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"A Breach of Trust"

This new variation on a now old theme first <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/business/13surgeon.html">appeared in the New York Times</a>: <blockquote> A former surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who is a paid consultant for a medical company, published a study that made false claims and overstated the benefits of the company’s product in treating soldiers severely injured in Iraq, the hospital’s commander said Tuesday. An investigation by Walter Reed found that the study cited higher numbers of patients and injuries than the hospital could account for, said the commander, Col. Norvell V. Coots. 'It’s like a ghost population that were reported in the article as having been treated that we have no record of ever having existed,' Colonel Coots said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. 'So this really was all falsified information.' The former Army surgeon, Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo, reported that a bone-growth product sold by Medtronic Inc. had much higher success in healing the shattered legs of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed than other doctors there had experienced, according to Colonel Coots and a summary of an Army investigation of the matter. Dr. Kuklo, 48, now an associate professor at the Washington University medical school in St. Louis, did not respond to numerous e-mail messages and telephone calls to his office and home seeking comment over the last two weeks. Walter Reed officials say he did not respond to their inquiries during their investigation. Army investigators found that Dr. Kuklo forged the signatures of four Walter Reed doctors on the article before submitting it last year to a British medical journal, falsely claiming them as co-authors. He also did not obtain the Army’s required permission to conduct the study. In its March edition, at the Army’s request, the journal retracted the article — something that has gone largely unnoticed outside orthopedic circles. While at Walter Reed and since, Dr. Kuklo has given talks to other doctors around the country about the bone-growth product, a protein called Infuse, according to meeting agendas and published documents. A Medtronic spokeswoman, Marybeth Thorsgaard, confirmed that Dr. Kuklo was a paid consultant to the company and that the company financially supported some of his research at Walter Reed, through a foundation affiliated with the hospital. During his time at Walter Reed Dr. Kuklo was extensively involved in research and writing about various Medtronic products, including editing two books published by the company and conducting three studies that were approved by his Army superiors, according to his list of publications and an Army report. Colonel Coots said Tuesday that the total number of patients Dr. Kuklo reported as having been treated for extensive lower leg wounds at Walter Reed during the study period — 138 soldiers — was greater than the number for which the hospital could find records. 'It is a significant breach of academic protocol,' Colonel Coots said. 'It’s a breach of trust.' </blockquote> This story has several familiar elements, but combines them in some interesting ways. We have <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/search/label/key%20opinion%20leaders">discussed</a> how health care corporations, particularly pharmaceutical manufacturers, cultivate "key opinion leaders," and use them to market their products. This may amount to stealth marketing, since KOLs rarely disclose in detail their relationships with corporate sponsors, and instead further their marketing objectives cloaked as academics. We have also <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/search/label/manipulating%20clinical%20research">discussed</a> how health care corporations, particularly pharmaceutical manufacturers, may sponsor clinical research on their own products. However, such sponsors often manipulate the research projects' design, implementation, analysis, and dissemination so as to favor their products. While the sponsorship may be disclosed, the extent of the sponsors' control over the project may not be. Furthermore, scientific investigators running such projects may have their own personal financial relationships with the sponsors. This case apparently shows how a medical academic can both be a paid "key opinion leader," and manipulative clinical researcher. While many examples of key opinion leaders as stealth marketers, and manipulated research involved pharmaceutical companies, this one involves a medical device company. In addition, this research project was not just manipulated, but allegedly falsified. This variation has at least one other interesting element. Again, from the New York Times, <blockquote>A former Walter Reed colleague, Dr. David W. Polly Jr., who is also a Medtronic consultant, said he believed that Dr. Kuklo’s data was “strong” and the episode had been overblown. </blockquote>According to the <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/1366/">Center for Public Integrity Paper Trail blog</a>, <blockquote>A former colleague of Kuklo’s at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Dr. David W. Polly Jr., took even more expensive trips than Kuklo. Polly went on at least 12 Medtronic-sponsored trips costing about $30,000, including a $10,000 trip to Switzerland. </blockquote> Furthermore, the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/business/21surgeon.html">reported</a>, <blockquote>[Senator Charles] Grassley, the ranking Republican [from Iowa] on the Senate Finance Committee, has been investigating since last year whether Medtronic illegally promoted unapproved uses for Infuse. Medtronic, which has denied that accusation, provided him last year with a list of Infuse consultants. After Dr. Kuklo’s links to Medtronic and Infuse came to light last week in a New York Times article, Mr. Grassley’s staff checked the consultants list and noted that Dr. Kuklo’s name was not on it. In reaction, he wrote a letter to Medtronic’s president and chief executive, William A. Hawkins III, asking why Dr. Kuklo had been omitted. Mr. Grassley entered that letter and the list he had received into The Congressional Record. 'In the future, I hope that instead of not providing me with the name of the physician involved in Infuse, or any other matter that I am looking into, that Medtronic contact me to avoid the situation in which we find ourselves,' Mr. Grassley wrote to Mr. Hawkins. </blockquote>So, as soon as this case came to light, the spinning of public discussion to favor Medtronic and its key opinion leaders began. Thus, this case also involved stealth policy advocacy. Stealth marketing, clinical research manipulation, and stealth advocacy all in one case, we seem to have hit the jackpot. The most recent development, again <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/23/business/23surgeon.html">according to the NY Times</a>, is <blockquote> Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo, a former Army physician accused of falsifying research involving injured soldiers, has taken a leave of absence from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and its affiliated hospitals, the medical school said Friday. Dr. Kuklo, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery, will not be performing operations, conducting research or teaching students, said a medical school spokeswoman, Joni Westerhouse. The university granted the leave, she said, so that Dr. Kuklo 'can focus on responding to queries about his research and consulting.' </blockquote>At least his absence was not ascribed to the need to spend more time with his family or pursue other opportunities. Finally, note that we <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2008/05/corporate-integrity-agreement-for.html">posted</a> last year that Medtronic had submitted to a corporate integrity agreement after the US Department of Justice accused it of defrauding Medicare in connection with activities by its Kyphon subsidiary. So this case additionally suggests that such agreements have little effect on the actual integrity of corporate leaders. Hat tip to and see further commentary by Prof Margaret Soltan <a href="http://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=12853">on the University Diaries blog</a>. ADDENDUM (24 May, 2009) - see further comments by Prof Soltan <a href="http://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=13249">on the University Diaries blog</a>.

"A Breach of Trust"

This new variation on a now old theme first appeared in the New York Times : A former surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who is a p...

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BLOGSCAN - "Money-Driven Medicine," the Film

BLOGSCAN - "Money-Driven Medicine," the Film

On the Health Care Blog, Maggie Mahar announced the screening of the new documentary film based on her book "Money-Driven Medicine....

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New logo look

You may have noticed new logos at the top of some of Google's web pages, including <a href="http://www.googlelabs.com/">Google Labs</a>, <a href="http://moderator.appspot.com/">Google Moderator</a>, and <a href="http://code.google.com/">Google Code</a>. These are the result of a new logo design we are rolling out. We hope this design freshens up our look as well as improves consistency and ease of use across our sites. Now, our product names will appear in clean, simple blue lowercase type alongside the Google logo as shown here: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9U7wY742vUfVnjxYtu9x9XFvtAULZnipztA4GEaOIWKN4HYJr5A4yCXIyYiWfXCUvRnTphTwd8Buu0F1Dff90gDm-xbhseNT0GCuCYYAF0ZIJbKmbVb8b9lRPSMXL4pCq7JrJR4qvFMP6/s1600-h/google_logos.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338408223180742370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9U7wY742vUfVnjxYtu9x9XFvtAULZnipztA4GEaOIWKN4HYJr5A4yCXIyYiWfXCUvRnTphTwd8Buu0F1Dff90gDm-xbhseNT0GCuCYYAF0ZIJbKmbVb8b9lRPSMXL4pCq7JrJR4qvFMP6/s400/google_logos.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" /></a>Since the logos appear in many different locations and sizes on our websites, our new designs are standardized to be the same size and color wherever they appear. This should make it easier for you to recognize which site you are on and navigate to wherever you want to go. They are also consistent across all our international domains, which is especially helpful for people using right-to-left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew. We are happy with this change since it will help us streamline our user experience. Count on seeing the new logos rolling out to Google Maps, Google News, Google Docs and more over the next few weeks. Posted by Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, and Jamie Divine, Senior Visual Designer

New logo look

You may have noticed new logos at the top of some of Google's web pages, including Google Labs , Google Moderator , and Google Code . Th...

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Netlog integrates with Google Friend Connect

When we started building <a href="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/">Friend Connect</a>, we wanted to provide a fully open system — one that lets you join any website and interact with the people there in a meaningful way, regardless of where they come from. To enable this kind of engagement, we used open standards like <a href="http://openid.net/">OpenID</a>, <a href="http://oauth.net/">OAuth</a>, and <a href="http://www.opensocial.org/">OpenSocial</a> as underlying technologies, enabling any other service to plug into Friend Connect. Today, we're excited to share that <a href="http://www.netlog.com/">Netlog</a> has used these open standards to integrate their social networking service with Google Friend Connect. Now, Netlog's more than 45 million users across Europe can: <ul><li>Sign into any of the millions of sites and blogs using Friend Connect with their Netlog credentials</li><li>Use their Netlog profiles on these sites</li><li>See if any of their friends are already members of the same sites and invite other Netlog friends to join</li><li>Share their Friend Connect activities with their friends on Netlog, and</li><li>Send messages back to their Netlog friends</li></ul>Additionally, for sites that are already using Friend Connect, one of the benefits of this standards based model is that they can take advantage of any new service that chooses to join this open ecosystem, like Netlog, without any additional work. The new network option simply appears. <div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwxKAM7cRs1HJuyX2KmJjNIugJrJn8xr4whJ_e5dOLBu_4qhufqgjirEifz4DivG_0t4EqGLpoqsmkFjPnyys86HegUjDs0-hum9EFQhUTGgdvH8TTP3fGYQ4qGTfbuHyy9DNoBg2HAcV/s1600-h/blog_post_netlog.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338341913176005730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwxKAM7cRs1HJuyX2KmJjNIugJrJn8xr4whJ_e5dOLBu_4qhufqgjirEifz4DivG_0t4EqGLpoqsmkFjPnyys86HegUjDs0-hum9EFQhUTGgdvH8TTP3fGYQ4qGTfbuHyy9DNoBg2HAcV/s400/blog_post_netlog.gif" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 361px; height: 333px;" /></a> Any social network or service, whether they are large or small, regional or global, niche or general audience, is welcome to take advantage of these open standards to integrate with Friend Connect, and participate in an open social web. Posted by Mussie Shore, Product Manager</div>

Netlog integrates with Google Friend Connect

When we started building Friend Connect , we wanted to provide a fully open system — one that lets you join any website and interact with th...

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Put the pedal to the metal with a faster Google Chrome

We <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html">introduced Google Chrome</a> back in September, and it's received a great response so far. Since launching, we've been working hard on adding the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Chrome/label?lid=4b62763ab25c3274&hl=en&sort=popularity">top requested features</a> and making Google Chrome even faster. Today, we are updating to a new version of Google Chrome that is faster than ever. JavaScript-heavy web pages will now run about 30% faster. See the chart below or <a href="http://v8.googlecode.com/svn/data/benchmarks/v4/run.html">compare scores yourself</a>. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZAzK3OoCBpp1eV0CBGT0gI215oECId-mjRQW1Fd-hgbeMZJ_4sGsZxJgTE1AUwvgRPbSX9UVP0bbWX65RqG-3FVZU28dkVS_lQOrN35sDMgtl4L9uz0qYE34wHH5y5Ej5ZWL2ijErkDS/s1600-h/V8.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338308324481850370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZAzK3OoCBpp1eV0CBGT0gI215oECId-mjRQW1Fd-hgbeMZJ_4sGsZxJgTE1AUwvgRPbSX9UVP0bbWX65RqG-3FVZU28dkVS_lQOrN35sDMgtl4L9uz0qYE34wHH5y5Ej5ZWL2ijErkDS/s400/V8.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 230px;" /></a>Additionally, we've added some useful features like <a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=142464">form autofill</a>, full screen mode, and the ability to remove thumbnails from the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95451">New Tab page</a>. Here's a short video demonstrating some of this new functionality: <object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rubd9bqjS64&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rubd9bqjS64&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="295" width="480"></embed></object> If you're already using Google Chrome, you'll be automatically updated with these new features soon. If you haven't downloaded Google Chrome, get the latest version at <a href="http://google.com/chrome">google.com/chrome</a>. To read more about this update, visit the <a href="http://chrome.blogspot.com/2009/05/speedier-google-chrome-for-all-users.html">Google Chrome blog</a>. Posted by Darin Fisher, Google Chrome Team

Put the pedal to the metal with a faster Google Chrome

We introduced Google Chrome back in September, and it's received a great response so far. Since launching, we've been working hard ...

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Faster is better on Google Suggest

As we prepared to write this post, we discovered a common childhood passion for fast things: high-speed trains, roller coasters, firetrucks, and more. That may be a key part of why we're so excited to be working on Google Suggest, since it saves time by giving suggestions as we're typing our searches. Today, we're introducing more features to Google Suggest to help you make your searches even faster. These features are rolling out gradually, so you should be able to see them soon. Suggestions on the results page Previously, we only showed suggestions based on your original search input. Now, when you make a search from a results page, we provide suggestions that relate to the current results page. As you can see in the example below, if your previous search was for roller coasters, when you begin a new query the first few suggestions are still related to roller coasters — helping you refine your search queries to quickly find what you want. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1q_yd_5DrRBQM3YSFPZ2kFXtIeE7AuhV57CC1mRzZ4E1CkWNfretxJhSSfmenXqsfgvJQ9il66Zss6CFESIT1-M534NcBRk0i_UYMVTz-SOIPyCcQ8j3NQuAauGzRHCygj7ndgTeC4jF/s1600-h/suggest-on-results-page.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338059248373177266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1q_yd_5DrRBQM3YSFPZ2kFXtIeE7AuhV57CC1mRzZ4E1CkWNfretxJhSSfmenXqsfgvJQ9il66Zss6CFESIT1-M534NcBRk0i_UYMVTz-SOIPyCcQ8j3NQuAauGzRHCygj7ndgTeC4jF/s400/suggest-on-results-page.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 262px;" /></a> Personalized suggestions Trying to remember that query which gave you the best results? You're not alone! We estimate that about a quarter of all signed-in searches are repeats from the past month. Now, if you're signed in with your Google account and have Web History enabled, we may show some of your relevant past searches as you type. Personalized suggestions will make it easier and faster for you to repeat searches that have worked before. Or, if you need to step away in the middle of a search task, this will help you continue your search tasks at a later time. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKUpHivlH_Xsm8dvQUDEkyulBLBSa8elCx7zl0UKML-83g7q0cFiHrIPbOl44jUb61A0tKIuV7jOg78OLRaCR0hfRB_miQWUBUjB2CyCE3czpBmHc3ggH_JhbECBvbxSAi7DLngkWR4S8/s1600-h/personalized-suggest.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338059250590159762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKUpHivlH_Xsm8dvQUDEkyulBLBSa8elCx7zl0UKML-83g7q0cFiHrIPbOl44jUb61A0tKIuV7jOg78OLRaCR0hfRB_miQWUBUjB2CyCE3czpBmHc3ggH_JhbECBvbxSAi7DLngkWR4S8/s400/personalized-suggest.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" /></a><div> You can remove a personalized suggestion that you do not like by clicking "Remove", which will remove the search from your Web History. You can also remove searches from your <a href="https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?hl=en&continue=http://www.google.com/history/&nui=1&service=hist&srr=1">Web History</a> directly, manage Query Suggestions on the <a href="http://www.google.com/preferences">preferences page</a>, or sign out of your Google account entirely to stop seeing personalized suggestions. Navigational suggestions If your first keystrokes indicate that you may be looking to navigate directly to a specific site, we'll list it and send you straight there if you click on it.</div><div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0dwhTv4cFqerBUrnbsSs1QnOF0ZQ2i4sHTu75cok-bxmRONkCyRezv0qfiifbedyjBKbSTOri6J0-nkClmTIXF_YOT1k4NiI-TZS_MtowHg21ZrACAtzbBRgLtzgM1wQYl2duuRAWM9i/s1600-h/navigational-suggestion.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338059250547696194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0dwhTv4cFqerBUrnbsSs1QnOF0ZQ2i4sHTu75cok-bxmRONkCyRezv0qfiifbedyjBKbSTOri6J0-nkClmTIXF_YOT1k4NiI-TZS_MtowHg21ZrACAtzbBRgLtzgM1wQYl2duuRAWM9i/s400/navigational-suggestion.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 306px;" /></a> Sponsored links in suggestions Similar to the navigational suggestions above, sometimes we detect that the most relevant completion for what you're typing is an ad. When an ad is shown, we mark it with the text "Sponsored Link" and a colored background, as on the results page.</div><div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWAH-AKPxZVHanzkPToPveL9IpQNpkI53pjX_26kJ-TQR999DMkjNiqHq7ppsTcO_2lse9w-tyeePfS9AYSK4OCRagxhW9ucPWROR62_O-lXaI5cV2g4SQOZkvQF7d6nNIbS-tgp1X-vX/s1600-h/sponsored-link-in-suggest.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338059258200701266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWAH-AKPxZVHanzkPToPveL9IpQNpkI53pjX_26kJ-TQR999DMkjNiqHq7ppsTcO_2lse9w-tyeePfS9AYSK4OCRagxhW9ucPWROR62_O-lXaI5cV2g4SQOZkvQF7d6nNIbS-tgp1X-vX/s400/sponsored-link-in-suggest.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" /></a> We are also introducing a couple more changes to Suggest: we will no longer show the result count for items in the suggest box (we've gotten feedback that the numbers were not helpful in comparing the relevance of the queries) and we now bold the text of suggestions to help you more quickly scan the list. To learn more about Google Suggest, check out the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=106230">help center</a>. We hope these new features save you time, so that you can get back to roller coasters, high-speed web surfing, action movies and each other that much faster. Posted by Jonathan Effrat, David Kadouch and Matt Kulick, Product Managers</div>

Faster is better on Google Suggest

As we prepared to write this post, we discovered a common childhood passion for fast things: high-speed trains, roller coasters, firetrucks,...

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HealthSouth's "Digital Hospital," from the "Era of Cyber Hospitals" to an Unfinished "Pipe Dream"

The trial for a civil law-suit against Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of for-profit rehabilitation hospital chain HealthSouth, is currently in progress. One bit of testimony provided a reminder about how supposed "innovations" in health care are uncritically accepted. As <a href="http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2009/05/us_280_hospital_made_no_sense.html">reported by the Birmingham (Alabama, US) News</a>: <blockquote> HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Jay Grinney has concluded his testimony in the Richard Scrushy civil trial, ending with a devastating critique of the so-called 'digital hospital.' 'It was a very bad business decision that made no sense,' Grinney said of the half-completed Scrushy brainchild on U.S. 280 he inherited when he took over in 2004. Ending his sixth hour of testimony over two days, Grinney said the hospital had an original budget of $200 million, and that much had already been spent when the the project was stopped halfway through. Another $200 million was required, he said. When it came time to cut the $3.5 billion of debt that was burdening the company, Grinney said he had no hesitation about selling the building. Scrushy had envisioned the medical center as a 200-bed centerpiece of the HealthSouth empire, and called it the 'digital hospital' because of its planned technology component. The building has been sold to real-estate developers,.... Scrushy is on trial in Jefferson County Circuit Court after being sued by HealthSouth shareholders. They are seeking $2.6 billion in damages from him for costs related to accounting fraud, corporate waste and insider stock trading while he ran the physical therapy company from 1996 through 2002 The 56-year-old Selma native is in the Shelby County Jail awaiting his court appearance in the case. He was brought to Birmingham from federal prison in Texas, where he is two years into a seven-year sentence for bribing former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. </blockquote> In additional <a href="http://www.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/article/healthsouth_ceo_calls_digital_hospital_a_pipe_dream/72296/">coverage by a local television station (NBC13.com)</a>, <blockquote> When asked about the unfinished digital hospital on Highway 280, Grinney said, 'It was a pipe dream and a figment of the imagination. It never had a chance.' Grinney testifed on Wednesday that HealthSouth would have had to forego investments in all of the company’s other 93 hospital for 2 to 3 years to finish the digital hospital. </blockquote> What a contrast this was to the hype that surrounded the announcement of Scrushy's intention to build the "digital hospital." Let me provide some samples. <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=59000">ComputerWorld</a> allowed Scrushy to wax eloquent: <blockquote> Hospital chain HealthSouth Corp. and software manufacturer Oracle Corp. are teaming to build what they say is the world's first all-digital, automated hospital. The technological features will include patient beds with display screens connected to the Internet; electronic medical records storage; digital imaging instead of traditional X-ray film; and a wireless communications network that will allow doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to securely update and access patients' medical records using handheld devices. 'This will be the hospital model for the world,' HealthSouth Chairman and CEO Richard Scrushy said in the statement. 'By creating the first automated hospital ... we will demonstrate how technology can lower health care costs, greatly reduce human errors and provide patients with the best medical care available.' </blockquote> <a href="http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Oracle-Corp--to-help-build-worlds-first--22Digital-Hospital-22-145-1/">Bio-Medicine gushed</a>: <blockquote> The project will be fast tracked and hopefully completed by 2003. From the moment a patient registers at the hospital, every blood test and MRI will be recorded in a central patient record, and pharmacy visits will be tracked. All charting will be done at the patient's bedside, 'getting the nurses' back to the patient's side' and making doctors more efficient. Oracle will provide the technology that will allow Health South to improve record-keeping and patient care, officials of the two companies said in a briefing on Monday. Ultimately, they said, the improvements will reduce the overall cost of care. It was also added at the briefing that another 10 sites where the hospital can be duplicated have been identified. Its now the era of cyber hospitals!!! </blockquote> <a href="http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0106/0106.tech.html">Managed Care Magazine </a>was only somewhat more measured: <blockquote> The promise of HealthSouth's digital hospital is great. By planning for integration on a common platform with all suppliers involved from the start, HealthSouth is maximizing the likelihood of success. Also, HealthSouth is attempting to make the physical facility as flexible as possible to allow for the adoption of additional new technologies as they become available. If this hospital works, it is likely to set standards for a high level of patient care. HealthSouth is anticipating that the increased efficiency of the new facility will translate into a decrease in overall length of stay. On the other hand, everything is still in the planning stages, and details are scarce. HealthSouth has no agreements in place with insurers. Of course, the paperless hospital evokes memories of the heralded paperless office of a generation ago — and we're still waiting. The cutting edge can be painful. But the concept of the digital hospital, automating care and administrative operations, is so appealing, we can only hope it will succeed. Time will tell. </blockquote> An <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/12480/">article in the MIT Technology Review </a>was just a little bit skeptical: <blockquote> While others have previously failed to carry off such grand visions of high-tech medicine, the deep pockets of HealthSouth and Oracle could give them a fighting chance. </blockquote> But the article's conclusion was less cautious: <blockquote> Not only could electronic information management help eliminate errors, it could also eliminate two to three hours a day that nurses spend charting patient data, and dramatically improve communication between different departments. The bottom line: it could save lives. </blockquote> Finally, I was able to find some discussion of the proposed "digital hospital" in a scholarly publication, in fact, in probably the most authoritative and well-read journal on health care policy in the US, <a href="http://healthaff.highwire.org/cgi/content/full/21/4/128">Health Affairs</a>. [Burns LR, Pauly MV. Integrated delivery networks: a detour on the road to integrated health care? Health Affairs 2002; 21: 128-143.] I would not call it gushy, but it hardly seemed skeptical: <blockquote> The most radical development is the incorporation of all of these technological advances into newly designed and built 'digital hospitals.'HealthSouth, traditionally a provider of integrated rehabilitation services, has announced plans to build several digital acute care hospitals over the next decade (the first is now under way in Birmingham, Alabama). The publicity surrounding the new hospital and its partnership with Oracle not only has attracted other prominent product vendors but also has enabled HealthSouth to negotiate large discounts on all equipment supplied—in effect, lowering the cost of construction. What are the likely prospects for this intervention, either at these beta-test sites or diffused more generally? It is plausible (although difficult to demonstrate so far) that routine patient medical and billing records can be stored or exchanged electronically. It is less obvious that this technology should lead to changes in the cost of care or help to integrate different providers of service. Indeed, the biggest chasm to bridge may be the office systems of different physicians. Kaiser Permanente is reportedly struggling to develop a clinical information system that covers its thousands of physicians and other clinicians. The (as yet undocumented) benefits will likely depend on the ability to harness technological interventions with managerial innovations and interorganizational networks, in effect creating 'socio-technical systems of care.' </blockquote> So we have gone from "the hospital model for the world," with great "promise," which "could save lives," proclaiming the "era of cyber hospitals," to a "pipe dream," just the shell of half-finished building. So I wonder, if one were to identify every highly hyped, rapidly spun, magic new "innovation" promising to revolutionize patient care, and follow them forward in time, how many would even marginally improve health care, or provide benefits that marginally out-weighed their harms? How many would never come to be, or prove to be unworkable, useless, or even harmful? But the short-term incentives for leaders of health care organizations push them to announce innovation after innovation, collect their bonuses and perks, and be somewhere else by the time their wondrous innovations prove to be not so good. Keep in mind that some heavily promoted innovations, such as new pharmaceuticals, must be subject to randomized controlled trials and government approval. Yet, as perusing Health Care Renewal will show, many pharmaceutical companies have managed to make their glitzy innovations appear more efficacious and less hazardous by lavish, shrewd, and sometimes deceptive marketing, and by manipulating clinical research, and sometimes suppressing results. Medical devices are not subject to as much scrutiny. Health care information technology, and programmatic innovations by hospitals, health systems, managed care and health insurance companies can appear without any research evidence to support them. This is why we all should be extremely skeptical of whatever new "innovations" our multi-million dollar health care CEOs and their cronies are hawking these days.

HealthSouth's "Digital Hospital," from the "Era of Cyber Hospitals" to an Unfinished "Pipe Dream"

The trial for a civil law-suit against Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of for-profit rehabilitation hospital chain HealthSouth, is currently...

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