Reviews & Ratings
Mobile Health App Certification
02/27/2013
PRESS RELEASE
Happtique Publishes Final Standards for
Mobile Health App Certification Program
Association of American Medical Colleges, CGFNS International and
Intertek to Serve as Content and Technical Review Partners
NEW YORK, NY – Feb. 27, 2013 – Happtique, an mHealth solutions company, today announced the publication of the final Standards it will use to certify apps under the Happtique Health App Certification Program (HACP). The HACP will help healthcare providers and consumers easily identify medical, health, and fitness apps that deliver credible content, contain safeguards for user data, and function as described. The final Certification Standards and associated Performance Requirements, which assess operability, privacy, security, and content, can be read at http://www.happtique.com/app-certification/. Read the rest of this entry »
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Texas Rankings Disappoint
12/23/2012
 Click on the image to view: “Texas on the Brink,” a 2001 report from the Texas Legislative Study Group that includes many more rankings and supporting statistics. Not much has changed. |
Texas near the Top:
Blessed with an abundance of land, rivers, oil and other natural resources, Texas pioneers built a great state, and even today, it seems that everything is bigger in Texas. I’ve lived in this “Great State of Texas” for most of my live, moving here from Arlington, VA in 1976, and I now live in the state capitol of Austin. So I call myself a Texan, but in many ways I’m not proud of my state. Here’s why. We relish in being #1 in many things, but not these:
- Texas is #1 in the percent of population uninsured
(as if that would be something to brag about). - We have the largest number of uninsured children (#1).
- We have the most toxic chemicals released into water (#1).
- We generate the most hazardous waste (#1).
- We have the most carbon dioxide emissions (#1).
- We also have the most executions (#1).
- We have the second highest birth rate
and are 4th in the number of kids living in poverty. - We have the second highest percent of population under 18.
- We’re #2 in percent of population with food insecurity.
- We’re #4 in percent of population living below poverty.
Smart Car Features for Older Drivers
12/05/2012
Nearly Nine in 10 Seniors Drive a Car that Doesn’t Fit their Aging Needs
AAA research helps “silver tsunami” match vehicle features to health concerns
This photo by Henry Fountain pictures one of Google’s fleet of self-driving vehicles. The Lexus hybrid has a range-finder on top but otherwise looks reasonably conventional. We may eventually be able to buy cars that drive themselves (see comment below), and three states already license experimental models for operation on public roads, but until they’re commercially available, AAA offers advice on selecting car features for older drivers.
Washington, D.C., (Dec. 3, 2012) – With nearly 90 percent of motorists 65 and older suffering from health issues that affect driving safety, finding a car that not only adapts to conditions, such as lack of flexibility or muscle strength, while maintaining safety and comfort can be difficult. Data from a new AAA survey also reveals that only one in 10 senior drivers with aging health issues are driving a vehicle that has features like keyless entry and larger dashboard controls that can assist with such conditions.
To better equip the “silver tsunami” for driving safety and comfort, AAA has updated its Smart Features for Older Drivers resource to address a broader range of health conditions and include new data on 2012 vehicle features. As a leading advocate for senior driver safety, AAA launched Smart Features for Older Drivers in partnership with the University of Florida’s Institute for Mobility, Activity and Participation in 2008. In the update, Smart Features identifies vehicle features that optimize older driver safety and comfort, lists current vehicles with those features, and allows users to explore their individual needs through an interactive online tool. Read the rest of this entry »
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Holiday Togetherness When You Can’t Be There
11/22/2012
Review by Justine Ezarik (www.iJustine.com)
While in Houston with family for Thanksgiving, I discovered an article in USA Today that I just had to share. Thanksgiving togetherness when you can’t be there is a well written article about using a PC, tablet or smartphone with video conferencing software to bring families together virtually. It not only applies to holidays but any time you want to get family & friends together online. Please follow the link above to read the article.
Below is text from a previous article on this tech trend that I wrote about a year ago.
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What mobile phone and tablet do you use?
05/18/2012
What platforms should healthcare app developers support?
While participating in the “What is Mobile Health?” Linkedin discussion that I mentioned a few days ago, an Australian app developer asked me the following question, sensing that I might have a helpful perspective. Because my response might also help Modern Health Talk readers, I’ll include both his question and my reply here.
Hi Wayne,
Can I ask what mobile phone you currently have and use? Do you have an iPad? The reason I ask is I find it interesting to appreciate the technology individuals use and the effects it has on the opportunities we see to advance healthcare.
@David, I have an Apple iPhone3, and both my wife and son (in Dallas) have an iPhone4s so they can use FaceTime video conferencing and we see our year-old granddaughter. On the tablet side, I have my wife’s old iPad after getting her an iPad2 to resolve conflicts over who gets to use it. BTW, she completely quit using her PC after getting the first iPad. Read the rest of this entry »
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Intel-GE Care Innovations, a critique
05/01/2012
Care Innovations™ is a unique joint venture that brings together GE’s expertise in healthcare and Intel’s technology expertise
— to help change the way health care is delivered.
I’ve worked with Intel before in the wireless standards area and have great respect for the company. And I also like their approach to market development, which often starts with ethnographic market research to understand the people who use technology products rather than starting with what’s technically possible. But in this case I question their design choices, because I think they ignored widely accepted standards and mainstream opportunities. Let me explain. Read the rest of this entry »
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CES 2012 … in Pajamas
01/18/2012
Did you go to CES this year? What struck you as a highlight (comment below)?
If you didn’t get to go, CES 2012 in Pajamas gives you all of the insight with none of the hassle or expense. This 12-page virtual trip report combines a healthcare and consumer electronics perspective so you can:
- Learn what the analysts and pundits said.
- Know about key trends from different perspectives.
- Discover cool products for digital health & wellness.
- See the products in action with over 4.5 hours of video.
- And discover who was missing and the significance.
Headings:
- About CES
- Getting the Most from this Report
- General Media Coverage of CES
- Is CES becoming Irrelevant?
- It’s All about the Platform & Ecosystem
- Smarter, Thinner Televisions
- Smarter, Thinner PC & Tablets
- Smartphones & mHealth
- Healthy Games
- Home Networking & Energy Management
- Robots
Be part of the Future of Healthcare. Our in-home evaluation is a fun and education survey that helps medical researchers collect autonomous health information so they can find unexpected correlations and find new treatments. It’s part of the Next Frontier for Big Data.
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The Future of Health Care Delivery
01/16/2012
Author’s summary by Stephen C Schimpff, MD
Health Care in the United States is a paradox. We are the most abundant, highly advanced market in the world, where research, commitment of providers, and dollars spent are unmatched. And yet… medical care is not uniformly available, is much too expensive and the quality of care is all too often less than satisfactory and not nearly safe enough. It is time for a different approach. .
There are many disruptive, often transformational changes coming, which will further complicate matters for the average patient. These changes are being driven by an aging population, our adverse lifestyles and behaviors, an increasing shortage of providers, our attitudes about the end of life, and a nascent rise in consumerism.
One of the most important changes is a shift from acute illness (e.g. pneumonia, appendicitis) to chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes with complications, heart failure and cancer) which are lifelong once developed, difficult to manage and very expensive to treat – yet mostly preventable.
There are also many misconceptions about what medical care delivery is and what it could and should be. For example, Read the rest of this entry »
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Let me down Easy is a must-watch performance
01/14/2012
Yvonne and I loved Anna Deavere Smith’s solo performance of Let Me Down Easy, which blends theatrics, journalism and social commentary about Healthcare, and I highly recommend watching it. PBS aired the program as part of its Great Performances series this week on Friday the 13th, how fitting with the state of our nation’s healthcare system. Here’s what they said about it.
She performs 19 characters in the course of an hour and thirty five minutes. Their stories are alternately humorous and heart-wrenching, and often a blend of both. Building upon each other with hypnotic force, her subjects recount personal encounters with the frailty of the human body, ranging from a mere brush with mortality, coping with an uncertain future in today’s medical establishment, to confronting an end of life transition. The testimony of health care professionals adds further texture to a vivid portrayal of the cultural and societal attitudes to matters of health.
Watch this 2:10 min video preview;
Read about what PBS had to say and what New York Times critics said; or
Watch the entire performance on PBS.org if you missed the live broadcast and didn’t record it. With an AppleTV or an Internet-connected TV you can probably stream the content to your big screen for the entire family.
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ZOMM’s Lifestyle Connect wins 3 CES Innovation Awards
01/10/2012
ZOMM earned 3 CES 2012 Innovation Awards this week for Lifestyle Connect™, a credit card sized accessory for any Bluetooth®-enabled phone, including the one you have right now. With a touch of a button or an alert from wireless sensors, the device can summon assistance from a Personal Safety Concierge™ or your trusted network of friends, family and health professionals. If needed, the concierge will dispatch police, fire or medical rescue personnel to the user’s location.
Lifestyle Connect utilizes Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy wireless technology to connect with Bluetooth Smart devices such as health monitors, heart monitors, glucose monitors, fall detection sensors, and activity trackers.
