January 31, 2006
Are We Ready for ePrescribing?
The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) has published a new report on ePrescribing. Over 3.27 billion prescriptions are written each year. Within the complex prescription drug industry, most of the functions necessary to process these transactions are managed electronically. The last to switch to computers are doctors—85 percent of whom are still using their notepads.
This CHCF-funded report provides an overview of the prescription process including organizational, financial, and IT elements that influence how prescriptions are handled today. It examines the issue of ePrescribing (eRx), including the opportunities it presents to streamline information management and the potential payoffs for both physicians and pharmacies.
Although various obstacles may slow the transition to eRx, the report points to market and technology trends that are adding to the momentum for the change, and concludes that the potential benefits of the technology could be considerable.
The report also gives an overview of opportunities and obstacles, the ideal eRx and an interesting look into the future which includes dealing with issues such as: Medicare Part D; improving compliance in chronic patients; the role of incentives and the need for unified standards.
The California HealthCare Foundation is an independent philanthropy committed to improving the way health care is delivered and financed in California, and helping consumers make informed health care and coverage decisions. Formed in 1996, our goal is to ensure that all Californians have access to affordable, quality health care.
CHCF commissions research and analysis, publishes and disseminates information, convenes stakeholders, and funds development of programs and models aimed at improving the health care delivery and financing systems.
Full CHCF Report (pdf)
January 26, 2006
Putting A Stop To Spyware
There is a new initiative aimed at combating the growing problem of spyware and other deceptive software. It is called StopBadware.org. This project is led by Harvard’s Berkman Center and the Oxford Internet Institute to independently evaluate downloadable applications, publish objective information for consumers, and provide an easy web-based way for users to describe problems they've encountered. Consumer Reports WebWatch is serving as an unpaid advisor to the effort. Google, along with Sun Microsystems and Lenovo, are co-sponsors.
According to the description on the stopbadware.org site, StopBadware.org is a "Neighborhood Watch" campaign aimed at fighting badware. We will seek to provide reliable, objective information about downloadable applications in order to help consumers make better choices about what they download onto their computers. We aim to become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware.
January 17, 2006
How Long Does It Take to Decide That We Like A Website?
According to a study conducted by Canadian researchers, published in the journal "Behaviour & Information Technology," it takes but a blink of the eye for an internet user to make up his/her mind about the quality of a website.
The researchers were pleasantly surprised by their findings that the human brain takes about a twentieth of a second to decide on the appeal of a website - they seriously thought it would take at least 10 times longer to form an opinion.
The Canadian team wrote that visual appeal can be assessed within 50 milliseconds, which means that web designers have only 50 milliseconds to create an impact on users. Significantly, the research proved that the age-old maxim about first impressions still very much holds good.
In this study, volunteers were shown 50 millisecond glimpses of Web sites, and asked them to rate the sites basis their aesthetic appeal. Users were then asked to examine the site carefully, and provide a second rating. The researchers found the 2 ratings closely tallying.
According to the study, first impressions last because of a "halo effect". This means that if people believe a website looks good, then this positive quality will spread to other areas such as the website's content.
Journal Behaviour & Information Technology
January 05, 2006
Google 2084
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/10/10/opinion/1010opart.html,
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company