Insights: the Magnus Health Blog

My mother is an elementary school media specialist, and she always taught me never to dog-ear a book. As a result, I own a number of bookmarks. Sure, they masquerade as other things - receipts, wrapping paper, socks - but their real purpose in life, the reason they were put on this Earth, is to function as cutting-edge bookmarks. Why? Because there is nothing more frustrating than re-reading something 12 times, or being in the middle of what can only be described as the greatest love story mankind has ever been privy to (thank you, Nicholas Sparks), and losing your place because a child needs attention, or you fall asleep and the book falls off the bed. You see, these are real issues, and bookmarks fix them. Such a small thing, but what a big invention.

Flipped classrooms. Bring Your Own Device days. Smart Boards. iPads. If you recognize any one of these concepts, then you know how essential technology has become in K-12 schools. Gone are the days of shying away from virtual classes and student laptops. Now, schools and teachers embrace technology as a resource for investigative learning. Now, educational technology is a concept of the present and the future.

To limit your school’s liability risks, you must protect students from all kinds of safety threats. It’s important to not only be prepared for the obvious and established threats, but also for the emerging threats that could catch you off-guard. One of those emerging threats relates to the management of student health information. To dig a little deeper into this topic, we did a brief Q&A with our CEO, Chas Scarantino.

Q: What types of student health information are schools managing today?

A: Schools have to manage any medical information required for healthcare and treatment, concussions, enrollment, or attendance purposes. Data on immunizations, sports physical data, consent to dispense prescription or over the counter medication, consent to treat, action plans, and health history are just a few of the many types of health information that schools may be managing. Nearly all of this information is private information, and as such, it presents liability for a school if it is handled incorrectly.

If you've been following us for a while, you know that we like to spend time volunteering in the community - not for good karma points, but because we really do enjoy it. We've made arts and crafts with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wake County, we've held dodgeball tournaments to benefit local school health services, and this year, we decided to use Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as another opportunity to volunteer our time.

Thanks to the United Way and their Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, finding volunteer opportunities was easy. The hard part was deciding which volunteer project to be a part of. We decided on gardening, then got ready to throw on torn jeans and old tennis shoes. "Gardening" is a loose term, though. In all actuality we were trailblazers with shovels.

Have you ever wondered how software goes from zero to a finished, working product? I know I do. It's such a mysterious and magical process! Sometimes I wonder if we have Keebler Elves working behind the scenes at Magnus Health. But then I remember that we just have a talented team of software engineers that turn ideas into a working reality. Our engineers are basically human 3-D printers when you think about it.

But after our engineers (or Keebler Elves) successfully build a new feature for school health centers, there's still work to be done. This is where John Krahnert comes in. He helps makes sure that each newly created software feature is up to par. How? We'll discuss that in just a minute. But first, I'm more intrigued to find out how a reporter/editor-turned-flight-instructor found his way to Quality Assurance at a software startup.

Technology has made its way into every facet of education - the front office, the health office, classrooms, athletics - and now it appears education technology can help prevent lost instructional time on snow days, too. While the concept of e-learning has been around for some time, only recently has it become a way to alleviate the school calendar headaches that come along with inclement weather-related closings.

According to the Education Commision of the States, laws vary from state to state on the minimum number of instructional days that students are required to have per year, but most require 180. In the midst of a particularly harsh winter in 2013-14, many schools and districts were forced to find creative ways to keep students on track to hit that number. Policies that allowed for e-learning days were the solution adopted in several areas of the country to minimize the impact of inclement weather.

The progression of technology over the last fifteen years is incredible. Not long ago, cell phones were a rarity and wireless internet was just becoming a staple in American homes. Fast forward to today and schools have active Twitter accounts while students use iPads to check into the school nurse's office.

We're no strangers to the technology conversation, either. After more than eight years of working directly with schools to help them bring their student health records online, we know that technology has enormous benefits, especially during re-enrollment.

We've seen schools that we work with transform their re-enrollment process by bringing their health and signature-only forms online. So if you're wondering how to make re-enrollment run more smoothly, then you came here at a good time. Let's talk about how electronic forms can change the way you think of re-enrollment.

A quick Google search for "student peer-counseling" returns roughly one million results. There's a lot of information out there, and a lot of schools are already employing peer-counseling programs with successful results. But, the idea of having students counseling other students can create some understandable hesitation. However, according to nearly every piece of research, and an actual licensed school counselor I questioned at length, the key is to use peer-counseling in the appropriate situations, under the guidance and tutelage of an adult trained to handle the more serious issues.

If you are like me, you always dread the question, “Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?” I used to feel that anything less than a clearly packaged response would be a reflection of my failure at life’s planning. Truth is, I’ve come to embrace the way my internal guiding compass works.

East coast bound all my life, when I decided to trek across the country to Texas for grad school, I just knew what I wanted to study and that I wanted to do it at one of the best institutions in the world. When I chose to study abroad in Cuba, it was totally the unknown that drew me there. I’m driven by a larger purpose and then finding my role to further that purpose...rhyme or reason not always required. In both endeavors, I was consumed with personal fulfillment and growth that was unimaginable; it just felt right to make those decisions.

In my time here at Magnus, I realized that to deliver the best answer to that age old question, I needed to not only focus on communicating my future professional growth, but moreso how I wish to feel about it. Lo and behold, I’ve found my muse. February 2015 will mark three years working here at Magnus. I don’t expect any longevity awards with this milestone but for a start up, not unlike high school/college, that seniority is nothing to balk at!