Sep 15, 2010

Case Based Learning With Free iPhone/iPad app

Dr Nayana Somaratna,Co-Founder at TTN Testing Technology (Private) Ltd has been working on the beta version of an interesting medical app for iPhones and iPads. The upcoming app is officially named : "Prognosis : Your call"
Prognosis - a fun and totally free iPhone game that lets you investigate, deduce and diagnose real life in minutes. You can also brainstorm and discuss with other players if you are stuck on a tough or rare case.

Contribute your creative ideas and get exclusive access to try the Beta version of Prognosis before it goes live! 

Features of the app:
• Medical and Surgical case scenarios based on real patients.
• Quick and fun to play : just a few minutes per case scenario.
• Group discussions about each case.
• Submit your own interesting cases and be credited for them


The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.

Sep 12, 2010

Mayo Clinic and Social Media : Success Stories

Mayo Clinic has a long history of Innovation. The clinic started as a single, small outpatient facility, and later became America's first integrated group practice, and currently integrates the practice of over 1,700 medical doctors.

In 2010, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, was ranked as the #2 overall hospital in the United States by U.S. News & World Report . The hospital maintains an exhaustive informational website and a very helpful patient portal.

The institution uses Social Media extensively. The Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, a first-of-its-kind social media center focused on health care, builds on Mayo Clinic’s leadership among health care providers in adopting social media tools. See below a presentation by Lee Aase, Director for Social Media at Mayo Clinic to view a few case studies in the use of Social Media by Mayo Clinic.

View more presentations from Lee Aase.

Also see :
How Mayo Clinic Uses Social Media
 



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Sep 7, 2010

What are Patient Portals?


What Are Patient Portals?
Patient Portals are healthcare-related online applications that allow patients to interact and communicate with their healthcare providers, such as physicians and hospitals. Typically, portal services are available on the Internet at all hours of the day. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Portals
According to the 2009 Industry Survey from HealthLeaders Media, less than 5 percent of hospitals have interactive patient portals. By 2014 however, more than three quarters of hospitals expect to have patient portals. With increasing popularity of available patient portals, a shift to online patient portals as a service for small and medium sized hospitals seems inevitable.


A study published in JMIR concludes: 
"Portal group patients demonstrated increased satisfaction with communication and overall care. Patients in the portal group particularly valued the portal’s convenience, reduced communication barriers, and direct physician responses. More online messages from patients contained informational and psychosocial content compared to telephone calls, which may enhance the patient-physician relationship."
Common Features offered by portals:

  • Scheduling requests - allows patients to request an appointment date. The appointment is then made by office and confirmation sent to patient via secure messaging.
  • Medication refills - allows patient to request refill on medications
  • E-Visits - is a non-urgent electronic visit and in some instance can be a reimbursable.
  • Electronic History taking - patient fills out electronic information regarding visit. This can save time and helps with documentation of HPI and presenting complaints. Thereby improving documentation and reimbursement.
  • Pre-registration/Registration - Gets the patients medical history and demographics a very efficient way of registering new patients.
  • PHR (Personal Health Record) - a homepage maintained by patient via the Internet allows patient to take charge of their Health.
  • Lab results - secure method of transmitting lab results to patients without having to call or send letters.
  • Secure messaging - allows for electronic consultations quick questions and/or method to blast vital information to patients especially announcements.
  • Patient education materials - same as above but some offer medical information as well
  • Bill payments - some portals offer payments via the Internet some offer account information without the ability to pay on line via credit card.


      Who offers Portals:


      • Medfusion - offers a full array of services (patient registration, secure messaging, personal health records, e-prescribing, virtual visits)
      • Instant Medical History from PrimeTime Medical Software is not a patient portal but can be integrated into one. $50/month.
      • PrimePatient from Greenway Medical is a Medfusion product that integrates with Greenway's PrimeSuite Electronic Health Record
      • Meditab - health care portal and auto check in.
      • Medisolve - seems limited to patient registration and medical interview.
      • Medseek - pre-registration, scheduling, secure messaging, eConsults. Seems to be targeted for larger group practices.
      • RelayHealth - part of McKesson. WebVisits, secure messaging, PHR, eScripts. $125/month per physician



      References:
      .

      Identifying Factors For Success of Online Health Promotion Programs

      Background: Online health communication has the potential to reach large audiences, with the additional advantages that it can be operational at all times and that the costs per visitor are low. Furthermore, research shows that Internet-delivered interventions can be effective in changing health behaviors. However, exposure to Internet-delivered health-communication programs is generally low. Research investigating predictors of exposure is needed to be able to effectively disseminate online interventions.


      Objective: In the present study, the authors used a longitudinal design with the aim of identifying demographic, psychological, and behavioral predictors of visiting, using, and revisiting an online program promoting physical activity in the general population.
      Methods: A webpage was created providing the public with information about health and healthy behavior. The website included a “physical activity check,” which consisted of a physical activity computer-tailoring expert system where visitors could check whether their physical activity levels were in line with recommendations. Visitors who consented to participate in the present study (n = 489) filled in a questionnaire that assessed demographics, mode of recruitment, current physical activity levels, and health motivation. Immediately after, participants received tailored feedback concerning their current physical activity levels and completed a questionnaire assessing affective and cognitive user experience, attitude toward being sufficiently physically active, and intention to be sufficiently physically active. Three months later, participants received an email inviting them once more to check whether their physical activity level had changed.
      Results: Analyses of visiting showed that more women (67.5%) than men (32.5%) visited the program. With regard to continued use, native Dutch participants and participants with a strong motivation to be healthy were most likely to continue usage of the program. With regard to revisiting, older participants and highly educated participants were more likely to revisit the program after three months. In addition, positive affective user experience predicted revisiting.



      Conclusions: The results suggest that online interventions could specifically target men, young people, immigrant groups, people with a low education, and people with a weak health motivation to increase exposure to these interventions. Furthermore, eliciting positive feelings in visitors may contribute to higher usage rates.