Resources

Get stuff done. Change the world.
Everyone with a purpose needs great tools. Tools that help you get stuff done and are a joy to use. Here’s my list of top recommended resources. I’ve personally used each of them, and hope that they help you as much as they’ve helped me.

Writing

Scrivener

Scrivener isn’t just a word processor. It’s a writing studio. Once I started using it, there was no turning back. I fell in love with Scrivener’s writer-friendly layout, organization features, and distraction free writing. Scrivener is marvelous for writing a research paper, blog post, script, novel, or any long-form text. Scrivener helps you outline and structure your ideas, take notes, view research alongside your writing and compose the constituent pieces of your text in isolation or in context. After I nailed a workflow for using Scrivener to write scientific papers, I could finally kiss the bug-prone Microsoft Word for Mac goodbye. Scrivener is available as a desktop application for both Mac and Windows, and as an iOS app too. An Educational license for faculty and students is also available.

Midori Traveler’s Notebook

Despite my love of the digital life, I still take nearly all of my meeting notes by hand. I’m better able to engage in discussion. And there’s really no equivalent to a paper notebook for design sketches, mind maps, etc. I previously used Moleskin notebooks, and later switched to ones made by Ecosystem because all of the pages were perforated. Perforated pages are perfect for tearing out and scanning into Evernote with my ScanSnap Evernote Edition so that all of it becomes searchable and retrievable forever. But, then I found this absolutely marvelous Traveler’s Notebook from Midori. I chose the large size, but they also make a smaller Passport size too. The leather is gorgeous. You can buy a variety of inserts and different styles of paper. I use the perforated paper for easy scanning. The paper is very high quality. I have also added an external pen holder, a craft file with pockets for boarding passes, and a zipper case for stashing my passport while traveling. This has become one of my favorite accessories both for day to day business and travel.

Biomedical Informatics

Healthcare Code Sets, Clinical Terminologies, and Classification Systems

Healthcare Code Sets, Clinical Terminologies, and Classification Systems, Third Edition features up-to-date content about healthcare’s vast and complex structure of vocabularies. This book covers them all, including ICD-9-CM, ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT, HCPCS, CDT, SNOMED CT, LOINC, RxNorm, and DSM-5, and even a chapter on ICD-11. As you might guess, I authored the chapter on LOINC for this book.  This resource provides students and practitioners in health information management and informatics with an overview of each system. The third edition was updated to reflect the impact that the meaningful use provisions of the ARRA and HITECH final rule has had on vocabulary standards.

Key Features

  • New chapters on RxNorm, Data Mapping, and ICD-11
  • Updated content includes DSM-5, the US extension of SNOMED CT, and ICF
  • New material describing adoption and use cases providing an understanding of how the system is used in the real-world
  • Expanded information on data set and data interchange standards and terminology servers and metadata registries
  • Instructor materials with sample syllabi, test banks, and full answer key

Clinical Informatics Study Guide: Text and Review

Clinical Informatics Study Guide: Text and Review is written to support the formal training required to become certified in clinical informatics. The content is structured to define and introduce key concepts with examples drawn from real-world experiences in order to impress upon the reader the core content from the field of clinical informatics.

The book is divided into sections that group related chapters based on the major foci of the core content: health care delivery; clinical decision-making; information systems; leadership and managing teams; and professionalism. It provides a roadmap for faculty who wish to go deeper in courses designed for physician fellows or graduate students in a variety of clinically oriented informatics disciplines, such as nursing, pharmacy, radiology, and public health.

The editors, JT Finnell and Brian Dixon, are colleagues and friends of mine at Regenstrief. They assembled a superb group of authors for this book. Along with Tim Imler and Joseph Kannry, I had the opportunity to co-write the chapter on Healthcare Data Standards and Exchange.

Disclosure of Material Connection

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”