From my family to your doctor. Today marked the broad launch of FamHis, a white-label mobile platform for helping clinicians gather and reference a patient's family history.

Comprised of a free patient app and a provider portal, users and their families store and share their health records securely. Meanwhile, clinicians reviewing the data will receive an auto-generated pedigree and notifications when a patient at high risk of a genetic issue is identified.

"With 25 years in the industry, I've seen firsthand the benefits of an accurate family health history and the effect it has on decision making for healthcare providers and their patients," Michael Brammer, founder and CEO of FamHis, said in a statement. "But the idea that it's something to address only when patients are facing a health crisis is short-sighted. FamGenix is much more than a simple screening tool and is the first of its kind to empower patients to own and maintain their own family health history, indefinitely. Preventative healthcare is the future of medicine and it begins with family history." 

The patient app was soft-launched in November, and the provider portal only became available last month. The company has launched its servers within the U.S. and Europe, and said that it plans to do the same for Canada and Australia next month.

AI company gets CMS green light. Stroke-focused digital health company Viz.ai landed a New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP) designation from CMS for its AI software. The company claims this is the first software to be granted the designation. 

Specifically, its Viz LVO tool will be able to have a NTAP of $1,040 per use of treating a patient with a stroke or suspected stroke. 

Digital CBT for eating disorders. A recent study published in JAMA found that a digital cognitive behavioral therapy self-help program reduced the rates of eating disorder (ED) psychopathology in college-age women with a binge-purge ED. 

Researchers also found that those participating in the intervention saw significantly greater reductions in binge eating, compensatory behaviors and depression than their counterparts in the control group, who was given referral care. 

“Given its scalability, a coached, digital CBT intervention for college women with EDs has the potential to address the wide treatment gap for these disorders,” authors of the study wrote. 

Smartwatches to help seniors stay in touch. This week's IFA 2020 trade show in Germany includes the reveal of a new health-monitoring wearable for seniors. The Movetime Family Watch MT43A from consumer electronic brand TCL will have heart-rate monitoring, fall detection and automatic notifications to family members via a 4G connection. The device also includes two-way calling and text messaging, as well as fitness features and programmable medication reminders.

"With the announcement of the Movetime Family Watch MT43A, TCL is utilizing modern wearable technologies that can help seniors continue living independent lives while providing peace of mind for their families and caregivers," Sharon Xiao, GM of the Smart Connected Device Business Group at TCL Communication, said in the company's announcement.

The smartwatch will launch in Europe and North America in the fall, at a price of €229.

Workplace wearables to control COVID. Also in new wearable news, Canadian firm Facedrive has unveiled a wearable Bluetooth tracker to support COVID-19 contact tracing in the workplace.

Worn either as a wristband, and around-the-neck pendant or a pocketable pod, the TraceSCAN Wearables products last three days on a charge and have seen early deployments in the U.S. The company notes that it's also working with government organizations to see whether the data can be integrated with existing contact tracing apps.

“As an innovative technology company with a people-and-planet-first business model, we believe it is Facedrive’s responsibility to contribute advanced technology solutions during times of crisis,” Facedrive chairman and CEO Sayan Navaratnam said in a statement. “We are extremely pleased to be working with businesses across various sectors and countries to provide custom contact tracing solutions that help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at the workplace.”