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Madeline Brownstone

Electronic health records raise doubt - The Boston Globe - 11 views

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    "Google Health and others in the fast-growing personal health record business say they are offering a revolutionary tool to help patients navigate a fragmented healthcare system, but some doctors fear that inaccurate information from billing data could lead to improper treatment."
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    This article provides a possible service that can be used in the east African country our case study is on. Google health is a free service that would give all patients the opportunity to store their health records digitially, making it easier for doctors to access it. Especially if telemedicine were to be used, having electronic health records would be a great benefit. However, the issue of reliability is especially troubling when it comes to using services like Google health in this context. There have been many reported errors with the diagnoses of patients using this service, and it is crucial that the records are checked by both patients and doctors to ensure that all information listed is correct. Literacy rates are much lower in rural African settings, creating a problem for patients who may be unaware of inaccurate information on their records. Especially for individuals in critical conditions, fatal mistakes can therefore be made.
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    Electronic Health Records are also used in the case study. Patients and doctors rely on these records for accurate data, but it is rather difficult, due to the lack of reliability with which Google Health updates patient's health data. In order for Dr. Ogola's plan to work (face the challenges, create a modern health system), he must implement such health records that will store patients' information on an accessible, secure and easy to use database. This would help patients, doctors and nurses share data without having to travel long distances. Data would be secure and also accessible to the three parties. However, this would require a reliable system (more than Google Health) so as to not provide inaccurate data to the patients. Patient involvement in the care of his/her own data would be required for an such an erroneous system, as would a reliable source of healthcare information on the patients. Unreliable sources can potentially damage the whole system.
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    The use of Electronic Health Records in this article can be applied to our case study. Firstly, it would make the transfer of patient data easier and faster, this would increase the quality of care that the hospitals and clinics offer to their patients. These Electronic Health Records can also keep data from different doctors in order, for example if a patient visits several Doctors all of their information will be in one place and ready to access when ever necessary. In the case study if doctors had a more accurate picture of the patients medical history they would be more prepared to make diagnoses, especially when they are working with strange cases. This would also help to increase the quality of treatment that the patient would receive. Digital Health Records are easy to update both the patient and the doctor can edit the Electronic Health Record, it also can keep track of test results, and medications that the patient is currently using. Electronic Health Records allow patients to be more active in their health care allowing them to see and have access to all of their medical information. Even though this IT system is ideal for our case study there are some things we should take into consideration. In our case study we would have to make sure that equality of access is equal for everyone, there may be some people living on the outskirts of villages that might not have access to Digital Health Records. We would also have to assume that everyone would know how to use the Digital Health Record. Meaning how to update it and how to look for errors. Lastly we would have to assume that the patient would make good use out of having an Electronic Health Record. They would have to constantly be updating and checking their records to see if there is any missing information or any errors within their data. Lastly, the coding system would have to be revised, it is confusing and very inaccurate, there should be a new coding system that makes understanding your own records
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    In this article, the use of electronic health records is discussed. However, some problems arising from their use are also introduced, including inaccurate patient information. In the world of the case study, this IT system, electronic health records. is quite relevant and can be useful. EHRs can be used in Africa to connect rural doctors to hospitals and other professional health care workers in better facilities. This way patients' records can be reviewed, diagnoses can be made and other help can be given. However, if this system is taken advantage of in Africa, its users must be certain that the information in the records is accurate and comes from a reliable source. This is because if the information in a record is inaccurate, incorrect diagnosis and/or medication can be given as was the situation in the article. These kinds of mistakes can be detrimental to some patients.
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    This article elaborates on the drawbacks of electronic health files. Although the IT System, Google Health, seems that it will make getting quality health care much easier and quicker, there is a major issue of possible inaccurate information. These inaccuracies or exaggerated diagnoses on Google Health may prevent patients from receiving the care they need, and Google Earth is prone to human error as real people are responsible for inputting insurance billing codes or mislabeling a lab test with a disease that is hoped to be ruled out. This has an impact on our African case study as this article illustrates one of the highly potential problems that arise from the use of telemedicine. Although medical centers in Africa would be able to eliminate the tedious process of paper work by instantly communicating records over the internet, these records can be inaccurate and therefore compromise an already sick patients health even further. However, for the case study, EMR's prove to be a very feasible solution for the lack of communication and distances between villages and health centers, but a solution must be made in order to counteract the potential misdiagnoses'. One solution could be that patients would check their EMR's for accuracy, but with the poor conditions of living in the African villages and poor or no internet service, this solution does not seem possible for the case study.
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    This article is about a man getting his health information in an electronic health records massed up. There's an issue with the EMRs in the sense that they are sometimes unreliable. In regard to the Case study, as they want to place EMRs into their hospitals and clinics they ma have this issue with reliability. But it has shown signs of improvement from paper records. But the hospitals and clinics in the East African cities will need to hire more staff to make sure these records are up to date and accurate. As for the health of the patients, EMRs has its benefits and drawbacks. If the information is accurate then a life could be saved and that person could be properly cared for in a more timely fashion, but if the information isn't accurate they could be given unneeded surgery or given the wrong drugs. The EMRs could help the efficiency of the hospitals and clinics because they could work faster and get to more patients without wasting countless time looking through paper records.
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    This article arises a social and ethical issue of integrity of electronic health records. In this article, Dave deBronkart faced this issue when he transferred his medical records to Google Health. His information was inaccurately transferred because of the incorrect coding that insurance companies use. The database then used this incorrect coding and stated that Dave had other health problems, which he never had. The lack of codes makes the database more likely to make an inaccurate diagnosis. It also suffers from reliability because if the information, doctors can't rely on it to make correct diagnosis. Electronic databases are very useful and can be used in Oobunta if its integrity is improved. It will allow patients in villages that can't afford travel to share their symptoms and past medical history with doctors in the hospital. This will cut costs for both doctors and patients because they won't have to pay for transportation. It will also benefit the patients because it will let them be diagnosed accurately especially if they don't have enough resources or medical care in their village.
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    This article covers a recent problem that has risen from the use of Electronic Medical Records. Google's new Google Health, a service that gathers e-health records for patients all in one place has become unreliable. Google Health gathers medical information from billing records, which is an inaccurate source of information. The medical records on the site also do not distinguish between recent illnesses and past illnesses, and does not indicate the level of severity for the health issues. The diagnostic medical coding is to blame for inaccuracies in information gleaned from insurance data, mostly because it is clunky and includes tests for diseases that doctors hope to rule out, not for diseases that the patients necessarily have. The problems that the unwieldy code and medical records in Google Health bring up are enormous. Information is inaccurate and out of date, and this is potentially deadly when patients are being treated. The issue of reliability is that data in the records is out of date, and entered incorrectly, which could be the difference between life and death for patients with dangerous diseases.
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    This article was about electronic medical records. They allow patients to share their health information with doctors over the Internet, using Goggle Health. However, this application is not completely accurate. It takes information from insurance bills. These insurance bills may not be precise in describing the treatment of a patient because of their lack of codes. This raises the issue of reliability of the electronic health records. Inaccurate records could stop a doctor from performing a life saving procedure on a patient. The article relates to the case study because it talks about the drawbacks of having electronic medical records. In order for issues with reliability and integrity to be avoided in Oobunta, patients should regularly check their records to ensure their accuracy. Doctors and patients should also communicate more to eliminate problems within the health records.
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    In this article, a new electronic health system arose. In order for one to use this newly aged system, their personal health records must be transferred. According to the article, "accuracy gets lost in translation" (Wangsness). Due to the fact that certain information is getting lost in translation, many issues have been brought up, such as reliability. Health records are vital for every individual because they contain information that cannot be found anywhere else. A loss in data, such as certain dates, can lead to many problems for the patients during treatment. As a solution, people are asked to do one thing. They are told to check out their record and see if everything is accurate. There is a positive side for this new system and it relates directly to our case study. These Google health records are easily transferable. If one needs to send out their information to a hospital for a diagnosis, they can do so in no time. In the case study, people in Africa are having trouble getting to a hospital because of the expenses and lack of transportation. By using these Google electronic health records, the people would be able to e-mail their record to a hospital for a direct prognoses. This would save them so much money and time because they would be able to complete this task in the comfort of their own home, or anyplace with internet access. These electronic health records can solve many problems in Africa.
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    This case study tackles the issues of Integrity and Reliability. The article talks about inaccurate health records and it effect on patients who want to follow updates on their health status. The stakeholders in this articles are patients because they are the ones who need accurate information, doctors because patients come to them when they read inaccurate information about their health and the people who control the information in the databases because they are the ones responsible for whether or not the information is accurate. Integrity is an appropriate Social and Ethical Issue because the information in the databases have a been changed accidentally, in turn affecting accuracy. Reliability is even better because is directly about accuracy of data, if it is entered incorrectly. If data is entered wrong patients lose trust in them. This is especially relevant to databases which is the major IT system discussed in this article. In relation to the case study it is important to find a solution for the patients of Africa, that is as efficient as possible. In a place like the one described in the study it is important to save time by being as accurate as possible and making sure that patents and doctors can understand the information on databases, ensuring more successful treatments for the patients.
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    In the East African city, the medical facilities all contain databases that their patient's health records are recorded on, however the platform for each database varies between each clinic and the main hospital. This in turn makes it more difficult to exchange health records between each clinic and the main hospital.This article brings up a solution to the health records exchange problem that are within this East African Region. Google Health is a database that is in the cloud and makes it possible to exchange health records through the internet. This form of exchanging data for a patient helps to keep a patient's data up to date. Now though this could be a great solution it comes with many drawbacks from the system and the lacking materials from the East African region makes it difficulty to better utilize it.
Lenny H

Electronic Record- Keeping Alone May not Boost Health Care - 3 views

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    This article deals with the situation of Electronic Health Records in relation to Health Care. The use of this Information Technology according to the article has done very little to improve the health care service and those who have health care. Records and studies have proven that the use of this software has be associated with western states. Stanford researches have shown that the increase use of Electronic Health Records has not improved the quality of heath care services. This is caused because of the software's highly complicated software that is currently being interacted and used with doctors that aren't well trained with the system. Because of this lack of knowledge and skill of the system, doctors could not use all of the capabilities of the system. Overall, the article argues that the government should focus more on the quality of the Electronic Health Record software in relation with how doctors approach it, rather than just getting and replacing Health records with Electronic technology. There are a variety of stake holders in relation to the Electronic Health Record software. Those doctors who do not know how to fully interact with the system are the main stakeholders. The lack of training and the lack of full interaction with the system does not allow for the doctors to use the software to it's full capabilities. Another stakeholder would have to patience who have their medical records on these Electronic software systems. They have to rely on the doctors using the software to keep their data and to keep their records to date. However, another main stakeholder would be the government who is currently trying to create a better health care system by providing doctors with the Electronic Health Records. Because the government has good intentions to create a better health care system and a better medical situation for patience, they are being affected when they are unaware that this software is not being used to its full capabilities. Because of this,
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    the health care system is not changing or becoming better. Social and Ethical issues are presented in the Article. The first Social and Ethical Issue presented would have to be Reliability. The government is relying on these Electronic Health Record systems in order to create a better health care service for those in the United States. However, this reliability is currently being challenged when doctors and those who work in relation to the IT system are not able to work with it to its full capabilities because of its challenging and highly technical operations. Another Social and Ethical issue that arises is digital divide. The government is in pursuit to allow and get all doctors to use this system in order to remove the divide and create a better health care service. Solutions are given in the article, where current researches at Stanford say that they should focus on training those doctors to operate their systems or the Electronic Health Records to create a better health care service.
Alex F

Can Barack Obama ensure all Americans have electronic health records by 2014? | Society... - 0 views

  • Personal health records are a concept enabling customers to gather their information from different providers (perhaps their primary and secondary care providers, for example) and store them in one place.
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      this is how health records are used, and how useful they would be when customers go to different providers and that way information can be passed on.
  • Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 which is meant to govern the security and privacy of EHRs.
    • Alex F
       
      this is historical information
  • Privacy
    • Alex F
       
      issue/ concern
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  • health information exchanges, and the DHHS has already commissioned 15 contractors to work on trial implementations of prototype architectures.
  • 2007, according to research from George Washington University, 20-25% of outpatients were being served by some form of electronic health records (EHR) in the US
  • "meaningful use": the practical deployment of these records for e-prescribing, laboratory exchange and quality measurement
  • The American Medical Association says it is fully behind Connecting for Health.
  • Google and Microsoft have also endorsed Connecting for Health, a consortium that provided one of the original prototype architectures for the NHIE (and unconnected to the NHS IT organisation of the same name).
Noreen C

U.S. Tries Open-Source Model for Health Data Systems - NYTimes.com - 1 views

  • easily and securely share information
  • A fancy electronic patient record, unconnected, is just an expensive way to capture data.
  • Getting many different health care providers and suppliers of specialized software to agree on how to do that is no simple task.
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  • The solution the group agreed to is essentially Internet-based e-mail and public key encryption technology, tailored for health care.
  • For health care technology companies, the data-sharing standards, experts say, should stimulate the market for electronic health records and allow them to focus their efforts on making their individual offerings more affordable and easier to use.
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    This article is primarily about setting standards and protocols so that an electronic health records could world easily and securely for many health care providers and suppliers. The reason the introduction of an EHR hasn't worked before, is that there were no data-sharing standards, which would ensure that the data is transmitted securely across the internet. These standards are also in accordance of many of the interests of all of the health providers and stakeholders involved, which was a major problem previously. Without the issue of connecting the EHR from provider to provider, then the records would be a "fancy...way to capture data," and it's full potential would never be recognized. However, these new standards and protocols, filled with secure transactions based on encryptions, have made the introduction of an electronic health record possible. There are many benefits to the use of an EHR, including productivity and financial improvement for the companies and the employees. For example, doctors/nurses no longer need to spend time pulling a patient's file, or writing the details of the visit afterwards. There are also fewer repetitive tasks, and improved communication between doctor and nurse, or doctor and another doctor. Quality of care may also improve because doctors have quick access to a patient's information, there is better monitoring and discovery of chronic illnesses, and doctors can return phone calls/ provide medication refills immediately. Also, in general, the electronic charts allow for a more efficient office, which leads to a less stressful environment and more attention on the patients' care rather than searching for their charts. This can only be done through the introduction of an EHR, leading to easier queries, instant reorganization, and file management that could be transmitted to both the patient and any other doctors. This minimizes the ambiguity of not having tests results from one doctor, and allows all doctors treating a p
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    patient to see all of the patient's history. This is important in having a correct diagnosis and treatment. However, there are also some drawbacks. Initially, doctors who chose to engage in the implementation of a EHR, see some decreases in productivity. This is because entering information and learning how to use the software takes some time. Some doctors also do not have the money to invest in such software and accompanying hardware to, and others no not want to because they are accustomed to their hand-written charts. There are also some security issues, leading to greater privacy issues. The EHR maintains very personal data about a patient, and if the records are breached, then the privacy of the patient may be put at risk. There is also the issue of interoperability, which was brought up in the article. Many of the companies in different countries wishing to engage in the implementation of EHR have different standards involving the usage. This could harm the usage of an international EHR.
Mohammad A

Tech Companies Push to Digitalize Patients' Records - 0 views

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    This article is regarding the use of Electronic Health Records, and digitalizing medical documents for the "betterment" of the medical staff, and the ease of use that databases provide as a solution to the IT issues that these facilities face. Many health care policy makers within the government, including President Obama, are advocating for the major shift in the use of electronic health records, and digitalizing patient information. However, only a small percentage of medical treatment offices have done so (approximately 17%). Basically, electronic health records document personal information of the patients, for example name, address, age, and medical issues that they face, making it much more easier for doctors and medical staff members to get into the use of e-prescriptions, providing treatment electronically. However, as information becomes digitalized, often times, major issues such as reliability of the IT equipment becomes and important aspect of the scenario. Major companies such as Dell and IBM are in the run to provide electronic health record databases for medical facilities to use. To these major stakeholders, these databases, when set-up properly, are basically a tool for health care providers to use; they can reduce costs and improve the type of care that is provided for patients. They also have the patient's entire medical history, and other medications, along with lab tests that if properly connected to databases, can ease the treatment guidelines. Thus the benefits include less trivial tests, reduced health related errors, and better care with less costs for patients. The IT systems that are provided, including faster networks with improved wireless connections and more financially affordable computers are what will basically be used within the medical facilities running on electronic health records with digitalized information. Also, there will be more space for these new machines to be placed in, since all
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    continued... the paper documents are now going to be taking no physical space; entirely stored digitally. However these devices do not provide the solution of reliability that staff members may face when on the wireless networks and/or dealing with digital data. One solution that the article provides is the new Internet-based service model, known as cloud computing, in which much of the computing firepower and data reside in remote data centers, which doctors, nurses and staff would use via the Web browsers on their personal computers. Through cloud-computing, there is a more reliable and efficient way for medical staff members to document data without having system failures, and also if they ever plan on outsourcing, they can easily work with the database online.
Madeline Brownstone

NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life | Watch the Program - 7 views

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    Please use this bookmark to post your reflections. Using a Paper 2 style approach, CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. CRITERION D) Evaluate the efficacy of a solution to the problem.
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    Criterion A- The IT system (research DNA database) that allows medical researchers to record and track medical histories throughout generations, arise a variety of issues. One of these issues is privacy, where the database holds genetic information that many ethical doctors call a "future diary". These medical databases can be analyzed by a variety of people and those who have access to this information are handling private information. The major stakeholders were those patients who gave up their DNA because their genetic information put into the hands of these medical doctors creates the privacy issue. This information needed to be well stored and doctors take implications such as encoding social security numbers and no names are used. Criterion B- These research DNA databases begin with the obtainment of genetic information. In a relational database, there are several tables containing various information. Each table contains data that all have attributes related to the subject of the table. All of the tables might be interconnected, as well. For example, a retail business using a relational database would likely have one table containing data regarding employees, another with data regarding customers, another table listing inventory and so on. A database user could run a report to find connections between data in different tables, such as the customer table and the inventory table. Criterion C- From the point of view of the major stake holders (patients who given up their genetic information) the IT system (research DNA databases) (Not done)
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    Criterion A) The IT system is a database. This database is a link of DNA records, health records, and family trees. Major stakeholders of this issue are citizens of Iceland who agree to let their information be put on these databases and analyzed. Criterion B) The database works in parts. First, there is already a database of family trees in place. This family tree generator works by inputting an individual's social security number. After this is in place, the name of many generations of ancestors of this individual is shown in a tree. Then, the creator of the database asks for the permission, of family members, to add the DNA code and the health record of each person. This allows for a social security number and a disease to be input at the same time. With this, the scientist can see those who have it, and those who don't. Then, with the use of the DNA codes, they can "hunt down" genes that cause certain diseases. The database is related to an issue of privacy. This is because those who allow their health records and DNA code, are letting the medical team and users of the database know all things about them. With just a social security number, a user that has access to the database may learn more things about you than you may want: such as your family, what diseases you may have, and many other things. Another issue is in reliability. There is the possibility that the medical teams that try to track genetic code differences between those with a disease and those without it, may come to realize that a difference they find is only a coincidence and not helpful. (not completed)
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    The IT system being used is the DNA database that are being kept on the Icelandic people. The DNA database holds a lot of information of the people in the database and even things that they do not know such as their DNA and what it means. The major stakeholder is the people that are sending their DNA information, blood samples, medical histories and family trees. The issue of privacy is then involved because of the personal information that others can go through by accessing the database. The database is run by first getting the blood sample of the patient who willingly gives permission to give their DNA information to the company, deCODE. The information is then entered into the database which organizes the information by each person's social security number. The relational database is used to organize the information. (Cont.) The impacts of the database is both negative and positive. The database can be
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    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. * The IT system described in this video is a medical database. The major stakeholder are the doctors who manage the data of patients in the relational databases. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). * A relational database, there are several tables containing various information. Each table contains data that all have attributes related to the subject of the table. All of the tables might be interconnected, as well. For example, a retail business using a relational database would likely have one table containing data regarding employees, another with data regarding customers, another table listing inventory and so on. A database user could run a report to find connections between data in different tables, such as the customer table and the inventory table. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. * One of the positive impacts of these medical databases are that the family tree is in a database and all health records can be found for each patient and because this is a relational database, all of the patient's information is linked to their families and other people who have similar diseases. This is beneficial because experts can see trends in the people who have a certain disease and once they figure out the "spelling" of the genetic code with the disease, they can work on coming up for cures for that particular disease. A negative impact of the medical databases can be privacy. The doctors have access to every patients information and they can know everything about a certain person or family if he/she wanted to. This would then raise an issue of integrity.
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    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. The IT system is the database and the issue is who has access of the Database which has medical records of individuals. The major stakeholders are the Doctors and Patients. Doctors are trying to find information on specific DNA that create sickness and diseases. Finding the relationship between the family members and there DNA, can possibly improve medicine and also allow doctors figure out what an individual can have(sickness) in future references, making inferences of what might happen. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). A data base function is that it is a computer stored software that contains tables of various information and organizes all the data into categories. One subject/category can be related to another with little difference. This is why the database makes it easier for information to be viewed and interpreted much faster. By entering data on the tables one can interlink topics in order to find specific information needed. The person who enters the data can use software like Openoffice to create a database to view DNA and the relationship with the other individuals. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. The primary issue of the negative impact on Databases, have on the skateholders for DNA purposes is Privacy. Privacy has a big part in the stakeholders because many of the patient give away there Social Security number which is something private to them. With the Social Security Number the doctors can have access to other information not related in there investigation of finding a cure. This can cause reliability with the doctors to decrease. The database would have information of all sort on there medical records which should not be something that would be public for eve
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    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues: The IT system in these videos were medical databases containing records of many patients. Specialists use these databases to help them identify where a certain disease came from and whether or not it could be treated. they do this by viewing the patients ancestors records and seeing who had the disease in that family tree. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). Specialists (with the permission of the patient) insert a patients social security number into the medical database and let the database generate the patients entire family tree. Using this family tree, doctors were able to "hunt" down the origin of diseases, by looking at the genes of the ancestors. That way, by matching the DNA of the patient affected by a certain disease with the DNA of one of his/her ancestors DNA that suffered the same disease, and looking for similarities or patterns. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. There were several positive and negative impacts regarding this "hunting down" of diseases. By looking at family trees specialists and doctors would be able to determine what caused the disease and possibly come up with a cure or treatment for it. However, many patients are concerned with doctors going through their records and DNA due to there being a lack of privacy. If patients grant permission, specialists would be able to find out and know absolutely everything about their health history. Specialists argue that it would be of great benefit to detect diseases early so they could be treated by doing this. Chips are being created were thousands of babies genes could be looked at to look for any abnormalities. Some people argue that even if a disease were detected, there's two possibilities, one
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    Criterion A) The IT system at work here is the database run by the company deCODE. This company created a medical database in order to determine human diseases present amongst family. This leaves the stakeholders to be the Iceland citizens who use this system. The relationship between the Iceland citizens who use this system and the issue is that there is a security issue. The company, deCODE, paid a sum of one million dollars to the government for access to the medical history's and information of the Iceland citizens. This could be stolen by others or it could be hacked by an outsider. Criterion B) This system works through a series of steps to figure out what medical diseases are passed on throughout the family tree. In this case it would be a relational database. This database works by first obtaining permission from the Icelandic citizen to use their social security number and their medical history. This is put into the system and the medical records are accessed. Then the family records and past can be seen. This is multiple tables containing different pieces of information. Each table has something that is related to the previous table. Then make sure that the database is easily navigational. When the social security number is entered into the database the company must have it in the record. If the social security number is not properly encoded then the social security card could be stolen by and employee of an outside hacker. This is related to security if the hardware or software is not properly secured it can be obtained by a criminal. This can lead to identity theft and loss of financial security. Another issue would be privacy. The medical records and DNA code is allowed full use to the company. The social security number could be used in ways that the civilian did not agree to and is not known by the civilian. Criterion C) This system can cause many positive and negative impacts. One positive impact would be that this would help the patient know who e
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    Criterion A) The IT system at work here is the database run by the company deCODE. This company created a medical database in order to determine human diseases present amongst family. This leaves the stakeholders to be the Iceland citizens who use this system. The relationship between the Iceland citizens who use this system and the issue is that there is a security issue. The company, deCODE, paid a sum of one million dollars to the government for access to the medical history's and information of the Iceland citizens. This could be stolen by others or it could be hacked by an outsider. Criterion B) This system works through a series of steps to figure out what medical diseases are passed on throughout the family tree. In this case it would be a relational database. This database works by first obtaining permission from the Icelandic citizen to use their social security number and their medical history. This is put into the system and the medical records are accessed. Then the family records and past can be seen. This is multiple tables containing different pieces of information. Each table has something that is related to the previous table. Then make sure that the database is easily navigational. When the social security number is entered into the database the company must have it in the record. If the social security number is not properly encoded then the social security card could be stolen by and employee of an outside hacker. This is related to security if the hardware or software is not properly secured it can be obtained by a criminal. This can lead to identity theft and loss of financial security. Another issue would be privacy. The medical records and DNA code is allowed full use to the company. The social security number could be used in ways that the civilian did not agree to and is not known by the civilian. Criterion C) This system can cause many positive and negative impacts. One positive impact would be that this would help the patient know who e
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    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. The IT system involved is the DNA database system, identified as an organized collection of age old family trees, accompanied by state of the art DNA analysis and computer technology. Systematically, genetic information (DNA) is stored in related tables, distinguished by individuals' own security number codes. One centralized ethical and social consideration is privacy, mainly a major concern of the involved DNA suppliers (the public), that place their given personal information (genetic data, reference to family origins, medical history etc) in a national database system, from which the accessing of medical records and history of one's entire family can become manipulated or misused. In addition to the elevated risk of data misuse, once the involved participants (Icelandic citizens) give access to their personal information, there are no limitations placed on the utilization of the data within the national database, as it becomes accessible for the government, medical researchers and operating staff. Thus, the implications are straining to the individual donor, unable to determine when, how and to what extent the information given is shared amongst other groups. Furthermore, the privacy of the participants undesirably opens access to the medical information of related family members, as cross-referencing and data matching give the research staff operating the DNA database, access to retrieve a plethora of other members' data mainly for the purpose of effective data mining (the retrieval of hidden predictive patterns, as a diagnostic tool to decode the occurrence of genetic disorders/diseases). CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). With the possession of participant's medical data, including blood type, isolated samples of DNA, medical health records e
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    The primary IT system in use is a DNA database, which includes information about patients, illnesses, and virtually one's make up as a human. DNA databases allow researchers to find patterns in a human genome, by looking at the DNA from various family members and determining the difference or similarities between the DNA of family members. This is done through database functions such as data mining, and data matching. Locations such as Iceland, have a database that traces back all of the people within the country to their Viking ancestors. These family trees have been paired with DNA analysis in order to trace diseases back to their start. Some more tests could be conducted in order to determine which of the living relatives of one family with arthritis, for example, have the disease. Then, the DNA can be compared in order to identify the exact gene that is at fault for the disease. This process is very easy to do because the database with all of the ancestral information is accessible with the presence of one of the family member's SSN. A simple data query can then bring together all of the person's information. Moreover, DNA, health records, and the family trees of Iceland were proposed to be linked. This could be very beneficial because new drugs could be made available to suit the specific disease of a patient. It could also be a way for diagnosed patients to take early preventative measures. This could increase the probability for a cure, and in general this would increase the life expectancy of certain areas. However, some doctors in Iceland opposed to this linkage, because the information is representative of each person's medical history, and potentially their future medical history. This information, according to the plans of the linkage of medical records and the family tree, would be available on a central database that would bring together private information about a person and connect it to all of their family members, past, present, and future. T
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    There is another issue along with this involving the ability of researchers to have full access to the information about anyone. Many people want to maintain their right to privacy, but others argue that this could lead to new knowledge about diseases, and the development of new medicines. For those who are afraid of risking their privacy, there are standards developed in order to protect them. Their information, such as SSNs are encoded for security reasons and the DNA part of the project is voluntary, and not imposed. However, ethicists are still afraid of this database. They claim that the future of DNA is a valuable thing because it can predict the probability of diseases, life expectancies, etc. But all copies can be made available to the FBI, schools, etc. at the time of birth. For the Biotech Industry, this is seen as a huge advantage because people an be tested for hundreds of diseases. The awareness of the disease is a great thing, because it could lead to early prevention. However, the system is faulty because it sometimes doesn't provide certainty of a disease and it limits a person's privacy. Other times, there is no cure for the disease, so the patient cannot do anything even if they know. In relation to this, there also will arise severe psychological impacts of a person knowing that they have the possibility for getting a life threatening disease. If this is a disease that will affect them later on in life, it would be detrimental for a person to live their life without the hope of a prosperous future. A solution to this problem could be giving patients the choice of knowing or not.
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    Criterion A - The IT system is the DNA database containing information about the genetic past, present, and future of the patients. The primary issues associated with this database are of privacy and anonymity. These issues arise when patients, who are one of the major stakeholders, feel that that the information in these databases shouldn't be accessible to others, or anyone for that matter. While some believe this is private information, others believe that the information should not be known by anyone because of the ethical issues associated with knowing what will come in the future. Criterion B - The medical database is a relational database meaning that it establishes relationships between different tables in the database. The smallest building blocks of a relational database are items. Items are individual pieces of information in tables. These items are organized into fields and records. Fields are columns in a table that that represent different categories of information. Records are rows that represent all the information for a specific patient. At the cross-section of a particular record and field lies the item associated with a specific piece of information related to the specified patient. These tables are related to each other through links which are established by unique primary keys assigned to each patient. This system is related to the issue of privacy because the information contained within it is considered by many to be privileged and access to it should be very limited or altogether eliminated. Criterion C - The impacts of such a database on society are varied. Some people are very against the entire idea of a genetic database because of its ethical concerns. When people have their blood analyzed for DNA, they are giving up their genetic make-up. The information that can be obtained from such tests is considered by many to be privileged, and by others to be completely unethical in every way. Often people are against very private medical
Mark Gakin

Glide Health Makes Medical Records Mobile -- InformationWeek - 3 views

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    Shifting from paper to electronic medical records has long been cited as a way to improve access to information in the health system. Both Google and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) have unveiled online medical records platforms, but the health industry has been slow to change.
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    Shifting from paper to electronic medical records has long been cited as a way to improve access to information in the health system. Both Google and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) have unveiled online medical records platforms, but the health industry has been slow to change.
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    The social/ethical issue in this article is people and machines because doctors are now using medical databases to organize data. A major issue was lack of knowledge and that the information used to be all written. This disabled doctors from looking at medical records, which is why they began to use electronic databases. Clearly the area of impact is health and the IT system is medical data bases. The stake holders/people that are affected are the doctors because they can now locate information easier and patients because they can be helped faster. Using these databases had a huge impact on society because things were changed. Information is now stored differently and doctors can now work better.
Madeline Brownstone

Telecom: Tools connecting the world and communicating about HIV - 0 views

  • The explosion of mobile technology presents a great opportunity to scale up the AIDS response in poor countries.
  • hrough mobile technology, the millions of people in developing countries who had been left behind by the digital divide are now able to access health information and healthcare services at their fingertips. Mobile phones are being used as low-cost tools for HIV testing, data collection, epidemic tracking, and training of health workers, HIV prevention and treatment support.
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    Through mobile technology, the millions of people in developing countries who had been left behind by the digital divide are now able to access health information and healthcare services at their fingertips. Mobile phones are being used as low-cost tools for HIV testing, data collection, epidemic tracking, and training of health workers, HIV prevention and treatment support.
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    Through mobile technology, the millions of people in developing countries who had been left behind by the digital divide are now able to access health information and healthcare services at their fingertips. Mobile phones are being used as low-cost tools for HIV testing, data collection, epidemic tracking, and training of health workers, HIV prevention and treatment support.
sarah d

Rural Doctor finds benefit in Electronic Health records - 1 views

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    22 Feb 2010 "Rural Doctors Find Benefit in Electronic Health Records" by: Milt Freudenheim www.nytimes.com ITGS Triangle- Area of Impact: health Social and Ethical issues: equality of access, global and cultural diversity; electronic health records allow patients' information to be more easily accessed by professionals. IT system: Electronic Health Records Stakeholders: Patients and professional health-care workers. Professionals can share and access patient information more easily and readily. Presentation of Issue-- If a professional cannot switch to electronic health records, they are at a disadvantage. The playing field is not even for all professionals. Some professionals were switching their written records to electronic records to make access and use of records easier. While some professionals made the switch, others were having difficulty succeeding. This issue affected some doctors severely. For example Dr. Michael Ferris had a problem with his expensive system continuing to crash. This put his practice in jeopardy.
Mohammad A

In Haiiti, Practicing Medicine From Afar - 0 views

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    After the January earthquake in Haiti, many people were left under extremely bad health conditions, with little or no health care being at their service. Haiti is a poor country, and with a natural disaster like that occurring, medical treatment for those that required it to the minimal extent was rare, let alone for the people that needed to be operated upon (such as surgical patients). The solution that some United States officials found after attempting to help Haiti with this issue was telehealth, better known as telemedicine; telemedicine was initially used for space astronauts back in the 1960s. In the situation with Haiti however (better known as "real-time"), it essentially involves a video-conference between a patient and a health professional and/or doctor in a different location (often times in hospitals or offices). Also during certain operations however, a doctor at the scene will be conferencing with a specialist at a different geographical location through the uses and benefits of telemedicine. The main IT system involved in this situation with telemedicine is satellite connections. A satellite communication system requires a satellite to function. Thus, a satellite is in high orbit over the Earth (stationary or geosynchronous, which means that the speed of the satellite is complementary to the speed of the rotaion of the Earth, thus it will always remain above the same spot). A satellite dish on Earth is then directed at the satellite, and all the signals (voice & data information, television signals, etc.) are transmitted on an uplink. The satellite itself (while still in orbit outer space) has a receiving antenna mechanism which is able to capture the incoming signals towards it and is able to diverge them through an amplifying network.
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    continued.... After this process, it then re-transmits the signals to the designated receivers (these signals are waves that go upon a certain frequency). Depending on what the frequencies are, when it comes to telemedicine, the frequencies are repudicated for an instance, and the digital data is then linked to set receivers. These data packets are routed through satellite, which makes the end (whether it is a phone call or the merging of voice and data transmission such as video-conferencing) come along. The satellite may be compared to a ground-based signal, in which the signal points upward and it is later reflected down back at the user/client. Therefore, with sufficient bandwidth, Haiti is running on high-speed Internet access. As a result of this IT system involved (as well as the use of telemedicine), social and ethical issues emerge. The use of such IT devices and systems such as satellite linkage and telemedicine through video-conferencing was not present in Haiti even before the earthquake. However, with the aid of other countries, more advanced form of health care came into view. This is a breakthrough from the digital divide, where Haiti was not able to provide proper medical care for its citizens. Another issue that comes into play (vexing from the digital divide) is globalization. Doctors on the seen are able to provide their patients with the best care by either consulting a specialist from a remote area far away, or the patients who require health care have video-conferences with doctors in order to discuss health related issues. This breaks down the barrier in which Haitians were facing with little or no medical support.
Madeline Brownstone

Healthcare Industry Turns to DeviceAnywhere to Bring their Products and Services to the... - 0 views

  • Quality of service can't be left to chance for any healthcare provider developing mobile applications.  However, this is especially true when the health insurance company is part of the largest single health carrier in the United States, providing health care services to more than 25 million consumers with a network of approximately 590,000 physicians and care professionals nationwide. For an organization of this size, they often select technology partners such as DeviceAnywhere, who share their company's commitment to excellence and innovation.
  • Not surprisingly, security and reliability resonate as two of the top priorities for Sensei Inc. as well.  As a provider of innovative mobile and Web-based solutions that prompt consumers at point-of-decision moments to make healthier eating, medical and lifestyle choices, Sensei relies on DeviceAnywhere to ensure that their consumers receive their personalized nutrition and health counseling on a consistent and confidential basis. After all, when customers count on Sensei mobile programs for critical reminders to take their medications or make on-the-spot decisions related to healthy eating choices, there is no room for error in downtime or compatibility issues between users' devices and networks.
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    Not a legit news source, actually a puff piece for Deviceanywhere. However, it points to issues around mobile phone use in health services.
Madeline Brownstone

A survey of technology and government: Notional Health Server | The Economist - 0 views

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    "O SEE how frustrating the wrong kind of e-government can be, look at "Choose and Book", the flagship project of Britain's £12.4 billion ($25 billion) programme "Connecting for Health"-the world's biggest non-military government computerisation programme. The aim is bold and inspiring: to allow patients in the National Health Service (NHS), advised by their doctors, to choose the treatment they want, and book an appointment when they want it. "
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    This is likely NOT relevant for CS 2010
Mariam B

Privacy Issue Complicates Push to Link Medical Data - 1 views

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    This article deals with the use of electronic health records in order to record medical information of patients. Congress wishes to pass a bill to enforce the use of electronic health records, however issues regarding the privacy of patients and information stored on these databases have arose. Electronic health records are used to record personal patient information such as name, age, address along with health sicknesses and symptoms. This also allows doctors to send e-prescriptions to the patient. However the computerization of health records triggers obvious privacy issues which prevent many hospitals to completely switch to using these electronic databases. Stakeholders of this technology include the patients whose medical information is being stored and sent on the databases, the hospitals and doctors that use the databases to track and send prescriptions to their patients, along with policy makers such as Congress and President Obama who promote the use of electronic health databases. The major stakeholder is the patient, whose private information is at risk by using these databases. Doctors can also use the electronic databases to send prescriptions to their patients for medicines or further appointments. Patient databases include sensitive personal information that may be at risk of being hacked or seen by an unauthorized user. In the article, solutions to these privacy issues have been proposed such as increased spending and investments in order to create solutions to privacy issues. Measures can be taken to safeguard medical information such as using encryption technology to secure private information that is sent online or kept on the hospital's computer database. This encryption would prevent unauthorized users from accessing and using patient information. However, in cases where this encryption technology fails to protect patient information, policies have been created that the patient must be notified if their personal information has been h
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    continued: have been created that the patient must be notified if their personal information has been hacked or seen by an outsider. Other policies have been enforced that give patients the ability to control and prevent hospitals from sending private information for research without their permission. These policies help prevent private patient information from being seen by unwanted individuals.
Carmen M

Electronic health records work getting done, but questions remain - 1 views

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    Over the past two years, there has been work being done regarding installing EHR across all health cares. Massachussetts is curently the state that is the most advanced regarding electronic health records. In Massachusetts eHealth Institute was the institute designated to work on taking your paper health records and transforming them to digital records that can be accessed at any time and quickly. The main issues presented here were the amount of money being spent on this project and physicians not knowing how to use an electronic health record, or simply refusing to use it. To enforce the use of EHR's, those in charge of this project clearly stated that physicians will face consequences if failure to use EHR's. They will not get paid as much as a physician who is using EHR's. Thus, forcing physicians to train themselves to use these electronic records.
Madeline Brownstone

Healthcare Standards Development - 0 views

  • facilitate electronic communications by developing appropriate standards for information exchange among all health care trading partners.
  • ncluding electronic data interchange message formats, bar code labeling data standards, universal numbering systems, and the provision of databases which assure common identifiers.
  • Standardized manufacturer, customer, and product identification codes, including the Labeler Identification Code (LIC), Health Industry Number (HIN®), and Universal Product Number (UPN®) and the Health Industry Bar Code (HIBC) Standards
    • Madeline Brownstone
       
      Labeler Identification Code (LIC) Health Industry Number (HIN®) Universal Product Number (UPN®) Health Industry Bar Code (HIBC)
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    Healthcare Standards Development
T Graham

Are cell phones safe? Researchers still uncertain | Signal Strength - CNET News - 0 views

  • The question over whether cell phones pose a health risk has been debated for years, and researchers say the final answer could still be years away.
  • The Interphone study, which began over a decade ago involving 13 countries and has been funded in part by the wireless industry, was supposed to settle the dispute. But the report's publication has been delayed as researchers disagree over how to interpret the data.
    • T Graham
       
      If the data is that unclear, that means that effects are different for different people.
  • indicates that children absorb twice as much radiation from cell phones as adults do, mostly because their faces and heads are much smaller.
    • T Graham
       
      This ia big health risk because children are pobably the most common users of cell phones.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • can you
  • The question becomes how can you accept the epidemiologic research, if it's not plausible from a biological standpoint?"
  • There are 3 to 4 billion people using this technology throughout the world, so it's an important question to answer."
    • T Graham
       
      With this many people using this technology wouldn't it be harder to slow the problem down, because it would be too hard to keep track of al the users.
  • What is really needed is for the wireless industry to provide detailed usage information."
    • T Graham
       
      The wireless networks would not cooperate with this because they could lose money.
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    Leading scientists gathering in Washington, D.C., this week say more research is needed to once-and-for-all determine whether cell phones pose major health risks. Read this blog post by Marguerite Reardon on Signal Strength.
helen g

SentinelSource.com | Archives | Wireless safety questioned - 0 views

  • — the level of radiation your cell phone sends sizzling toward your skull.
    • helen g
       
      It's really not that most people don't know this, they just put it to the side, being that they think its really not that big of a deal. Cell phones have become such a huge neccesity in peoples lives that they ignore the health risks it may cause.
  • In issuing its rankings, the Environmental Working Group — a nonprofit advocacy group concerned mostly with health problems it associates with pollution — injects itself into a scientific controversy that has simmered for years without consensus.
    • helen g
       
      Does this meant that cell phones can cause pollution? If so I think many people including myself are unaware of this fact.
  • behavior problems in children.
    • helen g
       
      What do they mean by behavior problems?
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  • Yet the debate goes on. One recent study in Great Britain found “no evidence that the risk of developing pituitary tumors is associated with cellular phone use.” A Swedish study published this summer did find a correlation between cell phone and cordless phone use and tumors. Yet a third piece of recent research failed to connect tumors to cell phones but said that conclusion is less convincing “because the observation period has been too short.”
    • helen g
       
      The media doesn't want to ultimately say that there is a correlation between cell phones and brain tumors, because they will then be accountable to an extent for sales dropping in cell phones.
  • Use of a Bluetooth device — those blinking blue devices worn on the ear that connect wirelessly to a nearby cell phone — could raise or lower radiation exposure, depending on the circumstances.
    • helen g
       
      How would it decrease the radiation? A bluetooth is still an electronic device and peope actually stick it in their ear
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    This article is about the health problems some people associate with cell phones and what different people think about these risks.
Karen M

BBC NEWS | Technology | Software maps Rwandan health - 4 views

  • The biggest challenge is to collect enough information to make the databases reliable.
    • Karen M
       
      Social and Ethical Issue: The issues in this article are reliability and integrity. The information that is put into the database needs to be accurate and reliable for other doctors to access. It is important for the data to be reliable because doctors need to be able to know about the other cases of malaria as well as the resources they have.
  • The digital maps, called Geographic Information Systems (GIS), are designed to compile information from numerous databases and use it to both track and predict outbreaks of disease.
    • Karen M
       
      IT System: The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is the main IT system that is being discussed in this article. IT is large database compiled from information from smaller ones.
  • The system has allowed health workers in Rwanda track the number of malaria cases at each health facility.
    • Karen M
       
      Stakeholders: The people who are being affected are the doctors who access and add information into the database, as well as the patients who are being treated.
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  • A system of electronic mapping which allows many different types of data to be layered onto a single image is being used to improve healthcare across Rwanda.
    • Karen M
       
      Area of Impact: Health
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    A system of electronic mapping which allows many different types of data to be layered onto a single image is being used to improve healthcare across Rwanda. The digital maps, called Geographic Information Systems (GIS), are designed to compile information from numerous databases and use it to both track and predict outbreaks of disease.
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    A system of electronic mapping which allows many different types of data to be layered onto a single image is being used to improve healthcare across Rwanda. The digital maps, called Geographic Information Systems (GIS), are designed to compile information from numerous databases and use it to both track and predict outbreaks of disease.
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    A system of electronic mapping has been developed that allows different types of data to be layered onto a single image. It is being used to improve the health care in Rwanda. These digital maps are called Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The database is compiled of information from different doctors working on cases of malaria. This brings up the issues of reliability and integrity. The information in the database needs to be reliable enough for the doctors to use in treating patients with malaria. It affects both doctors and patients, but the patients are being affected the most because they are the ones being treated. If the information is inaccurate, the patients may be placed in dangerous situations.
Madeline Brownstone

BBC NEWS | Health | Computer fitness gets approval - 0 views

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    "A health department spokesman said active video games were a 'great way' to get kids moving. The video game industry has frequently been attacked by the government for encouraging a sedentary lifestyle. "
Mitchell Springer

Mobile phone radiation wrecks your sleep - Health News, Health & Families - The Indepen... - 0 views

  • "making people more alert and more focused, and decreasing their ability to wind down and fall asleep"
  • reporting symptoms such as headaches and impaired cognitive function from mobile phone use. But they proved to be unable to tell if they had been exposed to the radiation in the test.
  • For they show that the radiation did have an effect, even though people could not tell when they were exposed.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Radiation from mobile phones delays and reduces sleep,
  • Radiation from mobile phones delays and reduces sleep, and causes headaches and confusion, according to a new study.
  •  
    I, Mitchell S., claim this article as my lead article for portfolio 1
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