Medical Social Neworking

While this may stray a bit outside the idea of a networked system for healthcare data and information, social networking (see The Greater IBM Connection, a program I've been helping to build over the last year) is a topic that does more than just reflect or hint at the value of connected intelligence in healthcare.

So I was delighted to stumble on this image, via The Healthcare IT's blog, of a social network for docs called Sermo.

 

 

I also like the way this image illustrates the cascading effects of social networks, and the richness of interactions that may happen, unseen, when a community of shared interests get some momentum.

This also echoes everything that I've been reading in Wikinomics, about the ways in which massive collaborations, often across traditional organizational borders, are becoming the new fount of innovation.

Greater IBM is gathering momentum, I hope, with more  than 6,500 members, a new phalanx of editorial content, a German version that could serve as pilot or model for other country or sector level sub-networks.

Finally, since one of my other frontiers of work is virtual worlds (where IBM is making serious strides to lead the world in), I think that the explosive growth of new virtual worlds is emblematic of the same force that is poised to change healthcare, business and society as we know it: the ability for very large groups of people, and large systems of data and information, to be brought together and harnessed in extraordinary new ways.

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[Julie Trade Levitch]

CENIGENT LAUNCHES AN INNOVATIVE AND ADVANCED
GENOMIC-BASED HEALTHCARE PROGRAM FOR HEALTHY AGING
Leading-edge medical practice’s personalized, genomic-based, total systems approach to healthcare challenging the current medical system with a better way to care for patients.

SANTA MONICA, CA, April 16, 2008 – After five years of development, California-based medical practice CENIGENT (www.cenigent.com) announced today the official launch of the CENIGENT Peak Health & Vitality Program™, the first medical program in the United States that encompasses a systems approach to health assessments, personalized genomic testing, customized recommendations, advanced cellular biomarkers, predictive total-body MRI imaging tests, and other diagnostics to predict, prevent, and treat chronic diseases and unique health risks. The program is designed to restore the core systems, that when not functioning properly can lead to age-related chronic diseases, via both a 52-week personalized therapeutic plan and a close year-long, patient-physician partnership in an unrushed, non-threatening environment.

Currently, there are several companies providing genetic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) testing since the completion of the Human Genome Project. However, CENIGENT is the only medical practice using this 21st century technology and the first to introduce an innovative four-tiered process that includes 1. a systems approach, 2. advanced testing (500+ cell biomarkers, genetic SNPs, predictive total body MRI imaging and other diagnostics, 3. customized research and recommendations for personalized therapies, 4. a close, year-long physician/patient partnership to reach optimum health.

“As an internist, I was dissatisfied with the current healthcare system,” states Lida Ghaderi, MD, founder and medical director of CENIGENT. “Its limited delivery and disease-oriented approach lags behind our scientific advancements, primarily looking at disease and end-symptoms of disease, providing quick-fix solutions, short office visits, limited time with patients, close scrutiny of insurance companies and the strong influence of drug companies. I methodically developed the CENIGENT program over the past five years with the passion and mission to eliminate the current deficits in healthcare, while offering patients the existing and ongoing advancements in many leading-edge medical disciplines, including the enduring discoveries from the Human Genome Project.”

Dr. Ghaderi, a board certified internist with a Medical Doctorate Degree from UC San Diego Medical School, has a unique background in both research and a variety of clinical settings that has enabled her to develop the CENIGENT systems approach that incorporates both state-of-the-art research and the latest advancements in clinical care and personalized genomics.

CENIGENT’s name is derived from the following eight core systems of the body that define the infrastructure of health, which the program assesses and optimizes:

C – Cellular System (cellular metabolic and mitochondria)
E – Endocrine System (hormones)
N – Nervous System
I – Immune System
G – Genetics System (SNPs and mutation)
E – Epigenetics System (factors influencing gene expression)
N – Nutrigenomics (genetics + nutrition)
T – Thought System (giving rise to chronic stress)

“State-of-the-art science and research makes evident that these systems are much more interrelated than what was previously believed,” says Dr. Ghaderi. “A decline or dysregulation in any of these eight CENIGENT systems can lead to a variety of age-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, cancer, autoimmune, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, menopause, andropause among others. Unlike traditional medicine that may treat some of these systems only after disease is present, or treating the end-symptoms of disease, the CENIGENT Program takes the proactive approach of predicting individual health risks, genetic weaknesses, and susceptibilities in advance of emergence with the aim of preventing future disease, improving current health problems, repairing past damage, and eventually restoring each of the eight CENIGENT systems to optimal functioning. This can only be accomplished with a personalized medically formulated treatment, restorative plan and a close patient-physician partnership to allow optimal health.”

For patients, the level of personal attention at the CENIGENT facility is unlike anything that they have ever experienced. With flexible office hours that can last from one to three hours, having access to the physician’s cell phone, same-day appointments, no waiting room time, transportation to off-site testing centers, and the availability of on-site medspa services, the VIP treatment is an incredibly refreshing change for those who have experienced the harried service of many doctors. In fact, unlike most practices that care for hundreds or thousands of patients, each CENIGENT doctor cares for no more than 70 in a year.

About CENIGENT Health Enhancement Medical Institute, Inc.
Based in Santa Monica, California, CENIGENT Health Enhancement Medical Institute, Inc. has the distinction of being the first medical practice in the United States that offers a genomic based, systems approach to healthcare that is proactive, predictive, preventive, personalized-therapeutic, and restorative. By utilizing leading-edge clinical and scientific research, the latest advancements in cellular testing, total-body MRI based imaging tests and medical care, as well as a close physician-patient partnership and concierge benefits, CENIGENT is focused on providing its limited and exclusive patient members an unprecedented level of personal attention combined with the most comprehensive solutions and personalized therapies to prevent and treat diseases and to facilitate optimal health and healthy aging. CENIGENT is a privately held medical corporation. Please, visit www.cenigent.com for more information.

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[Dailey Pike]

Read Dr. Lida Ghaderi's informative blog on predictive and preventive medicine at http://DrLidaGhaderi.blogspot.com

[Rachael]

Thanks for the information...I bookmarked your site, and I appreciate your time and effort to make your blog a success!