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Hospital Impact has been ranked one of the top 50 healthcare blogs by Wikio.
Blogs we like:
What will it take to create local health information exchange (HIE) systems that fit in with the federal government's vision of local, regional and national health information exchange networks based on standards defined by the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN)? The fragmentation of the efforts of groups involved in the actual HIE implementation at the community, local and regional levels is just one of many challenges and obstacles facing those who are trying to meet the government's meaningful use criteria. Here are some others.
I believe that there are no coincidences in my life. As a guest blogger who took the summer "off" to move to the north shore of MA and write my third book (Getting It Done: Lifelines from the Field), I struggled with getting back into posting something each month that will add value.
Feeling the pressure of too many tasks and too little time, I reluctantly acknowledged the call to worship last weekend and found meaning in Rabbi Jack Riemer's responsive reading, "Turning," in which he noted that for leaves, birds and animals, turning comes instinctively--whether it's leaves turning colors, birds heading south or animals storing food for the winter. Yet change for us does not come so easy. Not only does it mean breaking with old habits and perhaps losing face, "it means starting over again."
By Linda Sinisi
Here are some service expectations and goals I developed for my new IT team at Pennsylvania Hospital as part of a larger drive to create a service-oriented IT culture.
Service excellence starts with listening. When someone takes the time to explain what they need, the first step I take is to repeat what they said to confirm that I understand. Immediately afterward I send a note with next steps and a realistic timeframe for addressing their request.
Service excellence also means anticipating the needs of your clients. At Pennsylvania Hospital we recognize that clinicians don't always have time to call the Help Desk. So we developed two other ways to reach tech support.
by James Blair, DPA, MHA, FACHE
The nation's hospital and healthcare systems have failed to meet their expected roles and responsibilities in the country's evolving 20-year strategy for homeland security. Well before the 9/11 attacks, the industry ignored many calls to prepare for known threats of non-state terrorist groups securing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from stockpiles left from the Cold War.
Terrorist attacks with or without WMDs are only one of three major threats facing hospitals. Evolving infectious diseases and more frequent and robust natural disasters are the other two.
The clinical scenario is familiar to many doctors.
An elderly man arrives at California Pacific Medical Center's emergency department in San Francisco at 11 p.m. on a Saturday by ambulance, unconscious and severely ill. A neighbor had called 911 after he failed to answer the phone or door. No friends or relatives are available, and the man has never visited this emergency department before.
The treating doctors must start from scratch to diagnose and treat this patient, with no knowledge of his other physicians, past medical history, medications, or previous medical care. This process is expensive and inefficient, because historical information is missing.
by Jenn Riggle
Women have always been considered the healthcare gatekeepers. However, things may be changing.
The popularity of Viagra has proven that men are taking a more active role in their healthcare--or at least they're willing to talk about issues that impact their sex lives. Since sexual performance issues affect approximately 15 to 30 million American men, this is a major issue.
We can give some of the credit to CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the ever popular Dr. Mehmet Oz for bringing men's health issues out of the locker room and into the living room.
Like most programs, the Health IT Regional Extension Centers (RECs) that are being established across the nation as mandated by the stimulus are a great idea in theory. Their intent was to encourage the adoption of EMRs by providers by disseminating best practices for adoption. But what is the reality on the ground?
How do you define mobile health? Is it still emerging? And how broad is its scope? Does it include wireless sensors?
These questions are part of a debate that has played out on the 3G Doctor blog, according to FierceMobileHealthcare Editor Neil Versel. Several months ago, David Doherty, head of business development at the Ireland-based mobile healthcare software vendor 3G Doctor, took a stab at defining the field.
He took issue with a Wikipedia entry that cites the work of Robert Istepanian, a professor of data communications at Kingston University in London, who defined m-health as "emerging mobile communications and network technologies for healthcare." The entry, at least as it read six months ago, also mentioned "embedded wireless devices that track health-related parameters," Versel writes. FierceMobileHealthcare
Financial institutions suffer more data breaches than healthcare organizations, right?
Wrong. It's healthcare--by a factor of three to one, writes Websense CIO Jim Haskin.
He cites a recent report from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) showed that compromised data stores from healthcare organizations outstrip those in other industries. According to the ITRC, healthcare organizations disclosed 119 breaches this year through early August, compared to 39 reported in the financial services industry. Why is this happening? FierceHealthIT
In Canada last month, a newsstand magazine caught my eye. In bold letters on the cover of the August 23 edition of Maclean's Magazine were the words: "Crisis in Confidence: Do You Trust Your Doctor?" According to the article, an increasing number of Canadians don't.
The article detailed some examples of medical errors (for example: misdiagnoses, misread pathology, and incorrect surgery) and the erosion of trust in medical professionals. The article cited surprising results from a recent poll they conducted that suggest trust in physicians has eroded over time:
I'm insulted and you should be too.
I knew when I read this FierceHealthcare blurb that there was a blog lurking. But right after I read it I had to leave my desk for a doctor's appointment. Well that appointment sealed the deal.
When you arrive at your 2 p.m. appointment and are not seen until 3 p.m. that is an insult.
Read more!