Harvard Joins MIT With Offering Education Courses on the Web–MITx and EDX With Certification For Free

We have some of this in healthcare too, some funded by the stimulus and this looks to be the way of the future for at least part of a college education.  I say part because to do an entire 4 year curriculum online with no other human intervention would be insane, but who knows it might get to that some day, but I don’t think so as you would have folks that may have all the intellect but know zap about how to work with other people.  Just social networks kind of give us a hint of that today as a matter of fact.  

Free Online Course Available for Health IT Certification – EHR, HIE, PHRs and HIT

Nurses Enrolling in Online Computer Courses With Learning Electronic Medical Records in Maine–Stimulus Money At Work For Healthcare IT

Stanford was the first one out of the barrel last year with online classes.  This also opens the doors for anyone in other countries to participate and the only requirement that I see here is “English”.   I guess if you don’t get that, there are translators from Google and Microsoft that might help you out too online.  Perhaps this will in time help cut down on the cost of a higher education as well.  BD

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Harvard has joined with MIT to deliver courses over the Internet, for free, to anyone in the world. The new joint venture, called edx, builds upon MIT’s existing online learning platform, MITx, which already runs a handful of courses, including Circuits and Electronics, for around 120,000 students worldwide. 

The courses offered through edx will incorporate video lessons, online quizzes, and real-time feedback. Students will receive a certificates of mastery for their efforts. In recent years, there has been a massive groundswell in online learning—enabled by high-speed Internet connections, ubiquitous computers, and back-end technology like cloud computing. Edx is just the latest—and most prestigious—endorsement of that phenomenon.

It's interesting to see technology being used to make teaching more efficient. But platforms like edx could also help institutions such as MIT and Harvard identify and nurture the smartest students from anywhere in the world. 

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/27814/

IBM Buys Tealeaf Technologies–Mining Software That Captures Users Activities When Visiting Websites

This is one of those software companies that is mining and tracking you on the website, which I don’t mind but when they turn around and sell my data other than in house use for better intelligence I get concerned with a lot of this software.  I was on a site a few months ago and they had some issues and what was funny is there was a rogue algorithm and on the screen I got to see someone else’s data being captured, it was funny and again a fluke in the software but while I was there I watched.  Now I have used software as such that allows you to watch a user’s activity but for me, does it matter, no.

Analytics do matter though as far as seeing what interests visitors and where to better target information and who’s not doing that today.  If you have been on some of the big company websites, Wells Fargo as named here for one as a client, you have been captured. 

“Tealeaf has over 450 customers worldwide including 30 of the Fortune 100 companies, including Dell, Wells Fargo, Air Canada, GEICO, Orbitz, Crate & Barrel, Neiman Marcus, Expedia, Zappos, ING Direct, Best Buy, DirecTV, McKesson and StubHub. The company has raised $12 million from Bay Partners, Matrix Partners and Foundation Capital.”

ClickTale is another company that does the same thing as far as collecting data and again for smarter marketing not a bad idea but the selling of the data is the part that bothers me the most. 

We Pay Gasoline Tax to Keep Up the US Highway Infrastructure–Why Not Tax the Data Selling Companies and Banks to Keep Up the US Government IT Infrastructure? A “Buffett Tax” Alternative

I looked for a privacy policy on the page and didn’t see one, so in addition to being analyzed, you are more than likely being sold here too.  Wonder if IBM and these folks would be adverse to paying some tax money on what they harvests as banks and companies are making billions mining and selling data and today it is so engrained that some businesses could not stay in business if they took it away, so tax them instead and let’s work on bridging the inequality in the country as soon the mining folks are going to run short on users to mine if we don’t add more jobs, besides those working with algorithms as the economy as it is now is so dependent on formulas that we cant’ get more manufacturing back to the US because of this as it makes billions with very little over head.  BD 

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Another week, another IBM acquisition. Big Blue has announced the purchase of Tealeaf Technology, which provides customer experience analytics software that helps organizations access information about consumer web experiences.

Financial details were not disclosed. 

Basically, Tealeaf’s software captures and records what each customer is doing and seeing in real-time on every page and across all site visits, down to the page-by-page, browser-level experience. By capturing every single customer’s visit, as well as the reaction of the site in response to the customer’s requests, Tealeaf captures both the quantitative and qualitative details of every single interaction. This data is then used towards optimizing the customer experience.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/02/ibm-acquires-tealeaf-to-add-customer-buying-analytics-to-smarter-commerce-products/

MedXCom Replaces the After Hours Answering Systems for Doctors That Pushes Patient Profile to the Cell Phone–Works With Medical Records Systems And is a PHR for the Patients…

This sounds pretty cool for the doctor to be able to get a history of surgeries, meds, allergies and so forth before talking to the patient.  We live in the information age and this was created by a doctor who of course saw the value of having information rather than playing a guessing game with memory or having to go through other procedures to get his/her hands on the medical records.  If they are in an office, on paper, well we know what that would mean for sure. 

The article states it will work with any EHR and the information is migrated to the application once the patient gives permission and is that not a breath of fresh air, patient give permission, the way it should be.  A patient only version is coming out soon which is basically a PHR that the patient can use whether or not their doctor is or is not. 

The after hour patient calls are forwarded  and the app records, archives and transcribes them.  I like that part as even with just my cell phone I have that now with messages. Patients are informed that they are being recorded.  At $29.95 a month it won’t break the bank either.  I try to put what I feel is something that is usable on the blog and this certainly fits the bill it appears. 



You can also e-prescribe through the software and do referrals with doctors who are also using the system.  I am guessing this is modular and service levels, depending upon what is chosen might raise the price a little as it appears you can use as much or as little of the features as desired.  BD 

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Michael Nusbaum rarely thought twice about giving his personal cell phone number to patients after he operated on them. Nusbaum is a bariatric surgeon at New Jersey’s Morristown Medical Center, and he wanted patients to be able to reach him easily by phone or text. But then he found out that sending text messages to patients violates federal privacy laws. Whenever patients texted him, “I wouldn’t text them back,” Nusbaum says. “I had to pick up the phone and call them so I wouldn’t violate the law.”

If a doctor is subscribed to MedXCom, after-hours calls get forwarded to his cell phone instead of an answering service. “Before I speak to you, it will push your entire health profile to my cell phone,” Nusbaum says. “I can see everything—what surgeries you’ve had, what allergies you have, the medications you’re on. I have all that information even before I take the call.” If the doctor wants to order a prescription, he can do so right through the app.

MedXCom is designed to work with any EMR. When patients agree to use the product with their doctors, their EMRs are automatically migrated into the app. Patients can then add information to the app, and they can scan and upload paper records from their visits to other doctors. They can also sign up to get reminders of routine checkups for themselves or their kids by phone or text, and they can use the app to schedule appointments.

Giffen charges physicians an average of $49 a month to use the telecommunications features of MedXCom—far less than the $250 or so they would pay per month for an answering service with a live operator, Nusbaum says. Doctors who opt out of the telecom services can still use the EMR features at no charge, and everything is free for patients, he says.

http://www.xconomy.com/new-york/2012/05/02/giffen-solutions-created-by-fed-up-doc-connects-mds-and-patients/?single_page=true

FDA Approves New Drug for Treating Genetic Disease Gaucher From Protalix and Pfizer–Will Compete With Genzyme and Help Fill Drug Shortages

The competitor for the drug for the rare genetic disease was purchased by Sanofi last year for a huge amount and they also create drugs that treat other rare diseases.  There are only about 2000 patients in the US being treated for the condition.

Genzyme Sale to Sanofi-Aventis Finally Going to Take Place for Over $20 Billion

What also makes this drug interesting is the fact that it is made from carrot cells and is the first FDA approved drug made from a genetically engineered plant.  Protalix is located in Israel and Pfizer paid to have the distribution in the US.  BD 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drug regulators gave the nod on Tuesday to Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc and Pfizer Inc's experimental biotech drug for a form of the rare genetic disease Gaucher.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the intravenous drug, known chemically as taliglucerase alfa, after rejecting it last year and asking the companies for more data.

Shares of tiny Israeli biopharmaceutical company Protalix jumped nearly 23 percent to $7.60 in after-market trading following the approval of its leading product, which the companies plan to sell under the name Elelyso.

Gaucher disease stems from an enzyme deficiency that prevents the breakdown of certain fats in the body. It can cause organ damage or death and affects about one in 50,000 to 100,000 people. It is particularly prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews, according to the National Institutes of Health.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-rt-us-fda-gaucherbre8401jz-20120501,0,5155428.story

Radiology Society of North America Image Share Project Completes Phase One With Allowing Patients To Use and Store Medical Images in the Cloud–PHRs

the program has been funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the NIH.  The next step will allow patients to share images without being uploaded to a PHR.  Normally you would want records connected of course connected to your personal health records; however in case of trauma situations this would be helpful.

Phase 3 gets a little interesting as it touches on what we all talk about today and that is privacy, as this phase will allow for the images to be used with clinical trials but they will be de-identifed.  At any rate having this available connected to a PHR now is great.  As it works now patients need to create an account and password and then are given access to images via their PHR and when you read below there’s quite a few mainstream Clinics and Hospitals working the project.   For the rest of us, Microsoft HeatlhVault can store images and Endoscopic videos.  BD 

HealthVault Begins Storing Medical Images (Dicom) Using Windows Azure Cloud Services With Full Encryption

 

 

Multi-Media Data Sharing Comes to HealthVault PHR–Store and Share Your Endoscopic Videos From Physicians

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Patients can successfully pull their medical images from the "cloud" making it faster for them to distribute them to their physicians regardless of where those physicians might be, according to a preliminary report of an image share project that involves five different academic institutions.

The image share project includes the University of California, San Francisco, University of Chicago, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, the University of Maryland in Baltimore, and the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, NY.

"The patient can arrange with their radiologists' office to have their images and the radiology reports exported into an Internet-based personal health record (PHR)," said David Mendelson, MD, principal investigator of the image share project. Once the information is in the personal health record, the patient has full control over distribution of the images and reports. Images can be viewed immediately online by signing into one's PHR. In addition, e-mail links can be sent to physicians allowing them to view and download the images and reports as needed, said Dr. Mendelson.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/arrs-isp041912.php

The DNA Doctor Consultation Of the Future With a Full Patient Sequence in Hand (Video)

This is a great video and will make you think about how we handle patient DNA information along side clinical information.  Is this the way of future consults?  DNA information is certainly helpful but this video kind of explores both sides of this and the decision making processes that may come up in discussion. 

If you go back a ways to the first 20 individuals to be totally sequenced their observations and reactions to the information given was interesting.  It did not generate any big earth shattering changes but some went and had certain items checked out, like an early warning.  The doctor says here some of the information cannot be changed as it’s in the genes, but the topic of a cholesterol drug is interesting being recommended. 

DNA Doctor

Here’s a couple links below with those who were part of the original 20 people who were sequenced:

Steven Pinker, Harvard Professor of Psychology talks about his genome, what he found out, what he learned, and how the psychological interpretations are somewhat still up for discussion

 

Below is a group of videos at the link that tells the story of how it all came together along with what the participants had to say as well, great videos and you can hear about about Francis Collins, current director of the NIH on how the code was cracked.    The cartoon uses real voices and is well done:)  BD

Personal Genome Project – Webisodes on How It All Came Together

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Again the cartoon video pretty much covers what we may be experiencing soon in our doctor visits when DNA information combined with clinical. 

 

This is not science fiction. Already, in a few early-adopting venues, doctors are having their patients’ entire genomes — all their DNA — sequenced, as part of their care. In the coming months, starting small, a few dozen Boston patients will also enter the futuristic world of genomic medicine.

Last fall, a team based mainly at Brigham & Women’s Hospital won a nearly $10-million grant to determine how whole-genome sequencing can be used in the clinic. I asked Dr. Isaac Kohane, the team’s co-director among other titles, to help us imagine what it will look like in practice when a doctor has a patient’s full set of DNA in hand. He kindly collaborated on the script and voicing of the 5-minute cartoon video above. (Yes, it features real human voices, not those annoying text-to-speech robots!)

http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/04/dna-doctor

Lawmakers in Tennessee Appear Plagued By Digital Illiteracy–Look At This “Gateway Sexual Activity” Bill–Low Common Denominator Laws–Colbert Nails It

Watch the video and if this doesn’t prove how far in the “dark” lawmakers are with the inability to address what is really going on in the country and in this case Tennessee I don’t know what does. I had to kind of laugh with the use of the word “Gateway” here as that is a commonly used “tech” term and is used with access servers, virtual servers and so on.  This was just too funny to see the word used in this form. 

I didn’t know we are creating “gateways” for sex now:)  Really this is so funny and I’m sure others in technology have to give this a real chuckle as well.  The sad part of all of this is the digital illiteracy of lawmakers that have no clue how to make laws today and technology is just flat out eating their lunch.  We live in a new era today and to sit in denial and be a “non participant” with technology today hurts others too.  I wish some would read up on what a “gateway” is.  There’s a lot of folks out there who can help educate them too such as doctors who use “gateways” all the time for access to electronic medical records.  Here’s one more great example from a couple weeks ago that shows more digital illiteracy, as they just have to “control” something….

Look No Further Than Wisconsin To See the Connection Between “Digital Illiterate Lawmakers” With New Law “No Web Cams During a Non Surgical Abortion Procedure” - This Says It All!

Holding hands and kissing could be considered “Gateway Sex”.  No condoms on bananas anymore.  “Groin Central Station”…his description here is great.

Digital Illiteracy Still Plagues Law Makers–Severe Focus on Abortion Rights Proves It–Is This Where Our Lawmaking Knowledge Leaves Off or Even Begins? Scary…

I just wonder if they even think about how they look to the rest of the world, and seriously it’s like a bunch of “loose cannons” running around and of course a “digital formatted law” would probably even be a bigger crime <grin>.   This is why I started my series on the Attack of the Killer Algorithms to help educate the public on how processes and formulas run on servers 24/7 making life impacting decisions about all of us and is basically the underlying factor for the “Occupy” movement.  What does one do when you can’t speak to that algorithm or query or yet even reach customer service folks sometimes that work for companies that use them, and they all do. 

Attack of the Killer Algorithms–Digest & Links for All Chapters–How Math and Crafty Formulas Today Running on Servers 24/7 Make Life Impacting Decisions About You–Updated 3-11-2012

We have huge problems with lawmakers, judges, you name it all over the country here and there are a few that are not naïve or that sit in denial but the number of those versus the digitally illiterate are small.  No wonder the rest of the world has to laugh at us at times when we see nonsense as such and it just doesn’t stop as all you have to do is read the news. 

Business analytics are used by banks, corporations, etc. and some generate “accurate” results while others focus on “desired” results, especially when it comes to money and the two should be the same, but they are not.  Just read the news and there are many articles about this topic as some are now starting to dig in and check those algorithms for accuracy as there has been no regulation on how code moves money for the most part and quants have been busted by the SEC for this.  Back to the law, if Colbert didn’t do it for you, here’s a news report and listen to the digitally illiterate discuss the topic.  We are truly in big trouble all over the US with folks on the wrong track and it’s becoming a major circus.  Read below that all but one GOP member voted for the bill and really think hard about who and what your electing in the future please!  BD 

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In Tennessee politicians continue to try and legislate morality, instead of making reality-based decisions to address social problems such as teen pregnancy and STDs, with depressing if predictable results: Tennessee ranks 8th worst in the nation for teenage pregnancy. In fact, states with abstinence-only policies ranked dead last.

via the Tennessean. Newsclip clipped from WSMV in Nashville on 4/27/12.

Legislation banning teachers from promoting or condoning “gateway sexual activity” is headed to the governor’s desk after approval by the state House of Representatives on Friday.

The bill, which passed the full Senate earlier this month, would require all state sexual education classes to “exclusively and emphatically” promote abstinence while banning teachers from promoting any form of “gateway sexual activity.” The latter term, which has garnered national media attention and been lampooned by comedian Stephen Colbert, is not specifically defined in the bill.

The vote was 68-23, with all but one Republican for it.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com//scarce/gateway-sexual-activity-bill-passes-tn-hous