Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Beginning January 2009 the US Medicare system will be offering bonuses to physicians who prescribe medications electronically.  Why the push? The most important reason is patient safety - no more indecipherable handwriting means less risk that your pharmacist will dole out the wrong prescription. Also, e-prescribing sends the prescription instantly, directly to the pharmacy, so scripts do not get lost or stolen. When e-prescribing, computers can remind docs about potential interactions amongst drugs, in addition to helping physicians choose the cheapest drugs which, in the end, saves the patient money. Only about 10 percent of US doctors are actively e-prescribing. This is due, in part, to the cost associated with setting up the necessary technology and apprehension about adopting new technology. However, the benefits are clear. Ever since I personally started e-prescribing, there’s just no going back to paper.

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Did you know at any given time approximately ten percent of teenage drivers are either talking or texting on their cell phones? Studies have shown that drivers who use cell phones are four times as likely to be involved in a crash, which is why many states have already banned their use while driving. Now researchers at the University of Utah are taking the case one step further by developing a device which disables cell phone usage while the key is in the ignition. Dubbed “Key2SafeDriving” the device affixes to car keys and uses bluetooth radio waves to signal cell phones to go into “driving mode” so long as the key is in the ignition. While in driving mode, drivers cannot use their phones to talk or text, except for calling 911 or other numbers pre-approved by parents. Incoming calls and texts are automatically answered with a message saying, “I am driving now. I will call you later when I arrive at the destination safely.”

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The journal Human Reproduction reports on a nationwide US study which has found that babies conceived through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), such as in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection, have higher rates of birth defects. Compared to infants conceived without ART, the CDC study found that in pregnancies which resulted in single births, ART was linked to twice the risk of certain heart defects and cleft lips and more than four times the risk of some types of gastrointestinal defects. Although the relative risk of birth defects are still low, it is certainly a consideration for couples who choose to conceive with ART.

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Google released a flu tracking tool this week called Flu Trends. According to Google, certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. By looking at aggregated search data related to the topic of “flu” Google claims they can estimate flu activity in a particular region two weeks faster than traditional tracking systems. This is because people tend to search for health information relatively early on in their illness, whereas traditional tracking systems rely on data collected after the patient has sought medical attention. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the Google data appears to accurately correlate with CDC data. Earlier warnings allows the medical community to prepare for an increase in sickness and gives people time to get vaccinated, if they haven’t already.

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