The Optical Society of America recently announced that University of California-Davis researchers have modified Apple’s iPhone and transformed it into a low-cost, high-quality medical imaging device for analyzing blood samples, United Press International reports.
Device Details
To develop the device, Kaiqin Chu — a postdoctoral optics researcher at UC-Davis — inserted a $40 ball lens into a hole in a rubber sheet to create a low-powered magnifying glass. He then taped the rubber sheet onto the camera of an iPhone.
When attached to the iPhone’s camera, the ball lens can examine features that are 1.5 microns in size, allowing users to identify various types of blood cells (United Press International, 10/3).
Although the ball lens creates a distorted image, researchers developed a software program that takes multiple pictures of a blood sample as the camera or the sample moves. The software then combines the pictures into a large, undistorted image (Cass, Technology Review, 10/5).
Possible Uses
According to researchers, the modified smartphone could help health care providers diagnose blood diseases in developing countries and in rural clinics that lack access to laboratory equipment.
In addition, the technology could send real-time data to health care professionals across the world for additional analysis (United Press International, 10/3).
Researchers will present the iPhone attachment at OSA’s annual meeting later this month (Godt, CMIO, 10/5).
Source: iHealthBeat
As of the end of September, more than 100,000 hospitals and physicians had registered for the meaningful use incentive program, according to CMS, Government Health IT reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
Of the total 114,644 registrants:
As of August, 90,000 health care providers had signed up for the meaningful use incentive program.
During the Health IT Policy Committee’s meaningful use work group meeting on Tuesday, Robert Tagalicod — director of CMS’ Office of eHealth Standards and Services — said that as of Sept. 30, CMS had doled out more than $850 million in meaningful use incentive payments, including $357.4 million under the Medicare program and $492.6 million under the Medicaid program.
Since April, 3,722 physicians and 158 hospitals have received Medicare incentive payments for successfully attesting to the meaningful use of EHRs, Government Health IT reports. Health care providers participating in the Medicaid program do not have to attest to meaningful use criteria in their first year in the program, but they receive payments for adopting, implementing or upgrading certified EHRs (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 10/5).
Source: iHealthBeat
About 83% of health care providers expect to use their emergency department information system to help them attest to Stage 1 of the meaningful use program, according to a report by market research firm KLAS, CMIO reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.
For the report — titled “EDIS 2011: Delivering on Great Expectations” — KLAS interviewed more than 500 health care providers with ED information systems.
Report Details
Although 83% of health care providers said they plan to use their ED information system to help them attest to meaningful use, only one-third of health care providers said that their vendor is ready for the meaningful use program.
Some health care providers cited functionality gaps in their ED information systems, such as problems involving:
According to the report, about half of health care providers using Cerner, Epic and Medhost ED information systems said they will be ready to attest to Stage 1 of meaningful use. About two-thirds of health care providers using McKesson, Meditech and Picis ED information systems cited at least one problem that needs to be addressed before they can begin attesting.
The report also found that:
Source: iHealthBeat
A new “intelligent T-shirt” designed by Spanish researchers could be used to monitor a patient’s vital signs, location and movements, the International Business Times reports.
What the T-Shirt Can Do
The washable T-shirt uses electrodes and sensors to monitor patients’ temperature, heart rate and activity level. The sensors also track patients’ location and whether they are sitting, standing or lying down.
Researchers plan to add a device that would connect the shirt with a hospital’s network of transmitters and wirelessly send data to an information management system for analysis (International Business Times, 9/25).
Applications
According to the developers, the shirt has a number of alarms that can be triggered by adverse measurements.
The researchers said that with slight modifications, the T-shirt could be used for:
Source: iHealthBeat
Pulse Practice Solutions provides a wide range of marketing solutions and services to Healthcare practices. Feel free to contact us at 615.425.2719 so we can discuss how we can take your practice online!
Hey Doc, I’m not sure what physicians are waiting for, but having a Web presence is becoming more and more essential to effectively marketing your medical practice.
As traditional methods of marketing and advertising begin to wane in effectiveness, it is no longer enough to depend on word of mouth publicity or an advertisement in the local newspaper or phone book.
For the wealthy physician, the Internet is a vital marketing tool that cannot be ignored, simply because it helps you reach your target market more quickly and more for less money. The key to this success, however; rests your ability to develop a professional looking website with quality content.
When you use what is known as content marketing to expand your patient base you will enhance your professional reputation and bottom line.
What’s more, most physicians are still asleep at the wheel when it comes to having a Web presence. Don’t get me wrong, I understand. Doctors are overwhelmed with administrative nonsense that prevents them from getting to things like this, but it’s something that can be easily outsourced. And since many doctors still haven’t caught on, you’ll be way ahead of the pack.
Search Engine Optimization
This means your website must be optimized for the search engines by using search marketing in order to pull targeted traffic continuously. This is done by including search phrases that relate to your geographical area. Your goal should be to have your medical website featured among the top ten results of the search engine results when someone looks for your specialty.
Build Your Online Reputation
The next aspect of your medical Web presence is to ensure that a large audience is aware of your practice so that your reputation is built in the process. This can be done by encouraging your happy patients to write testimonials about your treatments and post them on your website.
When people need a physician they want one who comes highly recommended. So, urge your patients to tell you in writing or via video about what they liked best about your services.
Use Social Media Marketing Techniques for Your Medical Practice
You can draw attention to your medical website by building an awareness of your brand using your websites in conjunction with social media.
Social networking sites help you connect with your existing customers as well as prospective ones. When you use sites like Facebook and Twitter, you can share snippets of knowledge that people can ‘follow’, linking them to relevant content.
You have probably noticed that medical websites that are well structured with a detailed question and answers section about a specialty are quite successful because people tend to turn to these sites when they need authentic information.
So what are you waiting for? If you don’t have a Web presence for your medical practice or medical group, now is the time! Not sure what kind of website to build? Unclear about content marketing? Leave your questions in the comments section below and we’ll gladly point you in the right direction.
Source: rxmdmarketing
Pulse Practice Solutions provides a wide range of marketing solutions and services to Healthcare practices. Feel free to contact us at 615.425.2719 so we can discuss how we can take your practice online!
You know that if you have an online component of your therapeutic practice online, you will need to market your services online, too. And while the entry costs to marketing on the internet are low and there are many services out there offering to do all your marketing for you, the truth is effective online marketing requires you strategically leverage the online space to pull interested clients into your practice. The tools listed below are the basic platforms you will need to leverage if you hope to grow a practice online. Let’s take one at a time.
Many therapists use online listing services, but these are not adequate for an online office. Your own site is the only place online where you will be able to fully showcase your services and powerfully leverage the full potential of online marketing.
I encourage therapists to have their site professionally designed. A site that looks unpolished looks unprofessional. Remember, people will come to your site and give it 2-5 seconds before they decide to read more or click away. First impressions matter online.
Source: onlinetherapyinstituteblog
Pulse Practice Solutions provides a wide range of marketing solutions and services to Healthcare practices. Feel free to contact us at 615.425.2719 so we can discuss how we can take your practice online!
I. Why should you market your practice?
There are many reasons why you may want to consider marketing your practice. Some examples are:
As you know, the medical industry has changed tremendously over the past years. You can no longer sit back and wait for patients to come to you. Patients are demanding quality care, timely service and most importantly customer satisfaction. In planning for the future of your practice, you must remember it is better to proactive, not reactive.
II. What is the difference between “good marketing” and “advertising”?
There is a major misconception in the medical industry today that “marketing” is “advertising”. There are subtle, tactful ways in which you can use “good marketing” techniques within your practice to market yourself and your services.
Source: spineuniverse
Concerned about security? Pulse Practice Solutions specializes in security and IT services for medical practices. For any questions – give us a call at 615-425-2719 for a cost-free evaluation of how we can assist you with your data security needs!
Although health care organizations are eager to embrace new technology, the industry is not adequately prepared to address potential data breaches, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Reuters reports.
For the report, PwC’s Health Research Institute conducted 600 interviews with health care executives in the spring of 2011.
Researchers found that about 74% of health care organizations plan to expand their use of electronic health data. However, the report also found that:
Most Health Data Breaches Carried Out by Insiders
James Koenig — co-lead of PwC’s Health Information Privacy and Security Practice — said the survey found that health data breaches often are carried out by “knowledgeable insiders — such as people in admissions, billing, computer programmers, the janitorial staff, even in security — who get access either to building facilities or to computer systems for information” (Eisenberg, Bloomberg Businessweek, 9/22).
Researchers found that:
According to the report, theft accounted for about 66% of publicly reported health data breaches (Bloomberg Businessweek, 9/22).
Source: iHealthBeat
Sixty percent of U.S. adults went online recently to look up information about health care issues, according to a recent poll by Harris Interactive, United Press International reports.
For the poll, researchers interviewed 1,019 U.S. adults by telephone between Aug. 19 and Aug. 15. They found that 39% of respondents said that they “often” went online to search for health information, up from 22% in 2009 and 32% in 2010.
In addition, the poll found that:
Source: iHealthBeat
On Monday, HHS announced new recommendations and initiatives related to mobile health programs and health-related text messaging campaigns, Healthcare IT News reports (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 9/19).
Recommendations
In November 2010, federal officials established the Text4Health Task Force to develop recommendations on how HHS could play a role in health-related text messaging campaigns (Zigmond, Modern Healthcare, 9/19).
The task force now has released recommendations calling for HHS to:
New Smoking Cessation Initiatives
In addition, HHS announced that the National Cancer Institute has launched two mobile health initiatives focused on smoking cessation.
NCI’s new programs partly are modeled after the Text4Baby campaign led by the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. The Text4Baby campaign allows pregnant women to sign up to receive no-cost text messages pertinent to their health (Goedert, Health Data Management, 9/19).
Both of NCI’s new programs allow users to sign up for text messages that offer encouragement, facts and tips about smoking cessation. The two initiatives are:
Source: iHealthBeat
MGMA Supports ICD-10 Testing With Outside Organizations
July 30, 2013
Report: Many EHR Users Set To Replace Systems Within the Next Year
July 30, 2013
Providers, Vendors Urge Congress To Delay Meaningful Use Stage 2
July 30, 2013
Many Doctors May Find Meeting ‘Meaningful Use’ Requirements a Challenge
June 28, 2013
When it Comes to ICD-10 Physician Documentation: Collaborate and Educate
June 28, 2013
The Slow Crawl Toward Improved EHR Usability and Interoperability
June 28, 2013
Efficient Patient Communication and Engagement
June 13, 2013
ONC Issues Guidance on Stage 2 Transition of Care Requirements
May 31, 2013
Drugmakers Leverage Doctor, Patient Data To Market Their Products
May 31, 2013
Consumer Organizations Defend Meaningful Use Program
May 31, 2013
