15 minute read
QUICK BYTES
from REP May 21
Editor’s note: Technology is playing an increasing role in the day-to-day business of sales reps. In this department, Repertoire will profile the latest developments in software and gadgets that reps can use for work and play.
Technology news
Watch that tone of voice
Amazon has announced a new feature for its Halo fitnesstracking gadget: Alexa integration. Halo owners will be able to ask Alexa devices for various health stats, such as their sleep score or activity points obtained during the day. The integration will be off by default and owners will need the latest firmware on their Halo bands and the latest version of the iOS or Android app to enable it. The Halo band is Amazon’s first fitness-focused product and it’s had a less than stellar reception since it was announced last fall. Aside from the standard fitness capabilities, such as tracking your movement and sleep patterns, the $100 Halo also has the ability to police the tone of your voice and tell you when you’re being dismissive or condescending with your words. The companion Halo app also has a feature to 3D scan your body through your phone’s camera and measure your fat composition.
Samsung is collaborating with Mastercard on a biometric scanning payment card with a built-in fingerprint reader, reports EnGadget. The technology appears to be similar to Mastercard’s biometric payment card, unveiled in 2017, which lets you authenticate purchases without ever touching a keypad. However, Samsung said the cards will adopt a new security chipset from Samsung’s System LSI Business that integrates several key discrete chips, rather than using Mastercard’s current tech. The aim is to increase security while reducing physical contact points, as your fingerprint is scanned directly from your own card and not an external point-of-sale (POS) device. The card will be compatible with Mastercard’s authentication tech, and function at any Mastercard chip or POS terminal.
WhatsApp for desktops
One-on-one voice and video calling is now available on WhatsApp’s desktop app for Windows and Mac. Until last year, the Facebook-owned messaging service only offered the feature on its mobile app. At the moment, the company is testing one-on-one, end-toend encrypted calls on the desktop. WhatsApp promises to expand the feature to include group voice and video calls in the future.
Teleport to your next sales call
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that by 2030, people will use advanced smart glasses to “teleport” to locations and speak to them as if they’re physically present, allowing in-person meetings to be replaced by a headset-based digital experience, reports CNBC. Most big technology firms, including Apple, Microsoft and Google, are reported to be working on augmented reality technology, which overlays computer-generated graphics on images of the real world. They’re all competing to shape the next major computer interface after the smartphone and touchscreen.
T-commerce
Amazon executive Albert Cheng says the era of “T-commerce” – the sale of goods through TV screens – is finally dawning. He made the remarks during a panel hosted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, reports Deadline. The company has long sought to “leverage the reach of Prime Video and marry that
with commerce,” he said. Though T-commerce is in its early days, Cheng said he is encouraged by Amazon’s partnership with pop star Rihanna’s fashion brand Savage x Fenty. Starting in 2019, Amazon has streamed its star-studded fall shows and embedded those streams with buying opportunities.
Phone-based video chats
Google Meet’s group video chats have had a tile layout on large screens since the start of the pandemic, but you’ve had to endure a far less practical (and less egalitarian) view if you wanted to participate on your phone. Now Google is rolling out the grid view for mobile users on iOS, with Android coming soon, reports EnGadget. Instead of focusing primarily on one caller at a time, Meet now gives equal treatment to several participants. It’s a relatively simple move, but it’s also an acknowledgment that video chats have changed as a result of social distancing and the shift to working from home. You’re less likely to be watching a boardroom presentation and more likely to be holding running conversations with coworkers, family and friends.
Manage your Zoom calls
A newly launched Mac app called Superpowered aims to make it easier to stay on top of all your Zoom calls and Google Meets, without having to scramble to find the meeting link in your inbox or calendar app at the last minute, reports TechCrunch. Instead of relying on calendar reminders, Superpowered offers a notification inbox for the Mac menu bar that alerts you to online meetings just before they start, which you can then join with a click of a button. To use Superpowered, download the app and then authorize it to access your Google Calendar. The app currently works with any Google account, including G Suite, as well as subscribed calendars. Once connected, Superpowered pulls all your events into the menu bar, which you can view at any time throughout the day with a click or by using the keyboard shortcut Command+Y.
A Window of Opportunity
New Welch Allyn® otoscopes and ophthalmoscopes with innovative features will help change clinicians’ view of the physical exam
Examining the structure of the eyes and ears is a
critical, yet fleeting moment of the physical exam.
Ophthalmoscopy (eye exam) provides a window into the patient’s underlying microvascular system. Abnormal findings may lead to the early diagnosis of retinal and systemic diseases, including the effects of hypertension, diabetes or raised pressure, among others. A fundoscopic examination with an ophthalmoscope can help quickly identify a life-threatening condition or a health concern with long-term implications if not properly treated.
Meanwhile, otoscopy (ear exam) includes a thorough evaluation of the outer ear and tympanic membrane, which is key to identifying perforation of the tympanic membrane, otitis media, and other pathologies where diagnostic skills are critically important. Identification of otitis media (ear infection) is challenging and cannot be diagnosed by symptoms alone, highlighting the importance of otoscopy for more accurate diagnosis and treatment. And accurate diagnosis of otitis media is important in helping reduce over-prescription of antibiotics.
Simply performing these exams can lead to earlier detection, diagnosis and treatment, improve patient referrals, and drive better patient outcomes. So why is it that the physical exam of a patient can often be overlooked or hurried?
Despite eye and ear exam proficiency standards in medical schools, the tools being ubiquitous, and clinicians understanding the importance of the exam, non-specialists are performing these exams less frequently. Exams using traditional physical exam tools, offer smaller views of the eye and ear and provide only a fleeting image, and in many cases clinicians aren’t as confident in what they see.
A closer look
To address these challenges, Hillrom consulted over 1,300 clinicians in the U.S., Australia, Canada, UK, Netherlands, France and Germany for input on creating an enhanced experience for each physical exam. Providers’ suggestions included: ʯ The need for better visualization of the eye and ear for less ambiguity ʯ Increased confidence in performing the exam in primary and urgent care facilities ʯ Ability to consult with experts and share data to improve care and referrals ʯ Document findings in the EMR system for tracking and reflecting back on changes from one exam to the next or post-treatment
Using those insights, Hillrom went about redesigning its otoscopes and ophthalmoscopes. For instance, the new Welch Allyn® MacroView® Plus Otoscope provides a three times larger viewing area and lets clinicians switch from optical to digital in a few clicks. If the clinician sees something of interest upon the initial ear exam, they can easily attach the Welch Allyn iExaminer® SmartBracket™ add their smart device and open the free Welch Allyn iExaminer Pro app to zoom in, save and share images of the ear with a specialist for consult referral, save the image to the patient record or show it to a worried parent to explain that nothing is wrong.
The Welch Allyn PanOptic™ Plus Ophthalmoscope offers a twenty times larger viewing area and features Quick Eye™ alignment technology to help clinicians overcome one of the challenges with eye exams. Two lights on the patient side help guide the patient’s gaze to support faster, easier exams from better alignment with the optic disc.
Indeed, the innovations in Hillrom’s new Welch Allyn PanOptic Plus ophthalmoscope and MacroView Plus otoscope will help visually enhance and transform how clinicians examine the eye and the ear, to support the treatment of acute and chronic conditions with extremely cost-effective tools.
20X
LARGER VIEWING AREA
Standard Ophthalmoscope
Welch Allyn PanOptic™ Plus Ophthalmoscope
3X
LARGER VIEWING AREA
NEW
NEW
LET US CHANGE YOUR VIEW
From a name doctors use most and inventor of the world's first direct illuminating ophthalmoscope, we're excited to introduce new Welch Allyn® physical assessment tools to help clinicians take their exams to a new level. We've listened to countless providers and have re-designed our new devices with a familiar form and feel, longlasting LED technology and views you have to see to believe.
Connect with your Hillrom representative today to see more.
A Body of Work
Selling, bodybuilding or blogging, Jennifer Taskan commits to the process
Jennifer Taskan had never walked
into a gym until she was 39. Four years later, she’s a successful amateur bodybuilder, looking to earn her IFBB pro card. Much as she loves it, though, she’s not leaving her day job as district sales manager, Upstate New York, for Medline Industries.
Her father, Al Woods, is a Vietnam veteran who worked for 35 years as an engineer. Her mother, Maryanne Woods, worked at the local phone company for the same length of time. Her brother, Frank, is a retired captain in the U.S. Army who also works for Medline.
Born and raised in Rochester, New York, Taskan graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in applied science and a minor in communications. She wanted to be a writer, but found a calling in sales while still at RIT. “In my first year of college, I disputed a grade with the dean of my department, and after he heard me out, he told me I needed to go straight into sales.” In his 42 years of teaching, he told her, no one had ever convinced him to change a grade.
She followed the call, and got a job selling commercial airtime for a local “love jams” radio station. After seven years of doing so, she needed a break, and managed a Bally Total Fitness center for three years. Eager to get back into selling, she sold Internet services and magazine ad space, and in the middle, opened a concierge business in Orlando, Florida.
“I had my third child and took a few months off working,” she recalls. “I wanted to take my time
and find the perfect job for me.” She decided to look at medical sales. “Up until then, I had always sold a ‘want,’ but I felt that medical sales would be selling a need.” She started looking, and found her way to Medline, which she joined in 2014.
“Selling radio was hard. You are selling air, basically. If you can sell that, you can truly sell anything. I learned very early in my career that … you have to believe in what you’re selling, regardless of what it is. For me that was the key to success. I never worked for a company selling a product that I didn’t believe could truly help a business succeed.”
The gym as outlet
As a kid, Taskan was always athletic, playing soccer most of her young life, dancing at her aunt’s dance studio in Rochester for 16 years, cheerleading throughout high school. “I actually never walked into a gym until I was 39. I was always naturally fit, so I hadn’t thought about
Prep work
Preparing for a bodybuilding competition is similar in some ways to preparing for a sales call, only it involves eating more green vegetables and drinking a couple of gallons of water a day.
Beginning 12 to 15 weeks prior to a competition, Jennifer Taskan gets up at 5 a.m. and works out for an hour and a half, comes home, works on emails, gets the kids ready for school, then leaves for appointments. After work, she has dinner with the kids, does an hour of cardio, then works for a bit after the kids go to bed. “I have a pretty tight schedule,” she says.
During prep, she eats six times a day. Her diet consists of chicken or fish, white rice, green vegetables, rice cakes, peanut butter, oatmeal and eggs. When she’s in the field, she brings her meals with her, and keeps a cooler and food warmer in the car. “The best thing is when you get a refeed meal, where you eat something normal, like a burger and fries or pancakes,” she says.
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needing or wanting to work out. But after my third child and a horrible divorce, I needed an outlet.” That first trip to the gym turned out to be more than that.
“From that very first day, my entire life changed. I felt completely different. I walked out happy. I felt amazing. I felt like I could conquer anything that was placed in front of me. I felt renewed.” And that feeling is still with her today.
“I don’t do a lot of things for myself,” she says. “I’m a single parent to three young children, so that really doesn’t leave a lot of free time in my life. And as a sales rep, your job isn’t an 8-to-5 job. You don’t work 40 hours a week. It’s more like 60 or 70, and you almost always work at night, and typically on the weekends. So the gym is my one hour a day to let go of the stress and daily struggles of life, and just focus on my mind and body.” The deeper she got into her workout routine, the more interested she became in competitive bodybuilding. She found a coach, Casey Marshall, of Team Boss Bodies, and entered into her first competition in June 2018. She has competed in four regional shows and two national shows.
The Arnold Classic
She competed in the Arnold Classic – a national sports and fitness competition – in 2019 and recently competed in the bikini division of NPC (National Physique Committee) Universe, which is a national show. Her 2021 goal is to earn her IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness) pro card. She will have five opportunities this year to compete in national shows to earn it. “I look at a pro card like a college diploma,” she says. “It’s something that you and only you can earn. And once you earn it, you’ve earned it for life. It can never be taken away.
“I love bodybuilding. I love the commitment to it. I love the changes you see daily. It’s pretty cool when you see tangible proof in the mirror of the dedication and hard work you put into the process. You and only you are in control.
“If you put in 50% effort, you will only see 50% results, whether it’s bodybuilding or sales. If you put in 100% in diet and working out, you will see 100% of the results you’re looking for. You trust in the process to get on that stage, standing next to anywhere from 10 to 30 other females, hitting your poses, waiting for your number to be called. Making it to the top five is indescribable.”
And it’s kind of like selling – beginning with the opportunity and ending in the sale. “You have to dedicate yourself to the process. There are obstacles along the way, bumps in the road, but closing that deal or winning first place, there’s nothing sweeter!”
Balancinglove.com
In addition to her kids, medical sales and bodybuilding, Jennifer Taskan has another passion – blogging. Her blog, Balancing Love (www.balancinglove.com), is intended to help people find a balance in their lives with love and their relationships with others.
Following her divorce, “I was back out there, a fish in the ocean, trying to juggle a new life as a single parent with a full-time job, ready to date, and it was overwhelming,” she writes in the blog. She searched the Internet but all she found were a few articles on how to date or how to recover from a breakup. “I got to thinking, ‘How do people start over? How do they start out?”
“Whether you’re single and 20, or divorced and/or widowed in your 50s, male or female, everyone needs help balancing love,” she told Repertoire. “Love is many different things – not just being in love with someone. It’s about having a good, healthy, loving relationship with our spouse, children and most important, ourselves.”
