Montana gets its EHR money back

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="175" caption="Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.)"][/caption]

HELENA, MT – The Montana Senate voted to restore the $35 million in federal incentives for electronic medical records for hospitals and community health centers across the state this week.

The Montana legislature initially denied the state's Department of Health and Humans Services (DPHHS) the authority to accept and distribute the money to hospitals four times on party-line votes – making it the only state to do so.

But, under pressure from Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.) and healthcare providers from across the state, the Senate voted 45-5 for the motion on March 28.

Earlier this month Schweitzer warned lawmakers that they were increasing the cost and lowering the quality of healthcare in Montana by refusing funding for electronic health records technology.

The state has 47 critical access hospitals in smaller communities across the state, and almost all will likely qualify for the funding, according to the governor.

"Electronic health record systems save money and improve care through eliminating the need for duplicative testing," Schweitzer said.

Click here to see votes on the HIT funding.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/xZ0vB

Apple?s iPad: Is it a perfect e-learning tool?

Apple’s iPad has been a pathbreaker of sorts in the technological field. They were many naysayers during its launch regarding its utility, but I suppose the tremendous success of the product have shut up their mouths. The craze and euphoria has not died yet, and with the launch of iPad 2, the buzz is getting stronger. And the all-important question comes to the fore: can the iPad serve as an ideal classroom teaching device?

I strongly feel that iPad will have a part to do. It is sure to displace one-to-many teaching pedagogies in favor of interactive one-to-one studying and learning and will encourage much more participation from students.

To drive home my point about the iPad will have a role in online education for children, here is some news. It has been seen by many that those children who haven’t learned to read or write or even operate a mouse are able to operate the iPad with tremendous speed. According to an article published in Ad Age in June 2010, “How the iPad Became Child’s Play – and Learning Tool,” there were many toddlers as who were as many as 18 months old only who were trying to provoke interaction from TV sets and PC monitors as if they were touch screens like that of the iPad. This indicates clearly that the next generation will find it very easy to respond well and interact with the intuitive device.

In another study related to e-book reading, a survey result released by Student Monitor revealed that out of 1200 college students who were participants in the survey and interested in e-readers, more than 46% of them opted for iPad as the preferred e-reader rather than 38% of them who favored Amazon’s Kindle. This indicates that iPad is known among the adolescents to be much more conducive and intuitive than the Kindle.

Educators today are stressing on the need for contextual learning and user participation. Digital whiteboards have failed to encourage interactivity, and is also less on computing power. The laptop is comparatively bulky too and can be problematic to handle sometimes. The iPad then serves to be the perfect device for comfortable online learning and acts as a useful tool for referencing, collaborating, and content creation. The best part is that of the choice for personalized content for students.

Some of the kinks are there: it does not support web pages which have Flash, it does not have a telephone, it does not have a camera and it also does not have USB slots or memory card slots although there is support for dongles. These limitations are somewhat deterrent for its use but once there are updates to the device, I don’t really see a problem for the iPad to be used as a e-learning device!

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Bainbridge HomeShare program fills a need for affordable housing

By Tristan Baurick

Kitsap Sun
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — A Bainbridge affordable-housing group wants homeowners to rethink a housing arrangement they likely abandoned in college.

Taking on a roommate benefits both owner and renter — especially during hard economic times, according to the Housing Resources Board (HRB), which manages the county's only roommate-matching program.
HRB program specialist Penny Lamping said a roommate can help cover a mortgage, provide companionship and chip in on house chores. In return, the homeowner provides below-market-rate housing for a person hit by hard times.

"Some people take a roommate because they have a big house to themselves and they want to share," Lamping said. "Some do it to exercise a social consciousness."

HRB's roommate-matching program, called HomeShare, was created two years ago, but it's getting renewed emphasis as the gap widens between the typical rental rate and the amount people can afford.
"We're getting phone calls all the time, but they can only afford $200 to $500 (per month)," said HRB Executive Director Ken Balizer.

Even the homes HRB manages are typically beyond that range.
HRB is also trying to boost the HomeShare program because the city greatly reduced its financial support, making it difficult for HRB to build new homes or lower the rent on existing ones.

HRB conducts background checks on rental applicants and matches them with homeowners, thereby streamlining and easing the search process for both parties.

Bainbridge homeowner Holly Hall has been renting a room to a young woman for the last 15 months.
"I lived by myself and really wasn't using half my house, so I thought it was worth a try," she said. "It's really worked out well so far."

Until recently, HRB board member Kim Hendrickson rented a room to a Peruvian woman. The arrangement took some financial pressure off Hendrickson's family and gave her kids an early introduction to Spanish, she said.
Hall said opening one's home to a renter isn't without sacrifices. Sometimes chores go undone, and a previous renter had trouble paying the rent during a family emergency.

"You have to be clear and articulate in terms of rent and house cleaning," she said.

Some renters do maintenance, pet watching or provide in-home care for elderly homeowners to supplement rent.
HRB has a list of nearly 20 people seeking homes through the HomeShare program. The list of homeowners offering a room is nearly as long, but HRB is having trouble finding homeowners who will go lower than $600.
Hall said the monthly income is nice, but she doesn't expect it to make her rich.
"It's not about the income," she said. "It's about doing something good for somebody else."