Company Advertisements Get Caught Making False Claims And Are Called to Task And So Much of This Activity is in Healthcare

Back in October of 2010 I wrote about everyone marketing their “ass” off and in addition to the foods and other side of healthcare we have it with software and other claims too on the web.  It’s like a virus out there to grab the consumer buck and with all the ground breaking technologies we do have today in healthcare, it’s sometimes hard for all of us to distinguish which is which!

Why Is Almost Everyone In Healthcare Marketing Their “Ass” Off

Having a mother that is a senior really helps out here with me gathering some of this information together as being a senior she’s a big target out there as she’s aging and what the economists and others sometimes refer to heartlessly as “expensive” and don’t forget we are all going to get there some day so not a bad idea to cut some of this crap out with relaying news and product information today. 

Here’s an example of what happened last year with some behavior patterns that got out of whack with the focus on pay for performance and wrangling that consumer, my Mom into what they were pushing that day. Shoot even her health care plan and the drug store were giving her conflicting standards on when she should check her glucose levels and she’s been doing this for 15 years and nowhere along the line did the “experts” on both sides mention the involvement of her doctor, so what’s wrong with this picture I ask?  Is this where “marketing your ass off” takes over for common sense and the current structure of healthcare?  I think we have some issues here and the end result is a huge lack of ethics and common sense at times. In some instances it is the pursuit of patient data that drives all of this so they can sell it and make money too. 

Compliance Police Out In Force for Seniors–Health Plans and Drug Stores Making Phone Calls-Business Models & Caller Behavior Sucks -A Result of Pay for Performance Efforts?

You can see where even myself, as hard as I try to be realistic can be taken in a bit with Oreck vacuum cleaner’s claims.  Sure the UV light helps but to what extent were the claims made that consumers could rely upon?  They paid some money out as you can read below due to the FTC researching their claims.  Now this does not mean it’s a bad product at all, as they make one heck of a vacuum cleaner with a great reputation but could the UV light stand up to everything they claimed was the question.  There’s another company that boasts UC treatment for toe nail fungus too and I don’t know where their claims stand today either.  Obviously the product do function but again we are back the “marketing your ass off” paradigm. 

Germ-killing vacuum cleaner from Oreck uses UV light

“Oreck agreed to pay $750,000 to settle allegations about its boasts that the vacuums could "capture and destroy" the flu bug and other germs. The Federal Trade Commission accused the company of being unable to back its boasts.”

In some areas this is where 2 federal agencies need to work together as in the Cheerios advertising claim, so the FDA basically came out and said ok you are going to advertise like a drug with your claims, so now you are a drug and submit your data <grin>.   On some of thee areas lines over cross so collaboration is best.

Cheerios Classified as a “Drug” by the FDA

Drug companies get caught up in this too, like Bayer did with their claims about prostate cancer.  I had a conversation with the Prostate Cancer Foundation and asked their opinion to which they said they were all over it and would be following up for public awareness too as they are one of the first places consumers go to ask since they are the experts with research, development and so forth with this type of cancer.  You can read below the outcome of that one with the class action lawsuit filed for false advertising with the Men’s One A Day.

Bayer Claim That Vitamins Prevent Prostate Cancer Is Now A Class Action Lawsuit – False Advertising

In here too we have Pom Wonderful who has spoken about the benefits of pomegranate juice and they too were called on the carpet, so they just kind of exploited their efforts in a recent movie, sponsored by Pom Wonderful.  I do have to say though that prostate cancer gets more than their fair share of a lot of this when folks crunch some numbers without the scientific backing.  I like Pom, tastes good, and like it in a martini, so that’s why I buy it and of course I am not one who buys the product due to it’s prostate cancer claims being a female. <grin>.

FTC and FDA Tell Pom Wonderful To Change Their Advertising Claims or Submit for FDA Approval–Another Study Unrelated Claims Peaches and Plums Kill Breast Cancer Cells Too

It is kind of funny in a way that they are the big sponsor in the “Greatest Movie Ever Sold” and you can read my comments on how this rolls over to healthcare and I ask do we have the greatest healthcare system ever sold too? 

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” Just Like “The Greatest Healthcare System Ever Sold”- Same Paradigms-Colbert Report (Video)

  If you don’t think you are being marketed beyond all belief today, just take one look at this house painted with social networking logos!  Social networks are great, I use them but common sense needs to enter here somehow too as some of them a driving more revenue for their pockets with some steroid and senseless advertising today too. 

Read the list below and take a look and just be aware as to what is documented by studies and research and don’t be afraid to ask questions or dig a little deeper and search some of this out on the web.  Marketing and superficial advertising today can lead us to believe that donkeys come with two heads as shown above if we are not careful.  BD

The Kellogg Co. agreed to dial back its advertising after being accused of going too far with claims that Rice Krispies could help your immune system. That followed a previous confrontation over claims the company's Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal was "clinically shown to improve kids' attentiveness by nearly 20%."

The Dannon Co. agreed to stop claiming that its Activia yogurt and DanActive drink, which contain probiotics, could relieve irregularity and help prevent catching colds or the flu.

NatureSmart LLC and Rexall Sundown Inc. -- makers of Disney and Marvel Heroes multivitamins -- agreed to pay $2.1 million after claiming their products had certain acids that promoted healthy brain and eye development in children. The FTC said the claims were false and could not be backed up.

Legacy Learning Systems Inc., which markets a popular series of guitar-lesson DVDs called the Learn and Master Guitar program, agreed to pay $250,000 after being accused of orchestrating a series of phony reviews and testimonials from supposedly regular folk or independent reviewers.

Wellness Support Network Inc. was accused of deceiving consumers "with baseless claims that its supplements would treat and prevent diabetes." The FTC said the Diabetic Pack and the Insulin Resistance Pack were essentially the same collection of vitamins and were sold with the claims they reduce insulin resistance and can prevent diabetes. They also said they were the product of "Nobel Prize-winning technology."

American Tax Relief, which heavily advertised on the Web, was accused of taking more than $60 million from consumers with tax debts after claiming they could shrink the amount they owed. Ironically, the company had its license suspended in California for failure to pay taxes.

The makers of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice were accused of making boasts they couldn't back up that the drink and related supplements could prevent or help those with heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction.

Global U.S. Resources, which ran a massive marketing operation aimed at convincing out-of-work people that they could make thousands of dollars a month by stuffing envelopes, was accused of duping consumers to get up-front payments from them.

At least 18 different websites were issued formal warnings to stop confusing consumers about getting free credit reports. They were required to disclose in their advertising that every consumer is entitled to a free credit report each year from each of the three major credit-reporting agencies through the site AnnualCreditReport.c​om.

Gotcha! When companies make false claims- MSN Money

Technorati Tags: FTC,FDA,advertising,heatlhcare,steriods,social networks,false advertising,consumers,patients,internet,prostate cancer foundation,Oreck

President Obama–Absolute Brilliance on Playing His “Literal Trump” Card on His Birth Certificate At The Right Time! (Video)

If you didn’t see his speech at the 2011 Correspondent’s Dinner, this is a “must watch” as to whether or not you like him, agree with him or the opposite, this was a fabulous strategic move by the President and his staff.  Also by being able to poke fun at himself, this also shows a great deal of confidence that comes with knowledge.  Here’s the full moment as captured by C-Span and you can watch his entire speech.  What at “Trump” card was played!  You hear the President all the time talking about those who get distracted and disrupted and pull our attention away from what really matters and what is important and that’s clearly the message I saw here <grin>.  It makes those very uncomfortable who do this too as transparency today shows everything <grin>. 

THIS EVENT ALSO HAD A HIDDEN BENEFIT TOO FOR THE DATA SCRAPERS OF THE WEB-ALMOST 3 FUN PACKED YEARS OF BEHAVIORAL ANAYTICS INFORMATION AVAILABLE ALMOST DAILY!

The sound on the video is a little low so turn up your sound a bit to hear.

President Obama Proves Disruption/Distraction of Many

I watched and it was certainly entertaining and I think goes to show that we have a much smarter President in office than some think, and this relates to his birth certificate.  He knew it was there and yet let the news and the public play on this for 3 years and look at the junk news it created, but on the other had it brought up face front all those today who get distracted, disrupted to the point of seeing beyond reality and what is important and the news did a good job of portraying those who do that, and it doesn't look good or give much credibility.

The President literally had a "Trump" card in hand and waited to play when he felt it was most appropriate and would serve to show some of the inadequacies we have today with those out of touch with what is really important today and those who are “non participants” in the world of technology and ignorant of the facts of how it can help them better do their jobs.  It was a fantastically well thought strategy and I think a huge less for all to think about and when you think of it in those terms, he's one smart man and had the last laugh for sure.  I'm sure they use predictive modeling and for sure collaborate on all of this and stay focused as you can hear him make such comments in his speeches today, many times mentioned.   Here’s the example the White House put out making fun of the President’s prompter, very funny and shows up Biden snoozing away too.

President Obama Speech Trailer–Lost of Prompter

Unfortunately we have the other branches of government that need to use some intellectual technology to do the same as some of them were in fact all in the news with not pursuing a smarter method combined with ethics to make their points.  I give him and his staff a big thumbs up for this, brilliant.

We saw some efforts by having the US Constitution read out loud and that also turned out to be a mockery as pages stuck together and things were missed-why not read it from an Ipad for a simple example:) Digital illiteracy is causing problems at all ends of lawmaking today and the mockery continues as they are lost when finding real paradigms today and flat out just don't know where to take a stand when modern day business methodologies come in to play and we see all the items that played importance in the 70s and 80s resurfacing for some great soap opera antics that we get to view every night on the news, sadly as most is all non productive and puts us further behind the 8 ball.

Digital Illiteracy Still Plaguing Lawmakers With Not Using High Powered Technology to Model and Simulate Healthcare Laws–Ryan Hasn’t Figured Out He’s No White Hope Yet (Video)

Our Congress didn't even recognize the tech solutions when it was given a demonstration and put flat in their face and since IBM Watson was used on Jeopardy I seem to believe they thought this server aggregation and smart query seeking technology was only a game.  The ability of judges to have all their information in full and the ability to make intelligent decisions that can eliminate some unintended consequences is too being challenged today, so again the President in holding his literal "Trump" card was brilliant.

Healthcare Reform Law– Is Any Judge Fully Capable of A Decision on a Law That is Challenged By Constantly Changing Algorithms?

The links in here go back to my prior posts on the topic of digital literacy and again hats off for some absolute brilliance here and as we watch the news and see where the world and the US is moving today, this is perhaps both a funny yet important message to not forget and hopefully it will stand to spur on the government “non participants” who make our laws today to come in to the 21st century and look at themselves (like we see them on the news).  Hopefully they will think again about current methodologies as I’m sure they want to be seen with respect and knowledge with a full understanding of how technology is both impacting and changing the world we live in today. So many of the dog and pony shows that clearly elaborate on politics and lack of digital illiteracy could certainly stand to be put in the “recycle bin” forever and maybe Joe Biden will make a bigger effort to remain awake in time too <grin>.  BD

YouTube - President Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner

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The Search for The Elusively Perfect Hospital CEO Today-El Camino Hospital Board Using Executive Search-Current CEO Contract Will Just Expire

This is interesting to see today as in the last 6 months to a year I am starting to see a bit of a revolving door with hospital CEOs, some had have had problems outside of running a hospital but now it appears that the search for the “great white hope” seems to be working it’s way over on to this frontier.  El Camino Hospital as far as their use for technology, advanced genomics and so forth is clearly so far ahead of many others in the US and I have written a few times about how they use technology.  They are like the “role model” hospital in that respect and they do some really neat stuff, not to mention the lives they save and treatments they offer with some unique clinical trials and treatments. 

El Camino Hospital Offers New Treatment for Severe Asthma–Bronchial Thermoplasty Approved by FDA in April

In reading this article about the board, of which I know little about other than reading, they are just going to let the current CEO contract expire and feel the need to get help with finding a CEO that can help them reach their goals.  In this case too with the hospital being so technologically advanced, i.e. wireless system running in the walls, I am guessing there’s no CEO candidate going to get in the door here without some technical skills of his/her own, as otherwise they would drown in the technology.  Also noted here too with as much as they have invested in technology and sit in the heart of the Silicon Valley, goals are not being met, in other words there’s so much revenue needed to keep the doors open and staff at current levels.  Now dig a little deeper here with getting good feed back from employees and their goal was 55% happy and they received about half of that.  The board is not citing any reason or wrong doing here either and recognized his efforts of how they came through some really hard times after the 2008 fall out and the opening of two opening in Mountain View and Los Gatos. I wonder is that “miracle CEO” out there"?

El Camino Hospital Will Lay Off 140 Employees - 5 to 6% of The Hospital Workers

These are the folks that take care of the “Silicon Valley” geeks when they get sick.  Maybe a hint here for the all the tech companies to perhaps give some support to your local hospital?   Check out this video from a short while back and see what I mean.  When you get sick there’s more than just social algorithms needed to help you <hint>.
So where does a talented CEO come from that has a strong healthcare ethics background and a strong use and understanding of Health IT?   I guess we can sit in the peanut gallery and watch to see who they are and if in fact such a person does exist today.  Sure there’s a bit of tongue and cheek here but mentioned as this is where everyone is going today to find the sometimes magical leaders that they hope still exist out there.  How can one so far advanced hospital in the Silicon Valley with all the talent they hold in their back yard pursue this effort I wonder? 
The geeks are all over making bucks with social network algorithms and if there were perhaps enough interested in the healthcare sector, maybe the board wouldn’t have to be taking this direction of finding the ultimately talented  CEO. 
Something else to make note of too is that they are searching for a CFO and have been since May of 2010 with an interim replacement who just stepped down.  Let me tell you the demands of such positions are high and folks are demanding “winner” results here and it’s getting to be slim picking out there to find not only the talent with Health IT, but also the one who has good public and patient relations in check, a tough balance.  Right now an interim CFO was hired from Kaiser Permanente to fill in, so see something matching up here with where they found talent?  We all know that Kaiser Permanente stands out in the field of Health IT and has worked very hard to unite both the patient and doctor experience with combining both where many are still scratching their heads. I look at is this way too in the fact that the board says we need help and can’t do this task alone and risk making a decision that will not work.  Not too long ago too I wrote about CIO burn out and that’s happening all over the US with demands and expectations that are above and beyond what some can physically do with budgets and technology.  I received some fan mail on this topic saying “thanks” for noticing. 

Survey Shows CIOs Stressed About Work/Life Balance–Don’t Burn Them Out-Chapter 2

The folks usually setting these requirements from what I post and read in the news are usually the “non participants” today and fail to use a lot of their own consumer Health IT technologies and then are easily swayed by someone’s presentation quoting a long stream of algorithms from an “expert or consultant” telling them it can be done, again most of it “proof of concept” and when the plans go into action in some areas the concept fails to implement correctly and then it seems “witch hunts” of some sort begin as someone has to be the fall guy and justification for a new person or process begins.  This is all over today and it’s the process used at time to kind of blame shift with expectations that are perhaps a little over the realistic side. The news makes this complicated too a we all compare technologies and the social networks as an example, are touted as the everything and anything world of today, and they are not.

Tech Robots at work El Camino

When I get sick a social network algorithm is not going to help me, is the healthcare system and good doctors and hospitals that are needed.  Somehow we get distracted with all of this and lose out sense of balance.  I have done some consulting over the years and I had one hospital with a CEO that used to “run for the hills” when I came in to suggest and worked with them, executive staff knew what was going on but his fear of technology literally put so many restrictions out there that so many left in frustration so we have a few of those out there too.  I used to laugh a bit at this is I never thought I had such power of fear when I was only there to help move things forward and do what the other executives brought me in to do. 
“The facility takes full advantage of new technologies, ranging from a wall-to-wall wireless network, to patient beds with built-in translators for 22 languages, to robots that move around the hospital carrying medical supplies and patient meals. Robotic devices help doctors perform surgeries and electronic lifts help get patients into beds safely.”
So in summary I think with all the budget talks and search for a new CEO and meeting goals, it’s fair to ask where are all the investors, venture capitalists and folks with all the big bucks up there when it comes time to supporting your local hospital?  We all fall sick and have health problems and one day you or someone you know is going to need them.  Also worth noting is the hospital is in the black again due to some changes and so forth, so on the other side of the coin here too is this maybe looking at how much profit they want to make too and drive more, and  more importantly, is this sustainable  as a business model and for how long?
The hospital is of course on schedule to work to meet all the government requirements (there’s a lot of this going on too for all hospitals that takes time and algorithmic planning) for safe patient care, meaningful use and to become an ACO.  Today things are a bit fragile out there and confusing too with some of the somewhat unrealistic goals to meet as some of those goals are also created by “non participants” too and we keep seeing those models adjusted all the time as some are just flat out of reach when applied beyond a “proof of concept” and where does this leave everyone else in the game? 
Is this an elusive butterfly out there trying to find this one “perfect CEO” and how do they fit every bit of this into the game plan at once as just missing one area of the compliance issues today ends a hospital right up front in the news as “failing” as some measure and then the distorted view of the news then carries on further to the public who read this stuff, I know because I’m a consumer and read the same stuff out there.   BD

As El Camino Hospital prepares to celebrate its 50th birthday next month and continues its search for a new CEO to replace Ken Graham, the board of directors voted at its March 19 meeting to ease those transitions by assigning new leadership for the board.
Normally scheduled for July in the new fiscal year, the board voted to appoint John Zoglin as chairman, replacing Wesley Alles. Other new officers are directors Uwe Kladde, vice chairman, and Dr. Patricia Einarson, secretary-treasurer.
Zoglin and Einarson will oversee the executive-officer search as sole members of the CEO search committee, which appointed the firm Russell Reynolds last month to conduct a national search for a new hospital leader. Without citing specific reason, the board voted 3-2 in February not to renew Graham’s contract, which expires in June.
“Overall, the hospital is not quite achieving its volume objectives year-to-date because of lingering recession effects, but there are positive signs of volume improvements across the major service lines,” he said in a March report.
In a corporate scorecard measuring quality, finances, growth and employees in the second fiscal-year quarter, October-December 2010, the orthopedics, urology, cyberknife and infusion center departments surpassed their goals.
In the scorecard’s final metric – employees rating El Camino Hospital as a place to work – 25.3 percent of its employees gave it a thumbs-up. The goal was 55.1 percent.

Los Altos Town Crier - El Camino Hospital board names firm for CEO search

Technorati Tags: Health IT,Technology,healthcare,Silicon Valley,El Camino Hospital,earthquakes,hospital,speech recognition,Amalga,California,wireless,CEO,CFO,board of directors,Kaiser,talent

HHS Launches New Reward Program for Hospitals That Provide Quality of Care–Algorithms To Score For Value Based Purchasing

Ok here’s that word again but this is what it is, mathematical formulas to grade performance based on reporting.  We are all trying to save money and so many hospitals are having trouble finding enough money today, so perhaps there might be enough in this till to help out there with proving quality care is being provided.

Every rule or law today needs an IT system and this is no different, and in 2013 the “Big Algorithm on Re-admissions” comes in.  I’m not kidding on this one though as there are some  big dollar coding carrots being hung out there by Leavitt, Heritage and company offering $3 million dollars for those algos.  So if you are a coder/programmer, here’s the link below that tells more about the “search for the magical algos”. 

Heritage Providers Continues to Promote $3 Million Dollar Prize to Create An Algorithm To Predict and Prevent Hospitalizations

From the CMS website:

“In future years, CMS will be implementing other provisions of the Affordable Care Act that are designed to improve care while reducing costs.  For example, beginning in 2013, hospitals will receive a payment reduction if they have excess 30-day readmissions for patients with heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia. By 2015, a portion of Medicare payments to most hospitals will also be linked to whether they meaningfully use information technology to communicate within the hospital to deliver better, safer, more coordinated care. Also beginning in 2015, hospitals with certain hospital acquired conditions will receive additional payment reductions from Medicare.”

I know I am a bit satirical here as I work with data bases, wrote my share of these things with SQL queries and so on and that’s the process so nothing new to me, but heck I wouldn’t even attempt it as there are way too many variables today and by the time you compile and get the bugs out, I would die of exhaustion at the keyboard no matter how many helpers I had.

By the way this is a long entangled process that can’t be accomplished at the day long Code-A-thons either <grin>.  I mention this as I have readers at all different levels here.  July 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012 is the first evaluation period for earning savings from CMS.  You can work on this while you get your information together on how you are going to create an ACO.  Get your calculus talents to work here and here’s a couple more paragraphs on how the payments work below and if you can’t get it there’s a lot of consultants you can hire to help you with all of this and hopefully their fees won’t be more than the hospital can collect.  If you don’t think I’m talking algorithms, keep reading….

“Finally, CMS will calculate a Total Performance Score (TPS) for each hospital by combining the greater of its achievement or improvement points on each measure to determine a score for each domain, multiplying each domain score by the proposed domain weight and adding the weighted scores together.   In FY 2013, the clinical process of care domain will be weighted at 70 percent and the patient experience of care domain will be weighted at 30 percent.

Incentive Payment Calculations:  CMS will utilize a linear exchange function to calculate the percentage of value-based incentive payment earned by each hospital.  Those hospitals that receive higher Total Performance Scores will receive higher incentive payments than those that receive lower Total Performance Scores.   CMS will notify each hospital of the estimated amount of its value-based incentive payment for FY 2013 through its QualityNet account at least 60 days prior to Oct. 1, 2012.   CMS will notify each hospital of the exact amount of its value-based incentive payment on Nov. 1, 2012.”

I am really for anyone to be reimbursed for better care and again my only doubts here are inquiring if the carrot is attainable and easily enough understood?  I’m still waiting around for those “experts’ in all of this to share with us how they find value with using a personal health record and still silence as of today on the web.  You know when I used to write I thought I had the most “bitchen” code to really make a program rock, but when I put it out into action, guess what, it was time for the duck to eat some dog food and that happened more than once and it was a good learning experience for me and it’s why I talk the way I do today about software. 

It made me a lot more sensitive to the users after a couple experiences and I quickly learned to get over myself, and there’s a few more that might think about this wandering around out there in Health IT land.  Dog food tastes like crap. <grin> but you don’t know until you taste it. Dog food by the way means having to fess up that you screwed up in short on your perceptions and creations and admit you are willing and able to try another approach and it can make your brain hurt too but when you are working with clinicians as a true partner and both working for the same outcome, that makes a lot easier and keeps the human focus alive instead of all these folks that think algorithms will solve the problems of the world. 

When I get sick I want to see a doctor and get a prescription for a drug if that is what I need to heal, not go to Facebook and waste time with a bunch of algorithms that are going to tell me what to do, how to do it and share my questions with the world, the doctor’s office is a much better place for that.  I hope this helps some hospitals with rewards and again get you calculus folks up and ready to rock with it.  BD

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today launched a new initiative that will reward hospitals for the quality of care they provide to people with Medicare and help reduce healthcare costs.  The measures to determine quality in the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program focus on how closely hospitals follow best clinical practices and are underpinned by the use of health information technology.

Authorized by the Affordable Care Act, the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program marks the beginning of an historic change in how Medicare pays healthcare providers and facilities. For the first time, 3,500 hospitals across the country will be paid for inpatient acute care services based on care quality, not just the quantity of the services they provide.

Some of these measures will assess whether hospitals:

• Ensure that patients who may have had a heart attack receive care within 90 minutes;
• Provide care within a 24-hour window to surgery patients to prevent blood clots;
• Communicate discharge instructions to heart failure patients; and
• Ensure hospital facilities are clean and well maintained.

Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program in FY 2013 have been endorsed by national bodies of experts, including the National Quality Forum.  Hospitals have been reporting on quality measures through the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program since 2004, and that information is posted on the Hospital Compare website.

HHS launches value-based purchasing program | Healthcare IT News

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