Category: Industry Case Studies

Headline:

“Apple aims to put the customer at the center of everything we do”- Apple at WWDC18

This is something Kyo Logic and Apple have in common. We aim to provide the most user-centric services with everything we do, whether it is consulting, training, or FileMaker Development, making your business easier to run is our primary goal.

Here are some takeaways in iOS 12 that we found best upheld Apple’s promise:

Screen Time:

Smartphones have become an addiction, especially amongst the younger generation. Apple (being the number one contributor to that addiction) has begun to address this issue by implementing a new feature on iOS 12 called Screen Time. Screen Time provides you with a weekly report of how much time you have been spending on your iPhone, how often you check your iPhone, and what apps you’ve been spending the most time on.

The user-centric aspect of Screen Time is how customizable it can be. Users can:

• Set limits for the time they spend on specific apps, with warnings when you get close to your limit
• Set limits on their children’s devices remotely to help limit their usage
• Set Downtime for when apps won’t be displayed and indicate when specific apps aren’t usable
• Screen Time is Apple’s way to contribute to solving a social issue that they’ve helped create, all while keeping the user’s decisions to choose their settings in mind.

Security and Privacy:

In the tech world, people are always worried about their online presence, and whether their data is safe or not. Apple and Kyo Logic are two companies that show a similar drive to keep our user’s data safe. As per usual, Apple touched base on how up to date their security and privacy software is, but something especially interesting popped up that we found notable.

We have all seen the relentless “like” and “share” buttons on almost every website nowadays. These buttons can track and take down information from the user without even clicking them. Apple has made the stride to get rid of their user’s worry by disallowing this ability with iOS 12’s new Safari. To keep with Apple’s general theme of the conference of keeping the user at the center of everything they do, Apple has made this function optional. Every time one of these buttons is in effect, the user will have to allow access.

Apple is keeping the customer in the center of its update by thinking ahead of possible security threats, yet also allowing the user to bypass this security measure if they choose to do so.

Swift and The Apple Learning Community:

As any FileMaker user could tell you, coding is the language of technology and the future. Apple has been spreading the idea of how learnable the ability to code is through the implementation of Swift and Swift Playground. Both technologies have been out for a couple of years now, but Apple is pushing to get the public involved in coding for free.

Apps like Swift Playground make learning how to code very easy, and especially fun for inexperienced coders. Apple says, “We think everyone should have the opportunity to create something that can change the world. So we’ve designed a program that lets anyone learn, write, and teach code.”(Apple)

This entire movement falls under Apple’s overarching goal of the Apple Learning Community. Apple is pushing to get coding classes in all schools, enabling the next generation to create mind-blowing and groundbreaking apps that could change the world. For even more information on the Apple, Learning Community click here.

With the release of iOS 12, Apple includes an entire learning community with abilities of the public to become teachers and students to spread valuable knowledge.

By creating an available source of valuable education, and catering towards our youth, Apple has been continually showing us how customer-driven they are both for-profit and the betterment of society.

iOS 12 Beta

If you would like to access the Beta of iOS 12, click here, and help Apple make it their best release yet!

Work Cited:

iCrackUriDevice. “LIVE: Apple WWDC 2018 – IOS 12 & MORE – Video Stream (June 2018 Keynote)!” YouTube, YouTube, 4 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=61U4_ygZolo

“Everyone Can Code.” Apple, Apple.inc, www.apple.com/everyone-can-code/.

The ease with which FileMaker can be used and customized is allowing health care workers to develop apps that make their jobs easier both in the United States and in underdeveloped countries. mHealthNews has the story of three such physicians that have used the software to build game-changing databases.

Patrick Singley, a dentist from Columbus, Mississippi, who regularly does work in developing countries, built an electronic health record system to gather data about patients in poor areas where no such records are kept. After coming up with the idea, he spoke to several programmers but ultimately decided to do it himself using FileMaker.

The app is currently being used in Haiti, and next year it will be deployed in a Kenyan orphanage and made available to non-profits. While this is one of the most remarkable cases, it's far from the only one.

"You have a lot of very smart people out there in healthcare whose time is valuable, who are increasingly tech-savvy, and who have specific needs," said FileMaker vice president Ryan Rosenberg. "Clearly, there are a lot of scenarios where mobility is incredibly important."

A doctor at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis designed an app that lets residents chart bedside ultrasounds on their iPhones rather than on paper. And an eye bank in Birmingham, Alabama, has developed a relational database to easily track available organs and patients waiting for a corneal transplant in order to easily find matches.

Users in a wide range of business areas can benefit from implementing FileMaker in their operations. Certified partners can assist with FileMaker development, customization and training to help companies make the most of this software.

There are many instances where creating a database can be have wide sweeping benefits for the industry it is in. Health care, for instance, is filled with different ways that a database can make operations and improve patient care.

According to an article from the Associated Press, New York is in the process of quietly building one of the nation's largest computer databases of medical records. Once it is completed, patients and doctors alike will have access to the complete medical histories in one location and could save millions in the long run by avoiding redundant tests and unneeded admissions.

Dr. Rainu Kaushal, chairwoman of Weill Cornell Medical College's Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, said there is a tremendous value to society in avoiding unnecessary health care. Once enrolled in the program, a patient who visits the emergency room, for example, will be less likely to repeat radiological scans. This happens by creating a centralized location where doctors can look up evaluations they have had at other hospitals, including labs, EKGs and radiologic testing.

All of this is part of a larger movement across the health care industry to move away from paper records and start going digital. In New York, this system has been growing slowly since 2007, when it was first introduced. It currently has 71 percent of New York's hospitals and more than 20 percent of its 67,000 doctors are linked to the information exchange.

Creating a new database solution can be complicated. With the help of a FileMaker developer, any business can effectively create its own system.

There are many examples of how the latest software solutions have changed the way traditional sectors operate. Health care, for example, has experienced a number of different booms when various systems have risen to prominence. Currently, the use of electronic healthcare records (EHR) has been the main topic of conversation.

Hospitals and medical facilities are converting their paper records into a digital format. They can then be accessed through a computer and mobile devices, making it much simpler to keep files organized and updated in real-time. It also becomes easier for accurate versions of records to be sent to other facilities if needed.

While these platforms are spreading across the healthcare landscape, it does not work for every medical professional. A recent article from InformationWeek featured an interview with Dr. Lloyd Hey. The founder of the Hey Clinic for for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery, he used and was dissatisfied with EHR systems. However, instead of just complaining about it, he actually replaced it with his own version that brings process and quality control to healthcare.

Using FileMaker, his goal was to maximize care, minimize errors and continually improve processes and avoid the bottlenecks that current systems are creating.

"The problem was that [the EHR] system wasn't really built for a surgeon. It was built more for a primary care physician," Dr. Hey said. "And the [vendor's] programmers weren't really willing to improve it, and it didn't interface well with my practice management system. We had these silos of information that didn't talk to each other well."

Current EHR systems are broken into different modules for different tasks. This means it can be time consuming for a practice that performs hundreds of surgeries a month to fill out the different modules like schedule, clinic and appointment.

According to Dr. Hey, despite the number of systems that are on the market, none of them were able to streamline these modules and work specifically for his kind of practice. EHR systems do not take care of the whole workflow like consent forms and operating room bookings. Since he has a background in programming, he decided to tweak and have all those modules work together in a single solution.

With the help of a FileMaker developer, he started gathering input from everyone who used the software from the head of billing to nurses. This meant the entire office was part of the creative process and tweaking could happen on a daily or weekly basis.

"We have to have an adaptable system because, not only are we learning new things we have to change, but new things are being forced on us. You're always going to have to deal with change, so we need systems that can rapidly evolve and change with us," Dr. Hey said.

Now, patient information only needs to be entered once and any doctor can pull up and review the data, add critical information and view images on his computer in the office or his iPhone while in the operating room.

This shows what is possible when a company or individual with an idea decides to create a custom FileMaker solution.

When people list the things that they're most afraid of, going to the dentist often ranks somewhere near the top. There's something about lying motionless and slack-jawed in a converted office chair while a person wields sharp instruments in your mouth that gives a lot of people serious anxiety. That makes the sales process even more important. 

For a task that critical, Henry Schein Dental turned to FileMaker help. One of the major hurdles for the company was the sheer volume of products and services it offers. The practice provides tens of thousands of tools for both patients and physicians, from overheard lights to sterilization equipment, so consultants have a lot to remember when it comes to connecting with potential customers. 

And it's not just enough to know what something is called. When somebody is going to be poking something in their or somebody else's mouth, they're going to have a few questions about it. Carrying around bulky binders full of information was cumbersome and slowed the process down immeasurably. Instead, FileMaker lets sales executives have access to visuals and information about different products, as well as create PDFs and pertinent sales materials on the spot.

The change to this sort of custom database software also helped the company on the back-end. By parsing the information automatically compiled by FileMaker, representatives can easily see which items are selling the best and kept in constant stock. Having this information constantly available helps to streamline the product process, and saves tens of thousands of dollars in brochure costs for rarely-used products. 

Joe Baucom, Director of Marketing, Equipment and Techonology Group for the company, raved about the possibilities offered by using this kind of technology. 

"With the FileMaker Platform and FileMaker Go for iPad, our sales consultants have the right information, at the right time, for the right customer, every day," said Baucom. "The time savings from having 24-hour access to all literature, photos and catalogs has allowed our sales team to become more efficient and productive."

Henry Schein Dental might not ever be able to make going to the dentist as fun as a day at the amusement park. But with the help of FileMaker, they're definitely making the process of selling and marketing related tools as painless as possible. 

In the past, health care was completely responsive. A patient would come in with a particular malady, a doctor would diagnose it as best as possible, and then they would set out on a course of treatment. Now, physicians are making a greater attempt to anticipate and react to health related issues, before they even rise to the level of requiring a clinical visit. 

For many doctors, Big Data can be an important part of those efforts. One of the primary issues in modern health administration is the sheer amount of infrastructure and scheduling necessary. Unlike the past, when a house visit could be made on a particular day, modern medicine necessitates a level of administration that can often be cumbersome. That is where analytics can come in. 

One of the problems that doctors face is coordinating records across multiple systems. Many things are done on paper and have to be scanned or filed by hand. By using the FileMaker service, however, they can better organize data and treat patients more effectively. 

There are ancillary benefits as well. By parsing the information and identifying trends, a physician can see which patients are likely to come back and how often, knowledge which can speed up their care process. In addition, they can pinpoint factors that are leading to recurrences, and note national health patterns before they reach the level of crises. It could even reduce the incidence of chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer, which tend to occur relatively more frequently in particular populations. 

As care gets more specialized, it will be fascinating to watch how doctors are able to implement new database technology into the age-old process of making people feel better. 

Today's leading edge hospitals are quickly learning the diagnostic value of beside ultrasound scanning. However, learning to perform them isn't an easy task: it takes formal training to become certified. At the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, they realized that FileMaker development could help with this daunting process. 

Initially, they considered using other software. However, when judging excel vs. FileMaker, they found that the former just didn't have the ease of use or flexibility required for such a difficult and important task.

In the past, training happened largely via index cards. Doctors had to lug them around everywhere, recording data on the date, time and any observations made during their exams. Considering how many components they were looking at—heart function, lungs, organ size and any other abnormalities—it quickly got tedious.

In addition, if one of the cards was lost or forgotten, that information simply didn't get recorded.

No longer, thanks to FileMaker. Using the Go program for iPhone (most of the doctors already use these smartphones as pagers), physicians can access a custom tracking program. With just a few button presses, they can easily record, with is transmitted wirelessly to servers. 

This functionality doesn't just help caregivers perform ultrasounds, it helps them do them better. When teaching a a trainee, a trainer can quickly evaluate how accurate the diagnoses are, and step in to correct any ongoing mistakes. In addition, physicians can track their own progress and improve on any areas in which they might be lacking. 

Says Dr. David Tierney, director of the hospital's ultrasound program: "In the end, it is all about taking the best possible care of patients using the tools we have available. If ultrasound can fit in our little black bag, it is wrong for it not to be there. FileMaker is helping us make bedside ultrasound part of our standard tool set."

Just another way the simple program can help save lives. 

Big data has already helped doctors to diagnose and treat patients. Now, it can help to create the very drugs that will be prescribed.

Two researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, have created custom database software able to match cancer-linked genes to drugs, whether they be approved by the Food and Drug Administration or just entering the development pipeline. 

Obi Griffith, PhD, and Malachi Griffith, PhD, the identical twin brothers who developed the project, are experts in a field of science known as bioinformatics, which combines biology and computing. The discipline often involves analyzing large quantities of data, and after being repeatedly being asked whether lists of genes identified through cancer genome sequencing could be targeted with existing drugs, the brothers got their idea.

"It shouldn't take a computer wizard to answer that question," said Obi in an interview with the school's paper. "But in reality, we often had to write special software to find out. Now, researchers can quickly and easily search for themselves."

The custom database, which took years to develop, is freely available for all to use. It features more than 14,000 interactions involving 2,600 genes and 6,300 drugs that target those genes, along with another 6,700 genes that could eventually be the target of future drugs. The search function is easy and intuitive: users can enter the name of a single gene or lists of many genes to retrieve drugs targeting those genes. This data can inform researchers of how best to target genetic errors.

While it is informative, the database does not recommend treatment and is most valuable as an in-depth resource to further clinical research. Nonetheless, this is an exciting development in data management that will support life-saving experimentation.

Data has always held an important position in the organizational structure of the healthcare industry. Organizations have used information to fuel innovation and find new ways to enhance their patient care efforts, but before medical institutions can move forward, they have to develop a solid base of quality care and patient experience initiatives that they can build off of.

When patients check into a hospital or doctor’s office, they have a number of unique qualities that ultimately distinguish themselves from every other individual who walks into the front door of that facility. The more the organization knows about the specific patient ahead of time, the better they can treat them. This is similar to the way businesses use data to cater their product development and marketing to each individual.

When data isn’t properly managed to help cater services to the individual, the results can lead to poor service and dissatisfied patients and family members. A May 13 article in The Boston Globe features the story of Calvin Hill, a man who went to great lengths to help his father Foster Hill, after he was diagnosed with later-stage prostate cancer. While the younger Hill was doing everything he could to ensure his father’s recovery, he admitted it didn’t feel as if those tasked with helping him expressed the same level of concern.

Hill explained the frustrating ordeal of trying and failing to receive treatment specifically catered to his father’s needs. While he didn’t want special service, he felt as if taking each relevant factor into consideration during the treatment process would have gone a long way toward improving the level of care his father received.

“You show up to the hospital, and it’s like Groundhog Day,” Hill told the Globe, explaining that there were few discernable differences between the way each patient was cared for. “It’s this outdated standard of care created for this hypothetical average patient. But no one’s an average patient.”

However, Hill has the resources to do something about this. His company, GNS Healthcare, processes big data and uses pertinent information about each patient to help generate a specific care plan designed to address certain variables, such as medication allergies and unique symptoms, in conjunction with basic identifiers like age and gender. Couple this concept with the innovative medical practices found throughout Boston and the surrounding area, it’s likely that patients will soon enjoy a level of personalized care they never knew.

While this concept has many in the industry very excited, it’s important to understand that it all begins with the ability to view and manage information quickly and efficiently. FileMaker development can help organizations build a custom database software system designed to process information and design specific strategies based on that data. By using FileMaker, users can ensure their solutions are created properly, which can alleviate the risk of inaccurate information processing. Nothing would be more damaging than creating a system to organize specific care strategies based off of inaccurate information.

Working with a FileMaker development specialist can help guarantee the quality of a data management solution.

Efficiency in the healthcare industry is of the utmost importance. Organizations are always searching for innovative ways to cut costs while building productivity, all in the name of ensuring patient safety.

In Canada, this is the industry’s top priority, so on February 6, the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI) hosted a forum for industry leaders to share ideas and discuss key initiatives that can spur greater efficiency. Prior to the event, CFHI vice president Maureen O’Neil released a statement indicating that the three most important topics to addressed during the forum were building efficiency, reducing spending and providing a better patient experience. 

“There is no single way to achieve this triple aim of healthcare, however experiences gleaned from the best evidence and emerging practices in parts of Canada are transforming healthcare systems and institutions for the better,” O’Neil said. “There are innovations underway that are proving quality care, efficiency and a strengthened patient/family-centered approach, are not mutually exclusive.”

Finding a comprehensive solution to meet all three needs can be accomplished with the help of custom application development. By building a database software system designed to track pertinent healthcare data, organizations can better manage their information and use it more effectively.

Hardware innovation is rampant in the healthcare industry, as many hospitals are ditching traditional desktops for laptops and mobile devices. Instead of printing out patient information from a stationary computer, doctors can simply access it on their tablet or smartphone in front of the patient, improving service and giving the patient a better overall experience. By using FileMaker, organizations can build powerful systems that can improve all components of hospital operations, thus enhancing the level of care they give to each patient.