We talk about Electronic Medical Records, or EMRs, a lot on Cloud9, but they are only a small function of how the marriage of technology and medicine will affect our lives in the near future for the better.

In a late 2009 Ted Talk, Eric Topol shows how the convergence of several technologies will take medicine to the next level in prolonging our lives and increasing their quality.

The technologies that are bringing about this conversion:

·         Multiple billion cellphone users

·         Broadband 3g, soon to be 4g

·         Pervasive connectivity

·         Smartphones

·         Ingenious Sensors

Topol demonstrates how broadband-enabled smartphones can deliver real-time vitals data on a patient. "On your smartphone today, you check your email. In the future you will be checking all your vital signs," Topol says.

Our hearts continue to go out to Japan and those affected by the recent tornadic storm systems. And while the earthquake in Japan and the swath of tornadic destruction in the South are tragedies of a different scale, each has served as a reminder that East Tennessee is not immune to natural disasters.

As a business, disasters like the earthquake in Japan and Knoxville’s own storms should make us think. "What would happen if my business was flooded? What would happen to my clients if disaster struck?"

A study by Gartner reports that “43 percent of companies were immediately put out of business by a “major loss” of computer records, and another 51 percent permanently closed their doors within two years — leaving a mere six percent survival rate.”

The following infographic may not be the most easy to understand at first, so let me explain.

It shows the percentage of hospitals that adopted an aspect of EMRs from 2007 to 2010. It’s a very complicated couple of graphs that basically say, EMR’s aren’t a bandwagon. They’re a proven operational necessity that improve patient care.