Whimsical Friday: The Green Thing

[Whimsical Friday is a light-hearted note on any technology that impacts our lives in some form or fashion.]

I received this email from one of my friends, I thought I would share....

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they actually were “recycled.”

But they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power did the drying. Kids often got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for them. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a plastic bottle or cup every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying new pens, and they replaced the blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from a satellite 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But they didn’t have the green thing back then!

Choosing the right Cloud Provider

Typically, the healthcare sector lags behind other industries when it comes to embracing new technologies. Ironically this industry is embracing cloud computing on par with other industries.

Nearly one-third of healthcare sector decision makers said they are using cloud applications, and 73% said they are planning to move more applications to the cloud, according to a recent report by Accenture. Those figures fall in line with findings about cloud adoption plans in other industries, according to the report.

What’s the attraction of cloud computing that has the healthcare industry adopting it at the same pace as other industries? Basically, smaller practices are finding it economical to do away with their own modest IT operations and rely on cloud service providers for electronic health record (EHR) services, while larger institutions are building internal, private health care clouds for easier accessibility.

However, before jumping to the cloud, healthcare providers should consider the following elements before choosing a cloud services provider:

An assessment of the associated risks and benefits should be taken. Evaluate all potential cloud computing service providers to understand key areas from compliance and data location to availability, recovery and viability. Ensure the service provider’s security, access, and control methods surpass, or at least equals, your current security measures. As I stated in a previous blog post (Due Diligene Is In, Google Health Is Out), perform due diligence on the provider. Even if the service provider is a well known multi-national firm don’t assume vendor due diligence isn’t needed.

As healthcare providers rapidly embrace this new technology, it’s important that they assess all of their needs and options so that the right solution and cloud computing partner is chosen.

A Week in Review, Aug 8

Best Practices For Selecting An EHR

[InformationWeek Healthcare] An in-depth analysis and exhaustive checklist from Huntington Memorial Hospital's Rebecca Armato. Rebecca Armato doesn't mince words. "Just as the right medical treatment is critical to a patient's survival, the right approach to EHR selection and adoption is critical to the health/survival of a physician's practice," she said. Read full story.


EHRs are easy prey, but all is not lost

[Network World] Wherever money and information flow, so do the bad guys. And with estimates that the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) market in the U.S. will reach $6 billion by 2015 -- according to the research and consulting firm MarketsandMarkets -- it's no surprise criminals are paying more attention. Also no shock is that as more records are digitized, there are many more breaches involving patient data. This is not unlike when vast credit card breaches quickly followed the rise of e-commerce in the early part of the previous decade. Read full story.


5 Considerations on Health Information Exchanges: What Your Hospital or Health System Needs to Know

[Hospital Review] Hospitals and health systems are scrambling to become meaningful users of certified electronic health record technology within their own entities, but what's the next step to share health information after that step? The answer for many organizations will be health information exchanges. Read full story.


How healthcare packaging professionals are using iPads for business

[Healthcare Packaging] Tablet computing has been around for years, but the category didn't take off until Apple launched the iPad in April 2010. A year and a half later, Apple has sold more than 25 million iPads. And that's nothing compared to what's to come. Millions and millions more will be sold over the next 12 months, by Apple and the slew of Android competitors being released. Read full story.

Whimsical Friday: Good Deal, Netflix New Pricing Model

[Whimsical Friday is a light-hearted note on any technology that impacts our lives in some form or fashion.]

By now everyone is aware Netflix changed their pricing model. What once cost $10 a month — online streams of movies plus one DVD by mail at a time — will now cost $16 a month. However, streaming only will remain $8 a month.

This price increase spurred complaints from thousands of Netflix customers on Facebook and other Web sites, some of whom said they may now rely less on physical DVDs and more on online options; and some saying they are dropping Netflix altogether.

I fit into the first category, “will rely less on physical DVDs and more on online options.” I’m converting my current Netflix account — unlimited streaming with 1 DVD, including blu-ray — for $12 a month to their streaming only option for $8 a month. I’ll rely on Redbox for those occasional evenings when I want a physical disc.

John Blackledge, an analyst at Credit Suisse Securities, states “Netflix must be pretty comfortable with the value of both services that they can break each out. At the same time, increasing the price for DVD-and-streaming customers may push more people into streaming-only plans.” Why would Netflix push their customers into a lower priced plan? Higher profit margins. To send a customer a DVD requires postage, inventory, multiple warehouses, trucks, envelopes, printing, and not to mention the labor that's involved (clerks, logistic personnel, etc.). All of which adds up to a fairly hefty expense. To stream that same movie requires only a small fraction of the DVD delivery cost because streaming is all computerized, no human intervention required per movie request, no warehouses, no trucks, no postage, no printing and no envelopes.

So if Netflix can increase their profits while potentially charging their clients less, more power to them. The ultimate question is when will Netflix's entire library be available for streaming? Currently only about 20 percent of Netflix’s library is available for streaming at any time, with some titles and studios coming and going. If Netflix doesn't address the gap between their DVD and streaming library soon this pricing model could become problematic.

In the mean time, Netflix just saved me $4 a month minus what I may spend monthly with Redbox, which is never more than $4 - 6 ANNUALLY. Sounds like a good deal to me. Redbox is probably saying the same thing.

Mobile Devices, a Security Risk?

Mobile devices are allowing health care workers 24-7 access to critical information from virtually anywhere. While mobile computing in health care is reducing costs and improving quality care, they pose huge security risks to patient information.

In less than two years, from September 22, 2009 through May 8, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights indicated that 116 data breaches of 500 records or more were the direct result of loss or theft of a mobile device, exposing more than 1.9 million patients’ PHI [Personal Health Information].

What's surprising about this report is that the biggest cause of breaches isn’t from hackers but from the theft or loss of mobile devices. The issue of data breaches isn’t a new one, but it is coming into greater focus with mobile devices increasing popularity.

Rick Kam, president and co-founder, ID Experts, gives a number of suggestions for protecting sensitive patient data. Among them:
• Whenever possible, don’t store sensitive data on wireless devices. If required, ensure the data is encrypted.
• Enable password protection on wireless devices, and configure the lock screen to come on after a short period of inactivity.
• Turn on the Remote Wipe feature of wireless devices.

Bottom line, to mitigate the loss when a mobile device has been stolen or lost a solid mobile device security plan must be in place.

A Week in Review, Aug 1

Why CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician?

[CompTIA] We all hear the buzz about healthcare – EHR/EMR, HIPAA, PHI and the other acronyms in the space. But what does it mean for IT professionals? What are the job opportunities? How do you show employers you have the unique skills required to work in IT in a healthcare setting? Read full story.


New Healthcare Technology to Save the United States $700 Billion

[Wall Street Daily] Thanks to the increasingly popular telemedicine trend, your home office could one day double as your doctor’s office.

It’s possible because telemedicine breakthroughs allow doctors to link directly with remote patients through its teleconferencing technology. Read full story.


EHRs Fall Short for Eye Doctors: Report

[eWeek] Ordinary electronic health record applications lack features that eye doctors require and therefore, these specialists have been slow to adopt the software, according to a report by the IT committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Read full story.


Hospitals Boost IT Spending Plans

[InformationWeek Healthcare] The federal incentive program for Meaningful Use of electronic health records seems to be having its desired early effect by spurring healthcare organizations to adopt more than just basic EHRs, according to a new study. And many hospitals are making plans to spend more on other forms of IT in the next few years, suggesting that EHRs are becoming integral to the overall organizational strategy. Read full story.