Health technology

1,606 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 74

Why physician practices find it difficult to upgrade their computers to Windows 7

Kevin

January 13, 2010Jan 13, 20103

Originally published in HCPLive.com by Jonathan Bertman, MD I recently talked about Microsoft’s newest desktop operating system, Windows 7, and outlined several reasons why you might want to purchase it when it comes out this year. Windows 7 will include…

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Jonathan Bertman, MD

I recently talked about Microsoft’s newest desktop operating system, Windows 7, and outlined several reasons why you might want to purchase it when it comes out this year. Windows 7 will include some really cool features—like multi-touch technology and usability improvements—that can benefit medical practitioners and their office staff.

Because it is in Microsoft’s best interest …

Protecting the security of electronic patient data

David Harlow

January 12, 2010Jan 12, 20103

Originally published on HCPLive.com If your patient records aren’t already stored digitally, they are likely to be digitized soon. There is a tremendous push by the federal government—as well as by some private payors and self-insured employers—to get all healthcare…

Originally published on HCPLive.com

If your patient records aren’t already stored digitally, they are likely to be digitized soon. There is a tremendous push by the federal government—as well as by some private payors and self-insured employers—to get all healthcare providers wired in the near future, in order to better coordinate patient care, improve outcomes, and “bend the cost curve” all at the same time. There are some financial incentives in …

How health IT can bankrupt healthcare

Alberto Borges, MD

December 8, 2009Dec 8, 20093

Originally published in HCPLive.com by Alberto Borges, MD For those interested in health information technology, there is now an excellent, new, powerful article about this topic entitled, "Can Cleveland Clinic Be a Model for Digital Medicine?" where they discuss how…

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Alberto Borges, MD

For those interested in health information technology, there is now an excellent, new, powerful article about this topic entitled, “Can Cleveland Clinic Be a Model for Digital Medicine?” where they discuss how this hospital system has failed to recoup their $100 million investment to date.

Here is my take on the Cleveland Clinic story, beyond the …

Read more…

How health IT can bankrupt healthcare

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iPhone medical apps can be improved by Google Android

Felasfa Wodajo, MD

December 3, 2009Dec 3, 200910

In a recent post, entitled, Why doctors should choose Google Android over the iPhone for medical apps, the author seems to have gone out of his way to make a series of increasingly hyperbolic arguments declaring Motorola Droid superior to…

The long trail of negative comments on the site demonstrate that perhaps not all readers were swayed by his arguments. …

iPhone radiology app to diagnose appendicitis

MedPage Today

December 2, 2009Dec 2, 2009

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer For years, the pager and cell phone have summoned on-call radiologists to the emergency room. Now this leap in technology: an iPhone App that lets radiologists diagnose a…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

For years, the pager and cell phone have summoned on-call radiologists to the emergency room. Now this leap in technology: an iPhone App that lets radiologists diagnose a patient remotely, wherever they may be.

Using a $20 iPhone application called OsiriX, radiologists made correct diagnoses of appendicitis in 124 of …

The billions spent on electronic health records, and why there’s no way to know if EHRs will save money

Glenn Laffel, MD, PhD

November 30, 2009Nov 30, 20096

Barack Obama is certain that electronic health records (EHRs) can improve the quality of care and the efficiency with which it is delivered. How certain? Certain enough to have bet billions on a program that pays providers to adopt and…

Of course there are many ways to improve quality and efficiency. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) for example, publishes outcomes data for the states’ 172 …

The privacy and security risks of electronic health records

Anthony Niehaus

November 30, 2009Nov 30, 2009

Originally published in HCPLive.com by Anthony Niehaus As part of the 2009 HITECH Act, a national health information technology infrastructure (NHITI) is required for access and use of electronic health records resulting in a more “effective marketplace, greater competition... increased…

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Anthony Niehaus

As part of the 2009 HITECH Act, a national health information technology infrastructure (NHITI) is required for access and use of electronic health records resulting in a more “effective marketplace, greater competition… [and] increased consumer choice (HITECH Act, Section 3001(b)).”

Such a system is not only necessary, but it is cardinal to improving delivery and reducing costs …

How to choose the right electronic health record (EHR) consultant

Kevin

November 19, 2009Nov 19, 20092

Originally published in HCPLive.com by Jonathan Bertman, MD You may have seen advertisements, or may already have been contacted by people who’ve promised to help you figure it all out so you can get your share of the stimulus money.…

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Jonathan Bertman, MD

You may have seen advertisements, or may already have been contacted by people who’ve promised to help you figure it all out so you can get your share of the stimulus money. Be wary. The truth is that the Obama administration is still defining many essential elements of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), and full details about the …

Implementing an EMR or health IT system is harder than it looks

Robert Wachter, MD

October 31, 2009Oct 31, 200917

In 2001, when my colleagues and I ranked nearly 100 patient safety practices on the strength of their supporting evidence (for an AHRQ report), healthcare IT didn’t make the top 25. We took a lot of heat for, as one prominent patient safety advocate chided me, “slowing down the momentum.” Some called us Luddites.

Although we hated to be skunks at the IT party, we felt that the facts spoke for …

Google Android versus the iPhone for medical apps

Jeff Brandt

October 20, 2009Oct 20, 200922

by Jeff Brandt Verizon, Motorola, and Google, along with 9 other cell phone manufactures and countless world carriers, have teamed up to provide a smartphone with the power to deliver useful applications for medicine: the Verizon “Droid” smartphone, based on…

by Jeff Brandt

Verizon, Motorola, and Google, along with 9 other cell phone manufactures and countless world carriers, have teamed up to provide a smartphone with the power to deliver useful applications for medicine: the Verizon “Droid” smartphone, based on the Google Android operating system (OS).

The Droid’s processor is the same processor that powers the iPhone. The main reasons this …

Data entry in EMRs, and why doctors are slow to adopt information technology

Winslow W. Murdoch, MD

September 17, 2009Sep 17, 20098

The Obama healthcare plan hinges on savings achieved through the implementation of electronic medical records (EMRs) and pays doctors $44,000 over 5 years for hardware and software to embrace this evolving technology. Let us not forget however, that garbage in…

In reality, data entry is daunting and by far the most expensive aspect of converting to electronic records. Huge …

A personal health record and using the PHR on a mobile smartphone

Jeff Brandt

September 16, 2009Sep 16, 2009

by Jeff Brandt There is much confusion about Personal Health Record (PHR) in the market today. PHRs are divided into three groups; Mobile SmartPhone (mPHR), Cloud Apps, and other devices such as USB and Smartcards. Each type of PHR serves…

by Jeff Brandt

There is much confusion about Personal Health Record (PHR) in the market today.

PHRs are divided into three groups; Mobile SmartPhone (mPHR), Cloud Apps, and other devices such as USB and Smartcards. Each type of PHR serves a different purpose and provides a useful and needed service. I will speak to the strengths and weaknesses of each of them.

Web Apps/Cloud PHR

These are browser based systems that need to be …

AMA: Health information technology help for physicians

American Medical Association & Joseph M. Heyman, MD

June 11, 2009Jun 11, 2009

The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American Medical Association. by Joseph M. Heyman, M.D. Health information technology (HIT) remains a hot button issue for many physicians, and opinions run the gamut. There are…

The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American Medical Association.

by Joseph M. Heyman, M.D.

Health information technology (HIT) remains a hot button issue for many physicians, and opinions run the gamut. There are physicians and practice managers who are satisfied long-time users and those who question how HIT will benefit their practice and their patients.

My own experience is that of a solo-practitioner using HIT …

6 top medical comments, May 31st, 2009

Kevin

May 31, 2009May 31, 2009

Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently. 1. Dr. Grumpy on the art of medicine and electronic medical records: I do use an EMR, but patient’s routinely tell me I’m good at listening. I think…

Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently.

1. Dr. Grumpy on the art of medicine and electronic medical records:
I do use an EMR, but patient’s routinely tell me I’m good at listening. I think it’s an individual basis. Some doctors are technophiles, and put that first. That ain’t right. Some doctors are so intent on listening, that they may forget a detail, and then it …

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6 top medical comments, May 31st, 2009

Reader take: Patients should be allowed to access their entire medical record

Kevin

April 28, 2009Apr 28, 20096

The following is a reader take, in response to a post on whether patients should own their medical records, by an anonymous nurse.Dear Dr. Pho,I wish to respond to your position on patient access to their medical records both as…

The following is a reader take, in response to a post on whether patients should own their medical records, by an anonymous nurse.

Dear Dr. Pho,

I wish to respond to your position on patient access to their medical records both as a patient and a nurse.

If a doctor or other health professional believes their documentation would be inappropriate or too sensitive for …

HealthHarbor: Health IT stimulus leads to more questions than answers

HealthHarbor

April 25, 2009Apr 25, 2009

The following is a reader take from the staff at HealthHarbor.We had a chance to attend the HIMSS conference two weeks ago. HIMSS is healthcare's premier annual tech expo, and was in Chicago this year. The undeniable theme of this…

The following is a reader take from the staff at HealthHarbor.

We had a chance to attend the HIMSS conference two weeks ago. HIMSS is healthcare’s premier annual tech expo, and was in Chicago this year. The undeniable theme of this year’s conference was the anticipated expansion of Health Information Technology (HIT) via the Economic Recovery Act. …

Are MRI results accurate? Not all scans are equal.

Kevin Pho, MD

October 14, 2008Oct 14, 2008

Most physicians and patients think that the MRI scan is one of the more sensitive and comprehensive diagnostic tests. However, there is significant variability in reading and performing the scans, which makes having it done at a reputable institution more…

Most physicians and patients think that the MRI scan is one of the more sensitive and comprehensive diagnostic tests.

However, there is significant variability in reading and performing the scans, which makes having it done at a reputable institution more imperative:

Magnetic resonance machines, though, vary enormously, and not just in the strength of their magnets. Even more important, radiologists say, is the quality of the imaging

…

Op-ed: Why doctors still balk at electronic medical records

Kevin Pho, MD

October 1, 2008Oct 1, 20084

The following op-ed was published on October 1st, 2008 in the USA Today. Despite the fact that we can complete our taxes and perform complex financial transactions digitally over the Internet, medical records have faced an impasse preventing a transition…

The following op-ed was published on October 1st, 2008 in the USA Today.

Despite the fact that we can complete our taxes and perform complex financial transactions digitally over the Internet, medical records have faced an impasse preventing a transition to the digital age. Patient charts are still paper-based in most doctors’ offices across the country.

President Bush’s goal was for every American to have an electronic medical …

Health technology

Articles, page 74

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