This is a good article and if you like privacy well worth the read here to find out what goes on behind the scenes with data mining and giving out all kinds of information about yourself to those that mine and sell data.  This article in the New York Times kind of reiterates what I talk about here from time to time.  Now we know what the health insurance companies have “games”.  I have said it before and it comes from a higher resource than me now.  Here’s a couple examples and again I don’t know how popular they are since I don’t do games and don’t use coupons.

Aetna To Offer Online Game Social Game For Personal Wellness- Joins Humana As They Have An Online Game Called FamScape

Health Insurer Humana Introduces a New Game Called FamScape–Making It Fun to Get And Maybe Mine Your Data?

The article further discusses how it used to require a bigger pay back to get folks enticed to play but not any more, egos and being #1 on on social jag is all it takes:)  Who wins?  I think you can figure that out when it comes to the data and what you gave away, but they have the ultimate at the other end, “the data'”.  So did you win or lose?  Healthcare is not alone though as the financial area has some games out there too where you can be a virtual investor and there’s a pretty good chance they have some data to sell.  This is big business as even the retail chain Walgreens said their data selling business is worth just under $800 million and that was last year so maybe it’s growing?  So what’s in a reward today?  Actually the use of data for sale with high frequency traders and Hedge Funds is growing at a rate faster than Facebook

High Frequency Traders Using Social Networks and Growing Rapidly With Algorithms That Find, Sort and Leverage-Growing At A Rate Faster Than Facebook

A new type of analytics the article says…I would agree with that comment and it makes billions for Corporate USA from “free data” that you contribute.  Along that topic there’s also the free data gained from mining state government servers and it has gotten so bad that some states have added software to block the bots.  In North Carolina they threw out CoreLogic and revoked their license to mine and some of these folks that mine are too cheap to pay a few hundred dollars every quarter to update information.  Do wonder why it is so hard at times to get something that is erroneous off your record?  That’s the story on that end. 

Once again this brings me back around to my case of the “Killer Algorithms” that are out there and how they suck you in one way or another and then some work against you later.  If you want to dig deeper on how you get sucked in, the link below has a great video that will explain a lot of this and how it is designed to do just that, suck you in. 

Context is Everything–More About the Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception–Professor Siefe Lecture Given at Google’s New York Office–Big Healthcare Focus

So in essence just one more set of crafted algorithms that get you to participate for nothing and your data gets sold.  I would think many would be tired of this by now but until the education as to what happens on the other side sinks in I suppose it will thrive.  How do you stop it, answer is you don’t as it’s almost impossible but what I think we should do is license and tax those folks that do this and require a disclosure site so anyone wanting to “play the game” knows what happens on the back side and call it the Alternative Millionaire’s Tax as that’s who would be getting taxed, companies making millions for zero output and take free taxpayer data and make billions off consumer’s backs while they entertain themselves with these very crafty algorithms online. 

The Alternative Millionaire’s Tax–License and Tax Big Corporations Who Mine and Sell Taxpayer Data They Get for Free From the Internet-Phase One to Restore Middle Class With Transparency, Disclosure and Money

We don’t know or have a clue as to exactly what is collected and how much the value is on the data, but the billions made sure makes a huge statement and you know we are all still stuck paying federal excise taxes on tires we need for our cars, so this doesn’t make a bit of sense to me. 

You Are the Product–Privacy Anonymity and Net Neutrality On the Internet - Excellent Stanford University Lecture (Video)

This leads me to one final link here and actually it is post I made back in August of 2009, “Do we need a department of algorithms” or something along that line?  I made the post about the time the Madoff case hit the news…SEC certainly needs some new efficient algorithms as it looked like the Facebook IPO filing shut down their site this week too, so see the power that big corporate USA has with their data and algorithms in knowing how to game you and the system?  There was also a comment in the Times article too about how we are headed for a real backlash with all of this and in my opinion the sooner the better as that will indicate a much smarter consumer crowd out there.   BD   

“Department of Algorithms – Do We Need One of These to Regulate Upcoming Laws?

FOR the last few weeks, Kenneth Brown has reigned over Samsung Nation, an online loyalty program that offers virtual rewards to consumers who talk up Samsung, the electronics giant.

In the three months since the program was introduced, Mr. Brown, owner of Atlantic Detail Service, a steel detailing business in Athol, Mass., has racked up more than 4.5 million points, often placing him atop the site’s leader board.

Along the way, he has earned a virtual “Twitterati” badge — a turquoise circle — for posting dozens of links to

Samsung.com on his Twitter account. He’s nabbed a virtual “Connoisseur” award for his frequent comments on the Samsung site. And, while newcomers who register for the program might attain mere “Novice” status, Mr. Brown has joined the ranks of the elite “Cognoscenti” by answering many questions from site users.

Game techniques, Mr. Duggan says, prompt consumers to spend more time on company Web sites, contribute more content and share more product information with Facebook and Twitter adherents. One of his clients, he says, uses a gamification program to collect information about 300 actions — like posting comments or sharing with a social network — performed by several million people.

Ian Bogost, a professor of digital media at the Georgia Institute of Technology, for example, refers to the programs as “exploitationware.” Consumers might be less eager to sign up, he argues, if they understood that some programs have less in common with real games than with, say, spyware.

“Why not call it a new kind of analytics?” says Professor Bogost, a founding partner at Persuasive Games, a firm that designs video games for education and activism. “Companies could say, ‘Well, we are offering you a new program in which we watch your every move and make decisions about our advertising based on the things we see you do.’ ”

“There is probably a backlash coming,” Ms. Robertson says. Pretty soon, she predicts, companies may differentiate themselves with anti-gamification promotions like “No points. No annoying missions. Just clean services.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/business/employers-and-brands-use-gaming-to-gauge-engagement.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimesbusiness&seid=auto

Well let’s place some serial numbers on those implants, and of course this idea came to light after the situation in Europe with the questionable breast implants and the arrest of the creator.  The chip has been around in many forms and has evolved as I covered it for a few years here myself and owners have changed a bit too.  You can soon have a chip off the old boob. 

VeriTeQ Acquisition Corporation Buys VeriChip Implanted Chip and Health Link Personal Health Record Technology from Positive ID–Implantable RFID and Sensors

The company was the first to announce the chip that talked back to a scanner and even connected with HealthVault but I don’t think it was widespread in use.  We go back to the conversation of “do I want to be chipped”.  I don’t think most of us have issues with chipping our pets but the jury is still out on us having chips. 

PositiveID Corporation's Health Link Personal Health Record – First PHR to Communicate Real-Time Blood Sugar Readings for Diabetics and Their Caregivers/Physicians

“VeriTeQ will focus on three main areas: patient identification and personal health record (PHR) access through the VeriChip implantable microchip and Health Link web-based PHR; implantable sensor applications; and identification of medical devices within the body. VeriTeQ will also focus on identification and sensor applications for animals.”

Siemens like the idea and the back track below tells about their investment.

PositiveID The “Chip” People are Back-an Agreement with Siemens To Expand Wireless Body Monitoring With A Chip Implant

If you are a diabetic, there’s also work being done for an implanted chip to read your glucose numbers and automatically send it to their software which can connect to other software, called GlucoChip.   I don’t know they might hit on something to sell that chip but time will tell.  They are also working in Israel on Inhaled insulin too, so inhale and let the chip do the reporting someday?  In the meantime we have boob chips on the way and I wonder if the boobs will do text and email?  Don’t laugh as there are devices out there that do that and the cardio vascular area has some trials in that part of the body.   

Will there be any charities donating to this cause in the case of reconstruction for breast cancer?  Sorry I just had to add that and a tiny bit of demented humor here.  BD

(RTTNews.com) - VeriTeQ Acquisition Corporation Friday said it will offer its FDA-cleared VeriChip microchip, a rice grain-sized, passive RFID microchip, for the identification of breast implants and other medical devices.

Following the international breast implant scare involving breast implants from French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), which used industrial silicone for its breast implants to decrease costs, it was announced yesterday that the European Union is contemplating a manufacturer requirement to embed microchips in breast implants to provide for accurate and immediate traceability of these and potentially other medical devices. It is estimated that approximately 400,000 PIP implants were sold around the world.

Scott Silverman, chairman and CEO of VeriTeQ, said, "The current system for identifying surgically implanted medical devices is archaic and flawed. Once a device is in a person's body, there is no way to know for certain which company manufactured the device or what the specific device is. Embedding our VeriChip within a medical device prior to insertion enables a healthcare professional to scan the area of the patient's body where the device is implanted and receive immediate and accurate confirmation of what the device in question is and its manufacturer."

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/veriteq-to-offer-implantable-rfid-microchip-for-traceability-of-breast-implants-20120203-00781

As you can read below, the full plans remain to be seen yet when it gets down to the actual nitty gritty here.  LSU has been the temporary replacement for patients who formerly were seen at Charity Hospital which we all remember was destroyed with hurricane Katrina.  Last week I made a post about healthcare IPOs and I think it also fits here with the dog and pony shows we still see on Wall Street with the financial side and the fact that hospitals are still struggling.

Greenway Medical Records IPO–Videos and Pictures at NYSE Getting Old as Hospitals and Doctors Struggle for Income And Close

Actually I don’t know why the NYSE still has this big building as all the action takes place over in New Jersey on servers and trading is pretty much all electronic these days and perhaps it would be better suited as a museum since it is part of our heritage and any money collected for tours could be donated to charities, you think?  This comes to mind after the recent Komen stories and how it was all lit up in “pink” for the big shindig that was held there. 

A new hospital is being built and it appears there’s still money from that after reading this article.  I wonder why Senator Vitter is not more pro-active here with his state or is he?  The Vitter Problem…..Of late he seems more pre-occupied with abortions and the silliness that has occurred with wasting everyone’s time.  LSU hospitals have lost $100 million over the last 3 years and have reduced employees by over 400.

There are seven hospitals in the system to be affected and other hospitals are considering their own cuts.  Again, strange times we live in today when we have a lawmaking body that is so out of touch.  BD 

Louisiana State University authorities announced $34 million in cuts to its public hospital system Friday, with a $15 million hit to Interim LSU Public Hospital in New Orleans that will mean eliminating the chemical detox unit and closing beds in the emergency department, mental health emergency extension and psychiatric inpatient unit at the DePaul campus. LSU administrators will submit a detailed layoff plan to the state Civil Service Commission on Tuesday, the same day that individual workers will get their layoff notices.

A drop in state tax revenues necessitated the midyear budget reductions, which where ordered by Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration. The cuts affect the seven-hospital system anchored in New Orleans. The system and its $780 million budget also include facilities in Baton Rouge, Bogalusa, Houma, Independence, Lafayette and Lake Charles. Separately, LSU hospitals in Shreveport, Monroe and Pineville must consider their own cuts.

The Jindal administration maintains that LSU effectively brought the cuts on themselves by budgeting based on money that was never actually appropriated.

At the New Orleans hospital, the big-ticket cuts include:

• Eliminating the 20-bed chemical detox unit: $841,632.
• Closing nine inpatient psychiatric beds on the DePaul Hospital campus, leaving 29 open: $663,007.
• Closing 10 mental health beds in the emergency department, leaving 10 open: $853,673.
• Closing four general emergency department beds, leaving 40: $1.43 million.
• Closing 24 medical/surgical beds: $1 million.
• Cutting additional personnel across all departments: $4.94 million.
• Scaling back treatment for state prisoners: $2 million.
• Cutting professional services contracts with Tulane physicians/professors: $2.29 million.

According to the LSU Health Care Division's most recent annual report, Interim LSU Public Hospital had 283 staffed adult and pediatric beds, along with 38 staffed psychiatric beds, with almost 15,000 annual inpatient admissions. Nineteen nursery and neonatal ICU beds have since closed. The hospital had 2,284 full-time employees.

The hospital, the temporary successor to Charity Hospital, is expected to remain in operation until early 2015, the promised launch for the $1.1 billion University Medical Center project under way in Mid-City, across Tulane Avenue from LSU's existing medical campus.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/02/lsu_making_15_million_in_cuts.html

The money keeps disappearing in one way or another and now there’s another question here with this settlement between of a balance of $25 million owed.  We remember the sad suicide and the real housewife star Taylor Armstrong as that was all over the news. 

MMR (MyMedicalRecords) Lawsuit Looking for Shareholder Answers With Taylor and Russell Armstrong–The PHR and Hollywood Suicide Connection, Where’s the Money?

Surgery Center Management, LLC issued a payment of $5 million and then took it back after they said MMR refused further negotiations.  This back link explains their biotech interest outside of the Health IT portion of the business.

Favrille Biotech and MyMedicalRecords.com, Inc. Announce Merger Agreement

In the meantime it appears business as usual with promoting their personal health record and have sold share overseas as well to internationally help market the PHR software and service.  Are they ready to step in to where Google Health left off?  BD 

Health IT Company MMRGlobal (MyMedicalRecord.com) To Sell 4 Million Shares To Chinese Investment Partner

LOS ANGELES, CA, Feb 02, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- MMRGlobal, Inc. MMRF -2.56% ("MMR" or the "Company") today announced that pursuant to the terms of its December 9, 2011 Settlement and Patent License Agreement (the "Agreement") with Surgery Center Management, LLC ("SCM"), the Company has filed suit to collect the initial payment of $5 million, due on December 23, 2011, along with an application to the court for a Right To Attach Order and Order For Issuance of Writ of Attachment. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, the remaining $25 million is due in annual payments of $5 million each, starting November 15, 2012.

Notwithstanding the existence of the lawsuits, SCM and MMR are attempting to work on a settlement. Presuming the parties are able to successfully settle this matter, MMR may conclude additional transactions with affiliates of SCM on terms that are beneficial to the Company's stockholders. According to Robert H. Lorsch, MMRGlobal CEO, "Based on the review of outside accountants, a business transaction could represent substantial benefits and significant valuation to MMRF shareholders at the conclusion of a transaction which I believe that both sides would like to accomplish."

On December 29, 2011, SCM issued the $5 million to MyMedicalRecords, Inc. in the form of a cashier's check based on the terms of the Agreement. Despite SCM's delivery of the cashier's check to the Company, SCM then retook possession of the check after MMR refused to renegotiate certain terms and conditions, including the termination provisions surrounding the remaining $25,000,000 owed under the Agreement. SCM has also withheld the money in an attempt to leverage MMR into a transaction on terms that MMR believes are not in the best interest of its stockholders.

The Patents include any issued or pending U.S. and/or foreign patent applications and/or issued patents, including, but not limited to, Singapore, Hong Kong, Israel, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Agreement includes the settlement of any potential claims by MMR against SCM and its affiliates for any past patent infringement.

Despite the dispute with SCM, MMR is continuing to operate its business in the normal course and is working to further exploit its Health IT patents and other biotech intellectual property.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/30-million-due-to-mmrglobal-under-non-exclusive-patent-license-agreement-2012-02-02?reflink=MW_news_stmp

The event truly did wake up the American public on how women’s health is understood today or rather should I say “misunderstood” as you read the news the last few days, it was pretty vicious and I read enough of it myself.  We live in a world of business analytics today, algorithms that give us parameters to digest information and we make our decisions based on them.  I watched the original video from Komen on why the decisions were made and that was exactly what I came away with.  Again doing this blog I read so much of similar press releases and stories on the web and this was just one more but unfortunately politics jumped in here big time.

In essence this a big awakening to the American public on how we are attacked by some algorithms (software is nothing but a bunch of algorithms working together in the words of Bill Gates) that are defined for “desired” results perhaps instead of “accurate” results.  It happens all the time in the business world and as long the two are the same we don’t have a problem but sadly it doesn’t work that way. 

This was a rather big awakening to remind us that “ethics” need to play a big role today and you can’t use mathematical formulas to mow people over when the lines cross.  You won’t read this anywhere else on the web as most don’t understand or make an attempt to understand coding and math, but this is how I see the long and short of it without putting a big OMG spin in here.  They still have this issue I think under political discussion to maybe look at too as we all know this one won’t die either as it will continue to come up over and over.

Komen Has Also Stopped Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research–Politics and Some of Business Intelligence Algorithms At Work Here?

I also do hope they have stopped their activity from last year of suing smaller charities for using the word “cure” as this again is counter productive of what philanthropy is supposed to be and $1 million can certainly pay for a lot breast cancer screens rather than lawsuits. 

We do have other advocates in Healthcare and Wendell Potter is one that has to come to mind as he was one that had been there and done in a prior occupation and speaks out about how people get sucked in to the corporate brain washing that occurs and in his own words he said he found that he to was looking at algorithms and reports as numbers and forgot they were people until his awakening day with finding some missing ethics.  You can can read his material all over the web to find out more and I think this is a bit of what we had going on here, folks were lost in the algorithms and all of a sudden when the “teeth” came out and made those decisions, people woke up. 

Our new consumer protection chief, Richard Cordray has his hands full to in unwinding and getting the bottom of how ethics and business intelligence algorithms need to work in harmony so as not to harm consumers.  At the link below are some links to some the prior Attack posts I have here that are defined with all pubic information and give some real glaring examples of discrimination by the algorithm.

President Appoints Richard Cordray as New Consumer Financial Protection Chief - Hope He Knows And Understands Correcting Flawed Math and Formulas To Battle the “Financial Attack of Killer Algorithms” On Consumers With Banks and Corporate USA

In one final thought here too as I always do talk about this, we have this big sense of digital illiteracy in Congress today and whenever things get over their heads with comprehension levels, they all go back to this “default” topic of abortions and you see it in the news all the time so some smarter Congressmen would definitely be in order here as they accomplish nothing and basically lead up to this big issue here with lobbying and trying to control where they have none.  BD

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…

This was truly a sad state of affairs but maybe some of those who are stuck in their “default” rhetoric will have the chance to take a look at themselves and see how the rest of the educated digital world views them.  Again, sad that this methodology was unbalanced and even the Komen organization was snowed under with the rationale with being blind sided on the ethics and unintentional consequences that occurred. 

No doubt when you see the NYSE stock exchange lit up in pink it does make you wonder where the powers of influence like and how mathematics are marketed and spun to where reality is such a far sight away. 

This is yet one more chapter in the Attack of the Killer Algorithms.  BD 

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives.

The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. We ask for the public's understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.

We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/02/komen-apologizes-for-recent-de.html

First of all nothing with the IPO but the pictures and videos announcing all of this are getting extremely old, so just take care of business and save some expense of the dog and pony show, please and the part with Gingrich in here was priceless as last year we had this.  Again we don’t know how many will get rich, not as bad as the over valued social network IPOs, but again when many are struggling and doctors and hospitals go broke and close, not a big news item here for the middle class. 

Newt Gingrich Scams Doctors With Fake Prize Awards That Costs $5000

You can listen to the interview and the “installed customer base” discussion here and again it’s a product used by healthcare today and there are many competitors and the stimulus was discussed with saying only half of the doctors will meet the qualifications and receive their money.  This is yet just one more big corporate conglomerate pushing for revenue and profits.  We have seen two big insurance companies too who are making record profits invest big in health IT so this tells you there’s again money in those algorithms.  This picture though at the NYSE is no more impressive than seeing the Komen NYSE picture lit up in pink in my opinion and where was the part about being a partner with doctors?  Did I miss it:) BD

http://www.thestreet.com/video/11397460/greenway-ipo-pops-on-opening.html#1429842201001

This is not an attack on Komen from this blog but basically just putting facts out there as I see them on the web and gosh knows the last couple of days has spring a ton of information and opinions.  I did remove them from my public service area with this being a second controversial area as even with last year with the reporting of spending $1 million suing other charities was not tops in my opinion I still had their link.  This is kind of like strike 2 if you will and now is this strike 3 to have other funding removed?  You tell me. 

I did watch the video and basically the message I received was the fact that they want to spend their money, which they have the right to do, where they thought it would be in the best interest; however you can’t control the public perception and the video was just like so much of what I hear today, the algorithms of business intelligence.  I guess as I blog a lot about health insurance algorithms I tune in there as have heard the same repetitively for so long so to me, one more dishing out of some Killer Algorithms for those who have benefited from their charity in the past. 

It’s all about the math folks and the algorithms that help in these decision making processes.  We have a lot of good algorithms out there but like anything in the world today there’s the dark side that creeps in.  No doubt that analytics make us smarter today but the levels of ethics and forgiveness will always play it’s role, especially when something gets big notoriety such as this.  I take what I see and curate with my own editorials for readers and hopefully educate folks on what goes on behind the scenes today with technology that creates a lot of the decision making processes today and that’s what was done here.  If you look at the video of Steven Colbert, there are opinions that are more pointed than what you may see here and all have their perspective. 

Komen Foundation Cuts of Funds to Planned Parenthood - Wall Street Was Lit up in “Pink” Last Week For Fund Raising from Hedge Funds and Other Financial Companies

The bottom line here for me is the sad effect that politics is having on philanthropy and how the abortion issue worked it’s way into this situation that is now not funding breast cancer screening.  Those poor women who rely on Planned Parenthood, are they the bad guys or gals?  Of course not.

It’s stupid and we have a bunch of self serving members of Congress that appear to be more digitally illiterate than we ever dreamed of.

Now I base this on what they say and what is reported as I am not friends or in contact directly with any of them.  When things get over their head and decisions require a level of expertise they don’t have either due to non participation in technology or egos or whatever it is, the digital illiteracy shows up like the white elephant in the living room.  They all seem to be non participating experts on “what’s good for those guys over there”.  You can dig around this blog and find quite a few posts that relate back to the same thing, so nothing new from this blogger in that respect.  These are big problems sitting in those chairs in Washington that let personal interests and controls factors get in the way. 

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…

Once again I’ll go back to a very related topic here on how our new consumer protection chief, Richard Cordray has his hands full with corporate USA and their definite big advantage with writing algorithms and code that take a couple days to adjust after a new law is passed, it is what it is and if you know what to look for you see day in and day out but nobody wants to seem to go point blank on it and maybe that is what I do here in trying to educate readers on the behind scenes part of how technology operates these days.  Right now those same folks can’t seem to come to an agreement as to whether or not they want to cut off their profiting from insider trading but somehow feel so compelled to stick their noses into a healthcare situation where it does not belong.  The link below also has the “Vitter Problem” identified by MSNBC with a very good storyline from day one, since he seems to have his nose in here too. 

Insider Trading Not Illegal for Congress and Their Staff–STOCK Act Introduced to Stop Trading on The Congressional Knowledge Act

If you want to save lives, it requires stem cells, both kinds so if the IFS don’t work or can’t be programmed to work without the embryo then so be it and folks should get over that.  The US has to be the world laughing stock when it comes to abortions at this point so do we let science to their thing and create solutions or do we continue to stay stuck in the 70s. 

I have full respect for religion and respect that of other but come on with all of this and allow science to improve our standards of living and once and for all find cures.  In summary, it’s a crying shame that philanthropy which is a good thing was drawn into the so called “expert opinion” area here, of which there is none but we all need to learn to get along and respect the rights and views of others and again work for scientific cures and I hope it was ok that I used that word but I’m not a charity so I think I am safe:)

When it comes to decision making we are all under the Attack of the Killer Algorithms if ethics and a level of forgiveness is not used when making decisions today, discrimination by the algorithm. 

The link below has links that go into several areas of the Attacks of the Killer Algorithms if you want to read up, all public information and just curated here. 

President Appoints Richard Cordray as New Consumer Financial Protection Chief - Hope He Knows And Understands Correcting Flawed Math and Formulas To Battle the “Financial Attack of Killer Algorithms” On Consumers With Banks and Corporate USA

Welcome to the world of discrimination by the algorithm….

We live in a distracted society today where social algorithms even supersede the value of human lives, just read the news yesterday and social networks are good, I use them and the are here to stay, but at what over inflated value…I read yesterday that in words of value we are worth less than $5 on Facebook, but look at what they are doing on Wall Street with valuating the intangible algorithms they are selling..time for new thinking here when social algorithms dollars supersede the value of human lives as the chase for the perfect social algorithm seems to be commanding more money than this country producing tangibles, and that is crazy.  BD

In addition to stopping funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business, Komen for the Cure has also quietly stopped funding embryonic stem cell research centers, another concern for pro-life advocates.

As LifeNews reported last July, Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer spent time examining Komen’s 990 Forms for the IRS for 2010 and she found that Komen has active relationships with at least five research groups or educational facilities that engage in embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of unborn children in their earliest days for stem cells that have yet to help any patients.

The return showed donations from Komen totaling $3.75 million to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, $4.5 million to the University of Kansas Medical Center, $1 million to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, $1 million to the Society for Women’s Health Research, and $600,000 to Yale University. All of them have embryonic stem cell research programs.

On November 30, 2011, Komen quietly added a new statement to its web site stating that it does not support embryonic stem cell research but supports the kinds that do not involve the destruction of human life.

“I oppose embryonic stem cell research, which creates life solely for the purpose of destroying it. I do, however, strongly support adult stem cell research, which has produced numerous scientific achievements without terminating innocent lives in the process,” Handel said in 2010 as a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/01/komen-also-stops-funding-embryonic-stem-cell-research-centers/

The title about says it all here so while the fantasy world of the 1% are chasing social algorithms, hospitals continue to struggle and insurers are seeing even bigger profits than before but continue to hammer down on the hospitals.  If you read through below there are a couple of hospital closures also in store in Massachusetts. 

UMass Memorial will seek a potential buyer for Worcester-based Home Health and Hospice (HH&H).  In addition they are looking to sell their lab services as insurers are directing patients and doctors to use other labs with lower costs.  The hospital system is the largest employer in the center of Massachusetts.  

Good Science, Investments and The Chase for Social Algorithms Has Become a Dangerous Mix-Healthcare and The Creation of Jobs Continue to Suffer

“There is already “a mini-gold rush” of companies trying to market tests based on the new techniques, at a time when good science has not caught up with the financial push..
Social networks are great and I use them but when sick do I go take a “Facebook pill”, or get some “Twitter therapy”, or get admitted to a “LinkedIn hospital”?  Don’t laugh as something along this line might be tossed your way when there’s not enough hospitals to care for all.  BD

UMass Memorial Health Care, which lost money in the last three months of 2011 amid shrinking patient volume, told its employees yesterday that it will shed 700 to 900 jobs, about 6 percent of its workforce, through a combination of layoffs at its flagship hospital and the sale of divisions that provide services such as home health care.

The health care system, which operates UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and four community hospitals, is the largest employer in Central Massachusetts, with about 13,500 workers. But its profitability has been eroding for several years as it faces increasing pressure from businesses and commercial insurers to reduce costs.

Patient discharges fell 6 percent in the most recent quarter from the same period a year earlier, while imaging tests dropped by more than 7 percent, said John G. O’Brien, chief executive of the Worcester-based system. He said the numbers are declining as the system prepares to shift from a fee-for-service model to so-called global payments, under which insurers give hospitals and doctors a budget to provide patient care.

Hospital groups ranging from Boston Medical Center to Cambridge Health Alliance to Northeast Hospital Corp. of Beverly have slashed hundreds of jobs over the past two years.

Sixteen hospitals, nearly a quarter of those in the state, have been losing money, according to a report last year. Last month, Taunton State Hospital, which houses 169 mentally ill patients, said it would close its doors, while long-term care provider Kindred Healthcare Inc. said it will shut its 45-bed Waltham hospital.

http://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/02/02/umass-memorial-health-care-shed-jobs-through-layoffs-and-sales-some-divisions/ot4SXNZz76gYMxo6aqVXwL/story.html

Profits were larger due to less use of medical services so bigger profits for insurance companies.  The company is also selling software at retail Best Buy stores. 

Best Buy Setting Up to Hawk Software from Aetna For Consumer Wellness–Companies Still Don’t Get the Consumer Involvement Yet With a Vehicle and Creating Value

In addition the company bought another HMO company in India.  IHO was founded in 2008 by Visham Sikand and Sunando Sen with 2,500 doctors, 800 pharmacies, 300 laboratories and 500 dentists in their network

Aetna International Buys 100% Stake in India Health Maintenance and Care Organization

Also the restrictions from CMS were released this summer for enroll new patients in part D and the Aetna has also pulled out of providing individual policies in Colorado.  With mergers and acquisitions the health insurance is a far cry from what it used to be.  BD 

CMS Lifts Aetna Restrictions on Medicare Part D Enrollment As of July 1, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS — Health insurer Aetna Inc.’s fourth-quarter net income jumped 73 percent, as it continued to benefit from low use of health care and some key expenses fell.

The Hartford, Conn., insurer’s earnings and revenue topped Wall Street expectations due in part to slower-than-expected growth in health care use, a trend that has helped insurers routinely outperform the past several quarters. Many analysts expect this trend to continue into 2012.

Aetna said Wednesday that it earned $372.6 million, or $1.02 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That’s up from $215.6 million, or 53 cents per share, in the 2010 quarter. Revenue climbed slightly to $8.57 billion.

Earnings excluding capital gains and other items were 97 cents per share.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/health-insurer-aetna-reports-4th-quarter-profit-jumps-73-percent-helped-by-lower-medical-use/2012/02/01/gIQAvUKHhQ_story.html

That’s right folks you get nothing in terms of a disaster recovery plan and here’s yet one more example.  It costs a little money but it will save lives and if you read about the Facebook IPO that’s worth billions, then you can see that someone calculated it out to your worth being just under 5 bucks and this is about the same I think with big Pharma.  You know they are consumers too that would like to be able to find recalls, so what’s the problem with at least someone doing a pilot on this? 

In the title I had to use a couple words to get attention as we all remember with testimonies in Congress the “shitty deal” is now part of history of course. 

I sit and laugh my fanny off reading about 3 years of news about how consumers don’t embrace mobile health, well give us a good reason and incentive.  It’s like the other side gets and collects all the data, well in the case of recalls do you not think consumers want some information.  HHS is a joke when it comes to getting consumers motivated because they can’t find a “role model” in house that will speak to consumers as I guess they feel all of this knowledge is “for those guys over there’ and truth be known most of them are not participants so I assume this is why it is so hard to get a role model to break loose in government, but instead we tons of celebrities that tell us how good the drugs are?  What’s up with this? 

I don’t know where else to go with this as I have some pretty high ranking at the FDA who read this blog too and still nothing?  I was important enough at one point to have a major newspaper talk to me about it regarding the wipes recalls. 

Recalled Wipes From Triad Still Out There in Consumer Medicine Cabinets and Possibly At Some Retail Locations-Manufacturers and FDA Need To Do A Better Job-Bar Codes

Now we do have one feeble attempt with J and J trying them out on baby wipes with product information stored which could be changed to reflect recall information if needed.

Johnson and Johnson Puts Microsoft Tag Bar Codes on Baby Wipes But Can’t Do the Same to Give Consumers the Chance to Find Their FDA Recalls - BarCode Baby Steps?

You can read this article from a few months back about a man who died as he was implanted with a recalled device that was missed being pulled from the shelf, and I say this was a needless death, but go sock your money today on some intangible social algorithms that value you at less than $5 for your human life. 

There are two links at the top of the site where you can read up and find out more.  I think I have about 75 articles or so, every time there’s a substantial recall where the technology would have helped, I have been on it. 

Tell me there’s not room for a bar codes on these drugs.  They just don’t want to do it and actually its pretty stupid when you look not only at consumer convenience, but look the extra time and expense the companies and the FDA go through themselves!  ‘Grab a little heat map and find the drugs once they have been scanned too.  I did it just to see who was scanning my site with my bar code…geez…but let’s make it difficult and continue on with that sorry American tradition of the “shitty deal” right?  BD 

Microsoft Tag Bar Codes–Who’s Been Scanning the Medical Quack–The Bing Heat Map Tells All And Could Help Find Stolen or Expired Drugs and Devices With This Methodology

Pfizer Inc. (PFE), the world’s biggest drugmaker, recalled 1 million birth-control packs after discovering that pills were mixed up inside the packages, possibly putting women at risk for unintended pregnancies.

The company recalled 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of a generic version of the medicine, New York-based Pfizer said yesterday in an e-mail. About 1 million packs of 28 tablets were withdrawn, Grace Ann Arnold, a Pfizer spokeswoman, said in a separate e-mail.

The pills, manufactured and packaged by Pfizer, were marketed by closely held Akrimax Rx Products of Cranford, New Jersey under the Akrimax Pharmaceuticals brand. The company hasn’t received any reports of adverse health consequences, Arnold said.

Each pack contains 21 white tablets that contain the synthetic hormones norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol and are taken for 21 consecutive days. The remaining seven tablets are inactive pink pills taken for a week.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-31/pfizer-recalls-1-million-birth-control-packs-after-mix-up-in-pill-dosages.html