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Friday, December 31, 2010
Cool Technology of the Week
Many innovative companies are creating novel healthcare applications for smart phones. One of the coolest I've seen adapts the camera on a smart phone to serve as a microscope with a 1.2 micrometer resolution - sufficient to see and count white blood cells and bacteria. Aydogan Ozcan at UCLA has worked for many years to bring high tech tools to low tech places. A cell phone microscope that costs about $14 to produce, can provide laboratory services in isolated locations without the financial resources to purchase diagnostic equipment.You can imagine clinicians in malaria endemic areas using cell phone microscopes to send blood smear...
Food Allergy News in 2010
Much has happened over the past year and individuals and families with food allergy have a lot to celebrate:We found out that we should carry 2 doses of epinephrine.We discovered how to turn off a food reaction in mice.We educated the public about bullying experienced by our food allergic kids.More allergists are trying densensitization programs with food allergic patients.We read about the creation of a low-allergy peanut.We're able to determine through a blood test which infants are at increased risk for developing allergies.Researchers are on the way to discovering the gene that could be responsible for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).Conferences, like one run by AAAAI, were a great source of exciting studies and new information.The discovery of a specific molecule that directs...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing perceptive services
The process of healthcare is complemented by inputs from various sources to provide effective and efficient healthcare services. As the healthcare sector deals with services that help improve quality of life and life saving services, it is important that the quality of inputs that contribute to the healthcare process meet the highest quality standards. Healthcare is supported by information from patient records in both the process of providing quality care and dealing with administrative & commercial aspects. It is important that the process of healthcare is documented accurately and in a timely manner to enable streamlined operations.Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records by converting the audio inputs of the patient- healthcare professional encounter...
APTDC Dy. MANAGERS RECRUITMENT
ANDHRA PRADESH TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LIMITED(Government of Andhra Pradesh, India)3-5-891, Tourism House, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad - 500 029.Ph.040- 23262151,52,53,54 & 57; Fax:040 � 23261801NOTIFICATION OF VACANCIES ON CONTRACT BASISApplications with full bio-data are invited on or before 17.01.2011 to work on contract basis as Dy. Manager (Hotels) (13 posts) in Hotels Department of APTDC Ltd initially for a period of 3 years from the date of joining after selection and renewable for a further period of...
EASTERN POWER DISTRIBUTION COMPANY OF AP LIMITED JAO NOTIFICATION
EASTERN POWER DISTRIBUTION COMPANY OF AP LIMITED NOTIFICATIONRECRUITMENT FOR THE POST OF JUNIOR ACCOUNTS OFFICERApplications are invited On-line through APEPDCL WEBSITEwww.apeasternpower.com and http:// apeasternpower.cgg.gov.in from31-12-2010 to 17-01-2011 (Payment of Fee upto 17-01-2011/01.00PM only) from eligible candidates for filling up of the followingvacancies by direct recruitment on regular basis in APEPDCL - Accounts Service.The break-up of vacancies for the post of Junior Accounts Officer shall be as follows :These vacancies are subject to variation at the time of recruitment based on the necessity.The spirit of Presidential orders...
Former NIH Director Spins Through Revolving Door, Ends Up at Sanofi-Aventis
A bit of news that got little attention this month was a new job for the former head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr Elias Zerhouni had left the NIH in October, 2008. Here is the Reuters version of the story of his hew career:French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) replaced its head of research and development with a leading academic and former top U.S. health official on Tuesday to raise its game in medical innovations.The company said Elias Zerhouni would lead R&D of drugs and bring R&D for vaccines under his control too as Sanofi reshapes its portfolio and looks to vaccines as one area for growth to offset sales losses from mounting generic competition.The appointment of Zerhouni, a professor of radiology and biomedical engineering, comes as...
Cleaning Outdoor Clothes
Now that it's winter, I'm wearing base layers, soft-shells, and hard-shells to keep warm while hiking, skiing, and winter mountaineering.Recently, while hiking in a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and rain, I noticed that my 5 year old Gore-tex jacket was wetting out - the water was not beading off the surface.Admittedly, the manufacturer of my shells recommends washing them after every 10 to 12 days of hard use or every 20 to 30 days of light use. They also recommend applying durable water repellent (DWR) treatment when water stops beading off the fabric. Since I've climbed every peak in New England in winter conditions over the past 5 years, it was definitely time to wash them for the first time (I know, that sounds disgusting). I'd never washed Gore-tex hard-shells or Power Shield...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Medical transcription outsourcing: Changing with the times
Healthcare sector by its very nature is a dynamic sector having to change with the changing demands placed on it from various sources. As the healthcare sector is part of essential services the demands placed on it are numerous, encompassing patients, healthcare professionals, pharmaceuticals, insurance providers and the regulatory authorities. To meet the varied often contradictory demands placed on them, the healthcare sector draws support and inputs from various sources.One such source that aids the healthcare sector in meeting demands placed on it is information from patient medical records. Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records from the dictation of the healthcare professional, detailing the patient- healthcare professional encounter. In the initial...
Spine Surgeons Reticent About Disclosing Huge Medtronic Payments
Starting in 2007, we posted (here, here, here, here and here) about the payments, often huge, that five manufacturers of prosthetic joints (Biomet, DePuy Orthopaedics (a unit of Johnson & Johnson), Stryker Orthopedics,a unit of Stryker Inc, Zimmer Holdings, and Smith & Nephew) revealed they made to orthopedic surgeons and various academic and other organizations. We also noted that some of the leadership of the major orthopedic societies have received substantial amounts from these companies, as have the societies themselves. In 2008, our post on this subject noted the minimal disclosure some of the surgeons receiving these huge payments made when writing scholarly articles on related topics. In 2009, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that almost...
Red Cross CPR Classes
The Southside Area Chapter of the American Red Cross provides training in CPR and other topics. Click here for the 2011 class schedule. Call (804) 733-5711 to register. Click here for the main Red Cross Webs...
Defining Business Requirements
In my recent blog about consultants, I highlighted the work of Robert X. Cringely, who noted that most IT projects fail at the requirements stage. This is topic worth its own blog post.In my roles at various institutions, I've had the opportunity to work with thousands of highly diverse stakeholders. Some are IT savvy, some are not. Some are project management savvy, some are not. Some understand leading practices for their particular departmental functions, some do not.Here's what I've learned.1. Automating a dysfunctional manual process will not yield a successful performance improvement outcome. Before any technology project is launched, the business owners need to understand their own process flows and goals for improving them.2. If business...
Food Allergy Ball at Waldorf Raises Millions
The 13th annual Food Allergy Ball was held Monday, December 6, 2010 at The Waldorf-Astoria in New York. The evening raised over $4.5 million, which will benefit the Food Allergy Initiative’s research activities and educational programs.Gift bags featured items like cupcakes from Izzi B's, cookies from Sweet Loren's cookies, and chocolate bars by Divvies. All food served had clearly displayed labels listing all ingredients.Check out these beautiful pictures from Black Tie magazine showcasing the 13th annual event. What a great way to raise money and awareness for food allergi...
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Three tips to save health care firms big bucks
Health care providers don’t anticipate the reimbursement rates they get from insurance companies or the federal government to take a giant leap any time soon.So they’re looking to collect every dollar they’re entitled to under current contracts.And Bob Stevens, CEO of Crescent Springs-based Bottom Line Systems, is helping them. His company looks for cases where providers have been underpaid.Bottom Line Systems collected more than $70 million in additional reimbursement for clients over the last year.The 14-year-old company has 200 employees and serves clients, including hospitals, physician practices and infusion companies, in 20 states. It’s recently been growing revenue by 10 percent to 20 percent per year.Stevens, who also is a partner in the Crestview Hills-based law firm Dressman Benzinger...
Medical transcription services: Proactive to the needs of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities
Healthcare is a sector that is dependent on various sources to be able to provide quality services. Apart from the skill, qualification and experience of healthcare professionals and other staff, the healthcare process draws support from various sources like laboratories, pharmaceuticals, surgical and other healthcare equipment to be able to deliver quality healthcare. The process of healthcare as well as healthcare professionals have to document every step in the process of healthcare. This ensures that they can draw information from these records for various purposes. The information in patient medical records also provide valuable inputs to other entities who are involved in other aspects of successfully running a healthcare facility.The inputs for the data that form a part of the patient...
How Marketing Mixes Into Medical School Curricula - an Example from Canada
Misery loves company, so here is an interesting case reported by the Canadian Press, via CTV News, about how students in a pain management course at the University of Toronto complained that marketing seemed to have been mixed into their curriculum:The complaint centered around students being provided a book on managing chronic pain that was funded and copyrighted by the maker of the prescription pain killer OxyContin. The book had been brought in by a non-faculty lecturer with financial ties to the drug company. It turned out that:From 2002 to 2006, the pain course was funded by donations, included $117,000 in unrestricted educational grants from four drug companies -- Merck-Frosst, Purdue Pharma, Pharmacia Canada and Pfizer -- although they had no input into course content. Since 2007,...
A Secure Transport Strawman
Over the past few years, I've posted many blogs about the importance of transport standards. Once a transport standard is widely adopted, content will seamlessly flow per Metcalfe's law. We already have good content standards from X12, HL7, ASTM, and NCPDP. We already have good vocabulary standards from NLM, Regenstrief, IHTSDO and others. We have the beginnings of transport standards from CAQH, IHE, and W3C. We have the work of the NHIN Direct Project (now called the Direct Project).After working with Dixie Baker/the HIT Standards Committee's Privacy and Security Workgroup on the Direct evaluation and after many email conversations with Arien Malec, I can now offer a strawman plan for transport standards.Based on the implementation guides currently available,...
Five tips to start fresh in the new year
New Year's resolutions have become as synonymous with failure as with self-improvement. According to a survey conducted by LIVESTRONG.COM, 76 percent of people who made a 'weight loss' resolution say they have not been successful at keeping the weight off. Resolutions revolving around getting fit can seem daunting without the proper guidance for seeing them through. LIVESTRONG.COM has a list of five small changes to help accomplish fitness and nutritional goals for the New Year.1. Clear Out That KitchenToss high-calorie, high-fat foods and abstain from buying similar products. The purge will spur an instant sense of accomplishment and make it easier to maintain a healthy plan. You should dispose of all tempting foods, including sugary cereals, cake and cookie mixes, candy, ice cream and fried...
