IBM launches health analytics center

IBM has launched a Health Analytics Solution Center, part of a network of global centers addressing the demand for advanced analytics needed to help hospitals and medical staff improve decision making and optimal quality of care.

The company said its center, located in Dallas, will employ more than 100 health analytics experts, technical architects and specialists, with access to hundreds more IBM employees from IBM’s Business Analytics and Optimization consulting organization and IBM Research.

The center will seek to address the need for advanced analytics across the healthcare industry, such as collecting and analyzing data streaming in from sensors, patient monitoring systems, medical instruments and handheld devices, as well as the volumes of data generated by hospitals every hour. Also, IBM said that analytics can be used by pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and health insurance providers to derive intelligence from their data.

Source :  www.CMIO.net

Ramblings: So I just took the CPHIMS exam

So I just took the CPHIMS exam and I must admit, I did not expect to ‘almost run out of time’.

Only 4 people took the CPHIMS this round (first time it’s offered in Singapore), there’s me, an IT Project Manager and a Medical Doctor involved in health informatics plus a gentleman whom I didn’t manage to speak to.

First thing first, we were given a paper based exam and the time allocated remained the same at 2 hours (a computer based exam is also 2 hours), I personally feel that they should allocated more time for a paper based exam as the ‘workflow’ of a paper-based exam is different from a computer based exam (time is taken when we look at another piece of paper located in a different area, locate the correct area to shade and then back to the question booklet, locate the next question etc).

Another few attributes that irk me (slightly) was poor lighting and that the environment was quite noisy. The examination took place in a classroom (with no sound proofing) of an institute of higher learning for 16-19 year old kids. One of the proctor had to leave the room several times to request the kids next door to keep the noise level down. For me, I sat next to the door and ‘enjoyed’ footsteps and conversations of students walking by – constantly.

One interesting part of the exam is that the questions seems to be geared towards the healthcare context of the US (2 other candidates who took the exam agreed with me) so I hope HIMSS will take that into consideration during grading and also fine-tune future exams for this region (HIMSS, if you are reading this, I can help you guys review the questions, I am designing curriculum for institutes of higher learning on health informatics in Asia).

Having said all these, I think the CPHIMS exam does cover a very interesting scope (see my previous post on the CBOK) and it’s well worth the time to take the preparation course even if one is not interested in taking the exam as it serves as a good recap on the various domain of knowledge one would need to navigate the complicated world of health informatics.

The results of the exam will be made known in about 2 6 weeks time so lets see if I ‘make the grade’.

Till then~

GE forms alliance with UAE’s Etisalat

According to HealthImaging.com,

“Telecommunications provider Etisalat and GE Healthcare have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a strategic healthcare alliance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to the companies, the UAE-based Etisalat will leverage GE’s solutions to capture patient information. The firms said the alliance will result in the development and offering of medical data management and remote clinical support services through Etisalat’s telecom infrastructure.

One area of cooperation the two companies plan to explore is that of cardiology systems with the introduction of GE’s Muse Cardiology Information system to provide cardiac assessments to hospitals and clinics.”

Now that in my opinion is a smart move. Network bandwidth remains (to date), the most critical (and arguably the most expensive) component in Telemedicine. Although ECGs are relatively small in filesize, the partnership will open doors for GE to digitize the rest of the cardiology images.

Baucus Bill Champions Healthcare Technology

I’d like to share this article from InformationWeek By Alexander Wolfe
(Source : here)

Legislation just sent to the floor by the Senate Finance Committee includes recommendations encouraging rapid adoption and use of health IT systems.

Much of the public discussion surrounding the new healthcare bill has focused on its costs and its insurance provisions — notably, the prohibition against insurance companies denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. The legislation was just sent to the Senate floor for a full vote after approval by the Senate Finance Committee

The legislation is being referred to as the Baucus Bill, after Sen. Max Baucus, D-MT, who heads the Senate Finance Committee and championed the bill.

However, the bill also takes a significant stab at setting the technological agenda for the U.S. healthcare system of the future. It includes recommendations encouraging rapid adoption and use of health IT systems.

A summary of the bill (available here [pdf download]) includes more than a dozen references to technology. Much of the verbiage is devoted to advocacy for electronic medical records (EMR). Computerized patient data is seen as a key to making care more efficient.

It’s also envisioned as a feeder into so-called “grouper” technology, where success rates for different treatments can be determined by analyzing large chunks of data.

Notes the summary: “Health IT is needed for quality reporting and improvement and to give providers ready access to better evidence and other clinical decision-support tools. Reinvesting in the training of a twenty-first century health care workforce is necessary for many delivery system reform goals to be realized.”

The most detailed take out on the bill’s healthcare IT intentions are contained in this lengthy passage on pg. 57 of the summary:

“Health Information Technology. Most providers in the health care system collect and transmit information on paper, over the phone, and via fax machines. More advanced health information technology (IT) offers tools to streamline and support the process of collecting and analyzing the data needed to provide the best and most efficient care possible. Clinical IT comprises multiple applications that can support different functions in health care, such as:

• Tracking patient care;
• Allowing physicians to order medications, lab work, and other tests electronically, and then access test results;
• Reporting to chronic disease registries; and
• Providing evidence-based decision support to physicians.

Encouraging more rapid adoption and use of health IT systems will improve health care quality and make our health care system more efficient.64,65 Automating the collection of clinical data will also be a vital component of better quality performance measurement and reporting. Technology can facilitate richer data sets for comparative effectiveness research, and help providers use comparative effectiveness findings in their own clinical practices. The Baucus plan provides Federal-level leadership to spur the modernization necessary to support a truly patient-centered delivery system.

Health IT adoption by providers has been low to date, especially for physicians in small group practices. Providers, particularly physicians, cite as obstacles the cost of purchasing and implementing systems, a fear of investing in systems that may soon be obsolete, as well as a lack of a clear return on investment. Some providers, especially in smaller settings, lack the resources or expertise to navigate the large and complex market of health IT products or to maintain such a system over time. Implementing health IT also requires changes in office organization, processes, and culture that clinicians and office staff may resist. Safeguards must be put in place to ensure that patient privacy is protected. And existing payment incentives discourage health IT adoption. Reductions in office visits, hospital admissions, and other services that could be achieved through the use of health IT would accrue to the benefit of payers and patients but not to providers themselves.

Despite these challenges, there is a growing consensus among patient advocates, providers, and payers that a path forward that drives adoption and protects patient privacy must be found.”

Interesting eh, what would your thoughts be?

The 1st African PACS & RIS Edu-conference

Dear fellow medical imaging informatics professionals, I’d like to share with you details on the 1st African PACS & RIS Edu-conference to be held on the 22 – 24th October, at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Tygerberg Campus of the University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa.

Personally, I am extremely excited because this conference is a ’sign’, a milestone that signifies the importance and reach of medical imaging informatics. Our profession has come a long way indeed and the exciting part is – we are nowhere near stopping.

The goal of this edu-conference is to share experiences and knowledge gained through the implementation of PACS & RIS solutions at various sites throughout Africa. The hope is that participants will be able to take the knowledge gained during the edu-conference and ensure a successful PACS & RIS implementation at your institution and so doing improve patient care.

For the interested, the website is http://www.pacsrisafrica.com

Ramblings: My SIM card went dead (and why it relates to health informatics)

I’d like to share something interesting that happened to me last week – my SIM card went dead all of a sudden (while I was using the phone).

Now my first reaction when that happened was – the phone is faulty and for the record, it’s a brand new phone (My Dopod was functioning fine but the battery is so old that it can no longer last for more than 1/2 a day so I got myself a new phone) and I did what any self-respecting techie will do – try to troubleshoot.

I tested my faulty SIM card with my 2 other mobile phones – didn’t work, I tested my wife’s SIM card with my phone – worked fine. So it was obvious, my SIM card malfunction in the midst of its usage and I had no choice but the wait till the next day to visit the service center to get it replaced.

My visit to the service (for this purpose) was;

1. Time consuming as I had to forgo my lunch, drive to the nearest service centre, queue and wait for quite a fair bit
2. Non-informative as the customer service representative didn’t provide a reason for why the SIM card fail (but he was not even remotely surprised so I suspect this happens quite often)

Now, what does this have to do with health informatics?

Well to reconstruct this scenario in the world of let say, medical imaging informatics;

1. A technical error occurred, the first thing that the end-user will think that the fault lies with the PACS solution, however, it could easily be due to the network, hospital’s HIS, modality, other hardware component failures, anti-virus, firewall  etc. The PACS itself could be functioning properly but it will get the ‘blame’ as it is the main component that the end-user is facing when an error occurs
2. Now it would be unreasonable to expect clinical end-user to perform troubleshooting when an error occurs but simple troubleshooting (e.g. Ping) by supporting staff (maybe the rad-tech) can help quickly narrow the error source
3. Most solution providers / PACS Administrators do not provide the necessary education / information update to the end-user. It is beneficial to have the end-users be informed on what exactly happened, how it was fixed and what could be done to prevent it (e.g. end-user related error) but of course, use non-technical language
4. There is also expectation management, stuff like SIM cards have a lifespan, so does other hardware components like batteries. In the example of medical imaging informatics again, stuff like monitors, keyboard, pointing devices etc have life span too. Things breakdown, set proper expectations to your end-users.
5. Backup Backup Backup. There are some components in your PACS solution that does not have a high availability option. Are you prepared to handle the situation when it fails? Have you done your backup?
   (I can buy spare batteries for my phone, keep a spare phone around, backup my SIM card but if my SIM card fails, I’m kind of stuck with ‘a problem’)

Now its much easier to fix a problem with my mobile phone as the technology is much more consumer friendly but when mobile phones were first release, I’m sure most users had problem and blamed the phone (and the service provider) whenever something went wrong. I’m sure health informatics will evolved to where mobile phones are now – consumer friendly enough for the average joe to perform troubleshooting, till then, let’s do our best to educate and set the right expectation

Its finally here! Today is the International PACS Administrator Appreciation Day!

AHA launches first iPhone app: First aid & CPR

Before I start, let me post a disclaimer : I do not work for Apple nor am I paid (in any form) to blog this post.

I think this is a one way to increase public awareness on CPR (which is an important skill to have).

“Emergency information is just one touch away with the American Heart Association’s (AHA) new Pocket First Aid & CPR application for the Apple iPhone, released July 9.

This is the association’s first iPhone application. Users can download the application to review first aid procedures, anytime, anywhere. First aid instructions are available even when out of cell-phone range.

Powered by Jive Media, the application is available for download at Apple’s iTunes store. The cost to download is $3.99 and the application features hundreds of pages with illustrations — topics include CPR, choking, bites, bruises, burns, seizures and diabetic emergencies. Twenty detailed videos show how to respond in critical first aid situations and contain instructions on treating choking, CPR, seizures, cuts and wounds.

An additional component of the application is a phone-based medical profile feature, where users can store their family’s medical information. The application can save doctors’ contact information, emergency contacts, allergies, medications and insurance information for quick access in an emergency. The information is only stored on the individual’s phone and is deleted if the application is removed from the phone.”

I’m going to check for Windows Mobile version later

Cardiology IT market ignited by stimulus package

Alright, last post on Cardiology Informatics (for today), I just can’t resist sharing this interesting article I read off CMIO.

“The adoption of EMRs is ramping up in the United States due to President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, requiring EMR adoption by 2015, an August report from market research firm Millennium Research Group showed. The report also found that hospitals and clinics are already focusing their attention on implementing EMR systems to capitalize on funding, and cardiology will be a large venue for IT adoption.

According to MRG, integrating patient cardiology reports with EMRs allows physicians and healthcare providers to access vital patient information more easily; this contributes to better patient care and more effective use of EMRs. Besides data management and report generation capabilities, facilities can better integrate and improve the management of various types of data, including images, schedules and inventory levels.

“Although the focus is currently on EMR adoption, heightened demand in the cardiology IT workflow systems market will follow in 2010,” says Lexie Code, manager of MRG’s healthcare IT division.

In fact, a recent MRG survey of more than 100 cath labs found that more than 20 percent of facilities that currently do not employ a cath lab IT workflow solution plan on purchasing one by 2011.

Specifically, the report predicted that the echocardiography lab segment will swell over the next five years, with growth landing in the high single digits by 2013. Factors affecting this expansion will include the growing number of echo labs, as well as the mandate of the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL), which requires submission of case studies for accreditation in digital format beginning in 2010. This process can be greatly facilitated by echo IT workflow solutions.

As a result, revenues in the echocardiography lab segment alone will surpass $150 million by 2013, according to MRG analysts.”

I need to start charging people for my ramblings, I reckon people only take advise seriously when  a dollar sign is place next to it.… lol

Philips enhances xcelera with ‘tele-cardiology’

Philips Healthcare has now extended their offerings to include Tele-Cardiology.

“Philips has added a tele-cardiology capability to its multimodality Xcelera product. The informatics technology, Xcelera R3.1, builds remote access to cardiac information into its cardiology image management, analysis and reporting. The tele-cardiology function supports image sharing with referring physicians, as well as access to Xcelera capabilities through other information systems, such as an electronic health records system. Xcelera R3.1 is currently operating at Harborview Medical Center, part of University of Washington Medicine.”

Now for those who are not familiar with Cardiology Informatics, do not think that it is the same as Radiology Informatics – its not. While there are similarities, the workflow is quite different, so even for telemedicine implementation within the two discipline can be drastically different. I wonder how Xcelera R3.1 is handling this………….