St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica Gets Sold To Another Catholic Healthcare System, Providence Health and Services, Bids From Patrick Soon-Shiong, UCLA & Others Didn’t Work Out

Now the question is will billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong still invest all the money he committed, or will he look for another hospital?  Who knows.  Providence is not for profit and operates 5 states with 27 hospitals.  Their headquarters is located in Washington state. 

St. Johns Hospital Saga Continues As Options Are Weighed As Ownership and Future Discussions Take Place

If you go back in history a bit with what was in the news, Soon-Shiong was also on the short end of the stick with being notified of changes that were occurring at the hospital as well.

St. Johns Hospital Fires CEO And Several Board Members Fired By Email - Chan Soon-Shiong Puts Some of His Projects for the Hospital on Hold

The deal still needs approval by the state of California and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  BD

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The bidding war to purchase Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. ended last week when its current owner, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth (SCL) Health System in Denver, announced it plans to sell the hospital to another Catholic chain, Providence Health & Services, located in southern California. Financial terms were not disclosed.

According to a Saint John’s Health Center Foundation press release, other bidders included UCLA Health System and two other large Catholic hospital chains, Ascension Health Alliance in St. Louis and Dignity Health in San Francisco, as well as Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, who had support from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

While the Saint John’s Health Foundation announced earlier in the month that they were endorsing Soon-Shiong’s bid on the hospital, Donna Tuttle, chair of the board of trustees for Saint John’s Health Center Foundation, said the foundation is now in support of the bid from Providence Health & Services, which owns St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., and four other southern California hospitals.

Tuttle added that the board favored a sale to Providence over the other health systems because Providence has a local presence in southern California.

http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/st-johns-health-center-be-purchased-providence-health-services?topic=03,05,25,24

FDA Approves Medical Device From AMES Technologies for Muscle and Joint Rehab After A Stroke or Relatibve Spinal Cord Injuries

Thus far the website does not have a lot of information posted being the approval just took place with the FDA.  It even has audit tables to give insurers and others progress reports on patient progress.  I guess this way with the reports there should be no question on the progress made by each patient using the device after having suffered a stroke.  The company also partners with NASA and you can read more here about their work together.  AMES appears to have several joint projects with NASA.   More information about the device at the original story link below.  BD 

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AMES is an Oregon Health & Science University spinoff company established to transform Dr. Cordo's OHSU research findings into a rehabilitation medical device for use in hospitals and clinics. Today's FDA clearance allows AMES to market and sell the device. AMES anticipates delivering the device to hospitals and clinics in early 2014. The typical patient population that possibly receive treatment with an AMES Device would include stroke victims and patients with partial injuries to the spinal cord injury patients. The AMES rehabilitation medical device uses robotic technology to assist a patient in moving the affected limb while vibrating the muscle receptors at the same time. During use, the patient's input effort and other parameters important in therapy are measured and recorded by the AMES Device and displayed to the patient as real-time visual biofeedback. The AMES Device can also perform several diagnostic tests each time a patient is treated by the device to track progress for clinicians and insurance providers.

A series of clinical studies with the AMES Device were conducted at multiple sites across the United States, some with chronic and sub-acute stroke patients and some with chronic spinal cord injury victims. These studies have provided clinical evidence that the AMES approach improves movement and strength in people with injuries to the brain and spinal cord, in some cases restoring the ability to carry out independent activities that were previously unattainable. The studies included treating the arm, hand and the leg. Most of the participants who were enrolled in these studies were considered to be very disabled when they started AMES treatment.

OHSU and Dr. Cordo have a significant financial interest in AMES Technology, Inc., a company that may have a commercial interest in the results of this research and technology. This potential individual and institutional conflict of interest has been reviewed and managed by OHSU.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-fda-medical-device-muscle-joint.html#jCp

Montefiore Medical Center Buys Two More Hospitals Buried in Financial Woe In New York

One of the hospitals, Sound Shore just filed bankruptcy and blames Medicare Cuts.  Approval still needs to be given by the court and if so Montefiore would assume the Sound Shore buildings and other assets and operate the two hospitals. 

Emergency rooms are to be remodeled as part of the deal.  Other talks between Sound Shore and Westchester Medical Center broke down that had been going on for a few months.  Founded in 1884, Montefiore is a teaching hospital for New York Medical College and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.  BD

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Montefiore Medical Center, New York, is buying two more hospitals at fire-sale prices, just months after acquiring bankrupt New York Westchester Square Medical Center. Westchester, N.Y.-based Sound Shore Health System will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Montefiore announced it will purchase Sound Shore's buildings and other assets, assume certain liabilities and provide funding while Sound Shore is in bankruptcy proceedings. Montefiore plans to keep open and operate Sound Shore's two hospitals in Mount Vernon and New Rochelle, as well as its nursing home.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130530/INFO/305309994/montefiore-buying-two-n-y-hospitals

FDA Rules Physicians Now Must File An Investigational New Drug Application Before Proceeding With a Fecal Transplant For CDiff

This has been around for a while and basically is the last resort for anyone suffering from CDiff, but it works.  I wrote about it back in 2007 so the transplant I guess is a “new drug”?  The feces for transplant of course would be new (grin) and there’s no guarantee the FDA will approve the process.  Then you have insurance companies not covering the donor testing, what a hassle. 

So if you are unfortunate enough to pick this up in a hospital and need the last resort treatment, here’s more red tape.  BD

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he US Food and Drug Administration has decided to bring the semi-outlawed — but very safe and very effective — procedure called “fecal transplant” under its auspices, ruling that to perform it, physicians must have applied for an “investigational new drug application,” or IND. This requires a lot of advance paperwork, 30 days of consideration, and does not return not a guaranteed yes. For the transplants, which have been performed informally but carefully by a growing number of physicians as a treatment (and often cure) for devastating C. difficile infection, it may improve safety, but it can’t help but impose obstacles and delay.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/fecal-transplants-fda/

Kaiser Permanente Working On Deal to Sell Their Ohio Operations to Catholic Health Partners–Not Making Any Money Here

This is interesting and will affect about 80,000 members.  Catholic Health Partners is the largest health system in the area with 24 hospitals. It may take a while to iron out all the provisions, etc.  The Health Plan is expected to be given a new name.  The reason for selling this division appears to be money  as they lost $14 million in the first quarter operating in Ohio and it was nearly $60 million in the red at the end of last year.  Well maybe there will be no more abortions since the Catholic system is buying it too (grin) and nor will they be participating in the Ohio exchange as the insurance business is going with the sale.  BD

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Kaiser Permanente has plans to sell its operations in northeastern Ohio, including its insurance unit there and 15 medical offices, subject to signing a definitive deal and gaining regulatory approvals.

The preliminary deal includes Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Ohio and the roughly 200-doctor Ohio Permanente Medical Group Inc., according to a statement released May 29 by Kaiser Permanente Ohio and Catholic Health Partners, which plans to operate the health plan and medical group practice under a new name.

Catholic Health Partners, based in Cincinnati, is the largest health system in the Buckeye State, with 24 hospitals overall.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/05/kaiser-permanente-has-plans-to-sell.html?ana=twt

Wall Street and Other Financial Institutions Spending Big Bucks Teaching New College Graduates How to Use Spreadsheets–Is This An Emergence of “Mini Modelers”Without Borders?

I had to somewhat laugh when I read this as 15 years ago even before I learned a stick of code I was working in an outside sales job for a Fortune 500 company and my sales manager literally thought I was terrorizing him with my Excel Spreadsheet expense accounts:)  This was long before there was speech recognition and I used to embed little sound byte files in the corner of the cells to explain any big expenditures, was easier that way to just record a complete explanation instead of typing all of it.  Due to fear I had to stop and type a of it as they were somewhat afraid of voice sound byte files (grin). 

I also used to use simple macros to pop in some small Visual Basic modules, which you can still do today so when I read this about the college graduates I did have to chuckle a little bit and especially when I saw the dollar amounts being spent:)  A couple days ago I did a post about SaaS software that allows anyone who knows how to use a spreadsheet to become a “modeler”.  I can’t help but think this is where some of this is going so banks and insurance companies can have armies of “mini modelers” all over the place.  Here’s the post at the link below so you can catch up.  All you need to be able to do is “dump in a spreadsheet” and you too can be a  modeler and even sell your model on the site.  It does require data if I am reading it correctly so it can be verified if you are going to market and make money from machine learning technologies that is made available to you.

BigData Modeling and Analytics Goes Into Mass Production Based on SaaS Machine Learning Platform to Create Predictive Models in Minutes–Accountability, Accuracy Still Needed By All Means – “Models Without Borders”

If you look at all the job openings for insurers, this is what you find today, analytics and data miners wanted so they are right in here too with the banks.  Ok now talk to any professional modeler, a Quant, and see how many times it takes them to get it right…bingo…now the machine learning technologies are going to make you winners every time…don’t think so.  Again when you look at the marketing of some of this you do have to laugh.  This is why half of the analytics that come out are going to be useless.  Learning is great and when models are created this can be a good education experience but wait until the banks and insurers demand perfection and ways to lower risk.  Will the machine learning help the employees then?  It all depends on what is programmed in…it’s like this picture I have here called “The Algo Fairy”. 

Half of Analytics Investments By Companies and Banks Will Be a Waste–What Do We Analyze with Big Data and Does It Have Value–Some Algo Fairies Would Do Better at Disneyland…

Now let’s talk about those who want to be professional modelers and I urge you to watch this video here and listen to the guy who’s paying over 60k in New York to become one…yes the money is good but the nerds don’t get to make the big decisions or get the real big money, they end up being grunts at times while the CEOs and front offices rake in the money.  Remember Jamie Dimon when he was asked about their models…”I don’t know” was the most quoted answer:)

Quants: The Alchemists of Wall Street Video Documentary - Why It Needs to Matter What Companies Do and Not Focus Only On the Price of Stock With So Called Value - Attack of the Killer Algorithms Chapter 44

Anyway, I see this as a focus here with spending the big bucks to train new employees so they can dump those spreadsheets into these new SaaS web programs and become “mini modelers” with no boundaries. Granted there will be some use here, especially with small data mining and analytics but in no way will this solve huge complex algorithmic issues of banks and insurance companies.  One thing that I do question though is the integrity of being a fully qualified Quant with a lot of responsibility and then seeing the mini modeler as a comparison?  Who will be accountable here when models are made just for making money and no concern for how it plays out to the end consumer, anyone?  Will the fact that the automated models can be sold have an impact?  We will just have to wait and see. 

Analytics help make us smart and make better educated decisions but again will the wholesale marketing of this process, relying on machine generated technologies really pay off….or will our entire business intelligence process end up like the stock market to where algos run wild and flash crashes appear?  It will be interesting.  Off the cuff here, an old post of mine from 2010 that I think has reached it’s fruition and with a few more flash crashes, well…BD

Data Addiction and Abuse –The Up and Coming Next 12 Step Program Is On the Horizon–Side Effects Include Lack Of Data Quality, Integrity And Spasmodic Algorithms

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Newly minted university graduates who have landed coveted jobs on Wall Street may have impressive résumés and sought-after references. But often, nuts-and-bolts skills like spreadsheet building and database extraction are not part of university curriculums.

When millions of dollars can be won or lost on one calculation, firms are finding it essential that their new hires can tell the difference between a pivot table and a header row.

Enter specialized boot camps where — for fees that sometimes exceed $1,000 a day — would-be masters of the universe can perfect Excel modeling techniques and financial analysis. Each year, tens of thousands of students at the nation’s top business schools, and scores of new hires at financial firms, including Goldman Sachs and the Blackstone Group, now take courses run by companies like Training the Street and Wall Street Prep.

Nineteen of the country’s top 20 business schools now use Training the Street to teach an estimated 20,000 business majors every year in how to interpret financial statements, value corporations and run spreadsheet analyses.

As boot camp training becomes more common, a saturation effect could occur. If everyone is taking classes like Excel Best Practices and Restructuring Modeling, doing so may not make one candidate stand out in job interviews.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/wall-street-turns-to-boot-camps-to-bring-new-workers-up-to-speed/

FDA Approves Two New Drugs for Treatment of Advanced Skin Cancer-Melanoma

Tafinlar and Mekinist,are the names of the two new drugs.  Mekinist,is a protein inhibitor associated with cancerous tumors.  Tafinlar belongs to a class of drugs called BRAF inhibitors.  There’s also a test approved by the FDA that identifies to determine of the melanoma cells have the mutations in the BRAF gene.  Glaxo has a focus on skin cancer drugs and it was in 2012 they received approval of another drug that extends life for those with late stage skin cancer.

Melanoma Drugs Extending Lives and Working Better Than Chemotherapy–Focus at ASCO

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(Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Wednesday approved a pair of GlaxoSmithKline Plc drugs to treat advanced melanoma - the deadliest form of skin cancer - in patients with specific genetic mutations. It also approved a diagnostic test to detect the mutations.

The Food and Drug Administration said it approved the drugs, Tafinlar and Mekinist, to be used as single agents and not in combination after the medicines delayed tumor growth in separate clinical trials.

Tafinlar, known chemically as dabrafenib, belongs to a class of cancer drugs called as BRAF inhibitors. Mekinist, known chemically as trametinib, inhibits a protein associated with cancerous tumors known as MEK.

The FDA also approved the THxID BRAF test, made by France's bioMérieux , which will be used to determine if a patient's melanoma cells have the V600E or V600K mutation in the BRAF gene.

http://news.yahoo.com/fda-approves-two-glaxo-melanoma-drugs-195349802.html