20 January 2003

The MedBiquitous Consortium http://www.medbiq.org/about_us/overview/index.html Founded by Johns Hopkins Medicine and leading professional medical societies, the MedBiquitous Consortium develops Internet technologies for global physician communities that enhance physician education and expertise. Our society members represent over 400,000 physicians worldwide, and our government and industry members are leaders in healthcare. We are creating a comprehensive XML framework for professional medical societies that will enhance their ability to communicate with their members and with other organizations. MedBiquitous XML specifications build on existing XML standards created by organizations like Oasis and HL7, but tailor them for the professional medical society's needs. Java code implementing the XML standards is available to the Consortium's members to help them exchange data with their industry partners, vendors, and other professional societies. The code focuses on community building, association management, professional competency, and clinical practice. 6:34:30 PM     Another Radiology Manager advantage I try to visualize how a radiologist would work with several hospitals on out-of-hours cases, and I can only see Groove spaces as being suitable. 1 space per hospital, all being autosynced securely in the background ready for radiologist to go to work. 6:16:45 PM     Fruit and veg campaign fails to make an impact. Society: Just one in four people eats enough fruit and vegetables to protect themselves from cancer and other serious diseases, according to a government survey. [Guardian Unlimited] 6:07:41 PM     ECGanywhere ECGanywhere is a 12-lead electrocardiograph recorder, that can record and store an ECG tracing and transmit it over the Internet via a PC, handheld PDA , wireless device, or via telephone using the built-in acoustic coupler. http://www.healthfrontier.com/Products/product_detail.cfm?productid=2   2:20:25 PM     http://www.ncl.ac.uk/pahs/research/services/practice/nexus.htm Rationale for study Radiological investigation is commonly used by general practitioners with some suggestion of overuse. National guidelines on appropriate referral have been provided by the Royal College of Radiologists, but the impact of these has not been fully evaluated. Aims To evaluate the effect of three interventions on GP ordering of radiology investigations. 2:18:21 PM     http://www.nelh.nhs.uk/nsf/cancer/lung_sig/primarycare/lung_1-2.htm Direct referral to the chest physician following a chest X-ray suggestive of cancer by the radiologist Starting point Before starting the pilot scheme, the average wait from GP referral to first outpatient appointment was 24 days. This meant that patients were waiting an unacceptably long time for an appointment and the trust was not complying with the national two-week target. Improvement made The process was redesigned so that the radiologist refers patients directly to the chest clinic if the initial chest X-ray is suggestive of cancer. The GP is informed by fax that an urgent appointment is being made for his or her patient. At the same time the chest physician is informed that the radiologist recommends that an urgent appointment should be made for the patient. The chest physician’s secretary makes an appointment for the patient and notifies the GP, giving him or her 24 hours to inform the patient before the clinic letter is sent out to confirm the appointment. 2:16:30 PM     http://www.isbe.man.ac.uk/courses/Clinical_Radiology/career.htm The role of a radiologist "Radiological" includes all diagnostic imaging techniques including plain X-rays (radiographs), contrast studies (eg barium meal, intravenous urography, angiography), CT, ultrasound (US), Nuclear Medicine (NM) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The radiology department provides a focal point in the hospital and a radiologist has a high profile in the clinical team. Radiological examinations are carried out under the supervision of a consultant radiologist who is  responsible for ensuring that the request for a radiological examination is appropriate and the examination is carried out properly, with maintenance of quality and radiation protection standards.  The radiologist will also review the images obtained and issue a report to the referring clinician, giving an expert opinion on the findings. Although most plain radiographs, nuclear medicine images, CT and MRI scans and antenatal US scans are obtained by radiographers (highly trained and skilled, but non-medically qualified technicians) the radiologist supervises many of these examinations and continues to have a large commitment to practical work, including performing US and the more complex procedures involving contrast media administration or intervention. Most radiologists have a significant amount of personal contact with patients despite the increasingly complex and expensive technology in the radiology department. All radiologists have general radiology training during which time they may develop particular skill and expertise in one, or several, subspecialty areas of radiology. These may be technique-based (US, CT, MRI, NM or intervention) or systems-based (eg neuroradiology, paediatric, cardiovascular or gastrointestinal radiology). Close liaison between Departments of Clinical Radiology and the general practitioner (GP) service is widespread and direct GP access is increasing. The development of radiology as a key component in diagnostic problem-solving has resulted in it being a popular choice of career, with increasing competition for places on training schemes. 2:11:44 PM     Infrastructures for Mobile Services in e-Medicine (PDF) Mobile e-Services ("m-Services") are and will be the driving force both for the rapid evolution in mobile communication (from GSM via GPRS towards UMTS) and in new applications for IP-based solutions/platforms. The segment of "e/m-Medicine" is one of the most encouraging areas, since it is relevant for the overall society and will have a major impact on most of the other public e/m-Services, such as e/m-learning, e/m-government, etc. Connected with Mobile Services in general the aspect of real-time location dependent services has a strategic importance for e/m-Medicine. 1:56:33 PM     UbiCare - DTI Nextwave Mobile communications could interact with intelligent sensors in the environment to indicate conditions which may be detrimental to patients. Such ubiquitous computing environments will provide the opportunity to enhance the healthcare provided in the community to individuals with clinical conditions, thus helping improve their quality of life. 1:39:31 PM     Inchware Nice handheld solution for GPs. Inchware delivers low cost, easy-to-use handheld technology that enables the development of open, flexible healthcare solutions. 1:29:49 PM     Just in via Jeroen GWS is getting close. John Burkhardt : It looks like we're really close to shipping Groove Web Services.  Things have turned out quite well.  Between the beta and v1 we were able to move closer toward the feature that Jon Udell mentioned.  It was tricky and it makes programming to GWS a bit harder, but the benifits are huge.  [Jeroen Bekkers' Groove Weblog] 1:10:10 PM     Apple Doing the Business Apple Shows Real Substance Behind The Pretty Case : Who does Steve Jobs think he is, making the world of PCs interesting again? (Wall Street Journal via MyAppleMenu) [MyAppleMenu] 1:06:27 PM

© Copyright 2003 Neil Finlayson. Last update: 04/02/2003; 12:38:52.