Category Archives: Blog

It’s unfortunately overcast in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where TheraSim is attending the 2012 AHME Educational Institute – the annual conference of the Association for Hospital Medical Education – at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa from May 16 – 19.

There are hundreds of medical education professionals here, from medical schools, university hospital networks, private healthcare providers, medical professionals’ organizations, healthcare consultants, accreditation organizations, military schools and medical centers. And the four days of conference are minute-by-minute with presentations, lectures, shows, and exhibits.

In short, there’re enough great and innovative ideas flying around in this hotel to make you forget about anything else! If you’re here, we’d love to learn from you, too. Just come find Ari Cofini, TheraSim’s business development director!

Woman says to me on the elevator: “I wish it were convenient for me to ride my bike to work.” It snowed that day, which is admittedly odd for April weather in North Carolina.

I get this a lot though. I look like a kid wearing a helmet messengering something into the building. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t convenient to ride nine miles in 36 degree weather, hop a bus for 30 minutes, and then haul another mile in the rain, cold or snow with my computer, lunch, and work clothes packed on my back.

I have learned a couple tricks along the way. The less you have to carry, well – the less you have to carry.

(1) In the gorgeous weather months, wear clothes on the bike that will walk into the office.
(2) Keep baby wipes and two pairs of shoes (one black, one brown) in the desk.
(3) Leave your lock at the office, but always keep a lock in your bag. Our city only has two spots on the bike rack, sometimes you have to leave the beloved velo at the bus stop.
(4) Grocery shop from the office. Load up and leave it there.
(5) Keep a charger for your laptop at home and at work. Man, it is a bummer when you forget that thing.

The reasons to do bike to work are just so great. I’m healthy. I set a good example. I save money. I focus better at work. I complain less. I fight less. I don’t burn oil. Mostly, I do it because I can.

Your turn. What are your tips for biking to work?

Bike to Work (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The core mission here at TheraSim is to improve the quality of health for people across the globe. TheraSim virtual patient simulations train healthcare professionals to deliver more consistent, more capable treatment.

But even better than treatment is prevention. Which is why your humble TheraSim blog writer is pointing out that all this week, May 14 – 18, is national Bike to Work Week, as designated by the League of American Bicyclists.

The average American commutes 12 miles to work each day, according to the 2009 National Household Travel Survey from the US Dept. of Transportation. That translates to just a 35-45 minute bike ride – a small length of time considering the average commute, with traffic, is already 22.9 minutes by car. Plus, riding your bike to work is the perfect way to get your weekly dose of two and a half hours of exercise, as per Center for Disease Control recommendations.

Two of TheraSim’s own, Charlie H., Senior Software Engineer, and Susan Stephens, Quality Assurance Engineer, already bike to work regularly. Charlie admits he cheats a little bit by taking the bus, but given he bikes 12 minutes to the station, has a 40 minute bus commute, and is an avid biker and chair of his local biking association, the Carrboro Bicycle Coalition, he may be forgiven.

“It’s just so much more stress to drive,” says Charlie. “It’s difficult for me to drive because I just get so addicted to not driving.” He bikes for a number of reasons – the feel of the wind on his face; environmental awareness; as a way to reclaim public space from cars; and the endorphin rush and health benefits of exercise. “If you reincorporate activity in your life, you don’t have to think about exercise. It just happens naturally.”

So brave the mess of your shed or garage, folks, and excavate that dusty bike. Join Charlie, Susan, and TheraSim in biking to work, at least for one week, and let us know in the comments what you find.

Visit the League of American Bicyclists website for more info:
http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/

Stop by tomorrow for Susan Stephens’ tips and tricks to make biking to work “work” for you.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 2012 Medical Technology, Training, and Treatment (MT3)  Conference, held in the Renaissance Orlando Hotel at Seaworld is under way. These conferences always have the coolest venues.

MT3 is right up TheraSim’s alley. From May 9 – 12, the best minds from across the map – military and civilian, private sector and university – come together to share ideas on using innovative medical technologies and training to improve heathcare and patient safety.

That’s why TheraSim’s own David Hadden, TheraSim founder and CEO, has the honor of closing out the whole MT3 conference, as part of a panel titled “The Gaming and Simulation Prescription for Healthcare,” from 1pm – 3pm on May 12. David’s co-panelists are Richard Boyd, director of emerging technology at Lockheed Martin; John Qualter, cofounder of BioDigital Systems; and Ed Sims, CTO of Vcom3D.

The panel – just like the whole conference – is going to be brilliant, so if you’re at MT3, make sure to stick around, take notes, and ask questions!

The place to be these past few days, for anyone interested in learning and performance improvement, is the American Society for Training & Development 2012 International Conference and Exhibition, so of course we at TheraSim have flown on out to Denver, Colorado!

ASTD 2012 is this year’s annual conference of “the world’s largest association for workplace learning and performance professionals.” Packed with valuable workshops, sessions, and lectures, and headlined by keynote speakers Jim Collins, John Kao, and Heidi Grant Helverson, ASTD 2012 is a flurry of ideas and innovators. A few notable exhibitors include Pearson, University of Phoenix and Blackboard. It’s an interesting place by all measures, especially when one of the exhibitors shows up looking like a superhero (see photo).

TheraSim didn’t come quite as snazzily-dressed, but we made sure to bring TheraSim360, our industry-leading innovation in medical virtual patient simulation. We’re always ready to swap ideas and contacts, so if any of you happen to be there, come talk shop with Ari Cofini, TheraSim’s business development director!

Apple Inc. (Photo credit: marcopako )

I usually like what Apple does. Yes, I know they can be a bit like an overprotective parent at times, but that is usually outweighed by the fact that the features they give work so well, until today.

I was just trying to download the Foursquare app onto my iPhone. After I was prompted for my AppleID password, a security notice pops up, something to the effect of, “To better help us ensure the security of your AppleID we require some additional information.” Huh? I am annoyed but I click “continue” and grab my reading glasses as I wait for the window to load. Apparently Apple has decided (after years and years) that a password is no longer secure enough for transactions of a financial nature but OK, I get it no problem. They want me to select some security questions and provide answers. Pretty standard stuff, so I click “select question 1.” And then it happens. I am sucked into the rabbit hole of broken.

I find myself offered a very limited set of questions, none of which are easy for me to answer. “What was your first car?” Well I’ll tell you, it was thirty years ago, I had it for a few months, my dad bought it for me, and I don’t remember what it was. An Impala maybe? Not sure. “Who was your favorite teacher?” I have had teachers that I liked over the nearly twenty years of schooling I have attended, but way too many good ones to pick a clear favorite. “Where was your first job?” Good lord, no idea. Probably mowing lawns for myself. I have been working since I was about ten. Next! “Where were you on January 1, 2001?” Really? Where was I on January 1st eleven years ago? Enough.

The solution was clear. I would just type in the same answer for all the questions. I select “What was your first car?” and put in an answer. I move to the second set of questions and see, “What was your favorite car?” This puts me at ease, because now the worry that I had about Apple performing some field validation and preventing me from putting in the same answer for everything was dismissed. I mean your first car could have also been your favorite right? Especially if you were a young user, like so many iPhone users are, and maybe that user has only owned one car. I put in my answer and move to the third group of questions. I see “What was your least favorite car?” and figure what the hell, I’ll go for the automotive trifecta, and put in my answer.

I add my “safety” email address and hit done.

Error: “you cannot have the same answer for more than one question.” Kill me.

Look, I understand the valid reasons for extra security for applications dealing with money. I get it, and security questions are a fine idea. But this particular implementation is just about as bad as it could possibly be, and in my opinion a clear representation of the “Not My Job” mentality from which too many people suffer. Someone, I don’t care who, a QA person, an engineer, a sales person, SOMEONE, needed to step up and challenge those remarkably bad questions. All those questions did was force me to put an incredibly banal answer, that I could sequence predictably, for each. The questions I picked were immaterial. They could have literally been “What is the answer to security question one?” and so on. The questions I picked had no bearing on my answers. This is broken.

If I had instead tried to provide actual answers for the questions offered to me, they would have been so far afield from the things I normally think about that I would have had to write them down and stick them in my wallet or something to keep track of them. Brilliant, right? Let’s put additional security in place that forces our users to do the most stupid thing possible, which is to write their secrets down.

Here is the thing folks, if you are trying to make things better for your customers, you have to be able to put yourself in their shoes. If you can’t think like a real user then odds are you are only going to end up annoying them, achieving the exact opposite of your original intent.

I have a simple suggestion for you, Apple. If you don’t want to go with the more standard security questions, like Mother’s maiden name and so forth, how about letting me enter my own questions? I guarantee they will be unique and I also guarantee I wouldn’t have to write down my answers or resort to using some ridiculous sequence that I will just cycle through, regardless of which question you ask me. Everybody wins.

Putting yourself in your user’s shoes will allow you to take “good intentions,” and turn them into “good implementations.” If you can’t, you will end up annoying your customers and you can rest assured that eventually, they will begin looking elsewhere for services.

So, what are you doing to ensure you are putting yourselves in the shoes of your customers prior to implementing new features designed to “help” them?

Welcome to Prodded, our new production development blog! We’ll be using this space as a way to keep everyone informed about TheraSim’s ever-evolving suite of applications, new irons in the fire, Agile Development, our technology stack (LAMP), frameworks, IDEs we favor, tools, tips and any number of other random topics. The whole team will be pitching in, as they are all vocal, creative, vibrant individuals, burning to share, driven to communicate, obsessed with…. Ahh, who am I kidding? They like to see themselves in print! So, without further ado, I give you the TheraSim Development Team (in reverse alphabetical order because that’s how I roll) :

Keno Vigil, Creative Director
Keno makes things look nice, run smoothly and is a master at GSD. He is the bridge between the front of the house and the back. His hearty chuckle is infectious and he has the ability of being able to make even the most tedious tasks enjoyable. He also happens to be a curator of toys and flying things, and may be single-handedly propping up Sharper Image’s profit margin.

Paige Sullivan, Senior Software Engineer
Paige is our resident mad professor and the mastermind building our Chameleon Simulation Platform back end. An entrepreneur at heart, Paige is passionate about everything to do with software development and is happy to prove it with a spirited debate!

Susan Stephens, Quality Assurance Engineer
Testing guru, business analyst, process junkie, math major, cycling enthusiast, and burgeoning UX designer. The only down side is that she may be too quick of a learner, evidenced by the fact that she has hit herself in the face only once this week while playing volleyball (after only one lesson!)

Rafael Miranda, Software Engineer
One of the newer additions to the TheraSim team, Rafa brings an unmatched passion for learning and experimenting with new ideas. In a very short time Rafa has blossomed into a Responsive Design Master, using a framework he built from the ground up. Oh and yeah, he can break a pinata with just one swing.

John Migliorisi, Director of Product Development
The guy who gets all the benefits of having such a talented staff.

Chris Martens, Senior Software Engineer
The newest (and tallest, at 6’ 9”) member of the TheraSim Development Team, Chris brings years of game development and artificial intelligence theory experience to the table. And he cooks us breakfast all the time! Apple and Blueberry pancakes, eggs, cheese and bacon muffins, cottage cheese, fruit, and on and on. I KNOW!

Daniel Lanphear, Senior Software Engineer
Daniel is the “complicated” one. An enigma wrapped in umm, bacon, I guess would be most apt… Daniel has been with TheraSim since the beginning, going on 8 years now. He understands all the dark scary corners of the code base, and, like a knight in shining armor, wades into the fray pulling new functionality out into the light, kicking and screaming, in record time.

Charlie H., Senior Software Engineer
Charlie is the glue that keeps the team together. Ever level headed, Charlie is one of those rare individuals that can leap from project to project, filling in the gaps and always happy to tackle whatever odd job crops up, whether it is system design, coding, or system administration. A bilingual, ex-Peace Corps volunteer, Charlie always knows where to find the best mangoes and hole-in-the-wall taco joints.

TheraSim is at Learning Solutions Conference and Expo 2012  in sunny Orlando, FL this week.  The eLearning Guild puts on this event, which showcases technology-based learning solutions and the best ways to implement them into your training and education curriculum.

Join us on Wednesday afternoon at 1pm ET for David Hadden’s session about how simulation can take education beyond eLearning. David will discuss how simulation not only offers the same strengths of eLearning but also brings the experience closer to reality.

TheraSim is exhibiting in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton in Walt Disney World. Visit us at booth #112 to learn more.  Stop by to say hello and get a test drive of our super intelligent simulation platform.

ENTRY 11

This is Gordon Cervenka, President of TheraSim, a virtual patient simulation company, following up with my final in a series.

As we ring in 2012 please follow my web log: 10 Reasons to Incorporate Virtual Simulation into your patient simulation offering.

Reason 1 – Some Say TCO, You Should Say TVO – Why aren’t you balancing the Cost and the Value?

Are you familiar with TCO?  TCO stands for the Total Cost of Ownership and the informed consumer thinks about TCO for purchases like cars and homes. If you buy that inexpensive used car you know you’re likely to pay more in maintenance later. That fixer upper home is a good value upfront but you know it will cost you down the road. Some analysis is required to know if you’re making the right decision.

The same rationale goes for simulation investment and the major simulation solution providers will help you understand the ongoing budget needs. No doubt you will find that you need to consider the upfront capital to get your simulation center up and running as well as the annual operating expenses of supplies, maintenance, and other consumables. The annual operating budget is significant. In addition, your budget will need to include staff, security and the hours of operation will be likely be standard business hours, somewhere from 8am to 5pm.  You put your investment and operating budgets together and you will find that for a typical high fidelity manikin you’ll invest around $175,000 upfront and then need a maintenance agreement plus a whole host of consumables such as various liquids, gases, skin, needles, tubing, batteries, etc…

Assuming your sim center is open nine hours a day and can run at full capacity 5 days a week, best case your utilization will be around 25% of total available hours during the course of the year. Yes, 25%! No weekends, no holidays, no after-hours simulation training available.  That means 75% of the time your investment is sitting around collecting dust. Sure, there is no replacement for the high fidelity medical simulators. It is simply a cost of doing business that helps a great deal with training, patient safety, risk management and in building learner confidence.

At the end of the day, you’ve worked hard to put together a comprehensive budget, scheduler, and you’ve even made your simulation a profit center and not a cost center by charging users. But at the end of the day it will cost you anywhere from $1500 to $3000 a day to keep your simulation center open and to only run at 25% capacity. You’re helping improve outcomes and quality of care but you’re not getting the most bang for your buck. You’re not maximizing the value of your simulation strategy.

The concept that everyone should consider is the Total Value of Ownership or TVO. Value vs. Cost. The concept is the capstone to this entire series. All the tangible and intangible reasons virtual patient simulation creates more value. It’s really quite simple:

• Lower capital cost – subscription vs. capital option is even better
• Lower annual operating cost – simple subscription for online access, no consumables to replenish
• Scalability and availability – no scheduling needed, no staff needed, available 24x7x365
• Replication and consistency – patient scenarios always starts the same, no need for supervision or video recording – the clicks tell the story
• Maintenance free – won’t break, doesn’t require setup or cleanup for every session
• Flexibility – virtually no limitations to the patient scenarios you can create and put  in use
• Measurable outcomes – on demand metrics tell the educator and administrator how the learners are doing and identify areas of poor performance.

All of this adds up to a tremendous amount of value or bang for the buck at a fraction of the cost of hardware based medication simulation.

If you aren’t considering web based virtual patients or web based patient simulation as part of your medical training, you’re not optimizing the value your simulation strategy can create.