Welcome to TM Information Services!

Our virtual collaboration continues to include more communication specialists and technology professionals.

Tools for efficiency — Mobile Computing Tools for Commuting Professionals.

The Obama administration’s new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes a mandate and considerable investment into health IT to make an electronic health record (EHR) available to each citizen by 2014. The purpose, “delivery of smarter healthcare systems with real-time access to critical patient health information,” seems noble, but the current reality is that only a third of U.S. physicians utilize any type of EHR. Challenges to accomplishing this mission include keeping confidential patient information secure, solving system compatibility issues, and agreeing on a common set of rules for making the natural language of a physician’s dictated medical report fit into a national electronic database that will make it possible to access and mine statistics from our population to aid in prevention and cure of disease. Already there are various organizations, councils, and committees working to identify and solve the problems involved in meeting this Federal challenge. The race is on to create what is destined to become the national health information network (NHIN). Some pieces of the problem will be solved within separate medical specialties based on what is needed there, but ultimately all of the health system’s diverse computer systems will need to be able to talk to each other.

Besides these several article pertaining to developments in health technology, the spring issue of TMIS eNewsletter has several articles related to the way Internet users find and share information. Like it or not, one of the ways the world is changing is through the use of media. This reality came clearer to us in our area just recently with the closing of the Seattle Post Intelligencer as a printed newspaper. It remains in operation as on-line-only news (http://www.seattlepi.com) . What just happened in Seattle is happening in major cities all across America. I don’t like to think that I contributed to the demise of the printed press, but I have to admit it has been 15 years or more since I had a newspaper subscription. We are all going to be hearing more about how the press now uses social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter to generate story ideas by connecting with sources to find stories. Also, top PR firms now advise their clients that in today’s sluggish economy, it is not enough to offer more of the same, and even though traditional public relations outreach remains very important, the rules of the game have changed. Clients are now encouraged to add on-line multimedia and content creation to the mix of traditional print and broadcast media in order to be found more often on Google and be commented about and shared through social networks and feeds. Clients are told they need to develop original, authentic content that shoots across the social sphere and engages all of their audiences in a compelling way.

There are some announcements related to how technology is being modified and adapted to protect the environment. Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a new science that studies nature, its models, systems, processes and elements and then imitates or takes creative inspiration from them to solve human problems. The Biomimicry Guild is an innovative company that uses deep knowledge of biological adaptations to help designers, engineers, architects and business leaders solve design and engineering challenges. The Guild helps innovators design sustainable products and processes that create conditions conducive to all life.

I am grateful to be in a collaborative business with many talented and skilled professionals. Additional feedback and recommendations for our products and services at TM Information Services are always welcome.

- Mary M. McLaughlin

TMIS News