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Leveraging Technology IV: Blogs

So, this series has had a long, long hiatus between posts for which I apologize!! Time to start the new year off right. This is another dense post with a ton of resources and links. I hope you enjoy. In the previous post, I presented which research journals publish the most and highest quality clinical trials of interventions. I also discussed what research journals we should consider following. The preceding posts in this series were:

  1. Web 2.0 and RSS
  2. Google Reader
  3. Selection of Content

But, research journals are not the only way for us to engage information relating to clinical practice and scientific research. Blogs are another great online resource. With the advent of Web2.0 principles physical therapists, students, and researchers from around the world can critique research, discuss science, and debate clinical practice through the blog format (And, the micro-blog format such as Twitter, but more on that in the next post!). Disagree with a bloggers interpretation of the evidence? Comment on the post! If utilized civilly and with proper logic blogs (and social media like Facebook and Twitter) are a great platform for learning, discussing, and reviewing. And, as I have mentioned in previous posts with RSS feeds the information is pushed directly to you. Then you decide what to skip, what to skim, what to read, what to push forward through Twitter or Facebook and what to comment on!

There are many blogs relating to physical therapy, rehabilitation, training, science, exercise science, training, and research. I stumble upon new ones all the time. Some of them are great, some are bad, and some are just ugly. Below I am going to review some of the blogs that I follow.

I love the interactive nature of the blog format. You can participate in high level discussions regarding research and clinical practice from anywhere in the world. This type of crowd sourcing has the potential to elevate our knowledge dissemination, discussion, and growth. In fact, the proliferation of blogging and micro-blogging will (I believe) fundamentally change not only how information is disseminated, but how we learn, discuss, and collaborate on clinical care and research.

For each blog, I have included the title/subtitle hyperlinked to the actual blog as well as the author(s) twitter handle with a hyperlink to their twitter profile. Please comment on your thoughts of these blogs.

What blogs do you follow? Let us know in the comments section! Speaking of, follow @PTThinkTank as well as all the authors, including the creator @EricRobertson and humble contributors @MPascoe and @Dr_Ridge_DPT


I have to start off with some student blogs. As a student this is how I became exposed to and involved with leveraging technology!

AAOMPT sSIG: Blog of the Student Special Interest Group of AAOMPT

The AAOMPT sSIG Blog is where I got my start blogging about such issues as the doctor of physical therapy degree, direct access, physician owned physical therapy services, and grass roots political advocacy. The blog provides information on the happenings of the student special interest group. If you are a student, or know a student, send them to the blog for more information on getting involved in the sSIG. It is a great group of motivated, high energy students. Unfortunately, the AAOMPT sSIG is not on twitter, but you can e-mail the students directly with comments, suggestions, and questions: ssigaaompt@gmail.com

Colorado Student Physical Therapy Advocacy: Act now to protect the future of your profession

Author: @COSPTAdvocacy

I may biased since these students are from my Alma Matter, but these students are truly organized and accomplished. Not only did they WIN the APTA’s Student Advocacy Challenge they are leveraging technology through Blogger, Twitter, and Facebook to create a sustainable and visible student movement.

Below are some of the blogs that I regularly read and definitely have in my RSS Feed. Most of them deal directly with physical therapist practice, and are authored by physical therapists. Others are authored by other professionals, but still very applicable to physical therapy. Enjoy!

Better Movement: Learn to Move with More Skill and Less Pain

Author: @ToddHargrove

Todd is a Seattle based Feldenkrais Method movement instructor who used to be a lawyer. He writes about a neurocentric approach to movement, training, and pain. In Both Sides Now, he discusses research investigating the training, or treating, one side of the body and the effect on the contralateral side.

Body In Mind: Research into the role of the brain in chronic pain

Authors: @bodyinmind @NeilOConnell

This is the blog of Lorimer Mosely and crew out of Australia. They provide research summaries and discussions regarding the mechanisms of pain and the treatment of chronic. Probably one of the most robost blogs on the net regarding pain physiology and current research. Why Things Hurt is an outstanding Tedx video by Lorimer Moseley on the neurophysiology of pain. They even discuss if Chronic Pain is a Disease.

Categories: Pain Science, Chronic Pain, Neuroscience, Physiology, Research

Leaps and Bounds: Perspectives from a physical therapist

Author: @ForwardMotionPT

Corey provides unique insight into physical therapist practice, and is obviously a very deep thinker. He has produced many videos illustrating the use of novel movements of various body regions. Here is a great post about The Movement Diet.

HealthSkills: Skills for health living for health professionals working in chronic pain management

Author: @adiemusfree

Healthskills is a blog for health providers who want to read about research related to self managing chronic pain. Topics include chronic behavior therapy, measuring outcomes, patient education, and many other topics. The author was originally trained as an occupational therapist. In this post, she discusses what to do when a patient is “inconsistent” with their pain behavior or presentation.

Categories: Pain, Chronic Pain, Cognitive Behavior, Clinical Treatment of Pain

The Manual Therapist: Promoting the highest level of physical therapy practice

Author: @The_OMPT

Dr. E posts very regular providing links to other blogs (including this one, thank you!), videos on techniques he uses, clinical cases, and clinical reasoning. He has a very expansive background being both a fellow of AAOMPT and MDT diplomat. See the post What is the Mechanism Behind Rapid Change? for a discussion we had regarding mechanisms of manual therapy. (Here is the comments section)

Mike Reinold: Rehab | Sports Medicine | Performance

Author: @mikereinoldblog

The most up to date information related to evaluation and treatment of athletes, specifically overhead athletes. Good citation of clinical research for evaluation and exercise treatment. Lots of links to different courses/products. Mike is the head of athletic training for the Boston Red Sox, and is well published on issues regarding the shoulder and injuries in throwers. In the post Rotator Cuff Fatigue Increases Superior Humeral Head Migration, Mike discusses the importance of not training the cuff to fatigue.

Categories: Athletes, Shoulder, Knee, Sports, Orthopaedics

Move It: The New Professional’s Collaboration Blog

A group of young physical therapists (<5 years experience) discuss clinical practice, clinical development, and issues regarding being a new professional. It has been a while between posts, but they have some excellent content. Check out A Generation with Challenges, Vision, and Debt.

Categories: Young Professionals, Professional Development, Legislative Advocacy, Professional Issues

My Physical Therapy Space: Evidence in Motion Blog

Authors: @EIMTeam

The blog of the Evidence of Motion crew. Great information regarding private practice, legislative issues, and research pertaining to orthopaedics. Discussions regarding the overuse of imaging and surgery, as well as the how physical therapists can provide value to society and healthcare. In a Blast from the Past, John Childs illustrates how some clinicians and researchers cling to old models of pain and treatment despite evidence to the contrary. Tim Flynn discusses how access to early, cheap care (physical therapists!) for low back pain is Not Rocket Science, and could have HUGE implications for our society. Larry Benz deconstructs poor logic about Physician Owned Physical Therapy Services (POPTS) that appeared in Advance Magazine.

Categories: Professional Issues, Private Practice, Orthopaedics, Research, Professional Development

The Sports Physiotherapist: Resource for physiotherapists (or physical therapists) with a passion for assessing, diagnosing, and rehabilitating the sports injuries of the world’s athletes

Author: @TheSportsPT

Extremely well cited articles discussing the evaluation, assessment, and treatment of athletes including surgical approaches and their implications on rehabilitation. Their blog and website is maybe the most comprehensive sports physical therapy resource on the net. In this post, they review the diagnostic accuracy of tests used to identify Acetabular Labral Tears of the Hip.

Categories: Sports, Athletes, Research, Examination

Physical Therapy Diagnosis: Make Decisions Like Doctors

Author: @timrichpt

Private practice owner in Florida discusses clinical decision making as well as leveraging decision support tools/software. Lots of discussion of Medicare flaws, clinical decision making, and issues in private practice. Tim recently authored a book detailing bullet proof decision making processes to improve documentation and efficiency in outpatient practices. Tim presents The Art and Science of Physical Therapy by analyzing the Oxford Debate from the American Physical Therapy Association’s Annual Conference in 2011

Categories: Private Practice, Legislative Issues, Clinical Decision Making, Outpatient

Save Yourself: Science powered advice about your stubborn aches, pains, and injuries

Author: @painfultweets

A massage therapist by training who turned to science focused blogging regarding painful problems. Skeptical analysis of pain, pain syndromes, and treatment techniques. Great information for patients and practitioners alike. Although I very much respect Paul’s work and critiques, there is a very apparent bias towards trigger points as a significant pain complaint and treatment target. Paul talks about MRI Overuse and how MRI is too sensitive of a diagnostic tool. He also does a nice job of summarizing some of the Science Surrounding Stretching.

Categories: Pain, Chronic Pain, Manual Therapy, Science

SomaSimple: The so simple body. A place for physical & manual therapy.

@SomaSimple Contributors: @jasonsilvernail @dfjpt @BarrettDorko @wrtrohio @JohnWarePT @ForwardMotionPT among others

You will not find a more thorough or logical analysis of manual therapy, physical therapy, and their relation to people with painful problems anywhere. The folks over there are true skeptics in their thought process, and challenge all. Be ready to be challenged, even if all you do is read the forums! This site is such a density of information and discussion you could read for months. Whether you troll or join in on the discussion it will deepen your analysis and understanding of pain, pain physiology, and clinical practice. Enough is Enough is a well written piece by Jason Silvernail talking about how we need to stop looking for the magical technique or tissue and focus on deeper models of understanding pain. In Crossing the Chasm, he absolutely shines in his ability to tie current clinical research to a deeper, neurophysiologic understanding of pain as he describes his process of evaluation and treatment utilizing sub-grouping in low back pain.

Categories: Pain, Neuroscience, Discussion Board, Manual Therapy

The blogs above are more specific to physical therapy principles. But, it also useful to engage information from other disciplines or sources. For example, decision making, principles of science, behavior, and psychology are all integral parts of physical therapy practice. These topics relate to how we treat patients, but maybe more importantly how we make decisions and analyze/integrate literature.

Science Based Medicine: Exploring issues and controversies in the relationship between science and medicine

I believe this is a must read blog for all health care professionals. It discusses the application of scientific principles to improve evidence based practice. These principles include prior plausibility, physiologic plausibility, and an increased focus on the integration of basic science into the understanding and practice of medicine. Although, much of it is not related directly to physical therapy, the lessons and principles discussed are applicable to research interpretation and clinical practice of all health care professions. In fact, physical therapists receive a mention in the post Subluxation Theory: A Belief System that Continues to Define the Practice of Chiropractic.

Check out these posts:

  1. About Science Based Medicine
  2. Announcing Science Based Medicine Blog
  3. Does Evidence Based Medicine Undervalue Basic Science and Overvalue Randomized Control Trials?
  4. Is it a Good Idea to test Highly Implausible Health Claims?

Eric Cressey: Performance and health on a whole new level

A personal trainer with a masters degrees in kinesiology with a highly successful persontal training facility targeted towards baseball players. Collaborates with Mike Reinold. Although targeted for personal trainers and fitness specialists, he provides amazing information on training athletes that is very applicable to physical therapists.

Very detailed information about the training of high level athletes especially baseball players. Eric exhibits in depth understanding of kinesiology, training, and anatomy specifically as it relates to baseball players and overhead athletes. Although, he does seem to have a poor understanding to mechanisms and effects of manual therapy and at times “plays doctor” in regards to client’s pain complaints. In How Much Rotator Cuff Work is Too Much? Eric discusses the implications of training the rotator cuff in throwing athletes both in season and during the off season. He highlights the fact that many throwers overuse their cuff musculature.

Categories: Sports Training, Baseball, Shoulder


  1. Do you read any of the blogs above? If so, what is your critique?
  2. Did we miss a good resource? Please comment and enlighten us!
  3. Do you have a blog? Comment with a link and a brief summary!

Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of physical therapist focused blogs relating to in-patient acute care, neurologic physical therapy, and in-patient rehabilitation (hint, hint, any takers??). Most focus on outpatient, orthopaedics, sports, and private practice.

I hope you have enjoyed the leveraging technology series thus far! We have covered a ton of information as these posts are are very dense. The next post will discuss the use of social media tools including Twitter, Facebook, and Blog comments to move beyond RSS into active sharing, discussion, and engagement of information! Remember, we always value your feedback and comments.

@Dr_Ridge_DPT

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Use twitter to network before your next conference

tweetbeach

 

Earlier this year I had a very positive experience attending my first physical therapy conference – CSM 2011, in New Orleans, LA.

Twitter was instrumental in the success of my experience. I thought I would take a moment to show you what I did leading up to the conference. Using twitter, I was able to break-the-ice with several attendees in advance so that when I got to the event I had several conversations waiting to happen.

Use this post as a checklist to prepare for your next PT conference. For me this will be the 2011 AAOMPT Annual Conference, Oct 26-31 in Anaheim, CA.

1. Create your twitter account

  • Choose your name carefully. You want to avoiding changing your name down the road as this will force your followers to find you again once the change is made
  • Choose a name that represents the content of your tweets – JSmithDPT for professional content; JoeSmith22 for personal; XFactorPT for clinic content, etc…
  • Really consider including PT or DPT in your twitter name, especially if you’ll be tweeting about #physicaltherapy
  • Enhance your profile. Add a picture, write a brief biosketch (you are limited to 160 characters), add your location, paste in your homepage URL (university profile, facebook page, a zapd page, etc…)

2. Follow other people on twitter by mining a twitter list

  • Twitter has a way you can group twitter profiles with a common interest called lists
  • If you find someone has created a list of conference attendees, you can view the list and find some interesting people you can start following and maybe even reach out to
  • Here’s the list I’m putting together for 2011 AAOMPT Annual Conference
  • This is a good way to find people on twitter because someone else has already done all the work for you
  • You might also want to check out my list of physical therapy related twitter accounts and ask me to add you if I haven’t already

3. Create your own twitter list

  • Once you have seen the usefulness of a twitter list, I suggest you start your own for the conference
  • Start looking for people you know or would like to get to know by using the “Who to follow” feature
  • Also search for an official conference account and add that to your list – AAOMPT actually has one
  • If you find the conference organizer has an account, your can also mine their followers, here are the >1,000 people that follow @AAOMPT, do any of them look familiar to you?

4. Search twitter

  • Twitter is a powerful way to find information instantaneously about topics you’re interested in, so start searching for content related to your conference, “AAOMPT” for example
  • For large conferences, attendees will include a hash-tag to specify that their tweet is related to the conference, such as #AAOMPT11 or #CSM2012
  • As you find people tweeting about the conference, add them to your list

5. Broadcast your plans

6. Even if you’re not going

  • Watch the hash-tag (#AAOMPT11) to see what people are sharing
  • Ask questions, say hello
  • Help promote the event by tweeting: “hearing lots of good chatter from #AAOMPT11 this week!”

7. Go mobile!

  • Everything mentioned above can be done in a browser on a laptop or desktop computer, however, I found that I was much more likely to interact with twitter from my smart phone
  • In fact, I barely looked at twitter for the first 6 months I had my account. It wasn’t until after I got setup on my iPhone 3GS that I really got immersed
  • The screenshots in the gallery below were all taken from the iPhone app Tweetbot ($2.99 in the app store), but I suggest trying the free Twitter for iPhone app first (those on other smart phone platforms can chime in with links to your favorite apps in the comments below)
  • Plancast also has a free mobile app
  • It is also easier to share photos from your smart phone, assuming most smart phones have a camera these days
  • One free photo sharing app that is on fire right now is instagram, which also connects to your twitter account

Gallery of screen shots from my iPhone shows some of the features mentioned above:

In closing…

I hope this was helpful and easy to digest. As usual, we want your feedback on this post in the comments – what did you like, what was explained poorly, what is your story with twitter at PT conferences, did I leave anything out, etc…

If you’d like to read more about social networking in physical therapy, I suggest reading this recent article on the Australian Physiotherapy Association website – “Why social media matters for physiotherapists”

Mike Pascoe – @mpascoe

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Leveraging Technology III: Selection of Content

In the first two posts of this series I discussed the concepts of RSS and Web 2.0 as well as detailing the set up of Google Reader.

  1. The Basics: Web 2.0 and RSS
  2. Google Reader

This post will discuss which journals we should be following and reading as physical therapists. Obviously, there is Physical Therapy Journal as well as population and practice area specific physical therapy journals published by the sections of the American Physical Therapy Association:

Click on the picture to visit the Acute Care Section’s Website!

Definitely subscribe to some (or all!) of those journals via RSS. Remember, if the journal website does not have an RSS icon or url, you can create an RSS  for a PubMed search for that specific journal. I outlined how to do this in my previous post.

Following physical therapy specific journals seems quite obvious. But, an interesting article published in Physical Therapy Journal detailed some specifics regarding journals that publish physical therapy and rehabilitation specific trials. The article, Core Journals that Publish Clinical Trials of Physical Therapy Interventions, analyzed journals that published clinical trials of physical therapy interventions. The journals were then ranked by

  1. Total Number of Trials
  2. Quality of Trials ranked via PEDro Score
  3. Impact Factor

Most Trials of Physical Therapy Interventions

  1. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
  2. Clinical Rehabilitation
  3. Spine
  4. British Medical Journal
  5. Chest

Highest Quality Trials Based on PEDro Score

  1. Journal of Physiotherapy
  2. Journal of American Medical Association
  3. Stroke
  4. Spine
  5. Clinical Rehabilitation

Highest Quality Trials from 2000-2009

  1. Journal of Physiotherapy
  2. Journal of American Medical Association
  3. Lancet
  4. British Medical Journal
  5. Pain

Highest Impact Factor: 2008

  1. Journal of America Medical Association
  2. Lancet
  3. British Medical Journal
  4. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
  5. Thorax

The authors conclusions:

  • Physical therapists must read more broadly than physical therapy specific journals
  • High quality trials are not necessarily published in journals with the highest impact factor

Surprised? The only physical therapy specific journal is the Journal of Physiotherapy, which is published by the Australian Physiotherapy Association.

NOTE: Take into account the data is only in regards to Randomized Control Trials (RCT’s) of interventions. It does not include information regarding articles on basic sciences, physiology, or neuroscience. Further, it does not include case reports, clinical perspectives, and other manuscript types. Regardless, it provides us with guiding information on where we should be looking for research to guide our practice and understanding. In addition, I believe it reiterates the point that we need to continually look to other areas of research to deepen our mechanistic understanding of physiology especially neuroscience. I think it is absolutely imperative we stay up to date on basic science research especially as it relates to neuroscience, the physiology of pain, and exercise science.

For example, in October of 2009 Critical Care Medicine devoted an ENTIRE supplemental issue to Intensive Care Unit Acquired Weakness (ICU-AW) including clinical and physiologic studies examining neuromuscualr impairments, clinical examination, and clinical treatment. In all, there were 20 articles, reviews, and manuscripts in this supplement. That sounds like something a physical therapist practicing in acute care should follow!!

Now, although Physical Therapy Journal failed to make the Top 5 in any of the categories above a recent investigation in Journal Citation Reports gave PTJ high marks: #1 Among physical therapy specific journals. #3 Among ALL rehabilitation journals. #7 of 61 Among orthopaedic journals. Please visit this post via PT in Motion: News Now for a summary. Paul Ingraham, a massage therapist and writer covering science based pain care over at Save Yourself, compiled his own Top 10 List based on the results of the PTJ study. His list is very similar to the ones above.

Below you will see journals that I think are applicable to clinical practice and scientific understanding. I organized them by a few practice areas and topics. I also provide the RSS link next to the journal name. I did not include any of the physical therapy specific publications, but the links to those journals are earlier in the post. In the instances where the journal does not have an RSS, I have included an RSS for the PubMed search for that particular journal. If you want to follow any of the journals below all you have to do is copy and paste the RSS url into the ‘Add Subscription’ box of google reader! I have also hyperlinked to the journal websites, so please also visit the journal websites to explore other potential RSS options on content including online ahead of print and podcasts.

General Clinical Practice and Basic Sciences

Medical Journals

Acute Care

Neurologic

Orthopaedics: General

Manual Therapy

Sports

Now, this is not an exhaustive list. Depending on your practice area and the populations you work with other journals may be more applicable. For example, if you work at a rehabilitation hospital that specializes in the treatment of spinal cord injury Spinal Cord and Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine are obviously more applicable journals. Also, I did not include lists for Pediatric, Geriatric, or Women’s Health practice areas. But, if you practice in these areas or have suggestions please provide us some information by leaving a comment!

Hopefully, the information and journals listed were helpful. Spend some time over the next week analyzing which journals you subscribe to, follow, and read. Ask yourself “WHY?”

  • What journals do you read?
  • What would you add to the above lists?
  • What did I miss?

In the next post, I will provide a brief overview and evaluation of some of the blogs I follow. Do you have favorite blogs that you read? Please comment and let us know. Stay tuned!

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Leveraging Technology II: Google Reader

In the last post, I introduced the basics regarding RSS and Web2.0. In this post I will go over how to set up and utilize Google Reader, a specific RSS reader. Watch the video below for a an explanation and visual demonstration of Google Reader:
Google Reader in Plain English by Google

Before you can use Google Reader, you must have a google account. If you have a gmail e-mail address or use any of the other products from the google suite including calendar or documents then you already have a google account. Once you are logged into your google account find the link to “Reader.” This link lives either on the top menu or under the “More” drop down menu.

Click the “Add a Subscription” button!

The ‘Add a Subscription‘ box of of Google Reader is where you paste RSS feed urls. Once added, the RSS feed delivers new content from the website directly to your Google Reader: Your Internet Inbox! (FYI > click on any of the images in the post and bigger version will appear in a new window)

Now, adding RSS Feeds from your favorite websites, blogs, and journals is very easy. There are 2 ways to add feeds.

  1. Click on the RSS Icon of a website
  2. Search for RSS Feeds in the ‘Add a Subscription’ box

Most websites, including blogs and major journals, will have an RSS icon. Click this icon to access the url for the website’s RSS feed url. Some websites, such as Physical Therapy Journal, have multiple RSS options.

Physical Therapy Journal has multiple RSS options. You can subscribe to current issue, ahead of print e-publication, case studies, commentaries, etc.

When you click the RSS icon it may take you to a page that looks like code and/or a preview of the RSS feed. If this is the case, copy and paste the url. Or, it may have a bunch of buttons, one of which says ‘Add to Google Homepage’ or ‘Add to Google Reader.’ If that is the case, then click the ‘Add to Google Reader’ button.

Click the Add to Google Reader button!

Clicking the button will either add the feed to your google reader and/or open the RSS feed in google reader (as if you had found it through the add a subscription search box). Do not forget to click ‘add a subscription’ button! The ‘Add a Subscription’ box doubles as a search. You can type in keywords to search for RSS feeds of websites that match your topic, and easily add them to your Google Reader line up.

Unfortunately, not all journals have RSS feeds (what?!). For example, the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy does not have an RSS feed for new content, issues, or articles. Luckily, there is an easy fix to this. You can turn any PubMed search into an RSS feed.

Turn any PubMed Search into an RSS feed including topic specific, author, or journal. Have new results automatically pushed to Google Reader!

To construct a specific search for journal click the advanced link which will take you to a new window. Under the heading search builder there is a drop down containing such search options as author, journal, title, or abstract. Select the journal option and then type the journal name in the search box. Once the search is complete click on the RSS link, which conveniently has the orange RSS symbol to the left. This will pop out a box with some options for the RSS feed including what you want to name. Click “Create RSS” once your have picked your settings. An orange box labeled “XML” will now appear. Click on this to obtain the url for your new RSS feed. Then copy and paste this url into the add subscription box of Google Reader. Now, you the results of a PubMed search delivered right to you. Remember, you can create an RSS feed for any search including author, journal, or topic! To make your content even more dynamic, consider using image motion AI to bring your visuals to life, adding movement that grabs attention as you share your updates.

Click the Create RSS button, and an orange box labeled XML will appear. This is the url for the RSS feed of your PubMed search.

That’s the basics for Google Reader. Be sure to play around with the different options. You can create folders, edit feed names, and share items with people who follow you on Google. Check out the videos below for more in depth demonstrations and explanations of Google Reader. In our next post, I will discuss which Journals we should be following and why. Some of the recommendations may surprise you…

In the video below, our very own Mike Pascoe demonstrates using Google Reader including how to make an RSS feed for a specific PubMed search.

Monitoring Physical Therapy Research Using Google Reader from Mike Pascoe on Vimeo.

For a very detailed explanation of how to set up and start using Google Reader, watch the 10 minute video below.
Google Reader: Getting Started by Capture the Conversation

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Leveraging Technology I: The Basics: Web 2.0 and RSS

Via The Power of Media Blog. Click image to visit.

Last week, I gave a 30 minute demonstration and lecture to students illustrating how to utilize RSS and RSS Readers, specifically Google Reader, in accessing research, information, and discussion specific to physical therapy students and clinicians. The next series of posts will explain:

  1. Basic concepts of RSS and Google Reader
  2. Selection of content: Which journals we should be reading and WHY
  3. Review and critique some of blogs that I follow
  4. Finally, discuss the use of social media and Web 2.o principles, including Twitter, to not merely access information, but engage in critique, debate, and discussion.

Web 1.0 to Web 2.0

In the beginning, Al Gore created the internet. And, that internet was very much like navigating our highway system. You merged on, with or without a map, and started exploring. You searched, found, and read relatively stagnant content published by others. If there was a website you enjoyed you added it to your bookmarks folder. Then you had to visit the website regularly to check for updated content. That is Web 1.0. With the rise of blogs, Facebook, and now Twitter, users are not just recipients of content. Now, users can edit content (i.e. commenting on a blog or news article) and create content (i.e. Facebook and Twitter). This is Web 2.0: User generated content. Engaging, critiquing, editing, adding, and publishing content in real time!

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. RSS is a specialized URL (usually ends in .xml) that feeds information from a website to an RSS Reader. It is a way to receive information from a website without actually visiting that website. For example, a podcast is a type of RSS feed that has an audio file at the center of each new post. Research journals and blogs all usually have RSS feeds.

What is an RSS Reader?

An RSS Reader, or Aggregator, is a software program that collects and displays information pushed from RSS links/feeds. A reader is similar to an e-mail inbox, except this is an inbox for the internet! No more bookmarking or remembering [forgetting] to visit different websites, journals, blogs, and online resources. The RSS Feed pushes new information to your RSS Reader allowing YOU to stay automatically updated on any new content from a blog, research journal, website, or even a PubMed search. Journals, blogs, websites (like ESPN), and most online resources now have RSS feeds.

There are browser-based readers and desktop based readers. Many readers also feature mobile apps, allowing you to access your RSS Reader Information on your smartphone. I utilize Google Reader, but of course there are other options.

Why RSS?

RSS Feeds and Readers save time and energy by pushing information directly to you. You then decide what to skim, what to skip, what to read later, and what to read now. There is absolutely no way you could access the same amount of information by surfing the net and bookmarking. RSS allows you to organize an inbox for the internet which broadens not only the volume, but the perspective of information you engage, share, and participate in. The scope of information pushed to you is limited only by your imagination. Plus, you only have to add an RSS to your reader once!

That is the basics regarding RSS. Hopefully, if you are not already utilizing RSS this outlined some of the advantages. The next post in the series will detail how to set up Google Reader.

Resources

  1. What is RSS? on ProBlogger.net
  2. Information to YOU! RSS and RSS Readers on AAOMPT Student Special Interest Group Blog
  3. RSS Info Detailed website dedicated to RSS information and history
  4. RSS Feeds for Physiotherapy by Rachael Lowe

Videos

  1. RSS In Plain English
  2. Getting Started with Google Reader
  3. Monitoring Research using Google Reader by Mike Pascoe [includes how to make a pubmed search into an RSS feed]
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Slide Design in Physical Therapy: A Case Study

A recent survey shows that most of us view at least 25 slide presentations per year. This is most certainly true for physical therapists, whether it is an in-service at the clinic or sessions at annual conferences.

Of the dozens of presentations, how many are memorable? What makes a presentation memorable? Aside from a story that resonates with your audience, engaging slide design is they key to sharing your message.

In this post I will illustrate what I mean by “engaging slide design” using a recent experience in which I was entrusted with a slide deck from a colleague who asked me to “jazz it up a little”. You see, I let this colleague in on my little secret – I am a presentation snob! Let’s get started…

Title Slide

Before

I did not like all of the logos on this slide. The “four corners” look really takes your eye away from the purpose of having this slide: to convey the TITLE of your talk and your name. Also presents too many font types and gives an eclectic feel to the slide. If you have a good introduction, which is not always the case, your audience will know where you’re from and who you represent. Presumably they also know that they are sitting in a chair at AAOMPT. I would also argue that only Johnny needs to be listed on the slide and to remove “Presenter:”. Mintken and Struessel can be moved to an acknowledgement slide. A black slide background is not a good choice, especially if your audience is going to attempt printing them out later.

After

One logo, one presenter name, no background color. Credentials are impressive but can take up more characters than your name and so I prefer to leave them off. I also convinced Dr. Mintken to finally join Twitter. You can learn more about Twitter use in physical therapy from this recorded lecture. Basically, by providing his Twitter user name “@PMintkenDPT” he is giving his audience a way to share content from his talk with others not in the room and providing a venue for discussions about his work long after the talk is over. It is 2011 and didn’t you know Twitter is the new Facebook?

Background Slides

Before

Time to build up your story by explaining why things are the way they are today, a.k.a. the background slide. This slide is typical of all slides in the “Before” deck, a title with bullet points, not one single image, redundant logos in the top corners, and a stock theme from PowerPoint.

After

In the first 60 seconds of your talk your audience is sizing you up and determining if they want to pay attention, you better grab them early! I suggest a full bleed, high-quality photo of a joint manipulation. The audience knows what they’re in for and they also have a better emotional response to a photo then a bunch of text. I confess that I did use bullet points here, but this is one of the only slides I used them. I felt that it was appropriate here because I am listing several items in the same class, terms for spinal manipulation.

Before

After #1

I really wanted an image to demonstrate how much research on the effectiveness of joint manipulation is out there – a stack of papers.

After #2

I used a photo of a classroom for the question – Are students receiving the education?

Before

Every talk with a research component needs to discuss what has been published previously. Here we see what is typical, a bulleted summary of the results.

After #1

It is also very common to put a screenshot of the title and author on your slide. I’ve been playing with a different way of showing the reference to the audience by capturing a screenshot of the top and sides of the paper and putting it into the slide with a shadow dropped behind it. The effect is that there is a physical paper out in front of you. Then I took a page from Garr Reynolds and built in the “56 %” in huge characters on top of the image of the article.

After #2

I also transformed the bulleted list of reasons why joint manipulation was not taught into a table.

Before

Here is another example of a slide that is covering the results of a previous study.

After

What I did here was magnify the bottom line of the study – 54% of clinical instructors reported not teaching joint manipulation. Again in a huge font, with an image of a PT clinic that reflects the fact that this lack of instruction on joint manipulation is happening in the clinic (where everyone in the audience also works).

Before

The presenter wanted to draw attention to the fact that some time had passed between when these studies above were published and when this talk was given. And did so with a text box.

After

I wanted to again use imagery to get a gut reaction for the audience. What happened in 2005 that really shows a large amount of time has passed? A pop culture image would surely connect with the audience. This is were Napoleon Dynamite can in to save the day. The presenter wanted to demonstrate that 5/6 years is a long time and I would argue that it feels like ages since since classic lines such as, “I told you! I spent the summer with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!”

Methods

Before

People want to know how you did the research your presenting – the Methods. Here I saw another opportunity to transform bullet points into graphics.

After

The large blue circle represents the Program Directors and the small ones are the students that received the survey distributed from the Directors.

Results

Before

The data could be conveyed more effectively by using graphics over bullet points. But how?

After #1


Because the data were based on geography, a map immediately came to mind. You tell your audience that 38 states participated in your survey and they are probably wondering “was my state one of them?” I downloaded a vector graphic of the USA from wikipedia and filled in the relavanet states in Adobe Illustrator.

After #2

What about percentages? A pie chart works well to quickly show proportions. Put yourself in your audience’s place: while you are talking do you really want your audience to need to read all of your bullets? The words coming out of your mouth are in direct competition with the text on your slide. Make it easier for your audience to digest!

Before

For the first bullet point, a sub bullet point is used to convey MUCH IMPROVEMENT.

After

Made the 95% larger, in green to suggest this is a good thing, and put a thumbs up graphic in place of CAPITALIZED TEXT

Before

Here was an opportunity to tell the audience WHY students were not performing the joint manipulations they were trained to do.

After


Great opportunity to add some video into the talk. It is one thing for Dr. Mintken to stand up front and read quotes from students. It is a much better thing for him to show video testimonials from the actual students themselves.

To conclude…

So, all of these changes were made to this slide deck. How did it go? The presenter (Dr. Mintken) was pleased with his delivery of the talk, which is a good thing. For the remainder of the four day conference, every time someone approached Dr. Mintken the first words our of their mouth were “that was a really great talk!”

Here are some great books that have influenced my approach to slide design – Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds – slideology by Nancy Duarte

I would love to hear your thoughts on how the slides changed in the comments section below.

– Mike

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Post Series: Leveraging Technology for Research, Evidence, and Discussion

Via www.problogger.net What is RSS? Click image to link to post!

This week I will be giving a lecture in the Scientific Inquiry course at the Physical Therapy Program of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Recently Mike Pascoe posted about Papers a Mac based application that allows for streamlined organization of PDF’s.

My talk will focus on how to utilize Real Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds and Readers (such as Google Reader) to improve access and engagement of information. This includes information from journals, blogs, websites, and even pub-med searches pushed directly to you. I have written about this topic before at the AAOMPT Student Special Interest Group in a post entitled Information to You! RSS Feeds and RSS Readers. That post detailed how to set up Google Reader and gave a list of some blogs/journals.

Afterwards, I will also publish a series of posts about how to utilize various RSS tools. It will focus on RSS feeds and readers from set up through advanced use. I will also outline why you should be following and reading specific journals. Then, I will provide critiques of various blogs. Twitter and Physiopedia will be briefly discussed. Lastly, I will outline how we can improve our discussion and scientific debate through these tools with an eye towards the future. This is not a new topic, but I hope to bring a lot of information together to aid in how YOU leverage online tools for learning, debate, and collaboration. If you have any specific requests, please comment!

These tools allow individuals from around the world and across various disciplines/specialities to share information. Further, as Mike Pascoe mentioned in his recent talk regarding twitter, journal articles are being critiqued before the print version has even been released!

Via Flickr: Courtesy of Laurel Papworth & Gary Hayes at laurelpapworth.com and personalizemedia.com

We are truly in an exciting time. Online tools and collaboration in medicine and health are approaching a tipping point. We can leverage these tools to improve physical therapy, medicine, and the entire health care system from education to research to patient care to patient education to documentation to inter-professional communication…

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The Value of a Patient Portal: Increasing Compliance While Reducing Cost

As patients become more and more interested in engaging and communicating with their healthcare providers online, the demand for portal applications will only increase. Patients are looking for innovative ways to access their health information and care providers – what better way than online patient portals?

Portals are healthcare related online applications that allow patients to interact with their healthcare providers through secure websites or integrated electronic medical records (EMRs). These applications can give patients the ability to request prescription refills, make appointments, receive medical reminders, view billing statements, and ask providers questions about ongoing treatment regimens (2). The key is engagement and it’s a growing trend among individuals who expect the most out of their provider‐patient relationships.

In the realm of healthcare, patient portals have revolutionized the way patients manage their treatment and recovery. However, their impact on healthcare providers cannot be understated, especially in the area of physical therapy care. Compliance is a significant challenge when it comes to ensuring proper recovery during the physical rehabilitative process, and physical therapists have a lot to communicate and monitor, from home exercise regimens to post-surgical contraindications and body mechanics. One way that healthcare providers can leverage patient portals to address these issues is by using them to send important messages directly to patients and monitor their compliance both at the clinic and outside of it. By doing so, physical therapists can substantially improve the quality of care they provide, which in turn leads to improved patient outcomes. Additionally, patient portals can help expand the reach of practices, making it possible to provide innovative solutions for patients who may be geographically inaccessible, such as those seeking urgent care Manhattan Beach. The downstream effects of using portals in this way include increased efficiency and productivity and a reduction in administrative overhead costs.

So, you may well ask: is now really the time to integrate this type of technology in my practice? In a recent survey conducted by Intuit Health, 73% of respondents said that they would use an online communication application to pay medical bills, communicate with their physician or physician office, make appointments and view lab results (1). More than 40% said they would consider switching physicians in order to obtain such access. Research such as this makes it clear that patients are eager to adopt such applications and now is the time for providers to get on board.

The use of portal technology is inevitable as patients take control of their health and demand two‐way communication platforms from their providers. As we innovate around ways to increase the quality of care provided to patients, the integration of secure portals should become a mainstay for effective clinical practice.

Resources

1. Shinkman, R. 2011. Americans want more online access to physicians, FierceHealthIT, http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/americans‐want‐more‐online‐access‐physicians/2011‐03‐07.

2. Terry, K. 2011. Patient portal use becoming an inevitability, ForceHealthIT, http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/patient‐portal‐use‐becoming‐inevitability/2011‐04‐23.

This guest post was co‐authored by Bronwyn Spira, P.T., President of Force Therapeutics and Mark Anthony Fields, Ph.D., M.P.H, Digital Media Associate of Force Therapeutics. Force Therapeutics is an online suite of solutions tailored for the busy physical therapist. Force Therapeutics can be found at www.forcetherapeutics.com, www.facebook.com/forcetherapeutics, or www.twitter.com/ForceTherEx.

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Avoiding the Breach: Is our patient data really protected?

Electronic health records (EHRs) are the future of the provider‐patient relationship. As the storage, retrieval and sharing of information via EHR accelerates, providers benefit from the most accurate and up‐to‐date information available. The delivery of care is optimized through these systems giving providers the information necessary to make the most effective clinical decisions for their patients.

The issue of patient security is an ongoing concern. Privacy of our medical data is one of the cornerstones of our healthcare system. This code of confidentiality empowers patients to share critical information with providers and, in turn, allows them to make the most appropriate diagnosis and plan of care necessary. In a recent blog entitled Living on a Cloud, we discussed how physical therapists are beginning to embrace ‘cloud computing’ as the new standard for accessing patient information any time and anywhere without having to purchase a server, upload a program or even back up their information. We emphasized that these services must provide Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant user logins to ensure patient‐therapist confidentiality and should be SSL encrypted to the level required by CMS guidelines.

So, just as with our financial information we must ask the same questions concerning our patient data: Is this data vulnerable to internet attacks and security breaches? What precautions are providers taking to avoid these issues?

Here are some facts on EHR security. A recent study conducted by the consulting firm, Software Advice, found that security breaches of patient data through internet hacking only account for a small percentage (6%) of HIPAA violations (2, 3). A majority (63%) actually came from physical theft and unauthorized access or disclosure (16%). Of EHR violations, all involved on‐premise violations as opposed to ‘cloud based’ breaches. The author of the study points out that, “HIPAA violations aren’t happening in the cloud, rather, they’re happening in the doctor’s office, hospital IT closets, cars, subways, and homes.” In order to continue the safety of patient data, providers need to take precautions to comply with HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules (1). These include:

• Ensuring that any disclosure of patient information comply with HIPAA Privacy Rule

• Ensure the service performs a HIPAA Security Rule risk analysis indentifying potential threats and vulnerabilities to protected health information

• Ensure that service conforms to the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule which requires the reporting of breaches of protected health information

It is clear that EHRs can enhance the quality of patient care and that taking the necessary precautions to protect privacy is a crucial step to ensure that our healthcare system moves closer to a paperless practice model.

Resources

1. Dolan, B. 2011. Mobile Health: How to Comply with HIPAA, mobihealthnews, http://mobihealthnews.com/11272/mobile‐health‐how‐to‐comply‐with‐hipaa/.

2. Koploy, M. 2011. HHS Data Tells the True Story of HIPAA Violations in the Cloud, http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/medical/hipaa‐violations‐arent‐in‐the‐cloud‐1062011/#ixzz1TYEUKe4G.

3. Simmons, j. 2011. Can ‘clouds’ protect patient data from security breaches?, FierceEMR, http://www.fierceemr.com/story/can‐clouds‐protect‐patient‐data‐security‐breaches/2011‐06‐23.

This guest post was co‐authored by Bronwyn Spira, P.T., President of Force Therapeutics and Mark Anthony Fields, Ph.D., M.P.H. Force Therapeutics can be found at www.forcetherapeutics.com, www.facebook.com/forcetherapeutics, or www.twitter.com/ForceTherEx.