I've long been skeptical about the direct-to-consumer approach in digital health and of those who push slick apps and gadgets to a market that wants simple rather than flashy. "The vast majority of healthcare spending comes not from workout freaks and the worried well, but from chronic diseases and acute care," I wrote in a particularly inflammatory column in February.
Now I'm starting to believe...
"Ten years from now, we'll be talking about behavioral change methods, not the technology."
That was a prediction Don Jones, vice president of global strategy and market development for Qualcomm Life, the healthcare connectivity division of San Diego-based telecommunications firm Qualcomm, made Friday at the University of Southern California's seventh annual Body Computing Conference in Los...
AliveCor, maker of a low-cost, smartphone-based ECG device for the iPhone, has gained FDA 510(k) clearance for a long-anticipated universal ECG attachment that works with just about any late-model Android or iOS smartphone or tablet, and is now available for sale in the US.
The new AliveCor Heart Monitor, introduced Friday at the University of Southern California's seventh annual Body Computing...
The University of Southern California's Center for Body Computing is the latest to set up an incubator/accelerator for wireless and digital health startup businesses.
CBC Founder and Executive Director Dr. Leslie Saxon dropped this news Friday morning as she opened the center's sixth annual Body Computing Conference on the USC campus in Los Angeles.
Plans are still in the early stages, and the...
Earlier this month at the Body Computing Conference in Los Angeles, Boston Scientific showed off a concept iPhone app, called Latitude Connected, that is currently focused on cardiac rhythm care management, but its full range of functions enable physicians to access patient records, monitor implanted devices, tap into patient support networks and schedule follow-up care, according to a report...
Text alerts to encourage blood donations: The Red Cross announced that it will begin offering real-time alerts to critical blood inventories and tips for successful blood donations through text messages. Users opt-in to the program and can then choose to give blood when and where it is needed. The text will even include a click to call feature that allows the user to book an appointment right...
At the Body Computing Conference last week in Los Angeles, the Food and Drug Association's Brian Fitzgerald weighed in on a big question: Who owns your health data? According to a report in Fast Company, the typical answer most consumers would provide is "my body, my data." Fitzgerald, however, had an insightful and perhaps troubling reply. It made for a true regulatory monkey wrench:
"These are...
At the Body Computing Conference last week in Los Angeles, wireless health company Corventis demonstrated a concept iPhone app called Beating Heart, which the company created with the event's organizers. The app is a game that leverages Corventis' wireless "band-aid" sensor to transmit the players heart rate to the iPhone, which then can broadcast the heart rate over Twitter and Facebook or via...
