The Board of Medical Examiners (BME) and the Medical Licensure Commission are administrative, regulatory state agencies with the exclusive power and authority to issue, revoke and reinstate all licenses to practice medicine, osteopathy or physician assistants in the state of Alabama. Comprised of 26 employees and 23 Board members, the two boards' work involves frequent discussions and accessing of large data files.
Despite their location, employees and board members communicate using the POD during the decision making process. By sharing confidential information on investigative cases concerning filed complaints against practicing physicians, they regulate the practice of state physicians.
"The POD is a terrific tool for our agency because it allows instant input from investigators and other staff to BME members in a secure manner during interviews with complainants or respondents," said Larry Dixon, Executive Director of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners.
"With the POD, a board or staff member can communicate instantly with another member while also bringing an investigator into the conversation for specific information or input," said Bob Hunter, Computer Software Engineer/LAN Network Administrator, who provides IT support for both boards.
The file-sharing feature was a key factor as the Boards rely upon the feature to send sensitive documents to members and staff in lieu of email, which is not secure.
"Getting hold of people has always been a big issue but now, with the POD, anyone can look and see who is available," continued Hunter. "The off-line messaging feature is also key for the board members. For example, even if an individual is not available, once he boots up the laptop, he can then easily grab his messages."
