Monday, January 26, 2009

Intel Webinar on Mobile Health Technology

If you're interested in learning more about mobile health technology, then take a look at this free Intel Webinar.

Managing Change: How to Overcome Obstacles and Encourage Mobile Technology Adoption

Can you make the case for healthcare IT to your staff and clinicians?

This complimentary, one-hour webinar shows you how to create a change-management process, one that succinctly outlines the benefits of adopting mobile point-of-care solutions including:
  • More safeguards to prevent life-threatening errors
  • Faster decisions in caring for patients based on the latest changes in their condition
  • More time for nurses to spend at a patient’s bedside and less pushing paper
  • More efficient care, which means less waste and less cost

Mobile point-of-care technologies contribute to efficiency and patient safety, but moving staff and clinicians into this new world can be a battle. At this event you'll hear Ohio Health, SunStone Consulting, and St. John’s Hospital tell their own adoption stories. You'll also get a chance to submit questions and join the conversation.

A recent national survey reveals that adoption of new technologies by clinicians is the biggest challenge when launching mobile point-of-care solutions (63 percent).


Improved Clinical Outcomes through Informatics


The current issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine has some really interesting articles for those of you interested in health informatics. The main study is a multi-hospital study that evaluates the use of health IT resources and actual patient outcomes. Here's the bottom line: "Hospitals with automated notes and records, order entry, and clinical decision support had fewer complications, lower mortality rates, and lower costs."

David Bates, MD, MSc, also writes a nice editorial on the effects of health information technology on inpatient care.

Does your hospital use an electronic health record (EHR) system? HIT is expensive, but it's worth the investment when you see the type of impact it makes on patient care and clinical outcomes.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

30 Best Careers?

There's a story on Business Week that was published last month. It's the "30 best careers for 2009." There were several healthcare positions on that list. However, "physician" didn't make the list. Interestingly, physician assistant (or PA) did make the cut. Do you know what else was interesting? Ghostwriter was also on that list. So was health policy specialist? If you want to see the entire list and read more about these different types of jobs, then take a look at the story.

Thinking About Business School?


If you're a healthcare professional (physician, pharmacist, nurse, PA, NP, etc.), and you're thinking about business school (also referred to as "B school,") to get an MBA, then you may be doing some research into part-time programs. After all, you probably can't afford to stop work and enter a full-time program. This is a common scenario for many clinicians. Even though I don't have an MBA, I frequently get asked questions about B school from doctors and medical students.

Business Week has a nice summary of part-time MBA programs:
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/bschool_ptmba_2007/

It's an old summary, but it may give you some direction as you plan your future. Care to share your thoughts about B School? I'd love to hear from you.

Looking for a Job?

If you're looking for a job, you may want to try clicking on the links seen on the right column. These jobs are posted by JobThread and you may find something that sparks your interest. Furthermore, you may also get a glimpse at the different types of jobs that are available.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Will Pfizer Buy Wyeth for $60 Billion?

Rumors are circulating... it's still way too early to say, but it sure is an interesting headline. Maybe it won't be for $60 billion. Maybe only $59 billion?

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

HIMSS 09 EARLY BIRD registration closes in one week!

HIMSS 09 EARLY BIRD registration closes in one week!

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
Chicago, IL
April 4-8, 2009

Are you going? You can download the PDF brochure here:
http://www.himssconference.org/docs/HIMSS09MainBrochure.pdf

Find the best possible activities that match your profile from hundreds of educational and exhibit options.

* CIOs
* Clinical Engineers
* Emerging Technologies
* Interoperability
* Business Information Systems
* Management Engineers
* Military
* Nurses
* Payers

* Pharmacists
* Physicians
* Privacy & Security
* Project Managers
* Public Health
* Quality
* Ambulatory Information System
* Government Sector

Monday, January 19, 2009

CCHIT call for comments

Have you visited www.cchit.org recently? There is a call for comments that is open until Jan 21 that revolves mainly around CCHIT Certified 2009 (and related topics). If you want to provide your input, then make sure to submit something ASAP.

Traveling for Work

One of the major changes that may occur if you switch to a non-clinical career is that you may travel for work. It obviously depends on the type of position you have, but be prepared for that aspect of work. You may think that traveling is fun, but it can also get tiring very quickly. It can also make an impact on your family.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Thank You Sermo for the Free iPod Nano

Thank you Sermo for the free 8 GB iPod nano. I was able to refer enough people in December. Have you joined Sermo yet? What are you waiting for? If you're a licensed physician, then join today.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Association of Clinical Research Professionals ACRP

Thinking about getting certified in 2009 to boost your clinical research skills? The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) provides certification for each of the following:
  • CRA
  • CRC
  • CTI
  • CPI
Do you know what each of those acronyms stand for? To learn more, visit the ACRP website here:
http://www.acrpnet.org

FDA lets drugmakers advise doctors on unapproved uses

It's not what you think. The FDA is allowing drug reps to distribute reprinted journal articles that may include information about off-label use. However, the reps are not supposed to talk about the article.

Off-label use happens incredibly frequently. However, health insurance plans may not be willing to pay for expensive drugs that are used off-label. Additionally, may physicians have prescribed agents inappropriately, and this has resulted in harmful outcomes.

So will the distribution of peer-reviewed publications that discuss off-label use be beneficial to patients? Since discussions about off-label use is OK in the world of CME, I think it could be very beneficial. After all, if a doctor is going to prescribe drugs off-label, he or she should be very educated about the evidence behind that use. Physicians need to know what types of risks and adverse effects may occur.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Continuing Medical Education for Licensure Reregistration 2008

In case you're looking for the link to the 2008 AMA PDF that outlines the state relicensure requirements for CME, here it is:

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/455/licensurereqs08.pdf

Each state has unique requirements in areas like:

  • Risk management
  • Pain management
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Domestic violence
  • Ethics
  • Cultural competence
  • End of life care
  • Prevention of medical errors
In 2008, a handful of states had no CME requirements. Do you know which ones? (isn't that a great trivia question?)

I wonder how that will change for 2009.

If you're looking for a source of FREE CME, take a look at: http://www.cmecorner.com/

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Google Data

Thanks to Google, I have access to some interesting data regarding search statistics on Google. Traffic to my blog may be tiny compared to others, but I find it interesting that certain unanticipated words lead to my blog. Do you use Google to search the internet? Maybe you use Yahoo?

Here's some data from Google. I will only list the top 5 as of January 1, 2009

Impressions

# % Query Position
1 19% non clinical jobs for physicians 6
2 17% non clinical physician jobs 6
3 8% physician nonclinical job 5
4 8% sermo 9
5 6% non clinical careers for physicians 9

Traffic

# % Query Position
1 45% non clinical physician jobs 6
2 9% physician jobs "non clinical" 4
3 9% "non clinical" physician jobs 5
4 9% physician non clinical jobs 5
5 9% physician nonclinical job 5

Interesting data?

Networking in 2009

Do you plan to expand your social network this year? If you do, here are some practical tips that may help, from Andrea Santiago at About.com

http://healthcareers.about.com/od/gettingthejob/a/Networking.htm

Start a blog. Join LinkedIn. Participate in a forum.

Online Forums for Healthcare Professionals

Do you participate in any online forums? This is a great way to network, but you should be cautious and only sign up for forums that are truly legitimate. Sermo is a great forum for physicians. There are other forums out there, like Student Doctor Network. Online forums and blogs are some of the core elements that compose Web 2.0

As the internet becomes more interactive, join social networking sites and participate in forums. You may find some valuable information and also meet some interesting people.

If you're a physician, why don't you join Sermo?

Happy New Year! Welcome 2009

As we start 2009, I'd like to wish all our readers a Happy New Year! I personally think 2009 will bring some significant advances in healthcare technology. This will be seen in hardware - ranging from personal computers, handheld devices/PDA/smart phones, medical instruments and devices, and many others. We will also see a stronger shift into healthcare/public health IT as more hospitals and physicians embrace EHR/EMR systems and rely more on computers to improve patient health.