Lack of medical device connectivity and interoperability are big contributors to preventable medical errors, according to a recent survey of nurses. According to the 526 registered nurses who participated in the survey, which was commissioned by the Gary and Mary West Health Institute and conducted by Harris Poll, nurses end up shouldering a lot of the burden of medical devices and electronic...
This time last year, the Gary and Mary West Health Institute released a report calculating that medical device interoperability (via the adoption of open standards) could save the healthcare system about $36 billion. Now the Institute has teamed up with federal government groups and released a new whitepaper, based on an event held last month, detailing how interoperability -- and those savings...
If medical devices were better integrated with IT systems and made to follow standards for interoperability with each other and with electronic health records, the U.S. healthcare industry could eliminate a net $30 billion in unnecessary expenses a year, according to a new study. But a lot of things have to happen for savings to be that substantial.
"To realize the benefits, providers, payers,...
The Continua Health Alliance, a consortium of more than 220 organizations working to enable interoperability between personal medical devices, noted in a recent newsletter that the FDA believes new laws for connected health device regulations are neither likely nor needed. The revelation came after Continua hosted a pow-wow with industry folks at FDA head quarters last month -- MobiHealthNews...
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which develops technical specs and evangelizes Bluetooth technology, announced today the formal launch of Bluetooth Low Energy, a part of the Bluetooth 4.0 specification. Bluetooth Low Energy has already garnered the support of the Continua Health Alliance, a consortium of more than 220 companies working on interoperability for personal medical devices and...
By Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director, Bluetooth SIG
With 20 million devices in the marketplace today, Bluetooth technology is already the de facto wireless standard for health and fitness devices. Whether the device is a defibrillator, weight scale, heart rate belt, glucose meter or a Wii Fit Balance Board, manufacturers have been enthusiastic in choosing Bluetooth technology as their...
Texas Instruments unveiled a Bluetooth LE (low energy) cell demo during a Bluetooth conference in Germany this week. Texas Instruments claimed that the device will consume so little power that it would allow wireless connectivity to run on devices for very long periods of time: A small button cell battery, for example, could power a device without recharging for more than a year, TI said.
The...
