Online Photo Sharing
There a number of websites which allow for photo and video sharing. But for physicians the questions is - "Why should we use it ?"
There are a number of reasons why physicians can benefit from online photo and video sharing:-
1. Discuss complex clinical cases online (in compliance with the HIPAA regulations) using photos and videos. Eg. Discuss challenging radiology images, ECG or skin conditions using photos or echocardiograms using videos
2. Online compendium of clinical cases for educational purposes
3. Create open source and free medical journals based on rich internet applications. E.g. Open Medicine
Online Photo sharing
There are a number of websites which allow uploading and sharing photos. My favorites include:-
1. Flickr (from Yahoo)
2. Picasa Web (from Google)
Flickr
The website is a bit complex and involves a learning process but the functionality provided by it is unparalleled.
Basic service is free which allows uploading unlimited photos with a few restrictions:-
1. Downgrades the resolution of uploaded photos,
2. 20 MB monthly upload limit,
3. Ability to view only the most recent 200 photos (although all uploaded photos remain on Flickr),
4. Restricted to creation of 3 photosets (read: limited organization features).
The paid service costs $25 a year.
All the basic functionality like photo uploading, organizing and sharing are present. Flickr has one of the most powerful organization features so if you have thousands of photos in your account, photo management is a breeze. It automatically organizes photos by the date they were taken on and the date uploaded to flickr. Additionally photos can also be organized by multiple tags, photosets, subsets (similar to folders on a regular computer) and even the location where they were taken.
Individual photos can be commented on by authorized individuals or everyone. The beauty of flickr's comment system lies in that a particular portion of the photo can be selected and commented on. For e.g. a nodule on a Chest CT can be highlighted and marked as "Tuberculosis abscess."
Photos, entire albums and slideshows on Flickr can be embedded directly on blogs and websites.
Flickr beats all other photo sharing applications in that a number of websites can integrate with flickr and allow you to manipulate your photos in amazing ways (e.g. make a postcard from a photo in your flickr account and email it etc).
Flickr Tour
Flickr Tutorial
Picasa Web Albums
One of the best online photo management programs available and very easy to use. It provides 1 GB of free storage with decent organization and sharing features.
The best feature of picasaweb is its seamless integration with Picasa desktop photo management application (by Google and is free!). All photos can be stored and organized in Picasa and synchronized online. Picasa (the desktop application) also supports basic photo editing features. On the Mac side, google provides a plugin for iPhoto to provide excellent integration.
Sharing photos is a breeze. Albums can be made private or viewable to authorized people or by everyone. The photos and slideshows can be embedded on other websites of blogs. An RSS feed is also available to provide update to individual albums or the entire library.
The service also allows for commenting on individual photos. So for e.g. an EKG has been uploaded to picasaweb, viewers can comment on the diagnosis.
Picasa Web Albums Tour