HealthyTech

Video Games in my Hospital?

bradipsan — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:01:35 GMT

An article over on MSN Money talks about the popularity of Nintendo's Wii in retirement communities. Many of them are using the Wii as a tool for keeping residents active, as much as for its social draw. Erickson Retirement Living has worked with Nintendo to place a Wii at each of their facilities. (Full disclosure: Erickson Retirement Living is one of my customers.)

When we think about entertainment and technology in hospitals and other facilities, typically we think of the TV mounted on the wall, and the channels delivered through it. But as the Wii shows, entertainment and technology are becoming more than delivering moving pictures. Consoles, such as the Wii and XBox 360, can be used to get patients/residents more involved with their own care. The Wii is great to get people moving around (you gotta hand it to the person who came up with the idea for the controller - I hope Nintendo has rewarded him/her well!); we've worked with Cerner to use XBox as a media/game/internet/patient education system - check out the case study about Cerner's Interactive Patient Station at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

How is technology improving the patient's experience at your facility? Not just the quality of the care they get, but their experience of your facility?

Get it now!

bradipsan — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:37:51 GMT

Visual Studio 2008 has RTM'd! Get it while it's hot! The .Net Framework 3.5 runtime is available also.

Longhorn Server Beta Available

bradipsan — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:44:12 GMT

We've released the first public beta of Longhorn Server (beta3). Take a look at the planning session for distribution of the beta. Or, if you're impatient, go straight to the download.

HIMSS + 2 weeks

bradipsan — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:32:51 GMT

Everything is exciting when you're actually at the conference. Now that I'm two weeks removed, here's what still has my attention:

1. Azyxxi - yes, it's our product, so it to be listed first! I had a chance to take a look at Azyxxi when we first purchased it (MedStar is one of the customers I support), and the product has come a long way in the 8 months since we purchased it, especially around the user interface. It's much cleaner, sleeker. When clinicians are interacting with patient information, they want it accurate, fast, and easy to work with. Frankly, they don't care how elegant the back end design and implementation is (Azyxxi is on both counts). They want the right information, right now, and right where they can find it. That's why the user interface matters. And there's more to come. I have a couple customers who are looking at creating a new patient care model over the next 8-10 years. While they are very interested in data integration, predictive modeling, and collaborative care, user experience is a tier 1 priority for them. The greatest system in the world doesn't get used if users can't work with it.

2. Speaking of which: Real clinical GUI's are starting to appear. Many clinical systems display their information in grids, which is better than green screen, but still not especially intuitive - you have to take time to figure out the interface before you can figure out what to do with the information. Think of an interface where you don't have to attend training to figure out how it works; you walk up, and start interacting with the system intuitively. That's the type of GUI I'm talking about. We showed off some work that we're doing/we've done with Britian's National Health Service, putting a very nice front end their systems using the Common User Interface guidelines. I also saw a Flash based interface to a touch screen, which was very interesting. I know that demos are very optimized, but that one was slick.

3. Medixine - This partner was in our booth, and I'm planning to introduce them to several of my customers. They "specialize in multi-modal information and communication software for healthcare and wellness." For me, and for my customers, they've developed easy, effective methods of reporting and tracking health related activities. Think reporting blood sugar levels, BPs, that my mother took her medication at 8, 1, 5, and 9 today, all without any significant training/learning needed by the user. I see opportunities in my senior living/retirement community customers; my federal counterpart sees opportunity in clinical trials. Very cool stuff using cell phones, RFID, and web/SOA technology.

4. Steve Ballmer - It's always nice to see the boss. The keynote was good, and had a couple videos included. One of them was a new "healthcare sometime in the future" video. Pretty cool, and there was a bit of buzz in the hall. What's interesting is that most of what is in the video, I've seen demo'd by either our product groups or MS Research. Watch for the exercise performance watch (hello iPod/Nike!), reminders built into entertainment systems, auto-recognition and suggestion for which medication to take (and not to take!), and new display technology. Overall, interesting, cool, and maybe not as far off as we think.

What still has your interest two weeks later?

Where is that laptop with the patient information?

bradipsan — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:10:09 GMT

Several times last year, the headlines informed us of yet another missing laptop with sensitive personal information on it. If you are a "covered entity" with regards to HIPAA, this becomes an even bigger deal. Late last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued security guidance for Electronic Protected Health Information on laptops, USB drives, smart devices, etc. While there is nothing here especially earth shaking, it does include a nice matrix of risks and mitigations you might take. At the least, it's worth looking through to make sure that you are addressing each of the areas, and have a response ready in the event of a data breach.

Shameless product plug: many of the security features they recommend (two factor authentication, encrypted data, preventing copying of EPHI to portable storage, etc.) are available in the box with Windows Vista. Even if your standard desktop is going to remain XP for a while, it may be worth exploring moving laptops and tablets to Vista for the security (not to mention the productivity boost your users will get!).

Daylight Ahead!

bradipsan — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 20:50:34 GMT

You might have heard that changes are coming in the US with regards to Daylight Saving Time, specifically, the start and ending dates. If you run any MS product, you're likely to be affected. Some products will not need to be updated (Vista, Office 2007) but most will. Most can be patched automatically, but some will need manual intervention. For all the latest, check out the website at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/timezone/dst2007.mspx. Sooner is better than later, especially if you manage lots of systems; the new DST starts on March 11, and you'll need to patch before then.

NEPSI

bradipsan — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:16:57 GMT

Microsoft is one of a number of companies today announcing support for the National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative. NEPSI is a group of companies and organizations who are joining together to provide a "free access to simple, safe, and electronic prescribing" for every physician. The site for physicians is here. It's interesting that this comes on the heels of a Time Magazine article regarding a leading cause of death: sloppy handwriting. The article quotes a National Academy of Science Institute of Medicine report that 7000 people annually die because of sloppy handwriting by physicians, and preventable medication mistakes injure over 1.5 million annually.

The system uses a hosted, web-based system developed by AllScripts. The upside of this is that it doesn't require software to be installed and maintained by the physicians, important because the solo and small practices that are the major targets for this system often don't have the technical support to operate yet another system. Also good is that the system can be accessed via a desktop/laptop, tablet, or smartphone, allowing physicians to be able to prescribe via nearly any smart device. The hosted system validates dosages and interactions, as well as other factors.

Why do you care: more certainty that you are getting the right medication in the right dosage, and better tracking by your doctor, pharmacy and payor.

Farewell, Mr. President

bradipsan — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:34:28 GMT

"Like a runner nearing the end of his course, I hand off the baton to those who share my belief in America as a country that has never become, but is always in the act of becoming."

Gerald Ford 1913-2006

Innovating at Microsoft: Microsoft Research

bradipsan — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 20:55:41 GMT

Microsoft often gets a bad rap for not being "innovative." While we're not always the first to the market with something, Microsoft does bring some very interesting things to the light of day. Often (but not always), these ideas come out of Microsoft Research (MSR). MSR is 15 years old this year, and is showing off a bit. There is an article in CIO Today about some of the projects underway, including SenseCam, a project with implications for aging populations. Also interesting, if you have the time, is a video/tour/interview that Scoble did for PodTech.

Advice to new health care administrators

bradipsan — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 17:17:00 GMT

My aunt and I attended the same graduate program in health care administration, abeit 20 years apart. She has been asked to address this year's class at their graduation luncheon, and asked for my thoughts, which are below. What would to say to "inspire and motivate" (the purpose of the luncheon address) these new graduates?

What I suggested:

I think the leadership idea is a good one. I read a book recently, “The One Thing You Need to Know” by Marcus Buckingham, that said that the primary quality of a successful leader is the ability to inspire a vision of a better future, consistently, constantly. You don’t need to be the CEO to be a good leader, but you do need to be able to inspire others with your vision. This is different than being a good manager (Buckingham has good managers as those who are able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of those working for them, and apply their strengths appropriately to achieve success for the individual and the organization.) I would also strongly recommend/urge the new grads to find a mentor, whether from healthcare or outside. When I first got out of school, I had a couple people who were very interested in helping me succeed. Unfortunately, both departed (including the CEO) within a couple months of my arrival, and didn’t have much time to spend with/on me after that. I think my career might have been very different (though I don’t really have any regrets) if I had someone to help me figure out what I was doing, and should have been doing!

For my own thoughts, if I were to write this address, I think I would talk about characteristics of leadership, including the thoughts above, but also COURAGE and CREATIVITY. I believe that the next five to ten years are going to see more change in the structure of the healthcare delivery system than at any time since perhaps the introduction of Medicare. We’ve seen the rise, emergence, and perhaps stagnation of HMO’s and large mega-systems. The current structure of delivery and payment of care simply cannot sustain itself. Fact: Starbucks will spend more money this year on health insurance than on coffee beans. Providing excellent care to the community is going to be (as it should) the responsibility of the community hospital/health system. I do not believe that government organizations can improve the quality of care as it is delivered in the community. I also have no doubt that government organizations will have enormous, if not primary, influence on who and how care is paid for.

What does this have to do with courage and creativity? We (society) cannot continue to do things (provide care) the way that we have done it previously. Hospital based care (where most of the graduates will likely be going) may be the least effective modality of treatment for the majority of health care issues. It will take creativity to develop and implement new methods to efficiently deliver effective (efficacious?) care to the community. It will take courage to stand up to the naysayers and detractors of these new delivery and payment models. The graduates of today will be the Sr. VPs and CEOs of ten years from now, and their vision and inspiration for a better future will be vital to their success, as well as the success of their organizations, in meeting the health and health care needs of the communities they serve.

How to keep an idiot in suspense...

bradipsan — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 21:48:00 GMT

I had some time to kill in the San Francisco airport, so I wandered into the bookstore and decided to buy the most yellow book I could find. Turns out it was Scoble's Naked Conversations. Reading through it, on page 96, it reads: "In technology, three large companies have experienced the significant proliferation of blogging in their culture: Microsoft and Sun Microsystems."

Who's the third?!? Now I lie awake at night wondering...

Notes to .Net

bradipsan — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 01:08:00 GMT

I was talking with the dev lead at a very strong Notes development shop. While they have lots of experience in writing Notes/Domino apps, they have decided that they want to move to the .Net platform to make it easier to get data out of their apps and into other LOB applications they have. So he asks, where do we start? What language/s should they look at? What kind of training should they get?

Any suggestions???

Code Camps in PA

bradipsan — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:32:00 GMT

Those wacky developer evangelists are at it again! Andrew Duthie and his merry crew are hitting the road again, this time in the Keystone State. They will be holding Code Camps in Harrisburg on Dec. 3 in Harrisburg and December 10th in Pittsburgh. Be geeky, and spend your Saturday learning cool development stuff. The alternative is to spend the day shopping with your SO...

24 hours with Office12

bradipsan — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:22:00 GMT

So I'm one day in to playing with Office 12 beta 1. So far, I'm glad I hit the install button. I really like the new Outlook views/interfaces. As someone who is constantly looking for a better way to keep track of what I'm supposed to be working on, I like the ability to more easily get mail items turned into tasks, and take tasks and assign them time on the calendar to be completed. If you've tried to implement David Allen's GTD, or used the Outlook add-in for GTD, I think you will find the new views and functionality pretty useful. I'm still getting used to the ribbon (instead of menus and toolbars) in Word and Excel, but since I would normally have two or three rows of toolbars displayed, most of the functions I want most are on the ribbon now, so maybe I'm getting a bit of real estate back. Killer feature in Excel (so far): the sliding zoomer! Get the big view, and zoom in and out with the slider, rather than arbitrary clicks.

But then again, I'm easily amused.