Sermo is an online network for physicians — currently, over 60,000 of them. (I've written about the Sermo community previously, and I've written about meeting Sermo's CEO, Dr. Daniel Palestrant.) One of the advantage of social networks like Sermo is that it allows groups to quickly formulate and vote on ideas. The physicians of Sermo — over a thousand of them — have used the network to craft "An Open Letter from America's Physicians." I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Sean Khozin, who originally proposed the idea of a group letter from Sermo physicians. He and the writers did a great job. The text of the letter is below. To sign the letter, visit Sermo.
Dear Fellow Americans,
For decades the United States has led the world in healthcare. We have enjoyed the finest hospitals, medical schools, research, technology, and resources. Unfortunately, our healthcare system has lost focus to the point where patient wellbeing is placed after politics, profits, and special interests. Healthcare costs are on the rise and patients have lost their freedom of choice. These trends are hurting our economy and compromising the doctor-patient relationship. As a result, it has become difficult for physicians to deliver the best possible care.
Our heavily fragmented healthcare system has made it very difficult for you, the American public, to get the care you need. As your physicians, we want to partner with you to address the critical defects of the system as outlined below:
* You are paying a lot for healthcare and not receiving enough in return. Your insurance premiums continue to increase while your healthcare options are dwindling. Gatekeepers, insurance networks, and restrictive regulations limit your choice of doctors and your access to care.
* You have been made dependent on complicated and expensive health insurance plans. Employers are forced to take money out of your paycheck to purchase health coverage. If you lose your job, you are left with no safety net and the money you have paid for health coverage vanishes.
* The time you spend with your physician has become remarkably brief due to regulatory hurdles requiring doctors to spend more time on documentation than with you.
We believe the following factors have made our current healthcare system unsustainable:
* The insurance industry's undue authority and oppressive control over healthcare processes
* Excessive and misguided government regulation
* The practice of defensive medicine in response to a harmful and costly legal environment
We, the physicians of the United States, will no longer remain silent. We will not tolerate a healthcare system where those without medical expertise or genuine interest in our patients' health have absolute control. This letter is merely a summary of the most important problems in our current system. We believe that by partnering with the public we can start to demand real change and formulate practical solutions.
We invite you, our patients, friends, neighbors, and employers to unite with us at this important time in the history of healthcare in the United States. Together, we can guarantee our nation a healthier tomorrow.
Please talk to your doctor about this letter and visit Doctors Unite for more information.
My goal in Tech Medicine will be to explore the intersection of medicine, new technologies, and the Internet. This is a purposefully broad topic. Several times weekly I will post focused reviews of issues interesting to health professionals and nonprofessionals alike. Posts may include examinations of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, scientific advances, internet services, and other technologies involving health care and the practice of medicine. Mirroring as it does the nature of the Internet and the sometimes surprising nature of new technologies, the content may also include topics that are wonderful, unusual, hilarious, or strange.
I'm trained as a nephrologist (a kidney and blood pressure specialist). For the last two years I've written Kidney Notes, a blog designed to filter and process medical news. Most recently, Kidney Notes has become a collection of links, commentary, and scraps of information -- a reference database of interesting things with the help of a popular social bookmarking service called del.icio.us. While I will continue posting to Kidney Notes, several friends have asked me to write longer posts of original content -- and this is what I will be writing on Tech Medicine. Recently, I have also written a blog on personal productivity called The Efficient MD (in association with the American College of Physicians). I'm also writing a book on physician productivity and lifehacks.
There are many topics I plan to cover, but I'm also open to suggestions, tips, and even posts by guest bloggers. Please email techmedicine@gmail.com.
Image via WikipediaThe folks over at MedGadget (full disclosure: I'm a proud editor there) and Amy Tenderich of DiabetesMine™ are sponsoring the 2nd Annual DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge, a "a competition designed to foster innovation in diabetes design and encourage creative new tools that will improve life with diabetes."
Here's the official announcement:
2nd Annual DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge*
* a competition designed to foster innovation in diabetes design and get the creative juices flowing around new concepts and tools to improve life with diabetes*
Two of the most enticing design concepts will win a package of prizes to help further their creative efforts: $1,000 in cash, some pro-bono professional advice from world-renowned design experts, and free access to the next Health 2.0 conference for one adult winner.
This contest is co-hosted by my friends over at Medgadget, the Internet journal of emerging medical technologies, and supported by the world-renowned design firm IDEO, with headquarters in Palo Alto, CA. The campaign is generously sponsored by Cory and Justin Oringer, two young brothers (ages 14 and 11, respectively) who have both been living with Type 1 diabetes for more than 10 years each and have already seen and personally experienced many wonderful benefits of design innovation in diabetes technology. Just a few of the innovations that have changed their lives include:
blood glucose tests that previously took 30 seconds now take only 5 seconds
5 microliter droplets of blood required have now shrunk to just .3 microliters
where we once there was finger sticking only, we can now use alternate sites (nighttime toe testing gives the boys' fingers some healing relief)
multiple injections have now given way to the option for pumping with convenient temp basals, correction calculators, and "bolus wizards"
21g lancets have slimmed down to just 30g needles, now available in "virtually painless" lancing devices like Renew and Pelikan
These devices provide the lancet needles in cartridge form, doing away with accidental needle sticks (Cory's schoolmate once poked himself with a lost lancet, creating havoc at their school)
At the same time, Cory and Justin have witnessed (and lived) the revolution in communication we fondly know as Social Media. Who ever heard of a "blog" back when they were diagnosed? User-generated content has changed lives, and driven a whole new wave of excitement about contests and challenges (think American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, and The Apprentice).
"With a father deeply entrenched in the diabetes business, Cory and Justin inevitably wind up in the midst of numerous innovation-brainstorming conversations. They’re very excited to be involved in the DiabetesMine Design Challenge," the family writes to me.
Now for the particulars:
THE BACKGROUND
It was just about this time last year that I posted my Open Letter to Steve Jobs, calling for the gods of consumer design to help revolutionize design of diabetes devices. This spurred a ton of conversation across the blogosphere and mainstream media. In the weeks and months that followed, all sorts of individuals and organizations came forward with many compelling new prototypes, designs, and ideas.
This year, we're making it an official competition, laying down the gauntlet, as it were, to anyone passionate about diabetes and product design. Whether you're a pharma R&D pro, an independent engineer, a design student or an enterprising patient, we want to hear from you.
ELIGIBILITY
This competition is open to all individuals and organizations developing devices or supplies for people with diabetes (medications not included), or enterprising patients with unique prototype concepts. DiabetesMine™ will accept submissions in two categories: under age 18, and age 18 and older.
CONTEST TIMELINE
Submissions can be made beginning April 30, 2008, until Monday, May 26st, 2008, at 11:59 pm PST. The winners will be announced on Friday, May 30th, 2008.
PRIZES
The winners will receive a combination of rewards intended to help take their ground-breaking diabetes design concept to the next level: prize money, consulting advice, industry event exposure and media coverage.
Sponsors Cory and Justin Oringer generously offer $1,000 each in two entry categories: under age 18 and over age 18 (total prize money $2,000).
Health and wellness consultants from world-renown design firm IDEO will host a two-hour workshop to help each winner refine their concept.
Organizers of the “innovation incubator” Health 2.0 Conference have generously offered one free access ticket to their Fall conference in San Francisco, October 21-23rd, 2008, for the winner of the adult competition.
Medgadget and DiabetesMine™ will promote the winners through articles and blogs, and possibly also feature some of the coolest finalists.
COMPETITION GUIDELINES
All entries must be in the form of a movie or an animation, no more than 2 minutes long (all content in English), which will be submitted by uploading into the DiabetesMine™ channel on YouTube.
Each product or design concept must be new, i.e. introduced within the last half-year, or in development phase, possibly undergoing user testing now.
One video per product idea only, please.
The product or design concept needs to have been created in its entirety by the submitting team, i.e. it must not infringe or violate the rights of any third parties, including, but not limited to the copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and right of publicity/privacy.
Each video submission needs to contain your brief but complete "Elevator Pitch," covering the following aspects describing your new design:
Explanation of the everyday problem(s) your concept is designed to solve – how does it help improve life for people with diabetes?
Description of the medical application of the product.
Detailed depiction of the product's look and feel, material, and dimensions. Ideally the video will include a 360-degree shot of the product or design concept.
Demonstration of the product in action and its various functions, if possible.
Each video segment must display the 2nd Annual DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge screen at the beginning and end for five seconds. (See instructions below on where to download that slide)
4. Post a comment on this blog below providing the following information to help identify your video:
Video title
Your name and age (category you are entering)
Valid email contact info
State of residence
Your status (medical professional, start-up company, independent designer, student, etc.)
5. Note that by submitting an entry for the 2nd Annual DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge, submitters agree to these additional OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES.
THE JUDGING CRITERIA
Winners will be evaluated both popular vote and by a panel of three judges. In a sort of reverse American Idol system, reader voting will be taken into consideration, but the final determination will be made by the judges.
The judging panel will consist of one MD/Editor from Medgadget, one design expert from IDEO, and Amy Tenderich of DiabetesMine™ providing the patient perspective on user experience/desirability of the product. Entries will be judged on three-pronged criteria:
Efficiency - how does it solve a real-life problem for people living with diabetes?
Clinical Efficacy – how realistic and applicable is this product from a medical standpoint?
Aesthetics - it's the look and feel, Baby! How good is the pure design?
Remember, good design can be applied to anything, even something as "low-tech" as a special container for disposing of used glucose test strips. Let the innovation begin!
Sermo, the online network for physicians, just started a board for medical jobs:
Goodbye recruiters! On Sermo Jobs™ there are no more third parties—no recruiters, no headhunters, and no conflicts of interest. Sermo Jobs™ provides the perfect forum to connect with one another, discuss job opportunities, and network—all in real time.
Scientists from Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Washington in Seattle say they were able to launch cyber strikes against and glean private patient data from an ICD's communication protocol while testing the device's safety and security.
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