brown2020

Poet Ruth Stone describes her creative inspiration

This June 8, Ruth Stone will turn 94. Author of 13 books of poetry and recognized by just about every literary prize there is, Ruth recently described on YouTube how she actually lost most of the poems that have ever come to her:

“I never felt that I wrote them anyways. I would feel them coming from way off, and then they would come toward me, and if I didn’t catch them they went through me and went on, so I just figured they were part of the universe, and not me.”

In her TED Talk, Author Elizabeth Gilbert (“Eat, Pray, Love”) described creativity as more like a genie than genius, as something that possesses you from the outside and takes hold of you rather than something that you can possibly generate yourself or take credit for.

That the best ideas come in flurries of inspiration and seem like accidents may be a function of how our complex and wonderful brains work. While we are aware of our one focal point of attention at any given moment, billions of parallel connections are still churning. What are they thinking about?

Whether the source of creative ideas is a muse or something equally mysterious that emerges in the neural networks of our brain, what can we do to call our creativity into action and apply it to the very present needs and challenges around us?

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April 20, 2009, Page 9

In “Wrong Prescription,” Dr. Scott Haig correctly suggests that digital medical records are no silver bullet for the costly, inefficient U.S. health system, but for the wrong reasons [TIME, April 6, 2009].

Information technology (IT) improves efficiency with the rules of the game currently in play. If the rules reward treating disease complications but discourage management and prevention, IT will help health-care businesses churn out more complications per hour.

The fundamental flaw in our current system is that despite decades of debate, no one has an adequate stake in preventing those costly complications in the first place.

Steve Brown — Published in TIME

 
3banana Presents Android Smart Phone App at Dow Jones Wireless Innovations 2009 – Presentation Transcript
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Matthew Holt, the author of this presentation on Health 2.0, is the founder of The Health Care Blog and the Health 2.0 Conference, an event that has defined a new paradigm for ehealth and brings together a new generation of creative thought leaders. This year, the Health 2.0 Conference will be held jointly with the Center for Information Therapy on April 22-23, 2009 in Boston.

My Reaction to Health 2.0 and the Convergence with Information Therapy:

Health 2.0 makes Information Therapy practical and possible. Health 2.0 is about individuals creating and sharing more of themselves online in a way that improves their own health, the health of others they are connected to, and the health of the community as a whole.

Information therapy is based on the idea that what we think and believe — the content of our minds — can influence our health, either directly or through our behavior. We can change and influence the content of our minds and therefore also our health through information media.

Personalized health, however, is highly diverse, and if we had to design the right information therapy for the right person at the right time, we would never finish the job. So how does Health 2.0 make information therapy possible?

The needs in health care are complex, personalized, and ever changing. How can information therapy derived from a scripted template ever fully address them? Without Health 2.0, the greater the number and diversity of people with health needs, the more infinitely complex the situation becomes.

Health 2.0, on the other hand, changes the information therapy equation. The participants are co-creators, selectors, navigators, recommenders, and reviewers of content, so the more people involved and the greater their diversity, the more possible it is to meet an ever greater diversity of needs.

While some traditionalists might argue about the need for evidence-based information, the reality is that rich and diverse Health 2.0 communities are enabling an acceleration of evidence gathering. In the social media world, randomized controlled trials or A/B and multivariate experiments on the impact of information and ideas on user behavior are conducted every day.

This same quantitative and experimental methodology of the modern Web 2.0 Internet, when applied in Health 2.0, will start to advance our knowledge about information therapy, so that we may discover how the right information, at the right time, and in the right way can truly improve health.

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NEWS RELEASE: Health Hero Network Says Recent Successes of Deployments with Medicare, VA Signal New Era of Telehealth. Successful Multi-Year Trials at VA, Medicare Show Telehealth-based Health Care Interventions Can Improve Care, Reduce Costs.

PALO ALTO Ca., January 23, 2009 Health Hero Network said today that the first large-scale, multi-year rollouts and evaluations of its Health Buddy® System have shown success in helping improve the care of high-cost Medicare beneficiaries and veterans while reducing costs and hospitalizations — signaling a new era of telehealth that will reshape an American healthcare landscape strained by an aging population, a reduction in caregivers and shrinking financial resources.

VA Results reported in TELEMEDICINE and e-HEALTH, VOL. 14 NO. 10. Care Coordination/Home Telehealth: The Systematic Implementation of Health Informatics, Home Telehealth, and Disease Management to Support the Care of Veteran Patients with Chronic Conditions. Adam Darkins, M.D., Patricia Ryan, R.N., M.S., Rita Kobb, M.N., A.P.R.N., Linda Foster, M.S.N., R.N., Ellen Edmonson, R.N., M.P.H., Bonnie Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., and Anne E. Lancaster, B.Sc. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Care Coordination Services, Washington, D.C.

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Abu Dhabi is set in the heart of the Persian Gulf and home to 10% of the world’s oil reserves. An unlikely place for a leading international summit on renewable energy and clean technology? On the contrary. Inspired by the environmentalist passion of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, the leadership of Abu Dhabi has defined the emirate’s legacy as becoming a center of renewable energy and cleantech innovation.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, at WFES

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, opened the summit by describing the vision and rationale for Abu Dhabi’s plan to invest $15 billion to build a carbon neutral future energy city from the ground up in the desert of Abu Dhabi. Masdar has already attracted the leading innovators in cleantech, not only for energy supply from the sun and wind, but also for smarter consumption: smart utility grid and metering, transportation and water systems, energy efficiency and consumer education.

More than just an early cleantech customer, Masdar seeks to become a development and innovation center for future energy, green technology, and sustainability, reversing the brain drain from the Middle East and becoming a magnet for the brightest minds in the field. To help do this they have partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create a Masdar Institute of Technology.

Dr. Jaber cited the undeniable momentum in renewable energy: America will invest $150 billion in future energy over the next 10 years. Europe has committed to carbon reduction targets for its members. Not only will Abu Dhabi invest billions in cleantech, Abu Dhabi also has committed to an energy plan that calls for 7% of the emirate’s energy to come from renewables by 2020, creating a $6 billion to $8 billion market.

“Our progress is irreversible,” said Dr. Jaber, and Masdar intends to be at the forefront across the complete value chain of renewables, helping Abu Dhabi maintain its position as a leading energy supplier to the world. Dr. Jaber stated the reasons clearly: “Because we can, and because we should. This is still true, despite the economic downturn. We still can and we still should.” Dr. Jaber concluded, “If you invest in cleantech, the first place to visit is Abu Dhabi and the first organization you should talk to should be Masdar.”

News Release: Medicare Extends Demonstration to Improve Care of High Cost Patients and Create Savings

Health Buddy Telemonitoring Device

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted three-year extensions, subject to certain conditions, for three participants in the Care Management for High Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration (CMHCB) that have demonstrated success in helping to manage the care for high cost patients.

“We have been striving for years to find ways to improve the quality of care for Medicare patients through greater coordination in a way that would also save money for Medicare,” said CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems.

“The success of these three partners shows us that better coordination and the introduction of information technology can improve a Medicare beneficiaries understanding of their condition and their ability to follow medical advice,” Weems said. “These programs are showing us yet another way to develop programs that will improve communication between health care providers and their patients, eliminate duplicative and unnecessary care, and improve overall quality.”

Care management for high cost beneficiaries is a provider-based service to improve quality of care and reduce costs for fee-for-service beneficiaries who have one or more chronic diseases. The services support collaboration among participants’ primary and specialist providers to enhance communication of relevant clinical information. They are intended to help increase adherence to evidence-based care, reduce unnecessary hospital stays and emergency room visits, and help participants avoid costly and debilitating complications.

The extensions were awarded to Key to Better Health, a division of Village Health; Massachusetts General Care Management Program; and Health Hero Network, Health Buddy Project.

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News Release: The Knot Inc. Announces Acquisition of Breastfeeding.com

The Knot Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Breastfeeding.com (www.breastfeeding.com), the number-one website dedicated to providing advice on breastfeeding—one of first-time mothers’ biggest challenges. The addition of Breastfeeding.com further enhances The Knot Inc.’s already robust pregnancy and first-time parenting offerings, which include TheBump.com and LilaGuide.com.

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News Release: Agile Sports’ HUDL Changes the Way Athletes Study the Game. Watch the Video at http://HUDL.com

Lincoln, Neb. – After piloting its Hudl coaching system with over 150 coaches and hundreds of athletes in Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas, Agile Sports is officially launching the video editing and analysis software nationwide this Sunday at the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Convention in Nashville, Tenn.

Hudl was developed by taking Agile Sports’ Hudl Pro software, which is used by the University of Nebraska Husker football team and the New York Jets, and transforming it into a lighter-weight, web-based system that is made to work with every sport and fit in the budget of even small high schools.

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News Release: Robert Bosch North America, Healthways announce availability of single license for joint patent portfolios

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. and NASHVILLE, Tenn. – January 06, 2009 Robert Bosch North America, Inc. (RBNA) and Healthways Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) today announced the immediate availability of a single patent license under their joint patent portfolios related to remote health monitoring, automated diagnostics and health and disease management.

Both companies collectively hold extensive catalogs of patents in the U.S. and other countries in the area of remote health monitoring, automated diagnostics and disease management. The combined portfolio will give licensees the right to practice over 105 U.S. patents, 154 U.S. patent applications and 78 corresponding non-U.S patents.

The joint licensing program announced today will be managed by Health Hero Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch North America. Health Hero Network will be able to offer licensees a single license that, depending on the needs of the licensee, may include patents owned by Healthways and Health Hero Network. A licensee may elect to take a license from Health Hero Network under the Healthways patents – alone or in combination with the Health Hero Network patents.

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News Release: VA Data Show Home Health Technology Improves Access to Care. VA Secretary Peake: Entire Health Care System More Effective

WASHINGTON – Veterans with chronic conditions can manage their health and avoid hospitalization by using special technology provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in their homes, according to a recent study.

VA Home Telehealth from http://www.carecoordination.va.gov/telehealth/ccht/

“The study showed that home telehealth makes health care more effective because it improves patients’ access to care and is easy to use,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “A real plus is that this approach to care can be sustained because it’s so cost-effective and more veteran-centric. Patients in rural areas are increasingly finding that telehealth improves their access to health care and promotes their ongoing relationship with our health care system.”

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This presentation accompanied a talk I gave recently to a group of health care executives at an ABL Roundtable event in San Francisco. I was asked to discuss the meaning, importance and potential application of social media in health care.

Social media is often defined as “people having a conversation online.” In contrast to mass media produced by a few, social media is generated by grass roots efforts of millions of people. It has become the largest and most interesting use of the web.

Despite the fact that health care is one of the most information intensive fields, the health care industry notoriously lags behind every other industry in its adaptation of information technology. To get our initial bearings, we decided to kick off the discussion by asking the audience to describe their own personal use of social media.

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My Social Graph on Facebook

The image above was generated by the Nexus application on Facebook. It is a visualization of my social graph: The interconnections between the people I know on Facebook. Social graphs look a lot like how we visualize neural processing in the brain. The image that follows is just such a neural processing map from Brainmaps.org.

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I just finished watching Barbara Walter’s hour long special, Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008, and I thought I would share my notes. I am typing notes furiously while I watch, so this might look a little rough when I read it in the morning. Here are my notes:

10: Will Smith. The biggest star of the box office of the past decade, Will’s movies grossed over $5 billion total and well over $100 million each for his last 8 movies: Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, I Robot, Shark Tale, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend, and Hancock. What is the secret to his success? Will cares about people, and because he cares so much, all he wants to do is to create something special, something that that makes people feel good. The values that permeate Will Smith’s life and work started at home, where he acquired both a desire to do good and strong sense of discipline. He does not tolerate anything less than 100% from himself. Barack Obama told him that if ever there would be a movie about Barack, he would want Will Smith to play him. Will admitted to saying that he could be president himself if he chose to, but added the caveat to Barbara Walters that he would never, ever choose to. Making movies and making people feel good is way too much fun.

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Social Media is a Conversation: Visualization of Interactions on Facebook

In The Lord of the Rings, a palantír stone was like a crystal ball. When you looked into the stone, you could see what was happening near other palantíri around the world. If you could learn to manipulate the stones, you could gain great power by using the stones not only to see the physical world, but also to peer into the history, the thoughts, and the intentions of other people around the world.

Palantír is an apt name for a new project from Facebook that might allow us for the first time to glimpse the world from Facebook’s point of view. Palantír is a visualization of the data flowing through and collected by Facebook: Conversations, comments, photos, friend requests, pokes, status updates, and more.

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