The Google Health DEMISE

Why Google Health failed?  Do you have the answer....................?

                                      

           The official Google Blog has recently announced that Google Health service will be discontinued from January 1, 2012 onwards. People have option to download their data before the service gets terminated and all the data contained in it gets deleted.

         I am not sure how many of you came across this news or most of you might be oblivious to this, but whatever it is, the matter of fact is that I am certain that there are many out here like me, who must have felt that this was really a disheartening, terrible news in the field of Healthcare/medical field and also especially to those who are actively involved in bringing together and bridging the gap between healthcare & technology.

For your information, PHR is a personal health record that contains the patient’s medical/health information data (the data is related to his health status and the encounters faced by that individual etc) and most importantly to remember the thing that differentiates PHR from EHR/EMR is that it is maintained by patient himself(sole owner). Sorry friends but right now, I am not focusing here what actual PHR is but the thing of concern is that a mammoth Company like Google has failed in its PHR product , which could possibly prove to be a major setback for the future healthcare IT industry.

                It implies that the technological advancement in the healthcare/medical is still really a difficult, complex task and challenges us to proceed further ambitiously before we start observing the improvements.

This news unfortunately sends a wrong depressing signal to the new emerging Healthcare IT/Medical Informatics World. Lot of speculations are being debated and analysis is still continued in the US markets to find out the reasons behind Google Health demise in such a short span of time. The few reasons I happened to came across while reading various articles were that it was not social enough, it was not well marketed, it just contained data and there was no fun, since doctors were not involved, health data was not secure, health sector was never core competency of Google and also Sergey Brin and Larry Page never really supported to a greater extent, it never proved to be much of use etc....

Topic will be continued in next blog............

 Author

Dr.Milind Tungare.

Friends do you know what does Healthcare Analysis means?

If not then read this.............................................

Healthcare Analyst is the today’s buzzword in Health care IT…………From the word it is quite evident that it is a designation in Healthcare domain. The person working as Healthcare Analyst is the real hero in the Health Informatics field. He is the person responsible for managing the marriage of Healthcare and Information Technology. The work profile is known by many other different names in the Industry. I have listed some of them below…….

Functional Consultant

Medical Informatics Consultant

Business Analyst

Healthcare specialist

Healthcare Domain Expert

IT Executive (used in hospitals)
Application Specialist

Implementation Specialist etc………

He is the individual having knowledge within both domains. He may be a medical or a technical person. He has worked in both the disciplines. The person has knowledge of technical aspects such as programming, software engineering, managing databases etc. He has the practical knowledge of medical interoperability standards like HL7, DICOM.  Has knowledge and experience in Implementing Hospital Information Systems, Picture Archival Communication System, Telemedicine application and Clinical Decision Support System etc. Has experience of SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) Stages of any product while working in a software organization.

Having knowledge and  practical work experience in hospital administration, hospital management or IT Department of Hospital is  always useful and sometimes almost required.

Having knowledge and experience of US Health care regulations and Insurance (HIPAA) industry is always an added advantage.

Gathering of functional requirements from the healthcare clients mostly hospitals and clinics i.e. the Healthcare providers and analyzing it along with feasibility is the principal responsibility of a real health informatician. Application of his healthcare knowledge and experience while developing medical software and providing solutions to the client in a customized satisfactory way. The crucial role in healthcare analysis lies at the level of formulation of implementation strategy, coordinating with different user groups and implementation partners, and providing application support to the end users.

Today many top experienced medical professionals are working as Healthcare Experts in the IT industry.

I think now by this time you would have understood the significance of Healthcare analyst and Healthcare analysis profile.

So if next time you hear this word……….U have got an idea in mind……….

This is an effort to create awareness on Healthcare IT.

- By Dr Milind Tungare

An Insight into MAMSS Medical Portfolio

The following Project was done by us during training in Health Informatics at CDAC Headquarters, Pune. 

I would like to share with you my friends the project that we had done during our training in CDAC. For your Information, CDAC is a Government Software Organization involved in research & training purpose. 

Project Name: MAMSS Medical Portfolio

We had developed a web based application, which is a kind of Personal Health Record though not actually speaking, since it differs in many key aspects. It holds the entire Patient’s Medical Record till Date in an electronic form through a web application.

The Basic Objective of our project was to bring a change in existing Health care scenario, to reduce the burden of patient carrying medical records file with him during his every visit to a Health care provider. Instead of that the Patient will remember his MAMSS ID (or carry a flash drive with him ) and will be able to log in through his Id when he encounters a visit to a hospital or a clinic. The physician in-charge will be able to review his entire till date medical history & thus decide or continue with his further treatment protocol.

The Concept was to make a Paperless Patient with the help of technological advancement & penetration of Information Technology in Health care. Although it is a unique concept but many groups are thinking on the same lines and few might be working.

The web based application we developed had an essential feature of having backup in the form of Standalone application where the internet connectivity is not possible. This feature was sought after consideration of the remote places in Villages or where there is no internet connectivity due to any reasons. Such kind of application is also useful in case of Telemedicine.

Our Aim was also to make the project compliant to Interoperable standards like HL7, DI COM.But due to Time constraint we had to limit down lot of features.

ATTENTION PLEASE! I kindly request my readers to understand a thing that the mentioned above project belongs to us ie MAMSS Group and hence we have the entire authority to share and discuss the project in public domain.This project was done by we students of CDAC PG DHI Batch Feb 2010[also called as MAMSS Group] as a part of our course schedule & training program and it has absolutely no relation with the CDAC Research Department.Hence there is no scope for any issue as disclosing confidential information or copyrighted information.


 Dr Milind Tungare

 Author of the Article

 Open to advice & suggestions

The Necessary Bridge!

Health Informatics is an indispensable bridge that connects the Information Technology with the Health care Industry for the betterment of the Health care Services in the Society.

As I have earlier introduced you with Health Informatics. Now I wish you have a general idea in mind what does it mean? Simply it means “HIT” in the conversational terms. HIT is Health care Information Technology. Technological Advancement has penetrated all spheres and Health care

is no exception to it. The only difference lies at the level of penetration in each field. The penetration of IT in the field of Health care is at lingering pace. There exist several valid reasons for it.  

      The fact is that in the Existing Indian Health care Scenario most of the health care professionals are oblivious to such kind of dynamics that is taking place. Today Bigger hospitals are getting involved in the use of Electronic Medical Records System. Since this being a new area of business it’s important to know which systems available in the market are good for the Organization to purchase. Earlier there was no much puzzle in the domain as Health care Providers had no chance other than to purchase system from the few available single players in the market. Thus there was no likelihood to judge them effectively, qualitatively and compatibility wise. It’s important to know whether the right systems at right place are playing role in taking care of our near & dear patients.

          Systems to elaborate here I mean anything like Hospital Information System or Clinical Decision Support System etc or a software application that supports or makes tasks easier for the Organization’s Work flow.

          The Necessary Step to build this Necessary Bridge is to understand the significance of the happening change by the Government organizations & Health care policy makers and to take an initiative and implement it in a tangible manner. 

Dr Milind Tungare

Author of the Article

I welcome and open to all kind of advice & suggestions from my readers related to language usage or topic written.

Thanks.

Introduction to Health Informatics

Health Care System - In need of a Revolutionary Change!

The present Health care scenario in India requires a considerable revamp. As being a medical professional I can identify some key findings. The health care system requires major makeover in many aspects but currently I would cite a domain which is in the embryonic phase of development in India. The segment is none other than Health Informatics. This name is a broader terminology in itself and encompasses various subjects in it. It consists of various subsets such as Medical Informatics, Clinical Informatics, and Public Health Informatics etc.

        The word ‘Informatics’ is self explanatory, it is obviously related to Information. Health Informatics involves the Health care branch in it. In simple technical terms it’s the application of Information Technology in the discipline of Health care. Health Informatics is most frequently known as Health Care or Medical Informatics.

Dr Milind Tungare
Author of the Article

I welcome and open to all kind of advice & suggestions from my readers related to language usage or topic written.Thanks