40 million people have no health insurance, 20 million kids live in poverty, the obesity epidemic remains unchecked…and The Tone Deaf Entrepreneur releases THIS?

Noted VC firm invests $10m in company led by The Tone Deaf Entrepreneur.

TechCrunch all over incredible story of The Tone Deaf Entrepreneur.

Tone Deaf app fastest-ever to 1 million downloads.

Three months pass.

No one is using the Tone Deaf app. People can’t remember who The Tone Deaf Entrepreneur is. Noted VC firm updates portfolio company list.

40 million people still have no health insurance, 20 million kids still live in poverty and the obesity epidemic remains unchecked, still.

Sigh.

Budget Impasse Unlikely To Affect EHR Incentive Payouts. Despite the ongoing stalemate in federal budget negotiations, it is unlikely that Congress will eliminate future funding for incentive payments for the meaningful use of electronic health records, according to David Roberts, VP government relations at HIMSS.

Greenway Medical Files to Go Public. The vendor of integrated physician practice management/electronic health records software has filed for a $100 million initial public offering of stock.

Tobacco Use in Movies Continues Dramatic Drop. The number of onscreen tobacco incidents in youth-rated (G, PG, or PG-13) movies continued a downward trend, decreasing 71.6% from 2,093 incidents in 2005 to 595 in 2010, the CDC reported. The rate of decline varied substantially by motion picture company.

Kids Safer With Granny Behind the Wheel. Grandma may be better behind the wheel than mom when it comes to injuries from car crashes involving children, an insurance database showed.

Supply of Essential Medicines Falls Short in US Hospitals. Shortages of common medicines have reached a record high and are a nearly universal problem for community hospitals in the US, where the problem is leading to rationing and higher costs for care.

Opioid Implant Cuts Positive Urine Screens. An implantable formulation of the opioid addiction drug buprenorphine (Probuphine) kept more patients “clean” over six months than did a sham implant, according to drug maker Titan Pharmaceuticals.

AIDS Drugs Can Prevent Infection, Studies Show. Two new studies show that AIDS drugs can prevent heterosexuals from acquiring HIV, adding to a growing number of methods to slow the spread of the virus. Many researchers now believe that we have developed sufficient tools to contain the pandemic, though tight budgets may limit their deployment.

Antipsychotic Drugs Used Commonly for Parkinson’s Disease. Despite warnings about the risks of using antipsychotics to treat older patients at risk for dementia, the powerful drugs are routinely prescribed to elderly Parkinson’s patients.

Stinky Foot Odor May Prevent Malaria Deaths. Researchers at the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania are developing traps using natural and artificial foot odors to lure mosquitoes and prevent them from spreading diseases like malaria, in a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Small Physician Practices Not Using Key EHR Features. Few small and midsize physician practices use electronic health record system functions that are seen as essential components of patient-centered medical home model of care, according to a study. Features include care coordination, electronic disease registries, e-prescribing and online communication with patients.

Docs Averse to Sharing Patient Data, Even for Public Health. When it comes to disclosing identifiable patient information, family doctors are reluctant to do so – even for public health purposes such as tracking influenza, according to a recent study.

The Hype on Hypoallergenic Dogs Is Just That, Study Warns. So-called hypoallergenic dogs do not produce fewer allergens like dander and fur, and are hence are no less likely to make you sneeze than other dogs, a new study says.

Fitview Gives Personal Trainers A Comprehensive Fitness And Coaching Platform. The new startup launched yesterday, hoping to help personal trainers better connect with their clients and the general public.  Fitview is launching as a comprehensive SaaS for fitness trainers to upload a fitness curriculum, keep track of client progress and more.

Tennessee’s Telehealth Program in Disarray amid Fraud Investigation. A non-profit charged with managing Tennessee’s telehealth network is shutting down amid claims that two former executives stole or misused more than $1 million in grant funding.

Survey Finds High Rate of Spanking in Kids under Age 2. Thirty percent of North Carolina mothers of children less than 2 two years old say they have spanked their children in the last year, a concern since being spanked is associated with poor self-esteem, mental health problems and substance abuse.

Poor are Healthier with Medicaid. Enrolling patients in Medicaid increases their use of healthcare services, reduces financial strain on these impoverished patients and improves their sense of well-being, according to a randomized study.

Romance Novels are Bad for Your Health. The novels’ escapist fantasies can get confused with reality, leading women to make poor choices, according to psychologist Susan Quilliam. Real-life sex is not always perfect, relationships are not always smooth and pregnancies are not always trouble-free, she said.

MIT Researchers Use iPhone To Detect Cataracts. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed Catra, a cheap plastic lens that clips onto the iPhone’s screen. Catra software can provide a diagnosis within minutes and requires no training.

Scientists Fear Spread of a Gonorrhea Superbug. Scientists announced the discovery of a new, antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea in Japan, raising concern among health officials worldwide.

Grand Rounds is up at InsureBlog. The “It’s Up To Us” edition focuses on personal responsibility. It features an article from Pizaazz.

In the 12 years since our government acknowledged we had a problem with racial disparities in health care, we’ve made significant progress in reducing them.  Steep declines in the prevalence of cigarette smoking among African Americans have narrowed the gap in lung cancer death rates between them and whites, for example. Inner city kids have better food choices at school. The 3-decade rise in obesity rates, steepest among minorities, has leveled off.

Still, racial disparities persist across the widest possible range of health services and disease states in our country. The racial gap in colorectal cancer mortality has widened since the 1980s. Overall cancer death rates are 24% higher among African Americans. Sixteen percent of African American adults and 17% of Hispanic adults report their health to be fair or poor, whereas only 10% of white American adults say that. The number of African Americans and Hispanics who report having access to a primary care physician is 30-50% lower than white folks who have one.

How can EMRs Help?
Many studies that rely on EMRs for data collection or care coordination have shown them to have great potential as tools that can reduce racial disparities in health care. For example, a 2009 study showed that post-market surveillance using patient data stored in an EMR could have detected cardiovascular complications from the diabetes drug, Avandia much faster than traditional methods. That’s a plus because African Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately affected by diabetes. Another study showed that patient data from EMRs could identify patients at high risk for domestic abuse, which is more common in some minority populations. A third study showed that EMRs improved care coordination for patients with kidney failure, a condition that disproportionately affects African Americans.

Some of the Federal government’s Meaningful Use criteria may also reduce these disparities, once they fully take effect. The requirement that providers use clinical decision support tools embedded within EMRs holds promise in this regard. CDS tools whose development was underwritten by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality incorporate care management strategies designed specifically for minority populations, for example. In addition, Meaningful Use also requires providers to record patient demographic information in the EMR, and this development will likely increase the research value of the patient data contained in these systems.

But There is a Problem
Unfortunately, the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey suggests that EMR adoption rates are lower among providers who serve minority populations. A study by Jha and colleagues confirmed these findings and also demonstrated that hospitals which served Hispanic and African American patients provided lower quality care. However, among the disproportionate-share hospitals that did use EMRs in Jha’s study, the quality gap disappeared. Jha’s group concluded that EMRs helped mitigate quality issues in hospitals where poor people and minorities received care.

Studies like these prompted David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for HIT at the time, to implore EMR vendors to help assure that the financial incentives associated HITECH would not create a “digital divide,” in which disproportionate care hospitals fell further behind their brethren.

“It is absolutely necessary that the leading EHR vendors work together, continuing to provide EHR adoption opportunities for physicians and other healthcare providers working within underserved communities of color,” Blumenthal said. 

So Where We Stand Now?
So far as I know, only 2 vendors have stepped up to the plate in this regard (please let me know of others!). The first is Practice Fusion, which has a longstanding policy of partnering with free clinics, non-profits and community health organizations to help spread the benefits inherent to EMRs to patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Practice Fusion provides an ad-free version of its EMR along with specialized training, customizations, hardware guidance and implementation assistance to qualified non-profit organizations (Disclosure: I served for 2 years as Sr. VP Clinical Affairs and own stock in this company).

More recently, Quest Diagnostics rolled-out a new initiative in conjunction with HHS’ Office of Minority Health to help improve EMR adoption among small healthcare practices serving medically underserved and minority populations in the Houston area.

Quest is waiving 85% of the cost of EMR licenses for its cloud-based Care360 EMR for 75 qualifying practices (Stark Laws require some payment, according to Quest). The offer includes subscription fees and assistance with education and training.

These companies are to be congratulated. More vendors should step up as well. EMRs hold great promise as tools to reduce racial disparities in health care in our country. 

Industries Lobby Against Nutrition Guidelines. The food and advertising industries have launched a multi-pronged campaign against government efforts to create voluntary nutritional guidelines for foods marketed to children.

Electronic Glasses Can Read Emotions. The ‘emo-specs’ use a camera to record facial motions and facial expression software that interprets the wearer’s emotions based on a database of previously-collected facial expressions. The emotion is then displayed visually within the glasses.

Unlocking Dyslexia in Japanese. Scientists have shown that some dyslexics have an easier time with a character-based language like Japanese, than a language based on phonemes, like English. The observations could help improve teaching techniques for affected individuals.

Colorectal Cancer Screenings Make a Difference. Increased screening during the last decade for colorectal cancer, the nation’s second-leading cause of cancer deaths, has put a dent in the prevalence of the disease and in the number of deaths resulting from it, the CDC said.

CMS Pilot Programs to Analyze Quality Data Collection via EHRs. CMS rules proposed last week provide new details of pilot programs aimed at testing online reporting of clinical quality data from electronic health records.

ONC Agrees to Delay Stage 2 Meaningful Use. The national coordinator for health information technology announced that he’s supporting a delay in Stage 2 of electronic health records meaningful use by one year to 2014 for providers who attest to Stage 1 in 2011.

Celebrex Might Prevent Lung Cancer in Former Smokers. Early studies suggest the Cox-2 inhibitor, which is normally used to treat arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, prevents a proliferation of cells that is linked to lung cancer.

Review Raises Doubt about Cutting Salt Intake. Researchers have found no evidence that moderate cuts to salt intake reduce the risk of developing heart disease or dying prematurely, though it does lead to slight reductions in blood pressure.

Medical Tourism Market Slow to Grow. Traveling abroad for medical procedures was touted as a trend and it even has its own trade group, the Medical Tourism Association. However, some question whether it’s as big a growth market as once thought.

Late-Talking Toddlers Grow Out of Behavioral Problems. Kids who aren’t uttering words by age 2 have no increased risk of behavioral or emotional problems when they reach elementary school, and usually outgrow the language delay on their own, a study shows.

Patients Pick Hospitals for their Social Media Presence. In a survey, 57% of consumers said that a hospital’s social media connections would strongly affect their decision to receive treatment at that facility, according YouGov Healthcare. 81% consider a hospital with an active online presence to be more “cutting edge.”

eRx Systems May Not Reduce Medication Errors. Outpatient electronic prescribing systems don’t cut out the common mistakes made in manual systems, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Medicare to Keep Paying for Avastin. Medicare will continue to pay for bevacizumab (Avastin) when it’s used to treat metastatic breast cancer, even if the FDA decides to remove that indication from the drug, a CMS spokesman said.

Mass. General Disciplines Three Psychiatrists. The Harvard-affiliated teaching hospital disclosed sanctions against Joseph Biederman, Thomas Spencer and Timothy Wilens for violating hospital ethics guidelines by failing to adequately report seven-figure payments they received from drug companies.

Facebook To Unveil Skype-Powered Video Chat Next Week. The social networking behemoth reportedly will unveil a Skype-powered video chat platform later this week.  The move may be a response to Google+, the search giant’s answer to Facebook, which already has a group video chat feature.

Next Virus Victim: Your Doctor’s Or Nurse’s iPad? Networked devices used by medical personnel are vulnerable to viruses and security threats, requiring careful teamwork between IT and clinical engineering, experts say.

New York City’s Ban on Smoking Called ‘an Absolute Joke’. In the first month of the Big Apple’s new smoking ban in 1,700 parks and along 14 miles of beaches, the city issued exactly one ticket.

Diabetes Drug May Help Others Lose Weight. The diabetes drug liraglutide (Victoza), touted for its weight-loss effects in that patient population, may also help non-diabetic patients keep pounds off, researchers said.

Nearly 10% of the World’s Adults Have Diabetes. In addition, the prevalence of the disease is rising rapidly, researchers found. Increased obesity and inactivity are the primary reasons in wealthy nations and developing nations as well.

RunKeeper Adds New Integration to its Health Graph. The company has been building a tool to identify correlations between a user’s eating habits, workout schedule, social interactions and more, according to TechCrunch.