The Medical Quack

Fortune 100 Companies Don't Get Twitter Study Says and I Agree

2009-11-19T19:16:00.001-08:00

This is a good study I think as a user of Twitter I can clearly say those without any personality don’t get the reads. You can pretty much tell the stale and stuffy ones out there as they don’t understand how Twitter works, it’s not like putting an ad online, this is interactive. Best Buy uses it for customer service.

http://twitter.com/twelpforce

You know I have to say it’s difficult for me to explain how valuable Twitter is for efficiency and getting information to those who never even got to RSS feeds, and there’s a ton of folks there who don’t know what they are. I see a lot of healthcare folks on here and we somewhat all get acquainted at some point in time to a degree and the new lists have expanded on that a bit more, even though I have been slow in making up a good list, I started one but need to go back and create another one when I have time.

Perfection Social Networks – NOT – but we all live with it and I do have to say Twitter is getting better all the time compared to the early days. We like the convenience and efficiency and live with it since it is social communications and it’s usually fixed pretty quickly when there are issues. BD

In August we reported that a large number of Fortune 100 companies have embraced Twitter, but how well are they actually using it? A study released today (PDF) by Weber Shandwick says the answer is not very well, and that the majority of Fortune 100 companies don’t really get Twitter. Though 73 of 100 companies had at least one registered Twitter account (up from 54 reported in an unrelated study released in August), the majority of them weren’t using Twitter effectively to engage their followers, weren’t tweeting often, and didn’t display any personality in their tweets, according to the study.

The majority of the accounts from Fortune 100 companies had no personality, but instead focused on brand only. Out of the 540 accounts, 53 percent “did not display personality, tone or voice on their account pages,” according to the report, which judged personality based on whether an account was identified with a personality who posted on behalf of the company or if it was a “faceless” brand account.

STUDY: Most Fortune 100 Companies Don't Get Twitter

Technorati Tags: Twitter,Fortune 100,social networks,healthcare,communication

Quest Diagnostics gets European CE Mark for H1N1 (Swine) Flu Test

2009-11-19T18:56:00.001-08:00

The test has been approved here in the US by emergency declaration a few months ago. Quest recently posted 3rd quarter profits of 1.9 billion so they are doing a lot of tests. I did a short interview with their VP of sales with MedPlus, the IT connection with the company not too long ago and you can read more at the link below.

Quest Diagnostics and Health IT – Interview with Rohit Nayak, Vice President of Sales, Clinical Information Solutions Group, MedPlus

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (DGX) can now let you know if it's safe to be out in crowds on both sides of the pond.

The Madison, N.J.-based healthcare conglomerate announced that European regulators have approved its Simplexa test for Influenza A H1N1 (2009) virus, better known as Swine Flu. Developed through its Focus Diagnostics unit, the new test kit is getting its initial rollout this week at the MEDICA 2009 conference in Busseldorf, Germany.

The new test uses reverse-transcription polymerase chain reactions found from nasal and throat samples to detect the flu virus. Physicians have lauded its speed, noting that "fast turnaround time(s) can aid in clinical management of patients and allow hospitals to segregate infected patients from other high-risk individuals," according to Dr. Harald Kessler, head of the molecular research unit at the Medical University of Graz, Austria.

The CE Mark allows sales throughout the 35 countries of the European Union and in other countries that recognize the mark. Test is also available in the U.S. under an emergency provision from the Food & Drug Administration.

Quest Diagnostics gets CE Mark for Swine Flu test | MassDevice - Medical Device Industry News

Related Reading:

Quest Diagnostics and Microsoft HealthVault – Connect to get your Lab Results in your PHR

Quest Diagnostics and Google Empower Patients and Physicians to Share Diagnostic Test Results Online

Quest Diagnostics/MedPlus Centergy(TM) Offers New Technology Benefits – HIE and RHIO

Quest Care360 – Access Patient Lab Results and Medication History from your iPhone

Technorati Tags: Swine Flu,Quest Diagnostics,heatlhcare,H1N1,test,lab tests. Europe

Whistle Blowers Are The Department of Justice’s Best Friend When It Comes to Solving Fraud

2009-11-19T18:23:00.001-08:00

I posted this last October in 2008 and little did I know how true it would really play out to be as time moved on, those 2 items right there are what seems to make the dollars and profits in healthcare today. The DOJ certainly has been helped with the efforts of whistle blowers and there’s money here for a reward too. The largest recoveries have come from both Pharma and Medical Device manufacturers. Again with competition, the marketing sides of the companies want the products moving and making money, so sometimes things get skewed beyond where they should be in the chase for the dollar. With transparency we are now just seeing the tip of the iceberg I think as things that used to be swept under the rug as dust no longer exist as they become boulders as soon as they are exposed. BD

The 2 new hot words in healthcare: algorithms and whistleblowers

The Dept. of Justice is making hay from crackdowns on healthcare fraud, according to new numbers indicating that about two-thirds of the $2.4 billion recovered from false claims prosecutions this year were healthcare-related.

The department said it collected $1.6 billion from busts of Medicare and Medicaid fraud rings, off-label marketing and illegal promotion of drugs and devices during fiscal 2009. That's about 66 percent of the total the feds recovered from fraud cases during the year. This year's haul is the second-highest-grossing year ever, according to a DOJ press release.

Officials said more than $2 billion of the funds recovered were the result of lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act's "qui tam" provisions. These cases, also known as "whistle-blower" cases, typically result in a 15 percent to 25 percent payout of awarded penalties to the tipsters. The DOJ said it paid out $255 million in rewards to whistle-blowers in 2009.

DOJ: healthcare fraud recoveries totaled $1.6 billion in FY09 | MassDevice - Medical Device Industry News

Technorati Tags: DOJ,Department of Justice,whistle blowers,healthcare,algorithms fraud,lawsuits

ZigBee Alliance Creates Group to Educate Healthcare Professionals and Consumers on Telehealth

2009-11-19T18:13:00.001-08:00

First stop for this group should be the US Congress to educate, as they need some of this knowledge so they can create and pass laws that are useful and meaningful, kind of like what everyone is shaking around with meaningful use.

All the wireless solutions are there with companies biting at the bit to make a dollar and thus products are thrown at healthcare professionals and patients and not implemented properly. While they are at it, they might want to meet with the Participatory Sensing Group at UCLA and get some insight beyond proof of concept. It’s a Catch 22 as some companies can’t stay in business if product is delayed and have funding, so the push is there without human concern, just get the dollars they say. We all suffer over that one too, not that the technology is bad, but implementation is the key along with education. The White House is very aware of this study, too bad Congress is not.

White House Speaks About Wireless Technology – Healthcare And ...

Check out this video on a device that creates data trails and can even with Blue Tooth send if off to your insurance company as they demonstrate in the video, shakes a little of big brother here. What happens when this hits the market? Will anyone other than those who maybe check in here once in a while know what the heck it is and furthermore what it’s capabilities are? Consumers need to know and not be snowballed, education and this requires more than just signing some disclosure form. Many medications are moving to inhaled formats, stay tuned.

Telehealth has many neat offerings and if used correctly with educated consumers it could be a win-win all the way around, but it’s a huge paradigm shift for most and that can’t be overlooked as people need an adjustment period for much of it, not to mention education once more.

All the devices need to have “meaningful use” covered too and it seems nobody has touched that issue. BD

The ZigBee Alliance and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) will educate both health care professionals and consumers on benefits of telecommunications technologies as part of a new liaison agreement just announced. The groups will focus on the many capabilities of ZigBee Health Care, an open standard for secure monitoring and management of noncritical, low-acuity health care and wellness services.

ZigBee Health Care is designed to reduce patient care costs while improving care and quality of life for patients and consumers. ZigBee Health Care offers the ATA a ready-to-implement telehealth solution featuring interference-free and secure wireless connectivity, capable of supporting many common noncritical medical devices. It also provides a robust network ideal for secure, remote patient monitoring and one that helps aging and physically challenged people remain independent.

ZigBee Alliance Advancing Use of Telehealth Solutions |

Technorati Tags: Zigbee,wireless,education of Defense,telehealth,healthcare,Consumers,White House,Participatory Sensing,Devices reporting data

The Silence is Deafening With Meaningful Use – Start Spelling Some of This Out In Algorithmic Formats

2009-11-19T17:51:00.001-08:00

One thing to be said for algorithmic formats is that there would a bit less text to deal with and less money going out for legal advice. Publish the algorithms that need to be met and put them out there, of course along with some text. If we could have a programmatic approach with certain parameters to meet, it might give us a running start. Laws are amended and the same could be done for algorithms. We can’t get rid of text entirely but a working model of what need to be incorporated as the basic standards would sure improve and bring everyone to the same base. Right now without that support we have a lot of talk going on.

It almost looks like we need to create that department of algorithms. This could make manufacturing easier too and again regular meetings to collaborate as changes come along to modify would be fine and it could make any certification processes easier too. Meetings of course would bring about innovation too among manufacturers and if their algorithms were used for amendments, there would have to be no royalties of any sorts as they would have the running start with a product ahead of others. Technology is not going to stop and we seem to be getting more fractured every day to the point where some are zoning out with overflow and marketing. You can only take so much marketing and even just doing this blog I am buried and ignore a lot of it too. I am still human and can only absorb so much at a time too.

This brings about another thought too on software, why not use a common user interface too for clinicians? Why do doctors have to learn so many software programs? Could you imagine Congress having to sit down and hit the books and learn software to make laws? Hmmm, well maybe that’s not a bad idea entirely and would create some empathy and knowledge as to what is happening in Health IT as they are clueless. I believe in competition by all means, but right now we are a bit out of hand where nobody or their brother can make a decision and feel good about it, people argue and they don’t even know the basis of what they are feuding about!

The Medical Quack: Microsoft HealthVault and Common User Interface

We have the smart and smarter going up against the dumb and the dumber, and no disrespect here to anyone, but it is what it is. The smart and the smarter need to stop and take a breath and help educate and bring the level up by helping the dumb and dumber so we don’t have this and greed seems to be standing in our way, like Wall Street for an example. BD

For the health IT industry, the silence is deafening. There's little that can be said about the looming release of meaningful use definitions for electronic health records that will be made public in about a month.

When National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal gave the opening keynote at the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives 09 Fall Forum in California a couple of weeks ago, he emphasized that point before 550 attendees -- about 320 of them being CIOs at hospitals and integrated delivery systems. He couldn't discuss details of the parameters that health care providers' EHR systems will need to achieve to qualify for stimulus payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

CMS is studying a variety of recommendations on the definitions and is expected to issue a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making in December. That will set in motion the process to develop a final rule on the meaningful use criteria for hospitals.

"Dr. Blumenthal was seeking input from those of us on the front line of the activity," Chuck Christian, CIO at Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes, Ind., said, adding, "He was more interested in what we had to say rather than sharing information, and we gave him targeted feedback."

While there is general understanding of what the meaningful use criteria will look like for 2011, it's difficult for many organizations to move forward without the specifics, Christian said.

Meaningful Silence Deafening for Health IT Industry - iHealthBeat

Technorati Tags: Algorithms,Meaningful use,Blumenthal,healthcare reform,certification,software,Department of Algorithms

FDA Approves Hot Chili Pain Patch – Made With a Synthetic Version of Capsaicin

2009-11-19T17:14:00.001-08:00

Need a pain patch, hot chilies to the rescue, well sort of. The pain patch product, Qutenza need a prescription by your physician. It is stated to be helpful with relief from shingles in this article. It sounds like some pretty powerful stuff as one application applied by a physician can give up to 12 weeks relief, sign me up for all my aches and pains for that matter. BD

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first prescription strength capsaicin product: Qutenza, a prescription pain patch designed to reduce nerve pain caused by shingles.

What is Capsaicin?

Capsaicin, in its natural form, is the substance in peppers, like chili peppers and cayenne peppers, that gives them their heat. It is also a long used and beloved natural herbal remedy for all sorts of external aches and pains, including nerve pain and arthritis.

From the website:

Qutenza^TM is indicated for the management of neuropathic pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia.

Qutenza^TM contains capsaicin in a local dermal delivery system. The capsaicin in Qutenza^TM is a synthetic equivalent of the naturally occurring compound found in chili peppers.

Qutenza^TM is administered by a physician or a health professional under the close supervision of a physician. Qutenza^TM may be administered every 3 months or as warranted by the return of pain, but not more frequently than every 3 months. In clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions were application site redness, pain, itching, and papules. The majority of these reactions were transient and self limited. Among patients treated with Qutenza^TM, 1% discontinued prematurely due to an adverse event. Serious adverse reactions included application-site pain and increased blood pressure. Blood pressure increases during or shortly after Qutenza^TM treatment were on average less than 10 mm Hg, although some patients had greater increases and these changes lasted for approximately 2 hours after patch removal.

FDA approves prescription pain patch based on herbal remedy capsaicin

Technorati Tags: FDA,chili peppers,Qutenza,Capsaicin,healthcare,pain,patches,herbal remedy

Medicare Extends Personal Health Record Pilot Program – Magpie Healthcare Thrives, Where’s the Training and Education?

2009-11-19T08:59:00.001-08:00

I talk about this quite a bit here, especially since I am actively involved and have helped my own 85 year old mother with putting her records into a PHR. I also was skeptical about the success when initially announced, again going back to lack of education and training. PHRs are not just something you put out there and wait for the consumers to show up, education and training is needed in order to SHOW VALUE. We seem to have a difficult time with this word “value” all over the place today from non-participants and the only way to create value is to educate.

I also see a lot folks writing about PHRs and when I ask specific questions on how they are using a program I also tend to get one big zero, in other words, “Magpie Healthcare”, in the fact that so many experts still succumb to the belief that PHRs are for “those guys over there” and in actuality are non participants themselves. Here’s the original announcement:

CMS names four PHR vendors for Medicare pilot program

Personal Health Records (PHR), I don’t do technology said the CEO, “it’s for those guys over there”

How many members of Congress use a PHR for example? Non-participants normally can’t see the value. A PHR is something for everyone at every walk of life, not just for the peasants. I did a follow up post, the pilot was not working well with little participation.

Where are the PHR mentors – education required as the Arizona ...

The bottom line is to invest in educating our citizens in the US, and nobody seems to be able to get a handle on this. We have devices coming out right and left that report data, what’s the average level of knowledge with the average consumer on this, zero! I say this as I interact and ask questions all the time, this is the reality. We seem to be so wrapped up in the importance of running business intelligence algorithms today that we forget the “human side” of all of this and assume that consumers will read and get all of this – they don’t. We have a huge society of people who do not read and education and training is needed to reach out. Everybody talks about it, but in reality we have a real “no go” here and an internet full of all the information needed with those who talk about the processes and many failing to be participants themselves. This is the reality of the pot calling the kettle black. BD

One Hell of a Training Program Needed – The Bottom Line to Success in Health IT

Medicare PHR Choice offered to Arizona and Utah beneficiaries through 2010.

Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) November 19, 2009 -- Medicare PHR Choice, a pilot program that provides beneficiaries with direct input of claims data into online personal health records (PHRs), will continue through December 2010 according to officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The pilot is available to people with Original Fee-for-Service Medicare who are primary residents of Utah and Arizona.

Medicare PHR Choice allows beneficiaries to choose from one of four PHR tools to maintain their health information electronically. The PHR companies--Google Health, HealthTrio, NoMoreClipboard.com, and PassportMD--offer beneficiaries a range of consumer PHR services and features so they may choose which format will best meet their needs. Enrollment in the PHR Choice pilot is free, and some vendors offer additional services for a small fee.

In addition, the Medicare PHR Choice participants are able to enter other health provider and prescription information to their online records. Depending on the specific PHR tool selected, participants may be able to authorize other data transfers, such as prescription records from a participating pharmacy. PHRs also may offer links to tools that help consumers manage their health, including wellness programs for tracking diet and exercise, information about drugs and medical devices, health education information, and applications that detect potential medication interactions.

Medicare Extends Personal Health Record Pilot

Technorati Tags: PHR,Medicare,Education,Training,Pilot program,PHR Choice,Magpie Healthcare,Non participants,Value,Health IT

Health Net Data Breach – 1.5 Million Records At Risk With Missing Portable Hard Drive

2009-11-19T08:01:00.000-08:00

Members in 3 states going back to 2002 are at risk and will receive free credit services. Recently Blue Cross was in the news for a similar type of incident with exposing provider information. The hard drive was lost 6 months ago and is just now being reported so if it did fall into the hands of someone trying to take advantage with identity theft some activity could have already taken place. I would think the company would back date the protection services to in order to protect members.

Once again, this makes a real loud statement about security and the use of external drives and flash drives containing patient and provider information which should be stored on a secured server. Sure there are issues there as well but it’s a bit more difficult to break into a full on server than having a non-encrypted drive in one’s hands. BD

A hard drive with seven years of personal and medical information on about 1.5 million Health Net customers, including 446,000 in Connecticut, was lost six months ago and was first reported Wednesday, state and company officials said.
The insurance company informed the state attorney general's office and the Department of Insurance Wednesday of the security breach that puts personal medical records at risk in a historic lapse, the first of its kind to be publicly reported.

A portable, external hard drive with Social Security numbers and medical records "disappeared" and is still missing from the insurer's Northeast headquarters in Shelton, a Health Net spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The hard drive contains Social Security numbers, medical records and health information dating to 2002 for 1.5 million customers — past and present — in Arizona, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, the spokeswoman said.

Sullivan said his office is requiring Health Net to offer credit protection monitoring through Debix, a company that provides identity-theft protection services.
"My main concern is protecting the members and participating providers," Sullivan said. "We are currently working with Health Net to ensure adequate notification and protections for all involved."

1.5 Million Medical Files At Risk In Health Net Data Breach -- Courant.com

Technorati Tags: Health Net,Security Breach,healthcare,health insurance,Connecticut,Attorney General,hard drives,external drives,Identity theft

Tele Presence Robots for Remote Workers – Invasion of the AnyBots

2009-11-18T19:35:00.001-08:00

More Robots, these do dishes and make coffee and you control them remotely! OK….Here’s a page with some videos.

The phone used to be the next best thing to being there! If forgot to vacuum, just remotely hook up and get the job done, same for the dishes. Housekeeping jobs could be in danger next? BD

"There's a mirror over there," Blackwell said, pointing, and I tapped the keys again until I was facing it. I saw a slender, wheeled robot with two cameras and a small square video screen on its head displaying the real me. This was QB (pictured above), the latest Anybots robot, which is just about to go into private beta testing.

It does a pretty good job at unpacking a Roomba.

I tried out QB at the 2009 IEEE conference on Technologies for Practical Robot Applications (TePRA) conference, where I also met Erin Rapacki, Anybots' newest employee. Rapacki was flying out to the company's office in Mountain View, California the next day, but had set up her laptop and headset so that conference attendees could try the teleoperated robot and chat with her west-coast coworkers.

Technology Review: Blogs: TR Editors' blog: A Long-Distance Robot Relationship

Technorati Tags: Anybots,Robots,healthcare,Monty,teleoperated robots,telework

HealthVault Product Manager Discusses HealthVault and How It Works With Mayo Clinic

2009-11-18T19:10:00.001-08:00

One of the product Development Managers from HeatlhVault discusses how he works with and uses the Mayo Clinic HealthVault software.

Anymore with all the products emerging in this area, one of the most important pieces of information to ask is where are my records stored as some others are a bit vague, so you may think your records are in one place but find out differently later. You could even be exposed to 3rd party offerings or software, so again be sure and ask.

Mayo Clinic and HealthVault Partner for Personal Health Records - April 2009

In the video and in the screenshot above, you can clearly see that the product is HealthVault branded with Mayo Clinic adding additional healthcare information to help patients from the huge data bases and updated information Mayo has to offer. BD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFtE2Qh8cJc

Technorati Tags: PHR,HealthVault,personal health records,healthcare,informed patient,Microsoft,Mayo Clinic

DeCode Genetics Files for Bankruptcy in the US – Iceland Facility Likely to Go On Option Block

2009-11-18T18:13:00.001-08:00

This is sad and in August of 2008 it looked like the company was on their way.

Decode Nearly Doubles Revenues in Q2 - Personalized Medicine

As the article states it was not all the economy that lead to the bankruptcy filing, but it certainly didn’t help. The tests and research did not end up being significant enough to help bolster the development of medical genetic tests and help with production of pharmaceutical products. When the new owners take over, the fate of the Iceland facility will be addressed, will it stay or go? It certainly seems that someone could make use of the facility and research on hand and create some new business models for going in some new directions. Since deCode began though, many competitors have emerged as well, so competition in this area became very fierce, very fast. BD

DeCode Genetics, a pioneering company that used the Icelandic population as its guinea pigs in detecting disease-causing mutations, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday.

The company’s demise suggests that the medical promise of the human genome may take much longer to be fulfilled than its sponsors had hoped. Based in Reykjavik, Iceland, it was founded in 1996 by Dr. Kari Stefansson, a research neurologist who worked at the University of Chicago and at Harvard. After the human genome sequence was achieved in 2003, Dr. Stefansson quickly realized that Iceland’s excellent medical records, combined with the genealogical information available on its close-knit population, provided a fine test bed for seeking the roots of genetically complex diseases like cancer, diabetes and schizophrenia.

Whatever business errors deCode may have made, a principal reason for its downfall is scientific — the genetic nature of human disease has turned out to be far more complex than thought.

DeCode Genetics Files for Bankruptcy - NYTimes.com

Technorati Tags: Pharmacogenomics,DNA,Healthcare,Genomics,Genetics,Research,Investors,human genome,bankruptcy

Aetna Health Insurance Laying Off over 1000 Employees – Most in Connecticut

2009-11-18T17:29:00.001-08:00

The economy is having it’s toll on everyone. Aetna has won some and lost some in the corporate bidding battles as employers have been one of their key targets. Bank of America and Tri-Care have been 2 of their recent awarded contracts. What else does this mean potentially, more automation and less potential individuals to speak with. All companies are streamlining their operations to incorporate automation, being made possible with new algorithms and business models.

The “scoring” of claims of course will continue and that process, if you read the news in the last six months, is on a sky rocket with data improvements and algorithmic automation. The company is of course still making money, but with lay offs today, that means little as automation will serve to increase current profits. The healthcare insurance business, outside of Wall Street itself has been one of the heaviest investors in software technology, business intelligence runs the business models and the entire way they do business. BD

NDIANAPOLIS - Health insurer Aetna said Wednesday it will cut 625 jobs immediately, or nearly 2 percent of its staff, and will make a similar number of cuts by the end of the 2010 first quarter due to the lagging economy and the potential impact of health care reform.

Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna trimmed 977 jobs last December and currently has about 35,500 people. Several other large insurers, including Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. and Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp., also have announced cuts.

Health insurers have faced growing financial pressure in the past few quarters as corporate job cuts have trimmed the number of people covered by employer-sponsored health insurance. Many insurers project enrollment losses will continue into 2010 as the unemployment rate is projected to keep rising.

Aetna, the third largest publicly traded managed care company, saw medical enrollment grow 8 percent in the third quarter to more than 19 million people. But it expects to lose 225,000 people in the fourth quarter and another 650,000 in the first quarter of 2010, spokesman Fred Laberge said.

Aetna cutting more than 1,000 jobs by 1st quarter - News Wires - CNBC.com

Related Reading:

Aetna and United HealthCare Secure Military Contracts with Tri-Care

Here Come the Health Coaches - Aetna Locks Contract with Bank of America for Health Insurance for 3 Years – Cigna Lines Up 3 Major Employers

Aetna Takes a Year to Settle $31,000.00 Claim – Thought They Had a Doctor In Network Who Could Have Performed Special Surgery and Found Out They Did Not

Technorati Tags: Aetna,health insurance,layoffs,healthcare,healthcare reform,algorithms,employees,economy,Wall Street

California PPO Report Card is Out – No Five Stars and No Four Stars For That Matter

2009-11-18T12:31:00.001-08:00

Here’s the screenshot of the summary, details can be read at the site. This is created by the Department of Insurance and Blue Cross didn’t even respond on this go around. Does this mean anything to individuals any longer or are the carriers too busy with their own business intelligence operations and software to participate? It doesn’t look like chronic disease is getting enough of a shake here, even though everyone talks about it all the time. BD

On Tuesday, the California Department of Insurance unveiled a Web-based PPO report card designed to help consumers compare ratings on five major health plans in the state, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

A state report card for HMOs has been in place since 2002.

The new Web site rates PPOs on criteria such as:

Asthma care;

Cancer screenings;

Diabetes care; and

Pediatric health (Sacramento Business Journal, 11/17)

California Launches Online PPO Report Card for State Health Plans - iHealthBeat

Technorati Tags: PPO Rankings,California,heatlhcare,health insurance,medical plans,algorithms,business intelligence

Patients at El Camino Hospital Check in with Biometric Authentication – Patient Security

2009-11-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

This is pretty neat and not too long ago I wrote about the opening of the hospital. The PalmSecure software/hardware will work with Citrix and scans your hand. Once you have been registered, one scan of the hand is all that is needed. Watch the video as well to see what other neat things are going on, including the speech translators in the ER, right at the end of the beds. BD

MOUNTAIN VIEW and FOOTHILLRANCH, Calif., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ --When patients were admitted to the new El Camino Hospital in Mountain View for the first time on Monday, November 16, the registration process included something most people associate with sci-fi thrillers -- a cutting edge biometric registration system that "reads" patients' identities by scanning the unique vein structures in their palms.

The system El Camino Hospital is using as an integral part of its new patient registration and identification system is the Fujitsu PalmSecure(TM) palm vein biometric authentication technology. The PalmSecure technology's integration with HT Systems' PatientSecure and McKesson's Star Hospital Information Systems provides El Camino Hospital with a highly accurate, non-intrusive verification method for effectively registering and identifying patients. The combined solution protects patient privacy and helps to prevent medical identity theft while allowing patients to receive swift, accurate care.

Registration in the Palm of Your Hand

Technorati Tags: El Camino Hospital,Fujisu Palm Secure,hospitals,Health IT,wired hospital

IBM Scientists Created Point of Care Diagnostic Test Using Silicon Chip – Less Sample, Faster And Can Test for Many Diseases

2009-11-17T22:32:00.001-08:00

The big test touted here is testing for heart disease. The chip is portable and the patient has to donate less blood and/or urine. This is amazing that results would be available in a couple of minutes, no more waiting for the long lab reports.

They intend use to be in a pen, credit card or other formats. It’s all about the silicon here. The next chips would be able to read 6 samples at one time. IBM states the testing of course could be used by doctors as well as pharmaceutical companies. When you watch the video you can see the sample move across the chip, smaller than a tear drop. BD

IBM scientists have created a one-step point-of-care-diagnostic test, based on an innovative silicon chip that requires less sample volume, is significantly faster, portable, easy to use and can test for many diseases, including one of world's leading cause of death, cardiovascular disease*. The results are so quick and accurate that a patients serum or blood sample, could be tested immediately following a myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, to enable the doctor to take a course of action and to predict the patients survival rate.

YouTube - IBM Scientists Reinvent Medical Diagnostic Testing

Technorati Tags: IBM,silicon,diagnosis,tests,Lab tests,serum,heart disease,science,partners,Switzerland

Office Ally Receives Electronic Health Network Accreditation – Privacy and HIPPA Compliance

2009-11-17T10:38:00.001-08:00

Just last week Office Ally announced new information regarding their PHR, personal health records, and security and privacy is something that is on everyone’s mind today. With the EHNAC accreditation added, they have met the standards set forth so this goes forward to show the commitment to security and privacy. You can read more about the process here. View the post from last week at the link below on EHR, PHR and Clearing house services.

Office Ally Adds More Connectivity for Physicians and Patients – EHR and PHR Web Based Services

Also, you can follow Office Ally for updates and other additional information on Twitter. Office_Ally at Twitter

Press Release:

Accreditation Ensures Compliance with Industry-Established Standards for All Health Data Processing and Transactions

VANCOUVER, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Office Ally, a true health information network, connecting patients, providers and payers, announced today it has achieved full accreditation with the Healthcare Network Accreditation Program (HNAP) from the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC). EHNAC’s HNAP accreditation recognizes excellence in health data processing and transactions, and indicates compliance with industry-established standards and HIPAA regulations.

Through the consultative review process, EHNAC evaluated Office Ally in areas of privacy measures, systems availability and security infrastructure. In addition, EHNAC reviewed the organizations’ process of managing and transferring protected health information and determined that the organization meets or exceeds all EHNAC criteria and industry standards. Through completion of the rigorous accreditation process, the organization demonstrates to its constituents, adherence to strict standards and participation in the comprehensive, objective evaluation of its business.

“EHNAC provides one of the most challenging yet vital accreditation processes in the nation,” notes Brian O’Neill, president of Office Ally. “If the healthcare industry is to ensure the widespread adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI) for healthcare data and enjoy the many benefits it provides, we must be able to assure the security of data transmissions. EHNAC’s accreditation recognizes Office Ally’s own rigorous standards and commitment to privacy.”

Office Ally offers a simple-to-use web-based integrated system that connects patients, providers, and payors with a range of services. This complete solution increases efficiency and enhances profitability—and most services are offered at no charge to providers. EHNAC reviewed Office Ally’s data submission practices for protected health information and found that all procedures met or exceeded all EHNAC criteria.

“Through EHNAC HNAP-EHN accreditation, Office Ally has demonstrated a commitment to ensuring the security and privacy of health data processing and transactions for its customers,” says Lee Barrett, executive director of EHNAC. “We are honored to have Office Ally join our select group of HNAP-accredited organizations and congratulate them on this achievement.”

About EHNAC

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) is a voluntary, self-governing standards development organization established to develop standard criteria and accredit organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data. These entities include electronic health networks, payers, financial services firms, and e-Prescribing and other solution providers.

EHNAC was founded in 1993 and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. Guided by peer evaluation, the EHNAC accreditation process promotes quality service, innovation, cooperation and open competition in healthcare. To learn more, visit www.ehnac.org or contact info@ehnac.org.

About Office Ally:

Office Ally is a national full service medical claims clearinghouse and electronic connectivity company based in Vancouver, Washington. The company offers effective free or low-cost IT services that help to lower health care costs and provide more efficiencies for physicians, payors, and patients, including medical claims filing, practice management, electronic medical records, and personal health records systems. For more information, visit www.officeally.com or call (866) 575-4120.

Office Ally Receives EHNAC Electronic Health Network Accreditation | Business Wire

Technorati Tags: Office Ally,medical billing,clearinghouse,PHR,EHR,medical records,healthcare,personal health records,IT services,practice management,electronic medical records,EHNAC,privacy

FedEx Introduces SenseAware – Focus on Healthcare and Life Sciences for Tracking Shipments In Real Time

2009-11-17T08:45:00.001-08:00

In a former life I worked for a logistics company which is now owned by FedEx and this brings back some memories and is also very a very interesting innovation for those involved in transporting Life Sciences cargo, which can vary in content from being lab samples to supplies, etc. At some point in time we all have to rely on common carriers for sending and receiving good and high value medical/life science cargo usually pays top dollar and demands priority, simply due to the fact that it is science and healthcare related, time and condition sensitive. I am always amazed with FedEx and their innovation as they seem to wait for nobody and forge ahead and I’ll still remember the day years ago in the Airbus simulator I had a number of years ago, being able to experience simulation in what now might be called the “early days”.

You can read through the text here and it’s not hard to figure out how useful the SenseAware technology will be, especially if you were say in Israel and making a time sensitive shipment to the US, it could be material needed for clinical trials for a simple example. We are getting to the end of dry ice days it appears as better methodologies are being used by various companies too. You can read more here on what FedEx and Cryport are doing in this effort and an earlier post from this year with a message from Fred Smith, the CEO, speaking of current times and the plans for the future for FedEx.

Just as a side note of information, did you know you can use Twitter to track your FedEx packages? This is a post from last year and the services through Twitter has been around for a while now.

TrackThis: Twitter on Drugs for Mail Order Prescriptions…Track Fedex, UPS, DHL Packages…

Once the SenseAware program gets moving it will allow both parties to see the real time status and condition of the shipment. This will be interesting as well as it would seem to also involve some type of notification process to for the pilots of the aircraft too when shipments using the technology are on board. Some of the aircraft flown by FedEx, namely the MD-11 jets already are assisted with Tablet PCs that take over many of the functions that used to be done manually. A flight plan is loaded and just finding airport (JEPPS) maps is accomplished much easier with a computer and I remember way back helping someone file all of those, I had the filing end of that chore. Lately there has been some bad press about notebooks in the cockpit, but there are legitimate and aviation functions where they are needed and that area will grow.

This will be interesting to follow and see how the new tracking device works! Again, we can always seem to look to FedEx for setting the pace for others to follow and those high value shipments relating to Science and Healthcare will be right on the mark. BD

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), today announced SenseAware^SMpowered by FedEx, a next generation, first-of-its-kind information service that combines a GPS sensor device and a web-based collaboration platform. Developed by the FedEx innovation team, SenseAware will provide increased access to information between business partners and customers to aid in the management of supply chain interactions and will target the life sciences industry at launch.

Available in the spring of 2010, SenseAware is an open, highly adaptive and easy-to-use sensor information sharing platform. It is a multi-modal solution that will serve customers who desire near real-time visibility and insight into their shipments. SenseAware will provide business decision makers the ability to quickly and easily collaborate on many types of information data across their global supply chain.

SenseAware is permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration to be used during flight on FedEx aircraft and will allow customers to monitor in-transit conditions during ground transportation.

A SenseAware device riding with a FedEx shipment can provide the following information:

Precise temperature readings

A shipment's exact location

When a shipment is opened or if the contents have been exposed to light

Real-time alerts and analytics between trusted parties regarding the above vital signs of a shipment

SenseAware can be easily adopted as it does not require a costly software installation, infrastructure or large managed-service commitments. The added flexibility of the SenseAware device enables it to be used for single shipments or in large palletized shipments.

Available in 2010, SenseAware will initially target the health care and life sciences industry. SenseAware was created through intensive research and beta-testing with customers within those industries. Pilot customers immediately recognized the benefits of the technology during an internal testing phase and realized the potential to shorten inventory turnaround time on closed loop shipments by having complete inbound visibility to all shipments.

By providing extensive aggregated data shipment information, the technology will help life science customers comply with audits and quality checks, which occur regularly on such highly regulated products, For example, within the industry, many shipments must remain within a specified ambient or cold-chain temperature range to be effective for use in patient care. By having the correct and necessary data, users can make the proper business decisions to replenish or make other arrangements to meet the business requirement.

FedEx Introduces SenseAware, the Next Generation Supply Chain Information Platform | FedEx Global Newsroom

Technorati Tags: FedEx,Life Sciences,Logistics,healthcare,alerts,software,devices reporting data,tracking devices,SenseAware,MD-11,aircraft,technology,Innovation

Demand for Temporary Physicians,Nurses and Other Medical Positions Falling

2009-11-17T06:52:00.000-08:00

Most of the agencies discussed here stated the economy and stock market had an impact on their markets and even drops in locum tenens placements were down, though not as low. Some stated a recent small spike but overall the numbers have been down from last year. There’s a lot of elective type surgeries that are also being put off. With approximately 55% of the hospitals in the US operating in the “red” today you can almost bet those numbers are being watched closely with budgets and staffing. BD

Recently released third-quarter results from a handful of publicly traded companies that provide physicians, nurses and other staff for hospitals and other medical facilities indicate that business is down.

"The unprecedented market contraction experienced by the health care staffing industry over the past year is a direct reflection of the rapid rise to historically high levels of general unemployment," said Susan R. Nowakowski, president and chief executive officer of AMN Healthcare Services Inc., in a statement announcing the financials for that company.

AMN experienced a 47% drop in revenue in the third quarter of 2009 compared with the third quarter of 2008, down to $167 million from $315 million. This translated to a net loss of $2 million, compared with a $9.5 million gain during the same quarter of 2008.

In the first nine months of 2009, the company had total losses of $119 million.

Revenue from providing nurses and other health care professionals was down 62%, and revenue from locum tenens physicians was down 12%. Money earned from placing physicians decreased by 31%.

On Assignment Inc., which provides nurses and physicians as well as engineers and scientists, announced a 39% revenue drop to $98.1 million. Health care staffing revenues fell 9.6% from the second quarter of 2009 to the third quarter. This was primarily a result of a 23.6% drop in demand for traveling nurses, because cash-strapped hospitals put a hold on bringing in temporary staff.

The company said reduced demand for its services was behind the losses.

amednews: Fewer temporary physicians needed :: Nov. 16, 2009 ... American Medical News

Technorati Tags: Temporary help,locum tenens,healthcare,staffing,placements,hospitals,budgets,economy

Interactive Graphic – Your Labs and How To Read and Understand the Report

2009-11-17T06:37:00.000-08:00

I thought this was very cool to see in the New York Times and you can click on the image to visit the site. How many of us really know what all the information on a lab report is?

This is almost one of those web sites worth bookmarking to find it again later if needed. You can click on any portion of the image and the description and other information for help appears in the left hand side. BD

A blood test is a typical part of a physical exam, but deciphering the numbers is anything but routine. Interpretation of the results is strictly the province of a medical professional.

A Look at Blood Counts and What They Mean - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

Technorati Tags: lab reports,Quest Diagnostics,New York Times,healthcare,interactive graphic,education

Mammogram Guidelines Change – Screening Should Start at 50 and Then Only Every 2 Years

2009-11-16T22:25:00.001-08:00

Women that fall under the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes tests though, would not be subject to the guidelines established. The BRCA tests are also being scrutinized by health insurance companies as well since they appear to be a big expense at around $3000.

Myriad's BRACAnalysis Tests Scrutinized by Insurance Carriers ...

So now where do we go from here, should we have more of the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 tests done to actually find the women who need to have the screening started earlier? It would make sense to me and again I wonder if cost is somehow in the picture a bit. There is also a big move to bring down the costs of the tests and share some of the genomic data with other researchers too instead of one company having a hold on the full patent. Patents are changing quite a bit today too, ask any pharma company. BD

For the first time in 20 years, a government panel is telling women in their 40s to stop getting routine mammograms and recommending that a host of other breast cancer screening slow down.

The United States Preventive Service Task Force announced Monday that it recommends against annual mammograms for women age 40 to 49 because, they say, the "harms" and risks of testing do not outweigh the benefits.

USPSTF still recommends doctors start screening all women over age 50, but with a mammogram once every two years instead of annually.

The task force also recommends against teaching breast self-exams for all women and said evidence was insufficient to recommend mammograms for women older than 74.

Anecdotally, most people in the United States can think of a woman they know who caught breast cancer through a routine mammogram long before she turned 50. Many patient advocates wonder if money fueled the decision.

New Mammogram Guidelines Spur Debate Over Early Detection - ABC News

Technorati Tags: Mammograms,screening,healthcare,guidelines,breast cancer,x-rays,preventive medicine,BRCA

Coffee Monitor Management - System Center Operations Manager To Let You Know When Supply Has Reached Dangerous and Unacceptable Levels

2009-11-16T22:08:00.001-08:00

Forget about securing the data and working on the data center, this comes first, the coffee! This is actually pretty interesting to see how the web cam and the software takes over to let you know when coffee levels are dangerous, in other words almost gone.

Only real geeks would do this, but if you were stuck in a data center, you would completely understand!

Watch the video and see how the configuration goes here, almost makes an EHR look simple, but this appears to be our future, configuring the coffee pot someday and even it will have no privacy. (grin). BD

This management packs can be used to keep track of the level of coffee in left in the pot.

With this management pack, you will never run dry of, what we all know, is the most important part of a productive environment!

This is mostly made as a proof of concept, as this technique can be transferred to other monitor types. It could be expanded with other types of sensors, like a weight to check the level of coffee instead of a camera, or a thermometer to check the temperature of the coffee.

This is the very first version. It has been tested in test environments.

By default, it will trigger a warning when under 50% is left, and a Critical Alert when under 20% is left.

Requirements

Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2

“System Center Operations Manager is the end-to-end service-management product that is the best choice for Windows because it works seamlessly with Microsoft software and applications, helping organizations increase efficiency while enabling greater control of the IT environment.”

Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 SP1

A network connected camera

Coffee machine with clear-glass pot and free view to all of the pot, see an example in the video.

The management pack is based upon Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 SP1. This is required to be installed before the executables can run.

http://blog.coretech.dk/opsmgr07/opsmgr-2007-r2-scom-coretech-coffee-monitor-management-pack-0001/

Hat Tip: http://kurtsh.spaces.live.com

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,software,coffee,monitoring devices,privacy,System Center Operations Manager,Data,IT Structure

I Have No Other Choice ... I've Got To Stop It'…Lieberman On Filibustering

2009-11-16T21:45:00.001-08:00

Perhaps on the day he does his deed, we could outfit him with a Fitbit, would love to see the activity level that day and we want to keep stress levels low. You can listen to his audio below. BD

Fitbit Wireless Device Monitors your Daily Activity and Movements ...

(CNSNews.com) -- Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he has "no other choice" but to filibuster a health care bill that contains a government-run health insurance option, adding that while reform is needed, the public option would be harmful to America’s future and that he would use his right as a senator to try "to stop it."
“I have no other choice,” Lieberman told several reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. “I’ve got to use the right I have as a senator to stop something that I think is going to be terrible for our future, which is the public option, not health care reform. I want to vote for health care reform.”

CNSNews.com - Lieberman on Public Option Health Care: 'I Have No Other Choice ... I've Got To Stop It'

Technorati Tags: Lieberman,Fitbit,healthcare reform,Senate,Congress,Capitol Hill

Men Who Stare at Votes And Bring Babies to the Floor of the House – Healthcare Reform

2009-11-16T09:56:00.001-08:00

In his usual style, Jon Stewart comments on comments we are hearing today and what sense they do or do not make. “The baby is right” let’s do what the baby wants! Rep John Shadegg from Arizona brings a baby in, and the baby wants to keep her plan! After this, Pete Stark from California “raised him with 2 tweens” (teenagers).

After this there is a reminder of a rule, not to use guests. This is a real side show here by all means.

Don’t bring your baby to the floor of the House. Vote now and we’ll throw in a Shake Weight.

Who’s making the best show for effect here, are we really talking healthcare reform or voting on who makes the best show, sure seems to a lack of some intelligence along the line here:) BD

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

The Men Who Stare at Votes

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

Technorati Tags: Daily Show,Holocaust,Jon Stewart,healthcare reform,Washginton DC

IBM Putting Business Intelligence in the Cloud – Smart Analytics Cloud Services Available

2009-11-16T09:21:00.001-08:00

If you have not heard enough about business intelligence and the cloud, here’s more news. IBM said 83% of respondents to its recent Global CIO survey stated that business intelligence is the answer to locating and defining information to create greater competitiveness in market places, and this included healthcare, and we have certainly seen a big share of competition there. BD

IBM (NYSE: IBM) on Monday announced plans to deploy an internal cloud computing environment that will make more than a petabyte of information—the equivalent of 100 times the content of the Library of Congress--instantly available to employees under a project called Blue Insight.

IBM said Blue Insight will help more than 200,000 employees around the world make better decisions by providing them with real-time information about customers, suppliers, and other business contacts, whether in their offices, in the field, or on the road.

"This new model of cloud computing will provide our employees with a single place to access real business insights, improve standards compliance, and create a repository of best practices throughout the company," said IBM CIO Pat Toole, in a statement.

IBM said it also plans to make the service's architecture, dubbed IBM Smart Analytics Cloud—available to customers. IBM said the Smart Analytics Cloud offering is currently available.

IBM Launches Business Analytics Cloud -- InformationWeek

Technorati Tags: IBM,cloud servcies,business intelligence,healthcare,competition,analytics,CIO

23andMe Changes Prices and Splits on Ancestry and Health DNA Services

2009-11-16T08:53:00.001-08:00

The Genomics business is getting more personalized too as time moves on and current marketing is also causing some restructuring and change to occur. In a way you this is good as a patient can focus their interest in one direction or another, do you want more health or ancestry related information with your DNA reading. Recently I also reported that an insurance carrier is also offering discounts to policy holders if they want to have a DNA process created for them. The marketing efforts of most DNA Genomic companies appears to be partnering more so for a larger concentration of coverage in capturing potential customers all the way around. BD

Personal genomics company 23andMe announced yesterday on its blog (and in an email to customers) of impending changes to its product line. Until now 23andMe has offered only two products: its $399 full scan, and a $99 Research Revolution product that offers limited functionality and a focus on common disease risk prediction.

There are two major components of the altered product line. Firstly, customers will now be able to purchase separate products focusing on health and ancestry: the Ancestry Edition ($399) will focus on ancestry and genealogy analyses, while the Health Edition ($429) will provide risk predictions for common diseases and provide an updated line of carrier testing for rare, severe, recessive mutations relevant to reproductive decisions. It sounds as though 23andMe plans to move more extensively into the carrier testing market.

Finally, the company will still be offering its full scan to customers, but at an increased price of $499. If you want to get the full scan at the current price of $399 you have only a few days to order: the price hike comes into effect on November 19th.

23andMe raises prices, splits its health and ancestry analyses : Genetic Future

California Outpatient centers offering 23andme Genome service

Technorati Tags: 23 and Me,Google,healthcare,DNA,genomics,silicon Valley,R and D,Science