OT Cell phones and standards.

[Metspitzer]

I took my niece to the doctor. The first thing they do is have you fill out a form. Everyone now has a cell phone. Business need a dock at the reception desk. You should have a STANDARD USB dock that you can either plug your phone or a flash drive to furnish the info.

The cell phone can be smart enough to furnish your name and address as one level of security and furnish phone number and more sensitive data as another level of security. This could be granted by entering a pin on your phone and then a menu of info you want to furnish.

Also, on the way home, we were listening to my Ipod thru a cassette interface I have for my cassette player. She wanted to listen to some songs from her cell phone. To my delight, her phone jack was too small for the cassette adapter. I would have been ready to shoot myself in the head had we had to listen to her music all the way home, but it still should be a standard size.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmm, Do you want to live in commie country?

[Tony Hwang]

Hmmm, Do you want to live in Commie country? You are behind. Blue tooth, wireless... What is this jack and plug business?

[Jim Yanik]

Metspitzer wrote in news: [e-mail]:

lose your phone and someone else now has your personal info. given enough time,they can crack the security. And if there's a minor failure in memory,then the data is corrupt,you would not know it,and you could get mistreated.IF you entered the data correctly in the first place.

if there were standards for cellphone interfaces,then cellphone companies would not be able to sell you accessories,because you could get them at lower cost from other companies.

[Bob]

Rather than that, why can't the doctor subscribe to a HIPAA-compliant secure web service from where prospective patients could enter the data prior to the office visit? There are several programs available that will automatically fill in web forms with standard information.

Further OT, one advantage of belonging to a big HMO is that you only need to fill these forms out once, and those with a need to know have ready access to your medical record.

[gfretwell]

That will all be taken care of when they implant your chip

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Taiwan instituted a universal health care system following a study of health care systems around the world. Everyone in Taiwan has a card (magnetic, AFAIK), which a physician, hospital, pharmacy, etc., swipes through a reader and can see the person's whole medical history. Very efficient.

Perce

[h]

No, not everyone has a cell phone. My DH has one, but it's emergency use only (1-2 times a year), and I can't remember the number (displays when turned on). No one calls it, it doesn't accept messages, and it has NO info of ANY kind stored on it other than the AAA roadside assistance 800 number. He only has it because he travels for work and drives an old car. I don't have a cell phone, my mother doesn't, my closest neighbor doesn't, etc. There are a LOT of people without cell phones. We neither need nor want them.

[Metspitzer]

Well then you get to fill out forms the old fashioned way. :)

[aemeijers]

I finally broke down and got one of those cheap prepaid phones about 5 years ago, for days when I was on call or traveling. (tried to find a phone booth lately?) Costs about 8 bucks a month, and probably has over $200 in time built up on it, since I make maybe a couple dozen calls a year. Mostly it lives in my briefcase. I try to remember to charge it every few months, and check the voicemail once a week.

-- aem sends...

[trader4]

[e-mail]:

In most cases, I don't see a lack of standards forcing anyone to buy cellphone accesories from the phone manufacturer or any particular company. For example, Bluetooth headsets work with any Bluetooth phone. I've always found a battery if I needed one as an aftermarket part on Ebay for $7. And most phones now use a USB connector to charge. Last cell phone I bought, an LG Dare last year, I went on Ebay and for $15 I got a rubber protective case, a car charger, an additional AC charger, a USB cable, and a pack of screen protectors.

As for the idea of storing sensitive personal data in a cell phone, I think it's a bad idea regardless of the security. A cell phone is too easily lost and sooner or later it's too likely that someone will crack any security.

[Metspitzer]

innews: [e-mail]:

Don't most cell phones already have the added security of wiping the data automatically with a call from the phone provider? If you lose your phone you can call the provider and they can clear the phone.