btw2.net

The Arizona Republic has an article this morning about world weather records and who investigates them and arbitrates what are real records.
It’s not a weather record until he says it is
U.N. taps professor at Arizona State to create global archive

The purpose is to establish an authoritative tracking and record of weather extremes, which will help scientists understand weather patterns and climate shifts over time. A sharp increase in record-setting extremes could provide clues to the Earth’s climate shift.

How’d he get into this? “Cerveny got interested in weather as a child in Nebraska. His family’s hilltop farm was on the edge of town, and the sheriff would drive to their house in bad weather to watch for tornadoes. If the sheriff saw one, he would radio in so the town could sound warning sirens.”
His thoughts on On global warming:

“I don’t think it’s going to be catastrophic. We’re going to have to change and develop sustainability ideas to handle the change. But I was once asked by students, ‘Are we going to be around in 20 or 30 years?’ Well, yes, we’re going to be around. It’s going to be a different place, but we’re going to be around.

The World Meteorological Organization recently launched a Web site that archives world weather/climate extremes. Here are some examples from the site, wmo.asu.edu/….

Indicators of change

…As Cerveny considers such data, he ponders whether extreme events are an indicator of global climate change. No one can point to a new record rainfall or heat spell and declare it’s a sign of global warming, he says. But if more records occur, they could indicate a climate change. Any determination depends on their accuracy….

eirikso.com has a video at The new way of reading the web
Its a fast, clear presentation of what RSS does for you
and how to get started.

There are many efforts afoot to make Health Records management more economical and more reliable. Another less obvious value is facilitating distributed specialized support so the patient doen’t need to leave their community to be near the specialist, rather the specialist can monitor remotely and work through the local health care community. Of course there are times one must go to the specialist, but why not attempt to minimize that since there are social costs, financial costs and patient discomfort and disharmony as a result.

Minnesota First State to Require Electronic Submission of Health Transactions¹

Minnesota is now the first state in the nation to require all health care payers and providers to submit claims and eligibility transactions electronically using a common format starting in 2009. The new requirements, signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty as part of the 2007 Omnibus Health and Human Services funding bill, apply to all health care providers and affects virtually anyone who bills for or buys health care services on behalf of a group of people. Electronic administrative health care transactions can reduce costs and improve the efficiency of health care….

Implementing an EHR: Going live is no snap²

Problems, snafus, and some victories take place as three different practices start using their new EHRs. 

The only thing you can count on when implementing an electronic health record system is that little will go according to plan. In this second article in our series on implementing an EHR, three small and medium-sized practices report on the unexpected and often frustrating problems they encountered when they turned on their new EHR and practice management systems….

We Reap What We Sow³

After nearly two decades in health care administration, it is apparent to me that the System is shaking out in ways that may prove to be both very interesting and disparaging to many of our citizens.   In the recent Wall Street Journal Article, Care Gap  Hospital Building Boom Sparks Fear Cities Will Be Left Behind, the nuances of the current five year, $100 billion building expansion that has taken place from 2000 to 2005 in the industry, the majority of that construction has occurred in the suburbs in order to allow the hospitals to target the affluent.  This, according to the article, has resulted in a financial struggle for the urban centers that often treat the poor.  The result of this movement?  “Scores have had to shut their doors.”….

The partial answer is things like these:

• Humanitarian Emergency Logistics & Preparedness (HELP), located in Payson, AZ, USA

¹ Jun 28, 2007, GovTech News Report
² Ken Terry, Medical Economics, Jul 6, 2007
³ World Health Care Blog, by Nick Jacobs, July 6, 2007

In the LA Times, How to find a good doctor¹ “It’s easier now as physicians provide more info and become more patient friendly. A key question to ask: How is the practice run?… And a few well-placed questions about the way a doctor runs his or her practice can give consumers a sense of the type of doctor-patient relationship they’ll have — and, to some degree, the quality of care they’ll get.” I’ve struggeled with finding the right doctor over the years and I agree that paying attention to how their practice is run is key - all look busy, but not all are staffed to right size with right digital tools to reduce overhead costs. It also helps to have an insurance plan that allows you to see specialists without a referal from your primary doctor. Sometimes speed is key, this past year I found a Dermatologist through knowledgable sources and had an ER doctor refer me to an Opthomologist for a specific problem. You need a good primary doctor, you will need specialists too.

(short) Video: Monitoring Mom and Pop from afar
Long distance eldercare

Take a brief glimpse at AT&T’s new Home Monitoring Service and the Philips Lifeline, two tools that help caregivers monitor elderly people when they can’t be at home with them. CNET News.com’s Dawn Kawamoto reports.

Do Sunscreens Have You Covered?²

In a study of about 1,600 residents of Nambour, Australia, volunteers who were given sunscreen to use every day for four and a half years had 40 percent fewer squamous cell cancers than a control group who maintained their normal skin-care routines. Even 10 years after the study concluded, the volunteers assigned to use sunscreen during the trial period had fewer cancers. 

“It shows that using sun protection for almost five years gives you an intense, longer-term benefit against squamous cell carcinoma,” said Dr. Adèle C. Green, deputy director of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia, which ran the study.

(a slide show as well at the Times page)

There is a post at WikiHow, How to Deal With Alzheimer’s As a Caregiver, with several points and tips, (including “Remember that not all memory loss suggests Alzheimer’s disease. Similarly, not all dementia suggests Alzheimer’s disease.”).

¹ By Jan Greene, Special to The Times, July 9, 2007
² By Natasha Singer, The New York Times, July 5, 2007

on the back cover:

• Show up.
• Don’t be a jerk.
• Simple is better than complicated.
• Tell the truth. (it’s so rarely used, it’s like a secret weapon.)
• Don’t look backward, there’s nothing there.
• Trust someone besides yourself.

At first glance I thought that was pretty good.
I was in a rush, so I snapped a picture with my phone and wandered on.
Finally download the picture.
And I still agree, but quibble.
I like “show up,” “don’t be a jerk,” “don’t look backward, there’s
nothing there.”
And I love “trust someone besides yourself.”
Four out of six.
The other two are more complex and subject to judgement about context - opinion.

“Tell the truth. (it’s so rarely used, it’s like a secret weapon.)”
now that is subject to shadings, interpretation.

As is “Simple is better than complicated.”
But there is a subtle poison in this one.
Define simple.

One person’s simple use of the computer is complicated for others.

Simple homespun shirt better than cheap import? Define simple.
Simple plastic footstool betther than pine footstool? Define simple.
Simple pine footstool betther than plastic footstool? well, you get the idea.

And with digital materials it isn’t settled at all,
what is simple? Consider: digital photo you post to the web and everyone copies it
or film photo you mail to 20 people, one of which then scans to digital and
posts it to the web and everyone copies it?
“don’t look backward, there’s nothing there.”

Thoughts?

the book: The Obvious: All You Need to Know in Business. Period.

digital divide - 070703

There’s an online article for the UK

Action needed on digital divide
Ben Camm-Jones, WebUser (”UK’s best-selling internet magazine”), July 2, 2007 

The body that oversees IT education projects in the UK has called on Gordon Brown’s newly-formed cabinet to close the ‘digital divide’.

UK Online Centres has released its Understanding Digital Inclusion report, which found that nearly 40 per cent of us don’t have access to technology that could enrich our lives….

Milner called on the government to take the matter seriously and ensure that the digital divide is closed, as it is people who are socially excluded in other ways that are missing out the most….

“It’s unacceptable that those already at a disadvantage are three times more likely to be the ones missing out. Digital inclusion matters – not just for individuals but in a wider economic and social context,” she said….

“This research gives us both the information and opportunity to make a significant difference to the digital divide. Let’s make sure those who stand to benefit most from technology are not left behind,” Milner said.

What is interesting is the lack of seeing the age related and education related digital divides that they are talking about with “it is people who are socially excluded in other ways that are missing out the most.” There is more to it than hooking them up to broadband.

A Challenge to Gene Theory, a Tougher Look at Biotech
By Denise Caruso, The New York Times, July 1, 2007

This article says

Last month, a consortium of scientists published findings that challenge the traditional view of how genes function. The exhaustive four-year effort was organized by the United States National Human Genome Research Institute and carried out by 35 groups from 80 organizations around the world. To their surprise, researchers found that the human genome might not be a “tidy collection of independent genes” after all, with each sequence of DNA linked to a single function, such as a predisposition to diabetes or heart disease.

But every biotech research presentation I’ve gone to included researchers who already knew that! That is one caution about any speedy conquest of a genetically related disease. In fact universities are forming Biomedical Informatics fields, in part, because:

Instead, genes appear to operate in a complex network, and interact and overlap with one another and with other components in ways not yet fully understood. According to the institute, these findings will challenge scientists “to rethink some long-held views about what genes are and what they do.”

Research includes the massive search through data to find correlations such as those suggested here.

World Information Society Report 2007 digital divide network,
Author: Staff, ITU & UNCTAD | May 24th, 2007

The World Information Society Report 2007: Beyond WSIS tracks progress in the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). At the Summit, world leaders committed to turning the digital divide into a digital opportunity for all. They also agreed on a set of targets for improving access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), to be achieved by 2015 at the latest. 

The Report finds that the digital divide is shrinking in most technologies, especially mobile telephony, but that limitations in the availability and affordability of broadband remain a cause for concern. Although broadband is now available in 170 economies by the start of 2007, it remains at least ten times more expensive in low-income countries than in high-income countries and is often unavailable outside urban areas….

Briefly Noted: Talking About Drug Risks, June 28, 2007
healthcare communications and marketing news and information

Needless to say, there is a gloom conclusion about health literacy.

Low Adoption of Electronic Medical Records: Hidden Reasons?
by Scott MacStravic, World Health Care Blog
June 29, 2007 at 2:14 pm · Filed under Electronic Medical Records

Adopting and particularly sharing EMRs have been major features of most expert suggestions for health care reform. Despite their availability for two decades, their adoption in the US is well behind most European countries, as well as China, Japan, Australia and Russia, at less than 20% compared to 50-90% and more elsewhere. Whatever the benefits of EMRs, to patients, payors, and the country as a whole, we are only slowly and somewhat reluctantly gaining them. 

Among the reasons suggested for the slow adoption rate is the sorry state of third-party and consumer payments to providers, compared to the high costs of EMR adoption. A related charge is that our “cottage industry” providers do not seek improvements in quality and productivity for their sakes alone, but look first at what it will do for individual practitioners, personally, financially, and immediately. And most EMR benefits take a while to reach their full potential….

Well, there will be some new models for provisioning soon.
I remain amazed at how we lag behind France and their use of smartcards to drive EMR use.