To boost patient satisfaction, give patients Wi-Fi, mobile access

Want to improve satisfaction at your organization? Offer free Wi-Fi. 
That's one of the suggestions from a PwC Health Research Institute report released today. Consumers also want to be able to exchange information through online and mobile channels of communication, according to the report, based on a nationwide survey of 6,000 consumers across nearly a dozen industries.
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AHIMA Launches New Career Map Tool for Health IT

A new online tool from the American Health Information Management Association aims to help job seekers find jobs in the health information management field. The new tool includes data on 53 current health IT job titles and 14 emerging roles. Modern Healthcare, Healthcare IT News.  Click here

Patients Want Online, Mobile Access to Their Health Data A new report released by Pricewa

A new report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute looks at factors that contribute to patient satisfaction. It finds that 65% of surveyed consumers say they value the ability to share health data through mobile and online channels. FierceHealthcare et al. Read more

INQRI Study: Nurses Experience Depression at Twice the Rate of General Public

RWJF:  The researchers identify Web-based screening as a confidential and cost-effective means of reaching the nursing population...Read more

New Technology Lets People Write Just With Their Eyes

abc News: New technology makes it possible for paralyzed people to write on a computer screen using only their eye movements. Eye movements can be powerful tools for people who cannot move.  Read more

Medication reminders

Remembering to take daily doses of medicine is a nuisance, especially multiple medications on an irregular schedule.  Fortunately, these apps and many others, can keep you on top of your medication regimen.
A word of warning: When it comes to your health, you can't be too reliant on a single tool. You should have a backup plan in case your technology malfunctions. Make sure you have a backup reminder.  Click here

Nurses, PAs Use Health IT Tools More Often Than Physicians

iHealthbeat.com:  A Manhattan Research study finds that ancillary health providers use health IT tools more often than doctors. It notes that physician assistants and nurses spend about 14 to 16 hours online each week for professional purposes, compared with about 11 hours for doctors. FierceEMR et al. Read more

Clinical Trial Alerts in EHRs Have Limitations

HDM: Physicians using electronic health records that give alerts about appropriate clinical trials experience alert fatigue but rates of response remain relatively high, according to a new study. Still, overall results are mixed. Read more

Keeping Up with Technology: Your Risks and Responsibilities

NSO e-Newsletter July 2012:  Information technology is constantly evolving. Among the most common types are electronic health records (EHRs) and computerized physician order entry systems (CPOEs). Though these and other information technologies offer advantages, they also pose new challenges and potential risks. Please click here to read the full article.

The Top 10 HIE Pitfalls

healttcareinformatics.com: Experts at a Blueprint Healthcare IT discussion last week warned that the Field of Dreams strategy of "build it and they will come" won't necessarily work when it comes to physician adoption of a health information exchange (HIE). Lack of physician usage of an HIE portal was the No. 1 pitfall when it came to HIEs that was mentioned in the webinar, "Top Ten Ways an HIE Can Go Wrong."  Read more

Social Media: 'A Mindset, Not Just a Channel

healthcareinformatics.com:  Increasingly, healthcare organizations will be using social networks to link together a very fragmented industry

A huge part of putting the patient at the center of care, and which will be integral in creating patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations, is really investing in social media. Healthcare organizations can test the social media waters by piloting strategies on their own employees before deploying them to their patients.Read more

The robot doctor

iRobot has unveiled a new telepresence robot geared toward medicine. It allows doctors and nurses to interact with patients remotely using an iPad or computer for control. Connected technology is making medicine easier for everyone...Read more

Increased Use of Health IT Altering Physician-Patient Relationships

Electronic health record systems are changing how physicians and patients communicate in the doctor's office, and new medical websites are helping patients become more involved in their health care. In addition, some physicians have started emailing with patients. Boston Globe. Read more

2012 Consumer Health Apps Report

mobihealthnews.com  Four years after the launch of the AppStore, growth in the number of available consumer health apps for iPhone users is still accelerating. It's growing more quickly now than ever. There were more consumer health apps in April...Read more

ONC Guidance Walks Docs through EHR Planning

Information on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Web site walks physicians through the cost and planning of implementing electronic health records.  Read more

Project ECHO Expands the Scope of Veterans' Care

• Learn more about Project ECHO.
• Read the press release about the SCAN-ECHO initiative.
• Read Ted Eytan's recent blog post about ECHO and the VA launch. 
• Read the Government Health IT article: VA aims to revolutionize veteran care with SCAN-ECHO.
• Read Nancy Barrand's take on the SCAN-ECHO announcement on Pioneering Ideas.

HHS Launches Online Training, Text Message Pilot on HIV/AIDS Care

HHS is launching an online training program for clinicians that will cover several topics related to HIV/AIDS care. The agency also announced a new text messaging pilot program that will send health tips and medical reminders to individuals with HIV. Modern Physician et al.  iHealthBeat  Read more

Topol on Social Networking’s ‘Big Impact’ on Medicine

Patients Trust 'Virtual Peers' Over Docs
Eric J. Topol, MD, explains how social media is radically changing patient care

Apps in case of emergency

Your smartphone could save your life or the life of a loved one! Prepare for the worst by downloading these emergency preparedness apps.  CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE >>

AHRQ Releases Guide on the Use of PHRs in Preventive Health Care

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released a guide on the use of personal health records to bolster preventive care. The agency also issued a request for information on the use of IT to measure care quality. Modern Healthcare, Health Data Management. Read more

iPhone and Nursing

How the iPhone is Revolutionizing Nursing
CultofMac.com, Ryan Faas, 07/17/2012
When it comes to talking about technological devices in health care, most think of doctors carrying iPads the way they used to carry lengthy paper charts or clipboards. Doctors, however, aren’t the only health care professionals to embrace mobile technology. A new study shows that the vast majority of nurses have also embraced mobile devices, particularly the iPhone and other smartphones. It also highlights the differing needs of health care professionals when it comes to mobile technology. Read more

CMS Updates Nursing Home, Hospital Compare Websites

CMS has revamped its Hospital Compare and Nursing Home Compare websites in an effort to make them more useful to consumers. The changes include improved user navigation and search functionality, the ability to access data on the sites through mobile applications and new information on nursing home inspections. Healthcare IT News. Read more

HIMSS Offers Health Care Providers Guide To Choosing Mobile Apps

To help health care providers select appropriate mobile health applications, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society has released a guide to evaluating apps. The guide considers app design, function and usability. CMIO, FierceMobileHealthcare. Read more

The "Most Wired" Hospitals for 2012

Which have leveraged technology and health IT to the fullest and what does it mean for consumers of healthcare? The Most wired Hospitals for 2012

Geography Greatly Affects Quality of Care

July 5 Perspective article in The New England Journal : A new research study confirms dramatic variations in access to and quality of preventive and primary care across the U.S. Read More

iPhone beats PC for some ophthalmology images

In an article appearing in the July issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology, researchers from Emory University in Atlanta studied images from 350 patients with headache, focal neurologic deficit, visual changes or high diastolic blood pressure and were surprised to find neurophthalmologists generally rated images to be better on the iPhone 3 than on a desktop PC.  More

Telehealth monitoring versus home health nursing visits for Congestive Heart Failure patients not significantly different

www.imedicalapps.com

A recent study found no significant difference between remote and traditional home health monitoring and could help guide rational implementation of these systems. More

VA Linking PCPs to Specialists for Weekly Confabs

The Department of Veterans Affairs has started pilot tests of linking its primary care providers with specialists via videoconferencing technology. Read more

Interactive Personal Health Records Could Spur Patients To Obtain Preventive Care

A study published in the Annals of Family Medicine finds that patients who use an interactive personal health record tool are more likely to obtain cancer screenings and certain other preventive services than patients without access to the PHR tool. Reuters, FierceHealthIT. Read more

Hospitals Turning to Facebook, Google To Attract New Patients

More hospitals are using Google, Facebook and other websites to market their services. Some experts say the strategy can boost patient awareness about relevant services, while others say that targeted ads might be unnerving to consumers. Kaiser Health News/Philadelphia Inquirer.

VA Telehealth Program Aims To Extend Specialty Care to Vets

A new telehealth initiative launched by the Department of Veterans Affairs aims to expand access to specialty care to veterans in rural areas. The program will offer weekly videoconference training sessions to help primary care doctors learn about providing specialty care. Veterans will not directly participate in the program's telehealth services. Government Health IT et al. Read more

90 Percent of Patients Want to Self-Manage Health Online

eWeek: Health Care IT News: Patients want to access health information online and fill prescriptions electronically. But they also want face-to-face time with their doctor, a survey by Accenture revealed.  Read more

Legal ramifications of mobile health information

AHIMA: Look at legal ramifications of mobile health information mobihealthnews.com

In developing policies for managing data handled by and stored on mobile devices, healthcare organizations should look beyond privacy and security and consider the legal ramifications of mobile health information...

Clinical Informatics Education: Past, Current & Future

Educating Future Clinicians about Clinical Informatics: A Review of Implementation and Evaluation Cases
This study featured in the European Journal for Biomedical Informatics aims to give insights into how clinical informatics education has worked in the past, and to suggest future directions for delivering ongoing curriculum reform in this important aspect of health professional education.

Patient Communications: The Value of Plain Language

An estimated 14 percent of Americans are "health-illiterate," and another 20 percent have only basic health literacy, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. "The average American reads at a 5th grade level, and the average health care information is written at a 10th grade level," says Aileen Kantor of Health Literacy Innovations...More

Report Finds Benefits in Using Health IT To Boost Patient-Centered Care

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, researchers reviewed 327 prior studies and found that using health IT to implement patient-centered care can lead to improvements in patient health and care processes. American Medical News. Read more

New iOS Feature enables easier iPad use in patient waiting rooms in doctors office

• www.imedicalapps.com

  
  

  One of the more subdued features that will launch with iOS 6 is called "Guided Access". This feature allows users to restrict touch and hardware buttons on the iPad. The feature is aimed at students and children with disabilities such as autism to remain on task and focused on content. See More

With Boomers Coming, Hospice Industry Diversifies

Associated Press, Holly Ramer, 07/03/2012
Forget that image of a hospice worker sitting next to a hospital bed in a dimly lit room. Today, hospice care is delivered everywhere from the golf course to the casino. As they brace for the eventual needs of the aging baby boom generation, hospice providers are working to diversify their services and dispel misconceptions about what they do. Read more

New Network Platform from Oracle Targets Research

The network is envisioned to be an extensive cloud-based portfolio of applications to facilitate clinician/researcher collaboration. Read more

Insurer UHC Adopts ‘Blue Button’ Patient Access Tech

UnitedHealthcare is ramping up its rollout of the Blue Button technology enabling members to download their electronic health information in a common format to a personal health record. Read more

Using EHRs To Check Medical Images Helps Boost Compliance

A study finds that physicians who used electronic health records to check portal images had better compliance with image review policies. Findings show that 1% of images viewed via EHR incurred compliance violations, compared with 25% of images checked manually. CMIO, FierceEMR. More

Nat'l Center for IPE & Collaborative Practice

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced the center in early June. RWJF, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and The John A. Hartford Foundation have collectively committed up to $8.6 million over five years for the new center, whose mission is to accelerate teamwork and collaboration among nurses, doctors and other health professionals to improve patient care. Learn more.