Communication and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Communication and Society - Essay Example Crucial to these claims is the position that communication could refer to the most common and the most mundane. This is Carey's way of using the cultural approach to defining and explaining what communication is. This is the case in the sense that human daily activities collectively constitute the meanings and the reality that we perceive. The Mobile Texting Phenomenon To demonstrate Carey’s position, there is the case of the use of short messaging system (SMS) in mobile phones. If one examines how people communicate through this platform closely, one will find a uniquely different lexicon employed. "How are you?" becomes "hw r u?" or "You are late." becomes "u r l8". Words are radically shortened by redacting words or substituting figures to represent sounds in order to accommodate the restrictions posed by the messaging service. Cell phones usually allow only 160 characters per message. According to Lindholm, Keinonen and Kiljander (2003), â€Å"in advanced phone markets, a s in Scandinavia, Germany, or the Philippines, a whole new culture has been born around text messages as a response to the limitations 160 characters impose.† (p115) This is in addition to other variables like the way the messaging application and interface are designed and the way people interact with it. An excellent example to demonstrate the above points is the use of the so-called "emoticons", symbols that convey emotions. For instance, there is the case of the smiley, :-) an emoticon used to express how pleased one is, or an agreement or a greeting depending on the context of the conversation. The resulting communication process and symbols start to create a reality for people that eventually form collectivities that emerge as social, cultural, and even political forces and even institutions. The severely shortened language, for one, has triggered an attitude among people today to prefer simple, fast and mobile way of doing things. Blogs or online journals became popular way back but it never achieved the degree of wide usage that Twitter has achieved today. Dubbed as a micro blogging platform, Twitter lets users use its service to publish details about people's daily lives in short, concise and uncomplicated manner, not unlike the way people would "SMS" or "text" others. This is in contrast to the way users are required to publish elaborate and detailed messages in traditional blogs like Blogger or Wordpress. The implication of this development in the context of communication and the manner by which it could shape reality is the way it affects behaviors. People become increasingly impatient with details and this is reflected in the way they conduct their affairs and what they expect from their interactions with others. The significance of the SMS phenomenon can also be described from a critical point of view. For example, Patajo-Legasto (2010) argued that mobile phones stifle literacy and young people’s ability to communicate in the real wo rld in real time by â€Å"wrecking havoc on spelling and grammar, and its erosion, in tandem with mindless computer games and Internet chat rooms.† (p410) Several other problems and criticisms were outlined. For instance, Clark and Brody stated: Part of the anxiety surrounding texting arises from its perceived tendency to disrupt protocols of recognition and

Health Level Seven International (HL7) letter Article

Health Level Seven International (HL7) letter - Article Example Various mandated changes looming on the horizon will not allow this practice to continue, for communication and cooperation between departments is essential. Therefore, the COO has made that my major function and the following are my recommendations for doing so. Discussion First, I will present background information as to why these changes are so necessary. President Bush signed Executive Order 13335 in 2004 mandating that Electronic Health Records (EHR) will be in place nationwide within ten years. Congress went a step farther, creating the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), and President Obama signed it into law. The act extended the deadline to 2015 but that is only two years away. After that, health facilities such as Toledo stand to lose millions of dollars in Federal Medicare and Medicaid monies if they are not in compliance. All would agree that would be a serious financial blow to our center. Fortunately, the Department of Heal th and Human Services (HHS) has created the HIT coordinator to help us navigate through the seemingly complex maze of regulations (HHS, 2013). There is a nonprofit organization called Health Level Seven (HL7), which has developed a series of standards generally accepted by both the health community and HHS and it is the intention of Toledo to comply with HL7 initiatives. Yet Corepoint points out that HL7 is a â€Å"non-standard standard† (2009) meaning that as no two snowflakes are alike, neither are any two healthcare facilities the same. The main point is that Toledo complies with the laws within the specific timeframe and conformity with HL7 standards will ensure this occurs. Much time and money has spent on developing the software currently utilized by Toledo’s various departments and I do not intend to dismantle any of their operations. Rather, it is my recommendation that we purchase new hardware that can accommodate all of the departments’ current softwar e systems. Interfaces take into account the lack of interchange between clinics and are commercially available, improving communication and interoperability. That is where HL7 comes into play. Without it, my staff and I would be forced to create said interface from scratch, a costly and time consuming process. Fortunately, HL7 V2 brought together software vendors and informatics specialists such as me to create said commercial products. Although V3 has largely superseded V2 in Europe, it will be some years before that happens in the United States, so Toledo will concentrate on V2 compliance. One of the major concerns of each clinical head is maintaining patient and provider privacy, still another requirement of Federal law. Therefore, it is tantamount that the interfaces provide the security necessary to ensure only the necessary information for patient care be provided across Toledo’s health informatics network. There is a very interesting case study concerning Lake Forest H ospital in Illinois (CDW 2013), which was faced with the same dilemma, In addition, when the clinics interfaced, the physicians and nurses had many passwords for the different clinical access (one for lab results, one for pharmaceutical, etc.). It is my intention that the interface chosen for Toledo