In Technology For Doctors Issie Rabinovitch passes on common sense suggestions to improve security on EMR systems:
http://www.canhealth.com/doctors.html#D06octstory2
Archive for the ‘EMR’ Category
Your first time here?
Welcome, I'm glad you've dropped in.... David Soul (aka Bricoleur)
In CanadianEMR there is a whole section devoted to disussion Exam Room configurations and set up of the equipment for EMR systems in primary care settings. Everthing from screen orientation (whether to allow direct view by the patient) to hardware brackets for mounting the computer is open game in this section of the site….many worthwhile hints from pioneer implementors can be found at:
http://emruser.typepad.com/canadianemr/b_exam_room_configurations/index.html
Available from the Medical Records Institute (pdf) is their latest annual survey of EHR Trends and Usage which reveals insights into the:
Priorities for strategic decisions in IT
EHR applications and functions being implemented or planned
EHR configurations for different environments
Data capture methods being employed
Major barriers to implementing EHR systems
Mobile/wireless technologies used, concerns related to implementation, and impact on healthcare delivery
Perceived effectiveness of IT on patient safety
EHR applications and functions being implemented or planned
EHR configurations for different environments
Data capture methods being employed
Major barriers to implementing EHR systems
Mobile/wireless technologies used, concerns related to implementation, and impact on healthcare delivery
Perceived effectiveness of IT on patient safety
You can fiind it at: http://www.medrecinst.com/survey/2006/download.asp
Alan Brookstone has posted an interesting piece in CanadianEMR where he discusses the exipration of the Alberta Physician Office System Program (POSP). As he indicates:
“The POSP funding program has been viewed as both an experiment and a model for provinces across Canada.”
Here in BC the nascent Physician Information Technology (PITO) program is still largely underwraps … but Physicians are being told to wait… to not buy either hardware or software until the program is fully underway or they may not be eligible for funding if their choice turns out not to be on the PITO qualified EMR vendor list when it finally comes out.
In CanadianEMR Dr. Brookstone reports that a change in the presentation of lab results has eliminated a huge benefit that he had as a clinician in easily identifing trends through graphing the results for presentation to patients to demonstrate progress or lack thereof.
The discussion thread was quite active and included opinions that went beyond the trouble of changing of standard presentation methods to the very usefulness of graphing medical results.
I don’t believe the discussion does more than scratch the surface, and will be writing more about the visual display of medical information in future posts, but this appears to be one of the few discussions of the state of the art in EMR: http://emruser.typepad.com/canadianemr/2004/07/changes_in_lab_.html
When will Canadian doctors join the computer age?
In this piece in CBC News In Depth by Robert Sheppard its noted that despite a massive program sponsored by the federal and provincial government (Canada Health Infoway; 6 years; $1.1 billlion) less than 20% of Canadian GP's are actually using electonic IT systems for clinical care.
3
Oct
PITO FAQ Update
The BC Ministry of Health has posted an update to their PITO Frequently Asked Question page.
Items marked as “new” include:
2) Can I start buying hardware and software now, and submit my request for funding once PITO is operational?
4) What EMR products are eligible for PITO funding?
7) How will PITO handle the registration process if physician registrations exceed PITO capacity?
15) What measures is PITO taking to ensure privacy of personal information?
4) What EMR products are eligible for PITO funding?
7) How will PITO handle the registration process if physician registrations exceed PITO capacity?
15) What measures is PITO taking to ensure privacy of personal information?
The FAQ can be found at: http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/legislation/bcmaagree_faqs_pito.html#1
Leaders of the Vancouver Coastal Health Physician User Group met with representatives of the the Physician Information Technology Office (PITO) which was set up by the BC
Medical Association and the BC provincial government to coordinate the implementation of IT products and services and disbursement of IT funds to physicians.
“This meeting demonstrates a commitment from PITO to work with
physicians across the province,” says Dr. Alan Brookstone, Physician
Coordinator of the PUG Strategy. “Sessions like this one will help to
guide provincial eHealth initiatives, and are essential to ensure
meaningful physician input into planning and decision making.”
physicians across the province,” says Dr. Alan Brookstone, Physician
Coordinator of the PUG Strategy. “Sessions like this one will help to
guide provincial eHealth initiatives, and are essential to ensure
meaningful physician input into planning and decision making.”
You can find the article at:
http://www.vch.ca/medlink/technology_news/0405_pito.htm
Alan Brookstone writes in Canadian EMR:
“One of the big issues that has recently come to my attention and
something that I have discussed with colleagues in BC and around the
country is that of the migration of patient information (clinical and
other data) that is stored in one EMR when migrating to a new EMR
system.”
something that I have discussed with colleagues in BC and around the
country is that of the migration of patient information (clinical and
other data) that is stored in one EMR when migrating to a new EMR
system.”
He again raises the point that he has broached elsewhere:
… if an existing user of an EMR
decides to migrate to a new system, there may be a medico-legal
imperitive for that physician to maintain a copy of the 'old' EMR
system INDEFINITELY on an additional computer in the office in the
event that an audit trail would need to be produced in the future. This
is a very real problem.
decides to migrate to a new system, there may be a medico-legal
imperitive for that physician to maintain a copy of the 'old' EMR
system INDEFINITELY on an additional computer in the office in the
event that an audit trail would need to be produced in the future. This
is a very real problem.
There are many issues raised in the comments to Dr. Brookstones piece (especially interesting are those referencing medico-legal reporting requirements) that make this piece worth reviewing:
canadianemr/2006/09/migration_of_da.html
NASA image of the day
Curiosity at 'Cumberland'NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its front left Hazard-Avoidance Camera for this image of the rover's arm over the drilling target "Cumberland" during the 275th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (May 15, 2013). The rover team plans to use Curiosity's drill to collect a powdered sample from the interior of the rock for analysis by laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is the mission's second rock-drilling target. The rover drove from its position beside the first drilling target, "John Klein," to its position beside Cumberland with drives of 121 inches (308 centimeters) on Sol 273 (May 13) and 26.6 inches (67.5 centimeters) on Sol 275. Curiosity's total odometry on Mars is now 2,385 feet (727 meters). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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