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As expected, Apple unveiled its new tablet device, the iPad, and it dominated the news cycle this week. Apple positioned the device as a new platform positioned at the intersection of the “liberal arts and technology” — a clear indication that the healthcare industry was not its top of mind use case. Despite recent news that Apple has been pursuing a mobile EHR pilot with Epic Systems, the iPad presentation included no mention of the healthcare vertical.

However, just as the iPhone originally had no clear agenda for the medical community, the iPad may very well factor into medical application developers’ plans for the year ahead. To wit: Healthcare providers, analysts, EHR vendors and developers provided MobiHealthNews with their first impressions of the iPad’s healthcare opportunity for the acute care environment, home health care and self-care market. Their first impressions (and these are just at first blush, mind you) are mostly positive, but they did note a number of shortcomings. Here are nine:

• The iPad has no camera, an important feature for any connected health tablet.
• Despite the iPad’s rather impressive “up to” 10 hours of battery life, the Center for Connected Health’s Rob Havasy lamented Apple’s continued use of non-swappable batteries. Most tablets targeting the healthcare environment boast swappable batteries so clinicians can continue using them without waiting for a charge.
• Chilmark Research’s John Moore pointed out that the iPad’s 9.7 inch screen is not quite big enough for use with intensive medical applications.
• Voalte’s Rob Campbell argued that the iPad was perhaps too big for many clinicians who would prefer a device that fits snugly into their pockets.
• Belgium-based senior managed care manager and respected mHealth pundit Bart Collet noted that unlike many other healthcare tablets, the iPad is not ruggedized and its screen would likely break if dropped. Many healthcare tablets claim to be drop resistant from about three feet.
• Quintiles’ Adam Istas believes the iPad’s healthcare opportunity should not be judged until medical apps specifically built for the platform (and not just those ported over from the iPhone/iPod) come to the market.
• Havasy also believes that the iPad’s inability to multi-task, meaning it can’t run more than one application at once is another big shortcoming that might hamper uptake for healthcare workers.
• Most healthcare tablets have barcode scanners — the iPad does not.
• Most healthcare tablets are easily disinfected, water-proof and dust resistant. The iPad does not appear to address any of those issues.
• What are we missing? Feel free to add others in the comments below.

While the iPad’s imminent launch likely convinced many savvy marketers in the wireless health industry to hold off announcements this week, there were a few notable stories: Ireland launched a text message service for food allergy alerts; Diversinet and AllOne Mobile may be dissolving their five year licensing agreement a few years ahead of schedule; the White House’s Text4Baby service has been delayed to launch next month and MiLife changed its strategy and name to Imperative Health following a $4 million venture capital investment from Unilever Ventures and New Venture Partners.

IN OTHER NEWS: Readers nominated MobiHealthNews to a number of categories in Medgadget’s Best Medical Weblogs Awards. If you have a minute and would like to vote: Here’s the link.

ALSO: Our Everywhere Healthcare event, which is co-located at CTIA Wireless 2010 at the Las Vegas Convention Center March 24, is quickly taking shape. We are happy to announce that AT&T has come on as a platinum sponsor and Diversinet and Jitterbug have joined up as Silver Sponsors of the event. Check out the preliminary agenda here and stay tuned for the speaker lineup soon. We hope to see you there!

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Apple confirmed the rumors today and unveiled a tablet device, which looks like a giant iPhone, called iPad. While Apple CEO Steve Jobs and his team of presenters at Apple’s iPad launch event this morning did not mention the healthcare vertical as a key market for the iPad: It looks to be just that. The iPad holds promise as a new point-of-care tool for healthcare workers and as a personal health device for patients.

The iPad will run “almost” all of the 140,000 applications currently available for the iPhone and iPod touch in the company’s iTunes AppStore, according to Jobs. Given the iPad’s much larger screen (9.7 inches diagonal), the apps can run in their normal size as a smaller window on the iPad or can be “blown up” to fit most of the screen. That means all 4,980 health and fitness apps currently available in the AppStore are immediately available to iPad users. That is the key leg up that Apple’s new iPad has on other medical tablets — a built-in application library of almost 5,000 apps. Apple said that iPhone/iPod touch users can port their already purchased apps over to the iPad without having to pay for them again, which is likely welcome news for healthcare workers currently relying on their iPhones and eyeing an iPad.

Apple is offering the iPad at a number of different price points: The WiFi only iPads (no cellular connectivity) run 16GB for $499; 32GB for $599; and 64GB for $699. With 3G the iPad is a bit pricier: 16GB for $629; 32GB for $729; and 64GB for $829.

The device is half an inch thin, weighs 1.5 pounds, and has up to 10 hours of battery life (one month in stand-by mode). Much like the iPhone and iPod touch, the iPad comes with 3G or without. Both versions of the device include WiFi (802.11n) Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR as well as an accelerometer, compass, speaker, mic and dock connector. The touchscreen also includes some 1,000 sensors for touch.

For the 3G iPads, Apple is working with AT&T (same carrier as the iPhone) to offer two data plans: $14.99 month gets iPad users up to 250MB of data, while the unlimited plan is $29.99 a month. The plans require no contract so users can cancel them anytime. AT&T is also offering free connectivity at their WiFi hotspots. The 3G device also works with unlocked GSM SIM cards, so if a carrier offers data SIMs, Apple says it will work with the iPad.

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The iPad definitely helps bridge some of the gaps currently present in the mobile [device continuum]. Workflow is the key to adoption and utilization in healthcare. I think the iPad will be a catalyst. – Tom Herzog, VP IT and Medical Device Technologies, Cerner

I think [the iPad is big news for healthcare providers and patients]. Despite its lack of a camera, the iPad will push healthcare away from the medical office and away from the desktop. – Ted Eytan, Kaiser Permanente

The iPad is not a game changer. The device seems to suffer from the usual Apple problems that make using it in healthcare difficult, namely a non-replaceable battery and AppStore uncertainty. That said, iPad seems to be a new tool for patient use and that large (9.7 inch) screen and 3G [wireless connectivity] is a big help. I agree with New York Times columnist David Pogue that time and the quality of the iPad’s software development kit will tell. Also, lack of multi-tasking may be an issue, but it could be fixed in an upcoming software update. PC Magazine has some good thoughts here. – Rob Havasy, Business Analyst, Partners Healthcare’s Center for Connected Health.

The iPad has a better larger interface for viewing one’s personal health records and it’s just portable enough to take to the doctor’s office. I think the iPad may also find traction with hospice and visiting nurses teams that provide at-home care. The iPad (I hate that name) also could find a market with the elderly as it could compete with Intel’s Health Guide. For acute care markets, however, I think the iPad will find limited adoption because it is too big to be truly mobile and not quite big enough for intensive medical applications. There is big potential for education, however — imagine Grey’s Anatomy on an iPad! That’d be cool. As a patient, I could use it to store or access my health records, including rich CT scans that I could share with my care team. – John Moore, Managing Director, Chilmark Research

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Ireland’s national Food Safety Authority recently launched an email and text messaging service that aims to inform food allergy sufferers about foods that have not appropriately labeled their products for the presence of common allergens. Warnings like “may contain nuts” or “manufactured on a line that also uses nuts” are not useful for allergy sufferers, according to the agency.

Once the authority establishes that a food product is missing the allergy information, the alerts will go out to those consumers who subscribe to the service via the authority’s website — the agency will also notify enforcement officers and the offending food businesses.

The Food Safety Authority is also seeking more information about the prevalence of food allergies in the country by conducting an online survey on its site. The current estimate is that five percent of children and three percent of adults have food allergies.

For more, read this report from the Irish Times

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MiLife, a start-up that Unilever Corporate Research (UCR) spun out in 2008, announced $4 million in new funding followed by a name change and new strategy. MiLife has changed its name to Imperative Health and shifted its focus to chronic disease management, especially: diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol. Unilever Ventures and New Venture Partners participated in the round of funding.

MobiHealthNews caught up with Imperative Health (formerly MiLife) Chairman and CEO Chris Jessop to discuss the startup’s new funding and recent strategy change.

MobiHealthNews: Why did MiLife rename and change its strategy?

Jessop: Our product was originally called MiLife (pronounced “my life”) and we positioned it as a lifestyle management tool mainly for people with weight-related problems. From my point of view, that strategy was not doing justice to the product because people who want to lose weight are not generally interested in changing their behavior too much. The MiLife product, however, showed in clinical trials that it really worked to change people’s behavior so they lost weight and kept it off in a sustainable way.

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ReadWriteWeb is tracking the rumored Apple tablet and wondering whether healthcare is the vertical most likely to adopt the tablet. Based on an interview with care providers, including Kaiser Permanente, RWW bulleted out five device capabilities they believe would change healthcare. Here’s what they’re hoping the iSlate enables:

• Real-time observations, including vitals signs. EHR or no, many systems still require HCPs to note vital signs using pen and paper.
• Shift changes: RWW believes transitions between nurses would be improved by a device that can move between various workers across shifts and not make the transition process tied to a physical location.
• Rich content delivery: The device should enable the HCP to share in great detail, video content included, what will happen during their stay.
• Video: An iSlate could more easily bring remote feeds into the ER and outpatient settings.
• Family and friends: An iSlate could help connect family and friends with patients whether they are in the waiting room or across the globe.

RWW closes with a prediction: Continue >>

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We have been tracking the soft launch of the White House’s free mobile health service for expectant mothers, Text4baby, since early last year. While the service was planned to launch in the fall of 2009, a recent presentation from the Text4Baby team explains that the service launched this month and plans to begin marketing through partners in February. The service appears to have soft launched in parts of New York and Virgina. Here’s how Text4Baby describes itself:

“A free mobile information service designed to promote safe pregnancy and healthy birth outcomes, particularly among underserved populations. An educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition(HMHB), text4baby will help women in having safe and healthy pregnancies by providing them with information they need to give their babies the best possible start in life. Text4baby is the largest national mobile health initiative to date and is being launched by an unprecedented group of public and private partners, including the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).”

Text4Baby’s stated goals are fourfold: 1) Demonstrate the potential of mobile health technology to address a critical national health priority: maternal and child health. 2) Demonstrate the potential of mobile health technology to reach underserved populations with critical health information. 3) Develop a base of evidence on the efficacy of mobile health interventions. 4) Catalyze new models for public-private partnerships in the area of mobile health.

Here’s Text4Baby’s full list of initial partners and their respective roles:

• National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (lead partner + content + program coordination)
• White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (coordination of federal participation)
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (content + outreach)
• CTIA-The Wireless Foundation (coordination with mobile operators)
• Johnson & Johnson (founding corporate sponsor)
• Voxiva (technology infrastructure + program coordination)
• WPP (marketing + PR)
• The George Washington University (evaluation)
• WellPoint (sponsorship + outreach + evaluation)
• BabyCenter (content + promotion)

Related Article: Text4Baby: “High profile” demo for mobile health

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Diversinet, a developer of secure mobile application platforms, announced that its mobile health partner, AllOne Mobile, recently filed a legal proceeding that would end the two company’s 2008 licensing agreement. AllOne has requested to pay Diversinet $3 million to officially terminate their agreement, but Diversinet believes that it is owed a substantially greater amount than AllOne’s proposed $3 million. Diversinet is currently discussing its options with its legal team, the company said. (More)

As we have previously reported, Diversinet provides security and encryption for AllOne mobile users’s health information and also enables the software to run across a number of mobile platforms. While no time table has been established for the conclusion of negotiations, the companies have assured existing and potential customers that they will continue to work together while they attempt to rejigger their agreement.

Following an investment in 2007, AllOne’s parent company owns a 15 percent stake in Diversinet. Last September, the two companies inked a five-year agreement that entitled AllOne to exclusive use of certain Diversinet technology in the personal health market. Here’s more on the specifics of that agreement, including the key financial metrics involved:

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mHealth Alliance award application process draws to a close: The mHealth Alliance announced the last call for its $50,000 prize for revolutionary wireless technology applications for global health. More

HealthNewsDigest imagines how the healthcare system will look if much of the technology demonstrated and talked about today becomes implemented: “The technology required to make the benefits in these care scenarios a reality is available today. It is the practice of healthcare that needs to change, which will be greatly enabled by coverage and financing reform.” More

Welch Allyn’s wireless vital sign monitor: At a healthcare IT event in Dubai, Welch Allyn planned to demonstrate a new wireless version of its Spot Vital Signs LXi device, which sends vital signs data to an EHR through WA’s Connex data management software. More

Pepid goes to Palm Pre: Pepid created a version of its smartphone medical application for the Palm Pre platform. More

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