Until I Drop
Every day that I go out the door (which is not everyday), I go until I drop or that is what it feels like.Yesterday is an example: three doctor appointments at two different places 45 minutes apart, two stops at stores, one stop at my parents for 15 minutes, and then home. I was so tired by the time I got home, I was barely standing. I took the easy way out and got in bed for the next two hours.At my last stop, at the podiatrist that I have been going to since last summer, I ran into a friend who worked there. I knew she worked in a medical office but I didn ' t know she worked in that one. She only works two days a week w...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - January 9, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: fatigue fibromyalgia naps rheumatoid arthritis tired Source Type: blogs
New Jersey Finalizes “Gift” Ban of Physicians Working with the Pharmaceutical Industry
Conclusion
Companies have until January 15, 2018, to enter into any contracts with New Jersey Health Care providers that may exceed the $10,000 total cap for promotional speaking and consulting payments.
Unfortunately, these types of rules often work against their stated purpose which is to fight the “Opioid Crisis” our review of the open payments database showed a modest use of payments to physicians by opioid companies in New Jersey. Rather than consulting with companies to determine the optimal use for their products, NJ physicians will have to pay close attention to their payments or find outside work in the lega...
Source: Policy and Medicine - January 8, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Senators Blumenthal and Grassley Ask CMS to Continue Funding Open Payments
In a letter to Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Eric D. Hargan, United States Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) ask HHS to prioritize funding for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Center for Program Integrity (CPI), a program that enhances transparency in transactions between medical providers and pharmaceutical companies.
The CPI’s Open Payments database, created under the bipartisan Physician Payments Sunshine Act, mandates disclosure of billions of dollars in payments from manufacturers to prescribers and hospitals. This is of concern...
Source: Policy and Medicine - November 9, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
New Jersey " Gift " Ban Next Step - Public Hearing on Limitations on and Obligations Associated with Acceptance of Compensation from Pharmaceutical Manufacturers by Prescribers
Pictured from left to right: Sharon M. Joyce, Acting Director, Division of Consumer Affairs; Christopher S. Porrino, Attorney General of New Jersey; Maryann Sheehan, Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Division of Consumer Affairs; Rachel D. Glasgow, Regulatory Analyst
“It is our intent to move forward with these rules.” Attorney General, Christopher S. Porrino
Last Wednesday, the New Jersey Office of Attorney General, Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety, held a public hearing regarding the state’s proposed regulation, “Limitations on and Obligations Associated with Accep...
Source: Policy and Medicine - October 23, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
New Jersey Holds Public Meeting on Proposed Regulation
Pictured from left to right: Sharon M. Joyce, Acting Director, Division of Consumer Affairs; Christopher S. Porrino, Attorney General of New Jersey; Maryann Sheehan, Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Division of Consumer Affairs; Rachel D. Glasgow, Regulatory Analyst
“It is our intent to move forward with these rules.” Attorney General, Christopher S. Porrino
Last Wednesday, the New Jersey Office of Attorney General, Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety, held a public hearing regarding the state’s proposed regulation, “Limitations on and Obligations Associated with Accep...
Source: Policy and Medicine - October 23, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
The sad direction of hospital care
My 74-year old obese, poorly controlled diabetic patient with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, asthma, obstructive sleep apnea has been difficult to motivate to improve his lifestyle and his health. He is bright, sweet and caring but just not very disciplined.
At each office visit, we review his medications, review his dietary habits and go through the check list of check-ups for diabetic complications including regular ophthalmology exams and podiatric exams to prevent diabetic retinopathy and foot skin breakdown and infection. His spouse is always present, and we discuss seeing his endocrin...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 8, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/steven-reznick" rel="tag" > Steven Reznick, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Diabetes Emergency Hospital Hospitalist Infectious disease Source Type: blogs
Podimetrics System Helps Prevent Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Interview
Podimetrics is a company that has developed a special foot temperature monitoring pad that can keep track of a diabetic’s feet to help detect the onset of foot ulcers. The Podimetrics Mat and the rest of the company’s Remote Temperature Monitoring System allow clinicians to receive high resolution temperature scans of the soles of their patients’ feet while giving patients the convenience of doing daily tests in the convenience of the home. We spoke with Dr. Jon Bloom, CEO and Co-Founder of Podimetrics about the company’s technology and how it can help manage diabetic feet and reduce the incidence o...
Source: Medgadget - July 17, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Exclusive Medicine Source Type: blogs
CMS Releases 2016 Open Payment Data
Conclusion
Visitors to the CMS Open Payments website can look up individual clinicians and hospitals to see what they have received from drug and device makers and compare their payments to national and specialty averages.
Related StoriesOpen Payments Starts Review and Dispute…On A SaturdayChicago Releases Pharmaceutical Representative Disclosure Log DraftCalifornia Gift Ban Bill to be Heard Tomorrow (Source: Policy and Medicine)
Source: Policy and Medicine - July 3, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
CMS Releases 2016 Open Payments Data
Conclusion
Visitors to the CMS Open Payments website can look up individual clinicians and hospitals to see what they have received from drug and device makers and compare their payments to national and specialty averages.
Related StoriesOpen Payments Starts Review and Dispute…On A SaturdayChicago Releases Pharmaceutical Representative Disclosure Log DraftCalifornia Gift Ban Bill to be Heard Tomorrow (Source: Policy and Medicine)
Source: Policy and Medicine - July 3, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Outbreaks of Non-tuberculous Mycobacterium Infection in the United States
To date, 114 known outbreaks of human infection by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have been associated with medical / other invasive procedures. 37 of these (32%) have reported from the United States. The following chronology is abstracted from the Gideon e-book series. [1] Primary references are available from the author.
1987 17 cases of Mycobacterium chelonae otitis media in Louisiana caused by contaminated water used by an ENT practice
1988 8 cases of Mycobacterium chelonae infection associated with a contaminated jet injector used in a Podiatry office.
1989 – 1990 16 cases of Myco...
Source: GIDEON blog - June 26, 2017 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Dr. Stephen Berger Tags: General Source Type: blogs
If You Think The myHR is Safe and Secure Think Again. There Are Some Weaknesses.
This appeared late last week.Your private health information is online and you don ’t even know itSue Dunlevy, National Health Reporter, News Corp Australia NetworkMay 5, 2017 10:00pmIT’S the $2 billion online health record you don’t even know you have and it could be putting your health privacy at risk.Millions of Australians are unaware they have an online My Health Record set up by the government that can reveal if they have a mental illness, sexually transmitted disease, an abortion or other embarrassing health problem.It can be accessed by 650,000 health professionals including dentists, dietitians, optometrists...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - May 12, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David More MB PhD FACHI Source Type: blogs
Home remedies that may be worth a try
Harvard Medical School embraces evidence-based medicine — treatments that have been shown to be effective through high-quality studies called randomized controlled clinical trials. So it’s always a little surprising when a Harvard doctor proposes a home remedy, as Dr. James P. Ioli did in an interview about toenail fungus. Dr. Ioli, who is chief of the podiatry service at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital, suggested that daily applications of Vicks VapoRub might be at least as effective as most of the topical treatments for toenail fungus that are available by prescription or over the counter.
Toenail f...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 22, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Beverly Merz Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Health Managing your health care Source Type: blogs
High Heels: WTF, Ladies?
image:maxpixelBy Crabby McSlackerThere are some ways in which I definitely have a girl brain, not a boy brain. But in other ways, I am a dude. I sometimes find my own gender to be an alien species, incomprehensible in its motivations and reasoning and habits. (For a more complete elucidation of my cluelessness about female behavior, I wrote a much longer post years ago aboutWomen and the Quest for Beauty. Like so many ancient Cranky Fitness posts, it lingers undisturbed in the archives, gathering dust and long forgotten, yet it's better than the stuff I write now. Which makes me a little sad. Though not sad ...
Source: Cranky Fitness - March 19, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Crabby McSlacker Source Type: blogs
Advanced BioHealing (Shire) Settlement Largest in Medical Device History
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Shire Pharmaceuticals LLC and other subsidiaries of Shire plc will pay $350 million to settle federal and state False Claims Act (FCA) allegations that Shire and Advanced BioHealing (ABH) – a company Shire acquired in 2011 – employed kickbacks and other unlawful methods to induce clinics and physicians to use or overuse its product Dermagraft, a bioengineered human skin substitute approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.
The DOJ initiated both civil and criminal investigations in June 2011, with U.S....
Source: Policy and Medicine - January 26, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Open Payments Discussed at MedPAC November Meeting
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission meets publicly in Washington, D.C. to discuss various Medicare issues and policy questions, as well as to develop and approve reports and recommendations to Congress. During the November public meeting, Ariel Winter and Amy Phillips discussed, “Payments from drug and device manufacturers to physicians and teaching hospitals, 2015.”
Ms. Winter and Ms. Phillips discussed the background and description of the Open Payments (public reporting) program, results of their analysis of 2015 data from Open Payments, as well as possible future changes to Open Payments.
Background
The pai...
Source: Policy and Medicine - November 20, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
