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A wreath of lotuses hovers above open flowers and latticework. A centre lotus contains a wish for good health in this mindfulness printable coloring page. Use this printable mandala coloring page to foster wishes of good health for all beings. This is a PDF of one of the twelve mandalas in the Loving-Kindness Mandalas coloring book. The book is constructed to help foster the many mindsets of loving-kindness meditation.
Words on Good Health
"To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him."
– Buddha
"Calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that's very important for good health."
– Dalai Lama 14
Product Specifics for this mindfulness printable coloring page:
Download this PDF coloring page upon purchase to print and color as many times as you please. The PDF is not colored, signed or watermarked. It is made to fit an 8.5×11-inch page with 1/2-inch margins. It can also be printed on A4 paper. The final printed page looks very crisp, with no blurs, blemishes or unwanted lines.
Tips for Printing this mindfulness printable coloring page
Print using a laser printer to prevent smudging when coloring, especially if you'll be using wet pigments like paint or ink. Consider printing on card stock rather than plain paper to prevent your pigments warping or bleeding through your pages.
Please don't sell the PDF files you buy from Candy Hippie and do not sell printed copies, or use the image(s) for any commercial use. You are welcome to give a few printed copies unaltered as gifts, but the artist requires that you please do not give away copies of the files themselves. Thank you for understanding! :)
This "May you be in good health" coloring page is also available in the Candy Hippie Etsy shop.


text: GreyDawg Report post Posted June 9, 2018 I recent,y received an email from RV Insurance Benefits (Kerville TX, the broker used to work with Kyle I believe) about a new nationwide PPO plan "designed by RVers" . It appears to be sponsored by FMCA. — perhaps only for their members (which I am not) does anyone one know about this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites

subset: commoncrawl


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Corporate Fraud
Defending Corporate Fraud
Corporate fraud refers to complex schemes committed by large corporations that are in violations of specific regulations outlined by the Internal Revenue Service, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Department of Justice or other regulatory agencies. The term 'corporate fraud' is often applied to larger white-collar criminal matters, but as a matter of criminal prosecution, it has to do with large-scale corporate criminal activity.
Government Response to Corporate Fraud
In response to the historic collapse of Enron and the WorldCom accounting scandal, the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force was created in 2002 by then-president George W. Bush. The Task Force is a cooperative regulatory agency between the IRS, US DOJ, the US Attorneys' Offices, the US Department of Labor, the US Department of the Treasury, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the United States Postal Inspection Service and other member agencies.
As such, the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force investigates various types of criminal activities. Allegations stemming from their corporate fraud investigations commonly include some type of accounting or financial fraud charge, a conspiracy count a mail fraud/wire fraud charge, an allegation for false statements made to a regulatory agency (SEC, IRS, etc.).
Common Corporate Fraud Charges
Corporate Other charges that may arise from corporate fraud investigations include:
■Bank fraud
■Insider trading
■Commodities market manipulation
■Options backdating schemes
■Conspiracy to violate securities laws
■Conspiracy to defraud the United States


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Help support Willow Burn Hospice by paying for a day of care in our In Patient Unit
A day that is special to you can become special to Willow Burn Hospice. Whether you would like to mark a significant anniversary within your business, a birthday or celebrate the memory of a loved one, your day will make a difference to the people we care for.
It costs us £2,700 to run our In Patient Unit for 24 hours. By giving the gift of a day you will be allowing us to support patients and their families through the worst time of their lives.
How we'll mark your day:
- You will receive a bespoke certificate to display at your office and if you would like we can display this in Willow Burn on your chosen day.
- We will send you a special thank you video explaining what your support means to Willow Burn and the patients we care for.
- We will invite you to Willow Burn Hospice to meet our Chief Executive and our dedicated team who provide invaluable care to our patients.
- We will promote your company on our website and on your chosen day we will promote your support on social media.
- Use of our exclusive gold logo.
For more information please email Laura Jane Forbes, firstname.lastname@example.com
your support really can make a difference.


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World Mental Health Day 2020 is one of the most important ones yet – the months of lockdown and loss has had a huge impact on all of us. Which is why prioritising mental health has never been more important than now. We have put together a Q&A session with our Mental First Aid Champion Simon who answers the
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5 Simple ways to look after your mental wellbeing at home
Working from home can bring with it a number of challenges, whether it being in-home distractions or lack of social engagement. So, what can you do to look after your wellbeing when working from home? How can you create healthy boundaries between your work and personal lives, stay mentally and physically healthy whilst still being
Transforming Your Data Centre Business to Remotely Run
Even though data centre centre staff are deemed as 'critical workers' – footfall traffic at the sites has been scaled down massively. As it stands, most facilities have enough tools and 'remote hands' services in place to allow their customers to manage and monitor their infrastructure remotely. Being Prepared In response to the pandemic, we


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|This page is a database of audio campaigns and spec commercials for your reference and use. You can download any of the commercials, many of which come with scripts, and edit them for use in your market.
Connect Podcast #1: Myths
We know your time is valuable and you may not have time to sit down and read all the training material you might want to, so we've started to produce sales training and radio sales podcasts. These can be downloaded to your computer and played either by a regular media player or by iTunes (choose the appropriate link below). Once in iTunes, you could then download it onto your iPod and play it while on the road etc.
You can also subscribe to this podcast (i.e. have your web browser automatically bookmark our podcast page and update whenever a new podcast is published). In the coming weeks you will also be able to get a subscription to this podcast on the iTunes store.
We start off with 4 myths you may have come up against while selling radio and what you can do to battle them.
Click here to download the episode as an enhanced podcast with audio and graphics, URL's etc. for playing in iTunes.
Click here to download an audio-only mp3 version playable in any media player.
Click here to subscribe to this podcast via RSS feed.


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As real estate agents it is important to keep up to date with real estate related products and programs. One product that Keri and I have been using in our home for several years now is the Ring Video Doorbell.
Depending on the model the Ring doorbell can be hardwired or battery powered. There are several different Ring doorbells starting at $99.
As the standard option, the original Ring Doorbell is the go-to choice if you're watching your budget. Available in three classy colors: antique brass, satin nickel, venetian bronze.
An upgrade over the standard doorbell, the Pro is smaller, less invasive and comes with superior technical specs. Note: it comes with no battery pack and can only be hardwired.
Extend your protection with the Floodlight Camera's motion-activated HD security features – equipped with two-way talk and a siren alarm.
These products are very easy to install and add on to existing ones. They giving you the ability to have a custom designed security and video system at prices that are a fraction of the cost of typical custom solutions.
Want some help getting it setup? Arrange for your installation directly on Amazon with the Ring Video Doorbell Installation.
Another feature that Ring has added is the Neighbors App, available for free on iOS and Android. This app lets you connect with other people in the area. If suspicious activity is recorded on your Ring device, you can post it for others to see to help make the entire area safer.
Because of the effectiveness of these Doorbells' enhanced security measures, Washington DC and various other local governments are actually offering to reimburse homeowners that choose to install a Ring Doorbell. Our team recently decided to leverage this program to help generate more leads. We started marketing to homeowners letting them know we would help them get a Ring Doorbell at no cost to them. It has been a great way to get in touch with more sellers while providing them value and making our community better.
We are part of the Amazon Associates program so using the links here helps support us in providing great value on the site. Thank you for your support.


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Welcome to the July 2014 homepage edition of i2P (Information to Pharmacists) E-Magazine.
At the commencement of 2014 i2P focused on the need for the entire profession of pharmacy and its associated industry supports to undergo a renewal and regeneration.
We are now half-way through this year and it is quite apparent that pharmacy leaders do not yet have a cohesive and clear sense of direction.
Maybe the new initiative by Woolworths to deliver clinical service through young pharmacists and nurses may sharpen their focus.
If not, community pharmacy can look forward to losing a substantial and profitable market share of the clinical services market.
Who would you blame when that happens?
But I have to admit there is some effort, even though the results are but meagre.
In this edition of i2P we focus on the need for research about community pharmacy, the lack of activity from practicing pharmacists and when some research is delivered, a disconnect appears in its interpretation and implementation.
Volume 1 Number 1
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Volume 2 Number 5
Volume 2 Number 6
Volume 2 Number 7
Volume 2 Number 8
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Volume 2 Number 11
Volume 3 Number 1
Volume 3 Number 2
Volume 3 Number 3
Volume 3 Number 4
Volume 3 Number 5
Volume 3 Number 6
Volume 3 Number 7
Volume 3 Number 8
Volume 3 Number 9
Volume 3 Number 10
Volume 3 Number 11
Volume 4 Number 1
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Volume 4 Number 3
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Volume 4 Number 11
Volume 5 Number 1
Volume 5 Number 2
Volume 5 Number 3
Volume 5 Number 4
Volume 5 Number 5
Volume 5 Number 6
Volume 5 Number 7
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Volume 6 Number 1
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Volume 6 Number 3
Volume 6 Number 4
Volume 6 Number 5
Volume 6 Number 6
Regular weekly updates that supplement the regular monthly homepage edition of i2P.
Access and click on the title links that are illustrated
It started with "tablet" computers deployed on shelves inside the retailer Coles, specifically to provide information to consumers relating to pain management and the sale of strong analgesics.
This development was reported in i2P under the title "Coles Pharmacy Expansion and the Arid PGA Landscape"
In that article we reported that qualified information was a missing link that had come out of Coles market research as the reason to why it had not succeeded in dominating the pain market.
Of course, Woolworths was working on the same problem at the same time and had come up with a better solution - real people with good information.
Editor's Note: The understanding of a pharmacy's presentation through the research that goes into the design of fixtures and fittings that highlight displays, is a never-ending component of pharmacy marketing.
Over the past decade, Australian pharmacy shop presentations have fallen behind in standards of excellence.
It does not take rocket science - you just have to open your eyes.
Recently, our two major supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, have entered into the field of drug and condition information provision - right into the heartland of Australian Pharmacy.
I attended the Pregnancy, Baby and Children's Expo in Brisbane recently.
What an eye and ear opening event that was!
Young Mums, mature Mums, partners of all ages, grandparents and friends……...many asking about health issues and seeking reassurances that they were doing the right thing.
It should be the scandal of the century.
It potentially affects the health of almost everyone.
Healthcare providers and consumers alike should be up in arms. But apart from coverage in a few credible news sources the problem of 'Marketing Based Medicine,' as psychiatrist Dr Peter Parry terms it, hasn't as yet generated the kind of universal outrage one might expect.
Government funding is always scarce and restricted.
If you are ever going to be a recipient of government funds you will need to fortify any application with evidence.
From a government perspective, this minimises risk.
I must admit that while I see evidence of research projects being managed by the PGA, I rarely see community pharmacists individually and actively engaged in the type of research that would further their own aims and objectives (and survival).
Most of us leave a tremendous impact on pharmacies we work for (as proprietors, managers, contractors or employees)—in ways we're not even aware of.
But organisational memories are often all too short, and without a central way to record that impact and capture the knowledge and individual contributions, they become lost to time.
It is ironic that technology has provided us with phenomenal tools for communication and connection, but much of it has also sped up our work lives and made knowledge and memory at work much more ephemeral.
This article was first published in The Conversation and was written by Wendy Lipworth, University of Sydney and Ian Kerridge, University of Sydney
In the endless drive to get people's attention, advertising is going 'native', creeping in to places formerly reserved for editorial content. In this Native Advertising series we find out what it looks like, if readers can tell the difference, and more importantly, whether they care.
i2P has republished the article as it supports our own independent and ongoing investigations on how drug companies are involved in marketing-based medicine rather than evidence-based medicine.
Editor's Note: This is an early article by Mark Neuenschwander we have republished after the soul-searching surrounding a recent Australian dispensing error involving methotrexate.
Hmm. There's more than one way you could take that, huh? Like Someday when I get around to it (I'm not sure) I may admit that I was wrong about something. Actually, I've been thinking about the concept of admitting wrong. So don't get your hopes up. No juicy confessions this month except that I wish it were easier for me to admit when I have been wrong or made a mistake.
Brian Goldman, an ER physician from Toronto, is host of the award-winning White Coat, Black Art on CBC Radio and slated to deliver the keynote at The unSUMMIT for Bedside Barcoding in Anaheim this May. His TED lecture, entitled, "Doctors make mistakes. Can we talk about it?" had already been viewed by 386,072 others before I watched it last week.
Kay Dunkley - BPharm, Grad Dip Hosp Pharm, Grad Dip Health Admin, MPS, MSHPA
Most readers will be aware of recent publicity relating to dispensing errors and in particular to deaths caused by methotrexate being incorrectly packed in dose administration aids.
The Pharmacy Board of Australia (PBA), in its Communique of 13 June 2014, described a methotrexate packing error leading to the death of a patient and noted "extra vigilance is required to be exercised by pharmacists with these drugs".
This same case was reported by A Current Affair (ACA) in its program on Friday 20 June http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8863098/prescription-drug-warning
Have you ever had one of those days when all you could think was, "Gosh, do I need a vacation."
Of course you have – because all work and no play aren't good for anyone.
A vacation doesn't have to be two weeks on a tropical island, or even a long weekend at the beach.
A vacation just means taking a break from your everyday activities.
A change of pace.
It doesn't matter where.
Everyone needs a vacation to rejuvenate mentally and physically.
But did you also know that you can help boost our economy by taking some days off?
Call it your personal stimulus package.
This article was first published in the Conversation. It caught our eye because "peer review" it is one of the standards for evidence-based medicines that has also been corrupted by global pharma.
The article is republished by i2P as part of its ongoing investigation into scientific fraud and was writtenby Andre Spicer, City University London and Thomas Roulet, University of Oxford
We've all heard the phrase "peer review" as giving credence to research and scholarly papers, but what does it actually mean?
How does it work?
Peer review is one of the gold standards of science. It's a process where scientists ("peers") evaluate the quality of other scientists' work. By doing this, they aim to ensure the work is rigorous, coherent, uses past research and adds to what we already knew.
Most scientific journals, conferences and grant applications have some sort of peer review system. In most cases it is "double blind" peer review. This means evaluators do not know the author(s), and the author(s) do not know the identity of the evaluators.
The intention behind this system is to ensure evaluation is not biased.
The more prestigious the journal, conference, or grant, the more demanding will be the review process, and the more likely the rejection. This prestige is why these papers tend to be more read and more cited.
While dining out with an elderly friend, I noticed that he kept his false tooth plate in his shirt pocket. He had recently had seven amalgam-filled teeth removed, because he believed that their toxins were making him sick; but his new plate was uncomfortable. He had been treated by an 'holistic dentist'. Claiming to offer a "safe and healthier alternative" to conventional dentistry, are they committed to our overall health and wellbeing or are they promoting unjustified fear, unnecessarily extracting teeth and wasting our money?
We are now entering a new financial year and it's a great time to reflect on last year and highlight those things that went well and those that may have impacted negatively in the pursuit of your goals.
It's also a great to spend some time re-evaluating your personal and business short, medium and long term goals in the light of events over the last year.
The achievement of your goals will in many cases be dependent on setting and aspiring to specific financial targets. It's important that recognise that many of your personal goals will require you to generate sufficient business profits to fund those aspirations
Exoskeleton leader ReWalk Robotics announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company's ReWalk Personal System for use at home and in the community.
ReWalk is a wearable robotic exoskeleton that provides powered hip and knee motion to enable individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) to stand upright and walk.
ReWalk, the only exoskeleton with FDA clearance via clinical studies and extensive performance testing for personal use, is now available throughout the United States.
Welcome to the new financial year in Australia.
For many in business the past year has been described as a challenging period.
Adjectives are a key feature of the English language. In the business lexicon their use can be, and often is evocative and stimulate creative images. But they can also contribute to inexact, emotional perceptions.
Throughout the financial pages of newspapers and business magazines adjectives abound.
References to "hot" money draw attention and comment. The recent wave of funds from Chinese investors, keen to remove their wealth from the jurisdiction and control of government regulations is creating a potential property bubble in Australia.
Pharmacy culture is dormant.
Being comprised of values, unless each value is continually addressed, updated or deleted, entire organisations can stagnate (or entire professions such as the pharmacy profession).
Good values offer a strong sense of security, knowing that if you operate within the boundaries of your values, you will succeed in your endeavours.
The following article is reprinted from The Conversation and forms up part of our library collection on evidence-based medicines.
At i2P we also believe that the current model of evidence is so fractured it will never be able to be repaired.
All that can happen is that health professionals should independently test and verify through their own investigations what evidence exists to prescribe a medicine of any potency.
Health professionals that have patients (such as pharmacists) are ideally placed to observe and record the efficacy for medicines.
All else should confine their criticisms to their evidence of the actual evidence published.
If there are holes in it then share that evidence with the rest of the world.
Otherwise, do not be in such a hurry to criticise professions that have good experience and judgement to make a good choice on behalf of their patients, simply because good evidence has not caught up with reality.
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, July 25, 2014
Laropiprant is the Bad One; Niacin is/was/will always be the Good One
by W. Todd Penberthy, PhD
(OMNS July 25, 2014) Niacin has been used for over 60 years in tens of thousands of patients with tremendously favorable therapeutic benefit (Carlson 2005).
In the first-person NY Times best seller, "8 Weeks to a Cure for Cholesterol," the author describes his journey from being a walking heart attack time bomb to a becoming a healthy individual.
He hails high-dose niacin as the one treatment that did more to correct his poor lipid profile than any other (Kowalski 2001).
Deep within all of us we have a core set of values and beliefs that create the standards of behaviour that we align with when we set a particular direction in life.
Directions may change many times over a lifetime, but with life experiences and maturity values may increase in number or gain greater depth.
All of this is embraced under one word – "culture".
When a business is born it will only develop if it has a sound culture, and the values that comprise that culture are initially inherent in the business founder.
A sound business culture equates to a successful business and that success is often expressed in the term "goodwill" which can be eventually translated to a dollar value.
Exoskeleton leader ReWalk Robotics announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company's ReWalk Personal System for use at home and in the community.
ReWalk is a wearable robotic exoskeleton that provides powered hip and knee motion to enable individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) to stand upright and walk.
ReWalk, the only exoskeleton with FDA clearance via clinical studies and extensive performance testing for personal use, is now available throughout the United States.
The brave new world of health and wellness is not the enemy of Pharmacy, it is its champion.
Australian futurist, Morris Miselowski, one of the world's leading business visionaries, will present the Opening Keynote address on Pharmacy's Future in the new Health and Wellness Landscape at 2.00pm on Wednesday July 30.
Morris believes the key to better health care could already be in your pocket, with doctors soon set to prescribe iPhone apps, instead of pills.
Technology will revolutionise the health industry - a paradigm shift from healthcare to personal wellness.
Health and wellness applications on smartphones are already big news, and are dramatically changing the way we manage our personal health and everyday wellness.
Editor's Note: We have had a number of articles in this issue relating to pharmacy research.
The PGA has conducted a number of research initiatives over the years, including one recently reported in Pharmacy News that resulted from an analysis of the QCPP Patient Questionnaire.
Pharmacy Guild president, George Tambassis, appears to have authored the article following, and there also appears to be a disconnect between the survey report and its target audience illustrated by one of the respondent comments published.
I have asked Mark Coleman to follow through, elaborate and comment:
|Social Web
Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 30th June, 2014
Here are a few I have come across the last week or so.
Here are a few I have come across the last week or so.
Gonski steps down as NeHTA chair, replaced by Hambleton
High profile corporate and education leader David Gonski has stepped down from his role as the chairman of the National eHealth Transition Authority and will be replaced by the immediate past president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Dr Steve Hambleton.
The changing of the guard comes as the cross-government body tasked with making a national electronic health and medical records scheme a functional reality faces a pivotal year after its funding was extended for just one year in the federal Budget.
The departure of Mr Gonski was widely anticipated as he is ineligible to serve a third term as chairman under NeHTA's constitution.
Mr Gonski, whose name has since become synonymous with the ambitious education reforms of the former Labor Federal government, became the NeHTA's chairman in 2008 and is widely credited with keeping the massive and frequently challenged project alive through his quiet but formidable style of diplomacy.
Privacy fears curb e-health's growth
June 25, 2014
Mark Eggleton
In a twist on the old highwayman demand of "Your money or your life" we finally have an answer when it comes to e-health. Our personal finances win while our health takes a back seat.
Right now most Australians when they want to get a snapshot of their financial situation can go online and find up-to-the-minute information on their bank balance and outstanding debts. We're pretty comfortable with the level of security afforded our financial details and even happy to give out further details if we're keen on purchasing goods or services. Unfortunately, we're a little leery about having our health records available online beyond what's stored in a computer on our GPs desk.
Security of data was one of the major focuses of the recent Big Data in Healthcare roundtable held by The Australian Financial Review in partnership with GE in Sydney with most participants agreeing it was an issue.
Tech giants launch new e-health network
PUBLISHED: June 27, 2014
Christina Farr and Thomas Escritt
Dutch healthcare and lighting company Philips said it was teaming up with Salesforce, one of the biggest cloud-computing companies in the United States, to offer online management of chronic diseases.
The venture will involve a cloud-based software platform that will take data fed from networked medical devices in homes and hospitals to allow nurses and doctors to monitor the health of hundreds of patients simultaneously.
The companies said they would launch two new medical applications, Philips eCareCoordinator and Philips eCare Companion, later in the summer as part of the partnership.
Philips' chief executive Frans van Houten told journalists in Amsterdam the services would make it easier and cheaper to monitor the health of patients.
Verbal nursing handovers go digital
Posted Wed, 25/06/2014 - 14:00 by Fran Molloy
Dr Leif Hanlen is the Health Team Director at NICTA, Australia's Information Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence in Canberra, where he is currently involved in several projects that focus on large scale ehealth data analysis – and have the potential to improve patient outcomes while also reducing workloads for health professionals.
A recently completed project used the text in hospital radiology reports to identify an infection, invasive aspergillosis, threatening transplant and cancer patients.
"We're looking at text processing services that help the clinical work flow, rather than trying to develop a brand new text or health analytics box that adds to the clinical burden," he says.
One key project involves recording and classifying the clinical data transferred in a typical nursing hand-over to improve accuracy of information and reduce the administrative burden.
Jane Halton leaves Health for Finance, Treasury still open
By Julian Bajkowski on June 26, 2014 in Federal, Finance, Health & Social Services, Infrastructure, Jobs, Management
Prime Minster Tony Abbott has announced another round of musical chairs at for Canberra's public service chiefs, but put off naming a replacement for outgoing Treasury head Martin Parkinson.
High profile Secretary of the Department of Health, Jane Halton will take on the role of nailing down government expenses as the head of the Department of Finance as a replacement for David Tune who has opted to retire from the Australian Public Service and will finish-up his term at the end of this week.
The move by Ms Halton to Finance, for a five year appointment, is likely to fuel continued speculation that she is a likely successor to incumbent APS chief and Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr Ian Watt.
System to track GP visits 'a big ask'
Fran Foo
Technology Reporter
TAXPAYERS will have to pay "hundreds of millions of dollars" to build a centralised database for 25 million people that would update in real time to cater for the Abbott government's proposed $7 medical co-payment scheme, IT experts say.
The government has proposed that people pay $7 each time they visit a GP, get an X-ray or a blood test from July next year. A patient who visits a doctor and needs a pathology test and an X-ray will be slugged with $21 in upfront fees.
The $7 fee is applicable to everyone except concession card holders and children under 16 who will pay for the first 10 services combined.
The controversial plan has drawn the ire of consumers and many in the healthcare fraternity who say it marks the demise of universal access to healthcare in Australia.
New breast cancer tests finds more cancers than traditional mammograms
Date June 26, 2014
Amy Corderoy
Health Editor, Sydney Morning Herald
Adding three-dimensional mammograms to normal mammograms can catch breast cancer earlier, a new study has found.
But experts warn that the study, while promising, does not show 3D mammograms provide any long-term benefits over traditional screening, which is provided free to all women aged over 40 in Australia.
The study analysed data from more than 450,000 examinations, some of which were only done with mammograms and others that used the combination test, which captures multiple images of breast tissue that are built up to provide a 3D image.
The combined test caught 41 per cent more cancers than traditional mammography alone, according to the research, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and funded by Hologic, which produces 3D mammography machines.
Fitness bracelets 'a dying business', says Misfit CEO
IN another sign that the shine is coming off the much-ballyhooed wearable hardware market, health-tracking device maker Misfit is announcing today that its software and its iOS app will be compatible with the smartwatch from competitor Pebble.
Pebble says the partnership is part of its longstanding strategy to make its watch a dynamic tool for those who like to monitor fitness and health metrics. But for Misfit, the move is partially influenced by the anticipation of Apple's rumoured plan to release a smartwatch later this year.
The Shine is sold in Apple stores, which makes the device particularly vulnerable.
"If you buy one of these [Apple] devices you're not going to buy an activity tracker," says Sonny Vu, Misfit's chief executive, adding that he predicts Android-powered watches will undo the fitness bracelet market. "Why should we cling on to a dying a business?"
Data from wearable devices could help
MANY runners and fitness fanatics have been quick to embrace wearable wireless tracking devices for measuring physical activity and calories burned. Now, a growing number of physicians are formally studying whether such "wearables" can improve patients' health by spurring people to get moving.
Amy Wheeler, a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital, hopes that wireless tracking devices can help motivate her obese patients to do what they haven't been able to on their own: lose weight.
Last year, Dr Wheeler was one of a group of US doctors who gave FitLinxx pedometers to 126 patients with Type 2 diabetes, often related to poor diet and excess weight.
The pedometers tracked how many steps the patients took and linked to a software program that calculated whether they met their exercise goals. Based on their progress, data from their electronic medical records and whether it was sunny or rainy, patients would receive motivational tips via text message.
Ambulance Victoria rushing data to hospital as well
Date June 24, 2014
Trevor Clarke
Ambulance Victoria has joined the big data movement by establishing a real time data exchange system to provide hospitals greater visibility of incoming patients' needs.
The organisation has been working with four hospital emergency departments in the state for the past two months to trial the new arrivals system.
"That is a real time reporting stack where we take a half million events, including GPS coordinates, and present that out to the hospitals on a large monitor in the [emergency department] so they know, for example, that an ambulance is arriving and it is a priority one and the estimated time of arrival is 10 minutes," Ambulance Victoria manager of enterprise architecture, John Dousset, told IT Pro.
The data comes from Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA), which runs the 000 number. This feed provides 500,000 transactions or "events" every day and includes information such as when an ambulance is dispatched and arrives, along with GPS coordinates of ambulances in motion (every 300 metres) or stationary (every 15 minutes). The information is fed to emergency departments at Monash, Austin, the Northern and St Vincent hospitals.
Robot 'legs' help people walk
US health regulators have approved a first-of-a-kind set of robotic leg braces that can help some disabled people walk again.
The ReWalk system functions like an exoskeleton for people paralysed from the waist down, allowing them to stand and walk with assistance from a caretaker.
It consists of leg braces with motion sensors and motorised joints that respond to subtle changes in upper-body movement and shifts in balance.
Apple, Google, Samsung vie to bring blood sugar apps to wearables
Date June 24, 2014 - 8:54AM
Christina Farr
For decades, medical technology firms have searched for ways to let diabetics check blood sugar easily, with scant success. Now, the world's largest mobile technology firms are getting in on the act.
Apple, Samsung and Google, searching for applications that could turn nascent wearable technology like smartwatches and bracelets from curiosities into must-have items, have all set their sights on monitoring blood sugar, several people familiar with the plans say.
These firms are variously hiring medical scientists and engineers, asking US regulators about oversight and developing glucose-measuring features in future wearable devices, the sources said.
The first round of technology may be limited, but eventually the companies could compete in a global blood-sugar tracking market worth over $12 billion by 2017, according to research firm GlobalData.
Governments' IT projects needn't cost the world. Here's how we can do better
Australia has ambitious targets to improve the relationship between citizens and the government: all correspondence will be able to be conducted online by 2017
Friday 20 June 2014 09.21 EST
The man responsible for the UK government's technology, Liam Maxwell, walks around with a very simple motto stickered onto his smartphone and Macbook: "What is the user need?"
Maxwell is Her Majesty's government's chief technology officer but his outlook, attitude and clothes he wears are far closer to Steve Jobs than to Sir Humphrey.
His job as part of the efficiency reform group – created in 2010 when the UK government was facing its largest deficit since the second world war – is to equip government departments with the right technology to deliver great digital services and to cut IT spending. But it's more accurate to say his real mission is closer to reimagining the role of government and its daily relationship with citizens.
In your face: booming biometrics puts security ahead of privacy
Date June 25, 2014
Natasha Singer
The row over covert use of computer face recognition technology was kicked off in 2001 and there's no end in sight, writes Natasha Singer.
Who he? A New York supported at the infamous 2001 "snooper-bowl" final where police used embryonic face-recognition technology on the crowd - and launched a mighty row.
Joseph Atick watched the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Centre in Washington as if he owned the place. In a way, he did. He was an organiser of the event, a conference and trade show for the biometrics security industry. Perhaps more to the point, many of the wares on display, like an airport face-scanning checkpoint, could trace their lineage to his work.
A physicist, Atick is a pioneering entrepreneur of modern face recognition. Having helped advance fundamental face-matching technology in the 1990s, he went into business and promoted the systems to government agencies looking to identify criminals or prevent identity fraud.
''We saved lives,'' he says. ''We have solved crimes.''
Astronauts to build giant telescope
SCIENTISTS are planning a space telescope so large it will have to be built by astronaut construction workers because no rocket is capable of lifting it from the Earth in one launch.
The Atlast, or advanced technology large-aperture space telescope, is being designed to take the first direct images of Earth-sized planets orbiting distant stars, allowing experts to analyse their atmospheres to see if alien life might have evolved on them.
The challenge of gathering light from such tiny and distant objects will, however, require a mirror measuring up to 16m in diameter — larger than anything of its kind yet built.
This means it would have to be assembled in space more than 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, four times further than the moon.
June 29 2014
There Is Something Really Odd Going On Here. There Are A Lot Of Questions To Answer!
A day or so ago we had this announcement appear.
New Chair for NEHTA
Created on Thursday, 26 June 2014
After completing six years in office, David Gonski AC has concluded his role as the Chair of the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA).
Mr Gonski has served two consecutive terms as Chair and in accordance with NEHTA's constitution is not eligible for a third term.
The Board of Directors would like to sincerely thank Mr Gonski for the leadership he has shown in his role as Chair.
Mr Gonski became Chair in 2008 and was responsible for revitalising the board and galvanising cooperation between the governments of Australia to deliver urgently needed infrastructure and standards for health information.
NEHTA CEO Peter Fleming is pleased to announce that Dr Steve Hambleton MBBS FAMA, immediate past president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has been appointed the new Chair of NEHTA.
Dr Hambleton was elected Federal President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) in May 2011, after serving a two-year term as Federal Vice President. He was most recently one of three panel members responsible for conducting the Government's review into the personally controlled electronic health record system.
The clinical expertise and leadership Dr Hambleton brings to this role will be vital in ensuring that eHealth becomes widely adopted in clinical settings across Australia.
Here is the link:
The best commentary I have seen is here:
Gonski steps down as NeHTA chair, replaced by Hambleton
High profile corporate and education leader David Gonski has stepped down from his role as the chairman of the National eHealth Transition Authority and will be replaced by the immediate past president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Dr Steve Hambleton.
The changing of the guard comes as the cross-government body tasked with making a national electronic health and medical records scheme a functional reality faces a pivotal year after its funding was extended for just one year in the federal Budget.
The departure of Mr Gonski was widely anticipated as he is ineligible to serve a third term as chairman under NeHTA's constitution.
Mr Gonski, whose name has since become synonymous with the ambitious education reforms of the former Labor Federal government, became the NeHTA's chairman in 2008 and is widely credited with keeping the massive and frequently challenged project alive through his quiet but formidable style of diplomacy.
His succession by Dr Hambleton is a clear sign that NeHTA's stakeholders – which essentially comprise of state health authorities, the federal government and the medical sector – have opted for a stronger influence from clinicians who have repeatedly taken both NeHTA and the Federal Department of Health to task over the usability of the technology that NeHTA is creating.
More here:
I have been mulling and discussing this for a couple of days now and I am more confused now than I was when the announcement first appeared.
Among the questions are:
1. Why is this announcement made by Peter Fleming and not by the Minister for Health and Sport (Mr Dutton)?
2. Why has this announcement been made in the absence of a Government Response to the PCEHR Review where the dissolution of NEHTA was recommended?
3. What does this announcement mean for the various projects that NEHTA is presently involved in?
4. What will the role of NEHTA in any planned new Governance Framework for e-Health in Australia or is there going to be no change?
5. How is the e-Health industry in Australia meant to plan for the future while questions regarding the future of e-Health are so up in the air?
6. Does this announcement mean that, other than a new chairman the NEHTA Board is to remain the same - led by the same - but rapidly changing Board - that has brought us such successes as NASH and the AMT.
7. How, without a radically different Board, is a distinctly part time Chairman going to make any real difference to NEHTA?
8. Where is the press release from the new Chairman explaining his plans and future direction he sees for NEHTA?
9. Would not it be more effective in terms of making a difference to have a properly qualified clinician CEO rather than Chairman or even change both and a few other board members?
10. What is to be the fate of the rest of the obviously improved e-Health Governance Framework that the new Chairman recommended with his two colleagues in the PCEHR Review?
For what it is worth my view is that this announcement and the way it has been made, as well as the lack of answers to the questions I raise is a reflection of the apparent chaos in e-health.
A simple step the new Chairman could take that would make a real difference is to have the detailed minutes of each NEHTA Board Meeting promptly made public so stakeholders can much more properly understand just what is going on.
I look forward to some answers to my 10 questions - but am cynical enough to believe that while change may be apparent little will change!
What do you think?
Posted by Dr David More MB PhD FACHI at Sunday, June 29, 2014 3 comments
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AusHealthIT Poll Number 224 – Results – 29th June, 2014.
Here are the results of the poll.
Is It Right For Investment In The PCEHR Still To Be Continuing Before The Government Has Responded To And Decided What It Will Do With The Program?
Yes 15% (7)
Posted by Dr David More MB PhD FACHI at Sunday, June 29, 2014 0 comments
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Saturday, June 28, 2014
Weekly Overseas Health IT Links - 28th June, 2014.
Here are a few I have come across last week.
Note: Each link is followed by a title and few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.
Stan Huff: Current HIT Paradigm Isn't Working
JUN 19, 2014 8:56am ET
Intermountain Healthcare has devoted an enormous amount of resources for ground-up development of decision support algorithms and protocols to fire against its patient population. That effort has paid off in decreased mortality and marked improvements in clinical outcomes for segments of that population.
But it's not enough, not nearly enough, according to Stan Huff. M.D., the health system's chief medical informatics officer. "We have about 200 clinical decision support programs running every day against patients, but without exaggerating, there are 5,000 algorithms that we could be doing, and should be doing," Huff says. "The costs of analyzing problems, working with clinicians to develop solutions, and testing the solution via clinical trials and IT betas is absolutely enormous. And we, like everyone else, are targeting a small set of high-profile, high-cost disease states. For the rest of our patients, we're not doing much.
"If someone gave us a lot of money, I can see how we could get from 200 protocols to 300, but we'll never get to where we need to be under the current paradigm. Intermountain should be doing what Mayo Clinic or Regenstrief are doing right now, and vice versa. I'm not talking about ideas, I'm talking about executable programs."
Speech recognition proving its worth
Posted on Jun 20, 2014
By Mike Miliard, Managing Editor
While wary clinicians remain a big hurdle, nine out of 10 hospitals plan to expand their use of front-end speech deployment, according to a new KLAS report.
The study, "Front-End Speech 2014: Functionality Doesn't Trump Physician Resistance," found that 50 percent of providers polled cited skeptical end-users as one of the biggest barriers to more successful uptake of speech recognition.
Nonetheless, the ROI from the technology was clear for these hospitals, according to KLAS. Facilities interviewed saw a higher impact in nearly every category measured in the report: reduced transcription costs, reduced documentation time and more complete patient-narratives.
Breach response tips from experts
Posted on Jun 20, 2014
By Erin McCann, Associate Editor
Some 90 percent of healthcare organizations have reported at least one data breach in the past two years, with more than a third seeing more than five breaches. Responding to these breaches in the proper manner proves integral not only to reining in costs and avoiding litigation but also to maintaining the integrity of the organization.
Gerry Hinkley, partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's healthcare practice, says breach response is where many make major missteps, mistakes that can easily be avoided.
Hinkley, who spoke at the HIMSS Media and Healthcare IT News Privacy and Security Forum June 16 in San Diego, works with myriad organizations on proper breach response, many of which have faced legal action due to post-breach slip-ups on their part. One of the biggest takeaways? "Don't give in to individuals who want to sugar coat this," he said. "You do much better really saying what happened up front ... individuals respect that."
Global e-prescribing market to reach $887 million by 2019
June 20, 2014 | By Susan D. Hall
The global market for e-prescribing systems is expected to grow from $250.2 million in 2013 to $887.8 million by 2019, according to a report from Transparency Market Research.
Government incentive programs are among the factors driving the market, which is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 23.5 percent over five years, according to an announcement. The report foresees an immense potential for the growth in implementation of electronic health record systems that include e-prescribing.
FDA won't regulate medical device data systems
June 20, 2014 | By Dan Bowman
Draft guidance published Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seemingly paves the way for smoother medical device interoperability by lowering the burden on developers of medical device data systems (MDDS) to comply with agency requirements.
The guidance notes that "additional experience" with MDDS since down-classifying such tools from Class III devices, which are considered high-risk, to Class I (low-risk) in February 2011 prompted FDA's decision to "not enforce compliance with ... regulatory controls." Such tools, the guidance notes, are not intended to control or "alter the functions ... of any connected medical devices,"
Stakeholders Tout Potential of Health IT, Highlight Remaining Challenges
by Anika Kempe, iHealthBeat Staff Writer Friday, June 20, 2014
WASHINGTON -- At the 2014 Government Health IT Conference & Exhibition in Washington, D.C., this week, lawmakers, federal officials, health care providers and patient advocates emphasized the potential of health IT to improve the health care system. However, the burden on health care providers and the need for better patient engagement need to be addressed, they said.
Lawmakers Support Health IT, but Push for Some Policy Changes
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), a medical doctor and self-proclaimed "huge advocate for health IT, EHRs and EMRs," said he recognizes the value and potential of big data and health IT.
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said that he took longer to embrace the benefits of health IT, noting that his "experience with health IT was not always a good one." However, he cited Hurricane Katrina -- which destroyed many paper medical records -- as a "firsthand example of why electronic health records are important." Burgess explained that many of those displaced by the hurricane came to his home state of Texas to receive care. Shortly thereafter, he visited New Orleans and saw firsthand the state of the city, and many water-sodden paper health records.
Analytics Help Patients Follow Doctors' Orders
Community Health Plan of Washington's most vulnerable patients are doing a better job of sticking to their treatment plans -- thanks to big data, analytics, and hospital partner Health Integrated.
Ignoring doctors' orders often lands patients in the hospital, perhaps suffering from a new complaint or worsening medical problem that takes longer and costs more to treat.
Each year, about 125,000 people in the United States with treatable ailments die because they don't take their medication correctly, according to a New England Journal of Medicine report (registration required). More than half the 3.8 billion prescriptions written annually are taken incorrectly or not at all, the article said. Poor compliance is linked to between 33% and 69% of drug-related adverse effects that result in hospital admissions. And the Journal of General Internal Medicine reported (registration required) that poor compliance is associated with approximately one-fourth of nursing home admissions.
FDA Offers Guidance on Social Media, Web Communications
Greg Slabodkin
JUN 19, 2014 7:21am ET
The Food and Drug Administration has proposed draft industry guidance to ensure that social media and Internet communications relating to medical products are clear, accurate, truthful, and do not mislead the public.
Concerned that patients and healthcare providers regularly get information about FDA-regulated medical products through social media and other Internet sources, the agency drafted two separate draft guidances with recommendations to help manufacturers accurately communicate online about prescription drugs and medical devices.
"We developed these new guidances, in part, to respond to requests for best practices from companies and other stakeholders," states a blog posting by Thomas Abrams, director of the Office of Prescription Drug Promotion in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We gave careful thought to our draft recommendations, and we understand technology will continue to evolve. So we worked across FDA Centers and Offices to develop best practices that can be applied to existing online Internet sites — and those that have yet to be developed."
5 unique EHR contract stipulations
June 17, 2014 | By Marla Durben Hirsch
It's well established that vendor electronic health record and related contracts heavily favor the vendor to the detriment of the provider. Many of them limit the vendor's liability, require that the EHR software be taken "as-is," prohibit class-action lawsuits or require arbitration.
"They all limit their liabilities ... and [allow] the vendor much legal leeway," Carl Bergman, a consultant who serves as managing partner of EHRselector.com, a free service that enables providers to compare different ambulatory EHR products, tells FierceEMR.
They're also hard to find, making review and comparison virtually impossible.
Google Glass links to EHR
Posted on Jun 19, 2014
By Bernie Monegain, Editor
Look, Ma, no hands! EHR company drchrono is incorporating Google Glass in its platform. The idea is to create the first wearable health record -- one that is always mobile. Drchrono offers its EHR free on the iPad, iPhone and cloud. Adding Google Glass to its platform would enable physicians to work hands-free, its officials say.
"The iPad was a new consumption device that changed the world, and now we are seeing that doctors want to use more and more hands-free technology," drchrono CEO and Co-Founder Michael Nusimow said, in a news release. "Glass is one of the first of its kind to do this. A physician wants to practice medicine and not be burdened with all of the paperwork that goes on in the practice. We knew this would be an important app to integrate into our EHR platform, and we're excited to now offer this to doctors using drchrono."
Nusimow imagines a future where the doctor has an iPad, iPhone, laptop and Glass all connected through a mobile EHR platform so they can operate efficiently and spend more one-on-one time with patients instead of processing paperwork.
HSCIC review finds data release 'lapses'
17 June 2014 Jon Hoeksma
The Health and Social Care Information Centre's Partridge review has found "lapses" in how its predecessor organisation shared patient data.
The issues uncovered by the review of releases by the NHS Information Centre include two instances in which it was impossible to discover who information had been released to.
The review, undertaken by HSCIC board member Sir Nick Partridge, sets out a series of measures to guarantee greater openness and reassurance to the public, stricter controls over data use, and better clarity for data users.
VA telehealth efforts cut patient costs
June 19, 2014 | By Dan Bowman
Home-based telehealth programs help military service members receive better care at lower costs than service members who only receive in-person care, according to figures touted this week by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials.
Between 2009 and 2012, annual healthcare costs for veterans treated via telehealth fell 4 percent one year after starting use of such programs.
Additional figures, presented this week at the HIMSS Government Health IT conference in the District of Columbia by Adam Darkins, chief consultant for telehealth services at the VA, showed that veterans who participated in telehealth programs also had lower hospital admission rates and emergency room visits, FCW reported.
Power To The Health Data Geeks
by Eric Whitney
June 16, 2014 3:52 AM ET
A computer programmer and a kid in a Batman suit walk into a pancake house ...
" Like all great health care breakthroughs, it happened at the International House of Pancakes.
- Dave Vockell, CEO, Lyfechannel
It sounds like a joke, but it really happened, and now the programmer — — has a to bring to market. It's an app to help seniors talk to their doctors about medical care.
"Like all great health care breakthroughs, it happened at the International House of Pancakes," he says, half-jokingly.
Venture capitalists are pouring more money than ever into digital health startups — more than $2 billion so far , according to the venture capital firm Rock Health. These investors are betting that entrepreneurs can help doctors, hospitals and insurers become leaner — which the Affordable Care Act strongly encourages.
10 Key Findings from HHS' Latest Data Breach Report
Written by Akanksha Jayanthi (Twitter | Google+) | June 18, 2014
HHS has released its latest data breach report to Congress, summarizing breaches of unsecured protected health information for 2011 and 2012.
Here are 10 key findings from HHS' report.
1. Between 2011 and 2012, HHS received 458 reports of data breaches affecting 500 or more individuals. In total, approximately 14.69 million individuals were affected by breaches during those two years.
2. The number of data breaches affecting more than 500 people in 2011 and 2012 accounts for 64.5 percent of all data breaches affecting more than 500 people since the required reporting began in September 2009.
Google Glass Gains Momentum In Healthcare
Google Glass plays a growing role in healthcare as developers incorporate the device into medical and personal health software.
A week before Google is expected to release Google Fit at its I/O conference, several vendors unveiled Google Glass-related healthcare products. Shipments of the smart glasses could reach 6.6 million units in 2016, compared to the measly half-million units sold in 2012, according to IHS Research.
Apps are crucial to the success of Google Glass, and healthcare developers are rising to the challenge, enabling new and existing applications to work with Google's powerful eyewear. EHR developer drchrono this week began accepting beta test applicants for a Glass-enabled version of its cloud-based software. Wearable health records (WHRs) will become the preferred way for providers to interact with health data, CEO Michael Nusimow predicts in an interview. "We are definitely ahead of the curve, but since we started asking doctors to sign up for our beta program, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and excited about using Glass in their practices," he says.
What scares security officers the most
Posted on Jun 17, 2014
By Erin McCann, Associate Editor
It's not just the thought of having a data security breach that scares Kaiser Permanente's Jim Doggett. It's the far-reaching damage such an event could wreak that really keeps him up at night.
Doggett, the chief security officer and chief technology risk officer at the 38-hospital Kaiser Permanente, who kicked off the HIMSS Media/Healthcare IT News Privacy and Security Forum in San Diego this week, said that these days, if an organization reports a data breach, they're going to see serious repercussions.
"What scares me more is the impact of these," he said.
Royal Free, London's first to exit NPfIT
18 June 2014 Sam Sachdeva
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust has become the first Cerner Millennium trust in London to exit its National Programme for IT contract.
Will Smart, Royal Free's director of IM&T, told EHI the trust successfully migrated its data from BT's London data centre to Cerner's data centre last weekend, after arranging with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to leave its contract early as a "proof of concept" for other trusts.
The HSCIC has covered the trust's exit costs, in an apparent indication of how it may approach the wider funding of NPfIT contracts coming to an end.
Royal Free was one of the first London trusts to deploy Millennium. It went live with the system in 2008, and has gone on to use its MPages to give clinicians customisable views of its data, and to run Millennium on tablets.
Legislators seek ideas to improve digital healthcare landscape
June 18, 2014 | By Katie Dvorak
A white paper released Tuesday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee seeks information on how to improve the digital healthcare landscape.
The 21st Century Cures initiative, launched last April by the committee, aims to "accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery cycle to get promising new treatments and cures to patients more quickly," according to the white paper.
Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), commenting on the paper, said that technology has great potential to help our healthcare system evolve. "As we work toward a path to cures, we must always be improving and evolving, embracing the technologies of today as we pursue the treatments for tomorrow," Upton (pictured) said.
ADA: Merck launches registry for type 2 diabetes
Will collect information from 20,000 patients across four countries
Merck & Co is to launch a global registry of patients with type 2 diabetes in order to evaluate their experience of treatment in a real world setting.
Comprising 20,000 patients sites across the US, German, France and Japan, Merck said the registry will collect data from 900 sites, such as diabetes clinics and health centres, to help provide real-world evidence to advance care in type 2 diabetes.
It follows a similar project announced earlier this year by Lilly, which is teaming up with the research organisation T1D Exchange to build a registry for type 1 diabetes.
Merck's interest in diabetes currently includes the DPP-4 inhibitor Januvia (sitagliptin), one of the world's 20 best-selling drugs, and the company also intends to develop a biosimilar version of Sanofi's Lantus (insulin glargine) in partnership with Samsung Bioepis.
AHIMA Endorses Learning Health System Core Values
Greg Slabodkin
JUN 17, 2014 9:37am ET
Taking a page from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's recently released 10-year interoperability roadmap, the American Health Information Management Association has endorsed the core values of a "learning health system" designed to share secure, high-quality data with the goal of improving patient health.
According to AHIMA, a national-level learning health system represents a "transformative vision of data, information, and knowledge sharing to empower all stakeholders to routinely engage in virtuous cycles of continuous learning and improvement" based on 10 core values: person-focused, privacy, inclusiveness, transparency, accessibility, adaptability, governance, cooperative and participatory leadership, scientific integrity, and value.
Health Care Plays Catch-Up with Big Data
My wife has spent her entire career in health-care management and when she talks about it, my brain tends to go numb. When I speak about Big Data and analytics, my wife tells her colleagues that she thinks I am in the CIA. I think she means NSA.
When it comes to data and health care, what I've never understood is why I must repeat my medical history every time I see a medical professional. Don't they keep this stuff on file? So, it surprises me when I am told by many very smart people that health care and life sciences are the next frontier for Big Data. While financial service firms have been collecting, organizing, analyzing, and acting on data for decades now, health-care firms are trying to leap from the Stone Age to the Information Age in real time.
To understand the Big Data opportunity, as well as the challenges, confronting the health-care system, I sought out two executives who have spent long careers in the financial services industry before coming to health care. I also spoke with a senior clinician and professor at Harvard Medical School, to elicit the perspective of a practicing physician.
Can Google Succeed with Health Apps?
JUN 17, 2014 7:52am ET
Search engine giant Google wants back into the healthcare market with its Google Fit mobile platform to collect and analyze data from wearable health apps. But, will it work?
Naveen Rao, a patient and consumer engagement industry analyst at Chilmark Research in Cambridge, Mass., gives an idea of the market forces that will impact Google as it enters the wearable health apps market. For starters, Apple and Samsung sell smartphones and can market their own apps to their customers.
Apple's recent announcement of its Healthkit initiative got a lot of buzz, Rao notes in comments sent to Health Data Management, "but I'm more interested in how this will interplay with Samsung's SAMI platform. The 'vehicles' for these platforms to go to market are phones and wearables, so while Google may be the best positioned of the three to build a consumer friendly data management platform, it remains to be seen how they can productize it."
IT blamed in Athens EHR debacle
Posted on Jun 17, 2014
By Mike Miliard, Managing Editor
Who's to blame when EHR implementations go south? There's often enough fault to go around. But when the fallout is bad enough, sometimes self-interested parties are all too ready to point fingers.
In late May, we covered the story of a $31 million Cerner rollout at Athens Regional Health System in Georgia that didn't go as planned.
Thanks to what was described by clinicians as a rushed process, doctors nurses and staff were up in arms about a series of medication mistakes, scheduling snafus and other communication glitches.
From HIE to HR, cloud finding favor
Posted on Jun 17, 2014
By Mike Miliard, Managing Editor
Eighty percent of respondents to the inaugural 2014 HIMSS Analytics Cloud Survey say they currently use cloud-based IT services. Still qualms about performance and privacy persist.
Lower maintenance costs, faster deployment and the ability to step in when staffing resources are scarce are the cloud's top three selling points, according to the poll, which finds that of the organizations currently making use of the cloud, nearly all of them plan to expand their use.
Half of the cloud adopters are hosting clinical applications in the cloud, primarily using software-as-a-service tools, according to HIMSS Analytics. Typical cloud services include health information exchange, the hosting human resources applications and backup and disaster recovery.
EHR uptake disrupts mobile growth
Posted on Jun 17, 2014
By Bernie Monegain, Editor
Athenahealth and Epocrates, an athenahealth service, released a mobile trends report that shows nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists emerging as the most engaged users of mobile technology today.
The third annual Epocrates Mobile Trends Report examines mobile technology adoption and use patterns among healthcare providers.
More than 1,200 healthcare professionals from across the Epocrates member base, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and, for the first time, retail and hospital pharmacists, shared opinions on mobile device usage and its impact on the medical profession and clinical workflow.
EHR Implementation Disrupts Mobile Growth, Report Finds
June 19, 2014 by Rajiv Leventhal
The push towards electronic health record (EHR) implementation has slowed mobile adoption among clinicians, according to a new report from athenahealth, a Watertown, Mass.-based provider of a cloud-based EHR system, and Epocrates, an athenahealth service.
The third annual Epocrates Mobile Trends Report included more than 1,200 healthcare professionals from across the Epocrates member base, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and for the first time—retail and hospital pharmacists—shared opinions on mobile device usage and its impact on the medical profession and clinical workflow.
Avon calling
In the first of EHI's series on information sharing across healthcare communities, Lis Evenstad visits Bristol to see its Connecting Care programme in action. The project has just received tech fund support as an integrated digital care record 'exemplar', but it has been working since 2011 to join up 13 organisations – and has another four in its sights.
16 June 2014
Getting an NHS trust to share data with a local authority is a challenge. Getting 13 health and social care organisations to share data, with the appropriate governance arrangements in place might, to some, seem almost impossible.
But don't you dare mention that word to Andy Kinnear, the director of business intelligence and informatics at NHS South West Commissioning Support Unit, because he has done exactly that.
The Connecting Care programme in Bristol, which went live in December last year, shares real-time patient data between GPs, community providers, local authorities and three acute trusts.
Further plans will bring in the local ambulance trust, a mental health trust, an academic health science network and another council, bringing the total number of organisations involved to 17.
Survey confirms telehealth ignorance
11 June 2014 Lis Evenstad
People in the UK are unaware of telehealth and telecare
More than 90% of people in the UK do not know what telehealth and telecare technologies,defined as 'health and safety devices' is, research from the government's Technology Strategy Board has found.
The researchers, who surveyed more than 2000 people in the UK, also found that more than 70% of people are not aware of health and care apps available on smartphones and tablets.
The survey was done by the Delivering Assisted Living Lifestyles at Scale, or DALLAS programme, which was set up by the government in 2011 to enable more independent living for people through the use of digital technology.
Halamka envisions use of online sites to share health records
June 17, 2014 | By Katie Dvorak
People use social media, Wikipedia and other such sites to share information about current events and their day-to-day lives. Now, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center CIO John Halamka envisions a world where similar sites are used to share medical information.
Halamka, a FierceHealthIT Editorial Advisory Board member who also serves as co-chairman of the federal Health IT Standards Committee, said that sites similar to social media platforms could allow doctors to "tweet" on patients' conditions and make Wikipedia-esque entries on their care, according to an article in The Boston Herald.
The websites would be HIPAA-compliant and would have security protections, Halamka said at a meeting being held by JASON, an independent group made up of scientists who advise the government on science and tech matters.
DoD releases update to electronic health record plan
The Department of Defense is one step closer to making its final pitch to industry for a modernized electronic health record system. The third draft of the DoD Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM) solicitation was released June 12, and "promises to substantially reflect our final requirement," according to a covering letter from program manager Capt. John Windom.
When longstanding plans for a joint DoD-Veterans Affairs Department health record system broke down in February 2013, DoD opted instead to acquire its own system.
Big Data, My Data
by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn Tuesday, June 17, 2014
"The routine operation of modern health care systems produces an abundance of electronically stored data on an ongoing basis," Sebastian Schneeweis writes in a recent New England Journal of Medicine Perspective.
Is this abundance of data a treasure trove for improving patient care and growing knowledge about effective treatments? Is that data trove a Pandora's black box that can be mined by obscure third parties to benefit for-profit companies without rewarding those whose data are said to be the new currency of the economy? That is, patients themselves?
In this emerging world of data analytics in health care, there's Big Data and there's My Data ("small data"). Who most benefits from the use of My Data may not actually be the consumer.
Q&A: Karen DeSalvo on EHR, Audits, and Buggy Software
Scott Mace, for HealthLeaders Media , June 17, 2014
In Part Two of an in-depth interview, National Coordinator for Health Information Karen DeSalvo, MD, discusses EHR certification, modular functionality, meaningful use audits, and glitchy software.
At the annual Health Datapalooza in Washington D.C., recently, I spoke with Karen B. DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, one-on-one for the first time. This is the conclusion of that conversation. Read Part One.
VistA and Epic: A tale of two systems
Posted on Jun 10, 2014
By Edmund Billings, MD, Medsphere Systems Corporation
Two Platforms, Two Approaches
Over the last few weeks, access to VA healthcare for veterans has been all over the news. At the same time, the DoD is moving to procure a replacement EHR system. So it seems there is no time like the present to review a recent RAND case studies report entitled "Redirecting Innovation in U.S. Health Care: Options to Decrease Spending and Increase Value."
The case studies include a chapter comparing America's two most broadly deployed EHRs: The VA's VistA and Epic. The tale RAND tells is not one of different EHR technologies, as both VistA and Epic both employ the MUMPS programming language and file-based database. Rather, it is about how different origins, business models and practices have dramatically influenced the respective systems. As the report itself says, the contrast offers "useful insights into the development, diffusion, and potential future of EHRs."
iOS changes will address HIPAA risk
Posted on Jun 16, 2014
By Evan Schuman, Contributing Writer
Imagine if almost everyone walking into your hospital – patients, doctors, visitors, salespeople – was carrying an active homing beacon, which broadcast, unencrypted, their presence and repeatedly updated exact location to anyone who chose to listen.
That's where things stand today, courtesy of the mobile MAC address signal (it stands for media access control), a unique ID coming from every smartphone, tablet and wearable device.
But not for long, given upcoming changes to how Apple products will handle MAC address broadcasts – a move almost certain to be copied by Google's Android.
Apple's iOS 8 change, focusing initially on how MAC addressing interacts with Wi-Fi scans, will shift to using "randomly, locally administered" MAC addresses. The result, according to Apple: "The MAC address used for Wi-Fi scans may not always be the device's real – universal – address." (That description is on page 18 of an Apple PDF, available here.)
Hospital IT execs increasingly embrace the cloud
June 16, 2014 | By Dan Bowman
Hospital IT executives increasingly turn to the cloud to lower maintenance costs while trying to meet their growing technology needs, according to a new survey published today by HIMSS Analytics.
Of the 150 respondents to the survey--a majority of whom were hospital CIOs--close to 83 percent indicated that they use cloud technology; half of those providers said they use the cloud to host clinical applications. The exchange of patient data and disaster recovery efforts also were among top reasons for both current and future use by providers.
Privacy and security were top of mind for providers both already using cloud technology and those considering adoption. Close to 60 percent of respondents said that physical security of a cloud service provider would factor into their cloud purchasing decisions. The same number said that a vendor's willingness to enter into a business associate agreement was also important. Provider business associates can now be held accountable for data breaches under HIPAA
Closing the loop between hospital and home
June 13, 2014 | Eric Wicklund - Editor, mHealthNews
Researchers at the University of Missouri are working on a home-based monitoring solution for seniors that automatically synchs with the hospital, a key step in the effort to allow more people to "age in place" while reducing avoidable hospitalizations.
The "closed-loop healthcare" system is more than a decade in planning, and was displayed during this week's SmartAmerica Challenge Expo in Washington D.C. Its goal is to allow seniors to live in their own homes while being monitored by healthcare providers and other caregivers, and to allow the instant transfer of biometric data from home to hospital.
Researchers say this set-up would enable healthcare providers to react more quickly in the event of an accident at home, as well as enabling them to spot medical concerns before they become acute. They point to a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study that estimates the U.S. spends $31 billion each year on preventable hospitalizations among adults, many of which could be avoided "through better integration and coordination."
EMR Market to Reach $18.3B by 2018
Written by Akanksha Jayanthi (Twitter | Google+) | June 13, 2014
The global electronic medical market is poised to reach $18.3 billion by 2018, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9 percent, according to a MicroMarketMonitor news release.
In 2013, the global EMR market was valued at $11.8 billion.
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Scuba diving is a popular sport that involves a great deal of training before becoming certified. As a diver, you are able to travel to deep parts of the ocean, and if you're not properly trained, you can easily cause harm to yourself or other divers.
Smartphones and tablets have recently come to aid divers, and the following apps provide useful tools for all divers, no matter what skill level.
1. Dive Time
Want to find the nearest place to dive? Use the DiveTime app. This app uses the phone's GPS system to track where you are and provide you with scuba sites in the area. You can also search for dive shops too if you need to pick up some new gear.
The map feature will show you how to get to the location. The app provides in depth detail on the sites too, such as specialties, type of dive, experience level required, currents, marine life and much more. You can even save the location to locate the dive destination at a later date.
2. Scuba Exam
Use ScubaExam to study for your upcoming certification test. If you already have your diving certificate but haven't dived in a while, you can use the app as a refresher to make sure you know what to do.
This app features 250 questions to help you study. The app's exam feature also contains detailed information regarding the answers you get wrong to help you learn the real reason. You can even keep track of how long it takes you to complete the quiz as well as how many answers you got wrong. If you want, you can even share your results with others.
3. World Tides
Want to know what kind of waters you'll be dealing with on your next dive. Use the WorldTides app. This app uses innovative technologies to determine the tide predictions for seven days. you can even use the app if you don't have Internet connection, making it great for those last-minute decisions.
The app contains information for 3,500 ports throughout the world. Why opt for professional navigation systems that cost thousands of dollars when you can have the same information on your phone?
4. iScuba
Plan your dives based on information from iScuba. This app will contain all your diving information, and iScuba works with your Nitrox mix to store data for later use.
Use the app to see your before and after pressure groups. Keep track of time, gas, dive and NDL information in color codes, with yellow meaning warning and red meaning dangerous. You can also see the changing effects that would occur if you made certain decisions.
If you're a scuba diver, make sure that you have these apps downloaded before your next trip. This way, you'll be able to find out a great deal of information from the palm of your hand instead of using other equipment and tactics. Plus, if all your pertinent information can be stored in one location, it will allow you access information from anywhere.
Noah Parker lives in Denver and works with a travel agency. He enjoys writing about golfing, scuba diving, and traveling in his spare time. Noah also writes interesting articles for a Los Cabos golf resort.
Image Credits: Macorig Paolo and Robert Scales.


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Video – Talking Dead Episode 507 Highlights and Bonus Scene Featuring Christian Serratos (Rosita) and Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha)November 24, 2014
Want more Talking Dead? Watch these exclusive video highlights and a bonus scene featuring Chris Hardwick and his guests, Christian Serratos (Rosita), Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha) and Paul F. Tompkins. Bonus Scene: Talking Dead: Episode 507 Sonequa discusses Sasha's mindset after the loss of Bob; Christian talks about how the show has helped her grow as a person; while Paul F. Tompkins jokes about the difficulty of keeping friends during the apocalypse. Highlights: Episode 507: Talking Dead: Sasha's Guilt Sonequa Martin-Green, Christian Serratos and Paul F. Tompkins discuss Sasha's guilt at not killing Bob (Episode 503). Click here to see photos from this week's episode of Talking Dead. An all-new episode of Talking Dead airs this Sunday at 10/9c immediately following The Walking Dead on AMC.


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For the sake of expediency – I will only include the ones since "the clinching"
"Does that mean that I can do everything that I've called for in this campaign right away?" Obama said. "Probably not. I think we're going to have to phase it in.
Daily update: It's Roe vs Wade under the bus now
This is an update – not really for a new flip-flop – bout for the major one on war going public (er)
Refining timetable on Iraq (i.e – staying there)
(and his opposition to the war was NOT a fairy tale so stop saying that you racists!)
Also, none of the "going to the center" stuff the media uses for this.
To get to the center, BO would have to move LEFT
Also, I don't for a second believe these reversals are afterthoughts. they are the intended direction of this media pushed candidate – wile the earlier, more progressive stands were hooks for the naive.
Interesting how both NY post (which I just added here) and McCain attacks on spineless flip flopping both miss this one:
they all say "it's upcoming" I know they know of it. what are they waiting for? Denver? October?
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.
Updating with the NY Post handy dandy diagram
New update:
Individuals have constitutional rights to possess a gun
After the high court ruling, Obama said in a statement he has "always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures." Politico
Updating the original post of June 22:
Death penalty needs to be applied to more people
B0:" but it basically had a blanket prohibition and I disagree with that decision."
In reality, Obama's answer to the question had more in common with his Republican opponent than his party's 1988
per his fans, MSNBC
"Sen. Obama does not support reimposing the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters," press secretary Michael Ortiz said in an e-mail to B&C late Wednesday.
I mean, "who's the fairest in the land?
He said he was reassured by the candidate's response, which caused him to think that Mr. Obama might not differ all that much from Mr. McCain. Mr. Zebari said that in addition to promising a visit, Mr. Obama said that "be a Democratic administration, it will not take any irresponsible, reckless, sudden decisions or action to endanger your gains, your achievements, your stability or security
.and adding the new developments (when he let Americans know of it too)
Refining timetable on Iraq (i.e – staying there)
adding purging his site of criticisms of the surge
WASHINGTON – Barack Obama's campaign scrubbed his presidential Web site over the weekend to remove criticism of the U.S. troop "surge" in Iraq, the Daily News has learned.
GOP rival John McCain zinged Obama as a flip-flopper. "The major point here is that Sen. Obama refuses to acknowledge that he was wrong," said McCain, adding that Obama "refuses to acknowledge that it [the surge] is succeeding."
Salon sums up
What Barack Obama did here was wrong and destructive. He's supporting a bill that is a full-scale assault on our Constitution and an endorsement of the premise that our laws can be broken by the political and corporate elite whenever the scary specter of The Terrorists can be invoked to justify it.
Boston Globe says:
Obama will be the first major party candidate since Watergate to reject public financing in the general election, instead relying on his base of more than 1.5 million donors for a war chest that could easily double or triple the $84.1 he would get in public financing. His decision deals a body blow both to the system of campaign finance and to his own reputation as a reform candidate.
Expanding Bush's Faith Based Programs
Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans that would expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and — in a move sure to cause controversy — support their ability to hire and fire based on faith.
I wouldn't be fulfilling God's will unless I went out and did the Lord's work,
Taxing the rich – under the bus
"Meanwhile Obama is telling large contributor bundlers (rich folks) that he may delay the return of Clinton era tax rates for the rich
By September, the not so rich find out too about it
Criticizing Petraeus – "caricature of the left" – unpatriotic
during our recent debates about the war in Iraq, … and a general providing his best counsel on how to move forward in Iraq was accused of betrayal."
"Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term."
Barack Obama may be pro-choice, but don't tell that to the Matthew 25 Network. They are a PAC supporting Barack Obama for president and they believe his policies are definitely pro-life.
The Brody File has been give an exclusive sneak peek to the Web site "Pro-Life, Pro-Obama.
New update:
The "?" very likely means "upcoming:
Obama's current team of economic advisers suggests that he will soon come out for the partial privatization of Social Security, camouflaged as "entitlement reform."
New twist – deleting assurances on not rising the age from website
Now, tell me why, oh why, would the Obama campaign decide to delete the following sentence: "[Obama] does not believe it is necessary or fair to hardworking seniors to raise the retirement age." Is he trying to stoke anxiety about his position on Social Security?
Wallis said he planned to talk to his "good friend" Barack Obama about an abortion reduction plank, and said he had discussed the idea with party chairman Howard Dean and had the support of at least one member of the Platform Committee, the Rev. Tony Campolo. "Abortion reduction should be a central Democratic Party plank in this election,"
Today, times changed for Obama, too. He joined McCain in the flip-flop brigade.
In an interview during a visit to Florida, the Democratic presidential candidate said he would favor limited new offshore drilling.
"The Republicans and the oil companies have been really beating the drums on drilling," Obama said in an interview with the Palm Beach Post. "And so we don't want gridlock. We want to get something done."
First criticizing, then sponsoring with ads for $5 million
this is more of a flop-flip – hypocrisy and opportunism. Suddenly the rules don't count anymore now that opposition is gone
In a matter of hours Obama went from taking credit for it to opposing it (a proposition of keeping the people threatened with evictions from their homes)


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It probably goes without saying that the Librio team is obsessed with children's books. We own over a hundred of them personally and Librio employees have the unique perk of being able to choose one picture book per month to add to our own little library.
However, we are also parents and auncles and we are acutely aware that the actions we take today define the world we leave to our children. As the famous quote goes, "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, but borrow it from our children."
As such, we wanted to produce our books in the most sustainable way possible.
So, we sought out Pureprint Group, one of the most sustainable printers in the world, and we sought out the finest recycled paper money can buy. We're very confident that our books are amongst some of the most environmentally friendly books you'll ever own.
We were pretty satisfied with that and would have left it there. But then we started digging into the traditional publishing market and were disappointed to realise that the vast majority of children's books are printed in just about the most unsustainable way possible. The paper comes from undocumented sources and the books are produced in huge facilities in parts of the world not renowned for their environmental credentials. And so, in our own small effort to combat that, we also committed to planting one tree through our partner Trees For The Future for every book we create.
Ultimately, our job is to bring you and your loved ones joy in the form of a beautiful product. If we can do that in a way which also bring you satisfaction, knowing that not only were no trees harmed in its production, but also a little tree was planted as a result of your purchase, then our job is even more complete.
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China inflation at 34-month high on rising food prices
- Published
Inflation in China hit its highest level in 34 months despite the government's efforts to rein in rising prices.
Consumer prices in China rose by 5.5% in May, compared with the same month last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Food prices continued to be the biggest factor as they surged by 11.7%
The rising cost of food and commodities have pushed up the cost of living and become a hot political issue in China.
Analysts warned that prices are likely to rise even further.
"For now, it seems certain that China's CPI will hit 6% in June," said Xu Biao of China Merchants Bank.
Rate rise
Chinese authorities have said that fighting rising prices is a top priority for them.
It has set a target of keeping the inflation rate at 4% for the year.
The country's central bank has raised interest rates four times since October last year, in an effort to curb lending and rein in rising prices.
Analysts said that the latest data is likely to force the bank to raise the cost of borrowing once again.
"CPI reached a new record, increasing concerns of another interest rate rise," said Xian Fang Ren of IHS Global Insight
"We expect the central bank to raise interest rates next week," Mr Ren added.
Inflation is a particular concern in fast-growing economies across Asia. region.
In India, the wholesale price index of inflation rose faster than expected in May to 9.05%, caused partly by an increase in the cost of manufactured goods.