Dry eye disease and work productivity loss in visual display users: the Osaka study.

PURPOSE: To estimate the impact of dry eye disease (DED) on work performance and productivity in office workers using visual display terminals (VDTs). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Six hundred seventy-two Japanese young and middle-aged office workers using VDTs completed a questionnaire that was designed to measured at-work performance deficits and productivity losses using the Japanese version of the Work Limitations Questionnaire, completed by e-mail. Using the Japanese dry eye diagnostic criteria, respondents were classified into 3 groups: definite DED, probable DED, and non DED. RESULTS: Of the 672 office workers, 553 subjects (82.3%), including 366 men and 187 women, completed the questionnaire and underwent clinical evaluation. As for the total workplace productivity loss, the non DED group demonstrated a loss of 3.56%, those with probable DED demonstrated a loss of 4.06%, and those with definite DED demonstrated a loss of 4.82%, indicating significantly worse performance and productivity (P = .014, trend test). For the 4 subscales, DED was associated with significantly lower on-the-job time management (P = .009, trend test) and combined mental performance and interpersonal functioning (P = .011, trend test). After controlling for age, sex, VDT working hours, and diagnosis of DED, time management, physical demands, and mental and interpersonal functioning showed a significant relationship to DED (each P > .05). Annual DED productivity losses were estimated to be $6160 per employee when measured by total production and $1178 per employee calculated by wage. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that there is a significant impact of DED on the total productivity of Japanese VDT users.

Purchasing technology: a few things to consider.

Standard-form software and hardware contracts need critical review to ensure that the product meets the needs of the practice.

[Facing the challenges of ubiquitous computing in the health care sector]. / Herausforderungen durch ubiquitäres Computing im Gesundheitsbereich.

The steady progress of microelectronics, communications and information technology will enable the realisation of the vision for "ubiquitous computing" where the Internet extends into the real world embracing everyday objects. The necessary technical basis is already in place. Due to their diminishing size, constantly falling price and declining energy consumption, processors, communications modules and sensors are being increasingly integrated into everyday objects today. This development is opening up huge opportunities for both the economy and individuals. In the present paper we discuss possible applications, but also technical, social and economic barriers to a wide-spread use of ubiquitous computing in the health care sector.

Return on investment.

Return on investment is an excellent mechanism for evaluating large practice purchasing decisions. Whether you are purchasing a new practice, opening an office, building a new facility, recruiting an associate or adding technology, the issue that always should be evaluated is whether the investment will create a positive return for the practice and, if so, in what period. While most dental investments actually provide a positive return on investment within 12 months, larger investments, such as purchasing a practice or opening new offices, may require several years to gain a positive return. They still may be good decisions. At the very least, return-on-investment considerations allow dentists to evaluate options from a business-plan perspective, rather than simply making uninformed decisions.