August 2009

In this month's Tech Talk column, MDNG editorial board member Jonathan Bertman, MD, acknowledges the growing popularity of smartphones among his physician colleagues, touting their usefulness for on-the-go physicians who need Internet and e-mail access.

Phil Baumann, a registered nurse, blogger, owner of brand Web presence consulting firm CareAdvocate, and author of "140 Healthcare Uses for Twitter" explains why he thinks social media is important in healthcare, and offers advice for physicians who want to use these tools in their practice.

The aim of Clinical Reader is to "bring academic content together and create a semantic digital medical library" by building a "user-friendly platform that will enable medical professionals around the world...to easily interact with the latest developments in their respective specialties." Clinical Reader CEO and founder Allan C. Marks, MD, explains the origins of the site, what he has planned for the future of Clinical Reader, and more.

Despite widespread use of smartphones to perform a variety of tasks, experts say consumers are still waiting for the right incentives to push them to use their phones to access personal health records and manage their medical information on the go.