eMedizine

eMedizine : October 23rd 2010

2010-10-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

Editorial:

Hello everyone, this is Pooja Raval and I’ve invited Mr. Nrip Nihalani, who is one of the country’s top Healthcare Technology Experts to be the guest editor for eMedizine the coming 4 weeks.
--Pooja Raval
pooja.raval@plus91.in

Hi everyone, Hope you all had an amazing week. My focus during the week was in demonstrating to others on how one can use Online Technologies to improve communication, efficiency and reduce friction in Patient Care and Customer Care. Consequently we would also discuss on how these lead to an eventual increase in profit. Detractors usually state that the disadvantage of this approach is the loss of personal touch. And that is a viewpoint I personally share too. But like all pain points, I believe it is important to collaborate and search out solutions.

This particular issue of eMedizine provides articles which talk about “How Online Technologies benefit Healthcare”, and “What are the reasons because of which some of these modern technologies are not being used by healthcare professionals today”. In the coming 4 weeks, we will be looking at articles with a concentrated focus on “Problems with Online Usage, How these problems are being solved and why the future in this space is exciting”. We also have a great surprise coming up for our readers in November, so keep watching this space.

Warm Regards,
Nrip Nihalani
n.nihalani@plus91.in

ARTICLES

Why don't Indian doctors use EMR?

Why do Indian doctors continue practising in exactly the same way their seniors did 40 years ago ?

A major lacuna is the poor quality of medical records which most doctors keep. The medical record is the heart of clinical care – and yet it’s extremely poorly maintained in Indian clinics today. The majority of doctors do not even bother to store and keep their patient’s medical records – they just write down their opinion on their letterhead and hand it over to the patient.

Click to read more >>

Taking Indian Healthcare Online-Are we ready yet?

A lot of websites today claim to offer a host of services for doctors and patients online. Some of these sites are very innovative. They all looks good and give you the feeling that Indian Healthcare is definitely going in the right direction. But how effective is their approach from the business reality point of view. How much of this is going to work today and not in 3 years?

Click to read more >>

A Clinic today-PC less and less than ideal

Often I have written about how a PC will help you manage your clinic better, focusing on what would go right is you did have a PC and software to help you manage your affairs. Maybe it’s time to look at this from the other end of the tunnel. What could go wrong if I didn’t have the PC or software! So now consider my clinic Dr. Aditya’s Specialty Clinic, let’s say its specialty is Skin treatments. And to add to this lets say I have no PC in the clinic or even an inkling of technology. Let’s see how it works?

Click to read more >>

BLOGS

Why do Indian doctors provide such a poor experience for their patients? by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, IVF Specialist, Mumbai.

How MDConsult helps me to become a better doctor-Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, IVF Specialist, Mumbai.

Plus91 FUNNY BONE

Shortly after the 911 emergency number became available, an elderly and quite ill lady appeared in a Rochester hospital emergency room, having driven herself to the hospital and barely managing to stagger in from the parking lot.

The horrified nurse said, "Why didn’t you call the 911 number and get an ambulance?" The lady said, "My phone doesn’t have an eleven."

Helpful Links

Plus91 products online

Websites for doctors

Press coverage

Technology for doctors

NEWS AND EVENTS

From January helpline will provide information on mobile phone, website : Get your Hospital Bed Info on SMS : HT

Nrip Nihalani speaks on "Using the Internet to Create Informed Patients" at the Putting Patients First Conference in Mumbai.

Plus91 helps Google in carrying out a successful Health Speaks event in Pune.

eMedizine : October 16th 2010

2010-10-16T00:41:00.000-07:00

Editorial:

Ever experienced problem with your PC and then calling up the computer technicians to fix it up? Some simple techniques in today's issue will help you save a lot of time and money spent on the technicians. Read this week's issue and get acquainted with the tweaks to make your PC experience better. Also clear mental blocks about becoming IT savvy and see for yourself the benefits of shaking hands with technology in your practice.

I will conclude by reading the icing on the cake-Blogs section-informative blogs on healthcare and a sweet smile at the end of the issue to make your day worthwhile with Plus91's funny bone.

Enjoy this week's issue.

-Pooja Raval
pooja.raval@plus91.in

ARTICLES

Tweaks and applications to make your PC experience better!

Today a lot of Indian Doctors are waking up to using the computer, maybe to surf the net, or they own a website or better still have an EMR solution. Below are some tips to help you make your time spent on the PC better. These include some mundane ideas and thoughts and also some personal insights in what works best. So make your PC experience a good one, because it’s going to last you a life time.

Click to read more >>

Getting IT savvy - A mental block for the Indian doctor!

The sheer number of times that I have had to actually think about refusing a client because he or she is just too uptight about makes me wonder whether doctor's are all that worried about quality.

I think a there was a wide schism between requirement and delivery in a lot of earlier versions of medical softwares in India leading to a fear amongst doctors about being taken for a ride when purchasing a new IT product. But there is a limit to which this excuse can be used to bargain or actually make a decision.

Click to read more >>

Medical Softwares of Old: Slow to catch up

Technology infiltrated medicine a long time back. On the hardware and pharma front it was growing leaps and bounds before software even had it boots on. So why did software get left behind. Well my version of the story is that it didn’t get left behind it was just slow to learn and grow. Since the time the PC was invented and programs to go with it, something was being developed for the medical front. It began with some very specialized sections which are today well entrenched in the practice, eg. Imaging softwares for a radiologist, however the major portion was just left behind and slow to adapt.

Click to read more >>

BLOGS

Why do doctors have such large egos! by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, IVF Specialist, Mumbai.

Patients ? or Paperwork ? by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, IVF Specialist, Mumbai.

Plus91 FUNNY BONE

"So, Doc, since my surgery’s been successful, will I be able to dance?"
"Sure you will, my son!"
"Hey, that’s great, Doc! I’ve never been able to dance before!"

Helpful Links :

Plus91 products online
Websites for doctors
Press coverage
Technology for doctors

NEWS AND EVENTS

Clinkare with a Ayurveda template released! For more details call 020-32340204.

eMedizine: October 9th 2010

2010-10-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

Editorial:

Hello again dear Readers! We all desire to change at some point of time from the monotonous routine. Be it clothes, food or clinical practice. If there are no variations in the routine in the right direction yielding postive results, we tend to lose interest in what we do. This week's issue focuses on the changes Plus91 has brought into the healthcare IT field. Plus91 has played a vital role in discovering the pain areas of doctors and resolving them to the doctor's exact needs. e-Medizine throws light on the solutions for doctors and bringing change in the medical field.

Read the blog on Project HERO, an initiative by Armman(an NGO) which will enable faster shifting of patients from one hospital to another in case of emergency and donate for a noble cause.
-Pooja Raval
pooja.raval@plus91.in

ARTICLES

Improving your Patient interaction and outreach!

Technology enables, but man disables by not taking advantage of opportunities given to him. A doctor today has many such key touch points to increase and consequently improve their interactions with patients. Some are simple methods, some require a little bit of work, but what is the end advantage of it all? For one thing it makes you popular amongst patients; side effect could lead you to more business. Second it helps educate and provide information to patients and people who may read just what they need thanks to you! A little help goes a long way in accumulating blessings.

Click to read more >>

Internet musings with a Doctor

I met a doctor socially the other day, and we had a very interesting conversation about his practice. He has published a website with the help of Plus91 Technology’s Website For Doctor's initiative , and we were discussing the merits of a doctor using the Internet for reaching out to patients.

His first worry was: doesn't this amount to advertising? Because a website is personal digital real estate, he felt this was fine, but was very uncomfortable about using social media to reach out, because he felt this was unethical.

Click to read more >>

Single EMR - How far are we?

A unique medical record for each person is considered to be the Holy Grail in the world of healthcare IT – especially when applied to a country like India. When is this going to happen? To begin with a unique medical record would not have to be electronic, but logically speaking it needs to be. A physical record has constraints of sharing and updating, so let’s accept that this unique medical record needs technology to create it. This is a challenge – and a unique opportunity as well, as we do not have any legacy issues; and can piggy back onto the UID initiative started by the Govt of India and spearheaded by Nandan Nilekani.

Click to read more >>

BLOGS

HERO- Helpline for Emergency Response Operations by Indian Health Journal

Bringing up father ! by Dr. Rajendra Baxi, Researcher and Child and Adolescent Paediatrician.

Plus91 FUNNY BONE

A well known rich businessman’s wife broke her hip. The businessman got the best bone surgeon in town to do the operation. The operation consisted of lining up the broken hip and putting in a screw to secure it. The operation went fine, and the doctor sent the business man a fee for his services of $5000. The businessman was outraged at the cost, and sent the doctor a letter demanding an itemized list of the costs. The doctor sent back a list with two things:

1 screw $ 1

Knowing how to put it in $4999

$5000 total

The businessman never argued.

Helpful Links :

Plus91 products online
Websites for doctors
Press coverage
Technology for doctors

NEWS AND EVENTS

Plus91 works with Armaan in providing Mumbai with a HERO—Helpline for Emergency Response Operations.

Clinkare with a paediatric template released! For more details call 020-32340204.

eMedizine : October 2nd 2010

2010-10-02T03:48:00.001-07:00

Editorial:

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight with you and then, you win"

-Mahatma Gandhi

Born on this day, several decades ago, Mahatma Gandhi has been a role model in revolutionsing the ideas in the minds of the people not only in India but in the entire world. He encouraged all to do something different citing the consequences in the quote. With e-Medizine, Plus91 pens down all the innovative ideas in the field of healthcare IT, many of which contributed by doctors themselves. Read this week's issue for vast information on healthcare.

-Pooja Raval

pooja.raval@plus91.in

Articles:

Top 10 mistakes that Doctors make in choosing medical software

Choosing which program to buy to run your medical practice has never been easy. Earlier , it was because there were very few programs available. Today, ironically, it is because there are too many ! Doctors are very confused as to which program they should buy – sometimes, too much choice can be as bad as too little !

Doctors have some special character traits which software producers need to be aware of !

Click to read more >

How technology helps Doctors save time !

Doctors need to incorporate technology in their daily life to increase their efficiency. Let’s look at how Dr. Thakkar can use everyday easily available off-the-shelf inexpensive technology intelligently, to help him become more productive.

1. A website and and Email Id

2. A smart Mobile Phone

3. A pen drive

4. A laptop or PC with Internet

5. An EMR solution

Click to read more >>

Patient Safety

We were privileged enough to be invited by Dr. Nikhil Datar, a pre-eminent gynecologist and medico-legal expert to witness his premier talk on Patient Safety. It was hosted by IMA Dombivali and had a strong audience of over 40 doctors waiting to hear Dr. Datar’s talk. Dr. Datar had recently returned from UK where he attended a program organized by WHO on Patient Safety. Plus91 Technologies believes in making patient centric solutions which don’t just automate the clinic or hospital but also improve quality and service. Keeping this in mind, the presentation was interesting not just for the doctors but also for us.

Click to read more >>

BLOGS

Why 'Marketing' is no longer a dirty word for Doctors by Parag Vora, CEO, Infoseek India Private Ltd.

Hospitals, CRM and PRM by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, IVF Specialist, Mumbai

Plus91 FUNNY BONE

The man told his doctor that he wasn’t able to do all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination was complete, he said, "Now, Doc, I can take it. Tell me in plain English what is wrong with me."

"Well, in plain English," the doctor replied, "you’re just lazy."

"Okay," said the man. "Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife."

Helpful Links:

Plus91 products online
Websites for doctors
Press coverage
Technology for doctors

NEWS AND EVENTS:

Plus91 will be at the YUVA FOGSI Conference from 9th to 10th Oct., 2010 at Mahabaleshwar.

Clinkare with a dental template released! For more details call 020-32340204.

eMedizine : September 25th 2010

2010-09-25T02:26:00.000-07:00

Editorial:

"Accept things you can't change and change things you can't accept."

Hello readers! Have you ever faced a situation where you have to accept something that you cannot change? For a doctor he has to accept that he is bound to wake up in the dead of the night for a medical emergency! Now ever done something about things you cannot accept? Maybe yes may be not. So change things like messy papers and registers, chaotic clinic, cluttered patient records and adapt with the new ways of technology to let you change the things you cannot accept. Read this week's e-Medizine to know reasons why you must use computer in your practice, websites for doctors and Google health speaks at HELP.

-Pooja Raval
pooja.raval@plus91.in

Articles:

Ten reasons why you should use a computer in your practice

As a doctor, you routinely have to capture a large amount of information about your patient in order to provide good medical care and to collect your fees . Medicine is a pen and paper intensive domain, where clinical history, examination findings, lab reports, scans, appointments , messages and bills - all happen on paper. Managing paper is always hard to do – and IT can help you to do so more efficiently !

What is the downside to all this paper work? After all, you’ve been doing it for donkey’s years and are happy with this , so why bother to change ?

Click to read more >>

Google Health speaks at HELP!

Learn to Translate from English to Hindi using Google Translation Toolkit !

Learn a smart way to translate articles straight from the masters - GOOGLE.

HELP Library is proud to host the Health Speaks Event at Mumbai on 25th September, 2010 - at 10 am sharp.

Click to read more >>

Website For Doctors-Alive and Kicking

Website for Doctors is finally live and kicking, and after touching are first 10 clients within the first month of going live, it is safe to say the idea behind the venture is a solid one. Doctors have a business to run and need to provide high quality information to their patients to give high quality service. A website is a great medium to communicate with patients – and has now become a key tool for every doctor in private practice.

Click to read more >>

BLOGS

Improving Healthcare in India by Dr. Sadanand Vinayak Nadkarni

Advances in Cataract Surgery-Life changing results for patients by Shroff Eye Hospital

Plus91 FUNNY BONE

A man is talking to the family doctor. "Doc, I think my wife’s going deaf."

The doctor answers, "Well, here’s something you can try on her to test her hearing. Stand some distance away from her and ask her a question. If she doesn’t answer, move a little closer and ask again. Keep repeating this until she answers. Then you’ll be able to tell just how hard of hearing she really is."

The man goes home and tries it out. He walks in the door and says, "Honey, what’s for dinner?" He doesn’t hear an answer, so he moves closer to her. "Honey, what’s for dinner?" Still no answer. He repeats this several times, until he’s standing just a few feet away from her.

Finally, she answers, "For the eleventh time, I said we’re having MEATLOAF!"

Useful Links

Plus91 Online - The Innovative Medical Product Site

Websites for Doctors

DocFeedOnTweet - Tips for Good Health on Twitter

Technology For Doctors: The Plus91 Blog

eMedizine : September 18th 2010

2010-09-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

Editorial:

"A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels."
-Albert Einstein

Hello readers! Well you might be wondering why do I always start this column with a quote right? I believe a single quote conveys a lot of meaning against a paragraph. It always brings a new thought to your mind and makes your day. So start this day afresh with the "new type of thinking" and read along e-Medizine that offers you the latest trends in healthcare IT industry aiding mankind to survive and move towards higher levels!

-Pooja Raval
pooja.raval@plus91.in

ARTICLES

Do EMRs increase clinic or hospital profits?

What is the most common question asked by Doctors and Hospital Administrators when they meet me? Safe to say it is quote unquote: How does implementing an EMR solution increase my clinic/hospital profit?

Now first let’s go into the economics of the whole thing.

Profit = Revenue – Cost

Click to read more >>

As a doctor I want to use technology to be able to ......An Indian perspective...

As we improve our software products and work with more doctors, we are learning a lot about what doctors in India want from information technology . How do Indian Doctors view IT as an enabler ?

In theory, one would expect doctors to want to use IT for the following applications.

1. Computer Based Medical Records (EMR)
2. Clinical Information Sharing Networks

Click to read more >>

Information on Infertility by SMS on your mobile!

Malpani Infertility Clinic now brings you information on your infertility problems right on your cell phone!

Like most infertile couples, you know that IVF can maximise your chances of getting pregnant. We offer all the newest reproductive techniques, including IVF, ICSI, laser assisted hatching, embryo freezing, egg donation, PGD , embryo biopsy, and blastocyst transfer.

Click to read more >>

BLOGS

IVF versus ICSI-Which is better? by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, Infertility Expert,Mumbai

Ten reasons why you should use computer in your practice. by Aditya Patkar, Marketing Head, Plus91 Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Plus91 FUNNY BONE

A doctor is talking to a car mechanic, "Your debit is several times more per hour then we get paid for medical care."

Mechanic: "Yeah, but you see, doc, you have always the same model, it hasn't changed since Adam; but we have to keep up to date with new models coming every month!"

Useful Links

Plus91 Online - The Innovative Medical Product Site

Websites for Doctors

DocFeedOnTweet - Tips for Good Health on Twitter

Technology For Doctors: The Plus91 Blog

eMedizine : September 13th 2010

2010-09-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Editorial
"An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea."
-Lord Buddha

With e-Medizine we bring to you the latest ideas successfully tranformed into actions. We ideate how technology will help both doctor and patient that are put into actions making lives better. Read along the healthcare IT news which will enhance your knowledge in the field of IT and read along the exclusive blog posts by renowned doctors all over the country!
-Pooja Raval
pooja.raval@plus91.in

Improved Patient Safety Using Software

Patient Safety is a vital aspect of healthcare. With a fairly large number of indirect deaths and also potentially life threatening situations resulting directly from lack patient safety it becomes a vital cog in the healthcare machinery. Software products are introduced in any setup to increase efficiency and accuracy, both important factors when trying to improve safety.

Click to read more >>

Software features most appreciated by doctors

Plus91 is a team of very innovative people. Since the last 3 years we have tried to include, in most cases successfully and in some cases still trying to introduce game changing features into our softwares. These software products are specifically targeted at doctors and hospitals in the Indian Market. We have tried to keep a realistic outlook towards usability and need in developing these features, though some are for the pure thrill of it.

Click to read more >>

Designing Personalised Clinical Templates for the EMR

The working of a clinic can be divided into two parts. The administrative portion deals with the business part of a medical practice , such as accounting, insurance, billing , and inventory management. The scale and complexity will depend on the size of the clinic, and is much simpler for single physician clinics, as compared to group practices, for example. The other part is the clinical aspect , where the data captured is clinical in nature. Reports can be created using both these types of data.

Click to read more >>

BLOGS

3D Movies Cause Headache by Shroff Eye Hospital

Treatment by Halves by Dr. Swati Allahbadia, Consultant Gynecologist in Mumbai

Plus91 FUNNY BONE

A fat lady: (To a health expert). Give me some advice that can reduce my fatness.
Health expert: Okay. You must move your head to the right and the left at a particular time.
Fat lady: At which particular time?
Health expert: Whenever anybody asks you to eat.

eMedizine : September 2nd 2010

2010-09-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

EDITORIAL:

"That's the problem, we do get used to things" -Paulo Coelho

We often start adjusting to situations and environment and refrain to changes. Last week I met a doctor, who was pretty messed up with his paper work in the clinic but he did not want technology to help him and instead busted a statement at me saying, "I am used to this routine, I don't want to change".

The world is continuously progressing by holding hands with technology and IT is at every doorstep helping people with their services then why not take advantage? Plunge into the knowledge sea of e-Medizine and discover the rare pearls that will enrich your medical world.

-Pooja Raval, Editor- eMedizine

ARTICLES

Informed Consent: How technology can help both doctor and patient!

Getting Informed consent from the patient remains a very tricky area in medical practice today. Failure to obtain valid consent is one the commonest reasons patients go to court when they are unhappy with their doctor.Unfortunately, no standardized guidelines have ever been published by the Medical Council of India, Indian Medical Association, or any other ‘reputed’ medical body.

Click to read more >>

World's first IVF and infertility SMS channel!

Malpani Infertility Clinic, in partnership with MyToday, is pleased to announce that we have now started publishing the world's first patient education channels on IVF and infertility.The mobile is a great tool for educating patients - and using SMS we hope to be able to remove a lot of the myths and misconceptions which surround this emotionally sensitive topic!

Click to read more >>

How email improves doctor-patient communication

Many doctors are worried that email will ruin doctor-patient communication, because they feel that face to face interaction is vital to preserving the doctor patient relationship.Actually, for established patients, email is a far better way of communicating with the doctor, as compared to a phone call.

Click to read more >>

Plus91 FUNNY BONE

Two doctors and an HMO manager die and line up together at the Pearly Gates. One doctor steps forward and tells St. Peter, "As a pediatric surgeon, I saved hundreds of children." St. Peter lets him enter. The next doctor says, "As a psychiatrist, I helped thousands of people live better lives." St. Peter tells him to go ahead. The last man says, "I was an HMO manager. I got countless families cost-effective health care." St. Peter replies, "You may enter. But," he adds, "You can only stay for three days. After that, you can go to hell."