"How to negotiate the nation's top hospitals for cancer" It's National Cancer Awareness Month, and NBC senior national correspondent Kate Snow joins TODAY with a look at the world-class cancer care that's available if you just know who and how to ask. A cancer survivor describes how she chose her care. Among the recommendations for people with a cancer diagnosis: Work with a medical advocate, and don't delay.

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"It is therefore imperative to invest in decentralized and privacy preserving technologies, like blockchain, verifiable computing and federated learning to create cyber-resilient systems. We need to invest in providing self-sovereign digital identities (DID) to all (SDG 16.9), because without an identity we are invisible. We are unable to access healthcare, vote, open a bank account, get employment and at risk for exploitation and trafficking. Owning our digital identity provides accurate population data, while governments and organizations can monitor key demographics, public health indicators and deliver basic human services and socio-economic planning without the risk of surveillance and exclusion."

"Cahana broke down the possibilities presented by distributed ledger technology. "Blockchain offers an operational environment that allows us to analyze data at its source. We don't need to create these huge data banks that can be hacked and manipulated. We don't need to bring the data to the algorithm, the algorithm can go to the data. It is called federated learning which is like machine learning together with privacy-preserving technologies," said Cahana. "The idea of introducing a whole token economy into healthcare is to transform people from health service consumers to health and wealth producers. As opposed to artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, genomics, telemedicine, and all these things that are innovative and are general-purpose technologies that make things faster, better and cheaper, blockchain really is disruptive in the business model. It really transforms digital healthcare from patient-centric to patient-driven. People can drive their own health similar to how they invest in their wealth.""

By Alex Cahana 1. Why isn't there a doctor in the house? First reason: MD's hate HIT (health information technology) 2. Most MD's have no idea what Blockchain does, let alone what it IS

"Earlier this year, clinical trials of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines indicated that both immunizations appeared to protect for at least six months. Now, a study in the journal Nature provides some hopeful news that these mRNA vaccines may be protective even longer [1]."

"Given the startling statistics of the opioid epidemic, it's no surprise that many are searching for safer ways to manage their pain. Whether they want to avoid the risks associated with conventional medications or feel they've exhausted other options, more and more people are turning to cannabidiol (CBD) for pain. So, what exactly is CBD? Does it really relieve pain? What does science say? Let's look at some CBD facts and examine the evidence around using CBD for pain."

Christina P. Kantzavelos: "I created this journal because it didn't exist. I was couch-bound due to #lymedisease and a plethora of other diagnoses and symptoms and needed a way to track my physical and mental symptoms, document my nutrition, meds/supplements, challenges, successes, while focusing on self-love, gratitude and visualizations. I needed a way to see the light at the end of the tunnel. "

This is the site for the symposium where Dr. Cahana is speaking. Conference is set in Dubai.

Folks, this recent piece on Medium will help us all get a sense of the big vision driving Dr. Cahana's passions. "UHI Universal Health Income, on the other hand is designed to encourage healthy behaviors (such as vaccinations, prenatal care, periodic or annual check ups) and discourage risky behaviors (like smoking, addiction, not adhering to treatment or in the case of COVID- avoiding social distancing)."

Dr. Cahana mentioned he is speaking tomorrow morning at The Virtual Blockchain in Healthcare Symposium #VBIHS2021   This link is a 9-hour feed from day one.  Lots to skim through. I suspect there is some great information to be 'mined' from all this. 

"Frequently asked questions for charities accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, as well as crypto donors." As we explore blockchain health and all it implies, let's think outside the box about how PHE/PA can accept crypto donations.

Suggested by Gina Soloperta Abstract Background: Due to striking disparities in the implementation of healthcare innovations, it is imperative that researchers and practitioners can meaningfully use implementation determinant frameworks to understand why disparities exist in access, receipt, use, quality, or outcomes of healthcare. Our prior work documented and piloted the first published adaptation of an existing implementation determinant framework with health equity domains to create the Health Equity Implementation Framework. We recommended integrating these three health equity domains to existing implementation determinant frameworks: (1) culturally relevant factors of recipients, (2) clinical encounter or patient-provider interaction, and (3) societal context (including but not limited to social determinants of health). This framework was developed for healthcare and clinical practice settings. Some implementation teams have begun using the Health Equity Implementation Framework in their evaluations and asked for more guidance. Methods: We completed a consensus process with our authorship team to clarify steps to incorporate a health equity lens into an implementation determinant framework. Results: We describe steps to integrate health equity domains into implementation determinant frameworks for implementation research and practice. For each step, we compiled examples or practical tools to assist implementation researchers and practitioners in applying those steps. For each domain, we compiled definitions with supporting literature, showcased an illustrative example, and suggested sample quantitative and qualitative measures. Conclusion: Incorporating health equity domains within implementation determinant frameworks may optimize the scientific yield and equity of implementation efforts by assessing and ideally addressing implementation and equity barriers simultaneously. These practical guidance and tools provided can assist implementation rese

Recommended by Gina Soloperto: "Applying lessons from behavioral economics, health systems are using "nudges" to influence the choices clinicians make."

"The use of telehealth services has expanded dramatically since the onset of COVID-19, driven by necessity and enabled by emergency changes to the policy landscape. To assess the implications of this broad expansion, the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging, Center for Public Health, and FasterCures analyzed recent policy updates and trends related to telehealth and put forward a series of actionable recommendations. This brief discusses recent legislative and regulatory changes and identifies opportunities to scale access to services, foster health equity, and support innovation in the months and years ahead."

"People Science is a tech-led platform that will connect health minded people, research scientists, and healthcare providers in an effort to unlock the potential of alternative medicines. Too little is known about alternative medicines like medical cannabis, prebiotics and probiotics, nutritional supplements, psychedelics, and other plant-based medicines. That's about to change. Our goal is to help people understand which alternative medicines can best help them on their path to wellness. Doctors will learn more too. By connecting health minded people with doctors and research scientists on our cutting edge platform, C.H.L.O.E., we will advance our collective knowledge of alternative medicines. This will also assist manufacturers to develop better products backed by rigorous scientific testing and research."

DeAunne Denmark, MD. Phd "This is a good recent webinar with some details about how their platform works on both patient and enterprise sides, and frames why "context" is so important, and how it can be analyzed as a part of imperfect, complex real-world datasets. Drives home that the types of analytics needed for this are actually not new - used extensively already on consumers for marketing, sales, etc. and have been for awhile. Also good segment about patient consent and data rights - values, integrity, respect."