Man in Oregon Diagnosed With the Plague After Being Bitten by a Stray Cat

Thank goodness for antibiotics as the current rate of death is 16% compared to over 60% before World War 2.  The man is in the hospital in critical condition and the cat that bit him is dead and has been sent off to CDC to study.  To be safe blood samples were collected from neighbors pets and from animals in the area to see if the plague is an issue. 

Several people are also being treated that had come in contact with the man taking antibiotics.  The man was trying to remove a dead rodent from the mouth of the cat when he was bit.    BD

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Health officials have confirmed that an Oregon man has the plague after he was bitten while trying to take a dead rodent from the mouth of a stray cat.

The unidentified Prineville, Ore., man was in critical condition on Friday.

He is suffering from a blood-borne version of the disease that wiped out at least one-third of Europe in the 14th century — that one, the bubonic plague, affects lymph nodes.

The bacteria thrive in forests, semi-arid areas and grasslands, which plague-carrying rodents from wood rats to rock squirrels call home.

Once a coin flip with death, the plague is now easier to handle for humans in the U.S. The national mortality rate stood at 66 percent before World War II, but advances in antibiotics dropped that rate to its present 16 percent.

http://news.yahoo.com/plague-confirmed-oregon-man-bitten-stray-cat-171022591.html

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Rosetta Genomics Terminates Deal with Chinese Diagnostic Firm Due to Breach of Agreement

Basically it sounds like the Chinese company didn’t pay for the rights to market Rosetta’s diagnostic products.  Rosetta is an interesting company using mRNA and back a couple years ago I interviewed the company and learned about their test that determines “cancer of the unknown primary” which means that cancer in the kidney for example may not really be kidney cancer but rather a cancer that originated in another part of the body and treatments are very specific today for cancer types.  Medicare just announced a few days ago that they would cover Rosetta’s tests as well.  BD 

Rosetta Genomics Interview – microRNA for Diagnosing Lung Cancer Tumors

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NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Rosetta Genomics said today it is terminating a licensing deal with Avatao Biotech, accusing the Chinese diagnostic firm of material breach of an agreement.

The Israel-based molecular diagnostics firm said in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it delivered notice to Avatao on June 12 of its decision to terminate an agreement reached by the two companies in October covering China.

The deal between the two companies gave Avatao exclusive rights to market Rosetta's miRview mets and miRview mets2 diagnostic tests in China. Avatao also had the rights to market an additional Rosetta product in China, to be chosen within one year. In addition to China, the deal covered Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

http://www.genomeweb.com/mdx/claiming-breach-agreement-rosetta-genomics-ending-licensing-deal-avatao

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CareFusion Website That Distributes Software Updates for Vital Medical Devices Has Homeland Security Investigating - Site Was Riddled With Malware & Blocked by Google

Wow now this is a shocker, and Google blocked the site after finding the malware.  This says one thing for Google in the fact that their web scanners were on the ball.  The company uses the site to distribute software for ventilators and respiratory products.  The site was pushing malicious software to visitors so if you have visited the site, in the past as I assume it has been fixed now as the site is up and running, better check out your computer. 

A spokesperson from a hospital said he was shocked when he went to download software and a warning came up that said “visiting this site may harm your computer”.  He was going to download an update for ventilator software and not what one wants to see at this point in time for sure.  The last time I wrote about the company here they were laying of employees in San Diego back in 2010.  BD 

CareFusion Medical Device Company in San Diego Announces Layoffs

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Threatpost's Paul Roberts reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating the compromise of a Web site used to distribute software updates for vital medical equipment. The site, Roberts says, was blocked by Google after it was found to be "riddled with malware."

"The site belongs to San Diego-based CareFusion Inc., a hospital equipment supplier," Roberts writes. "The infected Web sites, which use a number of different domains, distribute firmware updates for a range of ventilators and respiratory products. Scans by Google's Safe Browsing program in May and June found the sites were rife with malware. For example, about six percent of the 347 Web pages hosted at viasyshealthcare.com, a CareFusion Web site that is used to distribute software updates for the company's AVEA brand ventilators, were found to be infected and pushing malicious software to visitors' systems.

http://www.esecurityplanet.com/network-security/medical-device-software-update-site-infected-with-malware.html

Technorati Tags: HealthIT,medical devices,Homeland Security,malware,software,download

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US Health Insurance Regulator Leaving to Take a Job at UnitedHealth Care As Vice President of the Optum Division – Moving to the “For Profit Side” With Business Intelligence Algorithm Dollars To Review

Here’s yet one more government employee who’s more than likely getting a substantial increase in working for the insurance industry.  As the the article states here he was the one responsible for enacting the US insurance regulations created by the healthcare overhaul.  Now I am guessing that he is on the other side of the fence and being he has the first hand knowledge of all that was written in to law, perhaps a priority here could be to find the “loop holes” in the law when working on the private side.  This is is nothing new as that’s what happens usually when one moves to the other side.  About a year ago the Health Insurance Exchange Chief left HHS and Mr. Larsen was the spokesperson making the announcement. 

Health Insurance Exchange Chief at HHS Announces He Will Be Leaving–Who Wants That Job, Really…

If you happened to watch the PBS documentary about Wall Street, that’s what their folks were told to do, “find the loop holes” and granted it’s not as easy in healthcare but again it’s what occurs when a change as such is made.  He’s going over it appears to the Optum side, the old “Ingenix” area to where formulas and algorithms are king and create a lot of profit for the company.  To make a bit of a stark comparison I posted the video with Jamie Dimon from Jon Stewart yesterday and it’s worth a watch as we are talking “regulation” in both areas and Dimon had no clue and the folks in the Senate looked like a “peanut” gallery of sorts with their comments.

“The Person the Hardest on Jamie Dimon Was Jamie Dimon” Testifying Before Congress This Week at the Senate Banking Committee Jon Stewart Video

 

United is not in this category as they have been doing analytics for profit even before it became stylish to do so. Remember the Cuomo case on the short pays on out of network charges that went on for 15 years…again a long time.  BD 

AMA Announces Doctors And Patients Can Expect To See the UnitedHealthCare/Ingenix Class Action Settlement Checks In the Mail Soon - Out of Network Short Payments–Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 19

In comparison it looks like regulation on the government side is losing the man at the top but hopefully there are some in the ranks with some algorithmic and formula knowledge to follow him as he takes all that knowledge and experience from his work at the government with him. It’s all about the math and formulas when it comes to profits.  BD 

UnitedHealthCare 1st Quarter of 2012 Yields over $1 Billion in Net Profits–25% of the Nation Still Remains Uninsured

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Steve Larsen, the government administrator directing enactment of U.S. insurance regulations created by the 2010 health-care overhaul, said he is leaving to take a job with UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) (UNH)

Larsen will resign as head of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight in July to become an executive vice president at UnitedHealth’s Optum unit, he said in an e-mail.

Larsen worked for Amerigroup Corp. (AGP) (AGP), a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based insurer specializing in Medicaid plans, before joining the Department of Health and Human Services (30581MF) in 2010 and had served as Maryland’s insurance commissioner.

He will be replaced temporarily by Mike Hash, an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius while Tavenner searches for a permanent replacement, she said.

Larsen’s position made him one of the country’s most powerful regulators of the health insurance industry, said Joel Michaels, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery in Washington who represents insurance companies.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-15/u-dot-s-dot-health-insurance-regulator-to-leave-oversight-job

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Manhunt for Trauma Surgeon is Over–Was Found Dead Not Far From His Home–Apparent Suicide

If you have been following this sad story, it also looks like a sad ending too.  BD 

 

Nationwide Manhunt Begins for New York Trauma Surgeon For Allegedly Shooting Ex-Girlfriend–Update

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The body of Dr. Timothy V. Jorden Jr., the man suspected in the shooting death of a West Seneca woman, was found this morning in an Eighteen Mile Creek ravine near his home, dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Dennis Richards, chief of detectives for the Buffalo Police Department, confirmed that information at a news conference just before 1 p.m.

The discovery came only a day after police had said a manhunt was under way for Jorden. But neighbors on the Lakeview street where he lived said they were told this morning by police officers not to worry about their safety because Jorden was dead.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article904969.ece

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“The Person the Hardest on Jamie Dimon Was Jamie Dimon” Testifying Before Congress This Week at the Senate Banking Committee Jon Stewart Video

This is classic and from what else I have read pretty much tells the story.  Earlier today I found another priceless comment stating that "Lloyd Blankfein must be happy now that some of the negative shadows are following Dimon” so I guess he can go out in public again:)  Also in the news today, we had this about seniors. 

Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 34–Senior Abuse With Complicated Formulas and Text Written Beyond Normal Levels of Comprehension

Watch this PBS 4 part video series on Wall Street and even cities and municipalities were on the hook and taken advantage of and it gives you the history on how derivatives were born at JP Morgan with young executives on a company trip in Florida years back, they did a good job with their coverage for sure. If the banks can’t figure out their own complicated algorithms, what are seniors and other consumers going to do? 

We need some “tech ”CEOs I think as figureheads that don’t know squat are getting old and like in the video they get to play dumb and everyone believes him in the Senate.   

Now back to to laugh at our spineless Senate and it does make for a very good circus as Jon Stewart points out.  Excuse my language here, but what bunch of “suck ups” as there’s no better way to describe this when you watch the video.  BD   

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/jon-stewart-knocks-senate-banking-committe

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Nationwide Manhunt Begins for New York Trauma Surgeon For Allegedly Shooting Ex-Girlfriend–Update

This is sad indeed and it sounds like he cracked for what ever reason.  This article seems to include information that said he may have been sick and actually gives a bit of history on his background with being in the military and being a home town success with becoming a surgeon and saving the lives of many.  He seems to be the primary suspect in the killing of his ex girlfriend at the hospital where both worked.  He is a weapons expert from his training in the military and could be dangerous. 

Surgeon Wanted in Buffalo for Allegedly Killing His Ex-Girlfriend at Erie County Medical Center

With the ex girlfriend talking about putting a GPS unit on her car and holding her captive in her home for a day and an half, this doesn’t sound good.  BD

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Police across the country were on the lookout Thursday for the 49-year-old trauma surgeon in connection with the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend in a building at the Buffalo hospital complex where they both worked. Police say the former Army weapons expert may be armed and should be considered dangerous.

Police across the country were on the lookout Thursday for the 49-year-old trauma surgeon in connection with the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend in a building at the Buffalo hospital complex where they both worked. Police say the former Army weapons expert may be armed and should be considered dangerous.

Heather Shipley, a friend of Wisniewski, told WIVB-TV that Wisniewski feared Jorden and that he wouldn't let go after she left him because she believed he was having affairs with other women.

She said Wisniewski told her the doctor had put a GPS tracking device in her car and once held her captive in her home for a day and a half, wielding a knife. 

"He had a lot of money invested in his house and the landscaping. And when I came back from Florida in May, it was really neglected. I was just shocked," said Wrzosek, the neighbor.

"We presumed he was sick, that maybe he had some sort of major ailment," Wrzosek said.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018436392_apusbuffalohospitalshooting10thldwritethru.html

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FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg Delivers Commencement Address at Albert Einstein College of Medicine–Video

Would you like to know more about Dr. Hamburg, listen to her address. She talks not only about the students but also about here feelings and dedication as head of the FDA.  She commends community outreach programs.  The concern for man and his fate she states is imperative.  She did her medical residency in New York and served as the city’s health commissioner.  She talks about the early days of AIDS and the need for integrated health services. 

There is no substitute for human caring and compassion she states and that patients put their their trust in their doctors first, not a machine.  Medicine is also an art who bring both technology and humanity and caring to the bedside.  The  more dependent that doctors become on technology she says its easy to lose track of compassion and caring and urges students not to lose it.  She also talks about evidence based medicine and the importance it has.  Good decision making requires good listening skills she states, and hold on to the “moral compass” and see yourself as part of a “team” and show compassion for the uninsured.  Great address to the graduating class!  BD 

Albert Einstein Commencement–Dr. Margaret Hamburg FDA Commish

Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., the 21st commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, delivers the commencement address at Albert Einstein College of Medicine's 2012 commencement ceremony at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City on May 30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrxViE5CSvA

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Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 34–Senior Abuse With Complicated Formulas and Text Written Beyond Normal Levels of Comprehension

Today in the news it’s seniors who are the latest noted victims of financial abuse.  Back with Richard Cordray was appointed I said I sure hope he understands math and formulas as that’s a big part of how all this happens.  It happens to all of us, but seniors are even more likely to be victims.  Read the news of late and you can see several reports to where the banks can’t even figure out what they created with algorithms and formulas and how do you expect the layman to understand it I ask. 

President Appoints Richard Cordray as New Consumer Financial Protection Chief - Hope He Knows And Understands Correcting Flawed Math and Formulas To Battle the “Financial Attack of Killer Algorithms” On Consumers With Banks and Corporate USA

I watched a recent PBS 4 part video series on Wall Street and even cities and municipalities were on the hook and taken advantage of.  It was very good and informative and really dove in to explain how derivatives work.  It talked all about the commissions and big money made by brokers which is what drove the derivative markets and talked about the increase in the “dark pools” to where so much is hidden and skates around regulation.  The videos had several interviews with former employees who were told it was their job to figure out how to get around laws and regulations and they did.  None of them could talk about how much they made as that was part of their employment agreement, I assume past and present.  What was fascinating though was where the whole idea was cooked up for derivatives and by who…JP Morgan but all the investment banks jumped in once the rules were set up.

It’s all about the Attack of the Killer Algorithms as that’s what was used by software engineers to build derivatives, they couldn’t have done it without them and they still build them with running up the desired results up the software flagpole. 

Here’s an old post I made over 2 years ago and maybe it’s time has come?

“Department of Algorithms – Do We Need One of These to Regulate Upcoming Laws?

In chapter 6 I addressed the fact that us as the middle class are now a bunch of data chasers that have to go around and fix what has been reported about us in error and the amount of flawed data out there is increasing.  We have to go back and prove that the “algorithms for desired results” (not ours but theirs) are flawed when it comes to accountability and providing accurate information about all of us.  BD

Attack of the Killer Algorithms Part 6–Discrimination With Consumer Credit-Same As Health Insurance Wanting Consumers to Reconstruct Records From Many Years Past As Middle Class Turns Into Data Chasers-Days of Taking Risks to Get Ahead Will Be Limited For Most…Occupy Algorithms

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The majority, or 84%, of experts who deal with financial fraud of elders -- including financial planners, medical professionals and social workers -- have noticed an increase in financial abuses this year, according to a survey released this week by nonprofit organization Investor Protection Trust.

About 58% of the 762 respondents reported that they encountered investment fraud or financial exploitation of seniors "quite often" or "somewhat often."

And 96% of experts said elderly fraud is a serious problem.

Meanwhile, research from insurance provider MetLife has found that Americans over the age of 60 lost about $2.9 billion to financial abuse in 2010 -- up 12% from the $2.6 billion lost in 2008.

The CFPB's director, Richard Cordray, said that at his former post as Attorney General of Ohio, he saw many instances of financial abuse against seniors -- including fraudulent lottery or sweepstakes scams where criminals stole the last of their money.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/14/pf/elder-financial-abuse/index.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_latest+%28Latest+News%29

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WellPoint Completes Migration to Microsoft Office 365 In the Cloud With 65,000 Mailboxes

In addition you can also visit the Microsoft In Health Blog to read more to include a interview as to how and what influenced WellPoint to choose Office 365.  In addition this makes more room for using Share Point for collaboration efforts as well as having video and other capabilities that are built into Office 365.  If you ever had to monitor and take care of Exchange on a client/server operation, then you will appreciate cloud services for sure. 

With 65,000 mailboxes you can bet the IT folks were happy to have  this come along.  I don’t know how many of the opt in services are included but having connectivity with social networks is also a huge help and this could give more time to the IT folks to work on their “risk” business intelligence items which are always at hand with insurance companies. 

In addition Blue Cross has a bit of money tied up with their own BI ventures which you can read about at the link below as the parent company moved to San Francisco to start yet one more incubator.  BD

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Blue Cross Venture - Blue Health Intelligence Proving to Be Very Costly And Received Another 9 Billion From Undisclosed Source–Subsidiary Watch

Press Release:

REDMOND, Wash., and INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — June 14, 2012 — WellPoint Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced WellPoint’s completed migration to the cloud that includes its internal productivity platform and more than 65,000 email boxes. WellPoint collaborated with Microsoft to deploy Microsoft Office 365, which allows associates to collaborate in a virtual environment, share desktop screen views, host virtual meetings, instant message and streamline communications. This yearlong process included a multiphase migration to the cloud environment. Office 365 allows the more than 37,000 WellPoint associates to communicate via chat, video and audio.

WellPoint’s affiliated health plans serve nearly 34 million members, more than 62 million people through subsidiaries, and are continuously working to improve the customer experience. The collaboration with Microsoft is expected to provide the support needed to help give customers the best service in the industry. When associates can communicate in a collaborative, efficient manner, customers receive prompt, efficient service.

WellPoint is working toward more coordinated care management delivery for customers, which includes access to the latest medical evidence and accurate and complete member information contained within a security-enhanced cloud environment. This technology serves as the foundation for WellPoint’s internal communications, with WellPoint’s goal to eventually offer the same collaborative communications to affiliated health plan providers and customers.

“We are leveraging the cloud and Office 365 to achieve new levels of collaboration internally,” said Andrew J. Lang, senior vice president and chief information officer, WellPoint Inc. “Our next step is to enhance our collaborative communication capabilities to our affiliated health plan members and our health care plan provider partners by enabling solutions that help in improving the coordination of care.”

“In today’s hypercompetitive marketplace, health plans must focus their limited resources where they matter most — empowering people and teams to deliver exceptional customer experiences, be more productive, and respond quickly to change and opportunities,” said Dennis Schmuland, chief health strategy officer, U.S. Health and Life Sciences, Microsoft. “For WellPoint and other health benefit organizations, an always up-to-date cloud service such as Office 365 offers the agility to respond quickly to change and opportunities, and by substantially reducing IT operating costs, it frees resources for more strategic uses.”

About WellPoint Inc.

At WellPoint (NYSE: WLP), we believe there is an important connection between our members’ health and well-being—and the value we bring our customers and shareholders. So each day we work to improve the health of our members and their communities. And, we can make a real difference since we have nearly 34 million people in our branded health plans, and more than 62 million people served through our subsidiaries. As an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, WellPoint serves members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), and Wisconsin. In a majority of these service areas, WellPoint’s plans do business as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Empire Blue Cross (in the New York service areas). WellPoint also serves customers throughout the country as UniCare and in certain California, Arizona and Nevada markets through our CareMore subsidiary. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com

About Microsoft in Health

Microsoft is committed to improving health around the world through software innovation. For over 16 years, Microsoft has been providing a broad portfolio of technologies and collaborating with partners worldwide to deliver solutions that address the challenges of healthcare providers, public health and social services, payers, life sciences organizations and consumers. Today, Microsoft invests in technology innovation and works with health organizations, communities and over 20,000 partners around the world to make a real impact on the quality of healthcare.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

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A New Way to Work Out with Kinect–Kinvestix Belt Provides Resistance–No Need to Wear Weights

I recently attended the Israel Conference in Los Angeles and as like last year the amount of brains and technology all in one small place is astounding and my brain hurt when I left.   I spoke with the folks at Kinvestix and if you read here at the Medical Quack then you have seen all kinds of posts relative to what Kinect does and what it can do from surgical procedures to peeling a grape. 

I spoke with Asaf Manor about how it works and it kind of looked like fun.  Not having to wear “actual weights” is a big plus and it can be a bit safer in not injuring yourself as well.   The company was featured at the MicrosoftrndIsrael recently.  When you watch the video there are placements are are definitely for the male users <grin>. 
It looks as if you can get a full gym workout with the gym and get some entertainment at the same time.  These kind of games are fine with me and beat the heck out of those that gather and sell your data online.    

I also spoke with a 3D printing company at the Israel Conference who just announced merging with a US company that does the same thing and was able to actually see on of those 3D printing machines.  Read more about Object here.  BD 

Kinvestix

Technorati Tags: Kinect,exercise,Kinvestix,Israel,Microsoft

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Alliance Health Networks Sponsoring 35 ePatient Scholarships to Attend Medicine X Conference at Stanford School of Medicine

This is great to get patient involvement going.  Stanford Hospital is also one of the sponsors of the event and you can watch the video below and see more of what this is all about.  This is the first time that e-patients are getting some real attention and involvement.  I bet we see e-Patient Dave there, after all he “coined” it:)  I remember when he did that too.  BD 

Introduction to Medicine X from Larry Chu on Vimeo.

Press Release: 

SALT LAKE CITY (June 13, 2012) – Alliance Health Networks, the leading social networking company serving consumers and the healthcare industry, today announced its sponsorship of 35 ePatient scholarships for the 2012 Medicine X conference at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The scholarships, granted by Medicine X, provides the funds needed for these ePatients—highly informed and engaged patients who make significant use of online resources to track and manage their health—to attend the 2012 Medicine X conference in September.

 

Medicine X is a catalyst for new ideas about the future of medicine and healthcare, and is designed to explore the potential of social media and information technology to advance the practice of medicine, improve health, and empower patients to be active participants in their own care. The Medicine X conference aims to bring a broad academic approach to understanding emerging technologies with the potential to improve health and advance the practice of medicine.

 

“Medicine X is an academic conference designed for everyone,” said Dr. Larry Chu, associate professor of anesthesia at Stanford and executive director of the conference. “And, through our scholarship program, 10 percent of the seats are being given for free to patients. We hope this will unite patients with healthcare providers, researchers and technologists to solve healthcare problems.”

 

Alliance Health sponsored the ePatient scholarship program to help bring an active patient voice to the Medicine X conference. The company owns and operates more than 50 specific social health networks – such as Diabetic Connect, Heart Connect, Sleep Connect and Arthritis Connect, among others – that connect more than 1.5 million registered patients and caregivers to each other and to valuable condition-specific information.

 

“The ePatient perspective is critical when exploring the new shape of healthcare, and Alliance Health is thrilled to provide the means for these 35 individuals to lend their voices to the conversation,” said Stead Burwell, CEO of Alliance Health Networks. “As a health-based social engagement platform, we know firsthand that people are using social networks to manage their health journey in ways that were never imagined even just a few years ago. We are happy to partner with Stanford Medicine X to help propel this important healthcare discussion forward.”

 

Applicants for the scholarship had to demonstrate a history of patient engagement, community outreach and advocacy, with a preference given to individuals using emerging technologies such as blogs, Twitter, and social media to pursue these goals. Scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to participate both as attendees and speakers, and will also be given the chance to contribute to a patient-centered design project facilitated by the health and wellness team at the international design firm IDEO.

 

Under the direction of Chu, Medicine X is a project of the Stanford AIM (Anesthesia Informatics and Media) Lab. The 2012 Medicine X Conference will be held September 28-30.

 

About Alliance Health Networks

 

Alliance Health Networks is building a free and independent social engagement platform that gives people the power to navigate their personal health journey. The company owns and operates more than 50 social networks and 20 mobile versions serving over 1.5 million registered members. Alliance Health leverages social networks to help consumers more actively manage their care through personal connections, powerful tools, and deeper insights. The company's investors include New World Ventures, Physic Ventures, Highway 12 Ventures, and EPIC Ventures. For more information, visit: www.alliancehealthnetworks.com.

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UCI Researchers Working With Start Up Companies to Create Jobs and Fundraising to Develop New Ventures To Boost the Area Economy in the OC

Since so much research today begins at the University levels this is important to connect those who are doing the work with start up companies to where a a win-win business could get started.  In addition, the center offers workshops on how to write grants and how to get started with fund raising.  The University is also a course open the public on how to build innovative teams.  BD 

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Local business groups, government agencies and UCI are working together to turn academic research into innovative companies that will create jobs and boost the regional economy.

TriTech Small Business Development Center, a specialty agency to help high-tech, high-growth startups, is working with UCI researchers to help them commercialize their technology.

Part of the focus is to educate researchers in developing university-industry partnerships and fundraising and to link them with local small businesses and entrepreneurs to develop new ventures, promote innovation and secure Small Business Innovation Research funding through 11 major government agencies including Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture

The project has included workshops in how to write grant proposals. For information on future workshops, call Matthew Jenusaitis, OCTANe at 949-330-6569 or Marquise Jackson at Tri Tech SBDC, 951-571-6430 or email marquise.jackson@rcc.edu.

As a followup to the project, UCI Extension will offer a course open to the public “Building Innovation Teams” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 28, Aug. 4 and 11 at the UCI campus.

http://jan.ocregister.com/2012/06/13/project-seeks-to-link-uci-researchers-business/79748/

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Surgeon Wanted in Buffalo for Allegedly Killing His Ex-Girlfriend at Erie County Medical Center

The hospital was on lock down for a while by the police and SWAT teams.  The surgeon had also been in military service and the article states that perhaps experienced some emotional issues since his return.  This is sad and you can watch the video below for more details. BD



The fatal drama began around 8 a.m. at the Erie County Medical Center, when Dr. Timothy Jorden, 49, allegedly shot and killed Jackie Wisniewski, a woman identified as his former lover, according to sources familiar with the investigation. She was found dead in a covered passageway joining the hospital's Kidney Center and another wing of the medical center, The Miller Building, ABC affiliate WKBW-TV reported.

A career soldier, Jorden graduated from the University of Buffalo School of Medicine in 1996.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/buffalo-hospital-shooting-surgeon-wanted-allegedly-killing-girlfriend/story?id=16559372#.T9kCmZglqSo

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Predictive Modeling–Business and Consumer Algorithmic Data Screening Parameters Used With Insurance Underwriting–Same Stuff Wall Street Does - Attack of Killer Algorithms Chapter 33

Ok , if you read here often enough, I have been telling you this for the last 2 years and it’s all about risk assessment and the algorithms used to calculate scores.  I understand the need and use of a lot of this technology but on the other side it gets abused and we have tons of flawed data floating around out there and it’s getting worse every day. For what ever reason, data is flawed, be it someone lies, or data is not updated, or someone creates software with a bunch of algorithms to sell more software and yes that last one occurs more than you may think.  Even the author of this article states how “scary” the consumer data is, again as there’s flaws but too many naïve internet readers believe they see and those who create some of these formulas, even though they may not admit it, cash in and make money off the consumer’s backs.

Also as the article states, it’s already being used for screening and again if you have read here for the last 2 years, you know that in what I have blogged about.  I used to write code and have 25 years of sales and marketing in my background and am a strange hybrid, but you know what, I can relate the two and predict as when you know the mechanics and have spent enough years in selling, well it’s a good combination, that is if you want to know about what algorithms do and pretty much figure out what direction folks are going, not hard if you know sales, mechanics and read the news.   

Context is Everything–More About the Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception–Professor Siefe Lecture Given at Google’s New York Office–Big Healthcare Focus

The one example in here is perfect with seeing if a TV is left on all day…person would be seen with a potential to develop diabetes due to a sedentary lifestyle, but it’s not him/her, it’s the kids…<got to love some of the flawed analytics that’s building out there>.  Companies don’t update their licenses with states that mine this data so as a consumer if they don’t update, guess what, its takes you months, maybe a year to get errors off your record…all comes back to flawed data.  NYU professor Siefe, a mathematician agrees with me in the fact that we don’t have enough people out there who know how to work with “flawed data” and I might say we might not have enough either to work with non-flawed data either.  He wrote the book “Proofiness, the Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception” and yes folks it lives out there, more than what you think.  Again know how someone could write code to disguise and market, that’s where I’m coming from.  They do it.



So if you are buying life insurance, these folks want the “best in class” for goodness sakes so all the rest of us that don’t qualify are discarded by use of Killer Algorithms. 

They all want to predict your mortality and frankly some of us may not want to know that.  Check out this link below and watch this video.  “Previvor” if you get the disease, you get off the island and this is addressing predictive behaviors and sub clinical screenings.  Let’s face it, do you like this?  Granted there’s some very good use, but some are going overboard and we still have to function like humans.  This is where they are going with some of this and some folks have no clue on balance, especially when “desired” results have a tendency to trump accuracy, and the naïve public still buys in here, go figure.

“Previvor, If You Develop the Disease You Get Off the Island”–Subclinical Illnesses Leading to Overtreatment And Possibly Death–Ivan Oransky From Reuters Video

Previvor–Mortality and subclinical assessments

Now if you are still reading, let’s see how much money (billions) is made by corporations, banks, high frequency companies and more with all this data.  Ahem…Walgreens made just short of $800 million in selling data only in 2010 on their SEC report, does that tell you this is a money game and not always in your best interest.  I said we need to tax these billionaire companies and help out the consumer who’s getting screwed with flawed data where we are guilty and have to prove innocence on “flawed data”.  Why do you think companies don’t build and open new factories to product tangibles in the US when they can hire a few geeks to write some algorithms and mine data and make millions with hardly any employees, code does it all so let’s reduce the value of some of these algorithms and boost the value of “humans” for goodness sakes!! 

“Devaluate the Algorithm” And “Tax the Data Sellers”–A Cure for Both Healthcare and an Economy Based Heavily on Intangibles–We’ve Lost Our Balance

There’s absolutely a glaring example of what credit folks do with creating software to sell more software.  See this FICO example..mismatched data and yet they create all kinds of reports to substantiate selling their algorithms, how dumb can we be and suck all this up?  This is just like that example of the kids watching TV, flawed and just made up to make money off the middle class. 

FICO Analytics Press Release Marketing Credit Scoring Algorithms to Predict Medication Adherence–Update (Opinion)

Now it appears in Germany, their credit folks want to do something like this too so it is contagious. 

Schufa, Germany’s Largest Rating Firm Wants Access to Consumer Data from Social Networks

So where are the “predictive models” for the Facebook IPO I ask <grin>.  Their analytics came back to bite in the form of some “rogue algorithms”…and we know the rest of that story…Killer Algorithms attack once again.  CEO was less than knowledgeable and again just one more of those high paid figureheads today out there running around with little tech knowledge.  If I were a software engineer at Facebook, I would be pretty angry and not to mention inquisitive too as what happened with those algos as they write and test enough of their own.   

Facebook IPO – The Ultimate “Attack of the Killer Algorithms” Nobody is Immune In the World of Complicated Computer Code and Formulas Today

Back on track, not too long ago Accretive proved how important algorithms are to making money, remember that one where employees were collecting at the ER room and doing some very unethical collecting, all while on pay for performance for bring in the money?  So when you think about underwriting, these companies are doing the same thing, money, money and more money and ethics suffer so underwriting stands to get just bit more polluted as time moves forward and gee, what’s going to happen when very few can meet the parameters that are added to all the algorithms?  Will nobody quality?  No, they will just created new algorithms and play God with flawed data and formulas more than likely as nobody calls them on it sadly. 

Accretive Medical Collections and Analytics Cited by Minnesota by Attorney General For Collecting from Patients At Bedside and Worse–Employees on Pay for Performance Too? Killer Algorithms Chapter 28

In summary it looks like the underwriting business is taking the same algorithmic path that Wall Street did with our finances except this time we can see it all, that is if we “choose” to do something about unethical parameters with algorithms.   Maybe JP Morgan has a comment or two to add there? <grin>  BD

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ANAHEIM, Calif. – “Predictive modeling” is coming to life underwriting, and while it may help reduce underwriting costs, the approach may be confusing to clients or even a touch scary, says a long time underwriter. Advisors will therefore need to be ready to educate on this.

Predictive modeling refers to systematic analysis of data, including historical information. In the life underwriting context, this data is about consumers.

Analysts use the information to create predictions, or models. Underwriters can apply the information to life insurance applicants in order to determine their risk classification for the insurance coverage they are seeking.


Advisors may be familiar with the approach in other, non-insurance contexts. For instance, predictive analytics have been used in credit risk scoring, medical research, consumer marketing and even meteorology, the underwriter said. “iTunes uses it through its Genius application to provide song recommendations; Netflix does the same for movies.”

Predictive models fall into different categories. Phelan considers one of them -- the consumer data model — as having “a little scary” side to it.

The consumer data model involves applying information obtained about an applicant from various databases and information resources. The data might show things such as the applicant’s online purchases, magazine prescriptions, TV watching behavior and leisure activities, the underwriter said.

http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=346043&type=lifehealth

Technorati Tags: algorithms,Wall Street,parameters,KillerAlgorithms,healthare,insurance,numbers,flawed data,software,credit

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Nobel Prize Money Reduced as Financial Woes Pressure the Foundation to Cut Costs

This is really sad and goes to show that nobody is exempt in the world we live in today.  It’s the first time in 63 years that reductions were made.

Same sad story, bad investment performance with poor equity.  You can watch the video and hear all the details.  The foundation has changed their investment schemes too and will send more over to areas like Hedge Funds.  Basically they have more going out than coming in.  BD



http://online.wsj.com/video/financial-woes-for-nobel-as-prize-money-is-reduced/470D8968-16ED-4573-AEF8-D24EA4ADD875.html

Technorati Tags: Nobel prize,money,funds,foundation

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Schufa, Germany’s Largest Rating Firm Wants Access to Consumer Data from Social Networks

Here we go again except outside the US this time with more information to mine and sell.  Why else do rating firms want this data?  We also have to realize that all of this data is not perfect either and what if folks lie?  Does anyone do that on the web, what a question to ask, right?  In the US data mining makes billions for companies, banks, etc. while their overhead is very small and why companies don’t start doing more manufacturing here as this is all automated.  I keep saying they need to be taxed with a federal excise quarterly submission.  Maybe the credit folks in Germany want to make some money off the mined algorithms too?  Consumers suffer once again. 

We Pay Gasoline Tax to Keep Up the US Highway Infrastructure–Why Not Tax the Data Selling Companies and Banks to Keep Up the US Government IT Infrastructure? A “Buffett Tax” Alternative

As the middle class we have become data chasers here in the US to fix what is not correct and most of the time the information is not what any of us entered, aka the Killer Algorithms. 

Attack of the Killer Algorithms Part 6–Discrimination With Consumer Credit-Same As Health Insurance Wanting Consumers to Reconstruct Records From Many Years Past As Middle Class Turns Into Data Chasers-Days of Taking Risks to Get Ahead Will Be Limited For Most…Occupy Algorithms

Let’s hope they are not after the same game as FICO plays here with mismatched data to sell software and algorithms to score you on whether or not you will take medications as a patient, clearly a big abuse of data with trying to prove relativity.  They just want to make some money from some algorithms written and sell it to insurance and pharmaceutical companies.  BD

FICO Analytics Press Release Marketing Credit Scoring Algorithms to Predict Medication Adherence–Update (Opinion)

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Everyone knows Facebook is full of interesting data that’s being exploited in all sorts of ways –- whether by startups building businesses on the social graph, or employers who are vetting job candidates using the site.

But here’s a way in which you might not want your data mined: to help inform your credit score.

That’s precisely what’s on the cards in Germany, where Schufa, the country’s largest ratings firm, wants access to data from the Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts of its customers.

So what kind of data does the credit agency actually want to mine? According to the leaked documents, the main thrusts seem to be establishing relationship links between people and keeping tabs on address changes and address history.

http://gigaom.com/europe/credit-agency-mines-facebook-data/

Technorati Tags: privacy,Germany,social networks,healthcare,patients,financials

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M*Modal Launches New M*Modal Catalyst Suite For Working With Unstructured & Structured Medical Data in the Cloud

Every doctor-patient visit creates unstructured data (such as dictated notes and other docs), but because the data is unstructured, execs have been severely limited in their ability to access real context.  M*Modal Catalyst is a new product to help make use of unstructured data which to date has been difficult to incorporate. 

From the website:

“With M*Modal Catalyst, hospitals, physician practices and managed service organizations can, for the first time, quickly retrieve and assess this gold mine of information in their unstructured data, and make it immediately useable, actionable and shareable with providers across the organization. It enables a more complete understanding of patient information so you can work smarter, optimize organizational performance and promote higher quality care.”

M*Model has several other divisions and solutions as shown below.

The company also works with EHR companies for integration of some of their software products. 
MModal with their speech recognition seems to be about the only competitor with Nuance as far as I have seen.  Their product works in the cloud with recognizing key words and other relative bits of information in patient narrative unstructured data.  it will be interesting to hear some feedback on how this works as well.  BD 


Press Release:

 

Franklin, TN – June 12, 2012 – M*Modal (MModal Inc. – NASDAQ/GS: MODL), a leading provider of clinical documentation services and Speech Understanding™ solutions, announced today the M*Modal Catalyst™ family of cloud-based applications, enabling healthcare decision-makers to extract actionable information from “unstructured” medical documentation, regardless of how that data was created, and combine it with structured data contained in electronic clinical systems.  This new suite of solutions is designed to make full use of the untapped meaning contained within clinical documentation to improve the quality of patient care and better inform financial practices.  Also announced today are the first two applications in the M*Modal Catalyst suite, M*Modal Catalyst for Quality™ and M*Modal Catalyst for Radiology™, built on the Company’s proprietary cloud-based Speech Understanding™ platform.

 

“M*Modal Catalyst uniquely positions us to assist providers in immediately revealing and extracting meaningful, actionable data from narrative text,” said Vern Davenport, chairman and CEO, M*Modal.  “Every day, healthcare professionals are faced with clinical, financial and quality-related decision-making.  The right decisions would be more apparent if all medical documentation could be accurately assessed based on the true meaning embedded in the clinical narrative.”

 

The majority of a healthcare organization’s data is captured in a traditional narrative or unstructured form, including dictated notes from the doctor-patient encounter and other sources.  Until now, healthcare organizations have been severely limited in their ability to access, beyond searching for keywords, the real context and meaning behind a physician’s observations.  This has hindered organizational efforts to uncover medical findings for more accurate reimbursements and improvements at the point of care.  With M*Modal Catalyst, hospitals, physician practices and managed service organizations can, for the first time, quickly retrieve and assess this gold mine of information in their unstructured data, and make it immediately useable, actionable and shareable with providers across the organization. 

 

“M*Modal Catalyst allows us an unparalleled level of visibility.  It actually bridges the gap between structured data and language, and lets us mine the data hidden within the language," said Stephen Willis, chief information officer, Canopy Partners.  “We're able to turn a static, text document into an actual living document so we can measure against the quality measures that our best practice operating committee has determined are most meaningful.”

 

M*Modal Catalyst offers customers:

·         Visibility and understanding of key clinical concepts often lost in traditional documentation, such as patient fall risk factors, dietary practices and causes of events (e.g. collapsed lung due to medical procedure complications).

·         Delivery via the cloud, allowing for greater flexibility and scalability to the whole enterprise, along with greater ease of use and access anywhere, anytime, on any PC/workstation.

·         Speech recognition and natural language processing in one, single contiguous process, offering greater understanding and enhanced collaborative intelligence through tools for data annotation, feedback, and sharing.

·         An open solution in which all medical documents, regardless of vendor, can be searched and utilized allowing for question-answering of both narrative and structured data sources.

·         Content plus context; critically important capabilities since keyword searches are extremely limiting and potentially inaccurate if not applied in context, as no two physicians speak in the exact words in the exact order. 

·         Support of a broad spectrum of standard medical vocabularies such as SNOMED-CT, LOINC and RxNORM for seamless interoperability with other systems in order to deliver unprecedented clarity and insights.

·         The only infrastructure for cost-effective, large-scale deployment of natural language understanding applications.

·         Applications pre-packaged to address specific needs for improving clinical or financial processes, such as CDI, PQRS, patient safety, Meaningful Use, critical findings, and other quality and radiology-specific reporting requirements.

 

M*Modal Catalyst for Quality helps healthcare executives, administrators and physicians drive actions that improve documentation quality and assists the organization in achieving Meaningful Use compliance.  M*Modal Catalyst for Radiology allows radiology organizations or departments to identify clinical information within radiology documents to drive compliance and quality.  More applications within the M*Modal Catalyst product family are expected to be announced in the coming months.

 

Last month M*Modal announced its M*Modal Fluency™ family of clinical solutions to enable healthcare organizations to electronically capture patient stories for reimbursement via its Speech Understanding™ technology.   M*Modal Catalyst then drives intelligence from this information, as well as from other medical documents.  This previously static information is now useable and shareable to fully inform medical actions by presenting information to physicians and other stakeholders in the right context and at the right time.

 

About M*Modal

M*Modal (NASDAQ/GS: MODL) is a leading provider of clinical transcription services, clinical documentation workflow solutions, advanced cloud-based Speech Understanding^TM technology and unstructured data analytics.  Recognized as the largest clinical transcription service in the U.S. with a global network of medical editors, M*Modal also offers voice to text solutions to capture the complete patient story, codifies the doctor's narrative to automatically populate EHRs and other key healthcare information systems, delivers computer-assisted coding to support ICD-9 and the transition to ICD-10, and provides highly advanced analytical tools for exploring the richness within the “unstructured” narrative for improvements in quality of care, greater physician satisfaction and lower operational costs.  For more information, please visit www.mmodal.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Technorati Tags: speech recogntion,analytics,coding,stastics,doctors,EHR

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