05/21/2013
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the National Cancer Institute have launched a contest to encourage the development of information management tools that help improve care transitions for cancer survivors. Healthcare IT News, MedCity News.
05/16/2013
In a final order, FDA said it is amending the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to categorize "digital pill" technology as a class 2 medical device. Such technology can transmit messages about a patient's health and drug ingestion from inside the stomach. The Hill's "RegWatch."
05/14/2013
According to a new study, internal medicine residents generally are satisfied with the use of iPads in clinical settings but say that the tablet computers fell short of their expectations for improving efficiency and patient care. FierceMobileHealthcare, Journal of Medical Internet Research.
05/13/2013
A study finds that about one-third of mobile applications offering guidance on pain management were developed without obvious input from a health care provider, and that about one-third had an indeterminate amount of input from a medical professional. American Medical News.
05/09/2013
An analysis from ABI Research finds that by 2018, close to five million medical body area network sensors are expected to be shipped. ABI says that companies like GE Healthcare and Philips already have shown interest in the market. FierceMobileHealthcare, MobiHealthNews.
05/08/2013
A new report from the Ponemon Institute finds that the use of inefficient communications technology costs U.S. hospitals a total of about $8.3 billion annually because of decreased productivity, lengthy patient discharge times and other issues. The report suggests that HIPAA is hindering hospitals' adoption of advanced communications tools. Wall Street Journal's "CIO Journal" et al.
05/08/2013
The American Health Information Management Association has unveiled a best practices guide for evaluating mobile health applications. Among several recommendations, the guide urges consumers to review such apps' privacy policies and settings. Healthcare IT News.
05/03/2013
A study finds that children with asthma who received daily text messages providing information about their condition or asking questions about their symptoms had better clinical outcomes than kids who did not receive the daily texts. FierceMobileHealthcare, Medical News Today.
05/02/2013
Lyfechannel has received $50,000 for winning HHS' Healthfinder.gov Mobile App Challenge. The winning application aims to help family members manage their health and find information on preventive services covered under the Affordable Care Act. Healthcare IT News et al.
04/17/2013
A study by researchers from the United Kingdom finds that a mobile health application might be a more effective weight loss intervention than a paper or online food diary. According to the study, app users lost an average of 10 pounds over six months. Time's "Healthland" et al.
04/16/2013
CDC has announced that it is preparing to study the feasibility of conducting population health surveys via smartphones. Participants will be contacted at random via text message and asked basic demographic and general health questions. Health Data Management.
04/10/2013
Starting in October, health care facilities with high readmission rates for certain conditions could face Medicare penalties. To help providers reduce readmissions, technology vendors are developing new tools that could help patients stay healthy at home. Scientific American.
04/02/2013
To aid patients with chronic conditions, physicians increasingly are prescribing mobile applications that offer health-related reminders or link to medical devices. Some insurers are covering the cost of such apps as a way to reduce overall health care costs. Columbus Dispatch.
04/02/2013
A study finds that text message reminders did not increase influenza vaccination rates among pregnant women. However, most study participants said that they enjoyed receiving the text messages and that their prenatal care was more satisfying with the reminders. Reuters.
04/01/2013
A report published in The Cochrane Library finds that health IT-based interventions might not be very effective for improving the health and quality of life of patients with diabetes. However, such interventions often improve patients' understanding of the disease. Reuters et al.