Health Care Law Blog

2009 Joint Commission Standards: Now Available Online

2008-07-01T18:13:00.000-05:00

The Joint Commission's revised standards are now available online. Additional details about the revisions are available on the Standards Improvement Initiative web page.

The timetable for the release of the new standards, manuals and scoring information is as follows:

July 2008: Standards will be posted to The Joint Commission website
August 2008: Scoring information will be posted to the website
September 2008: Hard copy manuals will be available for Phase 1 programs (ambulatory, hospital, critical access hospital, home care, office-based surgery)
November 2008: Hard copy manuals will be available for Phase 2 programs (behavioral health care, laboratory services, long term care)*
November 2008: Single-user access to E-dition (electronic manuals) will be available for all accreditation customers.

According to the press release, "the standards will take effect January 1, 2009 and will be placed online to give all health care organizations time to become familiar with the new language, ordering and numbering."

The press release continues by stating:

The changes are part of the Standards Improvement Initiative (SII), launched in 2006 as part of The Joint Commission’s ongoing quality improvement efforts. SII focuses on clarifying standards language, ensuring that standards are program-specific, deleting redundant and nonessential standards, and consolidating similar standards. While no new requirements were added, chapter overviews, standards, introductions, rationales, and elements of performance were designed for ease of use. In the standards reorganization, requirements were split or consolidated. Standards have been renumbered and reordered to allow electronic sorting and to allow the addition of new requirements in the future.

Sermo Physicians Launch Doctors Unite Campaign

2008-07-01T17:48:00.001-05:00

Can online social networking by health care professionals be the catalysts for group action and change in the health care industry?

Fellow friend and health blogger,Fard Johnmar,at Healthcare Vox explores this question and more in his post, "Sermo Docs Launch An Online Health Reform Movement: Will It Matter?". A current effort social networking campaign lead by the physicians who participate in the physician-only social network Sermo (think Facebook for doctors).

The online effort - called "Doctors Unite" is an open letter to Americans to highlight the challenges physicians face in delivering appropriate patient care and targets three industry groups: insurance companies, government and malpractice attorneys. The counter currently shows over 5,200 signatures by Sermo physicians. You can click on the tabs "Our Story" and "Why Sermo" for more of the back story on the effort. Also check out the Sermo press release.

This effort will be interesting for those involved in the health care industry to watch develop. Will this be the grassroots social networking effort that drives change from the bottom up?

Healthcare Futures

2008-07-01T01:01:00.006-05:00

A welcome to Michael Ryan, FACHE, Chairman of Executive Impact Group, now blogging at Healthcare Futures. Mike is a recognized eHealth, healthcare and social networking pioneer having served as a founder, executive, advisor and board member of numerous companies. For my West Virginia readers, he also has a West Virginia connection that we uncovered when we first met - a connection through my wife who grew up in the Morgantown area .

Healthcare Futures plans to explore health care industry news, trends, and future visions from Michael's view over his career as an observer, executive, advisor, author, innovator, patient and online pioneer.

Check out his recent posts on the need for medical mentors as the baby boomers begin to overwhelm the health care system (what I have previously referred to as the pig in the python) and his post on Health Social Networking, which explores the "niche'ing" of social networking.

If these posts interest you, pick up Healthcare Futures RSS Feed here.

Connecting for Health: Another wave in the shift to consumer controlled health information

2008-07-01T00:09:00.011-05:00

The recent announcement of the Common Framework for Networked Personal Health Information by the Connecting for Health collaboration lead by the Markle Foundation is just the next wave in what may be a tidal shift. The tidal shift is one centered on the input, control, ownership, and administration of health information that results from the active and real use of PHRs by consumers.

Those participating in and endorsing the Connecting for Health initiative are a diverse group of health care and technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, Intuit, WebMD, Dossia, BlueCross BlueShield, AARP, AAFP, SureScripts and others.

Whether or not the wave is large enough or just one of many more to come is yet to be determined. The ocean of health information and health information exchange is so fluid these days as we undergo major projects surrounding health information technology at the national level, state level, by HIEs, private industy, etc. For health lawyers - it is a field day for spotting regulatory legal issues and implications. Some of the real life factual scenarios we have been going through as a result of work related to the West Virginia Health Information Network and the NIH2 project remind me of law school exams.

For more insight on the Connecting for Health collaborative check out thoughts by other health care lawyers: Jeff Drummond who talks about the provider "betamax" and "culture fears, David Harlow who raises good questions and applauds the effort to gain public trust. He also looks at whether the recent PHR developments might obviate the need for local HIE infrastructure (with follow up commentary from Micky Tripathi at MAeHC Blog).

Also, Matthew Holt looks at the important health vs. wealth issue underlying the effort and the (non)involvement of the EMR vendors in the process. Jen McCabe Gorman at Health Management Rx makes predications of a possible PHR health app war focused on creating strategic affiliations with health care businesses in an effort to gain market share in the consumer focused PHR space.

Check out the latest developments with a Google News search: "connecting for health".

For another "wave" on the tidal shifting consumer health front from a guy who knows waves - check out Scott Shreeve, M.D.'s post, "Cease and Desist? How about Understand and Resist," at Crossver Health. Scott's post breaks down the issues involved in the attempt by the California and New York Departments of Health to prevent consumers from accessing their own genetic information. More from Matthew Holt.

Another example not unlike the PHR issue, where the current health regulatory structure is not evolving quick enough to satisfy the needs of the consumer focused health technology startups. In this case the consumer focused genetic health 2.0 companies. As Scott ends with, ". . . One intractable issue. Millions of dollars at stake. Tens of millions of people watching. Vegas odds, anyone?"

Mountain Stage: The Gold at the End of the Rainbow

2008-06-30T07:48:00.004-05:00

A memorable 2008 FestivALL ended last evening with a great Mountain Stage performance at the Clay Center. One of the best all around performances I can remember in recent past.

A storm rolled through Charleston about 15 minutes before the performance and I captured the following photos. Coincidence or not? Well the pot of gold at the end of FestivALL was the "Gold" Mountain Rebels.

Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels were excellent as expected as the headliner. The Gold Mountain Rebels had a smooth tight sound that mixed well with Dylan's voice and lyrics. I really enjoyed the performances by singer songwriters, Andy Davis from Nashville and Priscilla Ahn from LA. Great new performers who I was first introduced to at the show and plan to hear more from. Krista Detor and Hayes Carll rounded out the evening with solid performances. For another perspective, check out Roger Lilly's review of the evening at the Charleston Gazette.

Still More FestivALL: Blues & Brews kicks off weekend events

2008-06-28T06:45:00.001-05:00

Sorry for a lack of substantive health care posting the last couple of weeks. The result of being just too busy with client legal matters.

This morning I was catching up on my RSS feeds and saw these great photos by Rick Lee (photo to right by Rick of Sonny Landreth) from last nights Blues, Brews & BBQ. Looks like everyone had a great time. We sat on the porch last night after the kids went to bed and caught some of the great music.

Today Capitol Street comes alive with artists, performers, etc. Don't miss the fun. Looking forward to watching Jesse & James, Monkeys in the House, Expert Liar Bil Lepp, a variety of music and much more. Later in the day Michael Feldman's Whad'ya Know (Feldman visits Power Park) will be in town and tonight University of Charleston plays host to Wine & Jazz.

Tomorrow Mountain Stage caps off the weeklong FestivALL wich a great show including Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels, Hayes Carll, Andy Davis, Krista Detor and Priscilla Ahn. My wonderful wife surprised me with tickets - can't wait to see the show.

If you Twitter follow all the action aqt @FestivALL. In the words of Larry Groce, Mountain Stage host and FestivALL organizer, "Go out and see some live music [and arts] this weekend."

Please Repair Your Ball Mark

2008-06-23T08:37:00.005-05:00

Amazing photos from yesterday's hail storm that swept through the Charleston area.

The photos were taken at Edgewood Golf Course in the Sissonville area of Kanawha County by one of my partners, Nate Tawney. Great shot of the driving range - looks like they haven't picked up balls all year long. The photo on the green gives you an idea of the size of the hail.

I've heard that the damage to cars in the lot was incredible - broken windshields, etc. One person said, "It looks like someone jumped on my hood with a pogo stick."

More photos in from Erik Engle:

FestivALL: West Virginia Wiener Dogs Run . . .

2008-06-22T11:52:00.005-05:00

The Charleston Gazette's front page shot and story of the FestivALL wiener dog races, "and the wiener is . . ."

The photo features one of the winners, "Saugy Bottom Boy" who looks like a real thoroughbred. Our kids along with some of their friends are in the background.

Week long FestivALL kicked into high gear yesterday with events throughout Charleston. Downtown was busy with Smoke on the Water and the West Side was packed at the wiener dog races. If you twitter - pick up the latest @festivall.

My family and I spent a great day taking in the events. We started out the day dressing up and being photographic models for K.D. Lett's visual arts piece that he is working on as a part of FestivALL. He is taking photos of individuals, groups and families at the Charleston Ballet Building on Virginia Street. Then it was off to the wiener dog races. After that we swung by Ellen's Ice Cream for some "drive by" ice cream and it was off to the West Virginia Cultural Center Theater to catch the amazing work of the Squonk Opera group who performed a custom creation about "Charleston".

West Virginia Stereotype: Wild and Wonderful

2008-06-19T22:39:00.007-05:00

To celebrate West Virginia Day (June 20), the Health Care Law Blog is excited to be a part of the statewide blogging effort lead by Jason Keeling at aBetterWestVirginia. The idea - collaborate and work together to change the typical stereotypes of West Virginia. Reflect a more accurate perspective of the state, its people, qualities and successes.

The state motto, Wild and Wonderful, sits as the centerpiece of all things good about West Virginia. A motto that reflects the states independence, beauty, people and places. These two words bring so much to this West Virginian's imagination. (check the links for the new stereotypes).

People that are wildly creative and wonderful to be around.

Wonderful landscape that is wildly beautiful and wildly rugged (photo).

Artists that design with wild colors and wonderful crafted works of art.

Places that are wildly luxurious and others wonderfully quaint.

Wildly successful leaders, wonderfully connected health care experts and innovative film directors.

Wild water to ride, wild racing and wonderful music for your eers.

Workers in wild places powering the world live web.

Wonderful traditions and a rich and wonderful history.

Finally, a wonderful place to do business with people who are wild about new business.

Writing about the positive aspects of West Virginia is something that I have tried doing since starting this blog in 2004. While the main focus is on health care law, over the years, I have taken time out to highlight those events, people and statistics that cast West Virginia in a positive light.

Since many first time readers may be visiting as a result of the aBetterWestVirginia blogging project, I thought I would take this chance to highlight some of these past posts. As the saying goes, "what is old, is new."

To learn more about what others are saying to create West Virginia's "new" stereotype check out United, We Blog for a Better West Virginia.

Gazette Covers West Virginia Blogger Effort to Confront Stereotypes

2008-06-19T06:48:00.005-05:00

Today's Gazette local section covers the Better West Virginia project by West Virginia bloggers to examine and challenge the traditional West Virginia stereotype on West Virginia Day (June 20). Bloggers from around the state will post their view and vision of West Virginia's new stereotype.

Sarah Cooper over at the Putnam Scoop asked her regular readers to leave a comments with their impression of West Virginia and its stereotypes.

I would be interested to hear similar thoughts from my regular readers. Please leave a comment with your positive or negative stereotype of West Virginia and its people.

WVHCA Board Approves Modified Cardiac Catheterization Standards

2008-06-19T06:34:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, the West Virginia Health Care Authority Board approved the changes to the Certificate of Need Standards for Cardiac Catheterization. The approved modification will now be delivered to Governor Manchin for review and approval.

Eric Eyre of the Charleston Gazette covers the story today in his article, Smaller hospitals get OK to offer heart procedures.

The new Standards will not go into effect until approved by the Governor. The current Cardiac Catheterization Standards were last updated and approved by the Governor on May 3, 2007.

For more on the process of modifying the standards check out my previous posts.

Does Your Doctor Use An EHR?

2008-06-19T06:14:00.001-05:00

The latest statistics are out regarding the adoption and use of electronic health records (EHRs). The New England Journal of Medicine published the government sponsored survey report. Check out the article in the NY Times, "Most Doctors Aren't Using Electronic Health Records." (full report - Electronic Health Records in Ambulatory Care -- A National Survey of Physicians).

The article indicates that only 9% of medical practices with less than 3 physicians have adopted an EHR -- while the percentage increases to 50% for those practices with 50 or more physicians. The comments in the article by one physician seem to confirm a recent conversation with Jack Shaffer, health IT specialist, that EHRs don't necessarily improve physician efficiency.

West Virginia native, Dr. Brailer, is quoted in the article:

But the new study is based on a large sampling — more than 2,600 doctors across the country — and a detailed survey, making it more definitive than past research, experts say. The results, they say, also show a strong endorsement of electronic health records by doctors who have them, especially for what the report termed “fully functional” records, which include reminders of care guidelines, based on a patient’s age, gender or medical history.
For example, 82 percent of those using such electronic records said they improved the quality of clinical decisions, 86 percent said they helped in avoiding medication errors and 85 percent said they improved the delivery of preventative care.
“Those numbers are huge and very encouraging,” said Dr. David J. Brailer, the former health information technology coordinator in the Bush administration.
Dr. Brailer also pointed to the 54 percent of doctors without electronic health records who said that not finding an electronic health record that met their needs was a “major barrier” to adoption. In short, they are not satisfied with the existing products, which tend to be designed for hospitals — big customers — instead of small practices.
“What we see is a deficit in innovation, and that is something innovators and the capital markets can address,” said Dr. Brailer, who leads a firm that invests in medical ventures, Health Evolution Partners.

AthenaHealth is also mentioned in the article. Over the last several months I have been thinking about whether a web based service as software approach, like AthenaHealth, might be an method to grow the adoption of EHR usage in West Virginia as a part of the West Virginia Health Information Network.

The report finding that that most doctors are not satisfied with existing technology should give Dr. Parkinson via Hello Health and other health 2.0 innovators a positive sense of opportunity.

Health Care Goes FestivALL

2008-06-11T19:32:00.003-05:00

As my regular readers know - the Health Care Law Blog gets fishy every year when Charleston's FestivALL rolls around. Sorry for the distraction from health care law but I like to promote my favorite summertime event in Charleston - FestivALL.

Just read over at Oncee that the Unknown Hinson will bring his country western psychobilly to Charleston for FestivALL on June 22 at Coonskin Park. If you don't know who he is check out the UNtold Story. Have read about him but never listened to his music until now. Watch him on YouTube.

Skip, looks like this might move into my top three 2008 FestivALL events to not miss.

By the way, anyone else notice the other art project going on around town? Have you noticed the red/white signs in spanish/english? I was wondering what was up and saw a mention at This is not my blog. Check out more about Amy Williams art project over at Scrabble Crush.

FestivALL: Drivers Can Enjoy Interstate 64/77/79 Split Artwork

2008-06-09T12:32:00.001-05:00

Signs of FestivALL are starting to appear. For those of you traveling along the 64/77/79 split don't miss the artwork of Charles"Todd" Thomas whose colorful 10x24 foot creation was chosen as the winner of the art contest sponsored by Allied Artist of West Virginia to help promote this year's FestivALL.

The artwork is being displayed on the Mountaineer Expedite Building (formerly Purity Baking Building).

Allied Artists along with Tamarack will also be sponsoring the FestivAll Capitol Street Art Fair. It's free for the public and set for 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 28 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 29. More than 100 spaces are set aside for artists to show and sell their works in a variety of media.

Visiting Capital Street for FestivALL is a must. There is a variety of activities for adults and kids with constant performers on a variety of stages and a street fair in front of the Kanawha County library.

Dr. Parkinson's Goes To HIMSS

2008-06-09T09:58:00.003-05:00

Dr. Parkinson is speaking at HIMSS Summit today. Check out his slides for the presentation. Great ideas on how physician services and health care needs to change. Looks like a great agenda. Look forward to seeing reactions and discussion coming out of the summit.

304blogs: Tons of West Virginia Blogs

2008-06-07T09:42:00.001-05:00

Excellent work by Oncee and The West Virginia Optimist the brainchildren of 304Blogs (named after the West Virginia area code). A place to check out all the WVloggers (think WV bloggers). Thanks for adding the Health Care Law Blog front and center.

Great place to visit and see what West Virginia bloggers are doing. Tips on how to use or if you want your blog to be added.

ONC-Coordinated Federal HIT Strategic Plan: 2008-2012

2008-06-03T15:23:00.001-05:00

Today the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released "The ONC-Coordinated Federal Health Information Technology Strategic Plan: 2008-2012". Find more information here, including a synopsis of the full report.

The plan is meant to serve as a guide to coordinate the federal government's health IT efforts to achieve a nationwide implementation of an interoperable health information infrastructure.

Robert Kolondner, MD, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology states in the synopsis summary:

Looking toward the future, we can envision a health care system that is centered on each and every individual patient. Clinicians will have at their fingertips all of the information needed to provide the best care; individuals will have access to this and other information that can help them engage and insert their values in the decision-making process about their health and care; and, secure and authorized access to health data will provide new ways that biomedical research and public health can improve individual health, and the health of communities and the Nation.

The synopsis goes on to state that the plan has two goals -- "patient focused health care and population health" and describes them as follows:

Patient-focused Health Care: Enable the transformation to higher quality, more cost-efficient, patient-focused health care through electronic health information access and use by care providers, and by patients and their designees.

Population Health: Enable the appropriate, authorized, and timely access and use of electronic health information to benefit public health, biomedical research, quality improvement, and emergency preparedness.

Each goal has four objectives and the themes of privacy and security, interoperability, adoption, and collaborative governance recur across the goals, but they apply in very different ways to health care and population health.

I've only had a chance to scan the synopsis and the 115 page full report but should make for interesting reading for anyone involved in the ongoing evolution of our health care system and the impact that health technology is having on the industry.

Microsoft Healthvault Be Well Fund Increased

2008-05-29T08:05:00.002-05:00

The Microsoft's HealthVault Be Well Fund has decided to increase the aware funding from $3M to $4.5M after receiving almost 200 proposals from academic and research health organizations from across the United States.

I'm interested to see the variety/type of proposals submitted and selected. What type of creative approaches and disruptive improvements might come out of the process and built on the HealthVault backbone. right now it is difficult to conceptualize some of the uses of HealthVault and I hope that this effort to jumpstart solutions will help us all see how HealthVault might be used on a day to day basis.

For more about HealthVault, check out the HealthVault Developer Center and HealthVault.

According the press release the:

Proposals represent a wide range of innovative online solutions designed to address significant health issues including childhood obesity, medication reconciliation, mobile health information gathering and dissemination, and diabetes management, as well as to help people manage their health more effectively. Strong interest and participation in the request for proposals (RFP) has made it one of the most successful Microsoft Research RFPs in the company’s history.

Award recipients will be announced at the second annual Microsoft HealthVault Solutions Conference set for June 9-10. The judges for the awards a cross section oof health leaders, including:
Adam Bosworth, CEO, Keas Inc.
Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives; founder, Center for Health Transformation
Mark Liponis, M.D., corporate medical director, Canyon Ranch
Valerie Montgomery Rice, M.D., senior vice president for Health Affairs and dean, School of Medicine; professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meharry Medical College
Leslie Norwalk, former acting administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; strategic advisor, Epstein Becker & Green P.C.
Marc Pierson, M.D., regional vice president, Clinical Information and Special Projects, and regional vice president of Medical Affairs, PeaceHealth
Brent Ridge, M.D., vice president, Healthy Living, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.

Better Understanding of Key Health Information Technology Terms

2008-05-21T13:20:00.002-05:00

On April 28, 2008, the National Alliance for Health Information Technology released its Report, "Defining Key Health Information Technology Terms," to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

The report is an effort to get everyone working in health information technology to have a common understanding of and differences between EMRs, EHRs, PHRs, HIEs, HIOs and RHIOs. If you don't know what each of these are or are interested in better understanding these key health tech terms check out the report.

An article by Health Data Management indicates that the Report will be "presented on June 3 to the American Health Information Community, a Department of Health and Human Services advisory body, for final approval."

West Virginia Hospitals Required to Report Health Care Associated Infections

2008-05-19T08:19:00.000-05:00

West Virginia House Bill 4418 establishes West Virginia Code 16-5B-17 requiring West Virginia hospitals to report information on health care associated infections in the manner prescribed by the CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).

The bill establishes a new advisory panel called the Infection Control Advisory Panel responsible for guidance and oversight in implementing the reporting process. The West Virginia Health Care Authority is directed to create the panel and the code spells out the required panel members.

The advisory panel is required to:
(1) Provide guidance to hospitals in their collection of health care associated infections;
(2) Provide evidence-based practices in the control and prevention of health care associated infections;
(3) Establish reasonable goals to reduce the number of health care associated infections;
(4) Develop plans for analyzing infection-related data from hospitals;
(5) Develop healthcare-associated advisories for hospital distribution;
(6) Review and recommend to the West Virginia Health Care Authority the manner in which the reporting is made available to the public to assure that the public understands the meaning of the report; and
(7) Other duties as identified by the West Virginia Health Care Authority .

Charleston FestivALL 2008: A City Becomes A Work Of Art

2008-05-18T09:42:00.010-05:00

FestivALL 2008 is coming soon and the sights and sounds are set to hit the streets of Charleston on June 20-29.

This week's theme over at Picture West Virginia (a project by Brian Stealey to get people thinking creatively about West Virginia) is sounds - so it prompted me to write my first post promoting this year's FestivALL. A great place to catch a variety of artistic sounds. Check out any of the links in the summary of events for a taste of the "sounds."

What is FestivALL? FestivALL has become the Charleston's centerpiece arts and summertime entertainment event with a wide array of theater, dance, music and visual arts.

Check out photos from last years event and these video cuts (Part 1 and Part 2) from YouTube by Rudy Panucci's PopCult. Also check out my past posts from 2006 and 2007 here, here, here and here.

If you've never attended look over the schedule of events and pick at least a few to attend. Show your support for FestivALL!

Below is a summary of the major events for the weeklong event (check out the full schedule of events for more):

June 20- WV Day Live on the Levee, music, food, by the river
June 21- 10th Anniversary of Smoke on the Water- Charleston Chili Cook-Off
June 21- Charleston- The Opera (It’s not an Opera, but it will have great music)
June 22- The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra (Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and more)
June 25- Savion Glover in his new show, Bare Soundz
June 26- Mayor's Concert: Gladys Knight
June 27- Blues, Brews & BBQ featuring Shemekia Copeland and Sonny Landreth
June 28-29- The Capitol Street Art Fair
June 28- Whad'Ya Know with Michael Feldman
June 28- Wine & All That Jazz featuring The Ellis Marsalis Quartet
June 29- Mountain Stage, WV Public Radio’s internationally distributed live radio show featuring: Hayes Carll, Jakob Dylan & the Gold Mountain Rebels, Krista Detor, Andy Davis and Priscilla Ahn. (catch out more Mountain Stage at this recent post at Picture West Virginia)

At a special edition of Live on the Levee, we will celebrate West Virginia Day with West Virginia music, food and drink at Haddad Riverfront Park. (Free)

Smoke on the Water, Charleston’s Chili Cook Off on June 21 invites chili cooks from around the nation for hospitality and competition they will get no where else on earth. It’s the 10th Anniversary of this fundraiser for HospiceCare.

Charleston-The Opera, presented by Dixon Hughes at the Cultural Center Theater, Saturday June 21, is a multi-media production of Pittsburgh’s Squonk Opera. They will visit our city twice to gather information, interview residents and recruit local talent to join them in the production they will create. It weaves hometown documentation with Squonk’s aural and visual trickery and will be a “heartfelt toast and a punk-vaudevillian roast” of our fair city. (Matinee and evening performances, all tickets $25)

On Sunday, June 22, The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra will perform a chamber concert at The Clay Center featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and other mid-summer delights. (Ticket prices TBA)

On Wednesday, June 25, at the Clay Center, FestivALL and The Clay Center will present Savion Glover in Bare Soundzs, a tour de force dance performance by the “greatest tap dancer in the world”. A child star of Sesame Street and co-star with Sammy Davis Jr. and Gregory Hines in the 1989 movie, Tap, Mr. Glover came into his own in 1996 in the Broadway smash hit production Bring in ‘da Noise/Bring in ‘da Funk. He has gone on to create his own dance projects and to star as the motion-capture dancer of Mumble the Penguin in the animated movie Happy Feet. Last fall he appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars performing excerpts from this production. (Tickets $35/25/15)

The Mayor’s Concert on Thursday, June 26, at the Clay Center, will feature the dynamic voice of Gladys Knight. Ms. Knight’s stellar career started with Motown records in the late sixties. She has continued to delight millions of fans around the world with her unique Soul, R&B, Pop and Gospel music sounds. She won her first two (of seven) Grammy Awards in 1973 (R&B, Pop) and her latest in 2005 (Gospel). This concert is made possible by the generous support if Mayor Danny Jones and Pritchard Mining. (Tickets $55/45/30)

Fund for the Arts has announced the talent for it’s annual events, Blues, Brews & BBQ and Wine & All That Jazz, both of which take place by the river on the lawn of The University of Charleston. (Ticket prices TBA)

On Friday, June 27, Blues, Brews & BBQ will feature Shemekia Copeland and Sonny Landreth. Daughter of blues legend Johnny Clyde Copeland, Ms. Copeland has won a mantel full of blues awards and is one of the hottest young blues talents in the country. Cajun slide guitar wizard Landreth began his career with Zydeco king Cifton Chenier and has electrified audiences for over two decades. Local and regional talent will also be featured.

On Saturday, June 28, the patriarch of New Orlean’s first family of jazz, pianist Ellis Marsalis, performs at Wine & All That Jazz with The Ellis Marsalis Quartet. The father of Wynton and Branford, Mr. Marsalis plays regularly in the Crescent City, tours occasionally and continues to be a major force in the world of jazz. Local and regional talent will also be featured.

On Saturday, June 28, West Virginia Public Broadcasting will host the very popular live radio show, Whad’Ya Know with Michael Feldman. Mr. Feldman’s wit and humor attract millions of listeners each week on public radio stations nationwide. (Ticket prices TBA)

The Capitol Street Arts Fair will expand its hours and number of artisans represented on Saturday and Sunday, June 28-29. Partnering with Tamarack and Allied Artists, the Fair will bring in over one hundred high quality artisans showing, selling and, in some cases, demonstrating their work. (Free)

We will conclude with Mountain Stage, the internationally distributed WV Public Radio live music performance show on Sunday, June 29. (Ticket prices and talent TBA)

Among the artisans’ tents of the expanded Capitol Street Art Fair, June 29 –29, will be small “street stages” that will feature many different flavors of music and dance. There will also be a variety of street performers: magicians, stilt walkers, strolling musicians, mime/clowns, etc.

The Kanawha County Library Street Fair, focusing on kids and families, will run for two days this year (June 28 and 29). The West Side Ice Cream Social and Wiener Dog Races (June 21 and 22) will move to our first weekend and also expand. (as a bonus you also get Phil Phister, friend and World's Strongest Man). Both events feature stages with family friendly entertainment. At the Library Fair there will be a tent with local dulcimer players who will invite kids to join in and watch for an announcement about an incredible “balloon artist”. Both are free events.

The Commercial Insurance Stage at Davis Park will have free music both weekends. On the first weekend (June 21) will be a memorial to the late Winston Walls, a great Charleston Jazz/Blues B-3 organ player. The music will be blues, jazz and related music styles. The next week (28 and 29) it will be a memorial to the late Derek Kirk, a young Charleston musician who died last year and played in several jazz and fusion bands, and the featured music will be those flavors. Free country and bluegrass music will return to the Capitol Market on both weekends.

There will once again be free site-specific dance and theater. “A Streetcar Named Despair”, performed on a trolley bus, will return and there will be a new “Location, Location, Location” play with an Elvis theme (the King once stayed in Charleston’s old Daniel Boone Hotel). The One Act Play Festival will be back featuring theater companies from around the state (ticket prices TBA) as will a Charleston Light Opera Guild production (show and ticket prices TBA).

Alltop Law: We've got Law covered.

2008-05-17T08:28:00.000-05:00

Health Care Law Blog has been added to Law section of Alltop, the digital magazine rack of the Internet. Check out all the Alltop categories on the main page.

Alltops, along with its sister site, Truemors (covering breaking news, stories and rumors and referred to as "NPR for your eyes"), are the creation of Will Mayall, Kathryn Henkens and Guy Kawasaki.

The "about us" section of Alltop states:

We help you explore your passions by collecting stories from “all the top” sites on the web. We’ve grouped these collections — “aggregations” — into individual Alltop sites based on topics such as environment, photography, science, Muslim, celebrity gossip, military, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, and Macintosh. At each Alltop site, we display the headlines of the latest stories from dozens of sites and blogs.

You can think of an Alltop site as a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. To be clear, Alltop sites are starting points—they are not destinations per se. The bottom line is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed. In other words, our goal is the “cessation of Internet stagnation” by providing “aggregation without aggravation.”

The Health of Google and Google Health

2008-05-14T12:04:00.002-05:00

Very interesting post over at ZDNet by Tom Foremski on an upcoming meeting of Google hacks at the Googleplex set for May 19.

Fascinating description of Google's use of machines and software to produce results rather than humans and how this might exist in the health care environment. I have not heard of this description of what Google does and why it does it better and cheaper.

Also, he offers compelling thoughts on the pharma advertising market target that Google may be looking for as it goes about developing Google Health.

Tip to the NewsGang Twitter feed.

Get Well Rick Lee!

2008-05-14T07:18:00.002-05:00

Not the type of health care blogging that I like to see. Get well Rick!

Rick Lee, my favorite photo blogger is in the hospital. If you follow his photography leave him some virtual Flickr flowers in the post comments like some of his other regular readers. Here you go Rick - doing my best Rick Lee.

New HHS HIPAA Privacy Compliance and Enforcement Data

2008-05-13T09:26:00.005-05:00

DHHS and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) have added new enforcement statistics and data to the OCR HIPAA Privacy and Compliance and Enforcement site. Previously, I've posted about the statistics.

OCR added new information broken down by the following topics:

Charts showing state-specific case investigation results (West Virginia shows (see the graphic above): 71% resolved after intake and review; 18% corrective action taken; 11% no violation)
Calendar-year enforcement results graphs and charts
Calendar-year graphs showing the number of complaints received
Yearly variation in the top 5 types of issues resolved through corrective action

The statistics show that the number of complaints made to OCR continue to increase -- from 6,534 complaints in 2004 to 8,132 complaints in 2007.

Also, the statistics show that the top 5 types of complaints requiring corrective action have remained fairly consistent - except in 2007 "notice" jumps into the top 5.

I would be interested to hear others thoughts on the compliance statistics.