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6Sep, 2018
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Healthcare and Blockchain Technology (Part 3)

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In Part 3 of our Health and Blockchain series, we will evaluate the Distributive Ledger Technology (DLT), and one application of this technology called Blockchain Technology (BTC), both of which offer exciting potential.  For clarity, both are essentially databases where control over data evolution is shared between entities, and in the case of the blockchain unrelated transactions are bundled into blocks, which are chained together using hashes and (in most cases) broadcast to all participating entities for batch processing, use “blockchains.”  There are two mutually exclusive extremes; one that thinks […]
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30Aug, 2018
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Healthcare and Blockchain Technology (Part 2)

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In Part 2 of our Health and Blockchain series, we will explore more about what makes Distributive Ledger Technology (DLT) so special.  Today, there are two models for blockchains, Public and Private.  The Public blockchains are accessible and readable by the public, making them widely used by cryptocurrencies.  Private blockchains have been proposed for secure business and government use.  Most of the potential healthcare applications are going to be private, as any public use would have to de-identified of personal health information (PHI). One of the fascinating features of the […]
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23Aug, 2018
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Healthcare and Blockchain Technology (Part 1)

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In this new blog series, we are going to approach a subject we have hesitated to delve into.  First, it is very complicated, and second it is very controversial – Blockchain Technology (BTC).  The reason for the controversy is that it is the base technology used, in fact developed, for cryptocurrencies.  Yes, those like Bitcoins, and later Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple and the likes. If you are in any business ranging from finance to shipping, inventory and supply chain management, to government documents and healthcare, you cannot avoid reading or hearing […]
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13Aug, 2018
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Why does the U.S spend so much on healthcare (Part 4)

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As we try to transition to another subject in healthcare (blockchain and healthcare), the media continues to confirm our previous comments that nearly every general, economic and business media, talks about healthcare costs daily. On August 1, 2018, the Wall Street Journal did an entire page (A6) titled, “Why Americans Spend So Much on Health Care.”  I could not ignore that headline, or the amazing information presented by the Wall Street Journal. The biggest point made by the Wall Street Journal article is primarily focused on the comparison of the […]
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31Jul, 2018
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Why does the U.S. spend so much in healthcare? (Part 3)

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Why does the U.S. spend so much money in healthcare?  This topic crosses our desks, screens, newspapers, magazines and talk shows daily.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m obsessed, as I see it everywhere; however, I am not the only one obsessed. Stored on my server, I have a file that contains all the major headlines that I want to discuss in future blogs.  After doing a quick search, I’ve discovered that there is more than one article daily in a major publication or news source that discusses healthcare costs.  Yesterday, […]
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28Jun, 2018
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Why does the U.S. spend so much in healthcare? (Part 2)

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In our last blog, we brought up the recent article in The Atlantic magazine, noting the title had gotten my attention: “How We Spend $3,400,000,000,000 – Why more than half of America’s healthcare spending goes to five percent of patients.”  As we stated, younger people generally don’t spend very much money on healthcare with relatively modest costs until about age 45 when the cost begins to escalate yearly. I have had the honor and pleasure to speak to numerous young people – innovators in healthcare – that are seeking to […]
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19Jun, 2018
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Why does the U.S. spend so much in healthcare? (Part 1)

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Recently, I read an article in The Atlantic magazine: “How We Spend $3,400,000,000,000 – Why more than half of America’s healthcare spending goes to five percent of patients.” The title was a great hook for me. The meat of the article was this paragraph: If that $3.4 trillion were spread equally throughout the population, the bill would come to some $10,350 for every man, woman and child in the country. But fortunately—for most of us, anyway—the cost of health care is not equally distributed. Rather, a small number of Americans run […]
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13Jun, 2018
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President Trump and Prescription Drugs (Part 3)

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Whether you like, dislike, or are apathetic about President Trump, it remains a fact that he has handled nearly every issue he has faced in a non-traditional way.  It seems he will do the same with prescription drug prices in the U.S. Though drug prices account for $320 billion (USD) annually, or about 10% of total healthcare cost of over $3.3 trillion, it is disproportionally more than 10% of an actual patient’s cost.  It also has a material effect on health; a drug costing $0.50 per pill can help save […]
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5Jun, 2018
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President Trump and Prescription Drugs (Part 2)

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In our second installment of President Trump and Prescription Drugs, President Donald J. Trump recently announced a “Blueprint” to reduce U.S. drug prices.  We start with a report from IQVIA (formerly IMS Health and Quintiles) on oncology drug cost (note U.S. share of total): “The global market for oncology therapeutic medicines will reach as much as $200 billion by 2022, averaging 10-13% growth over the next five years, with the U.S. market reaching as much as $100 billion by 2022, averaging 12-15% growth.” Many times, we have discussed the opaqueness […]
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