Visualizing Electronic Health Records With "Google-Earth for the Body"
Andre Elisseeff leads a research team at IBM’s Zurich Research Lab that in September demonstrated a prototype system that will allow doctors to view their patients’ electronic health record (eHR) using three-dimensional images of the human body. Called the Anatomic and Symbolic Mapper Engine, the system maps the information in a patient’s eHR to a 3-D image of the human body. A doctor first clicks the computer mouse on a particular part of the image, which triggers a search of the patient’s eHR to retrieve the relevant information. The patient’s information corresponding to that part of the image is then displayed, including text entries, lab results, and medical images, such as magnetic resource imaging. The doctor can zoom in on the image to retrieve selective information or narrow the search parameters by time or other factors. (Ed. Is this the breakthrough in Human Computer Interaction in Medicine that we so dearly need?)

Developing common methods for evaluating health information exchange
A framework that included the components and effects of HIE was discussed. It was noted that HIE projects are very diverse, so defining a single evaluation strategy is difficult. The group prioritized different types of evaluation, arguing that confirming the basic operation of the data exchange and measuring usage for the primary use case were essential to all HIE projects. Equally important to the key stakeholders in each project is verifying the immediate business case to demonstrate that the project is sustainable or at least achieving its goals. (Ed. This is an entire issue of J Biomed Informatics devoted to evaluating HIE.)

Evidence-Based Order Sets and CPOE—Lessons Learned for Hospitals
This Web seminar provides an overview of what hospitals need to know about creating, editing, deploying and maintaining evidence-based order sets with a CPOE system. The event will include discussion of the role of order set content within CPOE, the build-versus-buy decision, the decisions hospital clinical and IT leadership will need to make during integration and deployment, requirements for ongoing content updates and overall lessons learned for hospitals.

UnitedHealth Makes PHRs Lifetime
This means an individual covered by UHC insurance or OptumHealth’s outsourced health and wellness services will be able to access their PHR--and continue to enter data into it even if they change jobs or insurance coverage. As long as consumers have UnitedHealth Group coverage, the PHRs are automatically populated with pertinent claims data. OptumHealth and UHC offer PHRs to more than 21 million consumers. (Ed. This certainly ups the ante for everyone else involved in the PHR business.)

Enhanced photoemission spectroscopy for verification of high-risk i.v. medications
A tabletop EPS device was used to test samples of seven high-risk drug–diluent combinations compounded in the pharmacy; the drugs were vancomycin, lorazepam, morphine, insulin, hydromorphone, gentamicin, and epinephrine. Ten sets of samples were prepared for each drug. Typically, a sample set consisted of dilutions ranging from 10-fold above to 10-fold below the targeted concentration. The EPS device detected errors departing from the targeted concentration by 20% or more with a sensitivity of at least 95%. Specificity in distinguishing among test medications at targeted concentrations was 100%. A tabletop EPS device demonstrated acceptable sensitivity and specificity for validating the identity and concentrations of selected high-risk i.v. medications compounded for pediatric patients. (Ed. This could become as important at BarCode Medication Administration.)

The Health Care System for Veterans: An Interim Report
This is an excellent report that both describes the current state of the art in clinical information systems at the VA hospitals across the USA, along with their successful attempts to improve the quality of care they deliver.

The impact of e-prescribing on prescriber and staff time in ambulatory care clinics: a time motion study
At the sites with optional e-prescribing >75% of prescription-related events were performed electronically. Prescribers at e-prescribing sites spent less time writing, but time-savings were offset by increased computer tasks. After adjusting for site, prescriber and prescription type, e-prescribing tasks took marginally longer than hand written prescriptions (12.0 seconds; -1.6, 25.6 CI). Nursing staff at the e-prescribing sites spent longer on computer tasks (5.4 minutes/hour; 0.0, 10.7 CI). E-prescribing was not associated with an increase in combined computer and writing time for prescribers.

The Contribution of Teleconsultation and Videoconferencing to Diabetes Care: A Systematic Literature Review
Pooled results from the six RCTs of the identified teleconsultation studies did not show a significant reduction in HbA1c (0.03%, 95% CI = - 0.31% to 0.24%) compared to usual care. Most of the reported improvements concerned satisfaction with technology (26/39 studies), improved metabolic control (21/39), and cost reductions (16/39). Improvements in quality of life (6/39 studies), transparency (5/39), and better access to care (4/39) were hardly observed. Teleconsultation programs involving daily monitoring of clinical data, education, and personal feedback proved to be most successful in realizing behavioral change and reducing costs.

Mobile computers can bring both information and infection to the point of care
Mobile computing devices represent a patient safety conundrum. While they bring decision support, bar-code and RFID-assisted medication administration, and the latest patient data to the point of care, they also can serve as vehicles for germs and increase the potential for hospital-acquired infections. There are three ways to reduce the infection risk of mobile devices at the point of care: