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Thank you to all who participated in our National Doctors’ Day initiative to “Get Physicians Online”! It was a success, and we could not have done it without you!

Our selections have been made.  We will be announcing the recipients of the initiative once the physicians have been contacted, and they accept our complimentary website design.

In the interim, we appreciate your patience and are always accepting suggestions for those who might be in need of our services.

Thank you!

Monday, March 30th is National Doctor’s Day; a red carnation is commonly used as the symbolic flower for this day.  The first observance was March 30, 1933 in Winder, Georgia due to the efforts of Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Charles B. Almond.  The day was set aside to honor physicians.  Greeting cards were sent to physicians and their wives, while flowers were placed on the graves of deceased doctors.

Monday, March 30th is National Doctor’s Day!

A Resolution Commemorating Doctors’ Day was adopted by the United States House of Representatives on March 30, 1958.  Legislation was introduced into the House and Senate in 1990, and on October 30, 1990, President George Bush signed S.J. RES. #366 designating March 30th as “National Doctors’ Day.”

At Get Online Solutions, we would like to say “Thank You!”  to physicians in our great country who serve their communities tirelessly.  In an effort to show our appreciation and advance our initiative to “Get Physicians Online”, we will be giving away 5 free website designs to physicians who currently do not have a website and 5 free website makeovers to physicians who desperately wish to update their outdated websites.

Free website design giveaway to say “Thank You”!

We are asking for your help!!!  Send us your nominations and help show your appreciation as well!  Please contact us, email us at info@getonlinesolutions.com, or leave your comments below.  Please feel free to simply acknowledge a wonderful physician.

Thank you!

Before you can begin thinking about an online presence, you must have the right tools. 

An online presence should allow for interactivity.  The key components of interactivity are availability and reliability.

Choices for IT hardware can be overwhelming.  However, do not fret…there are only two names to remember, DELL and BlackBerry – the only names for serious business solutions.  While Apple is a serious competitor, and maybe even better in the graphics and arts industries, DELL and BlackBerry are the only name in town for the business world!

Keep in mind, the stimulus package (yes, I know…) will allow businesses to deduct up to $250,000 for purchases like computers through December 31, 2009.  Now is the time to consult with your accountant to see if you can take advantage of this perk.  View the Forbes article here.

Starting with your computer hardware…what kind of a computer do you need?  How much memory?  RAM?  What kind of driver?  Processor?  Graphics card?  The list is endless.  If you are now asking yourself, what?!  The wrong answer is to go to your local Best Buy and pick up the recommendation of the Geek Squad.  Deciding which components you need is the foundation for getting started.  We all know about foundations!  Build on a solid one!!!  Hence, DELL has everything you need.  When I say “everything”, I am talking about hardware, operating software, and most importantly, support.  No need to guess.  Go to www.dell.com and browse around.  Once you have familiarized yourself with the products, call 1-800-WWW-DELL.  The representative will walk you through your order and will recommend only what you need. 

Keep in mind, what you need today will likely not be what you need two to three years from now.  Leave room for future upgrades.

Do not forget the support package.  Dell Pro Support is without a doubt the best purchase I have made in the last year.  Do you look at your computer and wish it would process faster?  Ever receive errors that do not allow you to use your software properly and continuously?  Do you find that you are always turning off your computer in hopes that it will reset itself and finally work like a dream?  The waiting and wondering is now over!  Within two minutes, literally, of calling Dell Pro Support, a competent computer support specialists, who truly knows computers and how to fix technical problems, will answer your call.  He or she will be physically located in Nashville, Idaho, or Oklahoma.  The support specialist will not be reading an algorithm!  What a novel thought?!  Instead, the specialist will listen to the problem and will fix it!  That’s it – no additional fees, no transferring of calls from one department to another, and no escalation to someone who is qualified to read Book #2 of the algorithm!  What a novel thought.

Dell Pro Support is truly worth its weight in gold!

Now for BlackBerry…Being able to have access to email instantaneously allows for efficiency throughout the day.  No longer do you need to wait until you are seated at your computer to review your emails and finally respond.  Now, you simply respond instantaneously.  Even if you do not respond, at least you will know what awaits you in your Inbox.  There will be no more surprises!  Furthermore, BlackBerry has its own Instant Messenger.  This allows instant text messaging to others using a BlackBerry and allows for group conversations.  There are many additional services and applications at your fingertips.  Are you on Twitter?  Get the TwitterBerry application and post to Twitter directly from your Blackberry.  Are you subscribing to RSS feeds?  Have them delivered directly to your handheld!  This is just the beginning…take a look at all the available applications here!

A surgeon cannot make an incision without a scalpel.  A dull scalpel does not “cut it”. 

Your information technology “tools” are the keys to your online success.  Accessibility and reliability are as good as gold!

Comments or suggestions?  Let us know!

(Disclaimer:  Get Online Solutions, LLC has no affiliation with DELL or BlackBerry.  The above comments are entirely unsolicited.)

Why is it that physicians are slow to catch on to the latest in information technology? Many of us have read about the “twittering” in the OR recently. As a surgeon, many thoughts come to mind; I will not be sharing any of them on this blog. However, the point is very well taken. People are twittering, blogging, chatting, emailing, and talking in all forms about this phenomenon. Clearly, it is a “new” concept.

How can physicians embrace information technology and add value to their services by implementing many of the “mainstream” applications into their practices and daily activities? Dr. Shelley Binkley has found an answer to this question. Dr. Binkley is an OB/Gyn physician in Colorado who is “trying to improve health awareness through blogging and social media.” Incidentally, I found her on Twitter. Her blog/website can be found at www.HealthEWoman.org.

What has Dr. Binkley achieved via social media? She has chosen an Internet medium that combines both a website and a blog to globally reach women and simply “help” them. She certainly hooked me! On her blog, she does several things.

• Provides free, factual, unbiased medical information that is of interest to women and encourages them to respond with their stories. The page layouts are bright, inviting, and very easy to navigate. Kudos to DIY Themes.

“HealthEWoman is my effort to gather in one web site the collective wisdom in our stories, fuse it with established and cutting-edge medical knowledge, to help us all make better, more informed health-care decisions.” Dr. Binkley explains this in the “How To Use This Site” section.

• Provides her credentials and contact information, securing credibility with readers, while clearly defining her purpose and mission as a physician.

“My ultimate goal is to do the greatest good for the most women world-wide. Whether you’re a client of mine, or someone living on the other side of the globe seeking information about your health, I want to help you.”

• Welcomes patients to her practice, Alpine Women’s Care, where she eloquently reassures patients that they will receive “personal care in a private setting.” A relationship and comfort level is established before the patient ever arrives at the office.

After acknowledging a patient’s time is valuable, she proceeds to say, “Our waiting room is quiet and inviting. Because we structure our patient flow to be efficient, you won’t be waiting long, and during your brief check-in time, you’ll enjoy comfortable seating, soft music, and good reading.”

• Displays her competence and expertise by describing and offering two books that she has authored, Get A Grip On Your Hormones! and DIY Baby: Your Essential Pregnancy Handbook.

Dr. Binkley should be commended for her expertise and compassion as a physician, but also as a pioneer in the medical profession for using information technology to reach women around the globe and simply “help” them.

Until next time, follow me on Twitter!

Wow! I finally learned to “twitter”! My husband and I have been laughing about it for quite some time. Does it not sound just a little funny?! Well, I finally jumped in on this too. If Dr. Gupta can twitter, so can I!

Here is the scoop…twitter is an online social network that allows people to communicate with others the answer to one simple question, “What are you doing?” I love it! What a great way to let people know the latest without interrupting their day with phone calls, emails, text messages, or instant messages. However, twitter can be linked to your phone’s text messaging system so the “tweets” will be delivered instantaneously if you so choose.

At first glance, this may seem somewhat childish. However, among the twitter-ers are, as I said, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Kristi Funk, a fellow breast surgeon. We all know Dr. Gupta, and his twitter page can be found here. Dr. Funk is a breast surgeon at the Pink Lotus Breast Center. The organization has a twitter page that announces updates, such as Dr. Funk’s hosting of a special Lifechangers segment on Extra TV, among others. Interestingly, Dr. Funk also has a Facebook page for a breast cancer group that focuses on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer. I will save Facebook for another day.

Twitter is a great way to connect with friends, family, colleagues, and even potential business leads. Furthermore, it is absolutely free! To start twitter-ing, go to www.twitter.com and sign up. Once you have signed up, let us know; we would love to follow your progress! Oh, and if you would like to follow us, go to our twitter page here or on twitter and click follow!

Until next time, stay happy and healthy! God bless!