Health Technology

Physicians writing on KevinMD about the technology in the exam room: the electronic record and what it did to the visit, meaningful use, alert fatigue, pajama time, human and AI scribes and whether they give time back, ambient documentation, telemedicine, and what AI can do in clinical practice now and who is responsible when it is wrong. Two maintained records draw on this archive: The electronic health record: what physicians say, in their own words and Artificial intelligence: what physicians say, in their own words.

AMA working to improve e-prescribing incentives and help physicians adopt health IT

Cecil B. Wilson, MD

Health Technology

August 11, 2011

A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

Health IT holds the promise of improving the efficiency of a physician’s practice, but physicians can easily become overwhelmed by the broad range of products and the multiple, varying federal incentive and penalty programs currently underway. The American Medical Association (AMA) continues to be in close contact with the Centers for …

How to choose a better health app

Alexander V. Prokhorov, MD, PhD

Health Technology

August 11, 2011

From helping you wake up rested to getting couch potatoes ready for a 5K, there really is an app for everything.

But when it comes to health apps, many don’t get the job done.

Companies are often in such a hurry to sell their app that they don’t conduct a study to see if users will adopt real, lasting change. And, app stores don’t have medical reviewers who make sure health …

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How to choose a better health app

Google gave up on electronic personal health records, but we shouldn’t

Ross Koppel, PhD

Health Technology

August 11, 2011

Which will improve a person’s health more? Running around the block for 20 minutes or sitting at a computer entering their cholesterol and blood pressure readings?

The answer is one reason why Google’s decision to end its electronic personal health record (PHR) service offers important lessons about health IT and will affect the way patients get their health information and the way physicians communicate with their patients.

A recent survey …

Wireless devices will dramatically change how medicine is practiced

Stephen C. Schimpff, MD

Health Technology

August 9, 2011

I interviewed about 150 medical leaders just a few years ago for my book The Future of Medicine – Megatrends in Healthcare. Not one mentioned wireless devices as a coming megatrend. How fast the world changes! Nowadays everyone has a cell phone and we rarely stop to think that just two decades ago almost no one had them. We have a laptop or tablet computer that can access information from the web …

Unintended consequences of patient portals

Steve Wilkins, MPH

Health Technology

August 9, 2011

There seems to be an inverse relationship between the amount of spin one hears about “the next big thing” and reality. First it was EMRs and virtual e-visits, then social media, and now patient portals seem poised to be next big thing. The drumbeat of vendors and pundits is unmistakable: physician that don’t adapt will be toast. It can all sound pretty convincing until you ask to see the evidence. …

What to consider when adding the Apple iPad to your medical practice

Peter J. Polack, MD

Health Technology

August 9, 2011

The variety of new technology coming into the market can sometime make one’s head spin. Physicians are especially vulnerable to the call of the latest, greatest gadget. The Apple iPad certainly fits the bill when it comes to the consumer – entertainment, apps, great design. But can that translate to the environment of the medical practice? A lot of experts seem to think so, although none of them are actually …

Angry Birds: A psychiatrist explains the addiction

Dinah Miller, MD

Health Technology

August 8, 2011

Joe Frisch is a staff scientist at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University. Dr. Frisch writes: “I wonder when we will start seeing really addictive games banned? I don’t know what makes games addictive though. Angry birds is a mystery to me – there is no ongoing story line, you don’t really gain any abilities as the game …

Is the iPad too big for medicine?

David Ahn, MD

Health Technology

August 2, 2011

The iPad has been a mind-blowing success, and we’ve been regularly covering the excitement about the potential it offers to doctors and hospitals.

However, it’s important to continue innovating, and I propose that a 7 or 8 inch iPad Mini (Or Nano, if you prefer) would be the next logical step for Apple, as it offers an ideal blend of screen real estate and portability that both the iPhone and …

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Is the iPad too big for medicine?

The loss of eloquence in EMR notes

Deep Ramachandran, MD

Health Technology

August 2, 2011

Much has been made of the downside of the increasing use of EMR systems by physicians. But I am not going to dwell on those pervasive complaints concerning the cost and complexity of setting up the systems. Nor shall I rehash the well known issue of what I call “doc blocking” … wherein a computer (or other entity) stands between the patient and physician, slowing the exchange of information to however many words can be typed per …

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The loss of eloquence in EMR notes

How secure messaging helps this doctor connect with patients

Jeff Livingston, MD

Health Technology

July 27, 2011

I commented on a blog post recently that cited a recent study called “Secure web messaging between patients and doctors: Not well received.” I was pleased to see that other professionals who left comments had the same reaction I did to the study: it is simply not accurate. I have 4,900 patients and five other physicians in our practice who can attest that secure messaging, when used the …

Using technology to completely rethink the patient encounter

Gary Patterson

Health Technology

July 19, 2011

It’s time that we rethink the doctor’s office encounter. It’s inefficient for doctor and patient, and doesn’t optimize care for those that need it most. Everyone is treated the same, even though not every illness or medical need has the same urgency.

To get to see a doctor I have to make an appointment days or even weeks in advance. I have to drive over to the complex, find parking or …

Public and private cloud computing at a hospital

John Halamka, MD

Health Technology

July 15, 2011

In a meeting with senior management at Harvard Medical School, one of our leaders asked, “What is our cloud strategy?”

My answer to this is simple. The public cloud (defined as the rapid provisioning and de-provisioning of CPU cycles, software licenses, and storage) is good for many things, such as web hosting or non-critical applications that do not contain patient or confidential information.

At Harvard Medical …

How might we think about EHRs globally while acting locally?

Brian Klepper, PhD and David C. Kibbe, MD, MBA

Health Technology

July 6, 2011

American health care information technology is undergoing two enormous leaps.

First, it is moving onto Web-based and mobile platforms – which are less expensive and facilitate information exchange – and away from client-server enterprise-centric technologies, which are more expensive and have limited interoperability. In addition, more EHR development activity is headed into the cloud, driven by large consumer-based firms with the technological depth to take it there. Both these trends …

Medicine and the examples of unintended effects of technology

Mike Koriwchak, MD

Health Technology

July 3, 2011

The interaction of humans and technology will always be unpredictable. A few months ago this thought was driven home to me in a rather malodorous manner.

I have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and use a CPAP machine every night to sleep comfortably. With OSA your airway collapses when you fall asleep. A CPAP machine is a small technological marvel, quietly delivering heated, humidified air under gentle pressure through a …

Online physician access is key to future patient communications

Aaron George, DO

Health Technology

June 30, 2011

Imagine using Skype to contact your physician for a consult.

In the midst of this rapidly progressing technologic era, our delivery of medical services is being transformed by health information technology (HIT), electronic medical records (EMR), and advanced telecommunications. In meeting criteria for “meaningful use,” physicians are driven to use these technologies to empower patients with communication through electronic medical records. A primary goal is to allow patients to …

Google Health failed because consumers did not see the value of a PHR

Kent Bottles, MD

Health Technology

June 29, 2011

To measure is to know.

-Lord Kelvin

If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.
-Lord Kelvin

Versus:

Asking science to explain life and vital matters is equivalent to asking a grammarian to explain poetry.
-Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Technology is at its best when it is invisible.
-Nassim Nicholas Taleb

How can technology help us live healthier lives? Why did Google Health fail? Why are Klout and Twitter Grader publicly issuing a number to me …

The difference between an ambulatory and hospital EHR

Robert Rowley, MD

Health Technology

June 19, 2011

What difference is there between an inpatient EHR and an ambulatory EHR?

The difference is quite significant, actually. Let’s start by looking a little deeper into hospital IT issues, and the evolution of tools that try to address them.

The hospital EHR environment

Traditionally, from an IT perspective, a hospital is not really a single system – it is a collection of systems in various departments.

Over the past few decades, each …

How technology intersects with medicine and its impact on patients

Kevin

Health Technology

June 15, 2011

by Alison McKnight

We are surrounded by technology. No matter where you go, you will find technology rearing its face, whether ugly and ungodly or tempting and beautiful. These advances have brought both good and evil to many professions, especially healthcare.

Twenty years ago, you would not have found signs instructing people to turn off their cell phones in physician offices. Now these signs litter both …

Hospital inefficiencies observed during a surgery rotation

Kevin

Health Technology

June 14, 2011

by Anar Mikailov

I recently finished my surgery rotation at a Level 1 Trauma Hospital in Philadelphia and amidst the ephemeral eight weeks I quickly realized the immense demands of a surgical residency. So, as an avid technology enthusiast and a team member, I took note of inefficient workflows with potential for technology driven solutions. By discussing the observed inefficiencies and potential solutions I hope …

Securing mobile devices in healthcare

Kevin

Health Technology

June 11, 2011

by David Ting

With the mobile market exploding, healthcare IT administrators are now faced with physicians and other clinicians requesting to use their personal devices, such as iPads and iPhones, to access patient information from anywhere, anytime.

With this ability, clinicians are able to make faster decisions for their patients – improving their overall workflow and patient outcomes. This seductive mobile technology, however, is not …

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Securing mobile devices in healthcare