Underground Archives Digs Deep to Solve Records Problem for Excela Health
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Sep 7, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
By Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan
Safely ensconced in an old limestone mine, Underground Archives offers clients secure records management and asset preservation in Lawrence County, PA. Being underground offers many benefits. The mine maintains a constant temperature of 55 degree Fahrenheit and controlled humidity and a sprawling 2.5 million square feet of storage space. Additionally, storing paper records, digital materials and even artwork underground minimizes the risks of losing valuable materials to natural disasters.
CEO Daniel Bruce assures clients that employees of Underground Archives are bonded and familiar with the compliance obligations of federal laws governing records management, such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), of special significance to healthcare systems, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), which mandates financial reporting and auditing standards.
New Website from Celtic Healthcare
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Aug 19, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
Celtic Healthcare has a revamped website. Learn more about its three core services by watching the Homecare, Hospice, and soon-to-be-released Virtual Care videos. Be sure to check it out!
Consumer-Grade vs. Hospital Grade: How to Ensure Your Healthcare Facility Meets a High Standard of Safety and Satisfaction
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Aug 12, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
Dan Nathan
By Dan Nathan, Vice President and General Manager, TeleHealth Services
With television no longer being exclusive to the domestic home, and a larger focus being placed on the patient experience and satisfcation, many healthcare facilities are able to provide a much more “home-like” experience. But this leaves them asking the question: Is a healthcare grade television set really necessary?
HD display prices have dropped considerably over the past few years, making it attractive to incorporate this technology into a large scale facility. But with cost variances often favoring the consumer models, it would be easy for decisions to be swayed to purchase a consumer set, over a healthcare grade set. Hospital grade televisions are designed with specific features that consumer TVs cannot offer, making them safer for the patient and easier for clinician use. Compared to consumer sets, healthcare televisions are engineered and constructed with a different end user in mind. Manufacturers design healthcare grade HDTV sets specifically for use in the hospital setting and to withstand heavy wear and tear and long operating hours.
New Technology/Equipment Acquisitions: Balancing Needs vs. Wants
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Aug 6, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
Ross Swanson
In today’s rapidly-changing market for healthcare landscape, choices about what technology or new equipment to evaluate, if and when to make a purchase, and how to implement are significant ones. Many important questions surface when getting started with this daunting process; in fact, the list of considerations could be endless when factoring in facility size, scope, and location.
But, despite the many and varied questions that can arise, there are ways to streamline this process and increase the chances of successful planning and implementation. Corazon recommends the following:
Geolocation Technology Is the Perfect Prescription for Personalized Online Initiatives
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Jul 1, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
By Rob Friedman
Today’s consumers are becoming increasingly more involved in their health care decisions. They often turn to the Internet as their first source of information, but must often navigate a labyrinth of health-related websites and content to find what they need.
Almost every health care organization—from hospitals to physician practices to pharmaceutical companies to insurers—has a website. So, when it comes to establishing an online presence, health care organizations need to cut through the vast clutter of the Internet to personalize—and localize—their marketing, communications and content.
For this reason, the medical community is starting to embrace online geolocation technology, or the automatic identification of online users’ geographic location.
The Electronic Medical Record Pyramid: One Hospital’s Journey to a Green Foundation
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Jun 30, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
By Brett Taylor
A wise man once said that a large-scale initiative should be balanced accordingly: 75% planning and 25% actual execution. While staying in the planning phase can seem somewhat counterintuitive at times, it’s almost impossible to successfully complete the top of a pyramid without first securing a solid foundation.
As many of the nation’s healthcare facilities migrate toward implementing large-scale electronic medical record systems (EMR), it is a rare occasion that a large medical center has the opportunity to build their dream foundation to support the implementation of epic proportions from the ground-up. St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center had the opportunity to do just that and soon realized the possibilities stemming from the decisions made during the planning phase opened the door for extended goals that would have otherwise been impossible to reach.
Wired Operating Rooms: Broadcasting Live Surgeries
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Jun 24, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
By Patti Paxton
It’s a typical scene at most medical centers: a surgeon hunched over a patient, high-output bulbs shining, nurses positioned to assist until the procedure is officially announced a success.
Now picture a classroom of remote students from a nearby college program asking questions and receiving answers from the physician in real-time and staff regarding the live broadcast of the procedure at hand.
While surgery was once a closed-door, private experience between the medical staff and patient, it has evolved into an educational phenomenon where the operating room serves as a live classroom and the procedure becomes a learning experience.
Healthcare Industry Going Mobile with Smartphone Websites
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Jun 16, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
By Kevin McNally
The Internet has transformed the way in which most people gather information, making it vital for all industries – including and perhaps especially the healthcare industry – to not only maintain a comprehensive website, but to keep even with advances in technology that will provide the public easy access to the information they desire.
A case in point is the sharp increase in the use of cell phones with Internet connection. The advent of so-called “smart phones” such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Droid has prompted the exploration of new technological avenues, leading to the creation of “mobile web sites.” According to industry reports, the current mobile landscape can only broaden due to the unprecedented growth of mobile platforms.
In essence, a mobile site is a streamlined website, configured to easily fit a “smart phone” screen. This technology allows people easy access to information from their cell phones, something that consumers increasingly not only want, but expect. Anyone who has ever attempted to navigate through a traditional website from a smart phone can appreciate the need for streamlining the process. This challenge can lead to frustration and sometimes worse for those in need of immediate contact information for a medical facility.
Avoiding Staff Burnout as Major Changes Hit Health Care
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on May 6, 2011 in Technology | 0 comments
Great video: Hospital IT staffs are adapting to major systemic changes. Here’s how to keep them focused. This interview was conducted at CHIME’s Healthcare CIO Boot Camp, Spring 2011: http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag/HHNDaily/HHNDailyDisplay.dhtml?id=8470009441
Closing the Health Gap Online
Posted by Western PA Hospital News on Apr 20, 2011 in Social Media, Technology | 0 comments
By Jerry Levin
For all of us — young, old, and those in the middle — life is simply an interlude between doctors’ visits. This perspective, while obvious, perennially stays beneath our consciousness since we are consumed by the daily pursuit of personal identity as if our mind-body-and-spirit were to function without incident and without end. More powerfully of late is the recognition that the explosive neglect of mental health issues has led to the horror of deadly violence—so massively played out recently in Arizona. In my own family, we have witnessed the tragic consequences of unattended drug addiction.
On a national level, as we have engaged in a heated debate about legislating health care, my greatest fear is that we have lost focus on the ability of an individual to take control of his or her own health and wellness. Now is the time for us to transform the conversation from one about ‘healthcare’ to the far more personal issue of an individual’s own ‘health’.
Clearly we have reached an inflection point in our quest to improve healthcare. Empowering people to control their own health and wellness destinies may be the most important way to create greater efficiencies in the healthcare system and help drive down the spread of excessive costs. In fact, one of the most important parts of a renewed personal investment in healthcare are the real benefits associated with preventive measures like sound nutrition, frequent exercise, stress reduction and regular medical visits.
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