Fight Health Worries|Healthy Living Techniques

An outbreak of some kind of illness (norovirus) has prompted one floor of the Emeritus at Crossing Point assisted living facility to shut down while the County Health Department investigates. At least 16 residents have become sick, including some who were hospitalized. The residents complained of having gastrointestinal problems, such as diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea.

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It appears CCHIT, an offspring of the large HIT trade association HIMSS, won’t get its wish for Health IT Certification hegemony. I think the outcome of a multidisciplinary HIT policy workgroup’s deliberations on this issue reasonable:
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This story is getting pretty interesting with the talks ongoing with the former programmer who was accused of stealing the computer code and algorithms.  Everyone is worried it could cost Goldman and the stock exchange a lot of money?  Well I think if one were going to steal through software, he would have had a better plan.  Just like Wall Street, Health insurers have proprietary algorithms, ones we never get to see the internal code and workings, that make the decisions possible, rescission, denying a claim, etc. all based on business intelligence with mining the web and other networks.

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An article from the San Francisco Chronicle noted how the new Chancellor of the University of California - Davis (UC-Davis), Linda Katehi, is already contending with controversy. One brief section about her goals for the campus caught my eye. The article noted that Dr Katehi (who has a doctorate in engineering) holds 16 patents, then:

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We have the great opportunity to learn what happens on the other side of the door here and need to open our ears and listen and get away from emotional town hall meetings where nothing gets accomplished.  If we dont take advantage and educate ourselves, shame on us. 

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This is actually a a pretty neat story in the fact that Fallon Clinic wrote their own interchange, impressive.  I say that having written an EMR years ago, thus I have great admiration for the organization for taking on the task.  You can read more details here.   Based in Worcester, Fallon Clinic has over 1,700 employees and nearly 250 physicians who see more than a million patients a year more than 20 locations.  This was not a short project by any means though as the organization started in the year 2003, so lots of work, planning and programming to make it happen.

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  This is basically what you read in the title.  There are a couple areas and thus far the service is available in the State of Washington.  Take a look and visit the site and enter some zip codes and see what you come up with.  It includes dental, medial, surgical procedures, chiropractors, and more. 

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With all the town hall meetings and emotions running wild over healthcare, the Brits took matters into their own hands and are putting their comments on Twitter, including the Prime Minister and his wife.  Even if you are obese, the NHS finds a way to get you to the hospital, even by using the fire department if you are in need.

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Almost four years ago, we posted about the strange world of hospital group purchasing organizations (GPOs). These organization purchase large volumes of medical products for member hospitals, but a “safe harbor provision” in federal law allows them to charge the vendors, not the hospitals for their services. In fact, it is legal for hospitals to share in fees the vendors give these organizations, and to award contracts to vendors who pay the largest fees.

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This case goes back around 10 years or better, but we live in a world of transparency today so the judge wants the details.  I keep coming back around to a post I wrote a while back, these 2 seem to be driving a lot of revenue these days:)

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