The archived InTimeTV video for the Insights in Medicine interview with Dr. Bernard Bendok (Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery and Radiology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine) is now available.  We had a wide-ranging discussion of the basics of cerebral aneurysm disease and clinical management basics for general practitioners, ER physicians and others.  For the full video clip, see: Advances in the Management of Cerebral Aneurysm Disease.

In this second part of a three-part series on innovation, we discuss the key elements involved in fostering innovation.  The previous installment of this series explored three basic points:

1.       Innovation is different from invention

2.       Innovation is the realization of invention

3.       Innovation often results from a combination of inventions

Because innovation involves the integration of multiple inventions and interdisciplinary combinations the factors involved in fostering innovation are quite different and in some ways almost opposite those that stimulate invention.

The archived InTimeTV video for the Healthcare Executive interview with Chester Szerlag (Radiation Oncology Executive Administrator at the University of Chicago) is now available.  We discussed quite a few topics on changes in cancer care paradigms impacting healthcare executives and physicians.  For the full video clip click Developments in Cancer Care for the Healthcare Executive.

The archived InTimeTV video for the Insights in Medicine interview with Dr. Peter Weiden (Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Psychotic Disorders Program at the University of Illinois - Chicago) is now available.  The interview was an excellent overview of the importance of and challenges in managing medical illness in patients with severe mental illness.  For the full video clip click Integrating Physical Health Care for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness.

This proposal for a health impact tax (akin to a carbon tax) as a funding mechanism for expanding health coverage to the uninsured was originally proposed this past March in the article “Is Gov. Blagojevich’s new plan to cover the uninsured in Illinois a good or bad idea?”  The basic premise builds upon the following concepts:

·         Government covers the aged (Medicare) or poor (Medicaid) and to some extent children (SCHIP).

·         Business typically covers the working population

·         Of course, many of the uninsured are among the working public and the consensus is that somehow business should cover the cost of the uninsured

·         Proposals for a gross-receipts tax (such as recently done in Illinois) have failed in this regard

·         Instead, it is proposed that a health impact tax (apportioned to different businesses according to a general estimate of the overall impact – positive or negative - of their operations on the health of the population)

·         This tax would be similar to a carbon tax that is assessed on the basis of a businesses projected environmental impact

·         This proposal would apportion responsibility for coverage of the uninsured fairly

·         The program would be nationally based in order to enable freedom of movement and administered by the federal government as an extension of the Federal Employees' Health Benefits Program (FEHBP)

Read on for more and feel free to comment.

A brief video webcast on innovation, how to foster innovation and accelerate development.  The presentation was originally given at a Departmental Bioengineering seminar at the University of Illinois – Chicago on September 14^th, 2007.

What are the most innovative countries and cities?  Find out more here and feel free to submit your thoughts …

Innovation is not the same as Invention.  Previously appeared in Midwestbusiness.com as Concepts of Innovation, Invention Should Now Be Regarded Differently. 

Previously appeared in Midwestbusiness.com as Concepts of Innovation, Invention Should Now Be Regarded Differently and on the Wisconsin Technology Network as Innovation vs. invention: Knowing the difference makes a difference.

Read on for more …

The archived InTimeTV video for the Insights in Medicine interview with Dr. Annabelle Volgman (Director of the Rush Heart Center for Women)  is now available.  We had a wide-ranging discussion on women’s heart health.  For the full video clip click Women’s Heart Health.

The archived InTimeTV video for the On The Edge interview with Jonas Moses and myself is now available.  We had a wide-ranging discussion on innovation.  For the full video clip click Innovation and How to Foster it.

The archived InTimeTV video for the Healthcare Executive interview with Gary Baldwin (Senior Technology Editor at HealthLeaders Media) is now available.  We discussed the challenges involved in implementing EMR in physician offices and provided examples of solutions out in the marketplace.  For the full video clip click Issues and Trends in Healthcare IT.

The archived InTimeTV video for the Healthcare Executive interview with Vip Jain (Principal and Head of Healthcare Consulting at XRoads LLC) is now available.  We discussed quite a few topics on innovative solutions to challenges facing healthcare executives.  For the full video clip click Innovative Health Care Solutions – Next Level ROI.

The New York Times reported earlier this week on an interesting phenomenon in the medical and pharmaceutical world – namely online advertising by pharmaceutical companies.  Milt Freudenheim’s article “A Medical Publisher’s Unusual Prescription: Online Ads” describes how the “medical publishing world [is meeting] the Internet.”  There are yet even more interesting implications to this trend.

The New York Times reported today a very interesting initiative in the area of medical diplomacy.  Celia Dugger’s article “Ex-Senator to Lead Global Drive on Children’s Health” describes the ongoing efforts of former Senator Bill Frist to help the international charity Save the Children “make the preventable deaths of millions of children in the developing world an issue for Americans.”  

Actually medical diplomacy is not mentioned in the article explicitly but Sen. Frist’s work truly fits the bill.  There’s not much on the web, however, on medical diplomacy (in fact, if you Google “Medical Diplomacy” this blog actually comes up 9^th!).  

Hence, the first part of this commentary provides an outline, a taxonomy of medical diplomacy.  The second part to follow provides some additional thoughts on Sen. Frist’s project as set within the broader context of medical diplomacy.

The archived InTimeTV video for the Insights in Medicine interview with Dr. Vedat Obuz (Medical Director of the Lotus Medical Clinic) is now available.  We discussed quite a few topics on unmet needs in primary care including asthma care, home health care, the patient-center primary care collaborative (medical home) concept, international health and other topics.  For the full video clip click Unmet Needs in Primary Care.

I was interviewed by Dr. Kristine Mighion on her Healthcare Executive internet talk show on InTimeTV.  We discussed emerging clinical technologies and their implications for hospitals, health systems and healthcare executives.  For the full video clip click on: Emerging Clinical Technologies: Opportunities & Challenges for Hospitals.

The archived InTimeTV video for the Insights in Medicine interview with Dr. C. Anderson Hedberg (former President of the American College of Physicians) is now available.  We discussed quite a few topics on the present and future of primary care including the new medical home for primary care model – the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative.  For the full video clip click The Present & Future of Primary Care Medicine.

I was interviewed by Dr. Ray Fisher on his Heart Health Update internet talk show on InTimeTV.  My fellow guest was the cardiac surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Silver and among other topics, we discussed the future of drug-eluting stents. surgical robotics and off-pump bypass surgery.  For the full video clip click on: Advances in Cardiovascular Disease.

The most frequently emailed article for the New York Times this past week - an internet version of a Times “best seller” - has been Gina Kolata’s “Looking Past Blood Sugar to Survive With Diabetes.”  Given the high prevalence of diabetes that’s no surprise.  But the article’s thesis that dogmatic fixation on blood sugar levels may compromise other aspects of diabetes care has no doubt piqued much interest.  Here are some additional angles to consider …

Also published on the Zangani Investor Community.

The Avandia controversy has been a whirlwind – even a circus at times - but the outcome continues inexorably in favor of drug safety as consistently suggested by this blog.  Last week, the FDA issued a “black box” warning for Avandia as well as other thiazolidinedione type drugs (such as the Takeda drug Actos).

Also posted on the Zangani Investor Community.

As some of you may be aware, Amgen announced last week an unprecedented set of layoffs numbering almost 2,600 employees. What's going on? Amgen may have been a victim of its own success as it has been the darling of biotechnology ever since it introduced recombinant erythropoietin back in 1988.

Originally published in Midwestbusiness.com as “The Deconstruction of Amgen: Company is Victim of Own Success” and also published in the Wisconsin Technology Network as “Lessons from the deconstruction of Amgen.”  Also syndicated on the Zangani Investor Community.

Is healthcare too personalized for personalized medicine? 

Originally published in Midwestbusiness.com and also published in the Wisconsin Technology Network as “Thoughts on health IT, personal medicine & tech convergence” and the Zangani Investor Community. Referenced in ScienceRoll.