House Calls for healthcare professionals articles
Bill Crounse, M.D., Microsoft Senior Director Worldwide Health, presents a series of articles that looks at how information technology can help healthcare professionals deliver the best possible patient care.
Laying a foundation for better care
Optimizing your healthcare IT infrastructure for improved performance and lower costs.
Protect the doctor-patient relationship by protecting personal data
Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system offers the kind of data security that is a foundation of good healthcare.
Care from anywhere: Mobile solutions extend medicine's reach
A host of new software solutions seek to leverage mobile devices in ways that make physicians more effective and more efficient.
Lower cost, higher value with in-house healthcare solutions
The secret of their success doesn't rest with some new technological breakthrough but with off-the-shelf commodity software.
Rx for healthcare: better, more unified communications
Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 gives care providers the means to stay on top of patient care wherever they are.
Healthcare reform: Streamlining processes with the 2007 Microsoft Office system
Solutions using everyday business applications and IT assistance can go a long way toward cutting costs.
The crucial value of software asset management to healthcare organizations
Healthcare organizations are relying on software to overcome the barriers of geography, time, cost, and complexity.
Vista accessibility tools enhance computing for everyone
The accessibility tools in Windows Vista are ideal for people with mild to moderate impairments, yet those with more severe impairments can also benefit.
The future with electronic medical records: Effective, flexible, affordable
Clinical information systems and electronic medical records are used in hospitals and physician offices to record information about a patient's condition, the treatment course, any prescription drugs the patient is taking (or should not take), vital signs, and so on. These systems have great potential to improve access to key healthcare information, boost patient safety, and reduce administrative costs.
Healthcare goes retail: In-and-out check-ups
When it comes to routine healthcare, many healthcare consumers want more convenient, faster, and more affordable care. The market has responded. Currently, between the three main U.S. retail healthcare providers-MinuteClinic, RediClinic, and Take Care Health Systems-there are more than 100 retail clinics in metropolitan areas across the country.
Health Savings Accounts offer a tool for controlling healthcare costs
Just about everyone knows that healthcare costs are a serious issue in the United States. General Motors, for instance, figures its healthcare costs add $1,500 U.S. to the price of each car it sells, damaging its competitiveness. And healthcare costs continue to climb at a pace outstripping inflation-about 12 percent per year. The expense of healthcare insurance in the face of these rapidly rising costs is one reason some 45 million Americans lack it.
Windows Vista: A good fit for healthcare
Healthcare has traditionally lagged behind other industries in the deployment of new IT platforms and solutions. Anyone familiar with the nuances of the healthcare business understands the myriad of issues behind this. However, when Windows Vista Enterprise is released, there are many reasons why healthcare customers might want to upgrade to the new operating system sooner rather than later. Learn why healthcare organizations might want to upgrade to Windows Vista.
Can an Xbox help cure health woes?
Web-enabled wireless phones (devices that are becoming smarter by the day), game consoles, and desktop and notebook computers all might be used to help people monitor their health status better, follow doctors' recommendations more closely, and receive medical intervention in a more timely fashion.
Are you ready for the paperless practice?
If you're like most healthcare professionals, you often spend more time on administrative tasks than with patients. Find out how Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 is changing that-and paving the way to a paperless practice-with electronic forms that look much like the paper forms you use every day.
Your next meeting could be as close as your laptop
Meetings are a mandatory part of working in the healthcare profession, but they don't have to slow you down. With Microsoft Office Live Meeting, you can attend meetings anytime, anywhere-from the convenience of your laptop. Learn how you can watch presentations, view documents and electronic records data, and collaborate with colleagues with just a few simple clicks.
Opening doors: Accessibility through new technology
A powerful new range of tools is available to people with disabilities. The application of these technologies is making a huge difference in the quality of peoples' lives every day. As we assist our patients in confronting personal obstacles that may seem insurmountable, we find inspiration in how technology can help to overcome barriers.
Mobile devices usher in new era in healthcare delivery
The healthcare industry in general and physicians in particular have emerged as leading adopters of mobile and wireless technology. The challenge remains to develop specific kinds of mobile technologies that meet the complex requirements of clinicians and other healthcare practitioners.
Business intelligence systems give meaning to mountains of healthcare data
When is there just too much information? As healthcare organizations gather increasing volumes of data about costs, services, patients, and staff, we sometimes start to feel that the amount of information we're collecting is becoming more of a problem than a solution. However, business intelligence systems are helping our healthcare administrators pull together data from a wide range of sources and display it in ways that foster better business decisions.
RFID: Increasing patient safety, reducing healthcare costs
Almost every healthcare worker is a knowledge worker, processing information and making life-critical decisions. So it makes sense to look to technology for the same kinds of efficiency and productivity gains in the healthcare industry that have been achieved by knowledge workers in other segments of the economy. Radio frequency identification (RFID) in particular is one technology that has the potential to introduce dramatic new efficiencies in patient care.
Electronic medical records: The right medicine for an ailing healthcare system
Discover how a well planned, carefully executed strategy for electronic medical records can make healthcare service delivery more satisfying and efficient, improving our working relationships with one another and with our patients.
Nursing faces a critical shortage of the right technology
Government statistics show that one million or more new nurses will be needed by the year 2012-far more than are in the training pipeline. And those nurses already on the job, meanwhile, will face new pressures as healthcare begins to feel the full effects of aging Baby Boomers on the system. Read about how helping nurses perform their jobs better and more efficiently has never been more important.
Healthcare self-service offers patients the conveniences they've come to expect
In today's hurried environment, we are always looking for ways to save time and simplify our lives, and often, the Internet can expedite any process, whether we're booking an airline ticket, paying bills, or tracking a FedEx package. Learn how patients can enjoy the same conveniences when scheduling a doctor appointment, accessing personal health information, or registering for an appointment.
Other articles by Dr. Bill Crounse
Tablet PCs for medical professionals
With the coming of age of electronic health records, robust clinical software and services, and faster, smarter devices, many physicians are beginning to incorporate mobile technology into their practices. The right device can provide quick access to critical patient information whenever and wherever it's needed.
The ABCs of Tablet PCs for medical professionals
Here's why the Tablet PC is changing the way healthcare professionals work. Even traditionalists, who extol the virtues of writing on paper, are being won over. This latest generation of notebook computers captures the natural simplicity of pen and paper, and offers a lot more.
Patients, doctors, and e-mail
E-mail can be a great communications tool for doctors and their patients. So why aren't more physicians using e-mail-despite the fact that 90 percent of consumers say they would like to communicate with their doctors online?
