Ehealthnews

Great health blogs

Toby Ward — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:38:45 -0400

www.CodeBlog.com

This is a weblog specifically for personal medical stories. Many interesting things happen in hospitals, clinics, schools, hospices, at ball games, recitals, and on planes and trains. Almost everyone that comes into contact with someone in some sort of medical situation has at least one good story, be it an RN, MD, LPN, nurse’s aide, unit clerk, unit support, manager, or volunteer. Principally authored by veteran nurse.

WSJ Health Blog – (WSJonline.com)

Wall Street Journal's dedicated blog on health. WSJ's Health Blog offers news and analysis on health and the business of health. The lead writers are Journal reporters Jacob Goldstein and Sarah Rubenstein. The blog also includes contributions from other staffers at the Journal, WSJ.com and Dow Jones Newswires.

Health Blog – Dr. Art Hister (www.HealthyCanada.com)

Dr. Art Hister is an award-winning physician, educator and media personality. A recipient of the Holobon Award from the Canadian Public Health Association as Canada's top public health educator, he practiced family medicine before devoting his efforts to healthcare education and information. He is the author of several health books, and is a widely respected doctor and health columnist on radio, as the health columnist on Global TV News in Vancouver and contributing to a variety of publications. Dr. Hister is the Chief Medical Editor for HealthyCanada.com where he is a regular writer, blogger, and podcaster.

Behind the Headlines – Dr. Simeon Margolis

Dr. Simeon Margolis, a professor of both medicine and biological chemistry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. For many years, Dr. Margolis wrote a weekly medical column for the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Currently, he's the medical editor for a series of newsletters and reference books aimed at people over 50 years old.

The Health Care Blog - Multiple physicians & experts

The Health Care Blog (THCB) has acquired a reputation as one of the most respected independent voices in the healthcare industry. THCB prints original material from many contributors (some regular, some not so regular) and reprints (by permission) great posts from other bloggers. If you are interest in writing something for us, take a look at our writer's guidelines.

Running a hospital - Paul Levy, CEO, Beth Israel

This is a blog started by Paul Levy, CEO of a large Boston hospital “to share thoughts about hospitals, medicine, and health care issues.” Very candid, frank, thoughtful, and detailed in his posts, mixed with multimedia. One of the very best corporate blogs on the entire Internet.

SusanBiali.com – Dr. Susan Biali

Health blog of lifestyle coach, doctor, speaker and dancer, Susan Biali (MD). A blog on “all kinds of personal reflections, practical information, and tips, on a variety of topics: health & wellness; success & motivation; achieving your dreams; life balance; life coaching tips, and pretty much anything else that I think might be helpful to you.”

Technorati Profile

eHealth Reports of note – April 2009

Toby Ward — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:00:56 -0400

Canada's e-health journey and HIMSS Analytics' Canada Information and Communications Technology Study (2009 - Healthc Q.) NoFull Text
In spring 2007, HIMSS Analytics began developing its first Canada Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Study. Less than one year later, 38 RHAs, DHAs and HAs are already on board, with some 20 more scheduled to participate by year's end. Why are so many Canadian provincial healthcare delivery organizations now participating in HIMSS Analytics' Canada ICT Study? The answer is tied to the character of the HIMSS study, the value offered to all participants and specific Canadian healthcare issues that are addressed by the study.

US: Interoperable electronic prescribing in the United States: a progress report. (April 2009 - Health Affaires)
Although the vast majority of U.S. physicians still handwrite prescriptions, adoption of electronic prescribing is slowly growing. Major barriers to adoption remain, including the inability to electronically submit prescriptions for controlled substances and confusion about standards for data exchange. Federal and state governments and private insurers are using payment and policy incentives to boost e-prescribing because they still believe in its promise for improving the quality and efficiency of health care. However, additional efforts and further investments are needed to reap the benefits of e-prescribing on a national scale.

Health information technology: dispatches from the revolution. (April 2009 - Health Affairs)
Countries around the world are increasingly employing health information technology (IT). These tools hold the promise of powerful health system breakthroughs from Johannesburg to Jakarta. While implementers multiply, a global e-health consensus framework is beginning to take shape among donors, governments, industries, researchers, and policymakers. As plans are formulated in the United States for substantial new federal investments in health IT, this paper details common threads in national and global health IT discourse. Among them are the need for strong stakeholder engagement, workable policy solutions, funding and donor coordination, and the imperative for adequately addressing standards and interoperability.

Exploring antecedents of consumer satisfaction and repeated search behavior on e-health information (2009 - J Health Commun.)::
E-health information has become an important resource for people seeking health information. Even though many studies have been conducted to examine the quality of e-health information, only a few studies have explored the effects of the information seekers' motivations on the perceived quality of e-health information

User information seeking behaviour: Perceptions and reality. An evaluation of the WHO Labresources Internet portal (2009 - Inform Health Soc Care.)
This article discusses the evaluation of a WHO Internet portal: the Labresources website. The evaluation investigates user satisfaction with the resource, usability, demographic information about users and how well they could complete specific tasks using the website and compared this with the actual online behaviour revealing a number of discrepancies

Technorati Profile

Online contraception checker

Toby Ward — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:26:03 -0500

Had unprotected sex and worried you might be pregnant? Get help from NHS Direct’s New Online Contraception Checker!

NHS Direct (United Kingdom) has recently launched an online Contraception Checker to help take the agony out of what to do next. It is designed to deal with enquiries about emergency contraception, missed contraceptive pills, dislodged contraceptive devices, interactions with other medicines or failed contraceptives.

So far 34,700 have used the online checker and 409 have had web chats with others The new tool takes the protocols - used by NHS Direct call centre nurses to assess patients’ concerns over the telephone - and adapted them for the website.

A series of questions are asked and the advice given naturally depends on the information given.¹ At all times the user remains anonymous which enables NHS Direct to reach those who may be less comfortable using the telephone or talking face to face.

Depending on the data provided by the user, the system may suggest a number of options including: a conversation with a nurse advisor; a visit to the family planning service or GP to get a prescription for a contraceptive pill or a visit to the nearest pharmacy to buy over the counter emergency contraception.

An anonymous web chat service is also offered if further assessment is advised. Web chat advisors are available 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Anne Joshua, associate director of pharmacy at NHS Direct says: “Sexual health is one of the major public health challenges and unplanned pregnancy is the most problematic². The Contraception Checker is ideal for anyone in urgent need of information about what to do if they have had unprotected sex but who also wishes to remain anonymous. The user is advised about the next steps to take according to the tried and tested protocols NHS Direct has developed to support telephone calls. In some cases users may be advised to seek professional advice about taking the emergency hormonal contraceptive pill.

“The emergency hormonal contraceptive pill is most effective within 24 hours of sex and is recommended for use up to 72 hours after sex – the self assessment tool caters for this urgency. Emergency hormonal contraception however is not a replacement for regular contraception and it is important that women of child-bearing age seek professional advice to ensure they have the best form of contraception for them.”

To help users experience a seamless ‘journey’ NHS Direct is planning to introduce a call back from NHS Direct with the facility to arrange a specific call back from a nurse advisor at a time to suit. This is already in operation for the cold and flu Symptom Checker launched in December 08.

Useful facts about NHS Direct

Medicine information enquiries are one of the top three reasons people phone the service and emergency contraception makes up the largest percentage of those calls.
So far there have been 34,700 unique visits to the new online Contraception Checker and of those 409 engaged in anonymous web chats – 3% of those were from men.
Emergency hormonal contraception is not intended to be used as a regular form of contraception. One dose of the Emergency Hormonal Contraceptive pill (Levonorgestrel 1500 micrograms, Levonelle®) doesn’t protect you against pregnancy during the rest of a menstrual cycle if you continue to have uprotected sex.
Taking a dose of the emergency contraceptive pill does not protect you against sexually transmitted infections. A condom does.
NHS Direct handles over 22,000 calls a day. That’s over 8 million calls a year.
The NHS Direct Online website (www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk) receives around 21 million visits a year.

Notes:

• ¹The advice given is only suitable if you are aged 13 or over. If you are under the age of 13 orif this enquiry is for someone under the age of 13, call NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

• ² Bailey JV et al. Interactive computer-based interventions for sexual health promotion (Protocol). 1-12.2007

eHealth 2.0

Toby Ward — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:41:45 -0500

Web 2.0 is revolutionizing the Internet, and how geographically dispersed people are communicating, collaborating and publishing to a wide audience. Also known as social media, Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis and social bookmarking (e.g. Facebook) have migrated to world of eHealth and are being used inside and outside organizations.

eHealth 2.0 is focused on “promoting conversation” and user-generated content via websites and intranets to promote community networks and collaboration:

Promoting networks of relationships
Transforming users into publishers
Discussing, sharing & collaborating
From one to many -> many to many

Web 2.0 collaboration is best categorized into seven over-arching categories of tools and technology:

Conversation platforms
- Blogs, podcasts, ePinions.com
Collaboration platforms
- Wikipedia, MyStarbucksIdea, CarePages
Social networks
- Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace
Social bookmarking
- Delic.io.us, Digg, Reddit
Micro-blogging or Presence
- Twitter, YouAre, Yammer
Content sharing sites
- YouTube, Flickr,
Virtual networking platforms
- Second Life, There.com

(credit to Shel Holtz, www.Holtz.com, for the original version of the above list)

The new social media tools represented by eHealth 2.0 reveals an evolution from mainstream communication technology to new generation collaboration:

eHealth 1.0 > eHealth 2.0

Hospital news > Care Pages

Executives speech > Executive blog

Taxonomy > Folksonomy

Quick poll > Discussion forums

Generic report > Regular podcasts

Wellness information > Patient sharing sites

Content management > Wikis

Directories (A-Z) > Tagging

Sticky content > RSS

Some leading eHealth 2.0 websites and tools include:

For more information on how to transform you website or intranet into the next generation eHealth 2.0 website or intranet, please contact Prescient Digital Media at (416.926.8800).

Cyberchondria - Searching our way to misery

Susana Hsu — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:17:23 -0500

Microsoft recently released the results of a study it conducted on cyberchondria. This of course is the condition in which people assume the worse conclusions about what ails them while researching online.

Cyberchondria is not a new term and much has been speculated about the condition but according to Microsoft, this is the first study to systematically study cyberchondria. The study analyzed health-related Web searched on popular search engines and a survey of 515 Microsoft employees.

It seems that many of us treat search engines as an expert that can exercise medical judgement. Searches of innocuous and common symptoms often lead to further searches of serious conditions. Also, web search results for common symptoms like chest pain were just as likely to lead people to pages about heart attacks as indigestion, although heart attacks were much less likely.

Some interesting results also emerged from the survey:

“Three in four survey respondents have at least once interpreted the ranking of Web search results as indicating the likelihood of the illnesses, with more likely diseases appearing higher up on the results page."

“One in five survey respondents were convinced to seek medical attention based on the review of online medical content.”

o “only one in four of the respondents that sought medical attention had a medical condition that warranted doing so.”

All in all an interesting study which details some of the user's predispositions. The authors hope to use the results to improve the search experience for users and try to lower the chance that search results will lead to unfounded escalations.

Download the full study, Cyberchondria: Studies of the Escalation of Medical Concerns in Web Search.

Health 2.0 - one patient's experience

Susana Hsu — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:32:31 -0500

Richard MacManus from ReadWriteWeb recently wrote about his experiences with Health 2.0 tools as a Type 1 Diabetic. His article, Health 2.0 Through the Eyes of a Diabetic - One Year Later, provides a very good review of some of the web tools available for patients and I highly recommend reading through his article and checking out some of these web apps for yourself.

Some of the tools I found to be most interesting are the iphone apps that allow patients to monitor their blood sugar levels and weight. Apps for these 3G devices have the potential to greatly empower patients in the tracking and management of their condition.

It is interesting to note that Richard says he doesn't actually use the web to manage his diabetes as much as he could due to a large part to the fact that many of these tools are not available to people outside of the US. As a Canadian, I have to agree that other countries are lagging far behind the US in Health 2.0 and eHealth in general.