October 5th, 2010 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Android App, Bangalore, Cellphone Technology, Diagnosis Via Texting, Electronic Medical Sharing, Healthcare Access In Remote Regions, Iltifat Husain, iMedicalApps, Medical Apps, MIT, Open Source Software System, Oral Cancer, Precancerous Lesions, Remote Access Visits, Remote Clinics
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A team of student and faculty researchers at MIT have developed an open source software system with the goal of improving healthcare access to patients in remote regions.
The software is called Sana and runs on the Android platform. The app allows healthcare workers in remote clinics to send pictures and videos to a database where they can be reviewed by a physician who is then able to provide a preliminary diagnosis via texting.
Sana is different than other collaborative electronic medical sharing efforts because it allows complex medical imaging, such as X-rays and ultrasound images to be uploaded and analyzed.
Since Sana is open source, it can be customized to a specific regions needs and tailored to specific pathologies that need to be studied. Program developers hope this gives healthcare workers a shared sense of responsibility and promotes a level of sustainability. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
October 5th, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: American Heart Association, Big Pharma, Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular Health, Cardiovascular Risk, Cholesterol Medication, Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs, Dr. Davis Liu, E-Tools, Family Medicine, General Medicine, HDL, Heart Attack, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Hypertension, Internal Medicine, LDL, Lipitor, National Cholesterol Education Program, New York Times, Online Risk Calculator, Overtreatment, Pharmaceutical Roundtable, Primary Care, Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis, Unnecessary Medication, Unnecessary Treatment, Web-Based Tools
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The New York Times recently ran a piece that wondered if doctors were treating patients with cholesterol-lowering medication unnecessarily because a web-based calculator over estimated a person’s risk. The program was proudly sponsored by the pharmaceutical roundtable and was available at the American Heart Association.
The implication was obvious. Simple tool determines an individual’s risk for heart attack or death from heart attack. It over estimates risk. Patients treated unnecessarily. To be also clear, the program did underestimate risk as well.
Unfortunately, the article missed an important point. While the simplified calculator may not be as accurate as the more complex algorithm used by the National Cholesterol Education Program, the truth is doctors are likely to be overtreating patients not because the former program is presented by the pharmaceutical roundtable, but for another reason. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
October 4th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: ABPS, ACLS, American Board of Physician Specialties, ATLS, Board Certification, Board-Certified Doctors, ED, EM, Emergency Department, Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medicine Doctors, Emergency Physicians, Emergency Room, ER, ER Physicians, GruntDoc, Houston Chronicle, Medical Board Certification, PALS, Texas
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Texas is at the center of a heated national battle over the training emergency physicians need in order to advertise themselves as “board certified.” Via the Houston Chronicle:
At stake is the welfare of patients requiring immediate medical attention. Leaders of the traditional board say allowing physicians without proper training to advertise themselves as board-certified would mislead the public. Leaders of the alternative board say the proposed rule change will undermine the ability of Texas’ rural hospitals to staff their emergency departments with board-certified ER physicians.
A final verdict may only come, given one board’s already delivered threat, in a court of law.
At stake also are the careers of a lot of practicing Emergency Physicians, many of whom I’m proud to call friends and colleagues. (And it’s not just docs at rural hospitals, they’re in nearly every ED in Texas, and your lesser state). They practice high quality Emergency Medicine, and I have no qualms about the practice of those who are alternately boarded. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
October 4th, 2010 by DavidHarlow in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Accountable Care Organizations, ACO, David Harlow, Fee For Service, Global Healthcare Payments, HealthBlawg, Healthcare Payment Plan, Healthcare Plan Providers, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, Healthcare Regulators, Massachusetts, MassHealth, medicaid, Medicare
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Federal health reform and Massachusetts health reform may find a point of convergence in the development of ACOs (accountable care organizations) and the payment mechanisms that will make them tick (or hum, or do whatever it is that we want them to do). The Federales will be holding a listening session next week on the issues raised by ACOs across the HHS and FTC landscapes. Meanwhile, back in Boston, the inner circle of health care regulators and the regulated community are busy hashing out an approach to global payments that could be ready for prime time by January 1.
The need for payment reform in Massachusetts has been well-documented — see the health care market report from the AG’s office, as well as an earlier report on the imperative to keep insurance risk on insurers and place performance, or quality, risk on providers. Now, this may be easier said than done, but we’ve got some of the best and brightest working away at the issue.
Unfortunately, the Massachusetts legislature blinked, and has not mandated the approach across the board — at least not yet. Initially, the global, or bundled, payment for episodes of health care approach is being tentatively applied to just a couple of types of episodes of care. (See Section 64 of Chapter 288 of the Acts of 2010 – the small group market reform legislation enacted this summer.) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog*
October 3rd, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Dr. John Mandrola, Electrophysiology, Healthcare reform, HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, McDonald's Corporation, Mini-Med Plans, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Rules of the Neighborhood Playground, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Wall Street Journal, WSJ
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Could understanding the tacit rules which govern play on a neighborhood playground help us explain why some aspects of implementing healthcare reform are unlikely to succeed? Recent news involving McDonald’s Corporation suggests so.
On the playground, there are some simple precepts — like the fact that older and stronger kids get to make up the game, and the rules. That’s understood and mostly okay. As if these leaders are considered modestly benevolent and the rules are workable, the game is good and all benefit. And all players on the playground know this basic tenet of fairness: That the rules of the game shouldn’t change in the midst of the competition, and, taking it one step further, if the rules have to be changed they weren’t very good in the first place. Soon, if those in power become too controlling, too conflicted, or too self-serving, kids stop showing up, and the games cease.
In enacting this, our government gave us a very complicated game, with oodles of rules. (For the record, the PPACA of 2010 is 475 pages and 393,000 words.) But then, on further consideration of the rules, important players (McDonald’s) decided that they could not play. They were pulling out of the game, and they had many friends (Home Depot, CVS, Staples, etc.) who may not have spoke outwardly, but surely felt the same way. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
A team of student and faculty researchers at MIT have developed an open source software system with the goal of improving healthcare access to patients in remote regions.
