Ryan Phelan started DNADirect to expand the power of genetic testing to everyone, using the Web. She’s been ploughing a tough furrow but been making some real progress in the last few years, including getting an investment from Lemhi Ventures and working with Humana to provide genetic testing to its members (and the utilization management going along with it), to go along with their initialDTC approach.
Late last week DNADirect was purchased by Medco. I spoke with Ryan and Robert Epstein, Chief Medical Officer of Medco to get just a taste of what this will mean for the future of DNA testing within Medco.
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8
February
Melanie Berliet, a Vanity Fair writer, went undercover to test her hypothesis that plastic surgeons try to sell additional procedures to patients that they don’t “need.” The 5’9”, 120-pound 27-year-old, who wears a size 34B bra, went into the consultations under the guise of wanting breast augmentation.
Some of the plastic surgeons did not come out looking very good. The three surgeons had different reactions to her physique, but all of them recommended procedures she hadn’t originally asked for.
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20
February
Could walking at a tortoise pace all day long in the office keep you thin or help you lose weight?
Many people seem to think so and have built themselves treadmill desks -- basically a treadmill with a raised platform for their computer and phone. Moving at less than 1 mile per hour all day long helps them burn between 250 and 350 calories a day. Don't believe me? See this New York Times article. (Illustration by Eric Lister, from Gelf)
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18
September
Joshua Seidman is the president of of the Center for Information Therapy that aims to provide the timely prescription and availability of evidence-based health information to meet individuals’ specific needs and support sound decision making.
I had a fun meeting recently with some smart folks from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that raised questions about Ix that could use some clarification. When we talk about information therapy (Ix), we often drift into “evidence-based information” to help with some specific health condition.
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23
July
Charlie Baker is the president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc., a nonprofit health plan that covers more than 1 million New Englanders. Baker blogs regularly at Let's Talk Health Care.
I usually spend some time throughout the year visiting with accounts, physicians, hospitals, and brokers (among others), just to hear what’s up and what’s going on. Earlier this week, I was out visiting the leadership at a community hospital in Massachusetts, and asked them if they appreciated the MA Department of Public Health’s (DPH) decision to require academic medical centers to prove they weren’t duplicating existing clinical services in the community when they opened new operations in the suburbs around Boston.
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21
July
Dermacare's future uncertain in wake of closure, lawsuits
Phoenix Business Journal Story - by Angela Gonzales
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has appointed a receiver to handle the financial future of Dermacare Laser & Skin Care Clinics Inc., which at one time planned to sign on more than 120 franchisees nationwide.
The Scottsdale-based franchisor is embroiled in several arbitration cases and lawsuits. Its corporate offices have closed, and several franchisees have abandoned the Dermacare name.
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20
July