My Webcina Story

  Things my father never taught me about social media…thus HealthTrain Express was born. I still feel privileged to know I was there at the birth of medical social media. I remember the strange looks I was given when I talked about it at meetings and used it to develop my blog as a form of newsletter (for free) when I was investing time into developing health information technology. My entrance into social media in 2004 was at a time when only some heard of  social media. At the time there were far fewer bloggers and most had to have some level of nerdiness and geek quality to even know how to blog. The popular platforms such as blogger, wordpress, Drupal, and offline clients like Windows Live Journal were not much in use.  To...

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The Rise of Google + and Hangout in Healthcare.

Imagine this if you will (and this is not imaginary).  I am sitting at home quite comfortably on a Google + hangout and suddenly a window appears from a Live newscast in Colombia Mo.  Suddenly I am in the midst of a live news program where I am asked a number of questions about medicine, health and reform.. Sarah Hill (an Emmy Award Winning News Person is one of a few broadcasters who use Google + Hangouts regularly during their broadcast day to obtain opinion and comments from viewers like you and me. My sense this is just the beginning of a new iteration of social media. Social media in general and healthcare in particular has reached a significant audience, and even more important, active participants. The rise of the hash tag...

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Social Media Update for HTE

  Update on the Blog Format and Widget Add-ons: Readers may notice I have re-instituted the “Feedjit” feed. I did not realize how useful it was in tracking who tracks me. I have missed it. It opens a new social media tool for true personal communications with those with similar interests.  I do attempt to reply to all who email, tweet, friend, circle me on G+. During December I will be filtering my responses to those who have not responded to  me in the past year. I know how busy you all are, and I am sure those readers will not miss me. If  you have followed me in the past six months and want to be retained contact me.  2011 has been an eventful year, like 2010,2009, and beyond. For those of you who blog and/or do...

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Happy Thanksgiving Health Train Express

          It is a Happy Afternoon here after Tom Turkey has donated a mega-dose of tryptophan to me and I descend into an endorphin sea of pre-somnolent horizontal meditation. As I pass from consciousness a stream of thought occurs about the past years blogs, social media and how to wrap up 2011, and worse what planned and unplanned revolts, reforms, recalls, and revolting decisions will affect medicine and health care.zzzzzz in 2012. Wake me up when the pie is ready. Tomorrow the “Elephants” and “Asses” can resume hostilities while the country burns. LiveJournal Tags: gop,democrats,congress,thanksgiving,deserts,elephant in the room,turkey...

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The Farmer’s Donkey & The Well

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.As the farmer's neighbors...

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A Lesson from Richard Feynman

  Some of you may recognize this man, as well you should. Feynman was a well known physicist who often thought out of the box. Feynman was a powerhouse in the world of theoretical physics, During his lifetime, Feynman became one of the best-known scientists in the world. Feynman was a keen popularizer of physics through both books and lectures, notably a 1959 talk on top-down nanotechnology called There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom and The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Feynman also became known through his semi-autobiographical books (Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?) and books written about him, such as Tuva or Bust! (wikipedia) What does any of this have to do with Health and Medicine...

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Wal-Mart and Your Health Care

  It’s just a matter of time. As you exit your local Wal-Mart or SuperWalmart notice the Optometrist and the Optical Shop. Fairly soon you may also see ‘The Medical Clinic”adjacent to the ‘eye department’ with Dr Joe Smith’s name plate inserted in a sliding name holder. Wal-Mart wants to be the nation’s largest primary care provider. And no doubt, unless the public refuses to use it, that will come about. At the moment it is easy enough to  walk into any Rite Aid or CVS pharmacy to obtain flu inoculations. They will even bill your insurance. The CVS Urgent care clinic has a better EMR than many primary care physicians. Have you noticed when calling for a prescription from Rite Aid the telephone voice tree gets in a ten second spot...

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Occupy Health Care

The  #“Occupiers” of healthcare also need a medical home and/or a primary care physician.  Despite the government (state and/or federal) push to form accountable care organizations (ACOs) this will be very difficult to accomplish. Ignoring the very real barriers to #ACOs (except for some large healthcare entities like Mayo Clinic, Henry Ford Hospital, Cleveland Clinic and Kaiser Permanente) the shortage of primary care physicians,is the leading challenge for this “homeless person”. i(e GPs Family Doctors and some internists as well as Ob/Gyn and Pediatricians which may also be counted as primary care,) If this person has a smartphone he can indulge in participatory medicine and social media in medicine #hcsm via facebook, twitter...

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The End of Medicine as We Knew It, R.I.P.

Does the message here operate when we face unwanted or unexpected changes. Do we grieve for that which we use daily and come to ‘love’. Am I sticking my neck out? Don’t shoot the messengers        Am  I a messenger or a heretic? Perhaps a little of both. I am always open to changes, however my first reaction to a new idea or product is enthusiasm tempered by a bit of hesitancy until I see which way the wind will blow.  My decisions inevitably depend upon a proven technology and adoption. Too many times I have invested in great possibilities that can not or are not self-sustaining, become obsolete, old in short time, or created more problems than are solved. This applies to technology in diagnostic...

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The Integration of Social Media and Participatory Medicine: The Meaning of the ePatient Movement: Part I

  A key component of cost containment in medicine and healthcare is wellness and compliance with treatments using educational courses, advocacy in groups of specific illness and support organizations to encourage patients with or without devastating illness.  This is particularly true in orphan diseases where a disease is uncommon or even rare, and chronic illnesses such as degenerative neurologic diseases, inherited diseases and cancer. How can social media platforms such as twitter, blogs, facebook and G+ contribute to this effort? Hospitals are integrating these functions into their web sites “As units of analysis, the authors first identified different types of online media formats utilized by each hospital (eg, blogs, instant-messaging,...

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Social Media? The Answer to the Doctor’s Lounge

Patients and hospital staffs alike, as they walk by the Doctors lounge must wonder what transpires in those cloistered spaces, somewhat akin to boardrooms, VIP lounges, and even without “Private” or “Do not Enter” signs, the unwritten social understanding is this is a special place for a select few. Social media is the opposite, where anyone can enter unless a specific block is used for a message. Pandora’s box has been opened, and not all the things which come out are bad. Humans have a primitive need for social contact.  We even see this in higher species of the animal kingdom, grooming, verbalization, family groups, mourning, hunting and more. In fact when denied this contact humans undergo mental and behavioral changes that become...

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