The Digital Doctor: Is Natural Language Processing the Breakthrough We’ve Been Waiting For?
By BOB WACHTER, MD
Natural language processing might seem a bit arcane andtechnical – the type of thing that software engineers talk about deep into the night, but of limited usefulness for practicing docs and their patients.
Yet software that can “read” physicians’ and nurses’ notes may prove to be one of the seminal breakthroughs in digital medicine. Exhibit A, from the world of medical research: a recent studylinked the use of proton pump inhibitors to subsequent heart attacks. It did this by plowing through 16 million notes in electronic health records. While legitimate epidemiologic questions can be raised a...
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 23, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: THCB Source Type: blogs
Medco Will Pay $7.9 Million to Resolve Kickback Allegations Related To Formulary Placement; Follows Astra Zeneca’s $7.9 Million Payout Earlier This Year
Medco Health Solutions Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Company, has agreed to pay $7.9 million to settle allegations that it engaged in a kickback scheme in violation of the False Claims Act, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday. Medco provides pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services to clients who receive subsidies under the Medicare Retiree Drug Subsidy program.
PBMs such as Medco act as intermediaries between pharmaceutical manufacturers and third-party payers to administer a plan’s prescription drug benefits. PBMs use the pur...
Source: Policy and Medicine - May 22, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Doris: Acid reflux, acne, tremor gone!
Doris shared the photos and some of the many health benefits she experienced while living the Wheat Belly lifestyle:
“I started my journey March 28th, 2014. I’m just shy of turning 48 years old. I began this lifestyle change to lose weight but have since changed my outlook.
“In 2012, my doctor wanted to put me on cholesterol medication. Thankfully, he gave me time to get it fixed with diet. He advised me to continue with my low fat eating! I had already been doing this for years, falling on and off the wagon and binging until I hurt and couldn’t sleep from going to bed with a tummy so full.
“...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - May 21, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Success Stories acid reflux acne binging cholesterol heartburn tremor Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
Physician Payments Sunshine Act: Vermont Gift Ban and Disclosure Law Update
This report outlines the number of samples and expenditures, listed by manufacturer.
2014 Reports Due April 1, 2015
As a reminder, 2014 disclosures for expenditures and samples from January 1 – December 31, 2014 are due by April 1, 2015, using the following documents: 2014 Expenditures Disclosure Form and 2014 Samples Disclosure Form
Vermont’s Prescribed Products Gift Ban and Disclosure Law
As a background, Vermont law bans most gifts and requires manufacturers of prescribed products, including pharmaceuticals, biological products, and medical devices, to “disclose allowable expenditures and ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 25, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
The Need For Publicly Funded Trials To Get Unbiased Comparative Effectiveness Data
Comparative effectiveness research was one of the hotly debated components of the Affordable Care Act. The pharmaceutical industry is marketing driven, with pharmaceutical companies spending more on marketing than they do on research and development. The need for a marketing edge can also drive drug development.
As illustrated by the discussion below of Gazyva and Nexium, drugs can be developed at higher doses than the drugs they are intended to replace. When the newer, higher-dose drugs are tested against the older, lower-dose drugs, the trials are intended to show that the newer, higher dose drugs are superior to the old...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - February 20, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Robert Bohrer Tags: All Categories Business of Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Innovation Pharma Policy Research Source Type: blogs
AstraZeneca Pays $7.9 Million To Resolve Kickback Allegations Related to PBM Formulary Placement
AstraZenaca last week settled with the Department of Justice over allegedly offering kickbacks to Medco Health Solutions, a pharmacy benefits manager, in exchange for Medco maintaining AstraZeneca’s drug Nexium in favorable status on its formulary. AstraZeneca settled the allegations for $7.9 million.
A drug’s listing as “brand-preferred” on a pharmacy benefit manager’s formulary crucial to a brand. Pharmaceutical companies want to be on a formulary so that when a physician writes a prescription for Nexium, for example, the patient can get it covered under their insurance when they walk into a pharma...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 18, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
The $500 Billion Medicare Slowdown: A Story About Part D
A great deal of analysis has been published on the causes of the health care spending slowdown system-wide — including in the pages of Health Affairs. Much attention in particular has focused on the remarkable slowdown in Medicare spending over the past few years, and rightfully so: Spending per beneficiary actually shrank (!) by one percent this year (or grew only one percent if one removes the effects of temporary policy changes).
Yet the disproportionate role played by prescription drug spending (or Part D) has seemingly escaped notice. Despite constituting barely more than 10 percent of Medicare spending, our an...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - October 21, 2014 Category: Health Management Authors: Loren Adler and Adam Rosenberg Tags: All Categories Hospitals Medicare Payment Pharma Physicians Policy Spending Source Type: blogs
Clever Hospitals Find Another Way to Snag New Patients
Last month, I wrote about a hospital system in Colorado that had discovered a way to cross market its more profitable emergency room services if a patient first came to its urgent care center. Pretty clever! Then recently I came across another health care marketing trick close to home and just as sly. As I sat on a New York subway one sizzler of a day, an ad for an ice cream cone grabbed my attention. Ice cream! Hot day! After a closer read, I realized the ad was not touting ice cream but the Center for Advanced Digestive Care, a part of New York Presbyterian, one of the city’s most prestigious hospitals and well kno...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - August 19, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
What’s In Our Medicine Cabinets?
By HANS DEUVEFELT, MD Recently published statistics show that the top-grossing medication in the U.S. for 2013 was the antipsychotic Abilify (aripiprazole) with over $6 billion in sales, narrowly beating out the previous few years’ winner, Nexium. The past decade’s dominating pharmaceuticals have been Lipitor (atorvastatin) for high cholesterol and Nexium (esomeprazole) for acid reflux. Nexium […] (Source: The Health Care Blog)
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 20, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: THCB Abilify Drug sales Medicalization Nexium Pharmaceutical sales Viagra Source Type: blogs
No Longer Count Calories And Lose Weight Like Sarah
Sarah relates this story of how, after years of struggle with health and weight, she finally found the answer.
Her story is especially interesting as she worked in the weight loss industry.
“I have struggled all my life with my weight and food was always my comforter.
In my late 30′s, I managed to lose 40 kg [88 lbs] and reach my goal weight with a major weight loss company in which I became a consultant. But, if I was previously fat and unhappy, I was now thin and unhappy. My years of chronic low-fat dieting led me to develop binge eating disorder. I felt like such a fraud and I was struggling to maintain my...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - April 29, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Sarah no longer counts calories
Sarah relates this story of how, after years of struggle with health and weight, she finally found the answer. Her story is especially interesting as she worked in the weight loss industry.
“I have struggled all my life with my weight and food was always my comforter.
“In my late 30′s, I managed to lose 40 kg [88 lbs] and reach my goal weight with a major weight loss company in which I became a consultant. But, if I was previously fat and unhappy, I was now thin and unhappy. My years of chronic low-fat dieting led me to develop binge eating disorder. I felt like such a fraud and I was struggling to main...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - April 29, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... The Weekend Nears
And so, yet another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too soon, yes? As always, this is our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. Our agenda is rather modest, although we do look forward to spending time not only with our full roster of short people but some of the Pharmalot ancestors. We also hope to catch up on sundry tasks and catch up on some reading. Why not, you know? But what about you? Given the upcoming holiday break, perhaps this marks the beginning of a longer stretch than usual. Presumably, all sorts of activities and possibilities are in store. Spending time with special people o...
Source: Pharmalot - December 20, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... The Weekend Nears
And so, another working week is about to draw to a close. As you may recall, this is our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans, atlhough we are getting an early start, since we have another use-it-or-lose it day at hand. What does this mean? We will post a couple of stories and then off we go. In any event, our weekend agenda is modest. We plan to attend yet another soccer match played by short people and then hang with some old friends. And then there are those leaves to rake. But what about you? Anything groovy planned? This is a lovely time of year to enjoy the outdoors, of course. You could boost the economy...
Source: Pharmalot - November 15, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Ranbaxy whistleblower reveals how he exposed massive pharmaceutical fraud
(CBS News) Among the drugs prescribed to Americans, 80 percent are generic drugs, and 40 percent of drugs are now made overseas in countries such as China and India where U.S. oversight is weaker.
Recently, CBS News' senior correspondent John Millerhas been looking at one of those companies -- Ranbaxy.
Dinesh Thakur, an American-educated chemical engineer, was hired by Ranbaxy, back in 2003. He would later become a whistleblower, exposing massive fraud by the generic pharmaceutical giant, a company that sold Americans drugs like the generic version of Lipitor. His information led to Ranbaxy pleading guilty to seven f...
Source: PharmaGossip - November 6, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
