PsychTech

If you think your computer is primitive .....

2008-11-28T22:00:00.001-05:00

... have a look at this

MacSpeech Dictate Instructional Videos

2008-11-18T16:35:00.001-05:00

http://www.macspeech.com/pages.php?pID=130

Notice - Clarification of e-Prescribing

2008-10-30T06:21:00.002-04:00

On August 21, 2008, the Ontario College of Pharmacists issued an Advisory Notice on the issue of e-prescribing. Read the full notice here.

In the September 2008 issue of CPSO Dialogue, this notice is referred to ("Ontario College of Pharmacisits sends out advisory") as well as their April 2007 article ("True electronic Prescribing not yet a Reality for Doctors").

Excerpts from the advisory:

"Health Canada recently concluded that there are no regulatory impediments to moving ahead with electronically generated and transmitted prescriptions if these prescriptions achieve the same objectives as written prescriptions."

"Prescriptions which are produced by electronic means and faxed to the pharmacy must include a unique signature, a description of which was communicated in Pharmacy Connection May/June 2007 "Guidelines for Prescriptions Transmitted by Fax". Methods of achieving a unique signature were also described in an article for physicians in the April 2007 issue of their member publication, Dialogue, "True Electronic Prescribing not yet a Reality for Doctors". In addition, in order to prevent drug diversion, it is considered best practice to mark an original prescription which has been faxed to a pharmacy so that it cannot be resubmitted for filling."

E-Health Promised?

2008-10-30T03:53:00.003-04:00

The prescription for Ontario's ailing e-health initiative: If e-health is so good, why is it so slow in coming?

Listen to a panel discussion from TVO's "The Agenda with Steve Paikin".

Download an audio version of the broadcast here.

Information Overload is Filter Failure, Says Shirky

2008-09-23T07:28:00.003-04:00

Technologist Clay Shirky argues that information overload isn't the problem tech journalism makes it out to be: it's really a failure of information filters.

24 minute video:

http://web2expo.blip.tv/file/1277460/

Jing by Techsmith

2008-07-30T22:20:00.002-04:00

Just discovered this gem yesterday.

It's a free screen capture utility that will capture still images, or video screencasts, and then let you quickly post them for sharing.

I already use SnagIt and Camtasia Studio, also made by TechSmith. They are powerful, full-featured applications that are pricey.

Jing can do 90% of the tasks I use the other two applications for, so I suggest you start here.

For tablet users, the interface is particularly pen-friendly and efficient.

http://jing.com

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Optimize Yourself for Speech Recognition

2008-07-24T22:24:00.002-04:00

Here are some tips from the maker of MacSpeech Dictate:

We want you to get the absolute best performance from MacSpeech Dictate. To ensure you're getting the ultimate experience from MacSpeech Dictate, check out these helpful tips and tricks:

Maintain some distance. Place the microphone about two finger widths away from your mouth. Some people may need it closer or farther away, depending on the natural timbre and volume of their voice.

Look away. Keep your speech at an even rhythm by not looking at the screen while dictating.

Keep your rhythm steady. Pause where appropriate and speak in complete phrases.

Speak the punctuation. Give MacSpeech Dictate the required context for your speech pattern by telling the software when you're using commas, periods, semi-colons, and other punctuation.

Drink plenty of water. Lubricate your throat as often as possible, especially after reciting large chunks of text. Dry vocal cords will change your voice.

Don't lose your cool. We all tend to speak louder when frustrated, which will also throw off MacSpeech Dictate's accuracy.

Start slow. When you set up your profile, start reading the sample text as slowly as you can, without drawing out the words and sounding like a record player on the wrong speed. Pause between phrases, to let the software catch up, and then gradually increase your speed about midway through the text.

Multiple profiles may be key. Many of our voices sound different in the morning compared to the evening, by which time the stresses of the day have stretched and dried out our vocal cords. You may want to create multiple MacSpeech Dictate profiles for different times of the day, if this is a problem for you.

Have paper records passed their expiry date? CMAJ Sep 2005

2008-05-06T12:26:00.001-04:00

Read full article here.

"The manager of your local grocery store can instantly determinehow many kilos of Ida Red apples are still on the shelves, theuse-before dates of every carton of soy milk, the total cashin the cash registers and the dollar value of unsold loavesof bread that will be distributed that evening to the localfood bank. Her best friend, a doctor, doesn't know that theelderly patient in his office had a chest x-ray last night whenhe visited the emergency department, what laboratory tests wereordered — let alone the results — or the type anddose of prescribed medications, if any. His patient remembershaving an x-ray, but doesn't know the results. He is foggy aboutthe tests and the meds. Neither patient nor doctor knows thedate of the patient's last cardiology consultation or recallsoff-hand whether he received influenza and pneumococcal vaccineslast year. The clinical encounter grinds to a halt while thedoctor thumbs through a bulging paper file of barely legiblenotes."

Possible developments for network access at TBRHSC.

2008-05-06T10:21:00.001-04:00

Currently, IT installs software on our computers (ZENworks for Desktops 4) so we can access Novell delivered services securely. This means that we are limited to using IT approved hardware and software installations that is tightly, and understandably, controlled for security reasons.

We can use our own hardware and operating systems however, if we connect using Citrix access. The only software you need is the Citrix client (now called Citrix XenApp, formerly known as Presentation Server). We still need IT to configure wireless access for us, as the encryption key is confidential for security reasons. This can be a pain if you want to use another computer that hasn't been pre-configured, of if your wireless key gets wiped out somehow.

A third way that is being explored, is to have "open" or "unsecured" wireless access available on site so any computer can access the wireless network. To proceed to access Citrix and Novell services however, physicians would have to go through a web based logon screen using our current Novell passwords.

No IT setup required. No new passwords to remember. Total freedom to use whatever hardware and operating system you want.

Nice!

Getting to the electronic medical record - CMAJ Feb 2008

2008-05-06T07:05:00.003-04:00

"In the beginning, the record was simply a retrospective accountof what transpired at each encounter between the physician andthe patient. At the subsequent visit, it served as an aide-mémoire.Over time, one or more threads would run through it, more orless synthesized into a linear account of any particular illness.Soon though, hospital discharge summaries, attempts at treatmentand, later on, laboratory test results were added in. Practicepartners added interim notes, consultation letters began toarrive, followed by paramedical opinions, insurance reportsand so on. Then specialization led to distinct records beingkept in separate offices.Soon, communication between holders of records became irregular.Bits of information came to be acquired in many places at differenttimes, without a consistent means to unify them into a coherentwhole. Information was being gained, but knowledge was beinglost. Eventually, no one blind man could probe and adequatelydescribe the proverbial elephant."

The entire original article is here.

Letters to the editor are here and here.

Evernote gets an update!

2008-04-25T02:36:00.001-04:00

Evernote takes the lead in moving pen computing into 'the cloud".

See the video and follow developments here.

InkSeine released for tablet PCs

2008-04-25T02:28:00.003-04:00

See homepage and download here.

"The goal of the InkSeine project is to completely rethink the user interface for tablet computers. Some people have described InkSeine as "Windows Journal on steroids." But InkSeine goes well beyond Windows Journal, particularly in its features to search from ink and to easily drag hyperlinks for documents and web pages into your notes.

Many people ask us how InkSeine relates to Microsoft OneNote. InkSeine is complementary to OneNote. OneNote is a great tool with many useful features that you will not find in InkSeine. But InkSeine's user interface is like nothing you have ever used with your pen before. It takes inking on your Tablet PC to a new level."

See a YouTube video of features here.

MacSpeech Dictate: Dragon comes to the Mac!

2008-04-14T13:56:00.003-04:00

MacSpeech Dictate is the update to iListen, and is the first speech recognition product for OS X (Mac systems) to incorporate the same recognition engine as that currently in use by Dragon Naturally Speaking for Windows.

Some user reviews here.

CPSO Policy Statement on Medical Records

2007-12-28T15:01:00.001-05:00

Here it is in HTML:

http://www.cpso.on.ca/Policies/medicalrec.htm

Here it is in PDF:

http://www.cpso.on.ca/policies/medical%20records/medical_records.pdf

Thunder Bay Public Library - Free Wireless Internet

2007-12-18T15:32:00.000-05:00

Add this to the list of "Citrix Around Town" options:

http://tbpl.ca/internal.asp?id= 87&cid=224

BMJ Clinical Evidence User Guide

2007-11-02T16:25:00.000-04:00

http://www.clinicalevidence.bmj.com/downloads/ce_user_guide.pdf

OMA Campaign for Healthier Care

2007-10-09T13:20:00.001-04:00

Check out Priority #2 --> "Implement the Patient e-Record" here.

Taking Note Of Tech Note-Taking Aids

2007-10-06T06:39:00.000-04:00

Today's knowledge-based economy puts a premium on good information. So until memory implants become a reality, note-taking skills will be more vital than ever.

Technology might not have increased our capacity for remembering important data, but it can help us more easily store, organize and retrieve it.

Here's a roundup of note-taking aids that promise to make anyone a cyber-age savant.

Click here.

GroupWise 6.5 Message Management

2007-09-27T18:37:00.001-04:00

Print out some reference cards here.

How to Take Notes on Your Notebook (Computer)

2007-09-24T22:28:00.000-04:00

Note the comments about using "digital ink" and Microsoft OneNote. Click here.

PDF Editing, Markup and Viewing Tools for the Tablet PC

2007-09-20T12:10:00.001-04:00

Bluebeam PDF Revu is optimized for the tablet PC.
See here.

New Fujitsu Tablet PC now available in Canada.

2007-09-11T13:35:00.000-04:00

See the Fujitsu tablets here ; the new Fujitsu T2010 alongside the T4220 .

The processor in the T2010 is an ultra-low-voltage (ULV) U7600 compared to the regular voltage T7250 in the T4220.

This increases battery life, but slows performance (may only be significant for speech recognition).

The T2010 offers a 32 GB solid-state drive (SSD) option, the T4220 doesn't.

This increases battery life and reduces noise and heat, but limits capacity to 32 GB.

The T2010 comes with LED backlighting for the display, the T4220 doesn't.
This increases battery life, and reportedly looks fantastic.

Blog: Speech Recognition in Healthcare

2007-09-11T12:51:00.000-04:00

It's from a vendor, but not bad. Here.

Speech Recognition in the Electronic Health Record

2007-09-11T12:50:00.001-04:00

Good overview here.

EHRs Fix Everything - and Nine Other Myths

2007-08-30T19:34:00.000-04:00

Realistic expectations can help your conversion to electronic health records succeed.
Article.