Consulting Cadre International Inc.

CIHI 2010 Changes Coming ...

2010-03-02T06:54:00.003-05:00

Just thought that I would drop in a little note to all to let you know that we are currently working on implementing the mandated CIHI (2010) changes to the Clarity Healthcare CCRS, MHRS and NRRS modules. This year, CIHI has made some significant changes to all of the modules. These changes include - new Assessment fields - removed Assessment fields - updated Edit Rules (as always) - and most importantly this year - changes to the Outcome Measures in the modules The changes will be tested shortly with CIHI (for our vendor testing cycle) and once that is complete, you can begin to schedule your Test Server upgrades at your Facilities - so that you can review the changes for yourself. Stay Tuned

CHJ iPhone Applications

2010-02-28T15:33:00.005-05:00

The Clarity Health Journal is being developed as a state of the art web application, with high levels of security and user friendliness. And in order to make this user experience even more portable, we are developing CHJ apps for the iPhone. These apps will allow a busy, on the road user to make self-monitoring entries for things like blood glucose without connecting to the CHJ, and commit their offline entries to the CHJ at their convenience. The app will also provide a web viewer for connecting to the CHJ proper, and server-side web views which are tailored for the resolution of the iPhone screen. The goal is to provide CHJ users with the convenience required to maintain an accurate and up-to-date personal health journal.

HIMSS10 in Atlanta

2010-01-23T11:06:00.008-05:00

The annual HIMSS tradeshow takes place in Atlanta, March 1-4, 2010. This is the second year of our participation in this event. The show attracts thousands of healthcare executives seeking new solutions from Health IT. We are attending HIMSS as part of the Ontario Industry and Trade booth. Twelve of Ontario's innovative healthcare companies will present their products and services at HIMSS10. If you are attending come and visit us at Booth#1407. Many of the participants at HIMSS are US hospitals and agencies. Some attendants come from other countries. And of course a number of Canadian hospital and health agency representatives will also attend this international trade show. Canadians appear to look south to the US as a source of expertise. Even with our Canadian pride regarding universal healthcare we look to learn from the experiences of the US healthcare process. There are many resources and educational session. Tremendous opportunities to meet healthcare leaders. The main topics this year will be the concept of "meaningful use" in EHR/EMR deployment. The US is looking to invest $34 Billion to modernize their healthcare system. Standards and outcomes are central to the ARRA funding. While in Canada we switched to ICD10 in 2004/05 for health records diagnoses coding, the US is still using ICD9. Canadian companies can help with this transition. International standards are being adopted in Canada such as SNOMED-CT and HL7 V.3.0 data exchange and messaging, we can provide help with Health Information Exchanges(HIE) roll outs in many states. HIMSS is a great venue to present and share experiences. For us the Clarity Health Journal is the main reason for attending HIMSS. We see the personal health application as pivotal to meaningful use. Empowering patients and their families to be participant in their healthcare system. If you are attending HIMSS10 come and visit us at Booth 1407.

Twitter Counter

2009-12-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

Predicting the cost of acute-care nursing

2009-12-08T21:38:00.002-05:00

A research project I directed was presented at the 25th Patient Classification Systems International (PCSI) Working Conference in Fukuoka, Japan on November 14, 2009. The project was funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care Nursing Secretariat. It investigate the use of proxies to estimate nursing workload on an individual patient basis. The link to the presentation write up is http://bit.ly/NB_PCSI

Retail Healthcare Lowering cost

2009-12-01T09:13:00.003-05:00

The majority of us don't need high cost interventions in health care. We may need the occasional check-up, flu shot or prescription. Our family doctor can schedule an annual physical and for the other common complains see you for 15-20 minutes. In consulting we are all aware of the 80-20 rule or Pareto principal. It goes like this, 20% of the people usually result in 80% of the costs. It is a general rule that seems to pop-up everywhere. And it is no surprise that it is the case in health care. High cost of care endangers our health care system. We can apply our attention to 80% of the population and help deliver the low cost health care more efficiency. Or we can apply our attention to the 20% or the population that drive the majority of the high-cost of health care. The value of eHealth is still unproved, yet the potential benefits is significant. Using electronic health records and online health systems means greater integration of care and data. Quality improvements can be determined once data is collected and analyzed. The information and knowledge can be used to improve outcomes and reduce costs. What does this mean for the majority of us? Well we can visit any doctor's clinic and they can have access to our information. And when we reach an age when we require greater intervention in our health, historical data about our health will be available online. Greater access, better service and lower cost that is the promise of eHealth. The challenge is how do we achieve it.

Vision vs. Creativity

2009-10-03T22:15:00.003-04:00

Our ability to invent sets us apart. Being creative is something we are taught. Being a visionary,I believe is something we acquire through experience. Which of these two is most valuable? Imagination is a trait we encourage in children. Ingenuity is not taught, but is part of our character. Invention is only possible when it is used to produce or create. Being creative and taking a vision to fruition is the greatest of accomplishments. Ideas without follow through are puffs of smoke. Taking an idea and transforming it to a product, a tool and invention takes a belief in our abilities. All of this is something we can learn and must strive to achieve. Without it dreams would just disappear like morning dew.

Bo's career in a paragraph

2009-09-09T17:02:00.004-04:00

Most of my career has been spent promoting the use and development of open source software. I believe strongly that putting a product in the public domain can make it better than it could be if it were entirely created behind closed doors. My clients who are not using or writing oss are usually creating something that is either directly in support of, or related to the public interest. I have been fortunate to work with great academics, public servants, and entrepreneurs.

Technology and results

2009-09-08T16:10:00.006-04:00

There is an increasing amount of technology available these days. Mobile devices; iPhone, Blackberry, Android: Operating systems; MAC, Windows, Linux and web frameworks; PHP, mySQL, AJAX. All these technologies have purpose yet each requires time to learn and master. We need to recognize that we can not be all things to all people. We need to be focused on the results not just the technology that gets us to our goal.

A new beginning

2009-09-08T15:28:00.002-04:00

Formalizing my foray into the consulting world is an exciting opportunity. To be doing so with highly regarded colleagues is even better. Like many others, a wide range of employment and volunteer experiences have led me to develop expertise that is much needed in today’s demanding and complex health care world. I look forward to determining how I and our team can help you address your challenges – whether strategic, operational or procedural in nature.

Strategic development

2009-09-08T10:01:00.008-04:00

My current clients range from the largest teaching hospital in Ontario to a large multi-site community hospital to a small hospital. The projects range from developing international strategies, creating strategy-based balanced scorecards, developing business intelligence strategies, analysing future regional patient flow based upon program changes, and developing an academic strategy.

The World According to Sean

2009-09-02T13:52:00.003-04:00

I have learned many things in my life. Two of these lessons hold fast and true for me - one lesson I learned in school and the other I've always felt in my heart.

SCHOOL'S LESSON: Around 1932 Werner Heisenberg postulated that "...we cannot observe something with affecting the outcome ..." This is a very simple way of stating the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle which I learned while doing a minor degree in Quantum Physics. Why do I find this significant you might ask ? I am always conscious of this concept and have found in my work career that this statement holds true in every aspect of nature.

A LESSON FROM THE HEART: Even before I was married or even dating, I always had ideas about how things should be. Walt Disney said it best when he said "...a man should never neglect his family for business ..." which in some ways is equivalent to the ol' adage "...I work to live. I don't live to work ...". Above all else in my life, this has always been my number one priority. I think that more people need to take this to heart as well...

2009-08-31T21:35:00.001-04:00

When we become conscious of something, we bring about the critical collapse of the wave function, so that the perplexing mixed states of life and death disapper - Eugene Wigner (1902-95)

What is Leadership?

2009-06-22T11:03:00.009-04:00

Leadership is something we all know about. A good leader is someone we can trust to look after best interests; of the team, project or organization we work in. I believe we are all leaders as we all take responsibility and set goals and strive to reach success. We follow good leaders, we admire successful teams. Working together we can achieve more then we can on our own. We need support from each other and from our leaders. Great leaders develop leadership in others and also know when to follow.