the plig april digital newsletter
DESCRIPTION
This is a free digital newsletter created for architects, engineers, healthcare providers, accountants, lawyers and any other professional who wants to stay informed and on the cutting edge of the business beat!TRANSCRIPT
Medicine seems to be coming full-circle. It
wasn’t too long ago that when you needed
a check-up, a doctor would show up to your
front door with a black satchel full of
remedies and elixirs “proven” to stave off
the illness that was afflicting you. Those
days gave way to office visits where one
would have to stand in a waiting room—
for what seemed like forever—in order to
be shuffled into a tiny room stocked with
gadgets, pumps and prodding devices.
Telemedicine, the newest form of personal
medical care, seems to be coming back
around to those days when doctors would
show up at your doorstep. Except, instead
of a doorstep, that physician is showing up
inside of your computer screen. Yet, there
are legal implications included in this new
P1 / Medicine
What are the legal implications of telemedicine?
P2 / Cyber-Risk
3 Things to know when a data breach occurs.
P3 / Engineering
Engineers are saving lives.P4 / Plig-Bits
The 2014 PLIG Puzzle Challenge and Trivia!
Telemedicine, the newest form of personal medical care, seems to be coming back around to those days when doctors would show up at your doorstep. Except, instead of a doorstep, that physician is showing up inside of your computer screen.
“”
The Legal Implications of Telemedicine
In a few years, your next check-up might be in the form of a video screen.
>> CONT. PAGE TWO
March-April 2014
PLIG PulseTHE
When you begin to recieve malicious error messages, chances are something is invading your database. Your first inclination is to shut down the computer/database/mainframe. DON’T! Shutting down your network could result in the loss of valuable data not only to your business, but also to the investigators who could lose important bread crumbs that can lead back to the culprit in question.
Initial responders to your data breach may spend the first few days just interviewing and investigating everyone on your IT team as well as anyone connected to your network security personnel. Large amounts of data from routers and firewalls will have to be thoroughly vetted. In fact, it could be up to a week before a picture of your data breach emerges. Take a deep breath and let the pros do their job.
Being pro-active can help deduce the costs of remediation. Make sure you look into a good cyber security insurance policy. A great insurance plan can cover liability for any breach or loss of data, plus help cover the costs of things like forensic investigation, customer notification and credit monitoring, public relations services. Plans can even cover costs to help settle any penalties or fines that may stem from the data breach.
Legality &Telemedicine
D o n ’ t P o w e r D o w n !
H a v e P a t i e n c e
B e P r o - A c t i v e
3 Things to Know When a Data Breach Occurs
form for medical care. Telemedicine, in its broadest
definition, is the medical care of a patient without the
consulting physician being there in a physical presence.
In some states, that includes phone consultations, in
others, the definition includes consultations through
online services such as Skype. Time zones are another
factor that play into this new form of medical care.
Physicians are licensed by state, and their practice is
governed by the state in which they practice as well as
the state in which the patient is located. For instance, if
a physician in New Hampshire wants to provide
assistance to a patient in New York, the physician must
be licensed in both New Hampshire and New York.
Some states have found a way around this though, as
the physician can apply for a “limited telemedicine
license”, however, this caveat is not available in all
states. In other states, it is possible for an out-of-state
physician to consult with an in-state physician as a
consultant, in which case the out-of-state physician will
be able to provide recommendations in the case of their
shared patient.
There seems to be solutions on the horizon, though,
as telemedicine becomes more apparent. In order to
comply with state licensing restrictions, telemedicine
companies have created an 800 number that links to a
network of physicians across state lines. In addition,
the prescriptive authority of physicians inside of the
network is limited to refilling only antibiotic
medicines in order to comply with state and national
laws that prohibits the prescribing of drugs over the
Internet. Another strategy—seemingly a way to make
telemedicine a viable option for those who do not have
direct access to a physician—is to have the ability to
contact a physician who can offer a limited amount of
diagnosis and treatment, followed by the patient in
question using the information to seek out a doctor
who can proceed to administer the proper medications.
Whichever way the legal implications of telemedicine
pursue—and there are many stipulations that need to
be ironed out before the philosophy of the practice can
be administered in its full scheme—there seems to be a
groundswell mounting as technology and medicine are
headed towards a collision course that could mean
better and more efficient healthcare for us all.
Several reports are relaying the fact that
one in three Americans have tried to
diagnose their medical conditions using the
online information database, Wikipedia.
But, it’s not only general users flocking
to the site for their prognosis. The IMS
Institute for Healthcare Informatics reports
that 50% of physicians use the website for
healthcare information as well. But, being
that Wikipedia is a crowd-sourced venture,
the validity of the infomation written on
there needs to be severly questioned.
Since doctors are aware of this, they have
formed an effort called the Wikiproject
Medicine task force. There are 5 top
conditions that are searched on the site:
tuberculosis, Crohn’s disease,
pneumonia, multiple sclerosis, and
diabetes. Dr. James Heilman, the founder
of Wikiproject Medicine says, “The aim
is to improve the quality of the most read
medical articles on Wikipedia and ensure
that this quality will reach non-english
speakers.”
Are Doctors UsingWikipedia?
>> CONT. FROM PAGE ONE
>> CONT. PAGE SIX
HOSPITAL ORDERED TO PAY OVER $4 MILLION
A Los Angeles Supreme Court judge tentatively approved a settlement on March 19th for the sum of $4.1 million in the Stanford Hospital & Clinics medical information breach case. Back in 2010, the hospital allegedly posted the medical information of more than 20,000 ER patients on their website, and let the information stay there for more than a year. The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act states that healthcare providers may not disclose patient information without written consent.
ARCHITECT USES INSTAGRAM TO AVOID TAX
A Philadelphia architect, who bounces between New York and Philly, is taking a time-stamped photo everyday he is in his hometown in order to avoid paying taxes twice.The IRS told Andrew Jarvis that he would have to pay income taxes for NY and PA. But, in order to provide evidence, he opened an Instagram account to show he spends 51% of his time in PA. You can check out his Instagram account @internalrevenueselfies.
THE FUTURE OF CAPTURING EHRs
California-based company Augmedix has created software for the Google Glass eyewear that can capture a patient’s EHR data while interacting with them. The company claims that a doctor spends more than 30% of their time interacting with a computer interface instead of talking to their patients. Augmedix boasts that it cuts that time down to 1%. For more information go to www.augmedix.com.
Often—perhaps almost always—
when you think of the ability to change the
way healthcare technologies are developed, you
ascribe that ability to a physician of some sort.
But, in Ghana, Africa, something new has arisen
that is helping to save the lives of mothers and
children affected by complications due to
childbirth…and it’s all due to a few engineers.
Worldwide, an estimated 500,000 women die due
to complications with childbirth, and at least 4
million infants pass away before
reaching four weeks of age every year. That
statistic struck Tiffany Chen and Gillian Heckler,
who are both engineers working with the
University of Michigan, as “unfair”.
Through their work with the University, Chen
and Heckler were able to spend one month in
Ghana studying their clinical techniques. They
discovered that through the use of better design
they could perhaps improve upon the efficacy of
the nation’s healthcare technologies. The Komfo
Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumsai, Ghana
has worked with the University of Michigan for
over 25 years, but even so, they faced a problem
that they had no answer for: their equipment was
breaking down.
DIIME (Design Innovations for Infants and
Mothers Everywhere)—the organization founded
by Chen and Heckler—estimates that 96 percent
of donated medical equipment breaks down and
loses its value within five years time. In fact, a
section of the hospital called “The Graveyard”
houses all of the broken and inefficient medical
technology that can no longer be used.
Engineers have not always been the “go-to”
profession when it comes to helping develop
new healthcare technology. The University of
Michigan actually used to only send medical
Engineers can do more than build things. They can save lives.
The PLIG NewsBriefTechnology is
Innovating Medicine
VISIT US AT
WWW.PLIGofSJ.COM
CALL US @ 856-692-7702
The 2014 PLIG PuzzleChallenge!
Happy Birthday To Our PLIG Team Members!
Two of our most beloved PLIG team members are celebrating their birthdays! Happy Birthday to Tabitha Hurban (March 8) and Maria Romer (March 13)! May all your dreams and wishes come true and may you live long and prosperous lives.
PLIG-BITS
Across1. Government online healthcare store2. Group of lawyers working together3. Matlock’s profession
Down1. Judge’s hammer2. Urgent medical care3. Kind of damage that spreads4. Agreement between 2 or more people5. Tool draws perfect circles
At The Professional Liability Insurance Group, we know just how bright and intelligent our clients are, which is why we are rolling out a brand new challenge for the new year! All you have to do is answer the crossword challenge correctly and email your answers to [email protected], Fax them to 856-691-0059 or Call 856-692-7702 with your answers. The winner will be selected from a random drawing of all correct responses submitted prior to printing our next newsletter and will win a $20 Wawa Gift Card! Good Luck!
Not-So-Trivial Pursuit
CATURDAY!Test how much you know about our favorite feline friends with this month’s trivia question. The winner will be selected from a random drawing of all correct responses submitted prior to printing our next newsletter and will win a $20 Wawa Gift Card! FAX [856-691-0059], CALL [856-692-7702], OR EMAIL YOUR ANSWER TO [email protected]. Good Luck!
Q: Exactly how many muscles are located within just one cat’s ear?
Quote of the Month: Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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students to Ghana, that is until Chen and Heckler
arrived. The two students admit that their
presence was questioned when they first arrived,
but once they began to talk to clinicians and
maintenance staff, it was clear that they could do
something about the broken down medical
equipment.
Chen and Heckler’s first product was Hemafuse,
a low-tech device that provides a safer way to
manage autologous blood transfusions. The
device was actually just a spray-painted and super
glued prototype, but the clinicians in Ghana were
amazed with what the engineers could do.
With Hemafuse, DIIME was born, and so was the
notion that physicians are not exclusive at
helping create healthcare solutions that could
potentially affect millions. While DIIME has
plenty of upcoming projects that could save even
more lives, it goes without saying that the
engineering community now has another avenue
through which to apply their talents.
Engineers Innovating Medicine
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