An Expensive Healthcare Computing Mistake: $1.5 Million

At my June 2011 post "Babies' deaths spotlight safety risks linked to computerized systems" I reported on a case (case #2) of an infant death in part attributed to HIT (PACS) interference in otherwise simple care processes.

In "Allen-Blake vs. Abington Memorial Hospital", a critical x-ray of a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line placement allegedly was never read due to misdating.

The Allen-Blake case was settled 2/29/12 for $1.5 million, according to the public docket count 78 (link):

2/29/2012

Order

OF 2/28/12 OTT, J PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF $1,500,000.00 APPROVED CC

That $1.5 million might have paid for a lot of other things, such as provision of better medical care through hiring/retention of more staff. The legal fees for defense incurred must also have been substantial, representing yet more precious healthcare capital down the proverbial drain.

Add cases like this to the "total cost of ownership" of health IT.

-- SS

Longevity isn't Paleo!

At the end of a recent post, I cited the following study:  Fitness cost of extended lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans.  

Abstract:  An insulin/IGF-I-like signalling pathway determines the rate of aging of the adult nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Mutations in genes encoding this pathway can result in a doubling of lifespan. While such mutations may appear to have little effect on development or fertility, evolutionary theory predicts that large increases in lifespan will not be optimal for fitness. We demonstrate by laboratory natural selection that partial loss of function of the insulin receptor-like protein DAF-2 results in dramatically reduced fitness even under laboratory conditions. Despite long-lived mutants appearing healthy, they exhibit a heavy fitness cost consistent with an evolutionary theory of aging.

Read more »

Don't Worry, Your Electronic Medical Records Are Getting Safer With Every Passing Day

At my Oct. 2011 post "Still More Electronic Medical Data Chaos, Pandemonium, Bedlam, Tumult and Maelstrom: But Don't Worry, Your Data is Secure" and others in this query link on medical record privacy, http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/search/label/medical%20record%20privacy I wrote:

"Don't worry, your medical data's safe."

In Jan 2012 I then posted about Joseph Conn of ModernHealthcare.com's article "2011 Closes on a Note of Electronic Medical Record Privacy Breach Shame."

Don't worry, though; the IT industry's leader, finance, to which medicine is always compared, has gotten closer to getting the situation under control:

From MSNBC:

MasterCard, Visa confirm credit card data theft described as 'massive'
March 30, 2012
By Bob Sullivan

Law enforcement officials are investigating what appears to be a massive theft of U.S. consumers' credit card data, MasterCard and Visa confirmed Friday. The computer security expert who first reported the theft said it might involve as many as 10 million MasterCard and Visa accounts, making it one of the largest known credit card heists.

"MasterCard is currently investigating a potential account data compromise event of a U.S.-based entity and, as a result, we have alerted payment card issuers regarding certain MasterCard accounts that are potentially at risk," that association said in a statement. "Law enforcement has been notified of this matter and the incident is currently the subject of an ongoing forensic review by an independent data security organization."

The theft was first reported by well-known computer security journalist Brian Krebs on his blog, KrebsonSecurity.com. Krebs said the crime involves compromise of a credit card payment processor — a "middle man" that handles transactions between retailers and banks [like these middlemen in medicine? - ed.]

The name of that institution is unknown, but processors have long been a target of identity thieves because of the enormous amounts of data they control. In 2008, Princeton, N.J.,-based Heartland Systems was hacked, exposing tens of millions of credit card account numbers to theft.

Krebs reported that hackers had access to the unknown processors data from Jan 21 through Feb 25, and were able to siphon off enough data to easily create counterfeit cards. His sources called the leak "massive."

... Gartner security expert Avivah Litan said she's been told that the stolen data is already being used on the street by identity thieves.

"I’ve spoken with folks in the card business who are seeing signs of this breach mushroom. Looks like the hackers have started using the stolen card data more recently," she said.

Read the whole article at the link.

Don't let this trouble you, however. The problem is getting closer to a solution with each mega-break in.

They'll have it fixed any day now, so have no fear telling your EHR-equipped doctor all your private and most sensitive medical business.

-- SS

The Insulin Paradox

One of the more difficult things to sort out from the enormous amount of information out there is the actual effect, if any, of dietary composition on resulting body composition.  This is complicated from the get-go by many rodent studies that are done on reproductively mature animals that are still growing.  How to compare this to humans who cease growing vertically once they reach adulthood?  Next we have to sort through the studies that are done, and the implications of them, in the context of weight loss/underfeeding vs. those in the context of weight gain/overfeeding.  Clearly there are compensatory mechanisms at play in both situations that are drastically different.  Lastly, and here's where we probably have the least amount of information, and practically nothing in humans, what role does one's dietary composition have on their body composition over the long haul for a "normal" weight stable adult?    Verifiable science basically fails us on this last point, and we're left mostly to the "wolves" of the diet/fitness industry -- e.g. body builders,  trainers and nutritionists for elite athletes, etc. -- for their anecdotal reports.  I don't mean to disparage these folks with the term wolves (hence the quotes), but we can never separate the reports from the reality when there's money on the line in a world where ads are required to include "results not typical" disclaimers.  While I'm not saying all of these folks, or even a majority, are of the 2am infomercial variety, the claims remain largely unverifiable.  It would sure be cool if there was a privacy-sparing way to collect verifiable body composition, dietary and activity data for a large population of free-living humans, eh?

Read more »

10 Hewan Yang Memiliki Kecerdasan Tinggi

Unik Informatika - Hewan juga termasuk makhluk hidup, dia juga butuh hidup layak nya manusia dan dia juga termasuk salah satu kingdom yang ada di planet bumi yang kecil ini jika dibandingkan dengan matahari siiii...:D

Hewan itu disebut juga dengan binatang..:D (yang ga tau bego), nahh kali ini saya akan membeberkan sebuah postingan tentang Hewan yang tergolong pandai dan cerdas menutut Animal Planet, hewan-hewan berikut mungkin ada yang sudah pada ngeliat mereka sebelumnya,

Berikut adalah cuplikan ke 10 binatang ter'sukses' ini..:D cekidot gan..:D :

1. Simpanse.

Simpanse rentan terhadap banyak penyakit manusia, seperti campak, influenza, hepatitis B, kurap dan luka dingin. Simpanse memiliki pengetahuan tentang bekerja dengan alat. Simpanse hidup dalam komunitas sosial dari beberapa lusin hewan, yang dikenal sebagai pasukan. Hierarki dibentuk oleh laki-laki dewasa dari sebuah komunitas, yang dipimpin oleh Alpha Male. Simpanse berbagi lebih dari 98 persen dari DNA manusia.

2. Lumba-lumba.

Lumba-lumba menyenangkan dan akrobatik oleh alam, dan satu jenis tertentu dari lumba-lumba, lumba-lumba spinner, memiliki trik tersendiri. Namanya berasal dari kemampuan pemintal untuk melompat jelas air dan berputar pada sumbu longitudinal (dari kepala sampai ekor) hingga empat kali sebelum kembali menyelam ke dalam air. Ini tampilan yang menentang gravitasi dapat menjadi bentuk komunikasi.

3. Orang Utan.

Kecerdasan seperti yang kita pahami, umumnya merupakan atribut sosial. Dengan kata lain, dikembangkan antara spesies yang merepresentasikan interaksi sosial antara mereka dan mempelajari life skill satu sama lain.

Walaupun hewan tersebut merupakan semi-soliter, mereka mengembangkan berbagai bentuk kontak sosial dalam berbagai tahap kehidupan mereka, yang dapat membantu mereka menemukan solusi yang lebih baik untuk tantangan yang mereka hadapi.

Memang, selama beberapa abad terakhir orangutan telah membuat kagum komunitas ilmiah internasional, kemampuan mental yang memungkinkan mereka untuk beradaptasi dengan lingkungan mereka, belajar keterampilan hidup baru, rencana tindakan mereka ke depan dan memecahkan masalah lainnya. Mari kita lihat kemampuan mental spesifik dikaitkan dengan orangutan.

4.Gajah.

Untuk gajah, kecepatan berjalan rata-rata sekitar 4 mph (mil per jam). Dan mamalia memiliki kemampuan untuk berenang jarak yang lebih jauh. Ya, gajah merupakan hewan yang kecerdasannya dianggap setara dengan lumba-lumba dan simpanse, kok begitu? so whattt..:D

5. Burung Gagak.

Gagak adalah burung bermigrasi dan berkumpul di kelompok besar untuk bermigrasi selama musim gugur dan musim dingin, karena mereka tidak tahan iklim yang keras. Sekelompok burung gagak disebut sebagai 'pembunuh'! (aaaaarrgggg...atuuuttt..:D).

Mereka tidak terbatas pada habitat tertentu dan dapat dengan mudah berkembang biak dan bertahan hidup di berbagai habitat, yang meliputi pegunungan, hutan, dataran, peternakan, bidang serta daerah perkotaan modern.

6. Babi.

Babi memiliki rasa berkembang dengan baik penciuman yang mereka dapat dengan mudah menemukan hal-hal bawah tanah.

Banyak ahli menganggap babi lebih mudah dilatih daripada anjing atau kucing. walaupun gue sendiri jijik sama babi, emang jijik sih..maen dilumpur..najis pulak..:D.

7. Tupai.

Tupai kebanyakan vegetarian tapi kadang-kadang mereka memakan serangga kecil, burung kecil atau telur burung. Mereka juga suka biji, tunas pohon, buah, dll

Metode mereka dari penyimpanan makanan yang menarik. Mereka mengumpulkan kacang dan menguburkan mereka di dalam tanah sebagai penyisihan musim dingin dan mencari mereka ketika mereka membutuhkan makanan yang paling. Tupai ingat di mana mereka telah dikuburkan ini kacang sebagai memori mereka meningkat sebesar 15% di musim gugur.

Curhat dikit eaa...gue pernah melihara tupai waktu gue masi kecil, lumanyan lucu sih...suka gue, elu gmna? 

8. Merpati.

Selama Perang Dunia Pertama merpati bernama Cher Ami (Dear Friend) menyelamatkan nyawa banyak tentara Prancis dengan membawa pesan di garis musuh dalam panasnya pertempuran. Dulu gue pernah dengar-dengar merpati itu merupakan hewan pengganti 'pak pos' dikarenakan dia bisa begitu...:D pengen..:D.

9. Gurita.

Semua gurita memiliki tiga hati. Mereka tidak memiliki tulang dan tidak akan mampu mempertahankan bentuk mereka keluar dari air.

Warna darah mereka biru. Mereka memiliki penglihatan yang sangat baik tetapi tidak bisa mendengar. Rada-rada takut juga sih pegang sama ngeliat nya, mengerikan...:D.

10. Tikus.

Seekor tikus memiliki memori tajam dan selalu ingat rute navigasi ke tempat.

Hal ini dapat pergi lebih lama tanpa air dari pada unta dan juga bisa bertahan tanpa cedera setelah jatuh dari 15 meter.

Seekor tikus adalah binatang penasaran dan pemalu dan lebih suka melarikan diri jauh penginderaan bahaya daripada menghadapi itu. Jerry gitu...pantesan si Tom ga berhasil ngedapatin dia..:D

Menarik bukan? Pengen melihara gitu juga ga sob? Yang jelas ga babi la..:D

Bukan rasis ya terhadap babi's family, tapi ISLAM emang ngelarang umatnya mamam babi..:D.
Sumber : Kaskus