Second Life

Second Life offers a fascinating dynamic of doctor-patient interaction that has never really been possible until now.  Prior to the Internet and its revolutionary technological breakthroughs, this level of interaction was only dreamed of and visualized in Hollywood productions.  According to the Second Life website (www.secondlife.com), Second Life is described as “A free 3D virtual world where users can socialize, connect and create using free voice and text chat.” Health care providers and Medical Schools are doing just that and even more.

Second Life has expanded beyond its original target audience of tech enthusiasts and online gamers. According to an article from medcitynews .com (www.medcitynews.com/2010/05/mayo-clinic-explores-the-virtual-world-of-second-life)”Hospitals and medical schools use Second Life to conduct courses, simulate doctor/patient visits, and test innovative designs for emergency rooms and medical clinics.” Instead of building physical hospitals and clinics that costs millions of dollars, health providers can build a virtual, interactive model of they types of health care facilities for free. The famous Mayo Clinic has been using second life for some time now as a way to train and educate its physicians and patients. There were other providers using second life for this purpose before, but Mayo Clinic’s use of Second Life for actual training has lent significant credibility to its existence. There are several other household names in health care using second life in some capacity, UC Davis included!

Second Life has enormous potential to enrich doctor/patients visits and relationships. Those who are tech savvy will be excited to simulate the health care experience. In this technologically advanced society, some would even expect it. Even the general tech user would welcome the benefits of Second Life. If one thinks of the patient of the consumer, why wouldn’t they want to try before they buy? There was a record amount of shopping done this past Cyber Monday. The websites that were most successful in sales offered some method of interaction with the merchandise – photos, videos, user reviews, user discussions, user photos and videos etc. The key here is interaction. Healthcare of course is not the same as shopping for the latest tech gadget, but I believe patients want some level of interaction.

There are some barriers to the use of Second Life for those in the population who are disadvantaged and have a lower income. Second life requires Internet and computer access, which may not be readily available to these populations. This is one area in which I see would a major barrier to the adoption and use of Second Life on a larger scale. Second Life is an amazing and fascinating technology. It will be interesting to observe its evolution and impact on healthcare in the coming years.

EHR Security

“California Tightens EHR Security: New law requires that everyone leave breadcrumbs when using an electronic health record”

http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/security-privacy/231901832

                EHR security is not a new issue by any means. We have often heard stories in the news media regarding major security lapses by well-known health providers (in California and other states) that have resulted in sensitive and private health information being compromised. Security breaches occur among smaller and lesser known providers as well. The security of health information is most certainly a valid concern. As a patient, I would not want my personal health information leaked out to the public, and neither would any readers of this blog post. To mitigate this security issue, the Governor of the State of California, Jerry Brown, has signed into law SB850 - the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, which establishes rules for securely managing changes to patient information contained in EHRs

                 According to the InformationWeek article, “Beginning January 1, 2012, hospitals, physician practices, and other healthcare stakeholders that manage patient information will be required to track and log any changes that are made to information stored in EHRs, as well as protect the confidentiality of medical information contained in EHRs.” This law essentially gives regulators in the State of California more authority to ensure integrity of health information and penalize offenders. California has already levied heavy fines against guilty parties. In many ways, this law is similar to its Federal counterparts. 

                The portion of the bill that caught my attention is the requirement of an EHR system to "automatically record and preserve any change or deletion of electronically stored medical information”, including who accessed the information and what information was changed. In my opinion, any EHR system worth its salt would have this audit trail feature built-in. Providers should look elsewhere if the EHR vendors they are evaluating don’t have this option. Perhaps those with an EHR system already are using a third party security solution. It is my perspective that it is best to have this feature incorporated into the system. 

                Even in the long term care space in which I work, all leading EHR vendors tailoring solutions to the vertical have deeply integrated rights based access, electronic signatures, audit trails, and reporting tools to ensure the integrity and security of health information. These tools are necessary to comply with HIPAA and other similar laws. With the similarity to federal laws, it may seem that SB850 is redundant or excessive. However when it comes to the security of health information, we cannot afford to be lax. Providers who take necessary precautions to ensure the safety and protection of health information need not worry. Just continue to do what you are doing.

Welcome

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my blog. Thanks for visiting. My name is Deepak Vejendla and I currently serve as Director of Information systems for a long-term healthcare facility.

The purpose of  this blog is to present and discuss health IT and health informatics topics.

Along with general discussions, some specific areas of focus will include health IT & informatics in the long term care setting, EHR implementation, HITECH & public policy implications, career development, and the role of the Internet in patient care.

I look forward to dialoguing with other professionals in this field!