I'm featured on Viddler!

I just got home from my week long trip (I'll be talking more about that soon). I just checked my inbox and found a message that my Super Bowl video is right now being featured on Viddler's front page. YAY! If it is no longer there, you can always click here or here to also check it out.

Thanks so much to Viddler for featuring my video. I definitely recommend this site to anyone out there who is doing or is considering doing video blog posts. This is a great site, pretty easy to use and navigate, and the community over there is fabulous. "Me Todays" are fun and I'm looking forward to doing more of them in the future!

Dr. A on the road: Day 3

I finally go home later today - YAY! Since, there is no radio show this week, I (kind of) substituted this with the video post above (even with my phrase, "Beyond the Blog" included. This is also a video I'm including in the Viddler "Me Today" group.

The travel day was surprisingly calm and efficient on yesterday. As I remarked in yesterday's post, I thought that we would definitely have problems going into and/or getting out of Chicago. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and I think we arrived in Cincinnati on time.

After a quick break at the hotel, our group went to dinner at a place called Newport on the Levee which is actually on the "Kentucky" side of Cincinnati. The restaurant was called Mitchell's Fish Market - excellent food. Great food and great company. That complex looks relatively newly built. I wish I had more time tonight to explore more of that place. Oh well, maybe another time.

One more site visit this morning. It'll only be a quick visit, and then the journey home. The last hurdle will be traveling through Chicago O'Hare one more time this week. On day one, the delays were frustrating. On day three, there were no delays. What will happen today?

Dr. A on the road: Day 2

I recorded this quick video this morning before leaving the hotel. (See video above) I apologize up front, because since I have little time this morning, the video quality may not be that great. I had to sacrifice quality for time, so the images may not be as clear as previous videos. When I get to my final destination today, I'll may re-encode the video and may re-post it later.

Anyway, I know people are curious about my comments about the electronic medical record. In talking with these people from our site visit yesterday. I have a little better understanding of kind of what happened. Initially, the marketing on EMR was similar to other computer products - computers will make the life of a doctor easier and will save time.

Well, that may not necessarily be the case, at least initially. There is definitely a learning curve, and it may take more time to see a patient than just using paper. And, until you really learn the system, it may make things much more complicated than what you were used to previously. So, now, I definitely have a better understanding of the physician backlash to this thing.

They gave me more to think about as I journey onward to the next hospital. If we ever get to our next destination today, the next visit will be a quick visit tomorrow. Then, finally, back home tomorrow night. Of course, you can keep track of my travel pains through My Twitter Feed. And, maybe I'll have another video post tomorrow morning. Thanks again for all of your comments and e-mails the last couple of days. Talk to you later!

Show cancelled

I really feel bad about this, but I'm going to have to cancel the show for this week. My plan was to pre-record some material and play it for you on Thursday night, since I'm not going to be available live to do the show. I'll be on a plane on my way home at the usual time for the show.

Unfortunately, instead of recording stuff for the show this week, I've been in my hotel room trying to recover from my illness that hit me right when this trip started - really a bummer. I've been able to do the required work stuff on this trip, but all my other free time here has been in bed sleeping.

If I get some strength, I may record a quick video post about my time here away from home. I know that some of you out there are curious about my opinion/experience about electronic medical records. So, hopefully, I'll be able to do that tonight or tomorrow.

From a travel standpoint, tomorrow is going to be a bugger. Here is the weather forecast for Chicago O'Hare International Airport for tonight and tomorrow - Ek!

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST /10 AM EST/ WEDNESDAY.

NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS... PARTICULARLY IN RURAL AREAS...WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE LATE THIS EVENING. A BAND OF HEAVY WIND DRIVEN SNOW PRODUCING VISIBILITIES NEAR ZERO IN SPOTS...WILL MOVE OUT OF THE AREA BY MIDNIGHT. AS THE SNOW ENDS VISIBILITIES WILL IMPROVE...THOUGH SOME MINOR BLOWING OF THE FRESH FALLEN SNOW COULD CONTINUE OVERNIGHT.

IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW...WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO GUST OVER 50 MPH AT TIMES. THESE VERY STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH THE BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES TO SEND WIND CHILLS PLUMMETING TO 20 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO BY MORNING.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS.

So, again, to keep track of my travel pain tomorrow, tune into My Twitter feed. The plan is for our team to leave the hotel right after daybreak for the trek to airport number one. Hopefully, we won't be delayed too much trying to get to O'Hare. What happens after that, who knows?

I'm sick

I can't believe that I'm out of town and this is happening to me. This stomach flu thing is still going. I mean, it's a little better this afternoon verses last night. I'm now back at my hotel room, and I'm back in bed trying to get comfortable.

The meeting today went pretty well, and I'll talk about that soon. Actually, the information in my head is still spinning. I do find it a little bit distracting with my illness. 

I'm even considering canceling the show on Thursday night, because I'm not really feeling very entertaining right now. Sorry for all the whining, hopefully, I'll be feeling better soon....

Dr. A on the road: Day 1

Just a quick update as I don't have a lot of time before my morning meeting. Yesterday started early when the alarm went off at around 5am. I definitely did not want to get up. I finished my packing, got on the road, and went to the airport. The check-in process was relatively painless, including going through the security area.

The plane was on time leaving the gate, but when we got to the end of the runway, the pilot said that Chicago was having a lot of rain and wind, so we had to sit there, on the plane, for about another 30 minutes. Good thing I had my iPhone with me so that I could listen to some tunes and some audiobooks while sitting there.

Stepping off the plane in Chicago (we were about an hour late arriving), we saw that our connecting flight to our final destination was already delayed - because of weather. So, that gave the group the chance to have some lunch. I have never traveled with this group before, so it was a chance to get to know them a little bit.

Following lunch, we looked at the departure board again and saw that our flight was delayed another two hours. And, there were some flights that were starting to be cancelled. Looking outside at the time, you could see the winds and the rain affecting takeoff and landings of planes.

The gates at the airport were really starting to become crowded with the delayed flights. People (including our group) were becoming restless. Next, another change - they added another 30 minutes to the previous delay. And, then, minutes later, they added another 10 minutes. I was really starting to get frustrated at that point - you could see it in my Twitter feed.

When we got to the airport of our final destination, a couple of people in our group did not get their luggage - Sheesh! So, we were delayed leaving the airport until that was sorted out. Luckily, they were able to find their bags. The hotel was another 45 minute drive from the airport. We finally got to the hotel at about 9pm - What a long travel day!

I'm not feeling very good today. I think I ate something that does not agree with my stomach. So, I'm tired, fatigued, weak, and whiney. That's a great combination for going and talking about electronic medical records today - YAY! So, we'll see what happens this morning.

I did want to give a plug and a shout out to Scan Man who just posted his first podcast. He did a great job and I recommend that you check it out. Also, crzegrl posted her second video blog. This is a great video about the aircraft that she uses at work. See, I'm inspired that more people are using things like podcasts and video. Are you next? Let's hope so!