The Computer Revolution/Health

Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security Improving the quality of care through the use of computerized medical information systems must not override the need to protect individual rights to privacy. Strong safeguards must protect confidentiality. Patient rights, provider rights, and other concerns are being addressed to prevent inadvertent disclosure or alteration of computerized medical records.

HIPAA
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - HIPAA

In order to ensure the privacy, accuracy, and quality of a patient's medical records, The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is required to develop standards and requirements for maintenance and transmission of health information that identifies individual patients. This law was established in 1996 and paved the way for patient confidentiality.

--Ελληνική θεά (discuss • contribs) 18:31, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

OSHA- Occupational Safety and Health Administration
"Develops and enforces minimum health and safety standards (which employers must follow) for all of America's workers."

OSHA insures safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.

Computerized Medical Charting Software
Computerized Medical Charting Software is similar to the software used for business client software. It is a tool to document patient health status and history electronically. The purpose of using Charting software is to eliminate:


 * loose paper work binders


 * sketchy handwriting that is difficult to translate


 * Difficult patient information sharing i.e. Request for information of medical record

Computerized charting is programmed with security software that upholds the HIPAA standards. Every employee in a healthcare facility is assign a userid and password to gain access to patient information. In terms that are understood by the everyday user, any patient information that is stored to a healthcare facility's computers are restricted to a need-to-know basis. Employees are trained and contracted to HIPAA standards and restrictions are enforced for each employee. Logs for each employee userid are maintained and stored through the computer information technology department at the facility.



--Ελληνική θεά (discuss • contribs) 18:28, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

The Database Behind the Charting Software
Computerized charting has a database as the background tool used to gather and store information regarding the patient. The database has a collection of data of the patients history and is then stored in to a virtual filing cabinet for future and present access.

There are several components of a database that make up the criteria with in the user interface:


 * A file can have many tables, each containing related information.
 * Tables can be linked by a common field and made up of records
 * A record contains information from many fields
 * A field is one piece of information with in a record
 * A key field uniquely identifies a record

All the data is created and maintained by a system called database management system (DBMS). A DBMS is software that is maintained by a Database Administrator (DBA) with the purpose of maintaining, editing, and adding. Popular DBMS is MySQL Workbench. It allows a DBA to graphically administer and visually design database structures. Tables are established with built in definitions and criteria. Once created and put into a form the actual user based software will help the medical staff user to retrieve, edit, and print a patients chart from the network of computers in a medical office setting and/or hospital. The information is stored over a network to a data center also called a mainframe that has large computer memory.

The different types of charting available on some medical software include patient history, billing, insurance, and employee information. A popular free online medical software is Practice Fusion. It enables an administrator to assign multiple users to the program. It is also useful for allied health students for EMR practice.



--Ελληνική θεά (discuss • contribs) 06:08, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

MRI – State of the Art Multimedia Imaging
Multimedia plays a key role in Healthcare for medical procedures. Advancements in healthcare have paved the way for Medical diagnosis for several diseases. In particular, Dementia and Alzheimer Disease (AD) cases rely on multimedia imaging as the main source of diagnostic testing on its patients. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the latest form of technology for patients that suffer from Dementia and AD. Medical studies performed on patients have been able to demonstrate the on-set of the diseases and their progression in the brain. MRI testing has proved to be an essential tool for early diagnosis of AD and Dementia. It is now known that MRI testing can help predict Hippocampus atrophy in the brain which is the leading cause of AD. MRI’s are especially useful for presenting the case to patients and have been involved in case studies that show the progression of the disease that will help the future of predicting and diagnosing patients.



--Ελληνική θεά (discuss • contribs) 17:21, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Distant Learning in Healthcare
The growing number adults that are continuing education that is either required by the employer, OSHA, or for a career change has presented increasing situations where the adult can't seem to fit in the time to physically be in a class room enviroment, distant learning is now an essential tool in the Healthcare field. There are numerous websites and apps that offer teaching tools for medical staff. Some websites offer continuing education resources that allow a working individual to learn new technologies that apply to the career. Many colleges offer adults distant, fast-track, online learning by partnering up with online course management systems such as Blackboard to communicate, facilitate, and simulate assignments to the adult student. Many instructors invite students to use online study tools from other education websites such as Healthstream.com. Healthstream simulates learning exercises that pertain to the medical field. The site takes you step by step through a particular subject and then evaluates the student by offering a quiz to assess the level of skill that the student has. Medical organizations are also taking advantage of this tool for students that have to continue their education while in practice to update procedures with new knowledge.

Nanosensor developed for health screening

A NASA Ames scientist, Dr. Jing Li, has been working for years on what could be the greatest phone accessory of our lifetime. It’s a small computer chip that is about the size of a postage stamp that houses 32 nanosensor bars. Each bar is composed of a different nano-structure material. So, because each sensor bar is unique it can respond to different chemicals in different ways, enabling it to not only differentiate between them, but also to monitor their relative levels, in real time. Right now, the nanosensor chip is located within a cell phone case and, it's thought, that a person would just breathe on the cell phone housing.

Originally, this nanosensor technology was developed by NASA Ames for space applications. The first usage in 2008 was monitoring for fuel leaks around launch vehicles. So that’s where it began, but the Department of Homeland Security is now funding this project. Not only is the Department of Homeland security funding this project but, the Department of Defense is funding an implementation where soldiers could wear these to alert them of chemical threats. However, the mobile phone implementation is aimed at the general consumer market.

The computer chip only draws 5 milliwatts, which means very little battery is used. The smartphone they tested it with can use the sensor for eight continuous hours on a single charge. Right now, the application is primarily being developed to monitor carbon monoxyde as well as chlorine, ammonia and methane in homes. However, with a mobile phone application, the phone could automatically send data back to the Department of Homeland Security or other emergency services agencies, which would give them a big-picture look at a larger area and let them know if a mass evacuation is needed.

As mentioned the most exciting potential use, though, is how it could diagnose and monitor people with medical conditions. For example, for diabetes patients there is a direct correlation between the level of acetone in their breath and the level of sugar in their blood. The nanosensor could be used as a completely non-invasive diagnosis and measurement method. Diabetic patients could possibly get a glucose reading right from their phone. Thus, turning their phone into a glucometer. Also, there is a correlation between nitrous oxide and lung cancer. Scientists have already trained dogs to accomplish this, but the nanosensor too has a "nose" for "sniffing out cancer".

Scientists and technologists believe the health applications are endless with this new nanosensor.



Health:Nanosensor used for screening on mobile phone

Mobile application software for diabetes management

Recently, Telcare, Inc. unveiled its new "MyTelcare Diabetes Pal", now available for free on the Apple App Store. Telcare is offering people with diabetes and their caregivers the world’s first iPhone app that automatically synchronizes with a wireless glucose meter.

“Telcare’s free App is designed to empower every patient by eliminating the hurdles that have made the analysis of glucose readings so time consuming,“ said Telcare CEO, Dr. Jonathan Javitt, MD. He went on to say, “We want to increase patients’ understanding of their diabetes and help them and their caregivers properly manage the disease.”

According to their press release, Telcare BGM™ (glucose meter) introduced the industry’s first FDA-cleared, cellular-enabled blood glucose meter. The new MyTelcare Diabetes Pal App allows patients and caregivers to use their iPhone to visualize every glucose reading sent by the Telcare glucose meter while keeping track of their medication medication, nutrition, activities, and notes. The application also enables patients who don’t have the Telcare BGM to manually enter their blood glucose data and track it over time.

This is the first diabetic application software to automatically capture data from a blood glucose meter with no extra steps on the part of the patient. This is also the first app designed to share those results with health professionals and family members. For example, a doctor in his office can review the results of all diabetes patients in the practice and a mother sitting at her job can know how her child with diabetes is doing at school in "real-time".

The MyTelcare Diabetes Pal App for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad allows people with diabetes and their caregivers to:

Track from anywhere: This new app combines the power of cellular technology with the newest Apple development tools to synchronize blood glucose, medication and nutrition data from anywhere. With each blood glucose test taken with the Telcare BGM, the app is instantly updated with the newest BG number. For non-Telcare BGM users, the App provides a user-friendly way to update each blood glucose log.

Discover trends: With over ten professionally designed graphs and charts, users are able identify trends based on Time of Day, Prescription Adherence, Target Zones, Day of the Week, Standard Deviation, Before and After Meals, Before and After Activity, and more. Users are also able to generate and email a one page, physician-optimized report in approximately 5 seconds. All data can be exported to Microsoft Excel.

Share data with others: All data are automatically stored at http://www.mytelcare.com, Telcare’s HIPAA-compliant cloud server. Users are able to automatically share their data with health professionals, family members, and others who may be involved in their care. This feature is particularly important to the parents of children with diabetes and to the adult children of elderly people with diabetes.

MyTelcare Diabetes Pal is available for FREE from the App Store at http://www.itunes.com/appstore or downloaded directly at http://bit.ly/yNeWix. The App is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.



Health: Mobile application software for diabetes management