Translating text into audio is one of the solutions people with limited or no eyesight employ to overcome that barrier. Thunder is one of many award-winning, free screen-reader program that does just that.

It helps blind and visually impaired people navigate their computers by reading text, menus, links and buttons. Using Thunder, you won't need your mouse. You'll be able to hear buttons and icons to find your way around your computer. Thunder is available in five languages and installs quickly and easily. There are also several manuals for beginning users to help you make the most of this life-changing software.

Cost: Free, Systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 www.screenreader.net

GPS navigation for the blind: BlindSquare you can. It's an app designed to help the visually impaired find their way around town.

It uses the iPhone's sophisticated sensors and GPS to track where you are and tell you what's around you. It's voice activated and includes high-quality speech synthesis to help you navigate around the city.

Ethics and HIT

Challenges...
http://jamia.bmj.com/site/icons/amiajnl8946.pdf

patient safety should trump all other values; corporate concerns about liability and intellectual property ownership may be valid but should not over-ride all other considerations;
transparency and a commitment to patient safety should govern vendor contracts;
institutions are duty-bound to provide ethics education to purchasers and users, and should commit publicly to standards of corporate conduct; and
vendors, system purchasers, and users should encourage and assist in each others’ efforts to adopt best practices.

Meaningful Use (MU) & Nursing

Nurses are central to ensuring Meaningful Use ...

http://www.himss.org/ASP/topics_FocusDynamic.asp?faid=395

Bowles, K. (October, 2010). Achieving Meaningful Use with Information Technology: Telehealth Research. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (OJNI),14 (3). Available at http://ojni.org/14_3/Bowles.pdf

Bowles, K.,(February, 2011) ONJNI....Achieving Meaningful Use With Decision Support Research http://tinyurl.com/4ol9r6p

CMS & MU:

Meeting the Requirements for Meaningful Use: Attestation Calculator

HIMMS:

Meaningful Use OneSource assists eligible healthcare providers and professionals in understanding Meaningful Use Stage 1 and Stage 2 requirements, timelines, and the proposed rule. Our dynamic and living body of documents and tools fully prepares you to:

Meet Meaningful Use proposed Stage 2 certification criteria and standards
Receive Medicare and Medicaid incentive funding and avoid penalties
Implement Meaningful Use specifications practically and successfully
Get updates on federal and state regulations with content vetted by industry experts!

Information Age Health Care

Pages

Screen reader for the visually impaired

GPS navigation for the blind: BlindSquare you can. It's an app designed to help the visually impaired find their way around town.

It uses the iPhone's sophisticated sensors and GPS to track where you are and tell you what's around you. It's voice activated and includes high-quality speech synthesis to help you navigate around the city.

Other Nursing Informatics & HIT Blogs of Interest

Nursing Informatics & Technology: A Blog for All Levels of Users

News from healthcareitnews.com

mobihealthnews

iHealthBeat

Health information technology improves care and saves lives

Ethics and HIT

e-Behaviorial Health

Social media tools encourage people to share information, collaborate, and interact. These tools reinforce and personalize health messages, reach new audiences, and build a communication infrastructure based on open information exchange. The tools include:
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