FROM THE FOUNDATION

The Social Life of Health Information

A new Pew Internet/CHCF national survey finds the Internet has joined doctors and family members as one of the top three ways people search for answer to their health care questions.

Evaluating One-e-App

CHCF and The California Endowment funded the development of One-e-App, a Web-based program that enables users to apply for multiple public insurance programs at once. Read a business case assessment by The Lewin Group.

Privacy, Security, and the Stimulus Bill

The recently enacted economic stimulus legislation includes a number of improvements to federal health privacy law. This brief looks at issues of privacy and security in the wake of ARRA.

Tools and Devices

Friday, May 09, 2008

Microsoft Executive Discusses Potential for New Health IT Devices

In the near future, patients could begin using their printers to receive simple medications and help advance a more personalized model of health care, Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft, said on Friday, PC World reports. Mundie was speaking at a conference in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Rather than having ink, the printers would be able to dispense different medications from their ink cartridges, according to Mundie. He said drug tablets could be pulled off of printed sheets similar to mailing labels and dissolve in patients' mouths.

Mundie also speculated about uses for a mobile phone containing breath analysis technology that could detect diseases, chemical imbalances or other problems based on a person's breath. A clinic could then provide a diagnosis based on the screening.

Microsoft said the new technologies are just an idea and not currently available, PC World reports.

However, Mundie added that Microsoft's technology sector is poised to develop new ways to improve the rapidly advancing health care market (Nystedt, PC World, 5/9).



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