What should you ask your website hosting provider?

To put a web site online, one must go through a web coordinator or a web hosting provider. The web site designer/developer will publish his or her design to a web hosting solution according to a set of recommendations and guidelines(typically provided by the practice), and also based on the type of development language the website developer has used. 

Many website hosting providers provide resources to help their customers not only simplify the process of posting information to a web site, but even provide applications to help develop websites easily.

Almost anyone can develop and publish a website today, but not everyone can setup a professional, feature rich website and then publish it securely such that its protected against various online attacks. Some understanding is thus essential before hiring a web hosting provider. When picking a web hosting provider, it is essential to keep your individual or business objectives in thoughts. 

If it's your own personal website, you might not mind it if the web hosting provider places a banner with a 3rd party promotion on it.  However, if it's an organization site you're planning; you may not want your web hosting provider to promote other organizations on your site. Many web hosting services provide free web servers if the site owners permit to place promotions on it or they charge a small fee to keep it clear of such advertisements. If you are looking to hire a web host kept the following points in mind:

1. Find out whether the provider is providing end-to- end Managed Solutions. Most webhost alternatives provides little or no support, and simply expect you to already have someone on them to deal with your specialized needs.  A managed web hosting provider should handle support for everything which range from getting a CGI script set up, to security protection of your e-commerce site. It is worthwhile paying the extra dollars for managed hosting.

2. Find out whether the website hoster provides you with the newest protected application or simply installs the standard base applications from an old CD. The provider must provide you with the latest , most secure and up-to-date web host server applications. Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search sites actually rate your site based on the application versions you use, and can considerably reduce your page rank score if you are using older and less protected application commonly provided by some website hosts.

3. A good website hosting firm should provide professional support 24 hours a day. There is nothing more painful than having to pay for support; even more than what you have to pay for the solution. And worse if you realize that you are having a conversation with someone located at a distance who scarcely speaks your language. Most webhost alternatives are busy outsourcing their support offshore. Ideally, a fast and friendly regional professional support should be available 24 hours-a-day, 7-days a week with provision for toll-free phone support as well as online live help chat sessions.

4. A webhost organization should reveal to a client their network features and capacity. Many web coordinators are simply resellers of another organization, so when you ask them to reveal their features, you can quickly figure out if you are interacting with a middleman or an efficient organization with their own features.

5. A webhost organization should have internet demonstrations and certification of what they offer. You MUST take demonstration tours of the website host's server user interface prior to purchase.

6. Website hosting organizations should have experienced in- house staff. There is no substitution for an excellent professional team when interacting in a technically-oriented organization place and the availability of an in-house market veteran team to deal with all your needs.

7. Look for a provider with realistic prices. Often, the most improbable costs come from the smallest of alternatives managing out of a single location. In reality, using a substandard website host will not conserve your funds at all. You will end up paying a lot more due to down times, back and forth discussions and unhappy visitors.

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Data Security and Backup Solutions in Health Care

Data security is like exercise: Everyone knows it's good. Few people care enough to do it…

Which is why it is important, to have the right strategy, and the right tools. 

Computers, Keyboards, Mice and Even Hard drives fail. It's a fact of computing life. It's not a question of whether your computer will stop working or even a matter of when. The question is how much it will disrupt your life, your processes, your practice and your patients - and it won't, if you have a backup copy. 

Backing up your data is most indispensable thing you do on your computer. The 2 important considerations one must have when deciding a backup strategy are the backup media and the backup tools.  

Local Backup Media: 

Using CD/DVD’s to store data backups 

Using CD/DVD’s to store data backups is popular. Blank CD/DVD’s are inexpensive, and copying data onto CD/DVD’s is easy. Unfortunately CD/DVD’s, like the floppy disks they've replaced, have a limited shelf life. We don’t recommend this method of data backup for any practice. 

Using tapes to store data backups 

Tape backups are a many times more reliable than DVDss, but tape drives and their associated media are many times more expensive than DVD writers and CD/DVDs. A good tape drive can cost over $1000, and individual tapes for the drive can cost up to $40 each. If one can afford the equipment, however, tape backup is far more reliable and recommended backup method. 

Using external hard drives to store data backups 

External hard disks are cheap compared to tape drive systems. They’re also easy to use as most of them support plug and play use with the computers USB port. And while hard drives do fail, their failure rate is much lower than that of other backup media such as DVD’s. A big factor to why we recommend External Hard Disks as the best Local backup medium is that a single hard disk drive or a maximum of 2 used for backups may well be enough to store your practice data. 

Online Backup in the Cloud: 

An online backup service offers the advantage of securely store your files at off-site server locations, so that your data stays intact and available even if your local disks, CD/DVD’s are corrupted or in a severe case stolen. 

With more and more emphasis on "cloud computing", it only makes sense that one should take advantage of this hot trend in technology for backups.

Factors to consider when choosing an online backup service: 

Does it upload new and changed files immediately? 

Does it allow syncing or sharing of data? 

Can it back up files while you have them open? 

Is there a Web client for restoring? 

Is there a mobile client? 

Does it offer a remote control feature via my mobile phone? 

Can I view my backed up files on an iPad? 

How much will it cost? 

Is it HIPAA Compliant? 

Limitations: 

The advantages of Online Backup solutions can be limited due to bandwidth problems. 

Secondly, the method is only as reliable as the company offering the online backup service. 

Thirdly, one should ensure that HIPAA requirements are met by the vendor who is offering the Online Backup Service 

 
If you'd like to know more about TechnicalDr's flexible and powerful HIPAA Compliant Backup Solution  please check the website http://www.technicaldr.com/tdr/hipaa-compliant-backup or Call 630 433 7453 for a Super Offer - Waiver on Setup and Training Costs

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Physicians and Blogging

Recently I came across this simple piece of advice in an infographic on OnStartups

"To be understood write a Blog, to be ignored write a Business Plan". A simple way to explain why blogging is and will be around.

A blog is basically an online journal wherein you can digitally pen down your thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything that you want people to read.

Like a journal, one can write their daily adventures, sentiments, and whatever ideas they want to express online.

Blogs are not a "one size fit all" concept, its more of a "This is what I feel" concept.. Given that, its no surprise that Blogs come in different types, styles and formats depending on the author/s.

Some bloggers write personal stories, some share poems, while some talk about their thoughts and ideas. Some share images, videos and audio, while some are simple text.

Instead of writing texts, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly, by publishing their ideas as audio podcasts. This is called audio blogging.

So why should a Physican blog? What can a Physician Blog about ?

Physicians as professionals, learn something unique and interesting everyday. They should blog because they have experiences which are fascinating and stories which are unique; that people want to hear. They should blog so that medical students and the younger upcoming physicians learn from their experiences. They should blog because if they don't, they will be wasting an opportunity that is available today to archive the information they possess.

 

A Physician can blog to educate, to share their vision, to market themselves and their practices, or simply show that they have a human side ...

A Blog can help you build a physicians online presence faster than any other method today. Its the natural extension to a website and due to its sticky nature, helps create an engaging presence

A Few Popular Blogs by Physicians (Just a few  from then ones we read regularly)

http://dinosaurmusings.wordpress.com/

http://drwes.blogspot.com/

http://cacocog.blogspot.com/

http://casesblog.blogspot.com/

http://angrydr.blogspot.com/

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/

http://doctordavidsblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.docisinblog.com/

http://blog.drmalpani.com/

http://ohiosurgery.blogspot.com/

http://33charts.com/

http://uncommonstudentmd.com/

http://gruntdoc.com/

http://drhelen.blogspot.com/

Feel free to post your blogs in the comments sections below.
If you'd need any help setting up blogs for yourself, please let us know. We'll be Happy to Help


Happy #hcsm via @TechnicalDr and @nrip

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Terminologies profiling IT usage within Healthcare

Health Telematics
Health Telematics is a composite term for health-related activities, services and systems, carried out over a distance by means of information and communications technologies, for the purposes of global health promotion, disease control, and health care, as well as education, management, and research for health.


eHealth
E-health is the combined use in the health sector of electronic communication and information technology (digital data transmitted, stored and retrieved electronically) for clinical, education and administrative purposes, both at the local site and at a distance.

mHealth
mHealth (also written as m-health or mobile health) is a term used for the practice of medicine and public health, supported by mobile devices. The term is most commonly used in reference to using mobile communication devices, such as mobile phones, tablet computers and PDAs, for health services and information. The mHealth field has emerged as a sub-segment of eHealth

Telemedicine
The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by health care professionals using information and communications technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interest of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that can be created, gathered, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff within one health care organization.

Electronic Health Record (EHR)
An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one health care organization.

Personal Health Record (PHR)
An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be drawn from multiple sources while being managed, shared, and controlled by the individual.

Health Information Exchange (HIE)
Health information exchange (HIE) is the electronic movement of health-related information among organizations according to nationally recognized standards. It refers to the process of reliable and interoperable electronic health-related information sharing conducted in a manner that protects the confidentiality, privacy, and security of the information.

Integrated EHR
This refers to an EHR that is integrated with practice management software. Typical choices include purchasing a fully integrated product which performs all the functions of practice management software, or a stand-alone EHR which is compatible with an existing practice management system.

Disclaimer: The definitions have been used as is from multiple sources.

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Understanding Search Engines to Improve Your Searches

A larger number of physicians are now relying on Google to help them find information sources to help them diagnose or treat their most difficult cases. In this article we explain how to make online searches more effective by writing better search queried, thus reducing the time it will take to find articles, information sources and websites relevant to what you are looking for.

Firstly let’s understand what a search engine is and how it works. A search engine is a system that searches the Internet. Search Engines help users sort through the huge amounts of information on the Internet to find what they are looking for. A user type-in words or phrases also called a “search query”, and the search engine looks for those words or phrases in Web sites and returns a listing of links to relevant pages as a result.

One of the challenges which most people face when using search engines is that a large number of results in response to a search query are unrelated to what the user is intending to research. There are, however, some ways to make searching more effective.

Try to meet the search engine halfway by refining your search before you begin.

It is important before starting a search to spare a thought in your mind over what sort of information you want. Split your search topic into key concepts and let each be a search phrase. Enter the smallest possible subset that describes what you want. The words you choose will determine the information you find. Try to use words that are specific and describe what you are looking for in unique ways.

Example: If you want to find articles on “Acute Pain in the Chest “, don't enter the keyword "articles". See what more can you do with the keyword "Pain in Chest." 

A search for Articles on Acute Pain in the Chest can be carried out using the search phrase:

“Articles on Acute Pain in the Chest”

But the following search result will actually turn out to be better

“Acute Pain in the Chest”

Anticipate the answers

Before searching, try to imagine what the ideal page you would like to access would look like. Think about the words the articles heading would contain. Think about what words which would be contained in the first couple of sentences of the article that you would consider useful. Use those words, or that phrase, when you enter your query.

Keeping this in mind, if you can rewrite the previously entered search query to something which contains a part of the what the final page would contain, you are bound to get even more accurate and thus more meaningful results. 

A medical article on such a topic must contain the words cardiac, heart.

So refine your query still, search for Articles on Acute Pain in the Chest, using the search phrase:

Acute Pain in the Chest cardiac heart

Tip: Adding some words which should be expected to be found in the ideal content to your search phrase will help the search engine provide more relevant results.

Use the available search refining options

Search engines in addition to basic keyword searches allow you to refine your searches using advanced techniques.

These techniques are actually quite simple. Let us look at these below

USING BOOLEAN OPERATORS

Search engines allow the use of Boolean Operators to refine a search. Here the search Query is made up of keywords connected by OR, AND or NOT. You can search more effectively by using these connecting words which are supported but most online databases and search engines.

Using AND will retrieve all records containing both words on either side of AND

E.g Diabetes AND Naturopathy

This will retrieve all records containing the words Diabetes and also the word Naturopathy

Using OR will retrieve all records containing either or both words on either side of OR

Cancer OR Malignancy

This will retrieve all records containing the words Cancer and also the records containing the word Malignancy

Using NOT will retrieve all records containing the left word/phrase and Not containing the words/phrase on the right side of NOT

For e.g. If you want to find out about Alzheimer's care and community resources, you want to filter out the results which will come for Alzheimer's and be about the symptoms and prognosis. To obtain results only pertaining to support and community groups and not detailing the symptom the search query can read

"Alzheimer's" AND "support groups" AND "resources" AND NOT "symptoms."

IMPLIED BOOLEAN

In many search engines, the plus and minus symbols can be used as alternatives to full Boolean AND and AND NOT. The plus sign (+) is the equivalent of AND, and the minus sign (-) is the equivalent of AND NOT. There is no space between the plus or minus sign and the keyword.

For e.g.

If a specific term must exist in your search result, use the + symbol before the term in your search query

+ Doctors + Chicago

This will return all links with both Doctors and Chicago on the page.

If you want to exclude a term from your search results use the – symbol before the term in your search query

+Doctors +USA –Chicago

This will return all links with Doctors and USA but not Chicago.

PHRASE SEARCHING

Phrase searching is a powerful search technique for significantly narrowing your search results. If you want to perform a more specific search place quotation marks around it and search the phrase instead of the individual words. This tells the search engine to only retrieve documents in which those words appear side-by-side.

For e.g.: If we are searching for nursing schools in chicago and we use the search query

“Chicago nursing schools”

This will retrieve pages with the words in the exact order as specified within the double quotes.

FILETYPE SEARCH

File type searches empower you to search for information in the file formats that you desire. In case you are looking for powerpoint presentations on DNA Sequencing, the following search query will narrow the searches down to the ones which are available as power point presentations

filetype:ppt +DNA +Sequencing

URL SEARCH

The Url search limits the results to pages where the keyword appears in the website address. A Url search can narrow very broad results to web pages devoted to the keyword topic.

For e.g. Searching for asthama related pages from the Medlineplus database can be carried out as follows

url:"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/" AND asthama

WILDCARDS

Wildcards such as * which refer to anything can be used to add flexibility to searches.

For e.g in case the search query is

(hiv or aids) and pregnan*

The search engine will Use the * to mean anything . Thus the results will contain both tose links which contain the keyword pregnant as well as those links which contain the keyword pregnancy

Take advantage of “Find Similar Sites”

A useful option that many search engine sites are now offering is that one can "find similar sites," to the ones that come up in a search result listing. Essentially what the search engine is offering is a way to help the search engine move in the right direction.

Summarizing:

• Try to meet the search engine halfway by refining your search before you begin.
• Adding some words which should be expected to be found in the ideal content to your search phrase will help the search engine provide more relevant results.
• Use the available search refining options.
• Use Boolean Searches
• Use Phrases to create more specific search queries
• Use Wildcards to add flexibility to your searches
• Use File type searches to narrow your search to the file formats that you desire
• Use Unique Terms When Possible to Retrieve More Specific Results
• Take advantage of “Find Similar Sites”

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Searching Online for Health Information

Many Physicians nowadays are relying on Google to help them find information sources which help them diagnose or treat their most difficult cases. Its no surprise then that a large number of physicians feel that regularly accessing the Internet has helped improve their practice as well as patient care.

A study by Google released in November 2009, found that 86% of physicians use the Internet to gather health, medical or prescription drug information, and 71% said they start with a search engine. It further showed that 57% use search terms related to conditions, 36% use terms related to treatments and trials, and 33% look for branded medication.

A more recent survey by Wolters Kluwer Health found that two-thirds of physicians use Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo to look for information related to the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

In this article we look at ways to locate Quality Health Information Online. We will look at the popular search engines and then list popular sites catering to different categories of Health Information.  

Search Engines:

A search engine is a system that searches the Web. Search Engines help users sort through the huge amounts of information on the Web to find what they are looking for. Users type-in words or phrases, and the search engine looks for those words or phrases in Web sites.

A broad search engine is not recommended to locate health information, but it is helpful to find specific websites which contain quality health information. Also, google and other search engines serve as a great starting point in case you forget the URL of a previously visited website.

1. Google  http://www.google.com/
2. Bing http://www.bing.com
3. Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com
4. Search within HonCode Certified Websites: http://www.hon.ch/HONsearch/Pro/hunt.html

Patient Health Information Sites:

Searching medical literature is important to get information on clinical terms, symptoms and treatment options. Patients frequently use websites to locate health information. This is a cause of concern for many physicians as a misinformed patient may end up being their biggest woe. 

As such it is important that physicians guide them in the direction of Websites with High quality and authentic information.  Here is a small list of such websites.

1. MedlinePlus http://medlineplus.gov/
2. Merck Manual: Home Edition for Patients http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/index.html
3. Merck Manual: Online Medical Library for Professionals http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/index.html
4. MedicineNet http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp
5. Mayo Clinic http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/

Sites Specifically tailored to Medical Students

1. Student Doctor Network: http://studentdoctor.net/
2. E-Meducation http://www.e-meducation.org/

Sites which explain Medical Terms:

1. MedTerms: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/hp.asp
2. MedicalLexicon : http://www.medilexicon.com/

Websites which provide Information related to Medications:

The following websites contain information about  prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines which includes side effects, common dosages, drug-drug interactions, special precautions and more.

1. MedlinePlus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html
2. DailyMed http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/
3. Drugs.com http://www.drugs.com/
4. FDA Index to Drug Safety Information http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm111085.htm

Medical Journals and Articles

1. PubMed http://pubmed.gov/
2. PubMed Central http://pubmedcentral.nih.gov
3. Medscape http://www.medscape.com/
4. MdLinx http://mdlinx.com/
5. Free Medical Journals http://www.freemedicaljournals.com
6. JAMA http://jama.ama-assn.org
7. New England Journal of Medicine http://content.nejm.org
8. BioMed Central http://www.biomedcentral.com

In the next article we will look at techniques to help search the web more effectively so as to get better and faster results. In case you feel there are websites which should be included in the lists above which I have missed out, please feel free to mention them in the comments below or connect with me (@nrip) via twitter.

Link to the next article: Understanding Search Engines to Improve Your Searches

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Technology and The Patient

True engagement comes about through two-way, mutually beneficial conversations.

Technology must look to create multiple ways to facilitate both formal and informal Patient- Doctor Communication. The telephone made a huge impact on the way we communicate, and so did email. Newer technologies must be used to offer ease of use, increase reach and lower costs. Many providers today communicate with their patients using skype, google chat and even facebook. Technologies must build on such success stories.

Doctor–Patient Communication will also benefit if technology vendors link Communication mechanisms to Provider Information Sources and Health Information Exchanges

-- Provide integrations of these mechanisms with clinical and diagnostic software(EMR's, EHR's , etc)

-- Emailing of schedules and reports to patients is a must.

-- Using SMS to send Medical alerts, reminders, and schedules

-- Go the extra distance and use Social Media to provide alerts and reminders to patients via Facebook Messages, Twitter DM's, etc

For years, patients have liked to work in groups, to support each other, to help themselves cope with illnesses which their near and dear ones don’t understand, to seek advice from others who have similar ailments. 

Bringing people together in collaborative dialogue to explore social conditions that are the major influences of health and illness generates deeper collective awareness and community-driven action.

Since Individuals don’t see their lives partitioned into an online and offline world, Online communities should be given as much value as offline ones. A variety of Online Communities must come up for connecting patients quickly and privately with others who share similar health experiences. A fantastic example of one such community is Patients Like Me

Technology today exists not only in the form of created online communities but also online community frameworks; These allow just about anyone with an idea for a group or community to set up an online network, full with video and audio chats, whiteboarding, discussion forums and groups and all the other good stuff.

This helps create an integrated digital ecosystem which simultaneously addresses both individual and social dimensions of health. In effect this

-- Allows Patients to engage with each other

-- Allows Providers to engage with this medium

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