WHO Classifies Mobile RF Radiation A Class 2B Cancer Causing Agent And There’s an App For Detection..Sort Of

There’s a cell phone radiation gauge that can be used on cell phones and it turns into an graph to show you how much radiation the phone is sending out.  It includes warnings to use the speakerphone, turn the phone and move it’s location.  The application is called tawkon.  This just might pick up some interest.  BD

Now that the World Health Organization and The International Agency for Research on Cancer have classified mobile RF radiation a Class 2B carcinogen, it might be time for Steve Jobs to reconsider his interest in tawkon, the cell phone radiation gauge he personally rejected from the iTunes App store.

Israel-based Tawkon Ltd. has devised an application that turns a smartphone's RF baseband processor data into an an easy-to-read graph that tells you roughly how much radiation your mobile phone is emitting. Though the developers had several "encouraging" meetings with Apple executives, and the app was already available both for BlackBerry and Android, the app was ultimately rejected by Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Maybe Steve Jobs should reconsider the iPhone radiation app after all | Software News - Betanews

Technorati Tags: WHO,radiation,cell phones,carcinogen,cancer,processors,apps,Blackberry,Android,Iphone

Brazilian Blowout Goes Beyond FDA to Capitol Hill

The big issue with the hair straightening product is the formaldehyde exposure to the salon workers and patrons too I guess for that matter.  According to Fox News six other countries have already taken action on the product.

FDA Investigating the Safety of Brazilian Blowouts

From the pictures, the results look great but maybe a gas mask is next for all who participate:)  There should be some way to take care of the fumes with all the technology we have out there today.  BD   

Last November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to salons informing them that Brazilian Blowout may be a health threat after confirming the product contained high levels of formaldehyde – a suspected human carcinogen – in amounts that exceeded government safety guidelines.

Despite this federal government warning and months of negative news reports, many salon owners admit they still use Brazilian Blowout and demand for the $200 to $700 labor intensive treatment remains high.

The noxious fumes produced by the solution can be so irritating that many stylists and their clients would wear gas masks during a treatment.

In April, the California Attorney General, Kameala Harris, took legal action against the manufacturer of Brazilian Blowout, GIB LLC, and issued a preliminary injunction charging the product contained formaldehyde that exceeded state limits “by a factor of more than eight for salon workers” and in the range typical of embalming fluid used by funeral homes.

In a separate statement, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) announced she plans to reintroduce her “Safe Cosmetics Act” and said, “this is a dramatic example of why we urgently need to close the gaping holes in the outdated federal law that allows hazardous chemicals in cosmetic products”.

Under current federal law, the FDA is unable to take any action against products that are unsafe or mislabeled because it lacks the authority to issue a mandatory recall; it can only ask for a voluntary recall. The Safe Cosmetic Act would give the FDA the authority to ensure that personal care products are free of harmful ingredients and that they are fully disclosed on the label.

Brazilian Blowout Concerns Reach Capitol Hill - FoxNews.com

Technorati Tags: Brazilian Blowouts,FDA,hair,safety,hair salon,frizz,Congress

Kaiser Permanente Satisfied With Their Electronic Medical Records Program In Meeting Their Needs

This was a nice video done by the Wall Street Journal that focused on a doctor’s point of view for a big part of it.  What was mentioned though is the fact that they don’t communicate outside the system and that’s totally true as back in 2009 Kaiser and the VA announced their pilot program to exchange records and since that time there are a few others out there too. 

The VA and Kaiser Permanente to Exchange Medical Records in San Diego – Pilot Program

Also worth a mention too was the collaborative group set up in April of 2011 with sharing information via some of the other large healthcare facilities in the US, so again the connectivity issue and sharing is in the works. 

Mayo Clinic, Geisinger, Kaiser Permanente, Intermountain Healthcare, and Group Health Announce Plan to Securely Share Patient-Specific Data Through Care Connectivity Consortium

They also have their new state of the art facility in Washington DC that has tremendous modern learning center.  I remember the story being here in California how they originally tried internally to create their own system and changed directions and decided to award the project to Epic, which is not a bad thing as all as you have to look at your internal IT and programming resources and sometimes it’s too costly or not as productive as have a system installed that has a lot of the work already done for you.  Without a lot of the outside disruption that is faced with other healthcare systems, I think they were able to focus and work on their goals in a more productive manner as they were all on the same system and didn’t have to connect facilities internally that were using different software solutions. 

Kaiser Permanente Opens State of the Art Facility in Washington DC-Kaiser Permanente Capitol Hill Medical Center

I have had the pleasure here too with a couple of interviews with Kaiser employees, one a doctor and the other with the head of their Innovation Department.

Kaiser Permanente Pediatrician Patricia Richards Explains How The Use of Electronic Medical Records Enhances Knowledge With Obesity and Adds Focus to the “Let’s Move” Obesity Prevention Campaign

Innovation and Learning at Kaiser Permanente – Interview With Chris McCarthy

Kaiser Permanente, the health-maintenance organization giant, is a leader in the health-care sector's shift to digital archives of patient health records, without waiting for the federal government's push. But, as MarketWatch's Russ Britt reports, the journey has been costly and marked by false starts. Nevertheless, doctors at Kaiser say they've accomplished what they were looking for.

Video - California HMO's Bid For Digital Patient Records - WSJ.com

Technorati Tags: Mayo Clinic,Geisinger,Kaiser Permanente,Intermountain Healthcare,Group Health,healthcare,patient,medical records,Health IT,non profits

Molina Picks Centricity Practice Solution For Primary EHR Platform

Back in August of 2010 the company had some issues with delayed payments and probably a good reason for their search to find a solution.  In addition the company has grown with the acquisition of Unisys Health and Abri Health along with moving into the Texas area. 

Molina Delayed Medicaid Provider Payments in Idaho– Working to Get the System Fixed–Good Example of Why IT Literate Individuals Need to be in Key Positions To Explain & Fix

Centricity has been around for a long time in the medical record business and I might say they were one of the first and highest priced and today I don’t know if the pricing still holds true when compared to other systems as I would guess the contract here with several locations and physician connectivity is good sized.  I know finding the Centricity page for this post was difficult and I gave up as I looked under all their consulting areas and saw mention of Centricity but ran out of time to look further for a dedicated page, but I’m sure it’s there somewhere. 

If you want to search yourself here’s a link to the “Business Solutions Group” which is where I would guess more information would be placed.  With marketing today we have a lot of duplicate efforts and I guess the key is to be found in search engines more than one time and over the weekend I made this post about another GE site they came up with too, so they believe in marketing and coverage I guess and duplication of efforts.  I noted the one site below had 4 mobile applications that I think would have been better served under one as consumers are not jumping on the bandwagons of all these applications that get written today, so much duplication there too.  BD

GE Creates HealthyMagination Report and Website–Ho Hum One More Site With Consumers Apps That Will Probably Bite the Dust Like Many Others Have

BARRINGTON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After a five month search in which it evaluated all the leading vendors, Molina Healthcare chose Centricity* Practice Solution (CPS) from GE Healthcare as its primary platform for electronic medical records and practice management. However, the staff at Molina Healthcare is confident it won’t take nearly as long after implementation for Molina to realize the benefits.

“We are thrilled that Molina Healthcare selected Centricity Practice Solution to be the IT backbone for their EMR and Practice Management across their entire system”

“Centricity Practice Solution has the flexible tools that will help Molina enhance the quality of care and practice profitability,” said Sonny Patel, Molina’s Director of Technology Projects and Clinic Operations. “We are confident that GE will be there to support us today – and tomorrow.”

Molina, a 16-state healthcare system serving 4.3 million Medicare and Medicaid patients and families, selected CPS 9.5 based on the tool’s strong clinical and financial management integration and its comprehensive functionality for practice administration and electronic medical records (EMR) .

Molina Picks Centricity Practice Solution from GE Healthcare | Business Wire

Technorati Tags: Molina Healthcare,Centricity,GE,medical records,Health IT,Practice Solution,doctors,medicaid,EMR,EHR

Government Cutting Premium Rates by Up to 40% For High Risk Health Insurance For Consumers With Existing Conditions

So far the enrollment has reach about 18,000 consumers, far short of the 375,000 that were slated to be able to gain coverage, why, probably because it’s still not affordable and thus we have the premium cuts in place.

Some patients are turned down because of high cholesterol and the pre-existing condition plans have approved them.  You don’t really know you are a risk until you get turned down for insurance one the risk algorithms are run that determine this fact.  This is why when people apply for health insurance it’s best to apply to the masses at once and this way you don’t have to answer the question if you have been turned down when you apply, because officially you don’t know at that point if you will or will not be turned down. 

The program runs until 2014 when the new law states that all applicants for insurance will be accepted.  That is going to be an interesting space in time for health insurance when it gets here too.  BD 

WASHINGTON — The government is cutting premiums by up to 40 percent in nearly two dozen states and implementing other changes to make it easier for people with pre-existing medical conditions to get health insurance.

The move Tuesday comes as enrollment in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan continues to lag far behind expectations, often because people can't afford the premiums or find it too hard to meet enrollment requirements.

The insurance program, part of President Barack Obama's signature health care law, began last summer. It offers health insurance to people with medical problems at prices the average healthy person would pay, although that's not necessarily cheap.

Rates cut for hard-to-insure patients - Health - Health care - msnbc.com

Technorati Tags: health insurance,high risk,existing conditions,health,Obama,heatlhcare reform,premiums

Ion Torrent’s DNA Desktop Machine Walk Through- How Semi Conductor Sequencing Works (Video)

This is a great video to actually see the working machine and how it works.  I have written about the Ion Torrent machine a couple of times to include it’s debut back in December of 2010.  The link below has another video that further explains how it works.  This is pretty cool as you put in Iphone in the top to monitor the processes running if you want. 

Life Technologies Debuts Ion Torrent Machine-Cheap Genes at $500 for Single Sequence

The key was to get a very simple touch screen interface that almost anyone could use.  With an Iphone monitoring connection you don’t have to be present while the machine does it’s work.  The DNA sample goes right on the chip, the compartment is closed and then you go to the screen to set the parameters of the run.  BD 

California-based Ion Torrent’s DNA machine uses chemistry and semiconductor technology to deliver fast results. Researchers can run samples, go for a coffee break and come back a few hours later.

SmartPlanet’s Boonsri Dickinson visits Ion Torrent to find out how its portable DNA machine could impact genetic testing.

How a DNA sequencing machine uses computer technology to make testing fast | SmartPlanet

Technorati Tags: Life Technologies,genes,DNA,dna machine,Ion Torrent,healthcare,phara,testing,semi conductors

VA and Department of Defense Begin Testing A Common User Interface for VA VistA and AHLTA Medical Records in Hawaii

Boy what a surprise here using an interface that will make it easier to query and access records from both systems.  It’s funny that this was proposed on the private side a few years ago with free software to develop at Code-Plex and on that side of the table nobody bit as it was still the big race to see who could build the better mouse trap for electronic records for users, and there still is a lot of that around.  I first wrote about the Common User Interface back in 2008. 

Microsoft Common User Interface for Health Applications- Silverlight...and Windows Presentation Foundation

Due to the better mousetrap concept and action, we now have more scribes than ever moving into help the doctors in hospitals enter data as they became much more complex and adding new technologies here also contributed.  At any rate it looks like the VA and DOD have come to the same conclusion here which is a goo thing, and it’s either than or employ more scribes and if systems get any more complicated the scribes will be looking at status and pay adjustments soon for their work:)

The VA and DOD also talked about one day having a common data base for all the information, but don’t hold your breath there as that’s a massive project and right now the interface is doing the work on the pilot program.  Right now though the clinicians on the pilot program see one unified screen where they have access.  BD  

The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments have started testing in their Hawaii facilities an application that will provide physicians from both departments a common view of patient information.

The graphical interface provides a single point of entry and a first step to what will become a joint electronic health record.

The online tool enables the clinician to capture all of the information from a patient from VA VistA and DOD AHLTA electronic medical record systems, combines and collates the information so it is presented as a single medical record to the physician, said Roger Baker, VA CIO.

VA, DOD test joint EHR interface in Hawaii | Government Health IT

Technorati Tags: VA,DOD,AHLTA,medical records,health IT,EHR,PHR,Hawaii,software,health records

Hospitals Continue to Struggle With Drug Shortages–Availability Is Not Always There

Everyone is talking about better efficiency at hospitals, well how does that compute when they need to dedicate individuals to check and find drugs that are needed every day to treat patients.  This takes time and the patients lose again when appointments and therapies need to be rescheduled.  As you can see below at UCLA two hours are spent looking to find drugs and making sure they are available every day. 

Drug Shortages Continue–UCLA Spends 2 Hours A Day Checking on Cancer Drug Availability–ASHP Website Lists All Current Shortages

In addition this leads to additional risk of medication errors.  This situation keeps getting worse, even with the FDA getting involved to allow products to come into the US that normally do not provide certain drugs here.  BD 

According to a new study, more than 200 drugs are in short supply.

Hospitals Struggle with Drug Shortage | Video - ABC News

Technorati Tags: Teva,Propofol,Diprivan,healthcare,drugs,anesthesia,surgery,recalls,FDA,Pentothal,Hospira,etomidate,hospitals,drug shortages,cancer,doctors,UCLA

Individual Health Insurance HMO Prices in New York City Growing To Being Non-Affordable for Many–One Company Has Premiums Over $3000 a Month

The number of HMOs serving New York City has also dropped from 13 in 2004 to seven today.  I’m guessing that the bankers on Wall Street aren’t paying this as they get a discounted employer plan so who does that leave out there?  The numbers have dropped from around  100,000 individuals to just over 13,000 so that’s a good indication right there and there appears to be no end in sight as the rates for many are 30% higher than last year.  When you look at family coverage at over 8k, you do wonder who can afford this?  BD 

ALBANY - For city residents forced to buy their own health insurance, President Obama's sweeping health care law can't take effect soon enough.

Premium rates for personally funded HMOs soared last year as the number of insurers competing for business has dropped dramatically since 2004, the Daily News has learned.

One company, GHI HMO Select, is now charging individuals $3,319 a month. And GHI family coverage is a jaw-dropping $8,463 per month, the state Insurance Department said. Those rates are nearly 8% higher than last year's.

Managed Health Inc.'s premiums are a whopping 30% higher this May compared with last year - the biggest increase in the city.

Health care prices in New York City skyrocket, residents anxious for Obamacare policy to kick in

Technorati Tags: health insurance,NYC,New York,HMOs,GHI,medical care,coverage,premiums

Security Breaches Getting Attention Again–Patient Privacy Issues at Stake And It’s Everyone’s Concern and Problem To Solve-No Witch Hunts Please…

The problem seems to be growing larger and part of the reasons here, outside of “dumb” mistakes as far as taking data home on computers, is that the value of data and data profiles is rising.  If there was no value, nobody would want it, right?  I do take exception though to the comment from Representative Joe L. Barton in Texas as he states hospitals should be working harder at it, well most of them are working overtime on projects on such and it takes a digital illiterate Congressman to make such a comment. 

Digital Illiteracy Continues With Lawmakers at State Levels–Insane Laws Proposed And Being Passed-Financial Puppeteers (Video)

They have no clue at all.  I said not too long ago to not burn out the healthcare CIOs.   These lawmakers are the same folks that can’t get past abortions so again where he has grounds to comment is beyond me.  If you are not aware of the value of your data, watch the video from Stanford at the link below.  For every $ you spend on the web it’s worth around $42 to marketers to sell today.  BD

You Are the Product–Privacy Anonymity and Net Neutrality On the Internet - Excellent Stanford University Lecture (Video)

Even the public CIOs are feeling the pressure to these days with having to learn more about healthcare than they ever thought they would have to know.  Usually the rules and laws that these folks need to operate within are created by “non participants” when it comes to technology and that can make it very difficult and trying at times. 

Survey Shows CIOs Stressed About Work/Life Balance–Don’t Burn Them Out-Chapter 2

Just this weekend we had the PBS network hacked, so again it’s not due to lack of efforts in most instances, it’s just getting harder as the hackers get smarter and the price for human data keeps going up so if we could get rid of some of the steroid marketing out there today that misleads and confuses many, we could have a good start on at least discouraging some of this.  Rules are never enough if the hackers can create the algorithms to break in, government should know that by now and come out of denial.  BD   

“People need to be assured that their health records are secure and private,” Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, said in an interview by phone. “I feel equally strongly that conversion to electronic health records may be one of the most transformative issues in the delivery of health care, lowering medical errors, reducing costs and helping to improve the quality of outcomes.”

So the administration is making new efforts to enforce existing rules about medical privacy and security. But some health care experts wonder if the current rules are enough or whether stronger laws are needed, for example making it a crime for someone to use information obtained improperly.

“The consequences of breaches matter,” conceded Dr. Farzad Mostashari, a former New York public hospitals official who recently became the Obama administration’s national coordinator for health information technology. “People say they are afraid that if their private information becomes known, they may not be able to get health insurance.”

“The health care industry is not as vigilant as they should be about protecting private information in a patient’s medical records,” said Representative Joe L. Barton, a Texas Republican who is co-chairman of the Bipartisan Privacy Caucus in the House.

Breaches Lead to Renewed Effort to Protect Medical Data - NYTimes.com

Technorati Tags: Technology,CIOs,hospitals,data,healthcare,Health IT,information,think tanks,collaboration,security,privacy,breaches

Nursing Student Vanishes While on Break at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center

I hope this one has a good ending but as the news reports she was on break from conducting rounds and was not seen again.  Her car was found and the cell phone was stated as sending signals from Oakland but the signals now have stopped.  BD

Police are searching for missing nursing student Michelle Hoang Thi Le, who disappeared while on a break from making clinical rounds at a hospital in Hayward, Calif.

Le, 26, is a student at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, Calif. She disappeared around 7 p.m. May 27.

"The entire Samuel Merritt University community is deeply concerned about the disappearance of our nursing student Michelle Le," said Elizabeth Valente, a spokeswoman for Samuel Merritt University. "She was last seen Friday evening after she did not return to the hospital from the parking garage at the Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center."

Le's car was found a few blocks from the hospital on Saturday, according to a statement by the Hayward Police Department. Le had her car keys and cell phone with her but has not responded to calls.

Anyone with information that may help locate Le should contact Hayward Police Department at 510-293-7000.

Missing Nursing Student Michelle Le Vanishes From California Hospital - ABC News

Technorati Tags: Kaiser Permanente,Hayward,nursing student,California,missing

Argus II “Artificial Retina” Wins European Approval

This is some really amazing technology from Second Sight and there are 2 parts, the implant in the eye and the base unit worn that converts images captured by a miniature video camera housed in the patient's glasses into a series of small electrical impulses.  The images below show how this works.  The impulses stimulate the retina cells that remain and end up with patterns of light in the brains.  The patient needs to learn how to interpret the patterns, but some vision is gained.  The device has not been FDA approved for use in the US.  Clinical trials ran for around 4 years.  Back in March of 2009 I posted about the man who had 30 years of no sight, so indeed a bit of a miracle for many possibly.  BD 

"Bionic" eye restores vision after for a 73 year old man after 30 Years of no sight

From the Website:

The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus II") is designed to bypass the damaged photoreceptors altogether.  A miniature video camera housed in the patient’s glasses captures a scene. The video is sent to a small patient-worn computer (i.e., the video processing unit – VPU) where it is processed and transformed into instructions that are sent back to the glasses via a cable. These instructions are transmitted wirelessly to a receiver in the implant. The signals are then sent to the electrode array, which emits small pulses of electricity. These pulses are intended to bypass the damaged photoreceptors and stimulate the retina’s remaining cells, which transmit the visual information along the optic nerve to the brain.  This process is intended to create the perception of patterns of light which patients can learn to interpret as visual patterns.

The Argus II Retinal Implant from California-based company Second Sight has become the first retinal prosthesis for treatment of the blind approved for sale in Europe. The approval follows a successful clinical trial that ran for almost four years and saw more than 30 patients around the world using the device at home as they went about their daily lives. While the system isn't able to restore normal vision, the majority of trial subjects gained the ability to perceive colors, recognize large letters and locate objects, while two were even able to read short sentences.

“Artificial retina” wins European approval

Technorati Tags: Bionic Eye,Vision,technology,camera,eyeglasses,Clincal Trials,wireless transmission,Second Sight,European CE mark

ICD-10 and HIPAA 5010 Form Transitions May Not Be Ready To Meet Scheduled Deadlines-Aggregated and Shared Data Methodologies Require More Time & Planning

This should be be a big drop dead hint for anyone as if you follow how complicated healthcare software has become it’s only natural. New emerging technologies play their role to with disruption and then add on meaningful use and ACOs too, so how is all this going to fit in?  Just back a few years ago rolling out new formats and rules was not that hard as all data was pretty much still on the desktop and stored on local servers, but it’s not that way anymore.  With connected and aggregated data, one change has to feed an update to 20 other additional places and even though data travels fast, it sometimes snags at one of the updating destinations too and we again have unintended consequences arise.  One example is cited below on the difference between ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding. 

It’s hard to believe the deadline is a few months away being January 1, 2012.  It was kind of shocking to hear that  67% of payers are not ready, but we know they focus on profits and shareholders first.  This is why it pays to have someone at the top of the ranks with some “hands on Health IT” experience, some who have rolled up their sleeves and been in the front lines as those who have not tend to set unreasonable deadlines, we see it over and over today. 

Just under half of the clearinghouses said they were not ready and believe it or not the article said that 66% said did say that implementation of meaningful use took center stage and that’ why they were not ready.  See, you can’t do all of these massive aggregated data projects quickly as it takes time as all data has a ton of tentacles today.  We are to the point where walking and chewing “bits” and “bytes” is becoming a challenge with the massive amounts of complexity of the healthcare data. I can see how someone on the outside of all of this can be critical and wonder why it takes so long, but again there’s good reason for it and when overwhelmed, hands go up and people give up.

While I’m on this topic of data we have a Congress who is just as bad and can’t see the value of technology and how it could help them create better laws, so it’s not just healthcare and those lawmakers who are digitally illiterate and can’t come out of denial of the 70s, make it worse for healthcare to move forward too as they don’t get it when it comes to effective laws. The healthcare law that was passed over a year ago was not bad, but things changed in a year and thus time for review again and modify where needed, it’s the way the world works today.  Those folks and in state legislatures are still stuck on abortions and want to pass laws to put doctors in jail over the matter.  This is stupid but it goes a long way to demonstrate the ridiculous lawmaker values on what really matters and what is important and by living in the past. those companies that use algorithms for profit just keep on doing it and the rest of us suffer as the balance of ethics sits in the background as we don’t seem to have the caliber of lawmakers who can “see” ahead. The best thing we end up with as consumers is getting is another useless mobile health application or a insurers putting a game online to gather more data to sell that tells us this is the way to better health.  They just don’t get it. 

Digital Illiteracy Still Plagues Law Makers–Severe Focus on Abortion Rights Proves It–Is This Where Our Lawmaking Knowledge Leaves Off or Even Begins? Scary…

In short our Congress and other lawmakers are so far behind that bat they can’t see the light on what is important and that link above proves it with the abortion focus and says a lot for digital illiteracy and wasting time when more important items on are on agenda.  Those same folks will sit there and also scratch their heads to as to why technology takes so long in healthcare. All they can think about is spending millions of dollars on putting doctor Medicare claims on the web, what a farce as I have written many times it will not prove to be a good tool and would cost millions as there are tons of data errors and then one senator thought all of this could be done in 6 moths! 

DIGITAL ILLITERACY AT IT’S FINEST AGAIN. 

Two More Senators Propose More Bills to Publish Medicare Claims Data Without A Hint of Digital Literacy Relative to Cost and Time

So as the time rolls on here we shall see how tight those deadlines will be.  Sure there will be a few that are ready, but that’s not enough for what the new rules intend to accomplish so we can get our care.  We know claims and data issues will delay payment and both consumers and doctors have been this route before and are well aware of what’s going to be dished out and we will be on the losing end of the stick again.  BD 

Two disruptive events in the world of coding, billing, and claims reimbursement are about to engage the full attention of clinical laboratories and pathology groups. First is implementation of HIPAA 5010 forms for claims submission by all types of healthcare providers. This is scheduled to occur on January 1, 2012—just seven months away!

Second is implementation of ICD-10 codes. Federal law currently requires all payers and providers to begin using ICD-10 on October 1, 2013. On that date, the existing ICD-9 codes will no longer be used.

Consultants in medical laboratory billing, coding, and reimbursement predict that implementation of the ASC X12 Version 5010 transaction standards, commonly referred to as the HIPAA 5010 form, will be easier on clinical laboratories than implementation of the full ICD-10 code sets in 2013.

Rather, the problem will be that some health insurance plans and payers did not fully prepare for the transition. Thus, their computer systems and their claims processing staff became overloaded as all classes of payers begin using the new HIPAA 5010 forms.

But the requirements of implementing the 5010 forms are relatively small compared to the major effort that will be required of all providers and payers to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10.

ICD-10 is Just Around the Corner. What’s the Healthcare Industry Waiting For? | Dark Daily

Technorati Tags: ICD-10,ICD-9,coding,billing,transition,Health IT,medical billing,clearinghouses,payers,health insurance

GE Creates HealthyMagination Report and Website–Ho Hum One More Site With Consumers Apps That Will Probably Bite the Dust Like Many Others Have

Everybody seems to want to create the applications that are going to get consumers involved but don’t hold your breath:)  I like technology and do see how it saves time and money and “can” create better care but not at the rate we are going.  I’m getting flat out exhausted just trying to cover some of the stuff that has value and yes you heard that right, not all of it has value and we have developers writing software in some cases “just because they can”, and few or nobody uses it, so what’s up with this?  It doesn’t stop and next week there will be a bunch more apps out there. 

The sad reality is that folks in the Health IT consumer area just flat out keep falling on their faces with all of this and heck most of the folks that write this stuff usually don’t have the time themselves to use it, so how in the world is anyone else going to get excited about it?  These products are just flat out boring and useless.  What’s even more obnoxious is the fact that we have not one but four separate applications, so haven’t these folks heard about aggregation and putting all into one?  That’s what’s going on in other areas of healthcare.  Do I have time to read their report, not here with all the healthcare information I read, it’s just one more site saying the same thing, we are overloaded.

Now we do know about data for sale these days too and how both websites and devices capture all of this so again this is a well known and documented fact, so who wants the software anyway when we create data for sale?  I’m not picking on GE in particular, but I would much rather see them pay a few more dollars in taxes than to wither away more money for this.  We all know education is needed and software and device are not the total answer, it’s still the people business to where we still communicate, or at least last time I looked:)

How Data Mining Gets and Sells Your Information From the Web–Multi Billion Dollar Business And It Is Subsidizing Healthcare Every Where You Look…

Last week we had 2 more start up companies doing the same thing, creating online solutions for helping people decipher their medical bills, so why don’t thee 2 work together?  Everyone is selling and marketing their ass off today.  I also like to read about some of the folks that report how some of this software is going to set the world on fire and how valuable they think it is, and they don’t use it either but have this continuing burning desire to convince everyone they need it, in other words “its for those guys over there” again. 

Two More Medical Billing Start Up Companies Create Dashboards for Health Insurance Benefits/Payments-Over Crowded Area of Healthcare IT and Few Consumers Use

I used to write software so I feel that I’m in spot where I can rant a bit as everything doesn’t make it and we are spending more time and money on useless healthcare applications that nobody or few will ever touch.  Last week I caught an opening for a job, a Sleep Marketer.  If people were really concerned and most of us know when we are not getting enough sleep, we wouldn’t need a marketer to sell it and we would rush to find solutions, but again the solution for getting sleep is not software.  It can diagnose sleep apnea well and with testing give us some real solutions but not for the average person at night to feel they have to be connected and analyze each night’s sleep and that’s the market they are trying to create, lack of balance and marketing on steroids. Joe Biden has shown us there’s no problem catching a few winks when we need it, no matter where we are:)

Sleep Marketing–Healthcare Companies Looking to Market and Commoditize Our Habits–Snoozing Marketers Unleashed

So in closing, GE and everyone else out there where this fits, get a clue and send some of this money to philanthropy or pay more taxes.  Sure we need a lot of money for research and development and that’s a given and funding should continue but knock off the consumer apps and redundant and some times ridiculous marketing.  I would rather see patients get care rather than to see more apps flooding the market that few or nobody will use.  BD 

GE has launched the 2010 healthymagination report entitled "Healthcare Touches Everyone." The report details the innovations in the fields of technology and medicine and celebrates both the people behind these advancements and those benefiting from them. Seeking to build stronger relationships between patients and doctors, GE created healthymagination to gather, share and discuss healthy ideas.

http://www.healthymagination.com/progress/overview/

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Boston Scientific Recalls 29,000 Coronary Imaging Catheters–Tips Detaching

One more recall and and the catheters being recalled will be from hospitals for the most part.  We are still using the same old methodologies when a bar code could easily identify recalled products and devices.  Some hospitals use RFID to inventory but all are not equipped and even so some devices get missed being pulled from inventory.   At the bottom of this post is an article I wrote about a device that was missed and left on the shelf and caused death when the device malfunctioned.  Hopefully soon there’ will be a better way to handle recalls with using technology.  BD 

FDA Recalls Never End–Bar Codes Solutions for Drug, Device and Over The Counter Products– Medical Quack Featured Article in Micro-Cap Review Magazine

(Reuters) - Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp said it has recalled more than 29,000 of its iCross coronary imaging catheters after receiving reports of the catheter tip detaching during procedures.

The recall involves 29,664 iCross catheters distributed in the United States, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Tobago and the American Virgin Islands, the company said on Friday.

The voluntary recall was undertaken after the company received confirmed reports of eight occurrences of catheter tip detachments between April 1, 2010 and May 10, 2011.

The breakdown of the catheters while inside a blood vessel can cause blood clots, heart attacks, strokes and death.

The company is notifying affected hospitals through detailed recall notification letters, including instructions on how to return recalled product. The notification and instructions may also be found on the Boston Scientific website. For additional information regarding this recall, please contact Boston Scientific at 1-800-811-3211.

 

Boston Scientific recalls catheters | Reuters

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FDA Approves New Drug To Treat Clostridium Difficile Infections

In July of 2010 the FDA approved a test for C Diff and the results are given within an hour.  Already launched in Europe, illumigene C. difficile uses technology that makes it easier and less expensive to use than some other molecular tests.

FDA Approves Test for C. Difficile Meridian Bioscience – Results in an Hour

In a related FDA approval and injectable gel has been approved that could be used in conjunction with the C Diff infections.

FDA approves injectable gel to treat fecal incontinence

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a sterile, injectable gel to treat fecal incontinence in patients for whom other therapies such as diet change, fiber therapy or anti-motility medications failed.
Fecal incontinence is the involuntary loss of bowel control. It can have different causes including nerve damage, weakened anal sphincter associated with aging, or rectum muscle damage. According to the National Institutes of Health, there are more than 5.5 million Americans with fecal incontinence.
The Solesta gel is injected into a layer of tissue beneath the anus lining and may help build tissue in that area. By growing the surrounding tissue, the opening of the anus narrows and the patient may be able to better control those muscles.

Dificid is a macrolide antibacterial, should be taken two times a day for 10 days and is made by Optimer Pharmaceuticals.  If all else fails, there’s the last resort with feces donors.  BD

The C Diff Cure, an effective (but yucky) procedure

FDA approves treatment for Clostridium difficile infection The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Dificid (fidaxomicin) tablets for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD).

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a bacterium that can cause diarrhea and lead to colitis, other serious intestinal conditions, and death in severe cases. C. difficile bacteria are found in the stool of an infected person, and others can become infected if they touch items or surfaces contaminated with the bacteria or spores and then touch their mouths.

The safety and efficacy of Dificid were demonstrated in two trials that included 564 patients with CDAD that compared Dificid with vancomycin, a common antibiotic used to treat CDAD. The clinical response was similar in the Dificid group compared with the vancomycin group in both studies. In some patients with CDAD, symptoms can return. In the Dificid trials, a greater number of patients treated with Dificid had a sustained cure three weeks after treatment ended versus those patients treated with vancomycin.

“In recent years, many in the infectious disease community have seen an increase in the number of cases of people with a C. difficile infection,” said Edward Cox, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Office of Antimicrobial Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Dificid is an effective new treatment option for patients who develop Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea.”

Press Announcements > FDA approves treatment for Clostridium difficile infection

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Senator Tom Coburn Discusses Healthcare and Medicare Reform

This is actually an interesting interview that goes in-depth and shows a different side than what has been in the news of late with the Senator.  I may not agree with everything he says but there are some very good points here when it comes to wasting money with the government.  Back in October of 2010 he also commented on the same topic.  He steps around the Ryan issue when asked about Medicare and does comment on “markets” and that portion I don’t agree with.

Senator Tom Coburn States Government Has Spent Over a Billion Plus on the Deceased For HealthCare and Related Supplies

He talks about the reports he receives from the GAO and talks about how 1/3 of the cost of healthcare is not services that are helping people get better or getting preventive care.  Technology and research taking it’s toll and he states there’s no lack of innovation with healthcare and that I agree with.  We still keep pushing innovation and create gluts of software and proprietary systems that feed on themselves with lack of collaboration.  Also mentioned is that he has collected many reports over the years and that recently they have all been rolled together. 

What the good doctor needs is some additional high powered technology to weed through all his information that can model (and he knows the word) and simulate solutions.  The GAO is good but it’s what is in the past which we need but we also need to project better for the future.  In short with the gang of six it sounds like he just gave up.  Maybe Dr. Coburn needs one of these to help him with calculating data and getting his information together.  BD   

Cray Introduces 50-Petaflop XK6 Supercomputer–First Client is the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre For Medical Research–An Upgrade in Computing Power

In an interview with WSJ's Jerry Seib, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma gives his reasons for leaving the 'Gang of Six' bipartisan deficit negotiations and offers his own prescription for fixing the nation's finances.

Video - Sen. Tom Coburn Offers a Prescription for Fixing the Deficit - WSJ.com

Technorati Tags: Medicare,budgets,healthcare,spending,seniors,government,Congress,Gang of Six,politics,technology,reform,Health IT

Life Technologies Launches New Sequencing Analysis Software For The Cloud

We all talk about the future of the cloud and there’s no group that needs it more than the area of genomics and sequencing with the huge amounts of data that is needed to analyze.  Life Technologies is now offering cloud services to where researchers can pay as they go. In addition, the same company also has their smaller Ion Torrent sequencing machine that debuted not too long ago, kind of sits there on the desk like a printer and does the job but with comparing to a full sequencing machine it may take additional time and have some limitations.  BD 

Life Technologies Debuts Ion Torrent Machine-Cheap Genes at $500 for Single Sequence

Life Technologies this week launched a new sequence-analysis software package for analyzing and managing data from its 5500 Series SOLiD systems, including an online portal that allows researchers to analyze their data in a cloud computing environment.

The software, dubbed LifeScope Genomic Analysis, is available under a “dual-mode use” model that allows biologists to analyze data via a graphical user interface while bioinformaticians can access more advanced features through a command-line interface.

The software is available as standalone software, as a cloud-based tool, or it can be purchased preinstalled on a workstation or cluster. Life Technologies partnered with Penguin Computing to develop LifeScope's hardware options.

The cloud offering is available under several pricing models through the portal LifeScopeCloud.com. Under a subscription model, users can pay $1,500 for 3,000 node hours per month and 3 TB of permanent disk storage. The company also offers different pay-as-you-go models, including one for $199 a month that provides access to one core of a Xeon 2.4GHz processor with 4 GB of RAM, and another that allows users to pay $0.35 per core hour.

The infrastructure for the cluster, workstation, and the cloud are all provided by Penguin Computing.

The software is available as standalone software, as a cloud-based tool, or it can be purchased preinstalled on a workstation or cluster. Life Technologies partnered with Penguin Computing to develop LifeScope's hardware options.

Life Tech Launches New Sequence-Analysis Software, Cloud Offering for 5500 SOLiD Series | BioInform | Informatics | GenomeWeb

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Florida Governor Rick Scott Signs State Budget That Cuts Medicaid Reimbursements in the Sate by 12% While Florida HMO Profits Were Up 16%

We all know states with Republican Governors are not very popular today and Florida is one state saddled with one who is cutting costs everywhere he can.  In addition more money for low income care will now be going to the for profit hospitals and the government hospitals will get less.  I watched the news on TV and it was odd that he held the signing process as a senior home in Florida to where Democrats who attended and protested were kicked out. 

In 1997 Scott was forced to resign as the CEO of Columbia/HCA, then the country’s largest hospital chain, while it was being investigated for massive Medicare and Medicaid fraud.  HMO profits were up because people paid more and Humana was big winner with additional profits.  HMO membership keep dropping off though as employers are dropping coverage to save money.  70 percent of the profits came from Medicare.  In the video below you can watch the “Senior Democrats” being escorted out of the ceremony and it was in the paper as a “public event”.  There were a quite a few empty seats left once the Senior Democrats were escorted out. With HMO profits up and big business getting more profits and cuts in government, it’s going to be along 4 years, unless of course a recall event surfaces between now and then.  BD 

Florida Budget

Florida Gov. Rick Scott today signed a $69 billion state budget that cuts hospitals' Medicaid reimbursement rates in the state by 12% and redistributes funding for hospitals that serve low-income patients so for-profit hospitals will receive a greater share of the cash.

The budget includes cuts totaling $4 billion compared with the current spending plan, including $510 million in cuts from Medicaid—changes that Moody's Investors Service said will have a marked negative effect on the state's hospitals. That includes $407.5 million in inpatient rate cuts and $102.9 million in outpatient cuts.

The budget maintained the low-income pool funding—money that goes to hospitals with large numbers of impoverished patients—at $1 billion. However, the distribution of those funds was changed through a legislative committee so more of it goes to investor-owned hospitals, the governor's spokesman Lane Wright said.

Scott signs budget packed with healthcare cuts - Healthcare business news, research, information and opinions | Modern Healthcare

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Sleep Marketing–Healthcare Companies Looking to Market and Commoditize Our Habits–Snoozing Marketers Unleashed

This is something that all of us humans and others who walk the face of the earth have been doing since the beginning of time, but now healthcare companies have created a market for this.  Gee, we don’t know how to sleep anymore?  Granted there are some real life situations for having sleep patterns checked for detection of sleep apnea for sure, but I can’t help but think that some of this is to get you to buy devices and become more dependent on knowing whether or not you are getting a good night’s sleep and so far my body does a good job of letting me know. 

With so much data collecting and marketing going on out there today, the last thing I need is someone marketing a device to me so I can analyze my sleep patterns and I kind of like to think my body can do that for me.  Now to be a sleep marketer it takes a 4 year degree to step into these shoes too and one must know how to market doctors and be up to date on coding for insurance carriers and Medicare, as we have to get all this covered to sell products, and furthermore the job description states you must have solid working relationships with external stakeholders (shareholders maybe) and executive leadership. This is quite a list of essentials required to market sleep.  The whole idea here is to create a feeling of lack and insecurity to make one feel they could sleep better I think. 

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” Just Like “The Greatest Healthcare System Ever Sold”- Same Paradigms-Colbert Report (Video)

Again I thought this was an interesting job title here with now we are being convinced that we can’t sleep without analytics to tell us so and again get that coding right so reimbursements flow in and hey let’s sell this data too so we have some statistics on how many in the US are sleep deprived and depend on devices to help them out:)  Of course this too could be used in risk management to determine other factors as well, such as premium payments and gee who would want to insure one who has bad sleeping habits or has analytics that reflect such:)  The link below gives some additional insight into marketing of the data and who knows, we are not physically working there and we really don’t know exactly what they are doing with the data, but all the capabilities are alive and well today. 

How Data Mining Gets and Sells Your Information From the Web–Multi Billion Dollar Business And It Is Subsidizing Healthcare Every Where You Look…

In addition to the marketing there’s even new products being developed, like pajamas with a chip that record your breathing habits and so forth.  This might be a good way to test for Sleep Apnea but I don’t want to sleep in chipped PJs every night! 

So be ready for the “sleep marketer” as the next potential person out there to make you feel a bit less secure about the rest you get today as the job as do all marketing jobs will need to first of all convince you there is a “need” before the sale can take place and this is just old marketing 101 concepts here.  I think we all know when we are not getting quality sleep and would tend to seek help ourselves for the most part as there are real situations where this does occur, but the marketers are coming to make you feel just a bit less secure about your own body’s interpretations soon. 

Perhaps in time though this will take the place of the “evil” over weight people we hear about today and we’ll have a new group to flog, “the evil non sleepers” that are costing us money in healthcare as that’s the way most of this gets played out in the news today.  We tend to have issues with placing data analytics value in the right places today and this is on that sits right on that edge. 

One thing for sure though is I don’t think Joe Biden will be on their list as he seems to have no problem what so ever nodding off when his body says so:)  Next time when I need more sleep I’ll just be pulling off a “Biden” snooze whenever I need it too as it seems to have become totally acceptable, no matter where you are today:) BD

Responsible for leading all marketing efforts for the company's sleep product line including: development of marketing plans, budgeting and strategic planning, product promotion, messaging, and program development.

Works collaboratively with Sales, the VP Marketing, and Sr. Management.

Performs other related duties as directed by supervisor

Manager, Sleep Marketing jobs - AllHealthcareJobs.com

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