California Telehealth Network

The State of California launched the nation's largest telemedicine network yesterday.

The network connects patients and physicians using broadband technology. Telemedicine is intended to link small hospitals and health clinics with a system of physicians, surgeons, and specialists who may be hundreds of miles away. Currently, the California Telehealth Network (CTN) is set up across 50 sites, with the UC-Davis Medical Center serving as the network's control center. CTN is expected to link almost 900 health care facilities across the state by 2011.

Is there a place for CCHS in this system? Do we have a vision for our role or any plans brewing? What do we in IT need to do to help prepare?

Mobile Health Strategy -- More Than Devices

Smartphones and other mobile devices offer a lot of promise for improving health outcomes, but in order to deliver on that promise, healthcare providers must understand how patients bond with their phones!

A recent article in PC World illustrates some of the potential uses for mobile computing technology, ranging from doctors using tablet devices in consultations to patients sending data on sleep patterns over a wireless LAN.

But effective use of these new technologies is not just "plug and play". Lack of standards is one constraining factor, but just as important is an understanding of the personal relationship between people and their phones.

Another recent article in Computerworld emphasizes personalization as a key to customer satisfaction, but also notes the potential conflict between privacy and personalization. One organization quoted in the article recommends learning from the experience with your Website -- but not attempting to duplicate it. "Applications must be useful. You want them to do more than mimic the Web portal," says Bud Flagstad of UnitedHealth Group.

As an information architect and user experience designer, I can only echo the concept that the key to success in technology deployments is to understand the "mental models" of the target audience, the end users.