"Getting data privacy 'right' is an economic and social imperative. Trust and confidence in the security and privacy of the critical systems of our planet - especially the digital version of its central nervous system, the Internet - is foundational to individuals' continued engagement and reliance on such things as online commerce, e-health and smart grids. If individual consumers don't feel that their privacy and security are protected, they will not support modernization efforts, even though the capabilities of technology advancements are proven and the potential benefits to society are extensive."Here's an example of the tensions we face: The ability of smart grids to conserve resources relies on the ability of, and commitment from, consumers to monitor and modify their individual usage. An individual using a smart meter understands the difference in the cost of using electricity at peak versus non-peak hours and could opt to lower their usage during more costly time periods. At the same time, data from the meters can reveal sensitive information such as work habits, shower schedules, use of medical devices such as dialysis, and whether or not a house is occupied."
"I don't worry that the technology will have a negative impact on consumer privacy," wrote Mark Roberti, founder of RFID Journal in a June overview of the state of the RFID market where privacy is concerned. "Instead, I worry that ignorant legislators trying to score points with uninformed voters will pass laws that limit the many benefits RFID can deliver--and that is a much bigger threat to consumers."
Today's agreement in Europe appears not to be the kind of legislation Roberti feared. As a framework focused on self-reporting it may be too little, ultimately, but it's a start.
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Lee bounces back, fans 12 as Phillies blank Nats
Back at his best after an unusually brief outing, Cliff Lee struck out 12 in a three-hit shutout, allowing the Phillies to overcome their own problems at the plate in a 4-0 victory over the Nationals.
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Great <b>news</b>: Working population percentage drops to three-decade <b>...</b>
Great news: Working population percentage drops to three-decade low.
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Big Media Falls for GE <b>News</b> Hoax (Cont'd) - Giovanni Rodriguez <b>...</b>
The Week takes a short look at what yesterday's GE news hoax may have actually accomplished: --"It was a glimpse of an ideal world." Idea here is that the fake storyline might have helped people imagine a world where businesses "biggest ...
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As rumors of a later-than-usual iPhone launch for 2011 persist, a new report reveals that the notoriously secretive Apple is being even more careful than usual when dealing with overseas suppliers.
"Apple is keeping its iPhone 5 cards extra close to the vest on this launch to avoid a falloff in iPhone 4 demand ahead of a refresh, especially given the February launch of the CDMA iPhone 4 with Verizon," Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities said in a note to investors on Friday. He believes that the iPhone 5 could still launch in June or July, as previous models have.
White noted that various rumors have pointed toward a launch later than June this year for the fifth-generation iPhone. One report from March alleged that Apple has not even begun ordering components for the anticipated "iPhone 5," and the device is slated to arrive in the company's 2012 fiscal year, which begins in late September.
And a third report alleged that Apple is working on a major revamp of iOS, its mobile operating system, for version 5.0. New features like cloud-based storage of music, photos and video are rumored to arrive in the update this fall, likely alongside new iPhone hardware.
But despite all of those reports, White isn't yet convinced that the iPhone 5 will be introduced later than its typical June or July timeframe.
"Although we do not have a smoking gun that definitively rules out a delayed autumn unveiling or one that supports a launch this summer, there is a pattern of activity in motion with the supply chain that makes us question a delayed launch," he said.
White also cited sources who indicated that iPad sales could reach up to 40 million units in calendar year 2011. And supply chain sources also indicated that disruption from the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan will actually end up benefitting Apple, as suppliers will "rush to support Apple at the expense of competitors."
The analyst already revealed earlier this week that Apple has been offering upfront cash payments to component suppliers in order to secure components in the wake of the disaster in Japan. Apple has apparently also been using a "three cover guarantee," referring to capacity, stock and price, to block out competitors and prevent them from building ample supply of devices.
Apple should see a material dip, on top of the one that occurred
after I indicated that I was short the stock on March 16th. Before we
delve into my opinion, let’s peruse the news from 1 a.m. this morning:
WSJ: Apple Crunched in Nasdaq Rebalance- In
a move likely to ripple across the stock market, Nasdaq OMX plans to
announce a rare rebalancing of its Nasdaq-100 index, which will reduce
the big weighting of Apple, which currently makes up more than 20% of
the index.
Bloomberg: Apple’s Weight in Nasdaq-100 to Be Reduced as Microsoft, Cisco Are Raised
So, why do you think Nasdaq decides to reduce Apple’s weighting now?
Well, the competitive pressures that Apple faces are nigh guaranteed to
make it impossible for it to fulfill the pie in the sky expectations
that are being built for it. That in combination with a 20% weighting
create a recipe for a guaranteed crash in the Nasdaq unless something
was done about it. Signs of heavy reliance on on or two products for 70%
of their profit, while sourcing the most important parts of those
products from their biggest competitors, were starting to show. iPad 2
supplies are tight due to Japan’s woes, and Apple does not have the
mobile computing product diversity to handle it like the 150 or so
Android competitors it is battling. This means much more than just a gap
in profits for the quarter. These companies are in race, and Apple is
being forced to give up some of its lead due to diversification issues –
issues that Android manufacturers (who are more diversified because
there are so many more of them from different places) don’t have, or at
least not to the extent that Apple does. Thus, Samsung, LG, Asus, HTC,
etc. will be rolling out to customers who may have had an Apple iPhone
or iPad.
This is also another (of many) massive triumphs of BoomBustblog
research over that of the most esteemed Godman Sachs who put a $430
price target on Apple just as it was making all time highs and in direct
contravention to BoomBustBlog’s stated logic. See Shorting Apple and Why Software Developers Can Make More Money On Android Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
I have finally started dabbling with Apple
shorts and puts. My OTM S&P put positions were profitably stopped
out due to trailings yesterday when the market recovered some of its
losses. I have decided to use Apple in the place of the S&P puts
for the time being. Medium to long term, the trade is more evident and
obvious to anyone who is objective and follows BoomBustBlog. It is
significantly more risky shorter term. Alas, there are marginal gains
already, and once they accrue to the point of indemnifying my trailing
stop, I will add more. After I finish the current leg of my global real
estate research to be disseminated to institutions, I will offer
tidbits of the modeling (I have already offered subscribers significant
info on why I think Apple is a risky long play). From a contrarian
standpoint, it may be safe to go short with tight stops, after all
although Apple Gears Up To Combat The Margin Compression That Apparently Only It, Google & Reggie Middleton Sees Coming, we still have those guys over at West Street… Goldman’s
$430 Target, Screaming Buy On Apple At Its All Time High Is In Direct
Contravention To Reggie Middleton’s Logic – Who’s Right? Well, Who
Has Been More Right In The Past? I have taken The Challenge To Goldman Sach’s Apple Proclamation One Step
Farther, Apple’s Closed System Risks
Failure! Listen, everyone, regardless of what investment positions or
tech products you may have in your stable, needs to ask themselves the
appropriate “What if’s”. I have spurred the conversation with “Will Google Win The Mobile Computing War? Let’s Walk Through Where They Stand Now & How To Value Them”
Remember, I may not always be right, but it does pay to look at the track record… Did Reggie Middleton, a Blogger at BoomBustBlog, Best Wall Streets Best of the Best? More attention should be paid to the little guy, after all by now it is Now Common Knowledge That Goldman’s Investment Advice Sucks!
Didn’t you get the memo? I’m sure many traders have spurned Apple due
to the Japanese market being cut off right at the launch of the iPad 2,
but the issues go deeper than that. I will cover it in depth at a later
date, though.
Additional thoughts on the Apple short:
- Note For The Few Realistic Apple Bears… Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
- Buffet on Apple – Common Sense! Monday, March 21st, 2011
- Competition Heats Up In The Mobile Computing Space On Many Fronts – Prices Driven Down Once Again By The Big Players Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
- How the “I Love Apple, There Is No Other Fever” Adds To The Attractiveness Of An Ever So Unpopular Apple Short Monday, March 21st, 2011
And that Research in Motion short alert
given to subscribers is working like a charm – even more so if it get’s
caught in NASDAQ storm: Research in Motion Drops 10% After Hours, Precisely As We Warned Two Months Ago – MARGIN COMPRESSION!!! Thursday, March 24th, 2011
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Google reported solid quarterly earnings this afternoon, but EPS was slightly below expectations and expenses were high.
The expenses were apparently cause for investor concern, and shares have dropped more than 5% after hours.
In particular, cap ex spend was $890 million. Google explained most of that was related to the purchase of new buildings in Dublin and Paris.
Operating expenses were also up thanks in large part to the 10% one-time salary raise, which kicked in this quarter.
In a Q&A with investors during the earnings call, several analysts wondered if this level of expenditure is the only way Google can continue to grow revenue more than 20%. Execs tried to reassure them that Google is measuring and paying very close attention to the expense side of the equation.
The basics:
Gross Revenue of $8.58 billion was slightly better than expected and rose a strong 27% year over year.
Net Revenue of $6.54 billion slightly better than expected.
Adjusted EPS of $8.08 is slightly--slightly--below expectations of $8.13. Revenue was strong, so the key will be whether the earnings miss is the result of lower margins (bad) or, say, a higher tax rate (irrelevant).
Paid clicks growth was better than expected at 18% year over year (vs 15%-17% expectation). This is Google's key revenue unit, and better-than-expected unit growth is positive.
Revenue per click increased 8% year over year, at the high end of expectations.
Free cash flow was a solid $2.2 billion. Cash flow from operations was spectacular--$3.2 billion--but the company spent an astronomical $890 million on capital expenditures, much more than expected. (What on earth are they spending all this money on?)
Product highlights: Android is getting 350,000 activations per day. Chrome now has 120 million users -- that means 120 million people who are more likely to be "locked in" to Google services. YouTube revenue is doubling every year, but still no concrete numbers to share.
Bottom line, Google remains robustly healthy. 27% year over year revenue growth in a company this size is extremely impressive, and the core search business is humming along. The high capital expenditures are a question and concern--it will be interesting to hear what the company says about them on the call.
Here are some slides from the deck Google used on its earnings call. Scroll past them for our live blog of the call itself.
You've got to love 27% growth from such an enormous base.
Traffic acquisition costs are looking good as well:
But this is what investors are worried about -- costs rising as a percentage of revenue, particularly R&D and sales and marketing. A lot of that is salary-related:
Here's another way of looking at it: operating margins are getting lower:
Here are our notes from the call:
4:27 ET: We're waiting for the call to start. We'll see if Larry Page jumps on, since he just took over as CEO last week. He's reportedly investor and press shy, so we'll be curious to see how he performs.
One slightly curious note: the call isn't being broadcast on YouTube as it has in the past.
4:31: Larry will join at the beginning of the call. It's also Patrick Pichette, CFO. Two of the new senior VPs are on board as well -- Susan Wojcikci (advertising), Jeff Huber (local and commerce). Plus Nikesh Arora, the chief business officer, who's been on past calls.
4:33: Page notes 27% revenue growth. Tremendous improvements still ahead. Now he's talking management changes.
"Everything we told you last quarter has happened." He's managing day to day operations as CEO. Eric Schmidt is on government and partner outreaches -- last quarter he was in Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Spain. Sergey working "very intensively" on a few projects.
4:34: Also made changes to simplify their org structure. He's thanking Jonathan Rosenberg, who's been on most of these past calls.
That's about it. Now it's on to Pichette.
4:35: Expenses show the 10% across the board raise for the first time.
Gross revenue up 27%, $8.6B. It actually rose 2% quarter to quarter -- and last year Google had the Nexus One goosing revenue. Plus this year the disaster in Japan.
Google Network revenue up 19%. Negatively impacted by loss of search distribution deal, plus search quality improvement -- spam control. It always serves us well.
Other revenue was down 10% year over year to $269 million. That's mostly Google Apps and Enterprise Search, a very small business.
Aggregate click growth up 18% year to year, and 4% from last quarter. The shift from offline to online is driving that.
4:40: International revenue was 53% of total.
TAC was 25% of total revenue, $2.2B.
Overall opex totaled $2.8m, including stock-based compensation.
Opex increase is primarily payroll, some advertising.
Op margin 37.6%
Headcount up 1,900 during the quarter. total 26,316 employees.
Capex is facilities, data centers. Facilities driven by purchases of buildings in Dublin and Paris. Capex is "lumpy from quarter to quarter" depending on when it wants to make capex investments.
4:43. Boasting about Android, fastest growing mobile OS, and Chrome, fastest growing browser. Pushed frontier of mobile search which is adding to overall search volume. YouTube "win win" platform for content owners and users.
Second half of 2010, grew 25% year to year. This quarter 27%. Compared to comp of 23% a year ago. "We are building multibillion dollar businesses" and confident now is the time to invest. Discipline.
4:45: Local and commerce SVP Jeff Huber.
Ambitious hiring this quarter by design. 2011 will be biggest hiring in history, hired 1,900 this quarter. Core and growing businesses are doing well, so "who wouldn't want to invest in this business." Over half the "Nooglers" who joined will be in new areas like YouTube, Chrome, Enterprise.
Search: improving quality. Launched over 90 quality improvements, including changes to ranking algorithms. Impacted about 12% of queries, and addressed over 80% of sites that users reported.
Had adverse affect on revenues on SOME SITES in Display network. But improving search is always the best thing to do in the long run.
Personal, as in building around people. Launched the +1 button, easier to share results. "This is just the beginning" more personal search coming soon.
Mobile traffic up 500%+ over last two years.
350,000 Android devices activated per day. Recently launched in-app billing.
Chrome: users "very valuable". Investing in Chrome marketing. Now more than 120m daily users, more than 40% added in last year.
Chrome OS "also going well" and look forward to launching devices later this year.
Enterprise: growing across businesses and schools. New deals, reseller agreements. University of Texas, Boston U.
Pleased our ITA deal closed, travel search lots of room for innovation there.
Huber is now thanking Jonathan Rosenberg as well. "Friends and colleagues for over 15 years. He will be missed"
4:49: Now it's Susan Wojcicki.
Lots to be excited about in ads. Search is still core, but big oppty for growth.
"How can we search the perfect ad for every query?" New creative types, new ways for advertisers to set up campaigns. Product Listing Ads, introduced Q4 last year.
Display advertising: bought DoubleClick 3 years ago, lot of integration, lot of progress. Display Network up 5x since acquisition, doubling annually in Brazil, UK, and Japan.
Display advertisers either performance oriented (conversions) and brand oriented (awareness). Launched new stuff for brand advertisers, like Display Ad Network Reserve -- buy premium inventory on a guaranteed basis. Also tools to measure effectiveness of campaigns -- not just clicks.
Ad Exchange -- transaction volume has tripled in past year, 2/3ds of that inventory bought via real-time bidding.
YouTube: revenue doubling year over year, shared with more than 20k content partners. The more money we make for them, the more engaging stuff they upload.
AdMob: over 150 million iOS and Android devices, up 50% in last four months.
Advertisers starting to run mobile-only campaigns. Incorporating local -- how far are you standing away from the advertiser's location right now?
4:55: Pichette taking over again for Q&A.
Q: Opex up 45% year over year excluding traffic acquisition cost. Is this kind of spending required to retain 20%+ revenue growth? Or one-off?
A. Clearly the effect of the one-time salary change. Salary increase flows through to other stuff like 401(k) and vacation, so disproportionately felt in first quarter. "Nooglers" as well. One-time step change in labor, but after that regular.
Marketing has increased since last year because it's providing great returns. Both customer acquisition and key products like Chrome.
Still disciplined: quarterly reviews to get your next funding.
Q. What about marketing costs? What's going on?
A. Professional services. Chrome -- really pushing the web. When they get Chrome, instead of having to look for Google, they get it. It's there already. "Everybody who uses Chrome is a guaranteed locked-in user of Google."
Q. How does Larry view the company differently than it was?
A. Position hasn't changed. We're a tech company, focused on users, looking for products that can affect billions of people. Computer science helping find problems for billions of people.
If you think that way, Chrome, Android, search all make sense. The 70/20/10 is very alive. "Search is the next billion dollar business." 90 improvements on one side, 40 on the other -- search still in our infancy. Mobile, display, enterprise.
10% is commerce, social, stuff that's nascent. Strategy same core lenses, same products that serve billions of people.
Q. But financially? Any meaningful difference?
A. No. Build great products, same financial discipline.
Q. More about opex. Customer acquisition in Chrome, salespeople. Do you think your 20%+ growth rate would be achievable without these costs? Will you still get the growth without the costs?
A. Strategy in context of last 4 to 5 quarters. Trajectory of revenue growth, 23%, 25%, 27%. We're funding revenue growth with discipline. "Carpe diem, it's there to take."
Q. Imagine display is $20B based on various figures. Right now you're at 10% or so. How big can that be? And as display gets bigger, how does that affect margins?
A. Search unique with very very high margins. Display more paperwork. But still very good margin product. "All of those dollars I want." Plus great "symbiotic" relationship -- display ads now showing up in search.
Could say that display was stalled at $50 to $60B because video wasn't there. YouTube helps reach 23 to 24% more consumers. Efficiency of Web applied to video. All efforts trying to build that display, rich media and video. Every profitable dollar of revenue is good.
Q. What about social data? You don't run social network. Do you need it for search?
A. Jeff Huber -- it's important, we use 200+ signals for ranking search today. It's one of many inputs. Assets that apply to that, we do have large number of users coming to our door every day. Considerable percentage logged in, using multiple products.
Pichette: launch of +1 is commitment to get every signal. Continued focus on social as one of 200 signals.
Q. Does Chrome give you any signals you can integrate into search results?
A. Huber -- will be part of story over time, personalized today. Chrome experience, can sign into Chrome, will sync info across computers.
Q. Where are those bold steps to control expenses? We don't see it. And is social really just one of 200 variables?
A. On expenses, you see ramp-up on one side. Guarantee you everybody who has cost center has to demonstrate productivity. Data center, incredibly steep. Sales force. We always think of cost per x. Cost per bit for data centers. Even food, everybody has productivity curve.
Google is growing 25% year over year from a $25B base. Tide coming with it, but every element of the company is "scrubbed and scrutinized." The unit costs haunt many of my managers.
Huber now on social: one of many signals. We regularly measure and tune.
Pichette again: expenses, we really want to lay the ground clear on these issues.
Q. Search algo changes -- how does that affect search ads and cost per click? And what's driving display ad revenue growth -- ad units or more targeting?
A. Huber: 12% of queries affected. Was Web search only, not ads. NO effect on CPC. Did affect display network, but focus is on user experience.
Wojcicki: Can buy audiences, target more effectively. It's both. End to end platform to enable buying across the Internet for all advertisers and all publishers.
Pichette: Some properties tuned to display like YouTube, but entire Web is more powerful than any single prop.
Q. What about tablet share -- is it as important as smartphone share?
A. Jeff Huber: tablets doing well, lot of growth in that segment. Dynamics -- hybrid between mobile and desktop when you look at user behavior. Optimistic about Honeycomb. Xoom was product of the show at CES in January. More products, more innovation.
Enable advertisers to target tablets, which will help that segment.
Q. Employee bonuses and social -- define success?
A. This is an internal matter. We focus a strategy across many platforms, we wanted to signal to employees that social is an important signal and worth investing. No further comment.
Q. Search important, but engagement might be more important. Have you looked at 70/20/10 and think about shifting to build greater engagement? Look at how other products and services can be integrated in?
A. Web in general, how platforms are growing, we're focusing in areas where engagement matters. Local, mobile, YouTube, all about engagement. Mobile, Chrome. Technology fuels engagement. At highest level, search itself is more engaged today than it was 3 years ago. It's part of our strategy.
Q. Engagement through frequency rather than share of time.
A. When you are in YouTube, you're spending more time in YouTube. Android phone, now visiting and in town, additional signals sharing with friends etc.
Q. Does Chrome give you potential to create unique products, apps, content services?
A. Huber: great opportunities in that. Chrome Web Store -- same model as Android Market, bringing it to that platform.
Q. How much is a mobile user worth today, and how do you think about larger acquisitions?
A. Can't answer about mobile user. Look at our focus, we're very excited about mobile. Great potential there. Monetization side -- click to call ads. Locally targeted ads, ability to engage users where they are. Smartphone will be way people do everything -- inform, entertain. It will merge.
Q. Do you think value can go up order of magnitude in 3 years?
A. Wojcicki: very early in what mobile can do. Will grow overall opportunity, overall pie.
Nobody is going to say a substantive thing about acquisitions.
We haven't found big one that will significantly accelerate our growth. We have a really focused agenda, don't want massive distraction. Google is a specific culture --- big acquisition must be both financially sensible and cultural fit. "That's a pretty high bar to pass."
Q. Non cost-per-click ads -- what kind of growth are you seeing? And does Google have a video strategy outside of user-generated content?
A. We have new people on board with YouTube to expand beyond user-generated.
Huber: user-generated is huge. But we're interested in "long-form premium content," another area is developing content of, by, and for new medium being created. Next New Networks acquisition was there.
Wojcicki: we're allowing advertiser to bid with CPA (cost per action) then Google figures out CPC (per click) in background. Also CPM (per impression). Depends on whether advertisers are more performance or ad-driven. As we introduce new kinds of ads for brand advertising, CPM will become a bigger deal.
Q. How bad was Japan? You also said 350k Android activations per day -- can you give breakdown smartphone v tablet and US v international?
A. Our first response to the events was to help the Japanese community. People finding people and disaster recovery. Focus on community, not optimizing revenue.
Tons of searches, by the way, but not monetizable searches. Japan is great market for us. Historically they bounce back fast. We can't predict how will rebound on advertising, but it's a 1st world economy that will recover.
Huber: Android. Not going to answer the question. But we have strong partnerships in Europe, Japan, Korea, and international is growing. Android is relatively early on in tablets, Honeycomb just came out. Big innovations coming.
It’s not such a wonderful time to be a doctor, patient, hospital, health plan or pharma company, but judging by the quality and quantity of entries received for this edition of the HWR, it’s a wonderful time to be a wonk.
A couple weeks ago CMS released draft rules for Accountable Care Organizations. Several bloggers weighed in on that development:
- Mark McClellan and Elliott Fisher at Health Affairs provide some historical context and argue that “those who care deeply about health care reform all have a common interest in the success of ACOs as a way of avoiding more classic fee-for-service payment cuts to providers.”
- On a more downbeat note, The Road to Health concludes, “Dr. Berwick and his colleagues at CMS appear to have taken the ACO concept and made it into a financial program that only delusional practice administrators, or physician organizations bent on financial self-destruction, could love.”
- The Healthcare IT Guy expects ACOs to be “far more lucrative and disruptive than Meaningful Use and likely to yield more patient quality improvements.”
- GE Healthcare puts the emphasis on ACO change management challenges: “Healthcare executives and management teams are left to focus on preparing their organizations for a cultural shift of seismic proportions.”
- HealthBlawg reviews the proposed rules and produces 8 takeaways. #2: “This is the Frankenstein regulation: A Medicare beneficiary must sit on the board of the ACO, CMS must approve all marketing materials before they are used.”
In the midst of the battle over funding the 2011 budget, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan came out with a plan to radically restructure Medicare and Medicaid starting in 2012:
- The Apothecary likes much of what he sees and thinks the proposal may force Democrats to devise a credible plan of their own
- John C. Goodman’s Health Policy Blog contrasts PPACA and the Ryan plan. “Obviously, the path we are on leads to an impossible place. So the only question is whether we are going to get off the current path in a planned, orderly way or whether we are going to let unplanned chaos do the trick.”
- Wright on Health is less impressed and wonders, “if Rep. Ryan is so adamant about reducing the deficit, why is he cutting taxes for the wealthy and cutting programs for the poor and the elderly?”
- Managed Care Matters is decidedly unswayed. “If you were looking for real solutions to the health cost problem, you’re going to be sorely disappointed… Unfortunately, he’s fallen into the same trap his Democratic colleagues did with their version of health reform – the Ryan plan does little to address costs.”
- The Incidental Economist takes issue with Ryan’s plan to convert Medicaid to block grants and cut spending. “Should Medicaid be cut back, more people will be uninsured. Contrary to what some wish you to believe, those who become uninsured will suffer worse health outcomes”
As if the ACO rules and Ryan plan weren’t enough, there’s more on Medicare in the blogosphere:
- The Covert Rationing Blog –always good for a lighthearted pick me up– “asserts that we are one giant step closer to the day when it will become illegal for all Americans to spend their own money on their own healthcare.”
- Dr. Liberty discusses CMS’s deliberations on whether to pay for Provenge, a pricey prostate drug. “Decisions are made on the basis of politics, and the drive is to cover everything, leading to higher costs.”
Amid all the federal policy blogging, there’s still some room for technology talk:
- Healthcare Talent Transformation has had it with Health Net’s repeated goof up’s leading to loss of confidential data. Although it may seem like there’s not much the average person can do, the blog argues, “You can make an impact on the security of your sensitive data by conducting due diligence when it comes to your insurance provider.”
- The Healthcare Blog offers a video collage of the new Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health. “The Center is a pretty fascinating place–part tech and idea showcase and part meeting room. Certainly no other health care organization that I’m aware of has spent so much on a place designed to stimulate the imagination and enhance conversation–under the nose of the folks on Capitol Hill.”
- Meaningful HIT News features a podcast with mHealth Initiative’s Peter Waegemann, who’s shifted over from EMRs to ride the mobile wave
- Healthcare Economist delves into new papers that, “examined how to develop accurate algorithms to account for cancer stage in studies using claims data.”
It was encouraging to receive a couple submissions about journalism:
- Disease Care Management Blog asks, “Is the kerfuffle over National Public Radio (NPR) the long delayed comeuppance for liberal bias run amok, or a narrow-minded attack on the inconvenient truths from journalistic excellence?” The blog reaches into the world of medicine and discusses of “framing” and its impact on patient decision making to provide an answer
- HealthNews ReviewBlog cites, “daily evidence of the need for improvement in health care journalism – especially when we see examples like hype of a tiny, preliminary study of strawberries for esophageal cancer.”
We always have room in the Health Wonk Review for some posts on medical ethics:
- Nuts for Healthcare looks at the pharma industry and concludes, “Doctors need to take a more definitive stand against the specter of industry influence. A good target? Industry sponsorship of continuing medical education.”
- Health Care Renewal is concerned that so-called government run programs are more private than we think. “The majority of Medicaid has been out-sourced to private health care insurance companies… We need to have some real discussions about the rise of corporatism in US health care, in other aspects of US society and around the world.”
And finally, a few odds and ends
- Workers’ Comp Insider provides resources for employers concerned about radiation exposure
- Colorado Health Insurance Insider chronicles the decline of bipartisanship in the creation of a health insurance exchange for that state. “Healthcare reform has become such a polarized topic that it’s difficult for lawmakers to have any stance other than for it or against it. Even though the health insurance exchanges would be marketplaces that sell private health insurance, the word ‘exchange’ has been thrown around so much during the reform debates that many opponents of the PPACA see it as synonymous with ‘ObamaCare.’”
- Last week I went to a health care direct to consumer marketing conference to see former TimeWarner CEO Jerry Levin interviewed by OrganizedWisdom CEO Steve Krein. I also shared my thoughts in the video clip below
Thanks for reading the Health Wonk Review! The Incidental Economist hosts the next edition.
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NBC <b>News</b>, CNBC, MSNBC All Particpating in NBCU's 2011 'Earth Week <b>...</b>
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Google <b>News</b> Blog: New Google <b>News</b> for Opera Mini
While the Google News team has been hard at work redesigning our service for smartphones, we've also been thinking about our milllions of users around the world who access the web not from a smartphone, but from a feature phone, ...
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