April 2011
11 posts
Adaptiv: gorgeous, universal EMR client for iPad →
This thing is absolutely beautiful, and is available to just about any EMR your hospital might be running. It’s already live in Ottawa, Canada. Check out Adaptiv’s website here.
How the iPad will be revolutionary for doctors and...
As a nurse, I spend a lot of time with other nurses. When they ask me to explain why I think the iPad is great, I respond with the following metaphor: imagine that you are a nurse who has been asked to design a new hospital from scratch. You are free to question every prior assumption, to throw out old ideas that no longer fit, to redesign everything according to the way healthcare is actually...
Paul Ryan's 100% Estate Tax →
Merrill Goozner writes at The Health Care Blog:
Seniors and the poor account for over half of health care spending. Within those groups, 5 percent of the population accounts for 50 percent of health care costs; and 20 percent of the population accounts for about 80 percent. These costs come for the most part at times when economic incentives have no influence at all on medical decision-making:...
New, disposable camera is smaller than a grain of... →
A German technology company has developed a camera that is smaller than a coarse grain of salt. It’s so small and cheap to manufacture that they consider it disposable. The immediately obvious application is for endoscopy, however the possibilities are numerous. (Via @counternotions.)
Rising number of newborns need treatment for... →
Abby Goodnough and Katie Zezima reporting for the NYTimes:
Those who do treat pregnant addicts face a jarring ethical quandary: they must weigh whether the harm inflicted by exposing a fetus to powerful drugs, albeit under medical supervision, is justifiable.
“I’ve had pharmacies that have just called back and said: ‘This lady’s pregnant. Why do you want me to fill this scrip? I can’t do...
Two thoughtful critiques of Paul Ryan's plan to...
Brad Wright:
For starters, if Rep. Ryan is so adamant about reducing the deficit, why is he cutting taxes for the wealthy and cutting programs for the poor and the elderly? Didn’t he learn back in Budget 101 that there are only three ways to reduce a deficit? You either reduce spending or you increase revenues or both. You don’t ever reduce revenues. That move alone has me...
Cerner's first iPhone app goes out of its way to...
On April 2d, Cerner released Physician Express, their first EMR app for iPhone and iPad. It’s been nearly three years since Apple first enabled third-party developers to create apps for the iPhone, so this app is a long time in coming. Other big EMR vendors, such as Epic, have had at least a small footprint in the App Store for a while now, which makes Cerner quite the latecomer. Physicians...
iPad and healthcare: Apple's first TV spot for... →
Above is Apple’s first television ad for the iPad 2. It shows close-ups of the kinds of taps, swipes, and gestures for which the iPad has become famous. The narration (featuring the voice of the creepy government guy from E.T.) takes its cues from Steve Jobs’ “post-PC” comments during the iPad 2 press event last month:
This is what we believe. Technology...
Totally Rad: Automatic login to an EMR just by... →
An Oregon clinic has installed a system from Proxense that allows their clinicians to automatically login to their EMR just by walking within beacon distance of their RFID-scanner-equipped computers. The system is enabled as soon as they enter the room, so by the time they reach the keyboard, there is no waiting for logging in. Any medical professional can tell you just how big a deal this is. The...
US State Department is funding mobile developers... →
Jon Orlin for TechCrunch:
So far, the State Department has funded $22 million in “Internet freedom programming.” The money goes to innovators in the form of small grants ranging from a few to tens of thousands of dollars. TechCrunch asked who was getting the money, but due to the sensitive nature of the project, the government won’t disclose names.
Don’t worry, it wasn’t me.