Disruptive Women in Health Care

Comparative effectiveness research: do we need to reevaluate research ills?

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:31:25 +0000

Editor’s note: The Disruptive Women in Health Care blog recently compiled an ebook exploring the issue of Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) from a variety of viewpoints and perspective. We invite you to download the ebook or read the original posts.

By Liz Scherer. Comparative effectiveness research (CER): it’s the buzzword of the new decade. In fact, Congress recently passed legislation to provide more than $1B to support CER in hopes of improving utilization of existing therapies while simultaneously holding down healthcare costs. The ultimate goal of CER goes even further and paints a rosy vision of patient-centered care and personalized medicine.

However, perhaps these goals are loftier than originally imagined. Newly- published data appearing in this week’s JAMA show that the very research that is supposed to be forging the path for our nation’s health is filled with ills of its own.

An analysis of randomized and observational studies and meta-analyses published in six “high-impact” journals (i.e. NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ and Archives of Internal Medicine) demonstrated that there is a dearth of CER studies to guide policymaking or clinical decisions. Granted, this underscores the need to expand funding, preferably public funding to fill the gap. However, key findings also showed that only 32% of evaluable medication studies met the criteria for CER, efficacy outcomes were generally emphasized to a substantially greater extent than safety outcomes (only 19% of studies focused on safety), and that a critical element for promoting effective and efficient healthcare, i.e. cost-effective analyses, appeared in only 2% of the studies. Moreover, less than 50% of studies had active comparators and of these, less than a quarter used non-inferiority analyses, thereby obviating the ability to effectively evaluate and compare similar agents with different side effects profiles.

These data raise as many questions as they do answers. Although they provide an essential framework for moving the Nation’s mandate forward, they clearly raise a red flag; as Patrick Conway MD and Carolyn Claney MD write in an accompanying editorial, the decisions that originally guided nationally mandated priorities for CER “had no clear inventory of published studies or research in progress to inform their deliberations.”

With over $1B at stake in an already stressed economy, doesn’t it make sense to take a step back, reevaluate our mandates and fill in the gaps before moving forward too quickly? While it is true that there is insufficient research being devoted to CER, it appears that the research itself (and perhaps even the policy driving it) may also be insufficient.

Source:

Hochman M, McCormick D. Characteristics of published comparative effectiveness studies of medications. JAMA. 2010; 303: 951-958.

Conway PH, Clancy C. Charting a path from comparative effectiveness funding to improved patient-centered health care. JAMA. 2010;303: 985-986.

Can 30 seconds of your time change a child’s life?

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:02:29 +0000

Editor’s note: This past December, the Disruptive Women in Health Care blog launched a series on The Value of Health: Creating Economic Security in the Developing World. In addition to Disruptive Women’s own pool of experts, a number of guests were invited to post on this critically important topic. We invite you to download the ebook or read the original posts.

By Lois Privor-Dumm. It’s really simple. 8.8 million children die every year. Not here in the US, but in developing countries where they don’t have access to the same care that we do here. How much of our global health budget goes to address these basic needs? Less than $1 of every $10.

Children are the future of every country. Providing them with basic care to ensure they survive until their fifth birthday doesn’t seem to be that much to ask. And, it’s a good investment. Simple antibiotics or oral rehydration solutions along with the basic vaccines that children receive in the US every year are available at a cost that is around many people’s co-pay for a single prescription.

Although pneumonia and diarrhea are leading killers of children worldwide, our government hasn’t made the investment in these simple solutions. Young babies don’t have a voice; we do though. We can afford to take 30 seconds or less to build awareness about these issues and help guide our global spending budget/

GAVI and Save the Children are joining together to make sure their voice is heard. The Global Health Initiative is citing greater emphasis on women and children, but their current plan doesn’t incorporate all that is available and highly affordable. Let’s make sure they our country focuses on long underfunded priorities. We can address this problem that many don’t realize is so large. Tell your colleagues, family and friends that pneumonia and diarrhea are the leading infectious killers of children that we can prevent and treat today. Vote for fighting the leading child killers on “Ideas for Change” on Change.org. It will take less than 30 seconds, but vote by March 12^th to help this idea receive the attention it deserves.

On International Women’s Day: Ask Yourself What It Means To Be Healthy

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:23:34 +0000

By Robin Strongin. What does it mean to be healthy? Beyond that, what does it mean to be a healthy woman? What does it mean to be a healthy woman in the developing world?

Here’s what the United Nations WomenWatch Directory of U.N. Resources on Gender and Women’s Issues says:

“Women have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The enjoyment of this right is vital to their life and well-being, their ability to participate in all areas of public and private life.”

Unfortunately, many women around the world do not enjoy this right.

2009 World Health Organization (WHO) report

Consider this information from the report, “Women and Health: Today’s Evidence Tomorrow’s Agenda:”

Despite considerable progress in the past decades, societies continue to fail to meet the health-care needs of women at key moments of their lives, particularly in their adolescent years and in older age… Women provide the bulk of health care, but rarely receive the care they need—up to 80 percent of all health care and 90 percent of care for HIV/AIDS-related illness is provided in the home—almost always by women. Yet more often than not, women go unsupported, unrecognized and unremunerated in this essential role, and health care continues to fail to address their specific needs and challenges throughout their lives.

International Women’s Year

In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating March 8th as International Women’s Day. WomenWatch, an initiative of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, explained on their Web site that the day’s symbolism has a wider meaning: “It is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. It is also an opportunity to unite, network and mobilize for meaningful change.”

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Year is “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All.” How can we make real progress when women all over the world do not have the right or the ability to attain the highest standard of physical and mental health?

This article first appeared in the Be Inkandescent E-Zine.

This International Women’s Day Let’s Aim to End Maternal Deaths

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:22:59 +0000

By Tamar Abrams. Ninety-nine years ago, International Women’s Day was founded to honor the accomplishments of women and to press for equality between men and women. All these years later, there is still so much to do. Rather than tackling the overwhelming global needs of women, one organization – Women Deliver – is focusing on maternal health. The statistics are startling: Every minute of every day, a woman dies needlessly of pregnancy-related causes. That means that more than 560,000 women and girls die every year. Almost all of these deaths occur in the developing world, and ten million women are lost in every generation!

What a tragic loss for our planet when at the same time we in the developed world have turned our attention to new ways of obtaining and sharing information, the latest methods to prolong our lives and even how to conceive and deliver babies well into middle-age. I’m guessing that the founders of International Women’s Day probably hoped that 99 years later, the chances of women dying of pregnancy-related causes would be slim to none.

A new study out of California shows that maternal mortality is hardly something we have conquered in our own country; in fact women die after childbirth at a greater rate in our country than in 33 others! Over the past decade, those statistics have grown increasingly grim in California — rising from 5.6 deaths per 100,000 to nearly 17 deaths per 100,000. The reasons for maternal mortality in the U.S. and around the world are complex and varied, but the fact remains that most of the deaths are preventable. Women simply don’t have to die during pregnancy, childbirth or soon after.

Maternal deaths in developing countries could be slashed by 70% and newborn deaths cut nearly in half if the world doubled investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care, according to a report released two months ago by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The new report, Adding It Up: The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health, found that investments in family planning boost the overall effectiveness of every dollar spent on the provision of pregnancy-related and newborn health care.

The thousands of delegates from around the world who will gather in Washington this June for the Women Deliver conference are determined to put maternal health high up on the agendas of leaders of nations large and small, developed and getting there. Their ask: $10 billion in additional funding for global maternal health annually, increasing ton an additional $20 billion by 2015.

We mustn’t let this critical discussion get bogged down in ideology about abortion or contraceptives or politics. I challenge you to look into the eyes of your own mother or sister or daughter on March 8 and say, “Sorry, maternal deaths are simply not a prority.” Or you could join me in celebrating International Women’s Day with a pledge to invest in the health and well-being of women.

This piece is cross-posted at The Huffington Post.

Did You Watch Yesterday’s Live Chat with HHS Secretary Sebelius & Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle?

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:15:11 +0000

Yesterday we encouraged our readers to take part in the live video chat presented by the White House, during which HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle took questions about President Obama’s recent health care reform proposal.

Did you watch yesterday’s live chat? If so, what are your thoughts and reactions on what was said? What additional questions do you have for the President as well as the HHS Secretary and the Health Reform Director?

Watch, Discuss and Engage: HHS Secretary Sebelius & Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:14:46 +0000

The following post originally appeared on The White House Blog. The Disruptive Women in Health Care blog encourages its readers to take part in the live video chat described below, which will take place today at 3:40 EST.

The President has now laid out a path forward for health reform that puts families and businesses in control of their own health care, reduces costs and the deficit, and incorporates new Republican ideas while still instituting fundamental protections again insurance company abuses. He opened his remarks saying, “I want to especially recognize two people who have been working tirelessly on that — on this effort, my Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius — as well as our quarterback for health reform out of the White House, Nancy-Ann DeParle.” We’re happy to have both of them in a live video chat at 3:40PM EST to take your questions on the President’s proposal. Secretary Sebelius will also be meeting with insurance company leaders in the morning to get answers on the alarming premium hikes being ushered in on families across the country and will be able to discuss what she heard from them.

National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) Part of Obama’s Let’s Move initiative to battle childhood obesity

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:24:04 +0000

First Lady Michelle Obama recently launched a nationwide campaign to lower childhood obesity, citing that one-third of U.S. children are overweight. NHMA is proud to be invited to partner with the First Lady and the White House in this effort.

The Let’s Move campaign will combat childhood obesity by focusing on four main strategies: helping parents make health family choices, providing healthier food options in schools, promoting physical activity and ensuring that low-income urban and rural areas have access to healthy and affordable food.

One in four Latino youth is overweight, and the result has been an alarming increase in Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure among children. The causes are numerous and range from a lack of supermarkets in Hispanic neighborhoods to disparities in access to health services. But regardless of the barriers, this growing trend must end.

The mission of Let’s Move is to solve the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation. That’s an ambitious goal, and one that is going to require cooperation between governments, organizations, companies, schools and families at every level. NHMA is committed to doing our part to fight childhood obesity and will be working with the White House and our other partners to educate Latino communities on healthy lifestyles for children – everything from learning how to make smart grocery purchases to finding safe outdoor options for physical activity.

I’d love to hear your ideas for lowering childhood obesity too. What healthy lifestyle measures have worked in your family or community? Let me know!

The Health Care Summit – In Case You Missed It

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:50:20 +0000

In case you don’t have a TV in your office and weren’t glued to C-SPAN all day yesterday, we asked Disruptive Women’s Wendy Grossman to take a minute to recap a few of the highlights. She spoke with several Disruptive Women and had this to say:

Democrats: We want to get this done by the end of March. We have 9 out of 10 of your wish-list items. Let’s do this.

Republicans: No. We don’t like it. Let’s trash it and start over from scratch.

Democrats: Not possible.

Republicans: Seriously. Let’s start over. Clean page. Fresh slate.

Throughout the day, President Obama pointed out that people on both sides of the table want the same things. He gets letters every day from hard-working people who have lousy (or no) health insurance — people who are losing their house and going bankrupt to pay their medical bills.

He argued that his proposal and the bill that passed in the Senate at Christmastime wasn’t a “radical change” — most people who have health insurance now will still have it, it will just cost a little less. And people who can’t afford it, or who have pre-existing conditions — could get coverage.

While Republicans argued that folks are furious at the idea of Big Government stepping in and forcing people to buy insurance — Obama argued that he just wanted to make sure everyone could have it. The way the FDA makes sure meat isn’t poisoned or drugs won’t kill you. He said there ought to be a little bit of regulation — the same way doctor’s have to go to med school and pass board certifications before they can practice. He just wants to make sure everything is fair, and everything is safe.

At the beginning of the summit, Senator Harry Reid (D-Majority Leader) said, “If you have a better plan for making health insurance more affordable — let’s hear it.”

And the plan that was echoed over and over again is we don’t like this current plan, no one talked to us about it — we should have had this meeting nine months ago — let’s scrap it and do it again. Obama said he didn’t want to “pretend” like he was going to change health care reform and not actually do it.

Instead of tearing apart the bill and nitpicking about what people like or don’t like — Obama proposed that they talk about what they like in the bill. (It seemed like he was trying to salvage what’s there and show people that they don’t hate everything in it.)

“There are a lot more concepts that they agree on. This summit showed that,” says Dr. Elena Rios, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association.

Still, others didn’t think the legislators sitting around the table telling stories about sick constituents with high premiums was particularly productive.

“It’s a show,” says Stephanie Cohen, CEO of Golden & Cohen, a health benefits consulting company. “They’re not focusing on what the real issues are. None of the things they’re doing is going to help anybody. It’s not going to make a difference.”

She doesn’t think there’s any way the legislation will be completed in the next month.

“I think they need to start over,” she says. “This is an elephant. And you can’t move an elephant so fast.”

Disruptive Women’s Robin Strongin has a suggestion on how to speed up legislation.

“While today’s summit was certainly groundbreaking in what it represented, it’s time to move things along. Every Member of Congress, the Administration and their families should lose their health insurance until such time as they can get their act together and pass health (insurance) reform. Dick Cheney just suffered his fifth heart attack—imagine what that would cost him if he had to pay out of pocket every time his heart malfunctioned.”

“It’s going to be a tough battle,” says Rosemary Gibson, author of The Treatment Trap. “It’s going to be tough. But there’s always hope. Let’s have hope. I still think a lot of reform can still happen.”

Like Nancy Pelosi (D-House Speaker) said: “Health care reform for all Americans is hard, but we will get it done.”

We sure hope so.

February 2010 Man of the Month: Personal Trainer Morris White

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:37:37 +0000

Disruptive Women welcomes Personal Trainer Morris White as our February 2010 Man of the Month.

A personal trainer for 22 years, Morris White has both men and women – and even children as young as 12 – as clients. He helps them with basic fitness, sport-specific fitness and self defense. He also trains people with special needs, including those with disabilities and eating disorders, and those recovering from a stroke and heart attack.

In his own life, he is a power lifter and a practitioner of Kung Fu, Yoga, desert hiking and survival quests and sustainable healthy living. He is currently working on a fitness community site.

I can vouch for his impact. I’m now in my third year with him, with regular work outs at 6 AM. The benefits have been worth every trek to the gym in those before-dawn hours.

Morris, I’m pleased to have the chance to talk about fitness with you. It’s an important topic, but rarely addressed in this blogspace. How did you get started training?

There were three very influential men in my young life. It was the 1970’s. My Father was a pharmacist and successful businessman who took me to monthly Toast Masters meetings and had me working in the pharmacy on weekends. He taught me the importance of physical poise and presence. One of his business partners was a Physical Therapist who mentored me in anatomy and exercise, from him I learned about anatomy and body mechanics At about that same time, I was introduced to Kung Fu by my best friend’s Father who was a Master of the art. Kung Fu combined all the earlier lessons and helped me to develop my personal philosophy on holistic personal training.

Those were the years of my greatest lessons.

I attended Temple University but my advisors could not grasp what I wanted to become and what I wanted to do with my life. The usual response was, “So, you want to teach phys ed?” No.

From there to the gymnasiums I went, working under different titles until personal training evolved and became popular.

What about fitness and training makes it your passion? 22 years seems a long time.

Seeing my mother die at young age and my father debilitated primarily by an unhealthy lifestyle, has made me even more intent to give meaning to my existence by living and enjoying life to its fullest and helping others to do the same through fitness. The bonus is that by helping others achieve their personal goals, I get to meet great people that, in turn, enrich my life through their collective experiences and wisdom.

How do you approach training?

My philosophy of training is:

Safety first. You should never be harmed or injured in the course of training.

Strict, proper form. The best form produces the best, most efficient results.

Keep moving. A body in motion tends to stay in motion.

Follow those rules and you’ll keep at it, making progress. You’ll avoid injuries and won’t suffer any set-backs in your workouts. You’ll also see results and be able to have an increasingly better quality of life. Even if you’re already fit, you’ll see improvements. As I like to say to my clients, “one foot in front of the other and you’ll get where you’re going,”

Oh, and one more thing, never imitate what you see others doing in the gym. So many people do their exercises incorrectly. Others may do an exercise properly but their routine may not fit your desired goals. Always consult a professional about a new exercise or routine.

Do you have any dramatic examples of client improvements?

I could tell lots of stories of women who come to prepare for their weddings. They’re motivated for sure. Believe it or not, they’ve bought dresses three sizes too small and now need to fit into them. Plus, the regular workouts really help them with the wedding-planning stress.

But the one client and story that really inspired me was a 280 lb sedentary banker who lost the weight and became a marathon runner.

As he became physical healthier, his self-confidence and self-esteem also improved. This newfound self-respect gave him the strength to not only run a marathon but to walk right out of a less-than-supportive, troubled relationship and climb the corporate ladder to a promotion.

(Laughing) Of course, I cost him lots of money – he kept having to replace his wardrobe as his body changed.

Have you ever seen anyone who did not see an improvement in working out with a trainer?

Yes. This is teamwork and a few people were not ready to engage – in part because they were not honest about their goals and readiness to begin.

As you’ve seen in my approach, I don’t just bark orders and count. Training – at least with me – is not bootcamp. When we work out, we work as a team. We’re in constant communication. I’m asking how you feel and you’re telling me. If something hurts, I know immediately from what you say and sometimes from the way you act. That allows me to make subtle changes in the next exercise I choose.

You must be ready to be honest with yourself and you must be ready to trust your trainer to help you.

Yes, I see how easily you detect when I’m compensating, using a muscle other than the one you intended and not doing it right.

Busted!

You see, personal training is not just science, it is an art and it’s very much like life. Life always tosses us curveballs and I have to be aware and be able to read the pitch. Part of that comes from the communication between me and my client. It begins the moment you walk into the gym and asking “how are you feeling this morning.” That’s not just a greeting, it’s a diagnostic question. The answer and your body mechanics tell me what you need today.

I also ask you what you have planned for the day. If you’re at your desk writing, I’ll prepare your body for that. If you’re traveling, you’ll be ready for the flight.

I’ve benefited lots from working out with weights, but notice that it’s rare to see a woman on that side of the gym. What about other benefits you’ve seen in your women clients?

There are a variety of benefits and they’re not just physical. My clients have dropped dress sizes, lost weight, sleep better and have better balance, posture and reaction times. On the emotional side, they are more grounded and have greater self confidence. Some tell me they can “stand up for themselves” better in the workplace and in relationships.

Whatever you feel physically, you’ll feel emotionally.

How do you get women to that side of the gym?

Easy. I take them there when the time is appropriate, focusing on their needs and goals and instilling them with the confidence that they can do the best for themselves. I also point out how “not to” workout, using the examples of others there. This is not intended to criticize those people since you’ve seen me intervene and correct someone who may be risking injury, but to give her the confidence that she can do it right.

Finding you was pretty much luck. I met the gym owner at a party, one thing led to another and I ended up doing something I said I’d never do – meet with a trainer and make a commitment to train. That was more than 3 years ago. If someone reading this was contemplating finding a trainer, what advice would you give them?

Look within yourself first. By that, I mean you must decide exactly what is important to you. What is your present discomfort – physical or emotional? What is your goal? What motivates you?

When you explain that to a trainer, they should do more listening than talking. They should be able to repeat back to you the concerns and goals you stated in your initial meeting as well as to communicate the plan of action to get you started and keep you motivated.

What I find is that someone might begin with one motivation – like dropping a dress size – but then as they work out, they feel better. In some cases, people start feeling better than they have in years. At that point, their motivation shifts and they work out because it keeps them feeling great. Fitness becomes its own reward.

Finally, realize that your success requires that you and your trainer are a team. The two of you must perform like a team. The chemistry must be there.

Do you train older people?

Yes, it’s one of my specialties. There are lots of benefits of exercise, but most people are concerned about cognitive decline in aging and recent research demonstrates that fitness can stem cognitive declines, so this is important.

Older people’s bodies don’t recover as quickly as they once did and this is an area where young trainers can improve on their training techniques. It’s hard for a young trainer to empathize with an older person who needs more recovery time between workouts, or who needs special emphasis placed on balance.

I work with an older person much like an Occupational Therapist, in that I try to help them re-tune with their bodies.

Regardless of what some people may believe, older people can make great strides in training and see remarkable progress.

Sometimes I see couples in the gym and I know you train couples. If a man reading this wanted to get his special woman into gym, what should he do?

The only way it works for a couple is if they have a shared goal for the quality time they spend together, for example, if they have a goal to enjoy a particular sport or an active vacation that requires a set of specific physical skills or fitness. Otherwise, it just doesn’t work.

I’d never advise a man to try to train the woman in his life. The best thing he can do for her is to be sure she has a trainer who is a professional who knows how to train women. He might coax her a bit, but it has to be her motivation and goals that bring her to the gym. Trust me, I know this from experience. This statement has been approved by my wife.

Would you recommend that people start a fitness program without a trainer?

No. To build a healthy and solid fitness foundation, I always recommend starting with the guidance of a qualified trainer.

But I do want to stress the importance of actually getting going and starting to move. Our bodies were designed with motion in mind and our minds were made to think. Our body wants to be used and we feel better when it is. A body in motion tends to stay in motion; a body at rest tends to stay at rest.

Get out there start to move. No excuses. Even a little bit better every day, one foot in front of the other gets you where you’re going. Exercise “gives back” more in time and value than it takes. Remember that the days you don’t want to go to the gym.

Some people think that training is exhausting or should hurt – no pain no gain.

Absolutely false. You need not kill yourself in the gym to see improvement in your quality of life.

Exertion is OK, pain is not.

I remember telling you that your time was wasted on people like me and that you should be training trainers. What keeps you helping folks like me?

I like being a mentor to the younger trainers in the gym and the camaraderie that comes with working with other trainers but what is most fulfilling to me is my role as a personal trainer.

I train individuals and count my blessings. I get to help improve the quality of life for others and in exchange, I get to meet many wonderful and different people – all of whom have enriched my life.

Any other advice for today’s readers?

Don’t overdo it. Do something every day. Safety first.

Listen to your body and learn the difference between when it’s in pain or danger and when it’s just whining.

Try a trainer, and don’t hesitate to change trainers. A good trainer will recommend other training venues – much as I recommended RowZone for you.

Morris, thanks. This has been fun, though I can’t say that about 5:30 treks to the gym in the driving rain! I’m hoping it inspires someone to join a gym or find a trainer and have a motivation, goal and training style discussion.

If it helps, I’ll be pleased!

Written Public Testimony to House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation: Championing a More Active Role for NIST in the Life Sciences

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:20:38 +0000

Chairman Wu, Congresswomen Edwards and Biggert, and Committee Members. Thank you for this opportunity to testify at this hearing on the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

I ask that my written testimony be accepted into the record.

Today you will hear from accomplished researchers and leaders in their fields of study from Duke University and Stanford. These individuals are scientists, entrepreneurs and biotechnology innovators.

I come here primarily as a mom. I am here today to address the critical link between my experience as a mother striving for treatments, for my kids and millions of others, and the question before this Committee — How our National Institute of Standards and Technology can more effectively influence innovation in life sciences.

I begin with a plain statement about NIST and its activities — it can appear to be boring, non-interesting, and terribly esoteric. NIST suffers from being hidden, embedded into the foundational infrastructure of the scientific and early commercial enterprise of innovation, as well as having the thankless task of creating measurement standards for a whole array of scientific disciplines. However, it is precisely because of these elements that this Committee needs to champion a more active role for NIST in the life sciences.

Some have argued quite convincingly that the next century of scientific and technological innovations will be most profound in the life sciences. NIST is critical to a robust biomedical enterprise and must contribute high quality materials, methods, and expertise for the field to advance on a platform of certainty and high quality measurements.

My two children were diagnosed with a genetic disease fifteen years ago. As a result, I chose to leave my career as a college chaplain and become involved with the life sciences and biotechnology in a search for a solution for their disease. I started a research foundation called PXE International, organized patient populations around the world, created a biobank, isolated the disease gene, developed a commercial diagnostic, created animal models, and have supported clinical inventions for adults living with the more severe forms of the disease. We still do not have a treatment intervention for my children. We are still hard at work.

We have been stymied by a number of measurement and experimental roadblocks in advancing clear understanding of the disease and the function of the altered protein that causes my children’s condition. We have run smacked into the wall of both scientific and technological limitations.

My foundation’s research work has been written about in prestigious journals as a model of innovation, and an example of the power of patient-driven translational research. Some have said that our work will change the future of biomedical research and medical practice in this country. But I am telling you today we are now limping toward the finish line of our objective because of the current limitations in measurement science. This science has real-world impact on patients, families, and communities.

At this time, each provider of biomedical tests and therapies is creating their own system, leading to widespread inconsistencies between these practices. American’s believe that they are receiving healthcare that is high quality, accurate, valid, useful and consistent. They do not realize that a PSA test from one lab cannot be compared to another lab. They have no idea that the 4 million newborns who received screening at birth this year, are subjected to different screening cutoffs in each of the state programs for the somewhere between 29 and 54 tests. States count the number of screens they conduct differently from one another because there are no standards. The 2700 genetic tests listed in GeneTests are purported to be actually hundreds of thousands of tests because of the variability across the labs performing these tests in the US and beyond. No one knows how many tests there are, and there are only standards for 35 analytes.

Every technology manufacturer applies relevant measurement technology with their own standard references and controls, in housekeeping genes and general control reagents for example. The Food and Drug Administration, as a regulatory agency, is challenged with ascertaining the accuracy and precision of these technologies based on the manufacturers’ supplied standards. Ultimately they must trust the manufacturers.

NIST must take a leadership role in creating the standards necessary to integrate new technologies into medicine. These technologies, in genetics, genomics, laboratory science and imaging, are migrating into health care, sometimes to point-of-care. It is critical that patients know that these healthcare services are based on the certitude that only standards can bring.

With Congress’s increased support, NIST should:

Create a life sciences infrastructure, catalog, and distribution system for reference materials and standards for quality assurance for all clinical diagnostic tests
Integrate measurement standards and technologies into the FDA regulatory regime
Partner with the National Institutes of Health on resolving the measurement challenges at the intersection of patient care
Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the life sciences to determine the highest needs for measurement science

In this age of emerging personalized medicine, delivered through new technologies to patients today, we cannot wait any longer, having far outstripped the standards available to biomedical enterprises. Leading Genetic Alliance, and feeling the urgency of the hundreds of millions of people who need answers today, I know we need excellent leadership in an exceptional age. Let us take this charge seriously. Every one of us has a role to play, and NIST is poised to do great things. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the important work of this committee.

Update From Haiti: Despair Sets In And Women Consider Suicide

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:53:51 +0000

The following interview with Dr. Jan Gurley, a board-certified internist physician, was recently featured on the Better Health blog.

Dr. Jan Gurley just returned from a mission trip to Haiti, 5 weeks after the earthquake hit. In this audio clip, she relays a horrific first-hand account of the current realities of life in Port Au Prince. With no running water, bathrooms, or place to shelter – and packed into a field with 100,000 people – some young women are choosing to stop drinking water in an effort to commit suicide.

Dr. Gurley describes the loss of human dignity associated with the crisis in Haiti, including a near stampede when sanitary napkins were offered in a crowd of women. She explains that the place is becoming dangerous – and the screams of women being raped in the night fill the dark air. In the day time, people huddle together for safety while the stench of rotting corpses surrounds them. With the rainy season approaching, and tent cities perched precariously on land-slide prone hills, Dr. Gurley predicts a second wave of disease, violence, despair, and death in Haiti.

Download audio file (haitiupdategurley.mp3)

My sister in law in Haiti

How to Explain American Health Reform to Europeans

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:22:26 +0000

I was asked by Norweigan Public TV to do an interview on health reform. “Happy to do it” I said as I asked for the questions in advance so I could be properly prepared.

The very first one, Why don’t Americans think everyone should have reasonable health care (which, my interviewer-to-be noted, seemed very strange to Norwegians) was quickly followed by Why is this matter so controversial in the US?

Oh boy. This interview has the potential to be very short; that, or I hope my friend from Europe has a passport with some serious time left on it because explaining this thing we call US health reform could take a while.

Would love your input. How would you answer?

Disruptive Women in Health Care Welcomes Its Newest Bloggers

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:32:17 +0000

It is my pleasure to once again roll out the welcome mat to our newest Disruptive Women bloggers.

And just in time…With President Obama and the Congressional leaders set to roll out their version of reality TV on February 25th. (Look out Jersey Shore, we’ve got Potomac Fever.) Stay tuned for the Health Care Summit Disruptive Women Debrief on the 26th.

In the meantime, please read more about these incredible women and join me in extending a warm welcome.

	Anuradha Acharya, named as one of “25 Tech Titans under 35″ by Red Herring magazine, is the Founder & CEO of Ocimum Biosolutions, a global genomics outsourcing partner for discovery, development and diagnostics.
	Becca Camp graduated with an anthropology degree from the University of Texas at Austin in December ’08. She is now finishing her pre-med coursework at Texas Christian University, with plans to apply to medical school this year.
	Lorraine Lee Friedman, JD, (aka Rainey) started her life-long commitment of advocacy for children with The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, is the Founder and Executive Director of the DreamDog Foundation as well as an award-winning author and songwriter.
	Lynn Shapiro Snyder, Esq., a senior member of the law firm, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., is the Founder and President of the Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation (“WBL Foundation”), an organization meeting the needs of more than 1,800 senior executive women and women board members worldwide who do business with the U.S. health care industry.
	Dr. Pamela Cipriano, Editor-in-Chief of American Nurse Today, the official journal of the American Nurses Association, is a distinguished nursing and hospital administrator having served as Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Clinical Officer of the University of Virginia Health System the past nine years, achieving Magnet Recognition in 2006.

Learn more about our new bloggers, as well as all the Disruptive Women.

Nurses, Lawsuits and Patient Safety

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:39:08 +0000

Probably the thousands of nurses who have been following this case were encouraged to read the press report of its outcome:

“Texas jury finds nurse not guilty for reporting a physician for unsafe practices.

It took the jury less than an hour on February 11, 2010, to return a not guilty verdict for the nurse, Anne Mitchell, of felony charges of “misuse of official information,” for reporting a physician to the Texas Medical Board for what she believed was unsafe patient care.

Since news of the criminal indictment – and Mitchell’s being fired from her job – first spread through the nursing community, nurses across the country have followed developments. Labeling the criminal indictments “outrageous,” an outpouring of support – and financial contributions to the Texas Nurses Association Legal Defense Fund – has continued.

According to a New York Times article on February 9, the prosecutors claimed that Mitchell intended to damage the physician’s reputation when she reported him to the Texas Medical Board, which licenses and disciplines doctors. Mitchell explained that she felt an obligation to protect patients from what she saw as a pattern of improper prescribing and surgical procedures – including a failed skin graft that was performed in the emergency room, without surgical privileges.

Conflicts of interest seemed to be part of this case with allegations that this case was, in part, a result of the local sheriff being good friends with, and a former patient of the physician, and bending the rules to protect his reputation.

A number of nurses who had previous worked at the same Winkle County Rural Health Clinic testified in court that they left the clinic because of their concern about the care provided by the same physician that had never been addressed. The case is no less perplexing as to why Mitchell was even indicted – all witnesses (even the state’s) have agreed nurses have a duty to report unsafe care.

The verdict is a resounding win on behalf of patient safety in the U.S., as well as nurses and other healthcare professionals who play a critical, duty-bound role in acting as patient safety watch guards in our nation’s health care system. The greatest concern with this case has been the disbelief that a case such as this was even allowed to reach the trial stage and what a different outcome could have potentially meant for patient safety in this country. Even with an acquittal, the felony charges and trial had a chilling effect on many nurses who may think twice before reporting unsafe practices.

A civil lawsuit has been filed in federal court charging the county, hospital, sheriff, doctor and prosecutor with vindictive prosecution and denial of the nurses’ First Amendment rights. A complete summary of the case is available on the Texas Nurses Association Web site.” (Source: SafetyShare newsletter, Premier, Inc. at http://www.premierinc.com/quality-safety/tools-services/safety/safety-share/02-10-full.jsp#story-01).

Yes, it is encouraging to see that justice was done, and the nurse exonerated. This is only, however, step one. In addition to the doubtful outcome of a civil suit, there is the lurking question of why the situation ever went this far, why this nurse had to go through this experience. Yes, and the other nurses who testified. Why was it acceptable to sustain this problem?

Here are the questions my friend and colleague, Debra Gerardi, RN, JD asked in our email conversation about the case, and I think they are worth pondering. Why is this viewed “as a win for patient safety and not for what it really is – an example of abuse of power in which the only recourse the person seemed to have was to go to a regulatory body”? As she noted, it is hard to imagine that this is the only or first time that the physician was willing to call his friend the sheriff when he felt threatened and became retaliatory. Even more interesting is the role of the administration of the facility and its governing board. Are they not culpable, and what are the consequences to them of their neglect?

I do not know if the Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit, TX is a client of the Joint Commission, the premier organization that accredits over 17,000 health care agencies, but their leadership standards clearly delineate expectations of hospitals faced with challenges not unlike the one that faced this nurse. In a recent Sentinel Event Alert, focused on Leadership Committed to Safety, they recommend “an organization-wide policy of transparency that sheds light on all adverse events and patient safety issues within the organization, thereby creating an environment where it is safe for everyone to talk about real and potential organizational vulnerabilities and to support each other in an effort to report vulnerabilities and failures without fear of reprisal.” (Source: The Joint Commission, Aug/Sept 2009: www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/). Clearly the leadership in this hospital does not appear to have met this expectation.

This is not the first case of this kind in Texas; I sat through a two-week trial for two whistle blower nurses who also were fired and also won their case. It is reassuring to know that juries get it. I am proud of the support given by the Texas Nurses Association and Ms. Mitchell’s colleagues throughout the country. It is less clear that we have created the practices, policies, and penalties that actually change the underlying culture that creates the challenge faced by Ms. Mitchell.

Interview with Disruptive Woman Lindsay Avner

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:09:11 +0000

Disruptive Women’s Wendy Grossman interviewed Lindsay Avner, founder of Bright Pink. Lindsay Avner’s name might sound familiar to you — the 27-year-old made national news four years ago when she was one of the youngest women to have an elective double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer.

So many women responded to Lindsay’s story, that three years ago she started Bright Pink, a new, fun, breast cancer education, awareness and support group that has grown to 10 chapters nationwide.

Instead of hosting sad support group meetings in dank church basements, bright pink girls take yoga classes or belly dance together. Bright pink sends out monthly text messages reminding women to feel themselves up. Next month, they’re hostessing a burlesque show demonstrating self-exams.

“For so long people have been talking about this in the same kind of mundane way and it’s not making a difference. You have to come in there and shake things up a little bit — and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Lindsay says.

Q: You had a double mastectomy when you were 23?
A: I did.

Q: Why?
A: I have a very strong history of both breast and ovarian cancer. My mom’s mother and grandmother died six days apart, both from breast cancer — they were 39 and 58. And my mom was only 18 when it happened.

In addition, there were 11 other relatives — aunts, and cousins on my mom’s side of the family that have passed away from these diseases.

I remember being a little girl and my mom saying one day I might have to deal with this. It was always present. It was never something that got brushed off and we said, ‘Oh, we’ll just deal with it tomorrow.” My mom was very adamant. She went to the doctor consistently every six months. When they said, ‘Come back in a year.’ She said, ‘I’ll see you in six months.’
Because of that, she really detected her own breast cancer. She had a completely clean mammogram. But she noticed a swelling on the side of her right breast. And she said, ‘I’m not leaving until I find out what this is.’ The doctor said, ‘You’re crazy. We just did a mammogram, you’re absolutely fine.’ She said, ‘You need to check it out.’

Sure enough, they went in and did a biopsy and they hit something and it was Stage 1 breast cancer.
And 10 months later she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Q: Oh no!
A: She went through a lot at 41. I was 12 at the time. I grew up very fast. I switched from being a middle-schooler to Miss Mom helping care for my little brother. It was just really, really draining and hard and not an easy kind of thing. You know what I mean?

I graduated from Michigan in 2005 and decided to undergo genetic testing.

I went into it thinking, ‘Maybe I don’t need to be so focused on my breast cancer risk. On my fathers’ side of the family there’s no cancer.’ It was a 50-50 chance.

Unfortunately, I tested positive for the breast cancer gene — BRAC-1 in July 2005.

I made the decision in August 2006 — I was one of the youngest patients nationwide ever to have the preventative surgery. Do I want to do surveillance? Do I want to do surgery? What’s this going to mean? I’m single now.

It was very, very hard. I felt very alone through all of it. I wasn’t a cancer survivor, but yet I wasn’t like everybody else.

Before the surgery, I longed to speak to somebody who was young, and “normal”, and fun and had gone through it and came out on the other side and happy and okay, and actually did love her body and felt okay, and met Mr. Right.

I felt very alone. So I said, ‘I need to make this different for so many other people.’ I originally told my story about my surgery to the Chicago Tribune and the next day I was on the Today show.
It’s a shocking story. Here’s a woman whose healthy, who makes a decision when she’s young to remove her healthy breast tissue. More than 1,000 young women in their 20s and 30s reached out to the writers and producers. Time and time again, the story wasn’t necessarily I had genetic testing, it was, ‘My mom had breast cancer or my grandma had ovarian cancer.’

That’s really where the idea for Bright Pink came from. To know this information, is an opportunity generations of women never had. To be able to identify your risk, develop a strategy to be proactive, and live the rest of your life and be happy and live cancer free.

Q: What are you doing new with Bright Pink right now?
A: One of our favorite new initiatives is the underwire alert.

Q: So it’s a text message reminding you to do a breast exam?
A: It is. All they have to do is text the work PINK to the short code 59227 and they’re automatically enrolled to send them a fun, and cheeky message to just be aware of their breasts. To touch them, and look at them, and feel them and speak up if something changes. We’re trying to get thousands and thousands of women. This is one great, easy activity that all women can do.

Q: So are those shower hangy reminder things just not doing the job?
A: Here’s the problem, when you look at it every single day, it loses its meaning.

Q: And I don’t really like it in my shower. I took it down.
A: It’s true. And cancer societies are moving away from rigid once a month exams. You do this. You rub here. And you go in three circles. We do think the idea of once a month is really critical. It’s not enough to drive you crazy, and it’s consistent enough to notice any changes. We talk about how breast cancer can present itself, we talk about cancer fighting foods you can eat. Is that going to prevent you from getting breast cancer? I’m not God, I can ‘t control that. But there are things you can do to reduce your risk, and that’s something we really believe in.

Q: So what do the messages say? You say they’re cheeky.
A: If you look at the web site it says mind your melons, touch your tatas, treasure your chest. Whether you’re rocking 32A’s or DD’s, we want you to go to second base on yourself once a month…

Q: So how is it working out?
A: It’s great. We have a lot of people that love the idea of it. But we’re trying to get the idea aspect to get into getting people to actually signing up. We try to go into crowded places — every time we have a mic, we take a second and ask everyone to pull out their cell phones and text the code. The feedback we’re getting is, ‘Wow it actually makes a difference now I’m actually aware of my breasts.’

Here’s a sample text:
“Your boyfriend’s not the only one who should be touching your breasts. You know your body best. Go ahead, look for changes and feel yourself up.”

Isn’t this fun?

For so long people have been talking about this in the same kind of mundane way and it’s not making a difference. You have to come in there and shake things up a little bit — and that’s what we’re trying to do.

Q: What else are you doing to shake things up?

A: We run these breast ovarian health 101 educational sessions. They’ve run in Chicago, we’re rolling them out nationally now. It’s a 40 minute session with an ob/gyn or a genetic counselor — we’ve gone everywhere from churches and schools to next Wednesday we’re going to a Hispanic Community Center. We say everything you need to know about your breasts, and then we have a pink cupcake and champagne reception.

And all of our chapters have once-a-month outreach programs.

It’s not your typical support group. When you think of a support group most people think of sitting around a table and everyone’s crying and it’s just so depressing. At Bright Pink, it’s all about doing something active. A lot of our girls have gone through really hard experiences — from losing a mother to a sister to cancer. To dealing with what it’s like to have a scare — finding something and waiting for the results. Their lives have been deeply touched by this disease. And yet there’s unbelievable hope and determination.

So they’ll do a yoga class or a belly dancing session. Our New York girls went hula-hooping. Our Atlanta girls did a Mexican fiesta night.

And they’ll have an organized discussion around a topic related to being young and high-risk. Anything from, If you’ve had a mastectomy, what happens when your shirt comes off with a guy you’ve just started dating? At what point is it right to bring this up? What can you expect in your first genetic counseling appointment? Or, how do you get your family to talk about whose had cancer when they just don’t want to talk about it.

Q: So you’ve taken support groups to fun activities that people actually want to do — but they can still share while they’re there.

A: FUN activities that people want to go to. If I was in a support group the idea of going would be, like, drudgery.

They’re all there supporting each other. And it’s a very kind environment. I know sometimes when you have a lot of women together, it can get a little clicky or a little kooky. Our girls have this deep positive energy that binds them.

Q: Tell me what you’re doing with LuxGoddess.com.
A: LuxGoddess has been a really incredible partnership. The founder and CEO, Scott Kluth, made a very generous donation to us.
There’s so much overlap between the target audiences. The same girls that are coming to our education sessions, are the same women he’s targeting that are looking for a pair of Seven jeans. Or a cute top they’re waiting to go on sale.

Q: So what are you guys doing together?
A: It’s a cause-marking partnership. They sponsor a lot of our events. And our educational information is on their website. And also, a percentage of sales goes to Bright Pink.

It’s a win, win, win all the way around.

There’s so many similarities between the LuxGoddess shopper and the Bright Pink girl.

Q: So what’s next for you?
A: We’re expanding our ambassador network. Chapters around the country are about to launch in Boston, San Francisco and San Antonio.

Our whole focus this year is underserved communities — like African American lesbian women.

A lot of people don’t realize that lesbian women are more likely to die of breast cancer.

Q: Why?
A: They’re not more likely to develop. But based on good health care and good access to health care and insurance

Q: Lesbian women have less access to health insurance?
A: They’re less likely to have good insurance.

Q: Lesbian women?
A: Lesbian women. They’re less likely to go to their doctor’s office and feel comfortable talking to their doctor about their issues.

Q: Why?
A: Think about the questions they ask at your ob/gyn. Like, How many partners have you had? Just the sexual questions can sometimes be quite daunting for them.

Q: Why would it be any different? I don’t think my gynocologist cares who I sleep with.
A: I think there’s just a lot of stereotypes that still exist. This is just what the statistics are.

Q: What else is new?
A: In a couple weeks were doing an educational burlesque show. That’s off-the-wall — talk about wild.

Q: What is it going to be?
A: Have you ever been to a burlesque show?

Q: No. I’ve seen Gypsy.
A: They do songs and skits, their shirts come off. They’re going to be integrating health facts. They may do a demonstration on how to do a breast exam. It’s a great way to reach that community. Last year we did one and had 220 women which was phenomenal.

Everyone has been having that old man with gray hair get up and talk. And he’s not getting through to this demographic.
We need a new way to have the conversation.

Q: And you’re doing it.

To find out more about how to become a Bright Pink Girl check out www.bebrightpink.org.

To get an underwire alert started sign up at this link: http://www.bebrightpink.org/programs/support-community/breast-self-exam-text-reminder/.

Celebrate International Women’s Day with CARE

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:14:40 +0000

On December 2nd, 2009 Disruptive Women in Health Care launched a new series on The Value of Health: Creating Economic Security in the Developing World at the Women in the Arts Museum in Washington DC.

As part of the evening, we talked about the book, HALF THE SKY. Now they’ve made it a movie.

Let’s help fill the theaters for this very special event!

At HALF THE SKY Live, a one-night-only event inspired by stories from the New York Times best seller “Half the Sky” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The evening will be hosted by Andrea Mitchell and feature musical performances, celebrity commentary and the world premiere of “Woineshet,” a short film by Academy Award®-winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. You’ll also enjoy appearances from India.Arie, Maria Bello, Diane Birch, Michael Franti, Dr. Helene Gayle, Angelique Kidjo, Nicholas Kristof, Marisa Tomei, Melanne Verveer, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and others.

Experience HALF THE SKY Live on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. (local time) in select movie theaters across the country.

http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/OriginalPrograms/event/Half_The_Sky.aspx

Help Wanted: PHRMA ISO New CEO

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:16:44 +0000

Immediately after the snow stopped falling in Washington DC this week, another news story took DC by storm–the resignation of Billy Tauzin, effective June 30th.

The job pays well, but the applicant will surely inherit a daunting to-do list.

Job Qualifications

It’s a given that she would have impeccable bipartisan connections at the highest levels of government (both here and abroad); a robust rolodex full of private sector titans and Wall Street mavericks; a keen understanding of marketplace complexities (both here and abroad); superior people skills (it can be a b*tch managing those board room egos); not to mention a thorough grasp of and respect for the unique political and policy complexities that define health, health care, and innovation.

But that won’t be enough. I would love to see the next CEO take some bold action and harness the power of e-patients: increasingly, patients (e-patients and their e-caregivers) are hungry to engage in participatory, user-generated health care, often referred to as Health 2.0. Kaiser’s Dr. Ted Eytan explains it this way, “enabled by information, software and community that we collect or create, we the patients can be effective partners in our own health care and we the people can participate in reshaping the health system itself.”[1]

While the Inside the Beltway crowd is still focused on figuring out meaningful use and how to get paid for it–within the confines of the existing, antiquated reimbursement infrastructure, the Silicon Valley guys and gals are engaging with consumers (patients, caregivers) through apps, through mobile devices (what we used to call telephones), and through technologies that encourage Hosptial to Home transitions and Aging in Place.

There is a seismic shift taking place in how, what, and who is providing health care. The possibilities could be thrilling should the next PHRMA CEO be willing to look beyond the usual models of care and blaze a trail that integrates diverse health teams and technologies to foster better health outcomes, improved drug adherence, diminshed chronic disease, and fewer out of control health costs.

There are regulatory and other hurdles to be sure, but rather than waiting for Washington, the next PHRMA CEO should be blogging and tweeting about those next steps as she blazes that trail. One can communicate a lot in 140 characters or less.

If you were writing the job description, what would you include?
Who do you think are the likely (or unlinkely) candidates?

[1] http://www.tedeytan.com/2008/06/13/1089

Kids Empowering Kids!

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:01:29 +0000

Kids learn best when they are having fun. This should come as no surprise to anyone.

When I go into schools with my new program: “Creative Core Curriculum”^TM and we learn through story and song, writing and rapping, music and movement – the kids have no clue that I am just following their curriculum, with a little creative spin. Why? Because, unfortunately, students are don’t equate fun and learning.

Time to shift that outdated paradigm. In today’s world, children are experiential learners. They learn by doing, creating, moving — diving into topics and exploring them, firsthand. That’s why the worksheet mentality of the 1950’s just doesn’t make sense anymore (if it ever did). And, yet when our school system and government needed to “teach” our children the life or death lesson of staying healthy through flu season, they sent home a one-page flyer with the information. Handing them a piece of paper and assuming they wouldn’t ball it up, or create a paper airplane or fortuneteller is wishful thinking, at best.

Why not have a little skit at school with one kid sneezing in another’s face and the child that got sneezed on gets just as sick as “Sneezy”? Or what about creating a game on a website where children could go to play a flu game. If they do the wrong things, their character would get sick. If they stay healthy, they advance to harder levels – challenging their understanding of the rules to staying well.

When I asked more than 50 students on the playground, none of them had read the information sent home, and most didn’t even remember bringing it home. That’s when it hit me – we can do better! We need to do better! If our educational system doesn’t get it and our government doesn’t get it – let the kids have a chance to get it right.

So, I created “No Flu 4 You!” — a funny, interactive song that contains the top ten points of staying healthy during flu season. Put to a fun, boppy beat – the kids couldn’t resist singing and acting out the hysterical lines.

Remember those jingles from your own childhood, well the reason you can still remember those decades later is the power behind rhythm and rhyme. I have spoken at many national teachers’ conferences (including NAEYC – the National Association for Education of Young Children) about using rhythm and rhyme to ensure messages stick. And, movement is another critical component. Most children are kinesthetic learners, meaning that adding movement to any lesson will help it sink in.

Yet, with all we know – we continue to send home one page flyers and expect that our children will get the information by osmosis, simply by holding it in their hands. “HELLO… not working!” That’s where we come in, the DreamDog Foundation’s latest program “Kids Empowering Kids!” Just in time for that last blast of February flu season, click here and sing along, pass it on to all the families you know with children. You just might be the key to keeping them healthy – and we guarantee you’ll have fun singing and rapping with the DreamDog kids!

P.S. An invitation to all Disruptive Women – we would love for you to join us for future “Kids Empowering Kids!” videos by subscribing to our Facebook fan page.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar: How Healthy Gaming Can Support Drug Adherence

Have You Had Medical Care You Thought Was Unnecessary? Share Your Story

dw@disruptivewomen.net — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:21:46 +0000

One-third of Americans say they have received tests, treatment or medications they didn’t need, according to a survey conducted for the Commonwealth Fund of New York. Are you one of them?

Think about it. We live in a market-driven economy where businesses thrive on getting us to consume more than we need, whether it’s a house that’s too big, a mortgage that’s unaffordable, or an investment that promises more than it can deliver. Market-driven health care is motivated by the same imperative. In our highly-caffeinated health care system, the mantra is volume, volume, volume. That ‘volume’ is you and me, and the people we love.

Here’s a story about a colleague, a research scientist, who has a heart condition that she watches very carefully. She went for a nuclear stress test at a free-standing diagnostic testing center as part of her routine monitoring. After the test was complete, the cardiologist told her she had a very serious problem that required open-heart surgery. She was scared out of her wits and immediately thought of a family friend who had died recently during heart surgery. The cardiologist wanted to do a cardiac catheterization and prescribe medication. He also told her to stop jogging immediately.

My savvy friend knew she didn’t want to have more tests or treatment at that center. Here’s why. While on the treadmill, she overheard the doctor tell the nurse that the center had nine patients a day and needed to increase its census to fourteen a day to generate enough revenue to make it financially viable. It’s true. She walked out and never looked back. A second opinion from expert physicians recommended continued monitoring and she followed their advice.

About ten years ago, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences convened a group of experts who acknowledged a uniquely American phenomenon in health care: overuse. It occurs when the possibility of harm exceeds the possible benefit. Health care insiders say that overuse is an epidemic. Epidemics are not good for anyone.

To learn what you can do to avoid unnecessary medical treatment, check out my new book coming out next month, The Treatment Trap, which has twenty smart steps for consumers. Read the foreword by Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union. In the meantime, share your story. Together we can learn from – and empower – each other.