Panelist on Healthcare Security & Privacy at the The Texas Lyceum

3 Feb
2010

I’ve been asked to participate in the Texas Lyceum in San Antonio, February 6th, 2010.  The title of the event is “Our Growing Lives Online:  Safe or Not?” and will attempt to tackle the risks associated with our connected society.   The weekend event which I will participate includes interactive and team activities to help Lyceum Directors better understand how these privacy and security risks affect their day-to-day lives.  The goal is to raise awareness regarding public policy involving security and privacy.  San Antonio is a great backdrop for this event as it is quickly becoming a central hub of computer security with the Air Forces locating its 24th Air Force Cyber Command at the city’s Lackland air force base.  There is an invisible war going on that we don’t even see involving cyber security and the public needs to understand how companies are protecting their information as it moves online.

Events kick off on Thursday and continue through Sunday afternoon.  I will be joining is the “Healthcare Security & Privacy” panel from 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the International Center, 203 S. St Mary’s, Third Floor (Two blocks away from the Hotel Contessa).  Joining me in this panel are David Finn, Health Information Technology Officer, Symantec and William Phillips, Chief Information Officer, University Health System.  Moderating the event is Dr. Adolfo Valadez.

I look forward to the event and engaging the Lyceum Directors on the virtues and risks associated with exchanging healthcare information online.  Coming from both the payer and provider sides the importance of efficiently exchanging information online not only helps manage rising cost but more importantly can drive better healthcare for our members and patients.  Our primary member demographic at WellMed Medical Management includes Medicare eligible seniors.  Over the past 5 years I’ve seen an increasing number of seniors flock to the Internet to educate themselves on health related issues.  The Internet has ushered in a new age of convenience in sending digital information.  These electronic tools and applications are an extension of your organization and your ability to deliver quality care to patients.  The same level of trust your patients have with you to manage their health in a clinic should carry through to your ability to maintain the security and delivery of their personal health information to those specialists and care providers .   I believe that technology can play a huge part in the delivery of care.  As both healthcare payers and providers we are trusted sources for our seniors and are constantly evaluating new ways to empower our seniors with the tools necessary to manage their care.

Please join our discussion…  You can find the site online at www.texaslyceum.com

San Antonio HIMSS January Meeting A Success

20 Jan
2010

Our January San Antonio HIMSS Chapter Lunch-And-Learn was a great success and we had another great turnout.  The board is always looking to improve your chapter so please let us know your feedback by e-mailing us your comments and suggestions.  Our contact information can be found on www.sahimss.org.  I would like to extend a special thanks to  Andrew Wilson and Robert Ross for speaking at this months engagement. I would also like to thank Dell for their sponsorship which helped feed our participants.

The SAHIMSS chapter has a lot planned for the coming months so I would encourage anyone with an interest in Healthcare and IT in San Antonio follow us on Twitter @sahimss or check our website for new opportunities to network and learn more about what HIMSS is all about.  There is a lot of potential for improving and facilitating healthcare IT in the Alamo City so let’s come together to make it happen.  Our next meeting is scheduled for February 16th so save the date and stay tuned for future updates.

Happy New Year

1 Jan
2010

I usher in 2010 with both anticipation and excitement for new things to come.  There are a lot of exciting things I’m working on and look forward to sharing in the coming year.  This should truly be a banner year for delivering some exciting applications that will truly change the face of health care.  I plan on continuing my book reviews and continuing to post more technical blog entries.  I’ll be headed off to HIMSS the first quarter of this year and look forward to seeing how the landscape of health care and IT continues to shift and change.  I wish all visitors a happy and prosperous new year and look forward to continuing to share my thoughts and ideas with you.

Inagural San Antonio HIMSS Chapter Meeting was a Huge Success

15 Nov
2009

Bill Phillips

This past week started one of many future events for the local San Antonio HIMSS Chapter.  Our speaker, Bill Phillips, CIO of University Health System gave a very informative speech and real-world take on EMR deployments.  Many thanks to Bill for starting us off on a great foot.  Again, I would like to thank our sponsors, World Wide Technology, EMC, and WellMed Medical Management for providing the sponsorship to provide over 70 people with lunch and facilities for the event.  A special thanks to the National HIMSS committee and my fellow board members who each played a crucial role in getting the chapter formed and off the ground.

Stay tuned for details of future engagements at our website www.sahimss.org. Also follow us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/sahimss

San Antonio HIMSS Chapter Inaugural Event

12 Nov
2009

SAHIMSSbanner

With our new website up and our inaugural event starting tomorrow afternoon at 11:30 a.m. at Dave & Busters our registrations are steadily increasing.  We expect to see a crowd of at least 60.  This has been several months in the making and I’m thrilled we were able to get such a great speaker to kick-off our event.  If you can’t make the first event there will certainly be more to follow.  Visit our website at http://www.sahimss.org often for event updates and Healthcare IT news that affects the Alamo City!

I have to give a special thanks out to our title sponsor World Wide Technology, Inc., and to our associate sponsors WellMed Medical Management, and EMC2 who are helping support our efforts:

wwt_logo

WellmedLogo

emc2

 

Date: November 12, 2009 from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM CST

Location:

Dave and Busters
4400 Crossroads Boulevard
San Antonio, TX 78201
(210) 515-1515

About Our Speaker:
William Phillips is the Vice President/CIO for University Health System in San Antonio, Texas.  Responsibilities include direction and oversight for the organization’s Information Technology division including system operations, applications, strategy, planning and integration for University Hospital and its community clinics.

Phillips has held numerous management positions within University Health System’s Information Systems division.  He previously served as Director of Operational Services, Chief Security Officer and Executive Director/CIO before being appointed Vice President/CIO in 2007.  He has led the organization through key healthcare transformations including the successful implementation of a computerized physician order entry system and other leading technology applications.  In 2008 under his leadership University Health System received 3 prestigious awards, which include HIMSS Analytics EMR Stage 6 (only 12 hospitals in the country have achieved this stage), Top 100 Most Wired Hospitals, and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives Transformational Leadership Award.  Phillips has also been featured in several leading healthcare publications to include Healthcare Informatics, KLAS, Hospitals & Health Networks.  Phillips has more than 26 years of experience in Healthcare Information Technology.


Topic for the Event:
Mr. Phillips will share his experience of successful and full implementation of EMR system at the University Health Systems in San Antonio, one of the largest deployments of vendor application in the country, including phases of implementations, and lessons learned.

Book Review: We-Think: Mass Innovation, Not Mass Production

1 Nov
2009

I just finished reading “We-Think:  Mass Innovation, Not Mass Production”.  We-Think is an interesting concept that focuses on the Internet and how it increases your level of connection with others.  The process of becoming connected increases your chances of collaboration in areas that otherwise may have gone unnoticed.

41vXGgB6QrL._SS500_

If you live and breath the Internet as part of your job or everyday life it states several things we already know about the ubiquity of the Internet and how it democratizes communication throughout the world, politics, and industry.  Never-the-less the book offers several examples of how this ubiquity translates into fundamental change and collaboration among users across all demographics.  Of particular interest are the transformation of politics in different areas of the world.  The Internet can’t be singled out here as it is but one major form of wider communications that allow people to socialize ideas and concepts.  Of course you run the risk of the “group-think” mentality but as the author mentions the connectivity gives way to enhanced freedoms in key areas allowing the venue for free thinking, challenging traditional media and political views, and even start your own mini-media empire.  I rated the book a 7 on a scale of 1-10.  A worthy read if you are interested in transformative examples the Internet has had in economic, political, and organizations steeped in a traditional mind-set.

Configure Evolution on Ubuntu 9.10 for use with Exchange

1 Nov
2009

I downloaded and installed the final release of Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala on my Dell M4400.  So far I’m very impressed with the fit and finish of this latest Linux release.  Evolution is one of the many e-mail clients avaialble for Linux but one of the very few with the ability to access your corporate Microsoft Exchange Server by default.  It is very similar to Outlook on your Windows desktop so you will feel right at home with this release.  Below is a walkthrough of how to connect Evolution to your Exchange 2003 server.

When you launch Evolution you will be presented with the following setup screens:

Screenshot-Evolution Setup Assistant

The first dialog box presented is ”Restore from backup” which, as the title suggests, restore from a previous backup.  I skipped this step as this is a new installation.

 

2-Screenshot-Evolution Setup Assistant-1

The next dialog box is “Identity” which is where you enter your Full Name and e-mail address associated with the Exchange account you are trying to setup.   If this is your primary account you can leave the checkbox checked for “Make this my default account” as I did above.

3-Screenshot-Evolution Setup Assistant-1

In the “Receiving Email” dialog bx that appears next you will enter your Outlook username and Outlook Web Address URL.  If you are unsure what it is it will typically take the form of  https://domain name/exchange/.  Be sure to include /exchange after the URL if applicable.  Then press Authenticate to enter your Exchange password.  If successful you will see your Exchange mailbox username appear in he Mailbox: field.

 

5-Screenshot-Evolution Setup Assistant-1

In the “Receiving Options” dialog box you will see several options to set the frequency and limits of your Exchange e-mail box.  You can simply leve the defaults or modify them to your liking as I did above to improve security and frequency of e-mail delivery.

6-Screenshot-Evolution Setup Assistant-1

In the ”Account Management” dialog box you configure the name of your newly configured account.  Work, Personal, or your Company Name works well here. 

7-Screenshot-Evolution Setup Assistant-1

 

Then that’s it…  Just press the Apply button and you are immediately brought to the Evolution application with its new configuration.  It will immediately start downloading your e-mail and associated folders, including Calendar, Tasks, Memos (Notes in Outlook), and Contacts.

San Antonio HIMSS Chapter Approved by HIMSS Board of Directors

14 Oct
2009

HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)-1

A few weeks ago the HIMSS National Board of Directors convened and reviewed our application for forming a local chapter in San Antonio.  Texas is the only state to have more than two chapters.  Given the large health care presence in San Antonio I think this chapter is long overdue and a welcome addition to the solid foundation already established in the Alamo city.  This process has been several months in the making with weekly calls occurring among the board of directors.  If interest via our LinkedIn group is any indication we should have a very solid showing.  Stay tuned for more information as we get our first official meeting and speakers lined up.  A revised website is in the works.  In the mean time you can join our LinkedIn group “SA HIMSS” or follow us on Twitter at @sahimms.

Installing Windows 7 from a USB Drive

13 Oct
2009

The installation for Windows 7 is much faster via USB than CD so I decided to cut as much time off any install as possible by installing the distribution media onto USB rather than the old-school circa 1998 CD-ROM method.  If you want to install Windows 7 via a portable USB key then read on…

NOTICE:  Pay close attention to each step.  Every installation is different so be sure to read through all steps before attempting to format your USB key.  It is easy to type the wrong drive ID when formatting.  I will not be responsible formatting the drive so proceed at your own risk.  If you don’t feel comfortable doing these steps then stop and do the install via DVD instead.

Blah…Blahh…Blahhhh….OK, now that the disclaimer is out of the way let’s dig in…

http://gopaultech.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/usbdrive.jpg

Step 1:  Grab a 4GB or larger USB key.  the entire distribution is a little over 2GB so 4GB drives work nicely.

Step 2:  Plug the key into a workstation with a DVD drive that can read the Windows 7 Install media.  I used an existing Windows 7 desktop but you can also use a Vista/XP workstation as well.

Step 3:  Open a command prompt.  If using Vista be sure to open the command prompt as administrator by right clicking on the command prompt icon and selecting “Run as Administrator”

Step 4: Type the following into the command prompt window

  • diskpart
  • listdisk (The disk number for my USB key was 1, be sure to identify the size to get the correct disk ID.  This is important)
  • select disk 1 (you are about to format the disk so be sure you get the correct disk ID...See above step)
  • clean
  • create partition primary
  • select partion 1 (mine was 1.  be sure to put your ID here instead!)
  • active
  • format fs=NTFS
  • assign
  • exit

Step 5:  Insert the Windows 7 disk into the same workstation you used to format the USB key

Step 6:  In the same command prompt window navigate to the \boot directory on the DVD drive where the Windows 7 Install disk is located

Step 7:  To make the drive bootable enter the following command

  • bootsect /nt60 E: (Where E: is the drive letter assigned after you typed the assign command above)

Step 8:  With the USB key formatted and bootable you can now copy all the files from the Windows 7 install DVD onto the USB Key

When you boot your target PC be sure to boot via the USB option in your boot priority.  Some workstations have a key you can press during intial startup to change the boot drive.

Installing Windows 7 on a Mac OSX Bootcamp Partition

13 Oct
2009


So I’ve been running Windows 7 since early September when the release to production copy was opened up for MSDN subscribers.  I can honestly attest that this is by far the best relese of Windows to come out of Redmond to-date.  The ugly duckling known as Vista has shed its skin and what has emerged is an efficient and capable operating system that performs well on relatively underpowered hardware.  I’ve created a few posts in the past that outline how to install Vista on a MacbookPro via bootcamp and also how to install at 500GB hard drive and maintain both partitions.  I’ve done all of this including the initial Leopard upgrade from Tiger without a total rebuild.  This is an amazing feat considering the number of trips to Apples Genius Bar desk to replace faulty video controllers for my now aging and out of warrantee Macbook Pro.  So I decided since I had been testing Windows 7 for a while now on a Dell XT and XT2 that I would tempt fate and perform an upgrade to the Bootcamp partition currently running Vista.  The other installations of Windows 7 on Intel hardware have been clean installs so this would be my first upgrade.  An upgrade, mind you, that has a significant amount of software installed. 

The process was actually fairly straight forward but I thought I would share none-the-less since the how-to posts seem to get the most attention. 

Step 1:  From either OS X or Windows open up the bootcamp manager and select the Windows partition. 

 bootcamp

Step 2:  Reboot to ensure that the default setting loads windows

Step 3:  Insert USB or Windows 7 CD into drive (I’ll post how to create a USB version of the Windows 7 Install Disk in a separate post)

Step 4:  Run the setup.exe from the Auto Run dialog box or manually via Windows Explorer.   From the initial setup dialog box run the compatibility testing tool (not shown in the image below) to ensure you meet all the minimum requirements and your software is compatible.  I had an issue with Windows OneCare to which I had to uninstall prior to installing.  Ironically it states there is an issue with the bootcamp software loaded on the Vista OS along with iTunes.   I proceeded none-the-less with the installation by clicking Next>after the check was complete.

windows7setup

Step 5: Setup of the OS is about as straight forward as it can possibly get.  Nothing special to do here just follow the instructions for an upgrade and enter in your key when prompted.

Step 6:  You will eventually reboot your system at which time you get the initial boot screen for windows indicating which Windows OS you want to boot into.  Keep the default Windows or Windows 7 (not Vista) and proceed with allowing setup to configure your system.

Step 7 (Optional):  Open up bootcamp setup and configure your default boot OS.  Either Windows or OS X

The setup depending on the software you have installed will take quite a while but for the most part it is a hands-off process.  Enjoy…

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