It is an important subject.Many things we become aware of by hearing from people with better knowledge and mindful living.One of such person I get inspiration from is Dr John Halamka CIO of Harvard medical school and many other institutions.He is very involved with EMR and meaningful use mandate for the federal rules.
He is a vegan,Emergency room Physician and outdoors man ,environmentalist who believes in living light and improve quality of human existence.He mentioned in his blog geekdoctor.blogspot.com that he puts out bird food in his yard and has a heated birdbath which makes water available for drinking for the birds.He has written about the birds attracted to his yard because of all these goodies.He has mentioned that he had seen a cardinal taking bath in his heated bird bath(for temperatures under 30 degrees bird baths are useless unless heated to keep water in liquid state .
I searched on web for heaters and found some available for under 20 dollars 45 watts capacity.I imagine they should be adequate for a moderate winter. If one has a heated bird bath in winter birds may visit such places rather than fly to far away unfrozen lakes or water dripping from melting snow.
In his blog he has a picture of a hawk perched on a tree in his yard.As he is a vegan he mentions that as cardinals were attracted to his yard he has also seen a hawk devour a cardinal.I guess such is the nature.Vegan or not one can not change nature.
Only Humans get to choose to become vegan,ego vegetarian,chicken eaters or meat potato(steak) people.Other than religious reasons many of us choosing to be vegetarians of various degrees.Thanks to human development .Even 50 years ago it was very difficult for Eskimos and Tibetans to be vegetarians.they would have to survive on Yak Milk or caribou milk for nutrition.
I WONDER DID YAK GAVE ICE CREAM INSTEAD OF MILK IN WINTER WHEN IT WAS COLD.BRRR..
Showing posts with label Dr Halamaka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr Halamaka. Show all posts
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
GROUP IQ By Dr Halamka(Seeds of Greatness)
GROUP IQ BY DR HALAMKA(geekdoctor.blogspot.com)
Early in my career, I thought the path to success was making a name for myself - creating software, ideas, and innovation that would be uniquely associated with me. My mentors gave me sage advice to ban the "I" word from my vocabulary and to focus on developing high functioning organizations. A single individual can come and ago, but organizations can scale to enormous size and last beyond the strengths, weaknesses, and longevity of any one person.
Many books have been written about building organizations - Built to Last, In Search of Excellence, and The Innovators Dilemma, but the idea I find most compelling was described in a recent Boston Globe article about Group IQ.
"Group intelligence, the researchers discovered, is not strongly tied to either the average intelligence of the members or the team’s smartest member. And this collective intelligence was more than just an arbitrary score: When the group grappled with a complex task, the researchers found it was an excellent predictor of how well the team performed."
When I was doing graduate work, I thought that a successful leader should be the smartest person in the room. I've learned that the best leaders hire people who are smarter than themselves. Good leaders revel in the capabilities of teams to exceed the leader's own capabilities. Poor leaders surround themselves with underperformering teams which support the leader's need to feel superior. This leads to the notion that "Grade 'A' leaders hire grade 'A' teams and grade 'B' leaders hire grade 'C' teams".
Group IQ is a great concept. I'm very proud of the way IS teams approach tricky problems, resource allocation decisions, and out of the blue compliance requirements that are unstaffed, unbudgeted, and "must do".
The best metric that teams are high functioning is watching their response to a crisis. Is there infighting? Is there jockeying for leadership when responding to the event? Does one person dominate the conversation?
I've watched time after time when teams of IS professionals come together, each assuming a mutually supportive role. Depending on the issue, the person with the most experience on the team runs the activity. Everyone contributes their ideas and is respected for whatever they say - right or wrong. If there are emotions, the team rallies to support the good ones and diffuse the bad ones. No one is blamed for human error - it's used to improve processes in the future.
My experience with highly functional groups is that people have to be hired for their emotional quotient (EQ) as well as their intelligence quotient (IQ). The only thing you can do wrong during a team activity is to impede the work of others. Criticism of ideas is encouraged, criticism of people is not.
The only way we could survive 2010, which was a year that tested both patience and stamina, was relying on Group IQ to shrug off the naysayers, maintain course and direction, and keep an upbeat attitude through it all.
Thanks to all the IS teams who work with me - you have a great Group IQ
Early in my career, I thought the path to success was making a name for myself - creating software, ideas, and innovation that would be uniquely associated with me. My mentors gave me sage advice to ban the "I" word from my vocabulary and to focus on developing high functioning organizations. A single individual can come and ago, but organizations can scale to enormous size and last beyond the strengths, weaknesses, and longevity of any one person.
Many books have been written about building organizations - Built to Last, In Search of Excellence, and The Innovators Dilemma, but the idea I find most compelling was described in a recent Boston Globe article about Group IQ.
"Group intelligence, the researchers discovered, is not strongly tied to either the average intelligence of the members or the team’s smartest member. And this collective intelligence was more than just an arbitrary score: When the group grappled with a complex task, the researchers found it was an excellent predictor of how well the team performed."
When I was doing graduate work, I thought that a successful leader should be the smartest person in the room. I've learned that the best leaders hire people who are smarter than themselves. Good leaders revel in the capabilities of teams to exceed the leader's own capabilities. Poor leaders surround themselves with underperformering teams which support the leader's need to feel superior. This leads to the notion that "Grade 'A' leaders hire grade 'A' teams and grade 'B' leaders hire grade 'C' teams".
Group IQ is a great concept. I'm very proud of the way IS teams approach tricky problems, resource allocation decisions, and out of the blue compliance requirements that are unstaffed, unbudgeted, and "must do".
The best metric that teams are high functioning is watching their response to a crisis. Is there infighting? Is there jockeying for leadership when responding to the event? Does one person dominate the conversation?
I've watched time after time when teams of IS professionals come together, each assuming a mutually supportive role. Depending on the issue, the person with the most experience on the team runs the activity. Everyone contributes their ideas and is respected for whatever they say - right or wrong. If there are emotions, the team rallies to support the good ones and diffuse the bad ones. No one is blamed for human error - it's used to improve processes in the future.
My experience with highly functional groups is that people have to be hired for their emotional quotient (EQ) as well as their intelligence quotient (IQ). The only thing you can do wrong during a team activity is to impede the work of others. Criticism of ideas is encouraged, criticism of people is not.
The only way we could survive 2010, which was a year that tested both patience and stamina, was relying on Group IQ to shrug off the naysayers, maintain course and direction, and keep an upbeat attitude through it all.
Thanks to all the IS teams who work with me - you have a great Group IQ
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
A comment on Dr Halamkas busy schedule.
I am amazed that with 1000 e-mails to respond, how you do anything else.You must be a blessed man. You still are able to have dinner with family,ride bike, ski, interact with your daughter.Write a daily blog .Find me one of you, oh may be you should go into telling our kids how to do it all in the time allotted by the gods.Thanks for sharing.
I am just trying to be genius.That is hard ,i have to do whole lot of nothing .In the end it may end up whole lot of nothing.
I am getting tired by just thinking about your schedule.
What is the learning moment.How do you change pace.How many words you read per minute and comprehend if you respond 500 e-mails that if each takes a minute is more time than a smoker spent on smoking 70 cigarettes. Wow glad you do not smoke.
You also do not need much sleep,in my case that would have meant extra time to day dream.
Let your assistants do more of the work ,they can do it.
Thanks for sharing.I like your thinking,very analytical proactive, engaged mind.
In next life i will ask gods for your stamina.
I am just trying to be genius.That is hard ,i have to do whole lot of nothing .In the end it may end up whole lot of nothing.
I am getting tired by just thinking about your schedule.
What is the learning moment.How do you change pace.How many words you read per minute and comprehend if you respond 500 e-mails that if each takes a minute is more time than a smoker spent on smoking 70 cigarettes. Wow glad you do not smoke.
You also do not need much sleep,in my case that would have meant extra time to day dream.
Let your assistants do more of the work ,they can do it.
Thanks for sharing.I like your thinking,very analytical proactive, engaged mind.
In next life i will ask gods for your stamina.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Complete and Modular Certification of EHR's.
Dr.John Halamka Blogged this morning on his blog geekdoctor.blogspot.com.He has stated that 33 complete and modular EHR's have been certified by Certification Commission for Health Information Technology(CCHIT).
He also states that may be all the EHR's were offered for complete certification.For not having total clearity of the format for scripts some of the EHR"S were given certification only for the modular .As the rules are clearified they me be eligible for copmlete certification.
He is also mentioning how he is solving this problem in by pursuing site certification for the hospital.
He again warns that all ;
"In the end, it will fall to the purchaser to ensure their goals are aligned with vendor plans. If purchasers are seeking modules to expand the capabilities of an existing EHR, that should be clear. If purchasers want a complete EHR and their preferred vendor is currently a module, purchasers should request an agreement that the vendor will offer a complete EHR in a set period of time."
I add that costs should also be discussed up front.
He also states that may be all the EHR's were offered for complete certification.For not having total clearity of the format for scripts some of the EHR"S were given certification only for the modular .As the rules are clearified they me be eligible for copmlete certification.
He is also mentioning how he is solving this problem in by pursuing site certification for the hospital.
He again warns that all ;
"In the end, it will fall to the purchaser to ensure their goals are aligned with vendor plans. If purchasers are seeking modules to expand the capabilities of an existing EHR, that should be clear. If purchasers want a complete EHR and their preferred vendor is currently a module, purchasers should request an agreement that the vendor will offer a complete EHR in a set period of time."
I add that costs should also be discussed up front.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Geek doctor.blogspot.com A blog byDr Halamaka CIO of a large medical group
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Stages of Life
Recently my 17 year old daughter and I discussed my nearly 50 years of experience with life, the evolution of my mindset through time, and my thoughts about roles/responsibilities at each age. I summarized life as
0-10 A time to master the day to day activities of being human
11-20 A time to master the process of learning
21-30 A time to experience the world, take risks, establish relationships, and seek stable employment
31-40 A time to build a household, a family, and a career ladder
41-50 A time to build financial security, support growing children, think about wellness, and nurture your relationships
51-60 A time to fund college, assist adult children with their increasing responsibilities, and to support aging parents
61-70 A time to begin the transition to a different phase of life, pursing those activities that you did not have time or resources to do in the past. Note that this phase is getting later and later in life with many people working past 70. A time to start playing with grandchildren and assisting your children's growing families. Continuing to support aging parents, given increasingly long human lifespans.
71+ Exploring new ideas, new places, keeping your mind and body healthy, aging well.
To which my daughter responded - "How depressing...that you think of life as so linear"
I suggested that life is anything but linear. When I was 5, I wrote a first grade homework assignment declaring "I want to be a scientist". When I was 12, computer science seemed like the right direction. When I was 16, medicine and engineering seemed the right approach. Now nearly 50, I'm a CIO, married for 26 years, with a 17 year old daughter. Completely unpredictable and more of random walk than a linear progression.
Of course, my suggested life timeline is a bit traditional and stereotypical. There are hundreds of variations that may involve zero or multiple marriages, zero or many children, zero or dozen careers. I will not measure my daughter's life success by her adherence to my timeline.
Pondering my life experience, I realize that my current mindset in the 41-50 span includes a different set of challenges, goals, and dreams than in my 21-30 span. I'm continually changing. I remember the pride I felt when I exceeded some of my parents capabilities when I was in 11-20 span. I now feel great humility as my daughter begins to exceed some of my capabilities at the same time in her life.
When I'm asked what span is best, my answer will always be, wherever I am now. My current experiences, frustrations, and relationships always seem most appropriate to my current condition. I only look backwards to gather lessons learned, not to relive any previous events. I recently skipped my 30 year high school reunion because the joys and sorrows of my 11-20 span are no longer relevant after the experiences of three decades.
At times, I struggle with the politics, conflicts, and uncertainties of daily living. I think back on the challenges of my 20's and 30's and realize that any anxiety I felt earlier life was over minor and inconsequential events. In my 50's I'm sure I'll feel that same way about my 40's. Realizing that life is a continuous progression with different roles, responsibilities, and expectations at each stage enables us to look forward to the future, relish the present, and learn from the past.
Learn from the past, live in the present, and hope for the future. Onward to the stages ahead!
Posted by John Halamka at 3:00 AM
The Stages of Life
Recently my 17 year old daughter and I discussed my nearly 50 years of experience with life, the evolution of my mindset through time, and my thoughts about roles/responsibilities at each age. I summarized life as
0-10 A time to master the day to day activities of being human
11-20 A time to master the process of learning
21-30 A time to experience the world, take risks, establish relationships, and seek stable employment
31-40 A time to build a household, a family, and a career ladder
41-50 A time to build financial security, support growing children, think about wellness, and nurture your relationships
51-60 A time to fund college, assist adult children with their increasing responsibilities, and to support aging parents
61-70 A time to begin the transition to a different phase of life, pursing those activities that you did not have time or resources to do in the past. Note that this phase is getting later and later in life with many people working past 70. A time to start playing with grandchildren and assisting your children's growing families. Continuing to support aging parents, given increasingly long human lifespans.
71+ Exploring new ideas, new places, keeping your mind and body healthy, aging well.
To which my daughter responded - "How depressing...that you think of life as so linear"
I suggested that life is anything but linear. When I was 5, I wrote a first grade homework assignment declaring "I want to be a scientist". When I was 12, computer science seemed like the right direction. When I was 16, medicine and engineering seemed the right approach. Now nearly 50, I'm a CIO, married for 26 years, with a 17 year old daughter. Completely unpredictable and more of random walk than a linear progression.
Of course, my suggested life timeline is a bit traditional and stereotypical. There are hundreds of variations that may involve zero or multiple marriages, zero or many children, zero or dozen careers. I will not measure my daughter's life success by her adherence to my timeline.
Pondering my life experience, I realize that my current mindset in the 41-50 span includes a different set of challenges, goals, and dreams than in my 21-30 span. I'm continually changing. I remember the pride I felt when I exceeded some of my parents capabilities when I was in 11-20 span. I now feel great humility as my daughter begins to exceed some of my capabilities at the same time in her life.
When I'm asked what span is best, my answer will always be, wherever I am now. My current experiences, frustrations, and relationships always seem most appropriate to my current condition. I only look backwards to gather lessons learned, not to relive any previous events. I recently skipped my 30 year high school reunion because the joys and sorrows of my 11-20 span are no longer relevant after the experiences of three decades.
At times, I struggle with the politics, conflicts, and uncertainties of daily living. I think back on the challenges of my 20's and 30's and realize that any anxiety I felt earlier life was over minor and inconsequential events. In my 50's I'm sure I'll feel that same way about my 40's. Realizing that life is a continuous progression with different roles, responsibilities, and expectations at each stage enables us to look forward to the future, relish the present, and learn from the past.
Learn from the past, live in the present, and hope for the future. Onward to the stages ahead!
Posted by John Halamka at 3:00 AM
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