October 2009

Wi-Fi's next frontier: Connecting devices

Kelly Davis-Felner, marketing director for the Wi-Fi Alliance, said the organization is launching a certification program for device-to-device connectivity via Wi-Fi that will officially kick off next summer. Similar to Bluetooth 3.0, device-to-device Wi-Fi enables quick connections between devices. This could include transferring content from a TV set-top box to its display or a proprietary implementation that lets two gamers share a video game between their Wi-Fi-enabled PlayStation consoles. It would also enable wirelessly sharing pictures from a cell phone or even sending a mobile image to display on a projector or a document from a laptop to a printer. Another use case comes from human interface devices, including mice, headphones and displays. Enterprise functionality is also being built in, Davis-Felner said.

National Information Literacy Awareness Month

President Barack Obama has declared October 2009 as , calling upon Americans to recognize the important role information plays in our daily lives, and appreciate the need for a greater understanding of its impact. "This month, we dedicate ourselves to increasing information literacy awareness so that all citizens understand its vital importance," the President wrote. "An informed and educated citizenry is essential to the functioning of our modern democratic society, and I encourage educational and community institutions across the country to help Americans find and evaluate the information they seek, in all its forms." Information literacy refers to the skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate information for any situation. This new type of literacy also requires competency with communication technologies, including computers and mobile devices that can help in our day-to-day decisionmaking. highlights the need for all Americans to be adept in the skills necessary to effectively navigate the Information Age.

Obama Administration Continues to Adopt New Media

Departments across the Administration continue to try to leverage social media tools to help make government more open and transparent. The Department of Justice announced the launch of the new Justice.gov and new profiles on Twitter, YouTube , MySpace and Facebook. Secretary Salazar from the Department of Interior launched new profiles on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and even a Flickr page that offers photos from the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service and other bureaus. On Facebook, you can now become a fan of Education Secretary Duncan. You can now follow Transportation Secretary LaHood and Commerce Secretary Locke on Twitter.

Health Information Technology Strengthens Care in Rural Communities

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a report on how health information technology can improve health care for Americans living in rural communities. The report examines how the Columbia Basin Health Association in Othello (WA) uses health information technology to improve health care quality and patient safety as well as promote care coordination and continuity. Columbia Basin Health Association (CBHA) provides 25,000 patients with access to a variety of medical, dental, prescription, and other services. CBHA was also one of the first health centers in the United States to fully transition from paper-based charts to an electronic health record (EHR) system. In response to the growing prevalence of diabetes in rural communities, CBHA used their EHR system to better track 1,302 diabetic patients. CBHA monitored whether patients received recommended exams and then provided feedback to health care providers on their performance. In January 2008, only 31 percent of patients at CBHA had received a foot exam and only 37 percent had received an eye exam during the previous year. By June 2008, 86 percent of patients had received a foot exam and 63 percent had received an eye exam over the previous year. Since CBHA's implementation of EHRs, the community health center has consistently ranked above the 95th percentile nationally in total medical and dental team productivity. Approximately 65 million Americans live in communities with shortages of primary care providers and nearly 50 million of those Americans live in rural areas. Health information technology, and specifically EHRs, can improve care for patients and assist in clinical decision making and the use of evidence-based guidelines. Electronic health records can also decrease administrative hassle, increasing workplace satisfaction and productivity.

"Meaningful" Progress Toward Electronic Health Information Exchange

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is charged with coordinating nationwide efforts to implement and use the most advanced health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information. ONC is working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), through an open and transparent process, on efforts to officially designate what constitutes "meaningful use." CMS is expected to publish a formal definition of meaningful use, for the purposes of receiving the Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments, by December 31, 2009. At that time, the public will be able to comment on the definition, and such comments will be considered in reaching any final definition of the term. By focusing on "meaningful use," we recognize that better health care does not come solely from the adoption of technology itself, but through the exchange and use of health information to best inform clinical decisions at the point of care. Meaningful use of EHRs, we anticipate, will also enable providers to reduce the amount of time spent on duplicative paperwork and gain more time to spend with their patients throughout the day. It will lead us toward improvements and sustainability of our health care system that can only be attained with the help of a reliable and secure nationwide electronic health information system. The concept of meaningful use is simple and inspiring, but we recognize that it becomes significantly more complex at a policy and regulatory level. As a result, we expect that any formal definition of "meaningful use" must include specific activities health care providers need to undertake to qualify for incentives from the federal government. Ultimately, we believe "meaningful use" should embody the goals of a transformed health system. Meaningful use, in the long-term, is when EHRs are used by health care providers to improve patient care, safety, and quality.

White House vs. FOX News: Olympics

In the ongoing struggle between the White House and the FOX News Channel, the Obama administration's direct rebuttal of what FOX's Glenn Beck and a guest have had to say this week about the administration's hand in Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games may seem like a footnote. But it's emblematic of something bigger: An administration's refusal to play ball with a widely watched cable news network which it views as slanted is escalating to an administration's willingness to challenge commentators on the network for fast and loose foot-play with the facts - or, more specifically in this case, Glenn Beck's carelessness.

How New York City's Seven Newspapers Are (Nearly) Surviving

How does New York City support seven daily newspapers? Well, they might only exist for the mammoth size of their owners' egos. Owning a newspaper "allows wealthy individuals the opportunity to be important," says Mitchell Moss, a professor at New York University's Wagner Graduate School. "Without New York, who would take their phone calls?" Even if papers aren't lining their owners' pockets with as much money as they used to, the papers are "providing status," he says. "We shouldn't underestimate the social and psychological purpose they serve. If you want a newspaper, you're doing it for the persona. It's a lot better than being a real estate developer."

Afghanistan, Racism Lead the Blogs

Sparked by an assessment from a top U.S. military commander, bloggers last week weighed in on the debate over whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. And for the second week in a row, questions about the role of race in attitudes toward President Obama generated heated commentary. For the week of September 21-25, 18% of the links were to stories about the situation in Afghanistan according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. This is the highest level of attention to that subject since August 31-September 4 when it made up 26% of the links following an article by columnist George Will advocating a pullout.

Washington Post, Bloomberg will start news service

The Washington Post and Bloomberg will start a service in January to distribute a selection of their news to newspapers, Websites and other subscribers, a day after the Post ended a similar arrangement with Tribune Co's Los Angeles Times. The service, "The Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News," also will produce a business page on the Post's website that includes news from the Post and Bloomberg's website. The news service, which begins on Jan. 1, 2010, will feature 120 stories a day, along with photos, graphics and other story elements. The decision to start the news service comes as Bloomberg may be trying to broaden its reach beyond its base of financial clients who read its news on Bloomberg terminals. In a sign of this, the company is the likely front-runner to buy BusinessWeek magazine from McGraw-Hill.

Report Asks Music Industry, 'Are Users Experienced?'

Forrester Research music analyst Mark Mulligan is calling for a radical overhaul of the music industry, beginning with a product manifesto of consumer rights. "Future music products will need to adopt a platform-agnostic worldview that encompasses powerful and social interactivity to empower consumers to create their own unique experiences," Mulligan writes in a new report. "In the post-media-meltdown world, product innovation will trump programming and marketing as media companies' most valuable asset -- and the music industry is no exception," he adds. The recorded music sector is in desperate need of exciting new products upon which it can build a sounder future. What is he proposing, exactly? For one, that consumers have the "right" to better user experiences. While far from perfect, on-demand music-streaming software and service provider Spotify is cited as a good example of what happens when the user experience is the core focus. Also, that consumers have the right to more "unique" music experiences, by giving music fans the ability to create their own individual social contexts, programming, and audiovisual "soundscapes."

Benton

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