Category: News

An anonymous reader sent over yet another example of copyright being abused for monopolist reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with “promoting the progress,” and actually represent a serious healthcare issue. I had no idea, but apparently the various “codes” used by doctors to classify every visit are actually covered by a copyright held by the American Medical Association, which refuses to allow any free or open distribution of the codes (known as Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)). That’s because the AMA makes about $70 million per year “licensing” the codes.

I’m having serious trouble figuring out what about the codes could actually be covered by copyright, however. They’re numbers corresponding to a particular medical service. As the post above notes, it’s things like “90801 Psychiatric Diagnostic Interview.” It’s difficult to see what the creative component of such a listing is that would allow it to be granted any sort of copyright protection. A simple database of codes by itself shouldn’t really qualify, should it? However, the real issue seems to be that Medicare and Medicaid have required the use of these codes, meaning that pretty much everyone needs to use them… and then has to pay up for them. While a court did find that this arrangement clearly involved the AMA misusing its copyright and noted that “the adverse effects of the licensing agreement are apparent,” the AMA did some legal tap dancing to get around the issue and keep things effectively the same.

So why is this bad for pretty much everyone outside of the AMA? It makes it that much more difficult to comparison shop between doctor’s services, since publishing such info can run afoul of the copyrights. One of the biggest problems in healthcare today is the fact that the true costs of pretty much everything are hidden from the consumer through a convoluted insurance system. The end result of any economic situation where the true costs are hidden from the buyers is that the market is woefully inefficient. But, so long as that inefficiency lets the AMA collect $70 million per year (double what the AMA makes from membership dues), it doesn’t seem to care.

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Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage has been traced, there were five bodies been found. But right now YSR dead body photos have not been leaked at any site.
Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage has been traced, there were five bodies been found. But right now YSR dead body photos have not been leaked at any site.
All the five bodies including CM’s body have been recovered from the ruins of helicopter. Bodies are burned and Reddy belonged to the Congress Party who had become the chief minister of his state for the second consecutive time earlier this year. As he announced several government schemes for the welfare of the poor people living in villages and remote areas, he was a popular leader. He will surly missed by us!!!

Related posts:

1. Ysr Death Mystery 2010 Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage…
2. Ysr Dead Body Photos Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s…
3. Ysr Death Conspiracy Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

by Tom Philpott

Can we all just get along? Image: Tom Twigg for GristIn a recent article, the LA Times foodie pundit Russ Parsons attempted to start a “more constructive give-and-take, the start of a true conversation” on the food system. He argues the debate has congealed into a tedious battle between “hard-line aggies” who are “convinced that a bunch of know-nothing urbanites want to send them back to Stone Age farming techniques,” and reformers who “lump together all farms (or at least those that aren’t purely organic, hemp-clad mom-and-pop operations) as thoughtless ravagers of the environment.”

For all I know, Parsons places me in the latter camp; but I think he makes good sense here, and the kind of conversation he’s attempting to start would be quite valuable. I am sympathetic with anyone who’s trying to scratch a living off of the land, and recoil when sustainable food advocates demonize large-scale farmers. In the past I’ve argued—to the chagrin of mainstream green groups—against taking a simplistic anti-subsidy stance on farm policy.

And indeed, Parsons may have succeeded in starting just the kind cilvil conversation he set out to. The blog of the National Corn Grower’s Association, a group not normally open to criticisms of Big Ag, welcomed Parson’s piece: “You may not like all of the points made in his article, but there are some real gems that make it a worthy read.”

I welcome a new, more civil conversation, too. But here’s something that Parsons didn’t mention—and that must be aired out: corporate dominance of the food system. From my view, the main problem faced by the nation’s large-scale farmers isn’t that Michael Pollan writes books critical of corn; it’s that just two buyers, ADM and Cargill, buy and process the great bulk of their product—and siphon off so much of its value. And a few input suppliers like seed giant Monsanto and fertilizer titan Mosaic (majority-owned by Cargill) siphon off much of what’s left.

As long as that situation holds sway—large farms producing input-intensive monocrops for a few buyers with massive market power—the stewards of our nation’s best farmland will remain reliant on direct government payments and rigged up markets, like the one for ethanol. And they’ll face pressure to maximize gross output, to the detriment of soil, waterways, and flavor. We as a society have a stake in helping them get out of that trap—and I hope to participate in a civil conversation about how that can happen.

Related Links:

Seeking sustainability, finding skeptics at the American Farm Bureau meeting

Industrial farming head just says ‘no’ to call for civility

Gates Foundation throws its lot with agribusiness

When you can’t find anything to match that sexy animal print skirt, try picking up a pair of JVC’s earbuds that will be available next month in four popular animal print patterns: Dalmatian, leopard, zebra stripe and pink zebra stripe.  A thoughtful touch is the various sized silicon earpieces: medium, small and extra-small, reflecting the smaller average size of women’s ears.  It is also a pretty good insurance that the guys around the house won’t be “borrowing” them.

Nyko’s Wand debuted last year at CES, and this year they have something to answer the question of why people need a Wiimote AND a Wii Motion Plus separately. It’s called the Wand+.

The Wand+ doesn’t have, explicitly, the exact technology found in the Wii Motion Plus—probably because they’d get sued. But it does have “Full Motion Technology” built right into the thing, and tracks 1:1 movement and is compatible with any game that takes the Wii Motion Plus accessory. And instead of having to buy a separate device, the whole thing is in one package for just $40.

Nyko’s solution also continues their other bit of technology introduced in the original Wand, which is called Trans-Port and lets them hook up additional accessories to the Wand and passes sound and vibration signals to them. The Wand+ should launch in March 2010.

KNOXVILLE — Two instructors at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Architecture and Design were honored recently by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) for their academic work.

Tricia Stuth

Tricia Stuth, an associate professor, was one of only three architecture faculty in the country recognized by the ACSA and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) with the 2009-2010 New Faculty Teaching Award. Avigail Sachs, an instructor in the School of Architecture, was recognized by the ACSA, along with the Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), with the 2009-2010 Journal of Architectural Education Best Scholarship of Design Article Award.

Stuth’s award is given annually to faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching performance during the formative years of their architectural teaching career.

“I am honored to receive this award and grateful to teach at a college and university that value teaching excellence,” Stuth said. “The award reflects the quality of our institution, and the faculty and students with whom I teach and research.”

Stuth, a registered architect in Tennessee, is a partner at the firm CURB and a member of Applied Research, with fellow faculty members Ted Shelton, Katherine Ambroziak and Brian Ambroziak. Her work, research and teaching focus on connections between design and context.

Sachs was recognized for her article “The Postwar Legacy of Architectural Research.” Each year, the ACSA and JAE honor an outstanding article published in the journal.

Avigail Sachs

“For me this is not only an honor but also an indication that what I have to say matters to people, which was the reason I wrote it to begin with,” Sachs said of her article. “As someone who has just finished her Ph.D. and is in her first teaching job, it is a great encouragement to keep up with the career I have chosen.”

Sachs specializes in the history and theory of architecture and environmental design, architecture education and professional practice. She also focuses on project management and building supervision.

Recipients of the ACSA awards are recognized as important contributors to the architecture field, according to ACSA President Tom Fisher.

“The new faculty teaching award winners, as well as many of those who won design, creative achievement, collaborative practice, housing design and JAE article awards, exemplify the best young talent in our field,” Fisher said. “Their work demonstrates the degree to which our discipline remains responsive to and speculative about many of the major challenges of our time.”

Stuth and Sachs will attend the 98th ACSA Annual Meeting in March 2010 in New Orleans for the presentation of their awards. Their recognitions also will be featured in ACSA’s 2010 Architectural Education Awards Book. For more information on their awards, visit https://www.acsa-arch.org/Newsletters/view.aspx?ID=55.

—

C O N T A C T :

Kristi Hintz (865-974-3993, [email protected])

Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage has been traced, there were five bodies been found. But right now YSR dead body photos have not been leaked at any site.
All the five bodies including CM’s body have been recovered from the ruins of helicopter. Bodies are burned and Reddy belonged to the Congress Party who had become the chief minister of his state for the second consecutive time earlier this year. As he announced several government schemes for the welfare of the poor people living in villages and remote areas, he was a popular leader. He will surly missed by us!!!

Related posts:

1. Ysr Death Conspiracy Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage…
2. Ysr Death Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage…
3. Ysr Murdered, Ysr Murdered Photos Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

China has expressed displeasure with Japanese plans to build a port on the Okinotorishima atoll, according to Reuters.

Previously, China had argued that the Pacific landmass, which Japan owns, did not meet the U.N.’s criteria for an island because it was uninhabitable.

If Okinotorishima was recognized as an island, then Japan would have indisputable claim to an exclusive economic zone around the atoll. In other words, special rights to marine resources and passages in up to 400,000 square kilometers of adjacent ocean.

The construction of a port would make the atoll habitable and, presumably, an island.

But China’s foreign ministry has already attacked this idea, releasing a statement that “building facilities on it would not change the atoll’s legal status.”

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Here’s The Real Reason Japan’s Finance Minister Resigned
• It’s Time For Japan And China To Team Up And Form A Trading Bloc
• Phew, We’re Doing WAY Better Than Japan

This classic French comfort food seems to be the hot new thing this year. Not only have we seen recipes in several national food magazines, but many of you mentioned it on your list of winter projects – the Kitchn’s own editor Dana included! Cassoulet is a lot of work, but the pay off is well worth it.

Read Full Post

Do you have more Rock Band drum kits than USB ports to plug them into on your PS3 Slim? Well, Nyko is here to double your USB capacity.

For $20, the Media Hub Slim snaps onto the bottom of the PS3 and adds all the ports you need. In addition to USB, it’s got an SD card/Memory Stick reader and a remote control for basic menu surfing. Look for it to hit stores in April.

Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage has been traced, there were five bodies been found. But right now YSR dead body photos have not been leaked at any site.
All the five bodies including CM’s body have been recovered from the ruins of helicopter. Bodies are burned and Reddy belonged to the Congress Party who had become the chief minister of his state for the second consecutive time earlier this year. As he announced several government schemes for the welfare of the poor people living in villages and remote areas, he was a popular leader. He will surly missed by us!!!

Related posts:

1. Ysr Death Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s wreckage…
2. Ysr Dead Body Photos Where Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy’s BEL-430 Chopper’s…
3. Ysr Murdered All the five bodies including CM’s body have been recovered…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The new Boxee Box and Remote Control from D-Link gets a hans-on from Dave Zatz at CES.

Dave addresses man of the questions we had about the box and remote.  Zatz says the Media Player/Extender:

“should ship sometime in the next few months for under $200. (I’ll guess $199.) The unit looks more sophisticated and sexy than the fine renders we saw last month with a polished front face, that was next to impossible to photograph.”

                   Photo via ZatzNotFunny!

Dave said the remote looks great and the possibility of inadvertent key presses is pretty remote (pardon the pun).  The keys are chicklet-style and recessed so it should work on a tabletop.  Best of all the remote will also sell separately with a USB dongle for use on computers running Boxee.  I might have to pick one up to see if I can get it working with SageTV and MediaCenter as well!

No official word on pricing but the word is sub-$200.

Read more at ZatzNotFunny!

by Agence France-Presse

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.Mike Disharoon via FlickrWASHINGTON—The United States is moving away from the “drill anywhere, whatever the cost” energy policy of the previous administration, officials said Wednesday as they announced reforms in the way oil and gas leases are attributed.

“We don’t believe we have to be drilling everywhere and anywhere,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a news conference where he and other officials announced changes to the way the U.S. government manages onshore oil and gas exploration leases.

“We believe we have to have a balanced, thoughtful approach that allows for the development of oil and gas resources but at the same time protects the treasured landscapes of America,” Salazar said.

The new approach was in line with President Barack Obama’s commitment to develop U.S. gas and oil stocks while also growing the country’s green energy capacity, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management Wilma Lewis said.

It also marked a break from the way the George W. Bush administration did oil and gas business, said Salazar. “The previous administration’s approach to oil and gas leasing … by and large was that leasing should happen almost anywhere, at whatever cost,” he said.

He faulted the Bush administration for putting up for auction “highly controversial areas” in the western United States, including municipal watersheds, wildlife habitats, or lands close to national parks. “There seemed to be little rhyme or reason to which areas were leased. Western landscapes were being carved up and fragmented,” said Salazar, who is from Colorado.

Nearly half of the leases offered under the Bush administration were contested by environmental and other groups in 2008, compared with “a little over 1 percent in 1998,” the secretary said.

Court battles over leases are costing millions of dollars in litigation, tying up resources, and showing that the current lease system is flawed, he said.

Under the proposed reforms to the onshore oil and gas leasing program, more environmental analyses will be conducted before leases are auctioned and the public will be engaged “earlier and more frequently in the process,” said Salazar.

Related Links:

The policy and politics of Obama’s $2.3 billion in clean energy tax credits

EPA gets tough on smog

U.S. car fleet shrank by four million in 2009

Tomorrow morning, we’ll get the final national unemployment reading of 2009, and the ugly economic decade that the month marked the end of. As usual, we’d like to give readers a chance to make a guess at what that number will be. December is a notoriously strange month for hiring and firing, so the number reported could be ultimately misleading in the grand scheme of unemployment trends for 2010. Still, it’s bound to be the subject of much talk, analysis and debate. What will it be?

According to yesterday’s ADP report, 84,000 jobs were lost in December, which was fewer than in November, but more than forecast. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean unemployment will rise. Even if jobs showed a net loss in November, there could be all sorts of other variables that take over to skew the national unemployment rate, like discouragement, seasonal retail hiring or workers simply exiting the workforce for the holidays.

Initial weekly jobless claims were also released today for the week ending January 2nd. The number of new jobless claims rose by just 1,000. That’s fewer than the economists’ forecast of 7,000. Of course, I’d suspect that the week between Christmas and New Year’s probably has one of the traditionally lowest layoff rates of the year, so you probably want to take this number with a grain of salt in terms the optimism it portrays.

Last month, readers did particularly poorly in predicting the positive news of a decline in the national unemployment rate from 10.2% in October to 10.0% in November. Only 5% got it right. Meanwhile, around 72% of those who voted thought the unemployment rate would increase, instead of decrease. Obviously, this was one of those times when it felt good to be wrong, but I’ll still hope for a better showing this month. Vote away!

San Francisco, California | Odd Accommodations

The Hotel Majestic is a charming, elegant hotel, useful for escaping the hustle and bustle of Union Square and the Financial District, though still close to San Francisco’s famous historical cable cars and the high-rises of downtown. San Francisco’s oldest continuously operating hotel, it also has another attribute: the fourth floor is said by many guests, and the hotel itself, to be haunted.

It is somewhat shocking the hotel is even still standing. Built in 1902 on the estate of California State Legislature member Milton Schmidt, and when Senator Schmidt moved in 1904, the building officially became the Hotel Majestic. Amazingly it managed to avoid damage from the 1906 Great Earthquake, the fires stopping only two blocks away from the hotel. The ghost said to walk the hallways of the fourth floor is that of a young woman. Long term residents of this Pacific Heights neighborhood believe it to be the daughter of the first owner Schmidt, who refused to leave the building after it was sold.

There are many personal stories regarding the haunted fourth floor. Common experiences include the bathtubs (the majority of which sport clawed, brass feet) mysteriously filling with water, the sound of footsteps and keys clanging along the walls outside, faucets turning on and waking guests in the middle of the night, and strange dreams or nightmares. Though many believe in the ghosts, skeptics point out that nearly all the phenomena can be explained by old plumbing and changes in water pressure.

The “Sweet November” production manager stayed in the Hotel Majestic during filming of the movie, and reportedly told one of the desk clerks that she felt her bed shaking in the night, thinking there was an earthquake-there wasn’t, and her experience remains a mystery.

A clerk who was delivering pillows to room 408, adjacent to room 407 which is often considered the ‘most haunted’ room, was frightened by a more uncommon event. When the woman walked in to set down the pillows, she felt two hands on her shoulders pushing her back. The hotel and many guests claim the haunting to be friendly, if cheeky and playful. The portrait of the young woman said to haunt the halls hangs downstairs in the lobby.

Surviving over a century, the Hotel Majestic has been surrounded by change over the years. It has, however, kept close to its original architecture, and the rooms reflect both turn of the century design as well as strong Victorian accents and an Edwardian styling. English and French antiques, old fashioned clawed-foot bathtubs, fireplaces, double sinks, bay windows, and Victorian furniture adorn three kinds of rooms: Standard Queen, Junior Suites, and One Bedroom Suites. Panel drapery and four poster beds preserve the romantic and from-the-past atmosphere.

Strategic partnership will make medical necessity compliance and denials/appeals management available to all UHC members

The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) and Executive Health Resources, Inc. (EHR) today announced the signing of a strategic partnership that will make EHR’s expert Physician Advisor solutions available to all UHC members.

With this agreement, UHC’s 107 academic medical centers and 220 affiliate hospitals can leverage EHR’s comprehensive suite of solutions, which includes Concurrent Medicare Medical Necessity Compliance, Medicaid Medical Necessity Compliance, Retrospective Governmental Payor Appeals Solutions (including Comprehensive RAC, MAC, MIC, and QIO denial management), Managed Care/Commercial Payor Appeals, and Expert Advisory Services.

In addition, UHC and EHR will collaborate in analyzing hospital member-level data to identify specific areas for improvement and develop customized plans for concurrent medical necessity compliance and denials management services at hospital facilities.

Once this work is complete, EHR can provide a comprehensive, on-site implementation program to educate the member’s case management staff on using EHR processes and services.

UHC members can also benefit from EHR’s ongoing compliance warranty program, which provides protection beyond the initial concurrent medical necessity review and certification.

Finally, all UHC members can have complimentary access to exclusive, ongoing educational programming provided by EHR to help them stay abreast of the latest compliance news, strategies, regulatory updates, and guidance on current government auditing initiatives and other industry topics.

“In today’s environment of increasing regulatory scrutiny, it is critical that hospitals mitigate risk exposure by implementing proactive measures to ensure compliance 100% of the time,” explained Robert R. Corrato, MD, MBA, president and chief executive officer, EHR.

“Through this strategic partnership, UHC is demonstrating its commitment to its members to help them in overcoming this difficult challenge. We are honored to work with such a prestigious health care organization.”

To date, EHR’s Physician Advisors have successfully performed more than 1.2 million medical necessity reviews, conducted hundreds of audits at client hospital facilities, and successfully identified and reversed thousands of RAC medical necessity denials at all levels of appeal.

EHR’s depth and breadth of experience was a contributing factor in its selection as UHC’s preferred partner.

“This strategic partnership with EHR will offer UHC members not only specialized pricing but also services that include customized improvement insights.

In essence, members will receive the added benefit of a specific plan for concurrent medical necessity compliance and denials management,” said Tom Robertson, vice president, Business Strategies and Tactics, UHC.

EHR currently works with more than 900 hospitals and health systems across the United States.

Prior to the signing of this strategic partnership, EHR was already providing a broad range of services to a large number of UHC members.

About University HealthSystem Consortium

UHC is based in Oak Brook, Ill, a Chicago suburb, and has 107 academic medical centers and 220 of their affiliated hospitals as members, representing more than 90% of the nation’s nonprofit academic medical centers.

UHC provides data products and services to members to support clinical, operational, financial, and supply chain improvement.

UHC’s Patient Safety Net® serves as the patient safety system for UHC’s Clinical Practice Advancement Center, which was one of the first 10 Patient Safety Organizations named by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2008.

About Executive Health Resources

Executive Health Resources (EHR), The Physician Advisor Company(TM), is the leading provider of real-time, point-of-care, expert Physician Advisor solutions to more than 900 hospitals and health systems across the country.

EHR’s comprehensive solutions include Concurrent Medicare and Medicaid Medical Necessity Compliance Management (including Inpatient and Observation Review and Certification, Cardiac Procedure Review and Certification, Readmission Review and Certification, Continued Stay Review); Retrospective Governmental Payor Appeals Management (including RAC, MAC, MIC, and QIO denials); Managed Care/Commercial Payor Appeals Management (including Concurrent and Retrospective); and Expert Advisory Services.

EHR is the only company in the country both to be endorsed by the American Hospital Association and to have Peer Reviewed designation by the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Learn more about EHR at ehrdocs.com and theRACcure.com.

After getting flamed all over the internet “as a maniacal crackpot mom” for writing that video games are from Satan (qjnet/news/game-developer-of-the-millenium-satan.html), Frumpy Mom Marla Jo Fisher did some thinking that maybe she went overboard. She writes again,

Filed under: CES, Videos, Ford

Continue reading MyFord Touch and SYNC App Ecosystem hands-on [w/video]

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