More on the first five Apple ResearchKit apps

By: Aditi Pai | Mar 9, 2015        

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Asthma Health by Mount SinaiDuring Apple’s most recent event, the company launched a new health offering — arguably its most clinically-focused yet — called ResearchKit. The open source platform helps researchers build medical apps and more easily recruit patients for clinical trials and other research projects.

“iOS apps already help millions of customers track and improve their health,”Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations said in a statement. “With hundreds of millions of iPhones in use around the world, we saw an opportunity for Apple to have an even greater impact by empowering people to participate in and contribute to medical research. ResearchKit gives the scientific community access to a diverse, global population and more ways to collect data than ever before.”

With the patient’s permission, researchers can collect certain data points, for example weight, blood pressure, glucose levels, and asthma inhaler use, from HealthKit. HealthKit is a health platform from Apple that launched in September and syncs data from third party apps and devices to a user-facing app called Health. Depending on the data needed for the study, researchers can also use the ResearchKit platform to request access to the smartphone’s accelerometer, microphone, gyroscope, and GPS sensors. These sensors could help in studies looking at, for example, a patient’s gait, motor impairment, fitness, speech, and memory.

Already, Apple has partnered with several big name medical institutions to launch five apps that address: asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. These apps are supported on the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and the latest generation of iPod touch.

Here are the first five apps using Apple’s ResearchKit platform:  Keep reading>>

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Apple announces medical app research platform, ResearchKit

By: Brian Dolan | Mar 9, 2015        

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Apple medical ResearchKitAt an event today Apple announced a new, open source platform for medical research called ResearchKit, which integrates with Apple’s previously launched health data exchange HealthKit. Apple has already begun working with about a half dozen healthcare systems to create specific disease research apps. ResearchKit will launch next month.

“We are incredibly confident that [ResearchKit] will have a profound impact on all of us,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the event in San Francisco.

The first few apps made with ResearchKit include ones focused on research into Parkinson’s, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and breast cancer. While ResearchKit won’t launch for another month, these first few ResearchKit-enabled apps are available today.

The University of Rochester and Sage Bionetworks worked together to create the Parkinson’s research app, mPower, using Apple’s ResearchKit. mPower aims to make it easier for people to sign up for studies and providing consent to do so. The app can detect symptoms in Parkinson’s patients just by having them say “ahhhh” into the phone. It also includes a finger tapping feature that can detect symptoms, too. Finally, the app can analyze the user’s gait and balance by having them walk 20 steps then turn around and take 20 steps back.  Keep reading>>

Sprint’s health incubator adds startups building breathalyzers, heart devices, water bottles

By: Jonah Comstock | Mar 9, 2015        

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Triomi's Pocket 12-lead ECG

Triomi’s Pocket 12-lead ECG

The Sprint Techstars accelerator announced its second class of companies, including a mix of new companies and a few that are already reasonably well-known. The companies will be based in Kansas City and will receive $120,000 in funding from the accelerator.

“Sprint is proud to be working with Techstars again to bring this world-class accelerator program to Kansas City,” Kevin McGinnis, vice president of Pinsight Media+, a division of Sprint, said in a statement. “We are looking forward to helping these companies grow and develop since we saw the positive effect of the experience last year – not only for the startups at the accelerator, but also for the opportunities it affords to promote entrepreneurship among our employees and help advance the region’s already vibrant startup community.”

As we reported in December, this class will also work with the University of Kansas Medical Center. Read on below for the 10 companies participating in the latest class. Keep reading>>

SocialWellth raises $7.5M for health app “prescription” platform

By: Aditi Pai | Mar 9, 2015        

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mHealth DashboardLas Vegas-based SocialWellth, maker of white label digital health and wellness offerings for payers, providers, and employers, has raised $7.5 million, according to a report from MedCity News. This brings the company’s total funding to at least $12 million to date.

Existing investors include SilverStream Capital and LifeWise Administrators, a subsidiary of Premera Blue Cross.

SocialWellth has developed four health and wellness offerings. One tool, called mHealth Dashboard, helps payors engage members by aggregating a user’s health data from apps and devices. Payors can offer goals, challenges, incentives, and rewards to members through the dashboard too.

Another offering, called bWell, is a population health service that uses health apps and assessments to give users a comprehensive understanding of their health status.  Keep reading>>

Health plan members who use apps are happier with their plan

By: Jonah Comstock | Mar 9, 2015        

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Kaiser PermanenteA J.D. Power survey on health plan satisfaction finds that mobile apps are a significant role player in helping health plans increase their member satisfaction, which overall has gone up since last year.

The survey was given to more than 30,000 people spread out across 134 health plans across the United States. They calculated satisfaction on a 1,000 point scale, taking into account coverage and benefits, provider choice, information and communication, claims processing, cost, and customer service.

Across all plans, members who had contacted their health plan via a mobile app at least once in the past year were more satisfied with their plan than those that hadn’t. In fact, their satisfaction rating was 108 points higher on that thousand-point scale. The study adds that members under 40 were much more likely to communicate with their plan via text or mobile app than those over 40, but phone calls were still the most popular communication method across the board.  Keep reading>>

Nike+ Running app now pulls device data from Garmin, TomTom, and others

By: Aditi Pai | Mar 6, 2015        

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Nike partner integrationNike has announced that users of its Nike+ Running app will now be able to pull data from fitness devices made by Garmin, TomTom, Wahoo Fitness, and Netpulse.

Users that own a Garmin, TomTom, Wahoo Fitness, or Netpulse device can download the Nike+ Running app and pair their device.

Nike updated other features in the Nike+ Running app, which is available on iOS and Android devices. For iOS users, Nike added an “armband mode” that makes it easier to control their experience while running and wearing the phone on their upper arm. Some features of armband mode include easier-to-use music controls and improved access to route maps. Android users now have updated shoe-tagging and a new auto-pause mode that automatically halts the session when the runner stops.  Keep reading>>