Technology in medicine

The keyword (or phrase) "technology in medicine" is currently the #1 keyword that is causing people to visit my site from search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

What are people looking for when they type "technology in medicine" into a search engine? Maybe they're interested in the following topics:

• health information technology (or health IT)
  
• advances in medical technology
• technology and medicine (or medicine and technology)
• health sciences and technology (Harvard MIT HST)
  

Have you noticed how the word "health" is starting to replace the word "medical" in many different circles? For instance, fewer people are talking about electronic medical records and more people are talking about electronic health records. Or, the focus is shifting from medical informatics to health informatics. No longer medical professionals, but health care professionals. I'm glad to see that we're being more inclusive by using the word "health" instead of "medicine." Even though I have a medical degree, I also have a public health degree. So both terms (medical and health) are very relevant to me.

Technology in medicine continues to be a very popular topic these days because of all the changes that are occurring in clinical research, drug development, patient care, diagnostics, patient health records, hospital work flow, patient safety, and much more.

Do you Google physicians?

Whether you're a healthcare professional or a patient, do you use Google or other Internet search engines to look up physician names? What happens when you type your own name into Google?

People used to have much more privacy before the days of the Internet. Now, anyone can "be out there" if they're tech-savvy enough to set up a web page or a blog. If you have a rather unusual name, then it's easier than ever to market yourself on a search engine. If you have a very common name (I'm a perfect example: Joe Kim), then it may be more difficult to market your presence on the Internet unless you're very intentional and deliberate about your efforts.

I find that many patients look up their physicians on Google. They even use Facebook (often pressured by their kids to be "cool" - but don't add me as your friend mom/dad!) - so you must be cautious when using social media outlets and posting personal pictures, videos, and stories. As more physicians leverage social media and put themselves "out there" on the Internet, they must use caution and discernment so that they avoid trouble like this example: Facebook misconduct by medical students

Search engine keywords for MedicineandTechnology.com

A significant percentage of my visitors come to my site through search engines like Google and Yahoo. Bing is still relatively new, so I don't have much data on that yet. What are people typing to end up here? Here's the list of the top keywords:

• free emr
• medicine and technology
• technology in medicine
• radon levels
• hp battery recall joe kim
• epocrates "blackberry storm"
• medtronic pacemaker
• technology and medicine
• non clinical physician jobs
• which is quieter: dell latitude xt2 or lenovo thinkpad x200
• jobs for doctors without residency
• ckd-epi
• samsca
• swallow syncope
• dr. joseph kim
• medicine and technology blog
• blackberry storm medical applications
• ckd-epi equation
• e-prescribing
• jobs for mds without residency
• lenovo x200 vs dell xt2
• medicine technology
• non clinical careers for physicians
• q1 ultra windows 7
• uloric gout medicine
• handbook of medical informatics

I think this list represents content covered in all 4 of my blogs:
• Medicine and Technology

• Non-Clinical Jobs and Opportunities
• Medical Smartphones
• Mobile Health Computing

Over the last 30 days (the month of June), search engine traffic represented roughly 24% of my site traffic. Before that (the month of May), it represented 17% of visitors.

Searching for a Free EMR or EHR?

The keywords "free EMR" are still going into Google every day. EMR = electronic medical record. I prefer to use EHR = electronic health record. I get a fair amount of traffic to this site from people who type "free EMR" into Google and they land here because my site is on the first page of search results.

As this country moves forward with healthcare reform and hospitals, clinics, and offices implement electronic health records (EHRs), some are still looking for a free option. There are some free EHRs that are certified by CCHIT (Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology), so does it make sense to choose a free option? I've been thinking about this issue and here are some of my thoughts:

• If you're a solo physician and you're struggling to survive because of reduced and delayed reimbursement from managed care, then perhaps you should go with a free EHR. There's no point in investing over $40k in an EHR just to declare bankruptcy. (by the way, they're not all that expensive)
  
• If you're completing residency soon and you're about to embark on your own and start a brand new solo practice from scratch, then maybe you should go with a free EHR and then switch to a different system in several years once you've generated some revenue.
• If you're getting really close to retirement and you want to play around with EHRs just for fun, then maybe you should try a free EHR.
  
• If you're a solo physician using paper records and you're planning on retiring within the next 5 or so years, then it might make sense to invest in a free EHR. I say "might" because there are obviously multiple factors at stake and I am not making any recommendations here.

The honest truth is that I really don't know how free EHRs will evolve over the coming years. I don't think anyone really knows. Some free EHRs are really simply "lite" versions of the software and you won't qualify for "meaningful use" if you're using these versions. Other free EHRs are fully functional and robust, but it's hard to predict the long-term viability of some of these companies.

Top Search Engine Keywords Last Week

Over the last week, here are the top search engine keywords that people typed to reach this site:

1. medicine and technology
2. blackberry storm medical
3. joe kim blog
4. technology in medicine
5. free emr
6. technology and medicine

I'm not surprised to see that people are still looking into free EMR solutions and medical software for the BlackBerry Storm.