Allscripts' ePrescribe integration is live with Google Health

Allscripts' ePrescribe integration is live with Google Health, the company reports. According to Allscripts, the partnership provides physicians with a new means of sharing medication history securely over the Internet with their patients via Google Health. If a patient's physician uses the Allscripts ePrescribe solution, he or she can ask for a secure personal identification number from the physician to establish a sharing link between the e-prescribing and Google Health, allowing the patient to securely import medication history, allergies, and conditions into his or her Google Health Account. The Web-based e-prescribing solution from Allscripts has been offered free of charge to every physician in the United States via the National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI). Allscripts is a national cosponsor of NEPSI and Google is the search sponsor.

Docs want more specialty-specific mobile applications

Skyscape: Docs want more specialty-specific mobile applications

Physicians would like to have more specialty-specific tools on mobile applications. That's according to a new Skyscape white paper, Demand for Clinical Information via PDA by Specialty Physicians. Among the half of all U.S. physicians who use PDA/smartphone-based mobile applications, two-thirds say their PDA/smartphone is essential to their clinical practice. Yet nearly three-quarters say they would like more access to specialty-specific drug references, clinical applications, and medical tools/alerts on mobile applications. According to Skyscape, this could indicate a way for pharma to better engage and communicate with specialists through technology solutions.

Epocrates for iPhone big hit with physician users

In the first month of availability, more than 125,000 users, including 25,000 U.S. physicians, downloaded the Epocrates Rx drug and formulary software for the iPhone. Epocrates conducted surveys among 607 physicians and consumers to evaluate how the iPhone is being used to support clinical decisions and ensure medication safety. Nearly 80% report using Epocrates during patient visits. They also share drug safety information with their patients. Patient reaction is also positive, with the majority feeling more confident their provider is confirming clinical information. More than 70% of physicians report using Epocrates at least once per day, and half plan to use it more in the future. In addition, 90% believe all healthcare professionals should use a clinical reference, such as Epocrates.
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Doctors Get High Marks as Regence Members Share Opinions Online

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ --

An overwhelming majority of Regence members would recommend their doctor to others, according to a popular online survey on the company's member Web site -- myRegence.com. A "Member Feedback" feature on the site allows Regence members to post feedback on their experiences with individual providers, including physicians, dentists, other health care professionals and facilities.

"Our own research and national studies show that patients want to hear from other patients," said David Clark, Senior Vice President of Health Care Services for Regence. "We created the feedback feature so members can share experiences and compare notes. That kind of information helps our members make better decisions about their health care."

JupiterResearch Finds that Mobile Social Networks Hold the Potential To Be Next Killer Application

NEW YORK, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- JupiterResearch, a leading authority on the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on business, has found that a confluence of events, ranging from the introduction of the iPhone to the popularity of social networks among teens and young adults, is fundamentally altering consumer expectations of cellular services. As a result, social networks hold the potential to be a killer application for cell phones.

According to a new report "Mobile Social Networking: Assessing Social Strategies for Carriers and Handset Manufacturers," cell phones primarily play a disconnected role from social networks today. However, despite relatively low adoption of social networking activities on cell phones by the average cell phone user, active social networkers -- those accessing their networks multiple times each day -- are using their cell phones to interact with these sites, generating an enormous volume of traffic.
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Online Social Networking Goes Mobile: 140 Million Users by 2013

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--September 2, 2008--

Online social networking is huge and growing strongly, but what happens when all those virtual friends hit the road? Increasingly, they will be able to keep in touch via mobile versions of their favorite social networks, running on their cellular phones. ABI Research forecasts that in 2013, more than 140 million subscribers will share “anytime, anywhere” experiences this way, and they will generate subscription revenues in excess of $410 million.

http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/ Mobile_Content_Research_Service

Canadian Medical Association Launches Social Networking Site for Canadian Doctors

--(Marketwire - Aug. 19, 2008) -

Delegates at the Canadian Medical Association's 141st Annual General Council will get a sneak-peak at the latest web-based innovation in Canadian health care: a new online social networking community called Asklepios that makes it easier for physicians from coast-to-coast to connect, share best practices, and learn from each other."

The Asklepios online community is only open to Canadian physicians, residents and medical students and is securely hosted in Canada where data is protected. Asklepios uses the same authentication procedures as www.cma.ca, so unlike traditional forms of online communication, physicians can trust the security and privacy of information posted on Asklepios and be confident that the people they're communicating with are Canadian physicians, validated by the CMA.