Can iCloud Help Healthcare, EHRs & EMRs?

iCloud is a service that Apple has just released. This product allows iPad, iPhone, iPod and mac users to sync data. So the main focus of this product is to allow users to sync music, documents, photos, calendars and apps across all devices, somewhat like dropbox. Dropboxs syncs data via folders.

So how does this relate to healthcare? The answer is easy, the key thing I mentioned above is “App” syncing. If you download an app, for example the drchrono iPad EHR, the user, you, will be able to sync across devices. So for example if you own 5 iPads, that you use in your healthcare practice, you can sync them all. So if you drop one and lose it in the drop, no problem, all apps will be synced! This goes for your macs, etc. So you see were I am going, you can sync apps to have them on all of your devices to save you time and to give them to your staff if you wanted to. Everyone in your practice will have all of the same apps, synced. Hence, your iCloud account will sync all apps across all iPads!

So would you really want iCloud? If you own an iPhone, iPod, iPad or mac, or a multiple of them the answer is yes, you should have iCloud.

Medical App of the Week – Speak It!

Going forward I will be reviewing apps once a week.

It takes time to find the great apps simple apps in the sea of apps that are out that are actually useful.

My goal during these Medical App of the Week reviews are to “Make Doctors Entrepreneurs”, helping doctors, nurses and medical professionals learn about what apps are available to help them run their own healthcare practices through iPads and iPhones.

The iPhone / iPad app this week I would like to highlight is a simple app called “Speak It!”

In a medical setting a doctor can look up some information on the web, cut and paste the text into Speak It! and listen to the text. It is a fast way for a health professional to learn or hear something while doing something else. Medical books can even be cut and pasted into Speak It! and the health professional can go about work and listen to something relevant when they don’t have time to read. It is what I call “an on the go” tool, saving time for the health professional.

One great thing to note about the app is the health professional can save the file as an audio file and email it to colleagues and to patients! For example a health professional wants to educate a patient on diabetes, the health professional can cut and paste some text on the subject, make the audio file within seconds and email information in audio format to a patient!

This is a game changing app every health profesional should have on their iPhone and iPad.

Food Dyes Debate Draws On

This past week, an article was published in the New York Times entitled Artificial Dye Safe to Eat, Panel Says. In it, they argue that an expert panel has concluded that there is no proof that artificial food colorings cause hyperactivity in most children. This government panel further decided that there is no need for the foods to carry warning labels of potential to cause hyperactivity.

Curiously, 6 out of the 14 experts voted that a warning label was needed. This means that 43% of the panel found the evidence linking food coloring to ADHD alarming enough to suggest warning labels on all foods with artificial coloring.

I think it’s overwhelmingly premature to make such a bold statement as “Artificial Dye Safe to Eat” when only one expert could have tipped the balance to a 50-50 split decision.

iPhone EHR Access

If you are a DrChrono subscriber and have an iPhone, download our iPhone app, it comes as part of the DrChrono service.

You can download the iPhone EHR app here.

Appointment Reminder System – EMR / EHR – Electronic Medical Records

I am not just saying because I work at drchrono.com, but I truly believe it, the companies roots are built on top of reaching out to patients and letting them know about their appointments. We have done this better then any EMR I have seen, period.

The power of our platform is that you can use an iPad, have an EMR, do your billing … AND have a sophisticated way to connect, remind and recall patients to your practice. I have not see an EMR on the market with such integration to reminding patients.

We created a few videos to show off these features.

Here is a real live demo of an automated phone call reminder: