Othergeomedicine technologies under development include Health Begins, a social networking platform that seeks to make clinicians more aware of socioeconomic factors that can affect health. The site, now in the testing phase, allows doctors, patients and family members to update entries, such as where to apply for affordable housing or how to contact a legal clinic for reporting unhealthy working conditions. The site also has a section that shows the latest research assessing links between social, economic and environmental factors and health." Read more
Showing posts with label Healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healthcare. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
New Technology Helps Doctors Link a Patient’s Location to Illness and Treatment
Othergeomedicine technologies under development include Health Begins, a social networking platform that seeks to make clinicians more aware of socioeconomic factors that can affect health. The site, now in the testing phase, allows doctors, patients and family members to update entries, such as where to apply for affordable housing or how to contact a legal clinic for reporting unhealthy working conditions. The site also has a section that shows the latest research assessing links between social, economic and environmental factors and health." Read more
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Checklists Can Help in Surgical Crises, Too: Study
From the article: "By using simulation technology, researchers were able to
show something previously thought impossible to prove: the benefits of using
surgical checklists in an operating room emergency.
In an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded study, a team of researchers observed 17 surgical teams participating in 106 staged crises. The researchers found there was stricter adherence to critical steps in “life-saving processes” when a set of crisis checklists was available.
According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, there was a 75% reduction in “failure to adhere to critical steps” when checklists were used. In these instances, 6% (24 of 371) of the critical steps were missed, compared to 23% (89 of 379) when teams were working from memory. Each session was recorded, and physician researchers observed and scored adherence to the established, evidence-based response guidelines." Read more
In an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded study, a team of researchers observed 17 surgical teams participating in 106 staged crises. The researchers found there was stricter adherence to critical steps in “life-saving processes” when a set of crisis checklists was available.
According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, there was a 75% reduction in “failure to adhere to critical steps” when checklists were used. In these instances, 6% (24 of 371) of the critical steps were missed, compared to 23% (89 of 379) when teams were working from memory. Each session was recorded, and physician researchers observed and scored adherence to the established, evidence-based response guidelines." Read more
Becoming Your Own Doctor In The Brave New World Of Personalized Medicine
From the article: "So for most people, serving as our own doctor is well-nigh
impossible. Being a doctor isn’t a part-time position or a hobby. A small
number of smart, highly motivated people take the extreme effort necessary to
become a doctor, but this isn’t the path the vast majority of the rest of
us have taken, can take, or even want to take. And even if we are wannabe Dr.
Welbys and Dr. Houses, we don’t have the necessary skills and fortitude and
time to get a genuine medical education." Read more
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Patients with After-Hours Access To Their Providers Show Lower Emergency Room Use
From the article: "The first study
to use a nationally representative sample to describe after-hours care in the
US, released today as a Web First by Health Affairs, demonstrates that
emergency room usage is significantly lower when patients have access to
after-hours services with their primary care provider.
According to the study by Ann O’Malley of the Center for Studying Health
System Change, 30.4 percent of patients with after-hours access to their
primary care providers reported emergency room use, compared to 37.7 percent of
those lacking after-hours access. Another key finding: patients with
access to after-hours care reported a significantly lower rate of unmet medical
need: 6.1 percent versus 13.7 percent of those lacking after-hours access." Read more
Health-Care Sector Vulnerable to Hackers, Researchers Say
From the article: "As the health-care industry rushed onto the Internet in
search of efficiencies and improved care in recent years, it has exposed a wide
array of vulnerable hospital computers and medical devices to hacking,
according to documents and interviews." Read more
Thursday, December 6, 2012
ONC to Roll Out Plan for Consumer Connection to Health Information
From the article: "The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)
will soon release the draft version of its consumer engagement plan with
details on how patients can get more connected with their own healthcare. A
45-day period of public comment will allow interested parties to give feedback
on the plan." Read more
Why Data is the Key to Better Medicine — and Maybe a Cure for Cancer
Harris, Derrick, "Why Data is the Key to Better Medicine — and Maybe a Cure for Cancer." GigaOm, November 27, 2012.
From the article: "The health care industry might have embraced the big data movement with open arms, but embracing it with open data probably would be more effective. Hospital organizations, researchers and the tech companies serving them have lots of great ideas — and have achieved some great results, too — but, ultimately, efforts to use big data to transform the industry will only be as good as the data these stakeholders have to work with. Right now, that isn’t always everything they need." Read more