CanadianEMR: EMR Comparisons, Ratings, Directory Services and Expert Discussions

Technology in Clinical Practice Cruise Conference

Check CanadianEMR for Regular Updates on the Technology in Clinical Practice Cruise Conference - Departing March 27th.

Technology & EMRs now impact every part of healthcare. This course will provide a unique opportunity to learn about the latest in technology tools combined with Cardiology & Neurology topics. Presenters will cover a range of clinical topics, and will also describe how they are actually using technology in clinical practice to improve patient care.

Faculty: 

Dr. Alan Brookstone

Dr. Brookstone is a family physician and co-founder of CanadianEMR and AmericanEHR Partners. He is an internationally recognized expert on Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and will be presenting the technology program. He speaks widely on the use of information technology as a tool in clinical practice.

Technology topics: 

- EMRs, Patient Portals & Personal Health Records: What, Why & Where
- iPhone, iPad & Android: Clinical Value from Mobile Phones & Tablets
- Tips, Tricks & Best Practices to Get Maximum Benefit from Your EMR
- Using Social Media to Transform Your Practice
- Case Studies - Technology in Clinical Settings
- Can Decision Support Systems Improve Patient Care?

Dr. Brett Heilbron 

Dr. Heilbron is a Clinical and Invasive Diagnostic Cardiologist and Co-Director of the Advanced Cardiac Imaging Program at St. Pauls’ Hospital / Providence Heart + Lung Institute, and a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. His interests include noninvasive cardiac imaging and information technology.

 

Cardiology topics:

- Selecting the Right Cardiac Test for the Right Patient
- Latest Update: Post Myocardial Infarction Management
- Current Management of Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke Prevention
- Radiation Issues in Medical Imaging
- Arrhythmia Controversies - Should you Treat Rate or Rhythm?
- Hot Topics in Cardiology

Dr. Scott Wilson

Dr. Wilson received his training in internal medicine from the University of Alberta and University of Calgary completing his neurology at McGill University at the Montréal Neurological Hospital. He has been using the electronic medical record for 10 years and has been paperless since that time.  He is currently the president of the section of neurology for the Alberta Medical Association.

Neurology topics:

- Parkinson's Disease and other Movement Disorders
- Current Management of Cerebrovascular Disease
- Management of Migraine and Headaches (including Botox)
- Multiple Sclerosis - Does MS mean More Sunshine?
- Understanding Common Neuropathies
- 'Ouch my back hurts, I have a kink in my neck and my hands go to sleep at night'
- Advances in the management of Epilepsy

To obtain more information and reserve your space, contact our partner, Sea Courses.

Watch this short video to learn more about the on-board cruise and educational experience.

Paul Gauguin Cruises

Images from Prior Health Technology Cruise Conferences

 

Alaska                                              Caribbean

 

Mediterranean                                  Galapagos

2062: The Good Old Days of Social Media

A futuristic look at social media. Very funny!

Out with the Old... In with the ?

I had an opportunity to spend some time wandering around Vancouver last weekend and the one store that caught my eye was HMV at the corner of Burrard and Robson. Initially a flagship store for this retailer in Vancouver, HMV has tried to reinvent itself adding electronics and a variety of other mechandise to stave off the hemorrhaging from loss of sales of its traditional business — music. For that it can thank the revolution started by Napster with the final nail in the coffin being the launch of Apple’s iTunes store and a new model for purchasing music in which users were able to personalize their selection and disaggregate the individual tracks from the album.

Two disruptive technologies that changed the course of business for the entire music industry: music sharing (much of it illegal), and new sales models such as iTunes.

When one applies these lessons to health IT and EMRs, there are similarities and some differences. It is not yet clear which will be the truly disruptive technologies for the sharing of healthcare information. There are some frontrunners: mobile applications, personal health records, and cloud-based storage of healthcare information. However there is no clear winner.

Comparing EMRs, EHRs, and health information technology to the music industry is not an apples to apples comparison. Beyond the obvious, a major difference is maturity. The music industry was mature when the disruptive technologies took hold. The business models regarding creators, distribution models, and consumers were rigidly maintained. The Internet changed that at a speed that was difficult for established players to respond to.

However, we are seeing similar signs in healthcare. Traditional family doctors are slowly disappearing, replaced by walk-in clinics that respond to the just-in-time need for care, albeit without the same level of consistency as someone who has known you from early years. Individuals are consuming services differently — making use of disease support forums and social online communities, mobile health applications, and other care providers such as nurse-practitioners vs. physicians. At the same time that healthcare is becoming more personal and granular, it is also becoming more fragemented. Information no longer lives primarily in your family doctor’s medical chart. It can exist in a multitude of walk-in clinics, hospitals, diagnostic systems, repositories, and ancillary care provider offices.

In the same way that music sharing changed a business and turned it upside down, disruptive technologies are also going to change healthcare as we know it today. We just don’t know what and when.

The physician has not just been the holder of the knowledge; he/she has also been the translator of that information and had the skills to sort through the relevant vs. irrelevant in order to make a diagnosis and suggest a treatment plan.

However in a fast-paced world, the desire for the right information at the right time in the right format is not just a priority for providers of care. As the power shifts from caregiver to consumer, expect to see dramatic changes in care delivery and the roles and functions of care providers in the future.

What do you think? How do you see healthcare changing? Which are most important “disruptive technologies”? Click on the “Comments” link below to share your thoughts.

Use of Social Media by Physicians

How many physicians are using social media for a variety of communication needs? While the number of physicians with Facebook accounts is likely to be significant, I am quite sure that the majority of use is personal. Some interesting questions are begining to surface regarding the ethics of using social media tools in clinical practice. For example, is it appropriate to “friend” a patient on Facebook or accept an invitation to be friended? For most physicians, this would instinctively not pass the sniff test if they were using a personal Facebook page — why would you want a patient to have access to your personal information anyway?

Similarly with social tools such as blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and others, it is important to understand how these tools can and should be used in order to provide value without becoming a burden and potentially placing one professionally in “ethical” hot water. That being said, a properly designed Facebook page specifically for an audience of one’s patients that is well moderated and controlled and provides a venue for appropriate social interaction and education can be a very useful clinical tool.

I have been a long-time advocate of blogging and the CanadianEMR blog goes back to December 2003; however, taking on an editorial role does bring with it a responsibility to manage and update the media (whichever you decide to use) so that the information being publicly presented is accurate, relevant, and up-to-date. Remember, what you do on the web stays on the web.

In the current issue of Future Practice, Social Media is covered extensively, including this year’s Medicine 2.0 conference in Palo Alto, California and an overview of the use of Twitter and blogs by physicians. A very useful section is “Social Media Essentials for Physicians in 2011”, which explains the background behind specific social media tools and provides some information on how they are used by physicians. This issue of Future Practice is highly recommended reading for any physicians who have used social media tools in their practice. Click here to read or download a copy.

Do you use social media in your professional practice? Share your experiences by clicking on the “Comments” link below.