Sunday Image: Daybreak above Adams Falls

Image: John McGlaughlin

"Change agent" Mike Biselli on reimagining healthcare

With the Denver skyline in the background, Mike Biselli pushes the digital health vision forward at the March 2015 Prime Health Meetup at Taxi.

Recently interviewed by Innovation News, Mike Biselli on Colorado’s digital health ecosystem and reimaging healthcare:

“I firmly believe the “dam is about to break” and with that will be incredible transformation for the healthcare industry! I’m continually humbled and inspired to be recognized across the country as a “change agent” for healthcare; we desperately need to reignite this ailing industry, and I have no trepidation with challenging the status quo! That’s what keeps me so interested and excited!”

Read the interview at Innovation News.
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Casetabs: Transforming Case Communication in the Ambulatory Surgery Center

Anyone who has worked in an ambulatory surgery center knows the flow of information is crucial to success. Phone calls, faxes, and person-to-person conversations have traditionally been the tools of case coordination. But with so many people in the loop – including administrators, materials managers, clinical staff, device reps, and physicians – the “flow” of information may be fragmented and lead to case delays or cancellations.

Digital healthcare company MedPassage recently announced the preliminary launch of case tabs, a digital health service that unifies case communication. Currently, in use at seven ambulatory surgery centers nationwide, this desktop/mobile app network coordinates information flow among key personnel.

The key features of casetabs include:

• Real-Time Case Updates

• Support Requests Simplified

• Helpful Alerts Minimize Errors

• Easy to set up. Hard to mess up.

As reported on The Street, Gavin Fabian, CEO of casetabs notes:

“The ‘telephone’ game just doesn’t belong in surgery centers,” “Our vision has been to build an app that would centralize case communication. Casetabs provides real-time, helpful updates to the case team, with the ultimate goal of saving time, reducing case delays, and improving job satisfaction.”

To learn more, visit casetabs.com

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Future Medicine: Mercy to build 120,000-square-foot Virtual Care Center

Image credit: Mercy

Catholic Health System Mercy has announced plans to build a 120,000-square-foot Virtual Care Center to care for patients in multiple states in the central US.

According to their fundraising document, Mercy is the “nation’s number one integrated health system, providing a coordinated continuum of services” and consists of “more than 4,000 physicians and approximately 30,000 health care professionals.”

Mercy's goal is to reach all their members -

“Whether you live in an urban or rural community, our health care staff will bring a consistent, high degree of advanced capabilities to all communities near and far, deliver exceptional care and dramatically improve turnaround times.”

Image credit: Mercy

The Virtual Care Center will care for patients at multiple sites through a staff of cardiologists, intensivists, neurologists, pathologist, radiologist, pharmacists, and nurses. The clinician team will include case managers, disease management, and nurse-on-call services.

To my knowledge this will be the largest virtual care center in the US and will likely spearhead the development of other multispecialty virtual care centers. 

John Oró, MD

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Sunday Image: Just by Looking

Image taken at Reading Garden, Lowry, Denver. 

Trans Fats Reduce Memory in Adult Males

Image: Glane23

By John Micheal

Potato chips, French fries, onion rings, ice cream, pancakes… Wait, what are we talking about? A study commissioned by the American Heart Association has found that men who eat more trans fats than their peers may experience a decrease in the performance of their memory.

In the study, 690 adult males completed a survey about their dietary habits, from which researchers estimated their level of trans fat consumption. Then participants were shown a series of cards, each containing a single word. To assess their memory, researchers asked participants whether each word was new, or whether it had already been shown to them.

The study found that men who ate more trans fats on average remembered 10% fewer words than their peers. This correlation remained even after the researchers factored in age, education, ethnicity, and depression.

Generally used to increase the shelf life of foods, trans fats can go for months without rotting. Yet since the 1990s scientific research has demonstrated that trans fats have a negative effect on human health, increasing the risk of stroke, heart attack, and diabetes. 

The recent American Heart Association study further confirms the dangers of trans fat consumption.

“Trans fats were most strongly linked to worse memory, in young and middle-aged men, during their working and career-building years,” said Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., lead author and professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego. “From a health standpoint, transfat consumption has been linked to higher body weight, more aggression and heart disease. As I tell patients, while trans fats increase the shelf life of foods, they reduce the shelf life of people.”

To avoid trans fats, always check the nutritional information on any item that you purchase. Trans fats also go by the name “partially hydrogenated oils,” so make sure to avoid them as well. Products that generally contain trans fats include store-bought baked goods, deep-fried foods, and non-dairy creamer.

The American Heart Association recommends avoiding trans fats by eating lots of fruits, vegetables, poultry, fish, and nuts. Given that trans fats are only found in processed foods, your best bet would be to embrace an all-natural diet like what our Paleolithic ancestors enjoyed.

So the next time you’re at the grocery store, skip the cookies and fried food, and pick up some fresh berries and lean meat.

It’ll be the best decision you’ll remember having made in a long time.