Eye Opener: Online Learning Activity

Okay, Sooo I thought this was a fun eye opener, I mean playing games while building your knowledge about health issues. Sounds like a fairly easy learning assignment to me.

The first game I played was...
Valerie's Health Care Wheel of Fortune!

I will be honest, I am not very bright when it comes to wheel of fortune. For some reason I can watch it on TV and guess the words from time to time but the problem I have is getting the word started. I did have luck at guessing a few of the words in this game. Thanks for the Challenge Valerie!



Second I played...
Sara H's Quit Smoking Quiz!

I got a A! Yup, 90 out of 100 points was my score. I got the question wrong about smoking affecting reproductive health in only women because I happen to read it wrong. This quiz was quite interesting...over 4000 chemicals packed into a cigarette! Are you kidding me! How would that not get people to not smoke along with the fact that over 420,000 people die each year from them.

The third game I played was...
Sam's Open Door To A Healthy Heart!

Honestly I took this quiz twice. The first time was after Sam had posted it. So I would have to say I did pretty good on it. Quite interesting to know that your heart beats over 100,000 times a day. That's a lot of work for that little guy.

Lastly, I played...
Shannon's Food Groups Game!

Ha...That was very fun! Cool how the groups started dancing once you complete sorting them out. This game started to make me hungry. Sorting those foods helped me remember what I need to buy for groceries.

I learned more than what I thought I would in completing all these activities. Nice work webgroup!!!

Share and Voice: A Green Greenhouse

Hey Everyone!

I have always been interested in identifying different types of plants. I think I have acquired that knowledge because my ma happens to be a floral designer so I suppose it makes sense. Now I'm not the one to really further my education into becoming a plant taxonomist because its really just a small side hobby for me. It's really just nice to have this green piece of life by you which also happens to be beneficial by reducing CO2. Well I guess the main point of this post is that while I was sitting at my desk with my bonsai ficus tree (I encourage everyone to get one) and jade plant perched on the window sill, I was wondering if there "green homes" for them. By green homes (I'm sure you guessed it!) I mean green greenhouses. I'm not sure how many of you also own a couple different plant but this greenhouse I found would be a cool little home to make sure your plants get the right amount of sunlight. I found this miniature green house made entirely out of recycled plastic so you get to support the environment in two ways. The greenhouse was created by Daniel Schipper and is posted on his blog. Check it out --> Folding Greenhouse.

Enjoy!

Advocacy Project: Health IT Puzzle

Hi Webgroup!

So I had a little bit of trouble trying to find an interactive game that would spark your interest in Health Care Information Technology but didn't have to much luck finding anything...I then just decided to make a crossword search, guessing that a few college students may still do these so it would seem like the best alternative idea with a topic that is a bit difficult to develop an interactive game.

This will be just like any other crossword puzzle but you will first need to read a couple articles to help you in completing this activity. After reading it you simply have to answers each question to figure out what word you must fill in.

Articles to boost you Health IT Knowledge:

Interoperabilty: The Key to the Future Health Care Systems
Defining and Delivering Interoperable Health Information Technology - Sections on Adoption, Health IT 101 and Social Benefits
Health Information Technology

Click HERE to start the puzzle.

Best of luck!

If you want to check your completed puzzle click HERE.

Reflection: Week 13 & 14

And then there was one...well technically two but one week of in-class activities. It's exciting to know summer is almost here and then I can move my green thoughts to a more outdoor aspect. Maybe I'll take another compass adventure...
Week 13

I would have to say the compass expedition was the highlight of the week for me. The point of this activity was to learn the proper techniques of using a compass so that if ever it happens that you are stranded by yourself in the middle of nowhere with a compass, you just might be able to find your way out. Luckily my group (Valerie, Kathy, and Kailiegh) proved to be naturals in the arts of compass navigation. Ha. Even if we weren't Kathy's bright fuchsia shirt could have been spotted from ways away. I missed the video "Story of Stuff" but the video on the website explained to me it was about. Wish I wouldn't of missed that day. This week we had the assignment to do an overview of our issue. This assignment was pretty simple. We had to gather information about our bill and blog about it.

Week 14

The first part of this week introduced us to careers within the Environment Health field. Along with this Dr. V. brough in a guest speak to talk to the class about his career and what he does to help with environmental health. The advocacy assignmnet for this week was to compose a letter that we would send to congressional representative regarding our thoughts and how they could help out to pass our bill we chose. The second day of this week we had to get our brains thinking on the junk side of things. Dr. V. brought in an assortment of things that may be considered junk but can also be repurposed in different ways. In our web groups we had to brainstorm ways we could repupose each item.

At first I thought this advocacy proejct was goign to be stressful and a lot of work but it turned out not to be so bad. Taking it step by step made this assignment easy and quite infromative. I'm looking forward to next week's classes, especially the guest speark and pizza day!

Adios!

Advocacy Project: Letter to Public Official

April 28, 2009
Senator Amy Klobuchar
U.S. Senate
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Senator Klobuchar,

The proposed bill H.R. 1309 that encourages the adoption and implementation of interoperability into the health technology systems will provide the United States with improved health care quality, reduced medical errors, and increase in the efficiency of care. With your help on passing this bill not only will it improve our health systems by the actions stated above but it will also allow for greater communication between doctors, patients, nurses, and health office representatives. Improved communication can allow for improved work flow, optimal care, and a decrease in duplicated medical records caused by the standard technology systems. For future insight, the passage of this bill will enable students in college working towards a health care administrating degree's to enter their job with the confidence and assurance that they have the precise technology provided to them to advance the way hospitals operate. Not only will this bill affect the future prospects in the health care field but will affect the present citizens looking for the best possible care from their local hospitals. Because interoperability connects all systems and records into a network it will allow patients to access online medical portfolios that may contain information regarding treatments, status,and future appointments. Interoperability will aid everyone young and old is not forgotten about when it comes to health. With your help by voting "yes" to House Bill# 1309 we can revolutionize the United States health system by simply turning data into intelligence.

Thank you Senator Amy Klobuchar!

-Noah Funk

Share and Voice: Do The Green Thing

Hey Everybody!

So I came across this sort of whacky/funny site that delivers short films representing ways to be greener. Some of the ideas they have are pretty clever and others are like HUH?....either way it provided me with some entertainment about being green. There are different sections to the site with a variety of videos on each section so be sure to do some searching. Check it out! Do The Green Thing

HERES MY FAVORITE! (I don't need to explain what its about)


Plug Out Boy feat. Green Monday from Green Thing on Vimeo.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

My Issue:

The issue that I am concerned about deals with Health Informational Technology or Health IT. This issue focuses on how the United States health system could be operating more efficiently and effectively if we are to change the current Health IT systems by implementation of an interoperable infrastructure that results in EMR (Electronic Medical Records).

What is interoperability in Health IT?
Interoperability is the ability to have a hospitals computer system connected with other hospital's systems so that the final outcome will be a nationwide network of Health IT systems connected to one another.
Current Legislation:
Representative Sam Johnson of Texas has already started this process to a more effective and efficient health system by introducing bill number H.R. 1309. This bill's title is to encourage and enhance the adoption of interoperable health information technology to improve health care quality, reduce medical errors, and increase the efficiency of care. It was introduced to the House on February 12, 2009.
Who is affected by my issue?:
Being that my issue is correlated with one of the largest cost expenditures in the United States it is surely to affect a number of people. The one's who will be affect the most by a change to Health IT would be doctors, patient, and health care providers.

Gains: Affected the most by this issue would have to be the doctors. With interoperability doctors will have the power to access specific patient data that without interoperability would have possibly been locked in a database or put into hiding in a file drawer. Doctors like to have patient information at their fingertips whenever possible and having a network system that can simply connect a patients records directly to him/her would benefit the doctors accuracy on patients, overall work flow, and hospital recognition. The gains sort of connect like a chain, if you have the doctors benefiting from this Health IT system the next ones down are the patients that work with those doctors. The patients will have the acknowledgment that the doctor has the most up to date records and can administer him/her the best quality care possible. Eventually everything adds up to an efficient and reliable communication tool within the hospital. Doctors will be able to communicate better with their patients, other clinics, other doctors, and administrative staff on ways to further improve there infrastructure. The greatest gain is to the United States health system as a whole. With an update to interoperability systems, we can rely on there to be less flawed processes, more efficient work flow, and top of the line quality medical care. Loses: Those who many suffer the brunt edge of this transformation to interoperability infrastructure is a bit limited. The people and loses coming from interoperability systems can be somewhat questionable. If some doctors can not grasp the way the new Health IT system functions then it would cause them to lose the reliability of patients, patient information, downgrade in work flow, and the worst lose; their jobs. As for the patients, they may inquire loses with insurance companies if their companies gain hold on health records that can make all the difference in being qualified for health insurance, that's if insurance companies have the rights to access the same medical files that doctors can. However, I feel the greatest loss would be our health. An IT system like interoperability has the chance to advance the way the U.S. handles its health care by providing doctors with the information necessary to provide top notch quality care to those patients.

Consequences:
By improving the way technology is used in health care systems it doesn't seem like there should be any consequences to individuals, families or society but begin that technology is not always the most reliable tool we are bound to develop some repercussion with this issue. The consequences of interoperability IT to society would breach mainly the lines of confidentiality. Living in a world that is centered around technology and when things don't go as planned with technology people become impatient, upset, and blame it on the system not working. If there would happen to be a malfunction with the interoperability IT system it would cause much unsatisfactory with the new IT system, decrease patient satisfaction with there doctors, and a burden for families who are unhappy with the new IT.

Issue's Economic Impact:

If there is a nationwide push towards having an interoperability IT system then costs would be weighed upon the government which more than likely would be eventually paid for by tax payers dollars. However if we have certain hospitals designating that they are switching over to an interoperability system the cost would be weighed upon the administration. These costs are countered weight with the future benefit that will come from having an inter connected medical network. Economically this system would greatly benefit the consumer. Interoperability would allow individuals to access information about their health status, eliminate hesitation about switching between clinics now being that they will not have to fear about losing medical records, and benefit from the economic efficiency of less medical error, duplication of records, and increased work flow.
Issue's Social Impact:

The social impact of interoperability would fall upon the tax payers if the government were to make this a nationwide change to the Health IT system. This of course wouldn't be very fond by some while others will not mind and feel that overall wellness should not be decided by a price. Relating back to healthcare providers, this may also impact the group of people who are worried that their insurance providers may view records resulting in a denial for medical coverage and this includes all those who are trying or have been denied coverage that feel it is wrong to have medical records inter connected in a way that allows insurance companies a full detailed report of their medical history. However the social gaining impact will be that ever increase group of people who applaud the use of have medical records inter connected that allows for the most efficient, effective, and grade A doctors that will be able to provide them with the right care. This issue will have a positive impact on the groups of doctors who feel that with an interoperable system they will be able to complete their job better than before by simply having the right medical records in front of them with a click of the mouse.

The Barriers:

The barriers addressing this issue is that of safety for the patient. Having a system that connects every medical records in a network may results in some unexpected problems. Example, a doctor wants to bring up a medical records for Jane Doe. The doc pulls up her records to write out the correct medication prescription. However he did not notice that the record he pulled up was for a Jane E. Doe and thus providing her with the wrong a medication that she may possibly be allergic to. Because the electronic medical records will be entered in by name it will be possible to run into the slightest mix-up with identities. It seems simple to overcome this issue, the IT system will have to be upgraded as to where instead of locating the patient by name they may be located by say a phone number, or address, or even a specific patient number id. The mix up in identities with Jane Doe and Jane E. Doe may also cause there to be billing problems. If Jane Doe's insurance company is looking to bill her for the medication prescribed but by accident confused Jane Doe for Jane E. Doe, then there is going to be a conflicting with payments and result in administrative costs to resolve the error. These two barriers to the issue could be resolved in the same way.
What are the resources?

I would have to say that the most important resource that may come into play on this issue is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPPA. HIPPA aims to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care system, portability and continuity of health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets, and to provide consequences to those that do not apply with the regulations stated within the act. As well to address this issue I will need up to date information about certain interoperability software being developed and how they expect each one to be a success. Most of my resources can been found with in depth internet searches, library references, and magazine articles.
History of the Issue:

This issue has been on the rise since 2005. The NHS (National Health Service) is hoping to have 60,000,000 patients with electronic medical records by 2010. The progression of switching to electronic medical records is increasing at a slow rate. This rate may be increasing very slowly due to the limited EMR systems that will be used to inter connect all records. In 2005, to push towards the production of EMR systems that will connect medical records within a networks the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made a non-profit organization designated specifically to develop EMR systems called Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT). This new organization provided great results in 2006, CCHIT released a list of 20 certified EMR products.

Allies & Opponents:
Allies of this issue would be patients who are encourage by the benefits that interoperability will bring to health care quality, doctors, CCHIT, computer engineers installing these programs, software trainers, health insurance companies, and hospital administrators. Opponents of introducing an nationwide interoperability system would be tax payers, hospital administrators not interested in the costs, and health insurance companies that have to change their record systems.

My Recommendation:

I would recommend that my representative votes yes for bill H.R. 1309 to encourage and enhance the adoption of interoperable health information technology to improve health care quality, reduce medical errors, and increase the efficiency of care. Voting yes would result in a more efficient and effective medical system that allows doctors to provide the absolute best care they can deliver to the patient by having up-to-date medical records at the tips of there fingers.