Health Informatics Forum

In a previous blog post I announced that the fifth edition of Health Informatics: Practical Guide for Healthcare and Information Technology Professionals had been released February 2012.

For those faculty members who use the textbook to teach Health/Medical Informatics we want to offer an electronic (PDF) Instructor's Manual at no cost.

All proceeds from the textbook go to an educational fund to support graduate students.

If you are interested please e-mail me at rhoyt@uwf.edu. All we ask is that you complete a 7 question survey so we know what classes you are teaching.

Thanks,

Bob Hoyt MD

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) just released several datasets, to include how our HIT Regional Extension Centers (RECs) are doing with the promotion and adoption of electronic health records. ONC funded the creation of 62 RECs in the United States with the goal of promoting HIT adoption, particularly among primary care physicians who practice in rural underserved areas. 

As of April 2012 140,057 physicians registered with a REC for possible assistance. Most of the RECs exceeded their goals in terms of signing up physicians but here are the more important statistics

• Only 11% of primary care physicians who signed up could meet meaningful use criteria for reimbursement for use of an EHR (Peds 2%, Family Medicine 10%, General Practice 2%, Internal Medicine 13%)
• Only 4% of physicians associated with critical access/rural hospitals could meet meaningful…

This new animation from ehi2 at Swansea University in Wales is a great introduction to eHealth for patients:

I couldn't make the Health Informatics conference in November due to lecturing commitments but I had a look through the powerpoint slides for the conference presentations which can be accessed online here. There is a lot of very exciting Health Informatics research taking place in Ireland at the moment, despite the recession and the difficulties getting funding. Take a look for yourself ... I will return to research funding opportunities in a later post. By the way you can join the Health Informatics Society of Ireland for just 25 euro here.

Dundalk IT has announced 20 FREE places on the higher diploma in Science in Computing (Healthcare Software stream). This course is part of the Irish Government's ICT Skills scheme. It offers a one year conversion program for graduates of non-computing disciplines and focuses on specialist modules in healthcare software in semester 2.

A good overall description Health Informatics can be found on the postgrad.ie site along with a profile of a typical student.

Other postgraduate Health Informatics courses available in Ireland include;

The University of Limerick who have an undergraduate …

In the March issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings I noted an article about 33 cases of Anaplasmosis being reported in a Massachusetts suburban hospital over a six month period. Not only does that mean we now have three tick borne diseases on the East Coast we need to know/worry about,  they changed the name from Ehrlichiosis to Anaplasmosis without me knowing. While many of these cases are minor, some are quite severe and hard to diagnose, but easy to treat with a tetracycline family antibiotic.

Infectious diseases represent one of the most important medical categories where both patients and physicians better be up to date (diagnosis and treatment) or suffer the consequences.

Regardless of whether we are talking about healthcare in the US or sub-sahara Africa people need to know about new diseases, new diagnostic tools and new treatments. But, how do we…

The University of Warwick are launching a new masters degree in "digital healthcare" which looks very interesting:

Healthcare in a digital age

The Institute of Digital Healthcare, at the University of Warwick is launching a new Masters programme in October 2012 in Digital Healthcare.  The digital revolution has presented significant challenges in the delivery of healthcare for everyone in today’s society. With the aging world population, our approach to healthcare has shifted its focus from the treatment of long-term conditions to the prevention of illnesses and maintenance of healthy lifestyles. We live in a world with tighter fiscal constraints, leading to an increasing patient to healthcare professional ratio, with an obvious need to maintain and improve the standards and quality of healthcare. The proliferation of digital technologies and techniques has provided a new avenue for healthcare providers worldwide to meet these challenges. This…

All evidence points to technology being a major cause of sedentary behavior, particularly watching TV, computers and gaming. Inactivity contributes to obesity, which in turn contributes to heart disease and cancer. Early emphasis has been on moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), with the recommendation of 150 minutes/week for adults. Unfortunately, only 5% of adults in the US only achieve this.

In the past several years we have learned that sedentary activity (1-3 METS) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cancer, even if someone exercises. At age 65-70 adults spend about 75% of their waking hours in the sedentary mode.

So what is the solution?? Many countries are recommending walking programs to provide light intensity exercise to counteract the effects of sedentary activity. Pedometers are a good way to measure simple movements such as walking, but fail to measure exercise intensity. In the past decade accelerometers have become the…

There are a growing number of healthcare related companies in Ireland looking for IT staff. Here are a few links if you are interested. I will post any further links I am made aware of on this blog

WhatClinic uses a search engine to gather health related information that  make it easier for a patient to choose a clinic. They are looking for C#/.NETdevelopers in Dublin.

Helix Health are Ireland's largest provider of health IT. Ther are currently looking for Business Analysts and Delphi Developers.

Lincor Solutions are a leader in bedside point-of-care solutions and telemedicine.They are looking for developers based…

The Irish Government steering group on research prioritisation has recommended 14 areas for a total funding of 500 million euro. One of the priority groups mentioned is "Connected Health and Independent Living". The following quote is taken from the document;

"This priority area is focused on technologies that facilitate remote delivery of healthcare and assisted living, moving the emphasis of care to the patient in their own home. Connected health and independent living technologies have the potential to transform healthcare and service delivery, thereby reducing burdens on health systems and improving the quality of life and independence of our ageing populations. This is an emerging area and there is an opportunity to position Ireland as a ‘proving ground’ for connected health solutions."…