For those who are in the health care information technology field, the new year promises to be a year of big changes for IT due in part to two main events of last year. One of those events is the release of the iPad. The second is the new role of federal agencies when it comes to health care and the management of medical records, specifically those in the electronic healthcare records arena.Why Does the iPad Change Things?Physicians and nurses alike have literally bought iPads off the shelf, just as the mainstream consumer has done. Tablet systems which hit the shelf from other venues, specifically the Windows version simply haven’ t been as rapidly picked up and used. Nearly all of the health care providers of today are using the iPad and multiple health care providers are now making their electronic healthcare records for the iPad and others are making software as a service systems that will work outside of the typical systems.This means that not only do those companies need to find a way to shore up their security for the software as a service, but to assure the continuity in the case of a disaster of even small proportions. Backing up your data and assuring that it is not only recoverable, but secure is particularly important when dealing with health care records of any type. The new federal regulations mean that unless physicians and hospitals are using certified EHR types of systems to report, to collect, and to analyze that data which is taken from their patients and have a viable means of protection of that data, they are not eligible for the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act incentive funding which could account for a great deal of assistance in securing their records and other health care materials such as photos.Assuring continuity of data and the use of a data recovery system can help to assure the funding that the medical center and physicians office requires to help with updates and other kinds of information simply by bringing them into compliance with the new federal mandates for health care data systems that are secure and give them the proper means of recovery in the event of a disaster of any proportions.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Meet The Investor For Commercial Real Estate
Are you struggling to buy a property with a low financial back up? There comes a plausible solution to get rid of it. It is the commercial loan. A commercial loan is a type of loan which assists you to purchase properties with lesser effort that too at a competitive interest rate.A commercial investing business may include investment on shopping malls, agricultural lands, hotels, motels, apartments, companies and a lot more which we consider as commercial necessities. In short, we can say, we gain what we have. With the help of commercial loan we can buy or even sell the properties in a simpler and in the most possible way that could benefit the investors more. Through the commercial loan we can get reasonable amount of money by the properties we keep secure aside as collateral. We can also invest the money obtained through such types of loans in order to buy new properties we desire to purchase.One can benefit in various ways by being a part of this commercial real estate rather than investing on some other type of investment. These investors will get benefitted both economically and financially. They may get some longer duration period for their repayment whilst other loans may offer only limited span of time. As there is an elasticity of time they may settle the loan amount by starting a new business or by developing an already existing business in course of time. The interest rates are also very low in this commercial real estate loan so that larger amount of money can be saved in a short duration. The investor may also be benefitted by renting or leasing the property he has invested in the commercial real estate loan by being paid rather than keeping the property idle.We can obtain the benefits of the commercial real estate loan through various sources. Organizations like financial institutions, banking facilities, large scale building societies provide such facilities in a wide range. We can also update the details through internet, magazines, news media and a lot more.Real estate investors find the properties which are to be sold. The investors also remodel the properties if they are in the bad condition and even if they could produce a higher market value when they do so. They could also advertise about the properties yet to be sold. The investors even may sell the properties to other real estate investors to attain more profit instead selling them at their own risk. The properties can also be sold to other investors in an agreement on the basis of lending, renting, leasing and a lot more.
Improving Access Database Systems
Improving Access Database SystemsAn existing Access database software system may not be able to cope with the growing administrative requirements of a company. The inadequacies may relate to increased volumes handled, additional functional requirements or new company directions.A decision then needs to be made on how to improve the software to achieve the required quality and functionality. The choice is between two development options – Evolutionary development or Revolutionary development.Here is a brief summary of the differences between the two options:Development by EvolutionThis is the low risk choice – but not a glamorous choice. It involves adding small and frequent improvements to an existing system. It is a reliable and systematic means to improve an existing system. It could be thought of as an extension of the maintenance mode, but goes further than just fixing critical bugs.The Benefits are:
It is a low risk strategy
The cost of the strategy can be tightly controlled
It is always of value to build on proven work of the past
The downside is:
The system may be slow in showing results
The enhancements may be hard to implement due to the existing code
There may be technical limitations in the software that a step-by-step approach cannot resolve
Development by RevolutionThis is a high risk strategy – the failure rate of new projects is very high. So there should be sufficient incentive to go down this path. It involves completely rewriting the system using new and promising, but usually unproven technology.The benefits are:Improving on antiquated coding techniques
Greater awareness of user requirements due to the known inadequacies of the existing system
New administration and management functionality
Incorporating the latest techniques and software technologyThe downside is:The old system and the new system must run in parallel until the new system is proven to be at least equal to the old system
There needs to be multiple attempts when converting the old system to the new. This is needed to allow the users to check the consistency between the two systems at each new release
Extracting the business rules from the code and the user interface may be near impossible
The new system may be unstable for a lengthy period of time
There may be resistance from the users
Success depends upon the quality of the new development team. If they are lacking in experience or foresight or competence, the project is doomed from the start
Despite all the advances in system design and development tools, the complexity of new systems remains. The success rate for new projects is low
An unsuccessful project could have a negative impact on administration processes
An unsuccessful project could affect the viability of the company
If development is started from scratch, a valuable and costly asset will be thrown awayGathering Application RequirementsIn most cases the original specifications are nonexistent, as are their authors. Where the original specifications are available, they will almost always be out of date, with the successive changes over the years. If the analyst is unable to extract information from the old system code (and this is usually the case), there is nothing left but to try understand the business processes from esoteric code, low-level users and ill-informed managers.To develop a software package, the analyst must identify the needs of the company. This is difficult as the analyst is unlikely to understand fully the company’s work practices, or the terminology of the company. There is also the likelihood that management and the users do not know exactly what is required.Extending the life of the systemMany books have been written about the development of new computer projects, so I will stick to ideas to improve existing software.The Evolutionary improvements should:
Improve the quality of the system, by adding error handling routines to each and every procedure. When an error is trapped, all possible clues should be extracted to help identify and solve the problem
Make the system more user-friendly
Create reusable modules for repeatedly duplicated code
Simplify convoluted and spaghetti code
Gradually replace system functionality with newer technology
Use refactoring of the code to extend the system life span. This will improve the readability of the code, remove dead code, make the code easier to comprehend and maintain.
If the decision is made to try this option, and it turns out to be not feasible – little will have been lost.Professional AdviceA word of caution. Many programmers and consultants will go for the system rewrite option with new software and new technology. It is more fulfilling and improves their future prospects – it is in their vested interests to go for this option.Upgrading Microsoft Access softwareNewly released Microsoft Access software versions soon become dominant. It is then virtually impossible to purchase the previous version – and a database system could soon be using obsolete software.There is always good reason to use the latest Microsoft software, not only because of the additional functionality, but also to avoid security issues and problems with procedures that no longer work on newer Windows operating systems. There is equally good reason not to use the latest software too soon. The best option is to wait until a few service packs have been released to ensure the best chance of a problem free upgrade.Ignoring successive new Microsoft Access Database version updates is false economy. Sooner or later your Microsoft Access application will have to be replaced or the Microsoft software upgraded by multiple versions. Either way, this will be costly. The skills required for upgrades are soon forgotten.