|
|
Thursday, February 17, 2005
|
|
|
|
Friday, January 28, 2005
|
|
| |
"It can save money and save lives."
This is how the Detroit Free Press quotes President Bush during his visit to the Cleveland Clinic yesterday as he was commenting on the need for a pervasive electronic health record (EHR) including e-prescribing.
"Most industries in America have used information technology to make their businesses more cost-effective, more efficient and more productive -- and the truth of the matter is, health care hasn't," Bush said.
To support this initiative, Bush will propose spending $125 million to test such systems when he sends his budget to Congress next month.
A report posted on HealthAffairs.org, "The Value Of Health Care Information Exchange And Interoperability," estimates that $78 billion a year could be saved with such an EHR based on open standards. The downside is that the estimated cost to establish this system over the next ten years is $276 billion. Interestingly, this report also mentions that the savings would be only $24 billion per year if a system is adopted that doesn't utilize open standards.
On January 18, a group of 13 health IT organizations, under the auspices of the Markle Foundation, submitted a report to Dr. David Brailer, the national health information technology coordinator. This report endorses that the government should provide some initial financing and support with the aim to implementing this EHR on an incremental basis in order to garner the most support.
11:41:54 AM 
|
|
I Stand Corrected
Hi Bill,
A quick correction to your blurb on Dr. Halamka and his RFID implant -- Dr. Halamka is the CIO of CareGroup and isn't an executive with Partners Healthcare.
Best,
Chris
Christopher Gervais
Senior Research Analyst/Technologist
Partners HealthCare, Inc.
Blurb is a good way to describe that fast post. This is a story that I want to pursue, and I can hope I can talk with some parties involved to get more details. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
11:36:34 AM
|
|
Treo 650 Reviewed by CIO Today
This review by Mark Long is a very well written and informative about this new smartphone. I've had mine for over two weeks now, and I can say that it is a vast improvement over the 600, at least as it pertains to my work flow.
One clarification that should be made is that the Treo 600 has a 160 x 160 pixel screen. With the 650, the 320 x 320 provides 4x the number of pixels. This makes a world of difference in viewing graphics and reading text. The Doc to Go software can even render serif typefaces from the original Word documents.
10:34:12 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, January 27, 2005
|
|
| |
New Medical and Science Writing Web Site and Blog
Been very busy extending my reach in the Webo- and Blogosphere. The Web site is Lexicillin.com and the blog, Lexicillin - QD.
These Web media will be to explore emerging therapies and technologies besides wireless. It also gives me a venue to talk about science journalism, medical reporting and the blogosphere vs. main stream media (MSM). Recently, I ran into Jeff Jarvis, who also happens to be a Treo fan, and he has much to say about this the business of blogging. I've been receiving much encouragement from the medical writing community, so now's the time to step up production.
As an aside, more of a hobby and a way to take a break, I've created a Web site devoted to phonecam photography creatively called PhonecamPhotographer.com. I recently went back to MoMA since I was there when it reopened after the $425M renovation. The was prompted by my great experience with my new Treo 650. It has a much improved camera, and with the increased screen resolution, faster processor etc. it's opens a new world for staying connected and posting media. If I could type on the thumbboard while on the treadmill, my life would be complete.
On the wireless side, I'm meeting more people and developing contacts and important resources. I'll begin posting all these links on the main page of my Web site. I will become an important hub for all aspects of wireless networks and handhelds including the coverage of HIPAA.
9:25:25 AM
|
|
Dr. Halamka Gets Tagged
I've been seeing stories around the Web about Dr. Halamka of Partners in Boston submitting to an RFID insertion. [Too busy to produce a link.]
I don't understand whose mind this will change. We'll see where this leads.
9:20:09 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, January 13, 2005
|
|
| |
Health Tech New York Conference at the Borough of Manhattan Community College
Peter Kongstvedt, MD of Capgemini was the keynote speaker at yesterday's conference. His slide shows the trend of health care spending (bars) vs. Gross Domestic Product. (The last bar in the series appears to be 100%, but actually this maximum is 16%.) He mentioned that some pundits have predicted doom and gloom if health care spending should reach 20% of GDP, and he wasn't similarly convinced.
Interestingly, he said that the adoption of an national Electronic Health Record would not result in a savings but could provide more efficiency. Unlike in the UK, our system will not be centralized but probably based on a peer-to-peer model.
I was disappointed not to hear much about handhelds for clinical use, but I did attend some sessions on HIPAA and found out about some good resources. I'm particulary interested how privacy concerns related to the use of phonecams, and I'll see if I can come up with a consensus from various experts. This I'll post on my Web site.
Another worthwhile breakout session was about EHRs for private practices. A representive from WebMD was talking about their turnkey system. There was some discussion about the use of wireless networks with tablets and PDAs.
Kudos to Rodney Alexander for an informative and well-run conference.
7:07:06 AM
|
|
A Quick Lunchbreak with Jeff Jarvis
Tuesday, I was coming out of Coliseum Books when I thought I saw someone who looked familiar fly past me and disappear into one of the sandwich shops there on 42nd Street. When I realized that it was Cosi, a shop that Jeff says he frequents in one of his blog posts, I was convinced that this must be him. In typical pushy New Yorker fashion, I introduced myself and we sat down at a table.
I asked him a flurry of questions about using blogs and Web sites for selling advertising. He gave me a good overview of the topic including differentiating between the Calacanis and Denton business models. (I didn't ask permission to blog this conversation so I'll wait until he responds to my e-mail before I go into detail. Maybe I'm hypersensitivity about privacy because of the HIPAA session I attended yesterday [see above]) We also talked about the Treo 650, which I had just picked up that day.
As we left, and Jeff sped off toward Times Square he said to himself, "A blogger!"
6:46:23 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
|
|
| |
Health Tech New York Conference
This is the first conference here in NYC dedicated to "Mobile Tech for MDs and RNs," AFAIK.
Topics include, Electronic Health Records, Big Ticket Financing, Turnkey solutions for Small Group Practioners, HIPPA [sic], and E Prescriptions.
The major sponsors are Misys and Capgemini.
9:40:31 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
|
|
| |
Major Victory for VoIP: FCC Ruling Considers VoIP an Interstate Service (link will expire--the Wall Street Journal Online is free to the public this week)
This concerns Vonage's problem with local governments dunning it for providing phone service which they consider comparable to the traditional telcos.
At its monthly meeting, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to approve a request by Vonage Holdings Inc., a start-up company offering Internet phone plans to consumers, declaring it an interstate service, people familiar with the matter said. That would free Vonage, which has about 300,000 Internet phone lines in use, from numerous state telephone regulations, including certification to offer service, service-quality and reporting requirements, and contributing to state phone-subsidy programs.
Om lavishes praise on FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who just so happens will remain chairman despite rumors that he would be stepping down.
7:32:47 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, October 29, 2004
|
|
| |
Medscape's New Toolbar Doesn't Support Firefox
I'm sure it will eventually and I'm sure it will be useful.
I've switched over to the Firefox browser based on Walt's advice:
Browsing safely: I suggest dumping
Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, which has a history of security
breaches. I recommend instead Mozilla Firefox, which is free at
www.mozilla.org. It's not only more secure but also more modern and advanced, with
tabbed browsing, which allows multiple pages to be open on one screen, and
a better pop-up ad blocker than the belated one Microsoft recently added to
IE.
6:18:20 PM
|
|
|
|
© Copyright
2005
Bill Koslosky, MD.
Last update:
2/17/2005; 7:41:46 AM.
This theme is based on the SoundWaves
(blue) Manila theme. |
|
| February 2005 |
| Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
| |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| 6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
| 13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
| 20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
| 27 |
28 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Jan Mar |
|
