HealthTech

Articles that catalogue health and beauty industry.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

washingtonpost.com: The Millionaire Next Door

washingtonpost.com: The Millionaire Next Door: "Go to Chapter One Section
The Millionaire Next Door
The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy
By Thomas J. Stanley, Ph. D. and William D. Danko, Ph. D.
Chapter One: Meet the Millionaire Next Door
These people cannot be millionaires! They don't look like millionaires, they don't dress like millionaires, they don't eat like millionaires, they don't act like millionaires--they don't even have millionaire names. Where are the millionaires who look like millionaires?
The person who said this was a vice president of a trust department. He made these comments following a focus group interview and dinner that we hosted for ten first-generation millionaires. His view of millionaires is shared by most people who are not wealthy. They think millionaires own expensive clothes, watches, and other status artifacts. We have found this is not the case.
As a matter of fact, our trust officer friend spends significantly more for his suits than the typical American millionaire. He also wears a $5,000 watch. We know from our surveys that the majority of millionaires never spent even one-tenth of $5,000 for a watch. Our friend also drives a current-model imported luxury car. Most millionaires are not driving this year's model. Only a minority drive a foreign motor vehicle. An even smaller minority drive foreign luxury cars. Our trust officer leases, while only a minority of millionaires ever lease their motor vehicles.
But ask the typical American adult this question: Who looks more like a millionaire? Would it be our friend, the trust officer, or one of the people who participated in our interview? We would wager that most people by a wide margin would pick the trust officer. But looks can be deceiving.
This concept is perhaps b"

washingtonpost.com: The Millionaire Next Door

washingtonpost.com: The Millionaire Next Door: "Go to Chapter One Section
The Millionaire Next Door
The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy
By Thomas J. Stanley, Ph. D. and William D. Danko, Ph. D.
Chapter One: Meet the Millionaire Next Door
These people cannot be millionaires! They don't look like millionaires, they don't dress like millionaires, they don't eat like millionaires, they don't act like millionaires--they don't even have millionaire names. Where are the millionaires who look like millionaires?
The person who said this was a vice president of a trust department. He made these comments following a focus group interview and dinner that we hosted for ten first-generation millionaires. His view of millionaires is shared by most people who are not wealthy. They think millionaires own expensive clothes, watches, and other status artifacts. We have found this is not the case.
As a matter of fact, our trust officer friend spends significantly more for his suits than the typical American millionaire. He also wears a $5,000 watch. We know from our surveys that the majority of millionaires never spent even one-tenth of $5,000 for a watch. Our friend also drives a current-model imported luxury car. Most millionaires are not driving this year's model. Only a minority drive a foreign motor vehicle. An even smaller minority drive foreign luxury cars. Our trust officer leases, while only a minority of millionaires ever lease their motor vehicles.
But ask the typical American adult this question: Who looks more like a millionaire? Would it be our friend, the trust officer, or one of the people who participated in our interview? We would wager that most people by a wide margin would pick the trust officer. But looks can be deceiving.

This concept is perhaps best expressed by those wise and wealthy Texans who refer to our trust officer's type as


Big Hat No Cattle"

$50m test seeks to end doctors' paper chase

$50m test seeks to end doctors' paper chase - The Boston Globe: "The daily paper chase begins as soon as Dr. David Howell arrives for work at his pediatrics office in Brockton.
Each child's medical file must be handled seven times for an average doctor's visit. Every day, Howell plows through stacks of paper on his desk. Sometimes, files are misplaced. Specialists who examine his patients send him typed notes, via the Postal Service.
The result? Howell's local Dodge dealer can review the service history on his 2000 Chrysler faster than Howell can check the vaccination record of a 13-year-old heading to summer camp. ''It's frustrating. It slows us down,' Howell said.
Howell is eagerly awaiting the launch of a $50 million experiment paid for by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts to fully computerize patient records in healthcare markets in Brockton, North Adams, and Newburyport. It is one of a number of tests nationwide that are being closely watched by the healthcare industry, academics, and politicians who want to correct a broad failing of American medical care: a lack of digital record keeping."

NurseZone - Devices & technology

NurseZone - Devices & technology: "Science-fiction films have long depicted technological worlds where access is granted only to those whose eyes give their identity away. In today�s medically advanced society, science fiction is fast becoming reality. Thanks to biometric technology, medical facilities are scanning fingers, faces and the irises of the eye to allow secure access to confidential data.
Faced with the privacy guidelines of HIPAA, one Florida health care system sought out biometric technology to ensure the security of its computer systems. In an effort to eliminate the use of passwords, North Florida Medical Centers, Inc., a system of rural clinics in the northern Florida panhandle, experimented with finger-scanning technology before finally electing to install iris-scanning technology on 100-plus computers.
�In the medical environment, it was difficult for clinicians to log on to computers using the finger scans because they often had gloves on or things in their hands,� explained Lynn Sims, medical information systems director for North Florida Medical Centers. �It is so much easier for a camera to scan their eyes. They never have to take their gloves off or put things down.� "

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Measure Your Soft Skills Smarts

Measure Your Soft Skills Smarts: "What are employers looking for?
It depends -- every employer seeks a different mix of skills and experience from a prospective employee. But one thing they look for consistently: Soft skills.
Remember the phrase from your report card -- 'works and plays well with others'? That's a critical soft skill, and there are many more, all of them important for any job in any industry.
Are you soft skills savvy? Take this short quiz and find out. "

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Hospital tries to cut ER waiting times

Hospital tries to cut ER waiting times - Saturday, 08/20/05:
Hendersonville Medical Center uses a 5-level triage system and
is one of 3 HCA facilities with electronic medical records.

By TODD PACK
Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, 08/20/05

Rather than scribbling notes on paper charts, emergency room
nurses at Hendersonville Medical Center are typing patient information into
electronic medical records, using laptop computers.

It's one of several ways the Sumner County hospital, part of
Nashville-based HCA Inc., is trying to reduce waiting times and move patients
through the ER faster.

HCA, the country's largest hospital chain, wants to
streamline its ERs because that's where many people decide whether they dislike
a hospital, a spokesman said.


"We looked at our overall patient satisfaction
(scores), and we looked at different departments, and (emergency) was among the
lowest," in big part because of the usually long waits, said the spokesman,
Ed Fishbough.


A hospital, like any other business, competes for customers.
If patients have bad experiences in Hendersonville's ER, they're more likely to
choose some other hospital for non-emergency care, he said.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Wired hospitals help staff, soothe patients - 08/17/05

Wired hospitals help staff, soothe patients - 08/17/05: "The Detroit Medical Center this year purchased a team of roving robots that transmit the image and voices of doctors into hospital rooms. Oakwood Health System was the first in the region to get the robots. "

Government takes pulse on healthcare IT uptake

Source: Healthcare IT News
Healthcare leaders mull ways to spur IT adoption in small practices

Feds to study healthcare IT adoption gap

Commonwealth Fund study on physicians’ IT uptake

WASHINGTON — The federal government by early fall will award a contract to measure adoption of information technology within the healthcare industry and better understand the areas of healthcare that have embraced technology and those that lag behind.


A number of studies have attempted to measure healthcare providers’ IT use, however, these studies used different criteria to measure adoption. The government hopes to establish a single benchmark to more accurately gauge the IT adoption gap in healthcare. The government has already released a request for proposals for the study to a list of government contractors, according to an HHS spokesperson.


The gap between the healthcare IT haves and have-nots is a topic that has long interested the nation’s healthcare IT czar, David J. Brailer, MD, who has expressed concern that small and rural physician practices face bigger barriers to paying for and implementing IT compared with their larger counterparts.


“We can’t tolerate an adoption gap,” Brailer has said in several speeches.
Brailer in April told a meeting of providers, payers and government healthcare leaders that technology adoption in small physician practices is key to the White House’s strategy to have most Americans using electronic health records within a decade.


“I can’t get to that goal without getting to the small physician practices,” Brailer told the group.


Recent studies suggest that smaller practices do fall behind in IT adoption. A 2003 study from the Commonwealth Fund found that 87 percent of large group practice physicians have access to electronic test results compared with 36 percent of solo-practice physicians. Physicians in large group practices are more likely than solo practitioners to use EMRs and other technology tools, according to the study.


The government in September also plans to award several contracts aimed at creating a national health information infrastructure and ensuring that healthcare providers nationwide can easily exchange data.



Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Radiotherapy: a story of two patients

Radiotherapy: a story of two patients: "Examples of some of the specialised radiotherapy techniques that have been made possible with the newer generation of radiotherapy equipment. Many of these improvements in radiotherapy were actually driven by the progress seen in computer and imaging technologies. Examples of some of these newer radiation technologies are the CT simulator, the 3-Dimensional computer planner and the multi leaf collimator (MLC). "

Thursday, August 04, 2005

NurseZone - Survey Reveals Most Wired Hospitals, Suggests Link to Reduced Mortality Rates

NurseZone - Nursing news: "Nursing news

Survey Reveals Most Wired Hospitals, Suggests Link to Reduced Mortality Rates

By Christina Orlovsky, senior staff writer

Information technology has been making its way into hospitals and other health care institutions across the country for years, as health care providers and administrators become increasingly aware of its effect on quality improvement. Just how many hospitals have jumped on the IT bandwagon�and remained committed to the cause�becomes clear at this time every year as Hospitals & Health Networks reveals its list of 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Care Systems.
For the seventh year, Hospitals & Health Networks, in conjunction with IDX Systems Corp., Accenture and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, produced the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study. According to the publication, every hospital in the United States was invited to participate in the survey, which asked hospitals to report their use of technology to address five key areas: safety and quality, customer service, business processes, workforce, and public health and safety. This year, 502 surveys were submitted representing 1,255 hospitals.
The results showed that there are three key areas in which Most Wired hospitals differentiate themselves from the rest, according to Alden Solovy, executive editor and associate publisher of the journals of the American Hospital Association, which publishes Hospitals & Health Networks.
�The Most Wired use a wider array of IT tools to address quality and safety; they have a significantly larger percentage of physicians that enter orders themselves; and they conduct a larger percentage of clinical activities via information technology,� he said.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Majority of Consumers Believe Electronic Medical Records Can Improve Medical Care, Accenture Survey Finds

93% Support Emergency Room Doctors Having Access to Electronic Records to Reduce Treatment Errors: " majority of U.S. consumers believe that electronic medical records can provide valuable benefits, especially during medical emergencies, and can improve overall medical care, according to the results of a survey released today by Accenture. "

NurseZone - On the job - Technology report

NurseZone - On the job - Technology report: "For years, nurses have been advocating for patient information at the point of care. Now, Helen Connors, RN, Ph.D., FAAN, executive director of the Center for Healthcare Informatics at the University of Kansas Medical Center, in Lawrence, Kansas, has introduced �information at the point of learning.�
At Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, in Baltimore, Maryland, Patricia Abbott, RN, Ph.D., FAAN, assistant professor and co-director of the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization Center for Information Systems in Nursing Care, concluded that �it is a crime to graduate nursing students who don�t know how to interact in this complex and information intensive environment.� "

CNN.com - Study: Health network could cost $200 billion - Aug 2, 2005

CNN.com - Study: Health network could cost $200 billion - Aug 2, 2005: "WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's proposal to create a national network of electronic health records could cost more than $200 billion initially to build and operate, researchers said Monday."

HHS Clarifies Electronic Health Record Software Offer

Health-IT World: "Private medical practices will have to pay a $2,700 licensing fee, per doc, for the first year, according to Gary Carr, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and even the Times said that implementation costs would run in the thousands for a typical physician practice. Media and healthcare interests all over the country picked up on the Times headline, which read, 'U.S. Will Offer Doctors Free Electronic Records System,' and on some of the more declarative statements in the article. "