Nicholas Mollanazar

This is an amazing post! I think there needs to be more forums and avenues of communication like this for all specialities! Learning from others in the setting of chat rooms seems invaluable. I imagine people are more readily able to admit when they don’t know how to do a particular task, since they are operating in the some what anonymous…[Read more]

The idea of community of practice is quite interesting. While I was unaware of the terminology, the general idea – that collaboration amongst colleagues leads to the best outcomes – is quite popular today and in general, is a hot topic.

Many hospitals are the antithesis to community of practice – departments are treated as walled off silos…[Read more]

This is a subject that is near and dear to me and is certainly a major discussion in medicine. I’d like to focus my discussion in the context of handheld ultrasound.

For decades, ultrasound equipment has been costly and bulky. Over the past decade, the machines that perform ultrasounds have increasingly become smaller and more compact.…[Read more]

Q: From the perspective of the recording industry (record labels), what advantages do digital media have over physical media? Then why were the labels so resistant to digital media?

A; Digital media distribution provided several benefits to record labels. The primary benefit was a reduction in overhead, fixed costs, and variable costs. More…[Read more]

The cloud allows for the internet of things to communicate seamlessly and effortlessly via backend channels supported on external servers. In short – it allows for us to use others hardware to handle the bulk of our activities required in the back round for our common uses.

The cloud is perhaps the leading innovation of era. Sadly, I think it…[Read more]

Hey John, are you in the hospital? I’ve noticed a serious disconnect between the hospital and university. The university is seriously tech equipped, but the hospital is the exact opposite. I’d like to know more about your experiences. In the hospital, all phones, laptops, and tablets that access the electronic medical record have to be encrypted…[Read more]

I strongly disagree Chase. I think its purely institutionally dependent. Top tier health systems, such as Emory and Mt. Sinai, advocate for and support BYOD. This is because they have adequately and competently staffed IT departments that are confident in their abilities My institution, Temple, also does not allow BYOD – but this is largely due to…[Read more]

BYOD is not supported in the Temple health system. In fact, it is strongly opposed. I think this is a serious problem that will plague Temple and stymie progress. When I was an away student at Emory University, the health system there strongly encouraged and advocated for BYOD. The system was truly amazing – being able to see patients while using…[Read more]

Why would a company use these services from Amazon instead of maintaining their own infrastructure? What would the pros and cons of using Amazon’s services be for the company you work for?

-Companies would select Amazon’s infrastructure services because they are scalable and they are affordable. Compared to some other large software/hardware c…[Read more]

I think Temple Health System continually undervalues technology and either underinvests and or invest in the wrong things. For instance, we have spent hundreds of millions on our in patient EMR system, Epic. The system is plagued with delays in implementation, largely because of insufficient staff. Meaning, Temple spent millions on the software,…[Read more]

Interesting response. I think an intrinsic issue with this approach and is that implicit assumption that the method being used to assess the projects is valid. Perhaps the methodology is flawed in some way. I think it is very important that companies continually audit their processes to ensure that as the company evolved, certain types of projects…[Read more]

I think Matulovic should inquire those calling why their projects are different and not able to get approval from the standardized process. He should document their concerns and then go back to all those projects and look at the applications. If those calling did not submit their projects to the new process, they should be asked to do so. If they…[Read more]

I couldn’t find an explanation for how they came up with the $60 million figure – it seemed so arbitrary. While I don’t believe its necessarily appropriate that every IT request be funded (because many different departments make foolish or selfish IT requests), I think that the process that went into determining how much funding would be provided…[Read more]

The new BPTO centralized IT department is a better more optimized system than what previously existed at VWoA.

VWoA’s previous attempts to manage IT were plagued with operational deficiencies. From 1992 to 1999, VWoA engaged in the complete outsourcing of its IT needs to the Perot group. In 1999, VWoA regrouped the few IT personnel it still d…[Read more]

Every seems to believe there is a better way. I agree that the movement to chips in credit cards is necessary, and it seems all major issuers are moving towards that route. Apple Pay utilizes NFC technology, which I believe will be one of the hallmarks of future commerce, as it makes it very difficult for fraud to occur. While the information used…[Read more]

I was discussing this case with my attending in dermatology clinic today – and he mentioned a very valid point I hadn’t considered. Why didn’t the hospital contact the FBI at the very beginning. The hackers are trying to extort the hospital, and clearly are extremely intelligent and capable. The situation almost necessitates the immediate…[Read more]

I have to respectfully disagree on this point. When a hospital moves to EMR, it is a massive undertaking. The entire hospital IT systems are completely retooled to work in the context of the new records systems. While writing progress notes would be easy, it would remain a challenge to document medications, place orders, and track clinical…[Read more]

Do you think retailers, payment processors, and credit card companies are doing enough to keep your financial information secure? Or, is a certain level of fraud just a cost of doing business?

– I think all the aforementioned parties are doing their upmost to keep information secure. These entities employ scores of compliance and risk…[Read more]

What kinds of information do you think hosts should know about renters? As a potential renter, how much information would you be willing to give?

-I think hosts should know basic demographic data about renters, i.e. age, sex, ethnicity, and occupation. I think renters should know the same about hosts. As a potential renter, this is absolutely…[Read more]

What do you think Sunnylake should do now? Would you make the same recommendation to your manager if all of your office was locked out of its computer systems?
– I think Sunnylake should take their entire system off-line and limit it to internal communications only. The hospital can then function, in a limited capacity, while IT works to find the…[Read more]