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Small Massachusetts HIT Conference Returns to Big Issues in Health Care

Thu, 2012-02-09 10:36 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Janine Rees

by Andy Oram - radar.oreilly.com - February 6, 2012

I've come to look forward to the Massachusetts Heath Data Consortium's annual HIT conference because--although speakers tout the very real and impressive progress made by Massachusetts health providers--you can also hear acerbic and ruthlessly candid critiques of policy and the status quo. Two notable take-aways from last year's conference (which I wrote up at the time) were the equivalence of old "managed care" to new "accountable care organizations" and the complaint that electronic health records were "too expensive, too hard to use, and too disruptive to workflow." I'll return to these claims later.

The sticking point: health information exchange

This year, the spears were lobbed by Ashish Jha of Harvard Medical School, who laid out a broad overview of progress since the release of meaningful use criteria and then accused health care providers of undermining one of its main goals, the exchange of data between different providers who care for the same patient.

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Video - BP Oil Commercials Cover Up Environmental Distress

Tue, 2012-01-31 22:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux

clickorlando.com - CBS Newspath - January 31, 2012

Scientists say dolphins dying at alarming rate

53,000 barrels of oil each day. Nearly 5 million barrels in all.  That's how much oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico because of the BP oil disaster.

It's easily the worst marine oil spill in history and 10 times that of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

But BP's most recent television commercials seem to indicate all is well with the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists say it is not, because dolphins are dying at an alarming rate.

(VIEW THE VIDEO AND READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Technological Healing

Tue, 2012-01-03 22:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Sharon Begley - technologyreview.com - January/February 2012

      

More data: Technologies aimed at improving our health are proliferating. One example is this device that plugs into an iPhone to turn it into a glucose monitor. Credit: Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images

A leading researcher says digital technologies are about to make health care more effective. But is so much data really beneficial?

Nanosensors patrolling your bloodstream for the first sign of an imminent stroke or heart attack, releasing anticlotting or anti-inflammatory drugs to stop it in its tracks. Cell phones that display your vital signs and take ultrasound images of your heart or abdomen. Genetic scans of malignant cells that match your cancer to the most effective treatment.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Analysis of Warning Process: Swine-Origin Triple Reassortant Influenza A(H3N2) Virus In USA

Wed, 2011-12-21 23:39 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by James Wilson, M.D. - Biosurveillance - December 21, 2011

We have been monitoring the situation with swine-origin triple reassortant influenza A(H3N2) virus (S-OtrH3N2) inside the United State for some time now.  Recent reports of likely human-human transmission sparked debate, discussed here in this post.

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EPA Says Fracking May Be Polluting Groundwater

Fri, 2011-12-09 00:37 — Kathy Gilbeaux

(AP)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday for the first time that fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution.

The draft finding could have significant implications while states try to determine how to regulate the process. Environmentalists characterized the report as a significant development though it met immediate criticism from the oil and gas industry and a U.S. senator.

The practice is called hydraulic fracturing and involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas to the surface.

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CDC Confirms Cases of New Swine Flu Virus

Sat, 2011-11-26 19:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Liz Szabo - USA Today - November 24, 2011

      

H1N1 strain of the swine flu virus Photograph: Photographer: C. S. Goldsmith an/AP

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed three cases of a new flu virus, which originated in pigs but apparently spread from person to person, in three Iowa children.

However, there's no reason to fear the beginning of a new pandemic, says Arnold Monto, a flu expert and professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

"I don't think this is anything to worry about for the moment," Monto says. "We have known that swine viruses get into humans occasionally, transmit for a generation or two and then stop. The issue is whether there will be sustained transmission (from person to person)- and that nearly never happens."

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Toward Precision Medicine: Building a Knowledge Network for Biomedical Research and a New Taxonomy of Disease (2011)

Sat, 2011-11-05 02:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

 submitted by Jerome C. Glenn

             

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Obama To Announce Drug Shortage Resolution

Mon, 2011-10-31 21:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Luis Kun

Drug Information Association (DIA) - October 31, 2011

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