Free Healthcare IT Newsletter Want to receive the latest news on EMR, Meaningful Use, ARRA and Healthcare IT sent straight to your email? Get all the latest Health IT updates from Neil Versel for FREE!

AliveCor gets some airtime, too

I’ve had a lot of traffic to this site today because of Dr. Eric Topol’s appearance on “Rock Center with Brian Williams” on NBC last night, which I posted early this morning. As I mention in my related story in MobiHealthNews, Topol showed, among other gadgets, the iPhone ECG, the recently FDA-cleared iPhone add-on from Dr. Dave Albert and AliveCor.

The iPhone ECG also got a mention on Fox News’ Sunday Housecall on Jan. 6, in the form of a discussion between Dr. Marc Siegel and Dr. David Samadi, who actually disagree about the usefulness of the product. Siegel thinks it might be a bit frivolous and a toy for the “worried well,” while Samadi hails it as a breakthrough. Siegel did, however, come up with an interesting potential alternate use for the ECG add-on. Take a look:

Post a Comment(1)
January 25, 2013 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: Healthcare IT  imaging  Innovation  mobile  vendors  video
Tags:              

Technology changes faster than you think

How much do things change in seven-plus years? Perhaps more than you think.

According to Wikipedia, the following happened in April 2005:

  • Google doubles the storage space of its Gmail service to two gigabytes.
  • Pope John Paul II passes away at the age of 84.
  • A group of at least 40 Iraqi insurgents attacks Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison, using car bombs, grenades, and small arms. At least 20 American soldiers and 12 Iraqi prisoners are injured, but the US Army says it has put down the assault.
  • American newscaster Peter Jennings states that he has lung cancer and will begin chemotherapy.
  • Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams appeals to the IRA to stop violence.
  • Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty to four bombings including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in exchange for four life sentences.
  • Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker Bowles
  • Adobe Systems buys Macromedia for $3.4 billion.
  • Victims and families observe 168 seconds of silence on the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.
  • YouTube is founded and launched.
  • Pope Benedict XVI is formally installed as pope of the Catholic Church in an inaugural mass.
  • Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez ends military cooperation with USA, claiming that US Army training officers in the country have been agitating unrest against him.
  • The new Airbus A380 performs its maiden flight, in Toulouse, France.

And smartphones were not exactly common in healthcare. How do I know this? I just unearthed the following program from AMIA’s 2005 Spring Congress:

Yes, indeed, that’s a Pocket PC, a personal digital assistant without a phone. Microsoft dropped the name in 2006 in favor of Windows Mobile. A year after that, Apple introduced the iPhone, and the rest is history.

I’m about to go on a long-overdue vacation for the rest of the year, including a week of staycation to catch up on everything I’ve neglected at home in this difficult year. You probably will see my byline in MobiHealthNews and InformationWeek Healthcare next week, but I won’t be on the job. I have a couple of pieces of multimedia I’ve put off for months, and I may get around to processing and posting them before the end of 2012. If not, I’ll see you in January.

Post a Comment(1)
December 13, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: health IT  Healthcare IT  Innovation  mobile
Tags:            

Social and mobile continue to converge in healthcare

I’ve been somewhat off the grid for yet another family health crisis lately, but I thought I’d at least surface to update this blog with something quick and easy. Healthcare Web and software designer Geonetric has recently come out with an infographic about how healthcare consumers engage online. It’s long been believed that the majority of Internet users will search online for health information, and Geonetric cites data showing that some 80 percent actually do so.

The real surprising numbers are in the realms of social media and mobility, two areas that are increasingly overlapping. While it’s not shocking to hear that 20 percent of health consumers use mobile devices to search for health information, take a look at how many people now have mobile phones: an estimated 4.8 billion worldwide, according to Geonetric. By comparison, the chart says only 4.2 billion people own toothbrushes.

And despite all the worries in the provider community that patient will write bad things about them on rating sites like Yelp, Geonetric says just 5 percent of mentions of companies and organizations on social media are negative. It’s not clear if that figure pertains only to healthcare, but if you’ve ever seen what so many trolls post as comments on YouTube, Facebook and news sites across the Internet, you might find that hard to believe. I sure did.

Note also that the graphic says 23 percent of people follow health experiences of friends on social media. That I believe, because I’ve been sending out updates to friends and family the last several days on Facebook, and I’ve gotten updates the same way for a friend in another state who has multiple sclerosis. I’ve written most of the updates from my phone.

Post a Comment(8)
November 26, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: consumerism  mobile  social media
Tags:        

Urgent news from Health 2.0

SAN FRANCISCO — The Health 2.0 Conference stopped in its tracks late Monday with this stunning news: fictional EHR vendor Extormity has agreed to acquire every one of the hot, buzzworthy, break-the-mold, think-outside-the-box, too-cool-for-school (and smarter than you because they live in Silicon Valley, went to MIT and/or once knew a guy who worked at Google) app developers showcasing their “solutions”* and explaining why a killer UX in a 99-cent app is the key to all that ails the $2.5 trillion healthcare industry.

From the horse’s mouth:

Extormity announces plans to acquire every application developer at Health 2.0

The Health 2.0 conference currently under way in San Francisco features hundreds of developers, health IT firms and device companies demonstrating innovative applications designed to improve clinical outcomes, reduce medical costs and revolutionize healthcare delivery.

“It would take a dedicated team of talented professionals months to sift through all these disruptive innovators to determine who has the next killer app capable of interrupting the significant revenues we realize from maintaining the status quo,” said Extormity CEO Brantley Whittington from his yacht moored in the San Francisco Bay. “It’s more expedient for us to simply acquire every start-up, playing the role of angel investor sent to answer the capital formation prayers of each young entrepreneur wearing premium denim and a sport coat.”

“Acquired organizations become part of our strategic portfolio and are assigned to our innovations business unit, the division where new ideas fester,” added Whittington. “Developers from digested companies are housed in a bullpen where they engage in a never-ending code-a-thon that breeds fierce competition, resentment and angst – as you might imagine, turnover is epidemic.”

“Meanwhile, the principals who come on board join the Extormity think tank where they are paid handsomely as they wait for their options to vest.”

Extormity personnel will be stationed in each breakout session room with agreements and checks.

 

About Extormity

Extormity is an electronic health records mega-corporation dedicated to offering highly proprietary, difficult to customize and prohibitively expensive healthcare IT solutions. Our flagship product, the Extormity EMR Software Suite, was recently voted “Most Complex” by readers of a leading healthcare industry publication. Learn more at www.extormity.com

 

Enjoy your new-found wealth!

* Marketingspeak for “vaporware.”

Post a Comment(1)
October 9, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: consumerism  EMR/EHR  gaming  health 2.0  humor  mergers and acquisitions  mobile  social media
Tags:          

Attending Health 2.0? Donate your old smartphone

If you’re planning on attending the Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco next Monday and Tuesday, Health eVillages, a program of the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, will be collecting used Apple iOS and Android mobile devices. Health eVillages, of which I am a member of the advisory board, will refurbish your device and load it with medical reference materials, clinical decision support tools, drug dosage calculators and other mobile health tools and deploy it to a clinician working in a developing country, helping to bring higher-quality care to that community.

Current Health eVillages sites are in Haiti, China, Kenya, Uganda, with more to come.

If you have a used iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android phone or and tablet (sorry, no BlackBerrys, which is what I happen to have), drop it off at the Health 2.0 registration desk or at the Physicians Interactive booth (No. 37) in the exhibit hall.

If you want to learn more about Health eVillages, founder Donato Trumato, CEO and vice chairman of Physicians Interactive, will be speaking for about 5 minutes on the main stage the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 9, and then will lead a lunchtime presentation at 12:50 p.m. PDT in the Imperial B ballroom at the Hilton San Francisco.

I will be there, too, participating the “3 CEOs” session Tuesday at 8:10 a.m. I will be interviewing Phytel CEO Steve Schelhammer live on stage. Am I nervous? Only about having to get up that early.

 

Post a Comment(1)
October 2, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: disease management  health 2.0  health IT  Health IT workforce  Healthcare IT  international  media  mobile  philanthropy  public health
Tags:              

Podcast: This time, I’m the interviewee

In a rare turn of events, I’m the one being asked the questions on a podcast by Sivad Business Solutions, which hosts regular audio discussions on a variety of business topics. I give kind of a high-level view of health IT and offer my very strong opinions on patient safety and healthcare reform. There’s an interesting discussion about EHRs being designed to maximize reimbursements rather than assure safety.

Interestingly, we recorded this via Skype. I like the audio quality, if not the nasal quality of my own voice, more than usual that day.

Hopefully the embedded audio works. If not, click here.

Post a Comment(1)
September 18, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: Accountable Care Organizations  EMR/EHR  health reform  interoperability  meaningful use  medical errors  mobile  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act  patient safety  podcast  primary care  quality  reimbursement
Tags:                                  

Health eVillages is Monday’s AOL ’cause of the day’

Health eVillages, which I am on the advisory board of, has been selected as AOL’s “Cause of the Day” for Monday. That means it’s highlighted on the home page of AOL. If you have an old smartphone you’re not using, donate it to Health eVillages and help save a life. Thanks.

Post a Comment(0)
September 17, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: international  mobile  personal notes
Tags:    

Colbert lampoons Proteus digital pill

Last week, I was the first to have the story that Proteus Digital Health, formerly known as Proteus Biomedical, got de novo FDA 510(k) clearance for its ingestible “chip on a pill,” intended to promote medication adherence. National media have since picked up on the groundbreaking news.

Last night, the product became the subject of parody, courtesy of Stephen Colbert.

 

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Cheating Death – Sensor-Enabled Pills & Facelift Bungee Cords
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

At least Colbert’s version featured a wireless tablet computer.

Post a Comment(2)
August 9, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: humor  mobile  video
Tags:          

Podcast: Carrie Handley on patient empowerment with an iPad

Did you happen to catch my story in MobiHealthNews on Thursday about Carrie Handley, the IT consultant-turned-cancer patient? She got frustrated with first a misdiagnosis and then the hassle of lugging around a binder full of paper records that she had to go to multiple sites to collect to assure continuity of care during her treatment and surgeries. So Handley digitized all her records.

Initially, she transported the information on a USB drive, but that got lost in a doctor’s lab coat. Then, her son brought over an iPad. The tablet provided the right balance of portability and shareability. In this interview, Handley, a resident of Waterloo, Ontario (you know, the home of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion), describes the process and shares her thoughts in general on mobility in healthcare.

We wouldn’t have connected if she hadn’t read my tribute to my dad last month. After reading Handley’s story in the e-mail she sent me, I knew we had to do this podcast to help spread the idea that communication can help foster the kind of patient-centric care that eluded my dad, that initially eluded her and that probably eludes millions of people every year.

This Sunday is Father’s Day. I miss my dad terribly. But I take comfort in knowing that I’m doing a small part to raise awareness of multiple system atrophy (MSA) — the rare neurodegenerative disease that killed him — and perhaps advancing the cause of patient safety ever so slightly.

Podcast details: Interview with health IT consultant and cancer survivor Carrie Handley about mobility in healthcare. MP3, mono, 128 kbps, 26.7 MB. Running time 29:13.

Post a Comment(0)
June 14, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: clinical summaries  consumerism  mobile  patient safety  PHR  podcast  quality
Tags:                

Might as well cash in on fervor over new iPad

I’m not one to sell myself out, but I read a story in satirical newspaper The Onion today with the following headline: “This Article Generating Thousands Of Dollars In Ad Revenue Simply By Mentioning New iPad.” An excerpt:

“Furthermore, any subsequent mention of the new iPad in this article—as well as any mention of the fact that preorders for the device start today—is resulting in increased reader traffic and, thus, increased revenues for your company’s ad-based business model.” At press time, new iPad, new iPad, new iPad, new iPad, new iPad, new iPad, new iPad, new iPad, new iPad, new iPad.

Gotta love lame attempts at SEO! We’ll see if it works for me. ;)

Post a Comment(0)
March 7, 2012 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.

Filed Under: blogging  humor  mobile
Tags:      


    • Previous Next