EEPDtalk

Okay, this may seem like advertising, but it’s such a rare event for me to find a product that I think actually does what it says on the tin that I want to spread the word about it.

Yesterday (3rd May 2012) I attended HC2012 at the Business Design Centre in London. Among the exhibitors displaying their latest wares, my attention was drawn to something that I think could be a real game-changer and improve the way lots of us work.

There is currently much interest in digital pen technology, but the systems I’ve seen so far are still very cumbersome, require expensive hardware and software, including specially-prepared paper, and really only seem to me to shift the burden of data capture workload from one group of staff (midwives) to a middle party (transcription clerks) before anything recorded can be used in a meaningful way. It would be so much better (and cheaper) if ordinary paper could be used.

I think that the developers of e-WRITEMATE could be on to a winner. This system consists of a little device, about the size of a USB stick or bulldog clip, that you clip onto the top of your form which is on normal paper  (e.g. hand-held pregnancy notes).  You write on the form with an electronic stylus pen. It uses ultrasound technology to capture your handwriting. This captured data can be uploaded into a PC or smartphone via bluetooth and output as XML for use in other programs, databases etc. You can design your own form templates to use with it. The e-WriteMate device itself can store up to 200 A4 pages in its flash memory.

1. design your form
2. print form on normal paper
3. with e-WriteMate device in place, fill in form
4. form is processed – you can, of course, review and edit the data
5. XML output is produced

e-WriteMate has a partner product called e-Diary, which allows you to write in a normal A5 notebook. Great for minute-taking!  I have acquired one of these and I love it.

They work in languages other than English too. Cool!

Further info

• See Radhika R, Ramya Dorai D. Form Processing Through Handwritting [sic] Input Device  International Journal of Computer Trends and Technology  2011 21(1):32-35
• see a PowerPoint presentation on e-WriteMate
• visit the e-Diary website
• get more downloads from the developer’s website

e-WriteMate and e-Diary have been developed in India by Hi-Tech Solutions and are available in Europe and the Middle East from EDC Creative Technology Solutions.

Writing in eHealth Insider, Lyn Whitfield reports that the Audit Commission has criticised existing NHS datasets for not reflecting what is actually happening to patients.  ”Data definitions are becoming increasingly problematical in the NHS.”

The full Audit Commission report is available online:

Very interesting open-access article published in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.  Here’s the abstract:

Abstract

Tourism as well as international business travel creates health risks for individuals and populations both in host societies and home countries. One strategy to reduce health-related risks to travelers is to provide travelers and relevant caregivers timely, ongoing access to their own health information. Many websites offer health advice for travelers. For example, the WHO and US Department of State offer up-to-date health information about countries relevant to travel. However, little has been done to assure travelers that their medical information is available at the right place and time when the need might arise. Applications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) utilizing mobile phones for health management are promising tools both for the delivery of healthcare services and the promotion of personal health. This paper describes the project developed by international informaticians under the umbrella of the International Medical Informatics Association. A template capable of becoming an international standard is proposed. This application is available free to anyone who is interested. Furthermore, its source code is made open.

South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust (SWNHSFT) is to digitise all its patient records and make them available to clinical staff via iPads.  Read more about this in eHealth Insider.

Take a look at – and contribute to – this excellent discussion on KevinMD, started by Adam Sharp’s article: Why EMR is a dirty word to most physicians.

The latest Internet meme craze has inspired me to create the following (apologies to those websites from which I borrowed the images)

what midwives do

Blogger Margalit Gur Arie puts the case for more computer Universal EHR magic, raising some interesting points. It’s well worth clicking the link and reading the full article.

Medical Records

Assumption: At any given moment in time there can be only one correct version of a complete medical record for any one person

Fact: Currently, various parts of the medical record are stored at various locations, by various organizations, in various formats

Fact: Most organizations possess unique content, but also content overlapping with what others store, containing multiple discrepancies and various errors

Observation: Using partial medical records for provision of care could be desirable, inconsequential, dangerous or lethal, depending on which parts are missing

Observation: There is conceptually no reliable way to know whether parts of the medical record are missing at the point of care, let alone ascertain the criticality of missing parts

Health Information Exchange (HIE), as its name indicates, is intended to shuffle fragments of the medical record from one organization to another just in time to inform the provision of care. The government and various other organizations are diligently working on standardizing the contents, the format and the means by which medical records data is communicated. Since the thousands of software programs deployed in health care all store data in different formats, using different data dictionaries, different storage systems and different terminology, it is envisioned that each system will have some sort of transformer at its edge that will translate the inner workings of the system before sending information out, and execute the reverse procedure before letting outside information in. Once the standards are finalized, all technology vendors will be building (or buying) such “transformers” and everybody will be communicating seamlessly. Could it really be that simple?

via Arguments for a Universal Health Record | On Health Care Technology.

According to Paul Cerrato:

most Americans care more about their cars than their health. They know more about automotive specs than they do about physiological specs. Similarly, most people want to see a doctor only when something breaks down, and then they expect a pill or procedure to make things right, just as they expect their car mechanic to fix their cars.

via Why Personal Health Records Have Flopped – Healthcare – The Patient – Informationweek.

Let’s just say that People are like Countries not Cars.

Worldwide, mHealth pioneers are positioning themselves at the convergence of a technological boom and an unmet demand for maternal, newborn and child health MNCH by harnessing mobile multimedia devices to improve care and communication.

Blogger Tigest Tamrat recently attended the mHealth Summit in Washington D.C. She has been researching the use of mHealth in African countries, where mobile technologies are developing rapidly.  Read her blog post in full: Seizing the mMomentum: The possibilities of mobile health for prenatal and neonatal outcomes | Healthy Newborn Network. See also her paper in Maternal & Child Health Journal (DOI: 10.1007/s10995-011-0836-3)

As part of the plans, people would be able to download their medical history as well as viewing details of prescriptions and appointments — all free of charge.The proposals would mean that patients could see the results of tests, and discharge notes sent from hospital. In addition, it is suggested that patients should be able to get repeat prescriptions – speeding up care and helping the NHS avoid unnecessary appointments.The plans have been put forward by the NHS Future Forum, a group of leading doctors who are advising the Government on its health reforms.They want the changes to be introduced in England within three years, The Times reported. The forum has won the backing of the Government. Lord Howe, a health minister, said: “We fully support NHS patients having online access to their personal GP records.”Our vision for a modern NHS is to give patients more information and control over their health.

via NHS patients will be able to view medical records online – Telegraph. Report by John-Paul Ford Rojas.