ed-informatics.org

One important medical computer application (hereinafter “app”) is a PACS system. PACS stands for “Picture archiving and communication system.” (PACS system is redundant, but so be it.). Wikpedia has a nice explanation at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_archiving_and_communication_system. For emergency physicians, it’s where we usually view X-rays and CT scans, and enter “wet reads” (our preliminary interpretations of X-rays, […]

A point-and-click electronic medical record (EMR) can be very fast, at least for simple, uncomplicated cases. However, some point-and-click EMRs try to convert the information from clicked checkboxes into English. The results, just like the corrections applied by a word processor spellchecker, or the misrecognition when you’re using speech-to-text on your phone, can be amusing. […]

Sometimes usability is just typography. Or perhaps common sense. Look at the following demographic section at the top of a LabCorp lab report. (Yes, I like to name names. It’s OK: truth is an absolute defense against claims of slander.) Imagine you’re working in a very busy ED and the follow-up nurse hands you a […]

The Federal government has warped the fabric of healthcare. By giving away money. They’ve done this both to doctors’ offices and hospitals, for “meaningful use” of healthcare information technology. You get the money only if you use software that the Feds certified to meet their criteria. This is supposed to get us to rapidly have […]

I don’t own, nor have I ever owned, any Apple products. I tell people I’m not cool enough to own anything Apple. Indeed, as I was writing this post, I just also wrote a Windows batch file; very not-cool. For a long time, I felt marginalized. But with the latest versions of Android and Windows, […]