The 2009 HITECH Act authorized incentives by the federal government on a massive scale to push healthcare providers to adopt information technology in the form of electronic health record (EHR) systems. It showed that the government is serious in improving healthcare while cutting costs at the same time. Here some signs of the revolution that [...]
Google decided to close down its web site for personal health records - Google Health. It wasn't catching on with consumers in a big enough way to make money. Could it be because it's Google that is holding the personal and private records and people don't inherently trust a company that hasn't been involved in [...]
A few states are challenging the federal healthcare law. Some say that it's a ploy to get voters out this November. See the video from Fox News via the Wall St. Journal.
It was unexpected. That may be why it seemed exceptional. It was Saturday morning and I was looking forward to a great cappuccino produced by our highly intelligent high-end espresso machine. The capsule goes in, motor starts pumping and with a lot of noise, no espresso! What’s wrong? It appeared the holes were not getting [...]
I attended the Web 2.0 conference this week and was pleasantly surprised. The format is fast, energetic and covers a lot of ground, but the atmosphere was very relaxed. In contrast to traditional tech conferences such as HIMSS, Web 2.0 has a very different structure. Keynotes are 15 minutes each, and the keynotes speeches are [...]
The bitterest national debate in years is over. Before President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, wild claims filled the air like spooked bats. Healthcare reform would be a calamity. It would be a panacea. We were stepping off the brink or away from the brink, and commentators on [...]
There are many items in the healthcare reform bill that don’t get publicized. For all the worry about the cost of the bill, there are many aspects that can indirectly save money in the future with healthier individuals. These are some of the lesser known items from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: For [...]
Apple says that the iPad fills a niche between smart phones and PCs. It’s a tablet because the size is smaller than a PC and bigger than a smart device. The size and portability of the iPad makes it a good candidate for a portable terminal – one that could be used in physician’s offices [...]
I had the pleasure of watching YoYo Ma perform in concert. He played a solo, a duet with violin, and in a sextet. In the sextet, there were two cellos. Although YoYo is the star and audience draw, he played the second part and let the other cellist shine. He was also the last one [...]
Ethnography is the branch of anthropology that deals with the scientific description of specific human cultures. In ethnographic research, people are observed in their real environments - home, office, shopping, etc. In this way, unmet needs and areas of opportunity can be identified by watching their behavior within their normal context. Designers can use this information [...]