Former Apple CEO on Future of Medical Technology

Nice piece on FastCompany Former Apple CEO John Sculley On The Future Of Medical Technology And Health Care's Killer App 

As a trail blazer for original tablets in the 80's it must be gratifying to see the uptake of the iPad and it's competitors. In his mind not going to start with a single "killer app"

I think that the health care industry is so complex that it doesn't necessarily start with a single killer app. You go back to the early days of the personal computer--when I joined the industry, we really didn't know what the killer app was going to be. All we knew was that it was going to be possible to create very low-cost, shrink-wrapped applications. It wasn't for several years until we understood that electronic spreadsheets, word processors, and eventually desktop publishing would become killer apps.

But some combination of a solutions integrated and focused on ease of use. The technology has reached a point of penetration and ease of use that makes adoption that much easier in healthcare

So the intimidation of technology is no longer the issue now that it was just a few years ago.

I'd add one thing - the disruptive technology must include ease of interaction and data capture that does not inhibit adoption and as highlighted in this piece on MedScape EHR Voice Recognition: An End to the 'No Eye Contact' Problem which highlights the significant contribution of effectively speech enabling EHRs to

allows for maintenance of the doctor-patient relationship by minimizing the attention paid to the laptop computer inevitably and uncomfortably sitting between a physician and patient when using the point-and-click method

The same is true with other healthcare technology that can interfere with the clinician-patient interaction. As John Sculley said: "You combine those conditions and it creates an opportunity for entrepreneurs to come in and find disruptive solutions."

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Speed of light no Longer a Maximum

This piece of news is mind blowing - CERN scientists identified sub atomic particles traveling at a speed greater than the speed of light........

I need to repeat that:

CERN scientists identified sub atomic particles traveling at a speed greater than the speed of light.

Here's the paper and live conference today Friday Sep 23 at 16:00 Zurich time

This is "crazy" result could upend our understanding of our universe more than we have seen with previous revolutionary theories (Copernicus, Galileo, Einstein.....) 

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Speed of light no Longer a Maximum

This piece of news is mind blowing - CERN scientists identified sub atomic particles traveling at a speed greater than the speed of light........

I need to repeat that:

CERN scientists identified sub atomic particles traveling at a speed greater than the speed of light.

Here's the paper and live conference today Friday Sep 23 at 16:00 Zurich time

This is "crazy" result could upend our understanding of our universe more than we have seen with previous revolutionary theories (Copernicus, Galileo, Einstein.....) 

Posted via email from drnic's posterous

mHealth Holy Grail

In a nice expose on the need for speech recognition on mobile devices: Accurate speech recognition: mHealth's Holy Grail for docs on Fierce Mobile Health   covers off the need for the inclusion of speech in the mHealth future. As they discovered

Doctors constantly tell me how much they love their iPhones and Android tablets, but they also complain about the difficulty of data input. Few find the touchscreen keyboard handy for inputting notes or updating their comments about patient progress. Most use the devices as data viewers.

Offering up MedMaster Mobile as a good example of integrating speech into a mobile healthcare application and speaks to the power and value that speech recognition brings to mobile devices in healthcare to ensure usability and quality data capture.

The article includes a good list of checkpoints when considering speech for the mobile platform including

• Voice quality - The primary consideration in getting good results
• Connectivity - if you rely on cloud based services you need a reliable good quality connection
• Accuracy - with good voice quality will achieve the right results
• Editing - one of the more challenging aspects is an easy way to edit any mistakes that do occur

So Speech Recognition is the secret ingredient to making mobile devices catch-on with clinicians and will transition these great mobile devices from cool but limited practical application to rock solid mobile tool set for mHealth

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The 7 Deadly Sins of EMR implementation | Healthcare IT News

Congratulations! You've committed to an EMR, which is an accomplishment in itself. But the hardest part is still to come: getting it to work.

From failing to plan to skipping out on training, many mistakes can be made during the implementation process. And although they may not be as juicy as wrath, envy or lust, the Seven Deadly Sins of EMR implementation could wreak just as much havoc.

Steve Waldren, MD, director of the American Academy of Family Physicians' Center for Health IT, and Rosemarie Nelson, principal of the MGMA Consulting Group, gave us the worst sins providers can commit during EMR implementation.

[See also: Top 5 worst EMR myths.]

 1. Not doing your homework:  Avoiding supplier problems means background research and thorough evaluations of vendors and products. And beware: vendors tend to make promises they can't keep. According to Waldren, it's important to get the specifics down on paper. "Often, a doctor will ask if [an EMR] can do this or that, and a vendor will say yes. Then, they're surprised when in reality, it doesn't. Doctors need to make sure all expectations are met in writing."

2. Assuming the EMR is a magic bullet: It's important to remember the EMR is a conversion, not an upgrade. Although the system will save you time and money in the long run, Waldren warns it isn't an instant fix to issues in the workplace. "Most people think an EMR solves problems," he said. "But an EMR will only amplify problems that already exist in the practice."

3. Not including nurses in the planning stages: Nelson says doctors tend to think a new EMR is all about them. "They don't think about how much the nurse preps the chart, how often the nurse presents information to them, and how much the nurse handles patients over the phone," she said. Having nurses involved from the beginning avoids future conflicts, and considering their thoughts on product selection and implementation will only help with workflow. "[The implementation] needs to be done with the support of staff; everyone needs to be involved," added Waldren.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

via healthcareitnews.com

Nice highlight of some major faux pas on EHR implementation - I especially like Rosmarie Nelson's comment on forgetting nurses #3: "doctors tend to think an EMR is all about them"....quite

Other great points including training (and actually attending!), trying to replicate existing processes - business process reengineering was a catch phrase for a number of years and has dropped off from regular use but applies to all EMR implementations.

But perhaps most of all "Assuming the EHR is the magic bullet". I have said this before but worth re-itertaing...implementing an EHR is the first step in a journey that while it will have some interim destinations will continue to be a voyage of ongoing discovery. And that train has left..you are either on the train or watching from the station as the train leaves.

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