If you've read some of our blogs about Alaska over the past few months, you know we are particularly fond of the state and its physicians. As the days grow darker and the weather cooler, things continue to warm up with their physician involvement with iMedExchange.

The physician community in Alaska has the unique characteristic of being literally removed from the rest of the lower 48. I suspect this is one reason why Alaskan physicians are beginning to really understand the potential for iMedExchange...connecting physicians with their colleagues around the country leveraging their computer.

Monday evening, Dr. Michael Alter and his wife Kathy hosted a wonderful dinner for his colleagues and some members of the iMedExchange team. We are incredibly honored to have physicians who are excited about the future of iMedExchange and who go out of their way to host events to share the opportunity with colleagues. A huge thank you to Dr. Alter! You are a true asset to the iMedExchange community.

One of the best parts of my job is having the opportunity to visit physicians from all over the country and hear their perspectives on everything ranging from healthcare to politics to life. The physicians of Chicago certainly don't disappoint.

Chicago is home to some of the top hospitals and teaching/research institutions in the world and we had a chance to meet with some of the physicians from the area on Friday and Saturday.

A special thank you to Dr. Ogan Gurel who was kind enough to host several small get-togethers with top physicians from the windy city. We thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with everyone.

Being at the WSMA conference continues to be fun and productive. However, things got even more exciting when I met an ER doctor here who also makes amazing medical coats! He has some of them here at the conference, and Diana and I had a fun time trying them on. Here we are wearing our favorites! Dr. Kohn has been a great sport about us trying on his coats. He's going to be featured in a physician-profile blog entry soon, so look out for an introduction to him.

I'm here at the WSMA (Washington State Medical Association) conference today. Bud, Diana, and I are introducing physicians here to iMedExchange, and helping them record video questions for the presidential candidates.
(Here's Diana showing iMedExchange to Dr. Russell). We have several new advisor applications, and we've met some great doctors. We'll be here for the rest of the day, and tomorrow too, so stop by if you're at the conference!

We're going to be at the WSMA meeting this Friday and Saturday. So if you're attending, please come by and say hi. We'll have the video camera there and will be recording questions, so think about what you'd like to ask the presidential candidates.We'll also have chocolate bars and will be answering questions about being an iMedExchange advisor - so even more reason to come see us.
Even though the presidential-candidate-questions is the Hot Topic right now on iMedExchange, there are completely unrelated things being discussed in the forums as well - so don't forget to login and join the conversations.

As many of you who keep-up with the iMedExchange blog know, I’m a road warrior. The opportunity to continually meet individuals from around the globe with varied career backgrounds makes my job so very much fun. Today, I was inspired by two sets of fathers and sons, each who are following in their elder’s professional footsteps. One was Captain Jim Ritchie and his son First Officer Mike Ritchie whom Tobin and I met on our flight to Anchorage. Much to our surprise, the flight attendant announced that Jim, approaching the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age of 60 would be flying aside his son, Mike, also a pilot with Alaska Airlines.

Last week we opened iMedExchange for Beta usage. “Beta” basically means that despite the current value of iMedExchange, there is lots more to come. Every few weeks we will release improvements and additions, and I'm going to use this blog to preview some of those new features.
Currently, each iMedExchange member has a profile that shows some minimal information. These profiles will soon include additional information, allowing physicians to connect and get to know physicians around the country, who have a very interesting variety of backgrounds and insights. As a preview to the more robust profiles, Rebecca is interviewing some of the physicians that are using iMedExchange, and will feature their interviews on our blog. You can read her first physician interview tomorrow, and get some insight into what the more robust profiles will come to include.

First, let me introduce myself, I’m Diana Heath, iMedExchange Advisor Network (iAN) Manager. That means I’m responsible for interactions and activity with our physician advisors. I look forward to writing about the people, places, and things with which we are all influenced, impacted, and interested.

For example, I recently went to see a movie few people have seen. “Talk to Me” stars actor Don Cheadle, and is based on the true life story of “Petey” Greene’s life and quest to become a radio personality during the late 1960’s, a time of civil rights movements, MLK Jr.’s assassination, and political and social unrest. The movie portrays Petey as a vibrant, outspoken, African American, ex-convict who is not afraid to tell his radio audience like it is. A favorite saying of Petey’s was, “I’ll tell it to the hot, I’ll tell it to the cold. I’ll tell it to the young, I’ll tell it to the old”.

As the new iAN Manager at iMedExchange, I encourage our advisors and users to utilize our site and forums to “tell it like it is.” Now with iMedExchange, the private online community for physicians, you have the means to redefine and empower the community of your physician colleagues. iMedExchange is your place! To quote Petey, I hope you never hesitate to give us feedback and “tell it to the young…tell it to the old.”

On Saturday iMedExchange conducted a website preview and onsite discussion forum with a group of our Seattle area physician advisors. It's an old saying that one should always practice what they preach and this most certainly holds true for companies. Our motto here at iMedExchange has always been an online community by physicians for physicians and today was one of the many opportunities we have to walk the talk.

Building community for such a distinct and extinguished group of people as physicians is impossible without the direct feedback, input and direction of those very people who comprise the community. Our website preview provided an opportunity for key members of our development and marketing teams to get direct feedback on the usefulness and functionality of the product.

This is only the beginning of many future product testing events and we hope it was both interesting and enjoyable for our team of physicians. If you’re interested in participating in future events, please feel free to shoot me a comment to that effect. And, keep an eye out for our new product version that goes live this coming week. Thanks again to those who took time out of their week-end to join us.

Here at iMedExchange, our company is growing. We’ve hired several new people in the last few weeks, and are adding physicians to our advisor network every day. As we grow, and as we talk with physicians about what they really want out of an online community, I’ve been thinking a lot about how people actually get to know each other. Often it’s the quirky, fun, and sometimes weird, things about people that say the most about them. But of course those take time to figure out. On your first day of work, or your first online-conversation with a colleague, you’re just starting to figure out your relationships. Until we know and trust someone, we tend to hide the quirky and fun aspects of who we are.
Some of you who are reading this blog know me pretty well, and some of you don’t know me at all – but in the spirit of making connections and getting to know the quirky side of me, I’m going to share something that not very many people know about me:

I have strict rules about what time I set my alarm clock. They include…
• ‘Common’ times like 6:30 or 7:00 are not acceptable.
• The digits that make up the time cannot be in ascending or descending order. (6:32 doesn’t work)
• No digit can be the sum or product of any of the other numbers. (7:34 doesn’t work)
• Also, there needs to be at least 1 odd and 1 even number in the time. (6:24 doesn’t work)

So… for those of you that know me, this can’t come as a complete surprise (I love numbers and math games). And while I probably wouldn’t share something like this at a job interview, I think it’s definitely a window into the quirky side of my personality. For those of you that I haven't officially met yet - it's nice to meet you!

iMedExchange is being built to facilitate fun among other benefits. Our team, including the physicians that work with us, are always looking for interesting opportunities to enjoy time away from the office or practice. Pictured below are iCN Advisor Dr Scott Lieberman an OB/GYN from St Louis, MO and Laurie Lieberman the iMedExchange Regional Network Consultant from St. Louis on their recent trip to Manitoba, Canada.

An InformationWeek article about a security test that was recently conducted with IRS employees is quite eye-opening. Researchers called 102 IRS employees and tried to‘trick’ them into changing their computer passwords to something suggested by the caller. A surprising 61 of the 102 employees complied with the request, which could have exposed highly personal and confidential tax-payer information.

Fortunately, this was a just a test... and also a huge wake-up call. What surprises me most about this study is that only 8 of the 102 employees called administrators to check on this request or report the calls! I take it as a well-timed reminder that it never hurts to be sure when it comes to security. It's also valuable to have resources to whom you can take your questions.

The reason we’re so grateful for our iCN (iMedExchange Consultant Network), is that we have the right resources to whom we pose constant questions. Who better to ask about what physicians need, than physicians themselves? And not a small handful, but a diverse group representing broad specialties, geographic locations and practice types. So this is a quick ‘thank you’ to the iCN for being there to answer our questions... and a reminder that if you ever have questions that we can answer, we’re always available.

The City of Brotherly Love was a great venue for meeting with a group of very bright physicians this past week-end. We were treated to wonderful dialog at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel in downtown Philly. Discussion ranged from healthcare IT to the famous Flexner Report and its impact on US healthcare. It's hard to believe we didn't even have time to touch on important matters such as the Eagles and Phillies.

From Philly we headed to the Coast and a chance to relax in Rehoboth Beach. For those of you who haven't been to the beach cities of Delaware, you really should make a point to go. The beaches are beautiful, the restaurants are top-notch and the people are fascinating. Only 2 hours from "the District", the area draws heavily from the political machine of the Capital. But, once folks arrive at the beach, they shift into a new gear, let their hair down and the agenda is all about relaxation, food and an occasional adult beverage.

Tobin Arthur and I continue to tour the country meeting with iCN members and Physician investors. This past week we made a stop in Washington D.C. The trip was empowering. Surrounded by the mammoth historic buildings that house the federal government, it was the perfect time to capture questions on video from our iCN advisors and investors for the upcoming YouTube/CNN Presidential debates. And, on our way to meet with some folks from the House of Representatives, we ran into none other than Mathew Lesko...The Question Mark Man! (see attached slideshow for proof)

Thank you for a great introduction to Washington DC and I look forward to returning soon.

I want to thank the physicians who joined us at Cardwells in the beautiful Plaza Frontenac a week ago Thursday evening. I am just getting caught up on blog entries after non-stop travel. Our second event in St. Louis drew a terrific group of diverse doctors all with a common interest in helping iMedExchange become the greatest online place for physicians. We also captured some great footage that will go live on the website in a few days...very exciting things coming over the next few weeks on the site...stay tuned.

A special thanks to Dr. Atkins and Laurie Lieberman for their efforts in getting the event together.

Today I am blogging from our nation's capital where we just finished meeting with a renowned physician who has joined our advisory team. Enjoy the photos from Washington DC in my next blog entry and there will be more tomorrow from Philadelphia.