Business Intelligence Software Is A Smart Choice For Swine Flu
October 28, 2009
I can’t tell what is spreading faster – the actual H1N1 virus, or the media buzz surrounding it? The swine flu hasn’t gone away, and is currently a popular topic of discussion. We heard about it, and then it removed itself from our daily papers and news feeds for awhile. Now it is back in full effect. Every time I check in with my parents to see how they’re doing, I get reminded to get my flu shot & H1N1 shot. I then proceed to tell my parents that I’ve never gotten these kinds of shots in the past, and well, I’m a little stubborn. My father should understand, since it’s his stubbornness that I’ve inherited genetically! It seems like anyone with a small case of the sniffles is paranoid that it might be the swine flu. I’m not trying to dismiss that it’s something to be concerned about, and the fact that it has taken lives is indeed alarming.
Have you ever heard of BI Software? It is short for business intelligence software, and it is working together with physicians and hospital professionals to help protect us. I read an interesting article about this online at Healthcare IT News. If you’d like to take a look at the article yourself, just click here. Jonathan Rothman is the head of data management at Emergency Medical Associates (EMA), and Mike Gerardi, MD, is the point person for EMA’s H1N1 task force. They are working together with technology to form this union of business intelligence software, healthcare, and organized communication. “When it came to H1N1, the solution we built on SAP was extremely scalable,” Rothman said. “By drilling down into specific syndromes in our patient reports, we can pinpoint spikes in fever and flu-like symptoms that are swine flu indicators,” said Rothman. “Then we compare it with our large archive of historical information to figure out where we stand. When statistics for a particular symptom exceed standard deviation, we know we’ve got a problem on our hands.”
Rothman’s approach seems to be drawing in the agile development methods that are clearly needed for this type of situation. I’d like to tip my hat to these two gentlemen for their accomplishments, and their commendable implementation of technology that is helping save lives.