Tags: Cambridge Consultants | Connected Health | EMRs | MassMEDIC | preventative care | wireless healthcare |
Seventy-five percent of healthcare providers, patients, payers and technology enablers surveyed by Cambridge Consultants said that connected health preventative practice could cut healthcare expenses by 40 percent. Cambridge Consultants conducted the survey in conjunction with the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC).
The two groups define a “Connected Health” approach like so: “An integrated Connected Health approach advocates an end to end solution, giving patients control as well as responsibility and connecting them with a wide network of healthcare professionals and online applications. This integration can be achieved through a range of technologies, beginning with Electronic Medical Records and expanding outside clinical settings via connected devices such as glucometers and inhalers. This approach can improve medication adherence, enable early detection, reduce long-term treatment costs, and improve patient access to, and interaction with, healthcare providers.” Keep reading>>
Tags: iFitness | iPhone | Lexi Complete | Livestrong | Men's Health Workouts | Netter's Anatomy | RunKeeper | wireless healthcare |
Apple recently updated its iTunes App Store to include a list of the top 200 highest grossing applications in the entire store. While the App Store does not include a list for the biggest revenue generating apps by category, eight medical, health or fitness iPhone applications are among the top 200 highest grossing apps overall.
The only way to rank apps in the past was by popularity, which seems to rank by number of downloads within a certain period of time. Since some apps costs much more than others, the strategies that go along with service pricing do not factor into an application’s success, if you go by that metric. Ranking apps by the revenue generation, however, does.
You will note that the eight apps listed below range in price from $1.99 to $299.99. Cheaper apps need to appeal to a mass audience to make it into the top grossing apps rankings, however, extremely expensive apps can also make the cut if their content is worth their pricetag. Take a look through this list to determine where your wireless health service’s price tag should fall — or flip through them just to see which health, medical and fitness application developers are raking it in. Keep reading>>
Tags: BlackBerry | Duke University | wireless healthcare | wireless sensors | workflow |
BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion’s Fraser Edward made a poignant comment this week to a Canadian newspaper: “Right now information is a bit fragmented and not quite synchronized, but in time it will all be seamless. Then smartphones will truly break the barriers between hospitals and home care. The next couple of years will be about gluing it all together.”
If smartphones or wireless sensors or any form of consumer-centered healthcare disrupts the healthcare industry, the key to its enduring success will be in being able to put healthcare back together again. What’s the key to making it all work? What is the glue?
For many the glue is workflow management systems, which aim to make it easier for physicians, nurses and other caregivers to use this new influx of data. Take an influx and make it a seamless addition to the day-to-day.
Duke University’s Gopal Chopra told me last week that he also believes that this problem of “gluing it all together” was the big one for wireless healthcare, but instead of smartphones, Chopra believes it’s especially true for integrating wireless sensors’ data into the healthcare IT workflow:
“You can enable ubiquitous [wireless health] sensing, but without a services and disease management workflow system in place, who is this data going to? Who will interpret it? If there are algorithms involved with telling users what to do, well, who is overseeing that? There’s risk in that. You need a care provider to be overseeing it…” Chopra said.
Finding a way to integrate the wireless sensor or the physician’s evidence-based point of care mobile application is key. It can’t be an after thought. It needs to be an integral part of any wireless healthcare start-up or product’s strategy. We can’t feed data to siloed portals. If workflow for physicians and data flow for patients is figured out for these solutions, wireless healthcare has a chance at bucking the Humpty Dumpty fable (remember they couldn’t do it), and to contribute to the task of putting healthcare back together again.
Tags: Epocrates | iPAQ | iPhone | Palm | Palm OS | Web OS |
A representative from Epocrates has clarified the announcement that the company would no longer support older Windows Mobile and Palm devices — the company said that the majority of Palm OS devices will continue to have support from Epocrates. Here’s the update:
“We are not ceasing support for all Palm and Windows Mobile devices, only a handful of older operating systems that do not have the memory or power to run future content and feature enhancements we have in the pipeline. Some of the devices affected include Palm Zire and iPAQ 3835, however, this will only impact a small percentage of our user base.”
“Palm continues to be a prominent platform for us, and we will continue to support the majority of Palm OS devices as well as work to develop a native application for the Palm Pre. We are proactively reaching out to customers on these older devices to help them migrate to new platforms over the next 4-6 months. Bottomline for your readers: Palm and Windows Mobile are platforms Epocrates continues to proudly support.”
Tags: Apps | iPhone | iPhone medical apps | Medicare | text-to-speech | wireless health |
It was a hard fight to get insurance companies to cover dedicated text-to-speech devices for speech-impaired patients, but it finally happened in 2001, according to a report in The New York Times. Now the fight is on to get insurers to pay for cheaper devices and software that they claim work just as well or better.
The Times report highlights one patient’s struggle: Kara Lynn, an ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease patient, used to use a PC with text-to-speech software loaded on it because that’s what her insurance would cover. The computer had to be stripped down of all other capabilities to be eligible for coverage — no web browsing, email — nothing. As you might imagine, however, Lynn wanted to “take her voice with her” where ever she went, which wasn’t possible with a PC. Instead she bought an iPhone and an iPhone application that she believes works better.
The iPhone, of course, does much more than text-to-speech, so insurers won’t cover it, according to the New York Times report. Keep reading>>
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A few readers have mentioned an email they received from Epocrates yesterday: The notice informs users of “older Palm and Windows Mobile devices” that Epocrates is beginning to phase out support for their devices. While the missive does not include a time line for the phasing out process, it appears that PDA users are still able to purchase Epocrates software from the company’s website. As of this writing, there is no mention of the change in supported devices on the company’s website either.
Some of the recipients of the email from Epocrates were particularly miffed that the company offered them a discount on their software if the user buys an iPod touch: “We want to help you get there, so we’ve created a great deal for you – get an iPod touch with our premium Epocrates Essentials software for just $199! It doesn’t require a new carrier and is a perfect complement to a cell phone you may have already. Just enter code in the shopping cart to get the deal.”
Bottomline: Who didn’t know this day was coming? I think the real question is — is now the right time to stop supporting these older devices? Epocrates has been churning out surveys related to which devices people use to access their software. iPhones, iPods and BlackBerry typically lead the pack. Is that reason enough to cut off the other devices?
I have reached out to Epocrates for more information and hope to provide more about their timeline for ceasing support for the older devices soon. Given that the company is still selling their software for these older devices, you would imagine this cease in support would not occur during the next year.
Read the full email from Epocrates after the jump:
Keep reading>>
