Agenda for the 11th Annual Physician-Computer Connectin Symposium
Ojai Valley Inn, Ojai, CA  -- July 17 - 18, 2002
National experts in clinical computing and healthcare information technology will present their views in a highly interactive forum which allows you to participate in discussions on a variety of current topics.

Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems In Hospitals: Mandates And Incentives
The authors argue that government, employers, and insurers should share the costs of CPOE and should fund further research into its benefits and means of implementation.

groupPOE -- The list server group was founded about 20 months ago as mechanism to increase knowledge about Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and learn from each other's experience. Toby Clark is the moderator and must approve all subscribers.  At this time he tries to exclude vendors from the list serve. Members of the groupPOE who are also members of Yahoo, may go the Yahoo site and see all the old messages.  To request membership in the group send a message to: tobyclark@att.net

After the Dot-Bomb: Getting Web Information Retrieval Right This Time
In the excitement of the "dot-com" rush of the 1990's, many Web sites were developed that provided information retrieval capabilities poorly or sub-optimally. Suggestions are made for improvements in the design of Web information retrieval in seven areas. Classifications, ontologies, indexing vocabularies, statistical properties of databases (including the Bradford Distribution), and staff indexing support systems are all discussed.

Going paperless with custom-built Web-based patient occurrence reporting
Comparison of quarterly data pre- and post-Web forms showed an 83.5% increase in number of submissions and a 79.5% reduction in event-to-submission time. Web forms also eliminated paper form limitations of legibility, completeness, and security.

Website Dedicated to Exploring the Digital Divide
They use the term "digital divide" to refer to the gap between those who can effectively use new information and communication tools, such as the Internet, and those who cannot. While a consensus does not exist on the extent of the divide (and whether the divide is growing or narrowing), researchers are nearly unanimous in acknowledging that some sort of divide exists at this point in time.

The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare launched an online database of health plan formularies to provide physicians a single source of information on patients’ prescription drug coverage. The resource will allow physicians to verify that the drugs they prescribe are covered by patients’ health plans without having to consult numerous paper guides.

Computer-generated Patient Education Materials: Do They Affect Professional Practice? -- A Systematic Review
Computer-generated PEM seems to have a small, positive effect on professional practice. The small number of included studies and the complex nature of the interventions makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the ability of computer-generated PEM to change professional practice.

Patient safety and clinicians—the buck starts here, at the keyboard
The economic food chain of health care starts with the clinician. Yet physicians are apt to resist the one technology that can help on all points. What is the key clinical skill to learn in 2002 to be a better communicating, more productive, higher-income-producing, smarter clinician providing safer medical care? It’s typing. (Note:  An excellent sample letter that all Medical Directors of Information Systems should consider sending to their Chief of Staff.)

Between Strangers: The Practice Of Medicine Online
An emerging consensus supports online communication between patients and physicians in an existing relationship to improve the quality, timeliness, and efficiency of medical care. Patients are also seeking medical care online from physicians they have never met, ranging from one-time interactions for a second opinion to psychotherapy. These practices call for a new regulatory paradigm to ensure accountability, establish acceptable parameters for online medical practice, and distinguish online health care delivery from online health information. The new patient-physician encounters also challenge the medical profession and society to reexamine core assumptions that define medical practice and the patient-physician relationship.

Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice
Although communities of practice develop organically, a carefully crafted design can drive their evolution. In this excerpt from a new book, the authors detail seven design principles. The payoff? Knowledge management that works. (Note: Why don't we see anything like this in the field of Informatics?)

KLAS - 2002 Mid-Year Report on the Top 20 Healthcare IT Vendor Performances
A summary of the performance data collected over the past 13 months (April 15, 2001 – May 15, 2002, allowing for data validation) from IT Executives and other healthcare professionals. Included is an overall ranking of those vendors from 11 major performance categories. (Note: Click "View Sample" to see a preview of report.)

Nurse Diane™ teaches discharge care at the touch of a finger
The Nurse Diane Video Library delivers your health videos with an ease and privacy not previously available. On Nurse Diane, the videos are seen only by the patient. It's private and personalized. There's no need for viewing on a wall mounted TV. All videos have built-in tests to help make sure patients understand. The system automatically documents the patient's records.

7/15/02 dfs