In a way, I'm glad to see the back of March; you see, sometime during the fourth week, I picked up a virus that left me both with a distaste for food and a renewed appreciation for the utility of the bathroom.
By the end of the month I was feeling much better after following a chicken soup regimen for a couple of days, but had a real concern for my electrolyte levels especially after the scales showed I was upwards of 7 pounds lighter.
Thinking about my recovery options in the shower one morning, I was overcome with an epiphany for a sure-fire business idea, namely to:
- cultivate a stomach virus
- offer it to customers who need to lose weight quickly for an upcoming event (I'm sure you can relate to the "oh-mi-gosh-I-have-to-lose-weight-this-week-so-I-can-fit-into-this-dress/suit-for-the-wedding-on-Saturday" type of a comment), medically supervised, of course
- guarantee results
- offer a free colonoscopy on completion of the "treatment" (this would be an ideal time since your colon will never be in a more pristine condition)
Unfortunately, after hearing the reaction from some of my friends, I had to drop this idea faster than I could run to the bathroom during the first day of my illness.
So, here we are again discussing my "other" favorite topic, e-Health.
I'd like to begin by congratulating the Oshawa Clinic Group for their decision to implement an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system (This Week, March 26th, 2009, p:10); I'm rather thrilled at this development because it's the first local validation of what I've been discussing all along.
For those unfamiliar with the group, it represents the Oshawa, Courtice and Taunton clinics in the Durham Region -- the planned EMR system is said to involve upwards of 1/2 million records.
Hopefully, this will be a beacon for other doctors in the Region re their decision-making efforts for their practice.
The second encouraging piece of news comes from our friends south of the border in that the Obama Administration has decided to implement an EMR system for military personnel that will stay with them for life -- Google the term: Obama + e-Health records for vets and read to your heart's content if you need additional information.
The significance of the above can be seen from the fact that this will probably rank up there with some of the largest EMR systems implementation and will in all probability be used to trail blaze the proposed health care changes that are part/parcel of the stimulus package.
Also, you cannot implement a system of this size without setting interoperability standards --something we desperately need in the health industry.
Of course, all these changes are bringing out the best in the privacy pundits who are now proclaiming the end of the little medical privacy we had.
I'd like to add my $0.02, but in the interest of brevity, I'll wait for another issue.
In the meantime go boldly forth, but watch your back as you tend to your garden!
Now, where did I put that Petri dish, I mean, the phone number for the Oshawa Clinic Group...
Ernest A. James
Regal Informatics Inc.
