A Job Fair Like No Other
I went to a job fair the other day. It was, in many ways, your typical job fair: booths, crowds, enough fliers to choke local airspace for three days straight with paper planes, and the usual assortment of pens, magnets, candy, and other free stuff to give away. In other ways, however, it was subtly different. For one, everyone behind the booths was in uniform. For two, in order to get in I was forced to submit to a thorough airport-security-style screening with wands and purse searches and orders to leave any weapons (keys, nail clippers, CDs, and I guess guns or knives: this was America, after all) firmly at the door under the watchful eye of a smartly-dressed guard.
It was held in the local fairgrounds pavilion, and it was a Naval job fair. The shipyards were in need of people to operate cranes, cast pipe fittings, wire electrical outlets, weld hulls together, and lay nice cushiony carpet in the captain’s quarters (because rank has its benefits). I lived not a half-hour away from where the largest government-owned ships in the world were docked, and those things require a lot of maintenance.
Some tasks surprised me, though. Did you know that the Navy needs people to lay ceramic tiles? Or that sailmakers (who work in the sail loft) do not in fact make sails but stitch together backpacks, hazard bags, tool belts, and everything else that might include fabric or fabric-like material of any kind? Or that someone has to make all the little plaques that say “watch your head,” “mess hall to your left,” and “This medal has been awarded for a job well done”?
I walked around, took advantage of all the little free Navy pens (because don’t let it be said that I’m one to turn down free stuff) and eventually walked away with enough brochures to start on my paper plane armada. Did I get a job? Nope. Turns out the Navy’s more interested in people who have actually held a wrench more than once in their life. Ah, well.
With the ever-growing rise of electronic health records (EHR), the demand has never been greater to adopt interfaces to these systems. According to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, around 90% of doctors and 70% of hospitals will be implementing EHRs within the next ten years. Along with this demand, companies have responded to the need for fast computerized provider order entry, or CPOE solutions that deliver high functionality for physicians. Among these are mobile applications that can supply key pieces of data like billing details, ask-at-order entry questions, specimen types and medical necessity compliance, on-the-go and from any location.
The following is a quick list of 5 key advantages that mobile CPOE applications, which are now available for a variety of tablet devices (including iPad, Android and Xoom products), can provide.
1. They’re simple to use and offer full functionality.
Orders can be dropped to any workable electronic health record (EHR), accounts receivable system or laboratory information system (LIS).
2. They offer quick and easy access to order validation.
A browser-based workflow facilitator validates orders prior to electronic upload to the LIS or registration program. This operates similar to mobile boarding pass technology used by airlines. The application creates and then emails a barcoded requisition directly to a patient’s mobile device, which can then be used at the patient service center or hospital outpatient registration points for trouble-free order upload.
3. They easily integrate into other on-site technology frameworks.
Many mobile applications are designed to work easily with other platforms for information exchange.
4. They feature prompts for secure billing information and medical necessity checks.
5. They assure HIPAA-compliant secure transfer of clinical information with the same level of file encryption and security as a VPN (virtual private network).
Implementing EHR systems is a challenge, especially with the wide variety of platforms that are becoming available. Make sure your clinical data exchange solutions provider has the level of clinical and technological experience necessary to facilitate easy EHR integration. Using mobile applications and taking advantage of these benefits will only go so far if clinical, financial and administrative data has not been properly transitioned into an EHR environment.
