Technology

After designing the physical layout of your office network, it’s time to start making some decisions about its logical design. The logical design is basically the network’s intangible structure and function. In this month’s article, I’ll provide some guidelines on creating an efficient, flexible and smoothly functioning logical network.

Strive for Flexibility

A good rule of thumb to use when designing is to organize and group by function, and then by geography. This design provides greater flexibility for function and management of your network. For example, if your organization has three locations, it’s desirable to create a logical unit named “Front Desk.” (more…)

Even if you haven’t yet made the leap to full electronic medical records (EMR) implementation, chances are you’re already using a computerized system for scheduling, billing, or other administrative functions. And unless you only have one computer in the office, it’s likely that the computers are connected by some sort of network.

(more…)

Should your practice outsource IT (information technology) or hire your own in-house computer specialist? Whether you decide to implement an electronic medical records system now or five years down the road, the movement towards a practice management approach that makes more use of advanced technologies is already underway. At root, the practice of medicine is a business like any other, and today’s physicians must be prepared to embrace state-of-the-art tools or face the possibility of being edged out by more tech-savvy competitors.

(more…)

The path to wide-scale EHR implementation is still barred by many obstacles.A decade ago, most medical practice managers believed that the shift toward the total digitization of medical information was inevitable. In reality, however, the transition from dead trees to bytes has proven to be a bit more complex than expected.

InformationWeek’s recent take on the slow march toward universal EHR implementation insightfully points out some of the chief obstacles that have hindered and delayed the transition process.

(more…)

Selecting a vendor to supply your IT network often feels like trying to buy a used automobile in another country. The most difficult part may be choosing a brand from an unrecognizable set of manufacturers. There are many choices to make, and although the common reaction is to look for the cheapest price, we all know that there are many other factors which play important roles in good decision-making.

(more…)

Getting staff on board may be the most challenging part of technology change, but change management principles can help counter resistance.Electronic medical records systems are designed to make practice management easier. By automating, streamlining, and centralizing many of the dozens of administrative tasks staff members must attend to on a daily basis, an EMR system can significantly enhance your staff’s efficiency, freeing them up to focus their efforts on more critical matters.

(more…)

Say Ah and stand close to your webcam

A Toronto-based company, WebCamMD, says it will offer medical examinations remotely with nothing more than a good internet connection, according to a ZDNet article .

So, if you thought that computer technical assistance by an overseas customer representative was frustrating, be prepared for the shape of things to come in healthcare.

And if you are tired of sitting in your doctor’s waiting room now, remember that the wait for the virtual doctor will still be quite real - although it doesn’t hurt to have a recording that tells you how much longer you have to wait….

Microsoft’s HealthVault hopes to bring EMRs to consumersYou can always tell when a particular industry is getting hot: when big tech players start jockeying for position. Microsoft, AOL, and Google are all announcing different electronic medical records initiatives.

Microsoft has unveiled what it calls HealthVault , a sort of personal filing cabinet for storing important medical information on yourself and your family. It allows the consumer to give access to physicians or hospitals. It also includes HealthVault Search, a health search tool designed to work with the platform. Accessible on the HealthVault Web site, this search engine promises to “intuitively [organize] the most relevant online health content, allowing people to refine searches faster and with more accuracy, and eventually connect them with HealthVault-compatible solutions.”

This latter feature. or dream, to be able to connect to other compatible solutions, is part of the eventual goal of a nationalized electronic health record repository. Is this a new idea? No. It has been tried before with limited success. But now that some big players are jumping into the fray, we may see some momentum.

Still, there are some unanswered questions. HealthVault, for example, does not need to be HIPAA-compliant because patients are granting access to whomever they choose. How this would mesh with true electronic medical records, which must be HIPAA-compliant, remains to be seen. There are also concerns about security - who actually owns the information and what happens if there is a security breach?

With less than 15% of medical practices using true EMR systems, consumers may end up beating doctors to the punch.

Before choosing an EMR system, you need to know some network software basics.

‘Software’ is just another term for a computer program. Today’s software offerings usually break down into one of two broad categories: network/server or application/productivity. Network and server software includes the operating systems that run your servers and network, but also extends to monitoring and management software.

Sometimes, the process of selecting the right software can get pretty complicated, what with licensing, different versions, and all of the other considerations that are involved, so it’s important to understand how everything fits together before you decide which type of program is right for you.

(more…)

If you were wondering how to keep track of people…If an organization has a significant number of employees, it can often be a challenge to keep track of where they all are. Some software systems can help regulate workflow in a medical practice by tracking the work of individual employees, but these require some type of manual input on some level.

In case you were wondering if you could implant RFID (radio frequency identification devices) in human beings, some states are already beginning to legislate the matter. California, as is often the case, is at the leading edge in technology-related legal standards. A bill recently signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prevents employers from forcing employees to have RFID chips installed as a condition of employment or in return for payment.

And while it doesn’t address the issue of voluntary RFID implantation, it has placed a moratorium on the use of these chips in children for the next three years, presumably until more research on safety and security risks can be adequately addressed.

So, for now, medical practices will have to continue to rely on yelling down hallways or paging people overhead to account for live bodies.