Group items tagged

It would seem like a great idea to be able to see patient's medical records on the spot, clearly and accurately. However, RFID's should not be the technology used to do so. Some patients have had RFIDs implanted into their skin for doctors to scan but in rats, no less humans, there have been cases where links between the use of RFIDS under the skin and cancer has been linked together. Many people would know about this, especially if they were to have the procedure done but this isnt the problem. Companies using the technology are practicing it on those who cannot protect themselves from its  harm. Patients who have Alzheimer disease are commonly practiced on. The question that poses from this is what and will the government do anything to stop these companies, why was it approved of and is it worth the medical advantages?

This article discusses the introduction of IT in haiti after the disastrous earthquake that hit this under-privelaged country hard. There are many people who are put in the situation of getting wounded from the earthquake. A few volunteers from the University of Miami went to Haiti with 2 donated portable satellites, computer laptops, each device contained a satellite telephone, satellite Internet, and video camera. These donated materials and workers who volunteered were important because of the problem with money in Haiti. The medical team consulted in real time with their Florida colleagues 700 miles away. The potential of this was that it can improve diagnoses, speed treatment, and lower costs. One thing they could do was, using a camera on a cell phone with Internet access, they took photos of patients' X-ray films and wounds and emailed them to stateside specialists. Without this technology, it would have been much, much more difficult to work logistics and communications. Dr. Alessi, a volunteer in Haiti for many years, worked when there was no use of It. "What's most exciting is that we are building an entire health system in Haiti," he said. "That's where telemedicine and technology will come in. I think Haiti is finally going to be connected to the rest of the world."

This short article discusses The Medical University of South Carolina's effort to start the Biomedical Research Bank, a collection of donated samples of blood, tissue, and bodily fluids with identifying information contained in a database. Then, by searching this medical database for specifics, researchers could easily find information necessary for research and various studies, and potentially reach their goal of "personalizing medicine".

Medical researchers have found that the use of EMRs have not really been helping the patients. The patients who are stakeholders, who may be spending a lot of time and money giving detailed information to the hospitals may not be benefiting from it but rather are having a negative effect. EMRs are electronic medical records which were intended to benefit patients by processing information taken from the patient to find a possible solution. The information in advanced is not particularly useful, even compared to more basic EMRs. These patients are also giving personal medical information out and are putting it in danger of being seen if there is a breach of security from someone who may find access to the records. 

This news article talks about the new rules that are focused around EHR. The situation is that despite the push toward "electronic health records by Washington, the transition toward EHR still has a long way to go." Last year, the American Medical Association estimated that there were over 800,000 physicians in the U.S., said Practice Fusion, which offers a free Web-based system to doctors. But only 6.3 percent of them said they had a fully functional electronic medical records system in place. There was and attempt to resolve this by these rules. The government is hoping to clarify the conditions under which doctors and hospitals can collect payments by investing in electronic health records, or EHR, for the next few years. Calling the rules a "significant milestone," General Electric said they include important changes that make the objectives for incentive payments more realistic for medical providers. The exact rules that are going into place are: "One of the rules, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, defines the "meaningful use" objectives that medical professionals must meet to qualify for the payments. The goal of this rule is to provide greater flexibility by offering a menu of different objectives and procedures that providers can choose from to qualify. The other rule, issued by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, defines the standards that must be met by EHR technology so medical providers are confident that the equipment they use will actually perform all the required functions."