Archive for October, 2007
Visible Body to Launch Mid-November
October 31, 2007
A very creative application called Visible Body is about to launch. It explores anatomy in a way similar to Google Earth explores the world. You can explore by body system or specific body part down to a bone or organ. Zoom and can be moved in 3-D. It requires a download and Flash Player 8. Customized deployments are available but the basic product (maybe basic is not the right term) will be available for free.
Check out the demo and sign up for the official announcement.
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Medicine 2.0 Blog Carnival
October 30, 2007
The carnival is hosted by The Health Wisdom Blog this week and includes a note about the Health 2.0 conference Spring Fling now being set for March 3-4, 2008 in San Diego. In announces the new blog by John Halamka, Chief Information Officer at Harvard Medical School called Life as a Healthcare CIO. And there is a mention for Fathom SEO, a local Cleveland SEO firm which has a new booklet on a list of the six best Web 2.0 health tools.
Share this:Medworm and RSS Email
October 25, 2007
Frankie Dolan, Devon, United Kingdom writes a blog called Frankie Speaking Frankly. She has developed an application called Medworm which searches for RSS feeds related to health. A new twist on healthcare searches and a useful one. A more interesting approach than his search page is the Medical Blog Tag Cloud which has hundreds of terms from the Medworm database which link to articles – you can email, select a feed or discuss.
In her blog he discusses the pros of viewing email via RSS for physicians. A novel concept which would allow one view of information via feeds and the indispensible email. One of the challenges today is managing information from multiple source applications – RSS aggregator, Web, Email, etc. With a single view, the world is brought to your scene in a single view. This can be done currently in a iGoogle page. How about a Medworm widget for Google?
Share this:eHealth Initiative Unveils a Blueprint
October 24, 2007
The full title of this white paper is “eHealth Initiative Blueprint: Building Consensus for Common Action” and represents a consensus vision for improving health care IT. While I haven’t digested it completely, it does have an excellent section on consumer health. It also addresses issues for all of the other major players in health care IT including pharmacists, payors, hospitals, public health (often ignored in the US), etc.
Disconvergence in Online Communities
October 23, 2007
In an article by Thomas H. Lee M.D. on iHealthbeat, he discusses the momentum around online health communities and “Will the movement be completely disruptive to the health system and obviate the need for clinicians altogether?”
He notes that these communities “all exhibit the unexpected power of decentralizing knowledge, creativity and connectivity.” But will not likely replace the patient-physician relationship. He creates the term “Disconvergent Fluidity” by which he means the ebb and flow of online communities – here today, gone tomorrow. While these communities have a wealth of information on individual experiences in health care are they enough of a revolution to solve real problems in health care. Will the critical mass be there and sustain itself toward real change?
Google to Announce Google Health Next Year
October 19, 2007
In Information Week, there is a report of an announcement from Google (Marissa Mayer) at a Web 2.0 conference that Google will announce its offering early next year.
“Google has developed a prototype online platform for its health offering that incorporates personal medical records, health care-related search features, diet and exercise regimens, a localized ‘find a doctor’ application, and other elements.”
And, “While the focus will be on improving health care and making records more accessible and portable for patients, Google will also improve life for physicians.”
As the article notes, Microsoft appears to have been first to market with a health product but it will be a fair comparison to be made once Google Health is finally launched.
Share this:Reimbursement for eVisits
October 19, 2007
In a report in Modern Healthcare titled, “ Virtual visits: the new ATMs?“, the experience in Minneapolis of reimbursement for evisits at $35 each is discussed. Fairview Health Services uses MyChart from Epic Systems and has 34,000 enrolled and has received reimbursement for 1000 visits so far. In many cases there is a copay which varies based on the insuror. In a Florida practice which is cash-based, patients don’t seem to mind paying fees which start “at $15 to $20 for a prescription refill, $25 for chronic condition management.” This is the trend that many in the EMR/PHR world have been hoping for – a method of reimbursement which would help motivate physicians and patients both to adopt secure electronic communication. Will this trend spread? I hope so, but many third parties are still skeptical.
Share this:My Blog Cited by the National Library of Medicine
October 18, 2007
Thanks to Tech Medicine (Joshua Schwimmer) for finding health care blogs which are now examples on how to cite blogs by the NLM. eHealth is cited as an example of blog names using upper an lower case in their names (see example 11.)
Is this a sign that medical blogging has made it into the mainstream?
American Health Information Management Association Launches PHR Initiative
October 17, 2007
AHIMA has announced its initiative to educate the public about Personal Health Records. It will include TV and other media ads later this year and next year. Neil Versel notes that this will be an uphill battle since adoption of PHRs by the public has been slow. However, this kind of initative is just what is needed and may create a tipping point. AHIMA will be training state and local chapters on PHRs so there is potential for a small army of speakers and educators on this topic. The MyPHR website has basic information about the range of PHRs without recommending a particular one. I wish, however, that there was a bigger push for online records which are secure and carefully evaluated.
Share this:Web 2.0 Presentation on Slide Share
October 16, 2007
My presentation given in June on Web 2.0 in Health Care has been posted to Slide Share. Slide Share is a simple and nicely designed site to do just that.
Thanks to the Patient Advocate for posting it.
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