Building Unity Farm - A Hawk Attack

Yesterday when I returned from my hospital workday, my father-in-law mentioned that our Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs were extremely agitated in the afternoon.   When he checked on the dogs, he saw an enormous raptor circulating the barnyard, likely a red shouldered hawk.Although the barnyard is generally protected by a tree canopy, at this time of year the trees are bare and the predators are very hungry.I did my usual nightly animal...[Readmore]

The Security Risks of Medical Devices

 Beth Israel Deaconess has been outspoken about the risks of malware on FDA 510k approved medical devices such as radiology workstations, echocardiogram machines, and patient monitors.Although these devices appear to be "appliances" that you simply plug into the network and use for patient care, they are actually sophisticated computers, often running outdated versions of operating systems and applications that are not resilient against...[Readmore]

It’s Time for a National Patient Identifier

Here's a guest post from  Meg Aranow, Principal at Aranow Consulting LLC.Some of us remember that the early HIPAA discussions included the concept of a national patient identifier.   As legislators and administrators attempted to find the right balance between the risks and rewards of automation, ultimately the patient identifier was thought to pose too much privacy risk.  I think that was the right decision in 1998.  But is it...[Readmore]

Building Unity Farm - Naming the Landscape

I'm a great admirer of Edwin Way Teale's Pulitzer prize winning work about his travels across the United States during the four seasons and about his last 20 years of life on an old farm in northeast Connecticut. I was recently asked to keynote a conference at the Mohegan Sun and took the road less traveled so that I could visit Teale's property, which is now an Audubon preserve.Trail Wood is very similar to Unity Farm -  We have woodland, meadow,...[Readmore]

The February HIT Standards Committee Meeting

The February HIT Standards Committee focused on the Committee workplan for 2013.Farzad Mostashari offered introductory remarks.   He noted that we need to build the foundation for stage 3 while also focusing on the implementation of stage 2.   The industry is feeling overwhelmed with meaningful use, ICD10, and ACO formation all occurring simultaneously.   Ensuring we get stage 2 right is our first priority. A consistent theme in rest...[Readmore]

The Kindness of Strangers

I've been described as an eternal optimist who sees the best in everyone and everything.Of course, I realize that humans can be territorial, selfish, competitive, dishonest, and mercurial, but I never let that bother me.A few days ago, I was dropping off recycling at the Natick recycling center (has a special bin for styrofoam) and found it closed so I tried turning around in its unplowed driveway.  My Prius got stuck.   A Natick city employee...[Readmore]

Building Unity Farm - Planning for Mushroom Cultivation

In a few weeks, my wife and I will be taking down approximately 30 poplars which are growing near the house and barn.   Poplars grow to 75 feet and these trees are within 50 feet of structures.   We've lost many poplars in recent storms because the wood is soft and the roots are shallow.   We'd rather remove them before they fall into the house.What are we going to do with the soft wood from 30 trees that are not suitable for firewood?The...[Readmore]

"Social Documentation" for Healthcare

Every day CIOs are inundated with buzzword-compliant products - BYOD, Cloud, Instant Messaging,  Software as a Service, and Social Networking.In yesterday's blog post, I suggested that we are about to enter the "post EHR" era in which the management of data gathered via EHRs will become more important than the clinical-facing functions within EHRs.Today, I'll add that we do need to a better job gathering data inside EHRs while at the same time...[Readmore]

The "Post EHR" Era

Over the next few months, the majority of my time will be spent discussing topics such as care coordination, healthcare information exchange, care management, real time analytics, and population health. At BIDMC, we've already achieved 100% EHR adoption and 90% Meaningful Use attestation among our clinician community.    Now that the foundation is laid, I believe our next body of work is to craft the technology and workflow solutions which...[Readmore]

So What Does 30 Inches of Snow Look Like?

For those who have been watching news of the New England weather,  here's a personal look at what 30 inches of snow in 12 hours looks like.   We shoveled and plowed through the night to keep our lanes open.    The alpaca/llama stayed in the barn eating hay.    The dogs played in the drifts all night.   The chickens/guinea fowl slept through the entire event.     We did not lose power, but we prepared for...[Readmore]

Building Unity Farm - The Hen That Went Broody

The world of Unity Farm is cold and frozen this week.   There's ice and snow on the ground and night time temps are approaching single digits.   It's not the right time to hatch chicks.However, randomly throughout the year, egg laying hens decide that hatching eggs is their only priority.   They sit on the eggs 23+ hours a day, taking only a quick break once a day to eat and drink.   The go broody.We're fine with the concept,...[Readmore]