The capabilities of IBM’s cognitive system platform, Watson, is endless. IBM is working on developing it as a service that it can sell. It runs on an Application Programming Interface (API) housed in the IBM Public Cloud where users can manipulate the code via system tools (Chafkin, 2016a). Artificial intelligence is just one of the […]
Month: February 2018
International Business Machines (IBM), also known as “Big Blue”, is a technology company that has been around for a long time and has survived numerous changes in technological trends and advancements. The current CEO, Ginni Rometty, was in the spotlight at the turn of the first quarter of the 21st century. As the first woman […]
Goleman states that there are three kinds of performance-based classifications in a team setting: poorly performing, well performing, and superlative teams. The poorly performing team is limited by its individual average. The well performing team performs above average. But a superlative team performs better than the best member of the team. Superlative teams work synergistically. […]
The “Emotional Intelligence of Leaders”, a piece by Daniel Goleman, explores the association between emotional intelligence and a leader’s ability to effectively manage their organization. Goleman acknowledges that both intelligence and credentials are essential to business management and leadership, but one cannot overlook the importance of empathy and emotions. These latter aspects are needed because […]
Technology seems to operate in a separate universe that doesn’t have to abide by the law. Technology companies are adamant that they are not legally responsible for the harm their services can cause or the activities of their users (“Eroding Exceptionalism”, 2017). Having to monitor their users would be difficult and costly to these companies. […]
Cloud computing is still an ambiguous buzzword. Each major technology company defines it a little differently (Luqmani, 2014). NIST defines cloud computing as a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of computing resources. IBM views cloud computing as cost-efficient model for distributing processes, applications and services while simplifying IT management […]
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Security: Internet Regulation
Who owns the internet? Perhaps the people do as they are the ones generating the content. Perhaps it’s the government of various countries as they have the power to regulate what is able to be published. Countries are adopting different approaches of regulating the internet depending upon their societal and cultural values (Lawrence, Culjak, & […]
“Internet of Things”, “Artificial Intelligence”, and “Big Data” may seem like synonymous, buzzwords on the surface, but in reality, their stark differences allude to their similarities. These three concepts are re-writing how we interact, buy and sell, travel, and make things (Brody, 2016). Products such as 3D printers, smart lightbulbs, smart slow cookers, and smart […]
Adherence to treatment is a major issue in the healthcare field. Technology can help with it. There are many different systems that store medical and nonmedical information. Claim data can be very helpful, but it’s reactive in the sense that it’s historical and occurs after the medical event. Integrating formulary, cost, benefit, and EHR information […]
As companies grow and expand, they acquire and merge with information systems. Each time an additional system gets added or a system’s capabilities expand, the complexities and intricacies subsequently increase. Samuel Arbesman believes that system complexity is not a good or bad thing, but rather an inevitable thing (Lucky, 2017). He believes that everything done […]
The current healthcare system is unsustainable in terms of affordability, quality, accessibility, and personalization. There are three broad tasks that can improve the current system: expand choice, improve affordability and quality, and speed up the conversion of volume to value. Value is important in any business model (Osterwalder, Pigneur, & Clark, 2010). It’s the “difference […]
A Walmart greeter welcomes the customer, engages with him/her, and guides him/her in the right direction. A top health executive for a giant retail chain advocates that this is how health plans should operate (Osbourne, 2016). As health plans sit opportunistically in the middle of patients, doctors, and pharmacists, they’re in the perfect position to […]
One example of a system failure is the American Opioid Epidemic. Health plans commonly make it harder for patients to fill more expensive, less addictive pain management drugs (Volkow, 2016). They do this by requiring prior authorization, quantity limits, and contingent therapies. These restrictive measures are set on the plan’s formulary and essentially drowned prescribers […]
Substance abuse disorders were always undertreated. Although there has been an improvement in treatment due to increased education and research, there is still more that can be done. Only 10% of substance abuse patients receive specialized treatment (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). Over 40% of patients with a substance abuse disorder also […]
The prescribing of fentanyl is highly regulated by the FDA as it’s a scheduled II drug. This means that it’s rather addictive and subject to abuse. Some pharmaceutical companies are seeking to enter this market by formulating the drug in different forms of administration (ie: spray, injection, oral, etc.). Michael Babich from Insys Therapeutics was […]
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American Opioid Epidemic: Action Taken
In 2017, the FDA restricted the manufacturing of Schedule II Opiates by 25%. Obviously the FDA has a critical role in controlling the manufacturing quotas of Schedule I and II substances. When setting quotas, the institution did their due diligence in reviewing: Estimates of the legitimate medical need Estimates of retail consumption based on prescriptions […]
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American Opioid Epidemic: The Start
The American Opioid Epidemic was a major topic of discussion of the twenty-first century. Opioid pain medication was being prescribed left-and-right. Initially, prescribers were being coached to prescribe more pain medication as pain was being greatly undertreated in patients. This was demonstrated in James Campbell’s presidential address of the American Pain Society where he stated […]