OwenBloggers: Isha - MBA '08

In the news

Today’s NPR news: hurricane, suicide bombers in Kabul, suicide bombers in Pakistan, workers at Boeing are striking, Freddie’s and Fannie’s “questionable accounting practices”, and to top off Condoleezza Rice is in Algeria. Do I hear anyone say: depressing?

Depressing is one, depression is another. I’ve been reading a variety of healthcare blogs from all over the world and “it ain’t lookin’ good.” For any of us. It’s no news that unemployment is rising globally and that in general economic conditions are going down the drain. Even the strengthening of the dollar is not all that spectacular of a news: I’m in Poland and would prefer to have the dollar as weak as possible. On the other hand, vacationing season is almost over, so everyday there is a better chance for networking opportunities. Almost, because now it’s the season for those without kids to travel – school is in, so many people are talking advantage of late summer deals. At least some industries are still doing good… Or at least they are not doing bad.

Talking of traveling, my cousin called me this morning asking if I wanted to go sailing for a week in the Adriatic. They are getting sail boats in Croatia and have a one spot left. Too bad they don’t have two. I have to make up my mind by the morning – my cousin needs to send my passport information to some government agency in Croatia. I guess they want to know who to notify when we all drown…

Talking of other fun and/or depressing things, I just read that Pfizer’s Osteoporosis Drug May Cause Deaths. I guess your bones won’t break as easily but all the side effects might just kill you or make your life pretty darn miserable. Thank you, Phamalot, for such an uplifting piece of news. Then again, generally their articles are on the uplifting side of things – NOT!

Fates and reality check

The Fates sure can plays tricks on you, even if you are looking. All I can hope for is that they know what they are doing and are doing it for the best. I just got my reality check - with complements of three blind Greek women.

My stubbornness and pickiness (and indecisiveness) about the next career move after graduation extended my job search well into the "dry" season - or rather, straight into the recent economic downturn of the world economy. With my lease running out and no interesting prospects in the US I was already leaning towards an international career. And then my mom started complaining about her health. Now, her complain is nothing new, but inventing new symptoms is quite unusual. So I packed my bags and moved across the ocean – it’s amazing how easy it is to make such a move if you put your mind to it.

Maybe the Fates have served me a reality check, but they do watch over me. I could not imagine being five thousand miles away and finding out that my mother has a tumor. Believe you me, it’s hard enough when you are close by.

Here starts my new reality: face to face with Polish healthcare system. I wonder if my Healthcare MBA got me prepared for this...

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Blog your advert

Want to make sure that your job post will reach the right audience? Nothing easier! All you have to do is put it on industry blog so specific, that only those interested are reading it and voila! – you just got your post to go directly to those potentially interested straight into their RSS reader. Brilliant!

The only problem is that not many bloggers are likely to let others use them in as a posting board. What might work once, is unlikely to work again. If I keep on seeing post like this one too often, I just might drop the subscription.

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Świat nauki bez granic?

Stwierdzając, że nauka posuwa się do przodu w szybkim tempie nikogo nie zaskoczę. Pytanie rodzie się jednak gdzie leżą granice, pomiędzy co jest dopuszczalne, etyczne niezbędne dla rozwoju nauki i ludzkości. Niedawno oglądałam serial BBC, Visions of the Future, który zajmował się odkryciami w nauce i ogólną dyskusją ile dobra może nam dać biotechnologia.

Czy eksperymentowanie z genami dwóch różnych gatunków jest niezbędne dla ludzkości? I tak, i nie. W tej chwili używamy myszy (i innych zwierzątek) jako podstawy do tworzenia „części zamiennych.” Znakomitym przykładem jest Sean G. McCormack, który urodził się bez kości i mięśni po lewej stronie klatki piersiowej, czyli z tak zwanym zespołem Polanda. W laboratorium wyhodowano mu chrząstkę wielkości CD, aby zasłonić serce i chronić je przed uderzeniami. Innym przykładem jest hodowanie kości na przeszczep. Ale żadna z tych części zamiennych nie była połączeniem genów, tylko wszczepieniem uformowanych komórek pacjenta do zwierzątka, aby dany organ dorósł do przeszczepu.

Czy to jest etyczne? Używamy biednych zwierzaków, żebyśmy mogli uratować nasze zniekształcone ciała. Czy powinniśmy walczyć z naturą i ratować ludzi dla których natura wybrała inną ścieżkę? Ludzi, którzy zgodnie z teorią ewolucji nie powinni przetrwać, a przynajmniej nie powinni dalej przekazywać swojego materiału genetycznego… Ale z drugiej strony, gdyby to było moje dziecko, to stanęłabym na rzęsach żeby to dziecko miło normalne ucho, szczękę, czy jakąkolwiek inną część ciała której albo brakuje albo jest zdeformowana.

Więc czy jest w porządku łączyć geny różnych gatunków i tworzyć  nową ścieżkę ewolucji? Tak naprawdę, jakie będą efekty dla ludzkości wprowadzenia nowych genów do naszego DNA? Myśląc o tym od razu przypominają mi się liczne książki i filmy z dziedziny fantastyki i trochę włos staje na karku. Bo czy chcemy wylądować tak jak w Gattaca, lub Doom, albo nawet jak świnki w odcinku Doctor Who?

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EHR - theory and practice

Medical records are trying to go digital. Operative word here is trying, as the word “try” indicates the possibility of failure.

The goal in the US is to have EHR for all Americans (or rather patients in the US) by 2014. The main problem lies not in the fact that it costs about $40,000 for a practice to put the system in place. The more troubling notion is lack of a common standard. What’s the use of having an EHR when you change doctors, and the new one can’t read it?

"Researchers found that just 4 percent of physicians have adopted "fully functional" computerized health records systems that help them make decisions about patient care or order tests. Another 13 percent have a more basic system." - Reuters article

That's not much, now is it? What about the other 87%? Where are they? How likely are they to install and fully utilize a EHR system? There is a very interesting read from EHR/EMR implementation project by Wendy Wickham. She goes into excruciating details of EHR implementation for a large hospital (over all seven geographic locations) and about 3000 users (including doctors, students, nurses and all the support staff). Imagine training the lot!

John D. Halamka, MD, the CIO of CareGroup Health System, writes about issues he faces as a provider of EHR technology. In his blog he often stresses the incompatibility of systems an wrong functionality of it.  What is the use of the greatest data sharing system, if it only has limited access? His company has several ideas how to manage single patient records from multiple (not always same network) locations. But we will have to wait a few years to see the degree of success of this approach.

Finishing off, we are still faced with the other, almost minor, issue - the rising costs. If it takes about $40,000 per doctor to set up a family practice of five doctors in the local community will be set back roughly $200,000 just to get the system up and running. What about maintenance costs? Simply put: with the planned freeze on the reimbursement rates how will clinics be able to afford it? More importantly, the $150 million dedicated by Medicare to 12 cities to set up EHR is a drop in the bucket of the ocean of financial need.

Song of the day:
The Cranberries - Time Is Ticking Out

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Global Obesity Boom

It came to me as a bit of a shock coming back from Poland. Even though Poland might not have the thinnest people in the world, on average we are not overly obese. When I was in NYC for three days, I didn't see much of it either. In a place where people walk a lot, it's hard to keep on hundreds of pounds in excess weight. Well, that's not the case in Nashville.

I went to an open air movie at the Centennial Park with Brie last night. There I was confronted with a sad reality of the overweight South. It's been said that it's a pandemic. I think it's a self induced one. I mean, when I see a mother giving a soda to a small child/toddler, my blood boils. What we put in to our bodies has an immediate (and long term) effect on our health and well being. I had a long conversation with a friend in Poland about it, so it resonates even stronger with me now.

Looking at the facts, CDC announced couple of days ago that the number of Americans with diabetes increased to 24 million. It's interesting to read comments on WSJ Healthcare blog about this issue. Statistically speaking, about ten of my classmates (Owen MBA Class of 2008) have diabetes. And some, statistically speaking, don't know about it and the illness goes undiagnosed and untreated.

Talking of college, last week Reuters had an article on how Freshmen 15 can lead to obesity in women. Maybe it’s time for the universities to offer healthier options. No, not offer, impose healthier options on incoming students? I remember my time in dorms and school dining halls – it wasn’t pretty… “Healthy” consisted of a tiny salad bar and an oatmeal cookie. On special occasions we had bran muffins. And I did go to a large California University. I hope times have changed, but looking at Vandy it’s a slow moving progress. The cafeteria’s burger section is about a third of the whole area. Going healthy is slow process.

Of course there are those that see obesity as means to get rich. I am not revering here to vultures preying on the desperate, but rather on those who try to change people, lifestyles and perceptions. Although the Journal refers to the “Healthier Living 15” there are plenty of companies that try innovation to not only get ahead, but also get healthy.

Song of the day:
Weird Al Yankovic - Fat

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