The Collaborative Communications Summit has announced an exclusive summit on deal-making for investors focused on healthcare technology. The Health Technology Investment Forum will be held on September 30, 2008, in New York City. The Health Technology Investment Forum President Waco Hoover said in a statement: "the Forum will present a series of high growth potential investment opportunities and address key drivers in the health technology sector affecting M&A growth. We're very pleased to be working with major industry players, providing a unique and valuable platform that fosters deal-making and M&A activity."
Misuse of hospital technology leads to increased medication errors, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The study revealed that both the technology design and its implementation—often relied upon as a “cure-all” for medication administration errors—is flawed and can increase the likelihood of some errors. In addition, researchers found that “the urgencies of care” and creative attempts to cope with the problems have caused other medication errors.
House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders hope to vote on legislation before the August recess that would create a national system of electronic medical records, according to Energy and Commerce ranking member Joe Barton. He said members working on changes to the bill "are making privacy a priority" even though the measure is chiefly a vehicle to speed the adoption of health information technology. Barton said his committee's bill will likely have "the strongest privacy protection of any bill that's gone through the House or Senate in the last five or 10 years."
Boston-based HealthHonors has launched its new behavior modification technology that aims to motivate patients to adhere to drug therapy and wellness initiatives by using a points-reward system. The program uses principles developed by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, including the use of intermittent reinforcement schedules, a linked behavior/reward sequence, and education to condition patients and allow them the opportunity to earn points as determined by a suite of complex behavioral algorithms.
We hear a lot about patient privacy and rights. With high-tech heavyweights like Google and Microsoft getting into the online personal health records game, it's likely that publishing medical information online will become the norm, rather than a futuristic pipe dream. Of course, patients will still want to know that their private information won't be accessed by the prying eyes of bosses, friends, neighbors, or relatives. And, through advertising pushes, test cases, and studies, the industry is working very hard to prove to patients that their medical data will remain private.
But what about the healthcare provider's right to privacy?
Many providers, especially those of a certain age, may not have any idea just how much of their personal information is easily accessible online to anybody—including their patients.
Anyone who comes into contact with patients, whether it be a physician or hospital executive, is accustomed to the dependency of patients in a clinical setting. Yes, we look to our doctors to cure what ails us, but we also want them to offer us comfort and support when we're feeling scared or sick. Some of us also want to know a little about our primary caregiver's history. Where did she graduate from, what do other patients think of her, where else does she practice? With the click of a mouse and few keystrokes, it's a breeze to get that information online at sites like ratemds.com and physicianreports.com. Unfortunately, it's also that easy to access far more personal information. Just by entering my doctor's name in Google or one of the dozens of other search sites, I can find out everything from where my doctor lives to her marital status to how much mortgage she pays.
Researchers at the Journal of the American Medical Association warn that just finding out where you live may not be the worst that can happen when a patient plumbs the Web for dirt on his doctor. Since anyone can write a Blog or create a Web page, including a disgruntled patient, there is the potential for some serious damage to your or your hospital's reputation.
"There may be slanderous information about a physician on the Web, published in a Blog or on a Web page, by a vengeful patient, colleague, or ex-lover," Tristan Gorrindo, MD, and James E. Groves, MD, wrote in an article published in JAMA.
Although you will never be able to completely control what is published about you on the Internet, there are some steps that you can take to control the information that is readily available. The JAMA article recommends that physicians Google their own names regularly to see what's out there, and if you do find slanderous material, be aggressive about getting it removed. Also, create your own Web page. Include basic information about your practice, such as services, address and hours.
"Such information may satisfy a patient's desire to find some digital connectedness to his or her physician, thereby discouraging deeper online probing,” say Gorrindo and Groves. If you are a member of one of the social networking sites out there, like Myspace or Facebook, set your profile to private.
Finally, you can always fall back on the old talking method by asking your patients about how they are using the Internet. "If a physician suspects that an Internet-savvy patient is engaged in seeking personal information about him or her, we recommend that the physician talk with the patient about the garnered information," they write.
Being knowledgeable about the information published regarding you in the virtual world can help keep even the most persistent Cyber stalker from invading your private life.
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"Super user" is a new name coined to describe people who turn to the ER with astonishing frequency and at an astonishing cost to a health system already under siege. Researchers studying the crisis of America's overcrowded emergency rooms are beginning to focus on this largely undocumented phenomenon. The researchers say a seemingly intractable problem could be solved, in large part, by focusing on just the top 1% of emergency room users, who in Camden, NJ, alone cost $46 million over five years.
The University of Chicago has signed an affiliation agreement with Evanston Northwestern Healthcare to educate and train future doctors at Evanston's three hospitals. Evanston Northwestern ended its 78-year-old relationship with Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in June. Following a one-year transition that began July 1, residents and students from the training programs of the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine will begin to train at Evanston Northwestern facilities that include hospitals in Evanston, Highland Park and Glenview in July 2009.
Managers have known for months that a number of workers at Los Angeles County medical facilities have criminal records, but they took little or no action, Los Angeles County Chief Executive Officer William T Fujioka has announced. Fujioka said the information was discovered after the county ordered fingerprints from all 1,600 employees working at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor hospital when it closed inpatient services nearly a year ago. The California Department of Justice returned with information that some employees had previously undisclosed criminal histories, but the county's Human Resources Department did not take appropriate disciplinary action against them, Fujioka said.
More doctors, particularly women, are now choosing to work part time, and some health providers are accommodating them. The percentage of physicians practicing on a part-time basis rose from 13% in 2005 to 19% in 2007, according to the 2007 Physician Retention Survey released by Cejka Search and the American Medical Group Association. Though working part time adds balance to a physician's high-stress lifestyle, some experts say that these work-hour decreases are worrisome due to the nationwide shortage of doctors.
Hundreds of service workers at the University of California's 10 campuses and five hospitals began a five-day strike in a dispute over wages. University officials reported "minimal impact" from the walkout, however. Campus shuttles were idled at UC Berkeley and cafeteria hours were curtailed at UC Irvine, but patient care was not affected at any of the university's five medical centers, said UC officials.
