Algo Men to the Rescue

 

When all else fails, do a study. President Obama reigns supreme in this area. 

Algorithms sound impressive, not like Algo Gores. This is what higher math is for…to prove the discontinuities of existence, the universe or whatever you are plagued with in modern times. Algos are supposed to make decision making easier with a formula or diagrams directing a ‘machine’ (computer) to make stem choices. (Best stem I have had was on an apple (not the computer)

1. President Obama will soon be appointing a new Czar. The algorithm Czar who will be the final arbiter of algoland.  The AlgoCzar will reign over health care, politics, economics, defense, security, foreign policy and the Rest rooms.
2. You can read the entire article at the New York Times but in essence the President ran out of folks who could help him out with the technological war far that is occurring and thus has reached out and grabbed William M. Daley whoworks in the financial industry. They work worth with algorithms day in and out and while Mr. Daley may not be a hands on person, believe me he knows his “Algo Men” as all the banks have quite a few of them.

Before I get any further I need to give attribution to Medical Quack whose recent posts have been in reference to Algo-Medicine and our great hope for the good side of “The Force”. Barbara, or as I like to call her “Ducky”, not to be confused with Ducky from NCIS’ whose forensic abilities defy most pathologists. (why don’t more pathologists blog?) (where was I now?)

Oh yes,  Medical Quack always has an aggregation of topics that fuel my limbic system.   This is not Ducky’s fault…..it’s a bit like shooting the messenger.  Ducky, you bring a lot of bad Karma to the table. I like you very much. It keeps me grounded and diminishes my euphoria. Thank you very much. 

Now what was the point of this post ??

del.icio.us Tags: medical quack,healthtrain express,algorithms,william daley,barak obama

More on Jack

 

My colleague and blog friend,   The Hospitalist   expanded better than I ever could about Jack Lalanne in his blog on Monday.  It’s worth reading.

He was the original ‘health nut’. But he was ‘bolted’ down. He exemplifies the fact that we all die, but the journey to it can be a gradual slope of declining health, unhappiness, disability or a good quality of life until one goes over the cliff  suddenly.

Jack,   the original ‘Juicer"’ did not need MLM,Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,MySpace, or coupons from Groupon to spread his ideas

So really, disciplined eating habits, exercise, avoidance of unhealthy stress counts more than blockbuster drugs and high tech enhanced hospitals. Accountable care organizations will do little for your longevity, politicians, not withstanding.

If Jack Lalanne could do all that in the 1950s and 60s, imagine what he would have done now…..that is if he did not spend his time surfing and blogging, twittering and face booking all day.

How about an internet enable set of barbells, or workout machine?I know someone out there has an iPad accessory to attach the iPad to my treadmill.

Jack had this saying,

“YOUR HEALTH ACCOUNT IS YOUR WEALTH ACCOUNT!
LONG LIVE LIVING LONG!”

WATCH JACK

Long before  HSAs !

 

del.icio.us Tags: Jack Lalanne,physical fitness,healthy living,juicer

An Icon Passes

 

 

For some of you the name of Jack Lalanne brings forth images of a ‘jumping jack’ on your TV screen, or memories of “Bally” gyms, the chain that Jack started.

He was among the first to popularize weightlifting and his physical fitness techniques – including the fingertip press-up – formed the centerpiece of The Jack LaLanne Show, which ran on American television from the 1950s to the 1980s. Long before the age of celebrity exercise videos, LaLanne was telling people how to get fit.

Jack left us yesterday at the age of 96 years.  The original 20th century beacon of fitness and preventive living he was a disciplined man, At the time a  version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Just a moment of science from us all to thank and remember him for starting it all. We will miss the juices as well.

 

del.icio.us Tags: fitness,prevention,weight lifting,ballys

Health Care and Reform Film Festival

 

“We” are going to introduce a new forum for ‘film” or digital productions regarding our health system.  Here is our “World Class” presentation.

 

Study Looks For, Can’t Find Much Evidence of E-Health’s Benefits

 

There is a bit of a new link on the right hand sidebar. Levin’s Shout Out. Expands the audience a bit.

With the U.S. and the U.K. heading full steam towards electronic medical records and other health IT applications, how much evidence is there that they improve care?

The Wall Street Journal speaks to this issue.

Let’s keep it all realistic.  !!

 

del.icio.us Tags: daily shout,evidenced based medicine

Locomotives can only Pull So Many Cars

 

Bird's eye view of more than a mile long rake as seen from Lowell's Observatory.(Arizona)

 

 

Clive Peedell in The Health Care Blog picks up today where I left off regarding the NHS in U.K.  He correctly identified that the NHS white paper is a plan to dismantle the NHS by allowing market forces to operate to disengage the NHS from health care bit by bit.  He call this task “creative destruction.”  This NHS will not fall overnight because the market’s invisible hand will destroy it in a piecemeal fashion, leaving the unprofitable areas of healthcare firmly in public sector hands.

“The key policy levers enabling this to happen are:

1. The purchaser provider split, with GP commissioning consortia taking the leading role on the purchaser side of the divide.

2. Patient Choice.

3. Competition between a plurality of ‘any willing providers’.

4. Payment by Results with price competition.

5. Patient held budgets.

6. Foundation trusts becoming social enterprises and the abolition of the cap on their private income.”

This demonstrates the absolute power of economics. Sooner or later most if not all nationalized systems lose influence.  They cost more than predicted,  and collapse inwardly. 

Mr. Obama, with his “community organizer” banner has had a steep learning curve in this regard.  He either disregarded his lessons in Economics at Harvard, or failed to attend all the classes.  Mr. Obama never ran a business. Observers, participants and voters see this as the reforms measures are put in place in the U.S.

Anyway, I digress, back to Mr. Peedell’s predictions.

Either way, moving to a more nationalized system,  or leaving one is a messy process for doctors and hospitals.   The players will remain the same, their checks will come from different payers,  and the taxpayer will pay for it all.

The white paper is therefore designed to fulfill a longstanding Tory dream - to dismantle the NHS and replace it with the private sector, which will receive its profits from the UK taxpayer.

Health reform, either way is always a hot political potato, It is also political suicide to dismantle the NHS, so it is being performed using the political rhetoric of patient empowerment through the patient choice agenda, and clinician empowerment by giving GPs a budget of £80bn.

 

Amazingly, Andrew Lansley is getting away with it because there is far too little understanding and resistance from the medical profession, which is realistically the only group of people that can prevent this assault on the NHS.

Either way politicians lose votes. This most recent election in the U.S. demonstrates this phenomenon as the democrats lost control of the US Congress.

Clive Peedell is a consulting oncologist and is co-chair of Britain's NHSCA. He contributes regularly to: Hospital.dr.co.uk

…..(to be continued)

del.icio.us Tags: nhs,andrew Lansley,uk Health system

Which Planet am I on?

 

 

A tweet arrived this morning from a twit friend. The NHS is rapidly unraveling in the U.K. according to this tweet. 

Thank you to Mike Broad and The Health Care Blog

Picture this scenario:

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “In order to meet rising need in the future, we need to make changes. We need to take steps to improve health outcomes, bringing them up to the standards of the best international healthcare systems, and to bring down the NHS money spent on bureaucracy. (Hmmmm?) Andrew Lansley's health and social care bill will abolish England’s 152 primary care trusts

This sounds familiar.

The controversial Health and Social Care Bill has been published, paving the way for GPs to control 80% of the NHS budget from 2013.

Unions warn the plans are the first step towards privatizing the health service, while the health select committee said the way they have been rushed in has taken the NHS by “surprise”.

But the government argues the changes will improve care and accountability.

Accountability, isn’t that what Medicare and ACOs are planned for the U.S?

This sounds a lot like reverse engineering of the UK System that has grown to become so moribund that it must be carefully dissected to de-commission it. 

It looks to me as if they are running in the opposite direction from the U.S. Health Reform.

I wonder what Dr Berwick is thinking now?

del.icio.us Tags: NHS,Andrew Lansley,UK Health system,Primary care trusts,acountable care