/blog/2013/02/triwest-healthcare-alliances-hawaii.html</a></p>

Tri-West (Tri-Care Contract) Healthcare Begins Switching Members & Services To United Healthcare, The Contract Awarded After the Insurer Sued the Department of Defense

The transition has begun and the former Blue Cross subsidiary who tried to hang on and the that members of Tri-Care wanted to keep is slowl...

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Silicon Is Back, FDA Approves New and Updated Breast Implants from Allergan With Conditions

<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="135" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-VMUDb7fXgZQ/USWqcCVgFVI/AAAAAAABFdI/WgM4osAO1RQ/image%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="190" />Silicon breast implants have been approved for quite a few years and now there’s a new and improved model.  I was looking at the <a href="http://www.natrelle.com/">website</a> and looks like there’s a sale with the opportunity to get a free Botox treatment and a Latisse prescription trial for longer eyelashes too.  You can read the conditions below and basically the FDA is calling for follow up and information for at least 5 years.  BD <br clear="all" /> <p> <br clear="all" />The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the Natrelle 410 Highly Cohesive Anatomically Shaped Silicone-Gel Filled Breast Implant to increase breast size (augmentation) in women at least 22 years old and to rebuild breast tissue (reconstruction) in women of any age. Natrelle 410 implants are manufactured by Allergan, Inc. <br clear="all" /> <br />The FDA based its approval on seven years of data from 941 women. Most complications and outcomes reflect those found in previous breast implant studies including tightening of the area around the implant (capsular contracture), re-operation, implant removal, an uneven appearance (asymmetry), and infection.  In addition, investigators observed fissures (cracks) in the gel of some Natrelle 410 implants.  This is a characteristic called gel fracture and is unique to this implant. <br /> <br clear="all" />“It’s important to remember that breast implants are not lifetime devices. Women should fully understand the risks associated with breast implants before considering augmentation or reconstruction surgery, and they should recognize that long-term monitoring is essential,” said Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <p>As a condition of approval for the Natrelle 410 breast implants, Allergan must:</p> <ul> <li>Continue to follow, for an additional five years, approximately 3,500 women who received the Natrelle 410 implants as part of the company’s continued access study; </li> <li>Conduct a 10-year study of more than 2,000 women receiving Natrelle 410 silicone gel-filled implants post-approval to collect information on long-term local complications (e.g., capsular contracture, reoperation, removal of implant, implant rupture) and less common potential disease outcomes (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, breast and lung cancer, reproductive complications);  </li> <li>Conduct five case control studies to evaluate the possible association between the Natrelle 410 implants, as well as other silicone gel-filled breast implants, and five rare diseases—rare connective tissue disease, neurological disease, brain cancer, cervical/vulvar cancer and lymphoma; </li> <li>Evaluate women’s perceptions of the patient labeling; and </li> <li>Analyze the Natrelle 410 implants that are removed from patients and returned to the manufacturer.</li> </ul> <a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm340447.htm">http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm340447.htm</a>

Silicon Is Back, FDA Approves New and Updated Breast Implants from Allergan With Conditions

Silicon breast implants have been approved for quite a few years and now there’s a new and improved model.  I was looking at the website an...

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Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize Founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Ann Wojcicki and Others Awards Turns 11 Scientists Into Millionaires Today

<p>Each award was worth $3 million dollars and the breakthroughs were from everything from cancer research to genomics.  The sponsors of the awards are from Google and Facebook, the CEOs and a few others named below.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />This is brand new as well as is the website and here’s the <a href="http://www.breakthroughprizeinlifesciences.org/about">about information</a>: <br clear="all" /></p> <p><em> <br clear="all" />“Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences is founded by <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="120" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-M5OgCl6rVDk/USWYjmZ8cKI/AAAAAAABFbQ/RQrKXMHrOn8/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="195" />Art Levinson, Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, and Yuri Milner to recognize excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life. The prize is administered by the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to advancing breakthrough research, celebrating scientists and generating excitement about the pursuit of science as a career. <br clear="all" /> <br />Founding sponsors of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences include Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, and Yuri Milner, who collectively have agreed to establish 5 annual prizes, US$3 million each, going forward. These prizes will be awarded for past achievements in the field of life sciences, with the aim of providing the recipients with more freedom and opportunity to pursue even greater future accomplishments. <br /> <br clear="all" />Going forward, each year’s prize winners will join the Selection Committee for future awardees. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Breakthrough Prize will be a transparent selection process, in which anyone will be able to nominate a candidate online for consideration. Also, the prize can be shared between any number of deserving scientists and can be received more than once. In addition, there are no age restrictions for nominees. <br /> <br clear="all" />All Breakthrough Prize recipients will be invited to present public talks targeting a general audience. These lectures, together with supporting materials, will be made available to the public, allowing everyone to keep abreast of the latest developments in life sciences, guided by contemporary masters of the field.”</em></p> <p> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong>The website says soon the site will enable nominations to be created for the next award,</strong> which is to take place annually and the awards today were the first inaugural winners.  One award went to Charles L. Sawyers, Head of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Pathology and Oncology Program.  Dr. Sawyers is already internationally recognized and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator which is America’s Second Largest Charity.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/09/howard-hughes-medical-institute-and.html"><font size="2">Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Partner to Fund Plant Research To Further Human Health as Well as Environmental Issues</font></a> <br clear="all" /></h4> <p>All recipients were very stunned at the amount of the prizes they received indeed.  BD</p> <p> <br clear="all" /> <hr />Eleven scientists became multimillionaires this morning when they were named the first winners of the new Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Each researcher, whose specialties include genetics, stem cells, and cancer, will receive $3 million dollars, more than twice the maximum amount of a Nobel Prize. </p> <p>Funded by several Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, including Arthur Levinson of Apple, venture capitalist Yuri Milner, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, the Breakthrough Prize aims to "recogniz[e] excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life," according to <a href="http://www.breakthroughprizeinlifesciences.org/news1">the foundation's Web site</a>. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /> The first group of winners includes Cornelia I. Bargmann of Rockefeller University in New York City; David Botstein of Princeton University; Lewis C. Cantley of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City; Hans Clevers of the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands; Napoleone Ferrara of the University of California, San Diego; Titia de Lange of Rockefeller University; Eric S. Lander of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge; Charles L. Sawyers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City; Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland; Robert A. Weinberg of MIT; and the 2012 Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/02/new-breakthrough-prize-awards-mi.html?ref=hp">http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/02/new-breakthrough-prize-awards-mi.html?ref=hp</a></p>

Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize Founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Ann Wojcicki and Others Awards Turns 11 Scientists Into Millionaires Today

Each award was worth $3 million dollars and the breakthroughs were from everything from cancer research to genomics.  The sponsors of the aw...

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Allscripts to Close 12 Offices and One Warehouse–Tough to Compete in Complex World Today With Other Medical Records System Who’s Development & Code Were All Done In-House Over the Years…

<p>I probably go back in this business too far, before there was an Allscripts EHR and when it was only an e-prescribing program.  The company grew by acquiring other companies and Mysis <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="80" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-swT6hgkXwL0/UST9iRPiIkI/AAAAAAABFZI/gnux-xTNyJs/image%25255B12%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="156" />was the acquisition that put the company into the medical records business with the first system sold called MyWay.  If you have kept up on some of the news you have probably read that the original EMR is not an ONC certified system and that Allscripts has offered free upgrades to those still using the original program.  There are other vendors who are offering a free transfer of the records if they convert to their medical records system.  Back in 2008 the link below will give you a few more details as the two companies merged and Allscripts was the decided marketing name.  I used to compete with the original Misys system, back in the very early days.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2008/10/misys-seals-deal-on-allscripts-purchase.html"><font size="2">Misys seals deal on Allscripts purchase</font></a></h4> <p> <br clear="all" />Along came the acquisition of Eclipsys in 2010 and CVS began switching clients to the Allscripts e-prescribing program and they stopped marketing the iScribe product which was basically the original e-prescribing software.    <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/06/misys-sells-allscripts-shares-to-enable.html"><font size="2">Misys Sells Allscripts Shares to Enable Eclipsys Merger – Medical Records</font></a> <br clear="all" /></h4> <p>Then there was the licensing agreement with Pegasus with a long legal battle that was eventually settled with part of the offerings from Allscripts coming from other technologies.  Allscripts bought a company that was a customer of Pegasus and claimed they had a license for the related bar coding technology.  After the financial crisis in 2008 the company was hit hard and found a larger credit line in 2009 with JP Morgan and went through a stock repurchase.  They partnered with companies such as Quicken Health Bill pay to market getting faster payments from patients.  They also partnered with Cardinal Health to be a reseller of their EHR products.  In 2008 the Lehman bankruptcy had an effect and delayed the Misys-Allscripts deal as well. Back in 2008 they were also part of a group called NEPSI to where they offered a free basic version of their e-prescribing program and integrated it with the now defunct Google Health.  In 2008 the company also sold their marketing subsidiary, Physician’s Interactive.  </p> <br clear="all" /> <h4> </h4> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/02/allscripts-in-legal-battle-with-pegasus.html"><font size="2">Allscripts in Legal Battle With Pegasus Imaging Over Bar Coding Software – David and Goliath At Battle</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></h4> <p>iMedica was the software that Allscripts paid $5 Million for and rebranded to the name Mysis in 2007.  Mysis is actually located in London and after the crisis of 2008 also received help from HSBC bank.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><strong>So there’s a little history from what I have covered here and as you can see there was quite a bit of buying up technologies and consolidating here for a few years which meant hiring a lot of software engineers to make it work and function.</strong>  If you look at Cerner and Epic by comparison, they built all their own software in house and there is something to be said for that as you do have control and know the history and don’t open up code modules to find some unexpected surprises.  That is a comment you hear from folks like me who have to look at what has been built and what clean up needs to be done and what engineering is needed.    <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" />I do have to say the company marketed well and for a long time rolled the code and made it work until we had the Eclipsys merger and now the game of integration was growing to a much <img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="123" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mshycv_WJlA/UST9i_jMKqI/AAAAAAABFZQ/cxqMJ3mU2-k/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="137" />complex mode and this is where the trouble came with promising shareholders a date for release and it was not completed.  As when you dig in with anything like this, you find plenty of things to repair, modify and rewrite so it all caught up.  Sales were projected and based on this time element too.  I read all the time about clients not getting their software when promised and it’s late, so just expect that if you want it to work correctly and be debugged properly before it is finally compiled.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2010/02/eclipsys-and-microsoft-to-integrate.html"><font size="2">Eclipsys and Microsoft To Integrate Sunrise Enterprise Suite With Amalga Unified Intelligence System</font></a></h4> <p> <br clear="all" />I did a little speculation myself about where Allscripts might end up and though the Caradigm group could have been a place since they market Microsoft Amalga and are a new combined company formed by GE and Microsoft.  The Allscripts programs use Microsoft technologies for their build and Amalga itself doesn’t have an in-house EHR to test and work with, so again just my thoughts on that topic.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/11/allscripts-states-they-are-considering.html"><font size="2">Allscripts States They Are Considering Sale to Third Party–Follow the Code Technologies To Think About Caradigm As An Educated Speculation Being A Potential Match</font></a></h4> <h5></h5> <p>So where is the future from here?  I think that’s a question we are all asking including Allscripts themselves as they go through their reconstruction mode here.  I think one thing that all should learn from this is the lesson on how complex software is today and it’s not like<img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="111" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-G0hjIKmagMM/UST9jO2BdGI/AAAAAAABFZY/oL3D_A9Ou5Y/image%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" width="139" /> the old days with combining code and we all work with platforms today anywhere to where we are dependent on code written outside our immediate control, so get used to it.  I said the same thing not too long ago trying to break it through HHS’s head as well as the news came out to rush. <strong> If you don’t have the “walk and chew code” mentality and knowledge at the top in organizations and in government  today this is what you get, as I sometimes call it, “waiting for the Algorithm Fairy” to come in and fix everything.</strong> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/02/speed-up-rate-of-change-in-health.html"><font size="2">Speed Up Rate of Change in Health IT?–“Short Order Code Kitchen Burned Down a Few Years Ago and There Was No Fire Sale”..IT Infrastructure Chance and Revisions Takes a Lot of ”Code”, “Time” and “ Most Importantly Money”</font></a></h4> <p> <br clear="all" /><strong>Short of chaining up developers to computers and waterboarding the code out of them (grin) you don’t have a choice on setting deadlines, so the more folks as consumers and in business that can grasp  and realize how complex things are today, we will see less uneducated perceptions as such making the news.</strong>  The company is filing lawsuits but I don’t think that’s the way to go over sour grapes here.  Again when Epic was chosen you have some very smart CIOs out there who have to make sound decisions and have a system that will work, otherwise their jobs on are on the line.  If one was a CIO where’s the stability and reliability and sure it costs money as well.  As the old saying goes you get what you pay for.  With the lawsuit filed they became on of my <strong><u>“</u></strong><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/attack-of-killer-algorithmsdigest-links.html"><strong><u>Attack of the Killer Algorithms”</u></strong></a> posts back in May of 2012 as it was all about not enough time to get those new algorithms up and going and they bit back with teeth.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/05/class-action-lawsuit-filed-against.html"><font size="2">Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Allscripts For Misleading Investors With Merging Data Systems–Too Much Code and Not Enough Time – Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 30</font></a></h4> <p> <br clear="all" />I don’t know what kind of technology background<img align="right" height="66" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_v3zjJigoAPE/TJcGp1oHKzI/AAAAAAAAhfM/jyY8xKNrAKY/image_thumb%5B4%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; float: right" width="166" /> Mr. Tullman had but from how this has all developed, I seem to think he’s also one who never wrote a stick of code and that makes a difference, so compare him to CEO Judy at Epic who wrote the original software at Epic.  All say they have a high priced product but they also had some high expenses and major code to write when they secured Kaiser and everyone else who purchased after that fact benefitted, so there was some recovery of cost with new engineering with the EMR modules in their system. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/allscripts-sues-nyc-health-and-hospital.html"><font size="2">Allscripts Sues NYC Health and Hospital System Over Contract Award to Epic - EHR Vendor Playing the Same Game as Health Insurance Companies With Lawsuits</font></a> <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></h4> <p>I try to do my best to bring the reality of what has to occur versus what is maybe shown more as OMG material in the media at times.  Reality works better for me and I think it works better for others if they understand too.  There’s a lot of unknowns and better leaders we have with some software engineering knowledge the better we can be.  It is what it is and some of the wild perceptions that float around out there make for bad decisions when you don’t go to the core, and the public and others don’t understand either.  I call a lot of this <a href="http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/"><em><strong>“Algo Duping”</strong></em></a> as you are sold and told something that conflicts from the laws of math and code that just isn’t there sometimes.  <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-kBA-dLfLLGU/UIepz3XA3GI/AAAAAAAA_Kk/8WllR3a7ChM/image%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" /> <br clear="all" />So now time will tell on how the reorganization goes and with a former officer from Cerner who has a background with a company that has built their technologies in house he’s got a lot of work ahead of him with not only the engineering of the software but also with the public opinions and shareholders.  Cutting costs with closing offices sounds like the natural first move and we’ll see where it goes from there.  I think some work is needed to also begin to attract any private equity folks too. No algorithm fairies but just a lot of hard work and restructuring needed.  They did create an API to where anyone so inclined to <a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/verizon-latest-to-enter-code-for-cash.html"><strong><u>work with the “cash for code” model</u></strong></a> to grab a small dollar carrot can help them.   <strong>Not much incentive for developers to do this today as they need to put food on the table too, and you have GE and Verizon for example doing the same, saves money but again doesn’t do much for the average developer unless someone who already has a job wants a little extra cash.  </strong> I wonder sometimes if big companies when offering “carrots” to write code for them, thinks of the other side being a human needing to make a living too.  BD <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /></p> <h4><a href="http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/allscripts-ousts-ceo-glen-tullman-and.html"><font size="2">Allscripts Ousts CEO Glen Tullman and Lee Shapiro, President, Appoints Board Member To Take Over <br clear="all" /></font></a> <hr /></h4> <p> <br clear="all" />Earlier Tuesday, the company disclosed some restructuring and cost-cutting efforts, including plans to close 12 offices and one warehouse. The company also is making changes to its corporate operating structure in an effort to trim product-development costs. </p> <p>"Our fourth quarter and 2012 financial results did not meet our expectations," Mr. Black said. Following the conclusion of Allscripts' strategic review last year, Mr. Black said he has been engaged with clients and team members. <br clear="all" /> <br clear="all" /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130219-715523.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130219-715523.html</a></p>

Allscripts to Close 12 Offices and One Warehouse–Tough to Compete in Complex World Today With Other Medical Records System Who’s Development & Code Were All Done In-House Over the Years…

I probably go back in this business too far, before there was an Allscripts EHR and when it was only an e-prescribing program.  The company ...

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