With a fresh look and prime booth location, hundreds stop by to visit Meridian Healthcare at the IHIMA Show.

For many in the healthcare field, Van Ausdall & Farrar is know for its expertise in the area of dictation equipment and transcription systems.  For ten years Meridian Healthcare has also quietly built a solid reputation providing outsourced transcription to hospitals.  Most customers know that these two companies share the same headquarters, principal ownership, account management, technical resources and even some administrative staff members.  Even so, on April 19th many Medical Record Directors and other healthcare professionals attending the IHIMA Show in Indiana where surprised to see a different occupant in the traditional space just inside the entry door to the exhibit hall.

The 10' by 20' trade show space that has been occupied by a Van Ausdall & Farrar exhibit for decades was the debut location for a combined marketing effort that is hoped will simplify understanding a bit for organizations that aren't familiar with Meridian and Van Ausdall.  The brand new trade show booth bares the equally new logo of Meridian Healthcare Solutions.  "We're all things pertaining to healthcare documentation and want to express this to our customers as a single corporate image", said David Moore, Vice President and General Manager with Van Ausdall and a Principal Owner of Meridian Healthcare Solutions.  "We want people to understand that whether they desire a premise-based system or custom outsourced solution, we have the experience to get it done."

Meridian Healthcare opened their new booth on Tuesday morning to large crowds that were interested in catching up with some of the account associates working in the booth.  It's likely they were also interested in something else according to David Moore.  "We decided to do things right by giving away an Apple I-Pad and Amazon Kindle.  I think that caused some excitement."  No doubt there was a lot for the Meridian/Van Ausdall team to be excited about too.  Plans call for additional consolidation of efforts.  Stay tuned for more.

Google Wave is a collaboration platform introduced in May 2009 by Google.  It is a web based communication and collaboration tool that is in beta at the time of this entry.  The focal point and container for information sharing within the tools interface is called a "Wave".  Google describes Waves as "equal parts conversation and document".  Google Wave, developed by the same team that created Google Maps, will likely be shared as an open-source platform for ISPs and corporations to use as a communications standard.  The vision is that Wave could replace email.

So where do the comparisons to SharePoint come from? Well, as I recall, SharePoint is labeled as a "collaboration portal".  That's certainly what Wave is or will be.  There are differences, however, At least for now.  For one, SharePoint's abilities provide for centralized administration of component web parts that can be plugged into developed sites.  This is different from the theme of Wave which centers around the wave object.  So there are differences and, at least for now, perhaps Wave should strike comparisons with Outlook rather than SharePoint.

There is certainly good reason to watch Wave closely for those that are interested in business collaboration and enterprise content management. For one, Wave is a federated platform designed at the core for message collaboration across boundaries.  Sound more like Exchange?  Perhaps, but this platform provides for very impressive collaborative features and the promise of future extensions that will meet many business objectives.  Anyone that has viewed the hour and twenty minute presentation video from Google IO knows what I am talking about.  Check it out.  Or should I say, "catch the wave".  http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html#video

Link to a good article.  http://tinyurl.com/yljxrpb

Gartner defines SaaS as "software that is owned, delivered and managed remotely by one or more providers. The provider delivers an application based on a single set of common code and data definitions, which are consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted customers anytime on a pay-for-use basis, or as a subscription based on use metrics.”

When I was a kid I remember fathers carrying a briefcase to work every day, and I'll have to admit, I had one long ago too.  Times have changed a little bit, but most of us still tote around a laptop bag or backpack when traveling for work.  What has changed drastically is what is in our office carry case.  The old man used to drag with him items like office documents, the morning paper, his glasses, a book or two, some pens, a pad of paper and maybe a cassette tape recorder.  My primary reason for lugging a bag around today is my laptop computer, but am I more like the employee of the past or the professional of the future?

The next generation of office knowledge worker is walking next to us every day.  They had a cell phone or hand held game in their grip before they took steps.  Where our parents read the paper, they get their news from a computer, smart phone or pod cast.  We have coined the term "digital native" for them, but they know no different.  As we prepare to hand the reins of Corporate America over to them, what must be done to change the workplace in order to leverage their ability to utilize a digital workplace?  Research firm IDC says of the Net Generation, "they feel that their companies have not yet adopted electronic processes".  No one understands the functional limitations and multiplying expenses that extend from the use of paper and paper based processes better than this group.  The demand for real time information that is literally read from the palms of our hands is indicative of techniques that will drive future efficiencies in the workplace.  Ask yourself how many times, in the last month, you have sent or received business related email after 10PM at night.  What effort did you have to go through 15 years ago to find and read a document that you didn't bring with you on a business trip?  Today we have all to tools to bring our office with us when we leave the facility.

So what does the near future hold for knowledge workers?  Will they be doing expense reports on their I-Pod?  The digital natives are restless and they will decide soon.

According to AIIM Industry Watch, 40% of organizations admit to routinely printing newly generated office documents and emails for the purpose of filing them as paper records.  More fast facts here.  http://tinyurl.com/yjhutpf

Hopefully your IT dictator doesn't block youtube at work cuz this is the funniest 60 seconds in ECM...  http://tinyurl.com/y8up5de

This article makes a great case for utilizing dictation and trascription as an onramp for EMR.  http://tinyurl.com/ydmqg3f

Here is a link to a very good 10 minute read-through on EMRs and Medical Dictation/Transcription...

http://www.slideshare.net/WinScribe/dictation-and-the-emr

If you're like me, you're been confused before about when to use the term "EMR" versus the use of "EHR".  Of course, EMR is an acronym for "Electronic Medical Record" and "EHR" stands for "Electronic Health Record".  The National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT) has generating a definition of each.  EMR has a more specific focus.  It’s a more in-depth record of a single diagnosis or treatment, and it tends to be more practical for specialists.  The, now, official definition is “the electronic record of health-related information on an individual that is created, gathered, managed, and consulted by licensed clinicians and staff from a single organization involved in the individual’s health and care.” 

An EHR, on the other hand, is more comprehensive in scope and application. NAHIT defines EHR as “the aggregate electronic record of health-related information on an individual that is created and gathered cumulatively across more than one health care organization and is managed and consulted by licensed clinicians and staff involved in the individual’s health and care.”