Health Tech News

While healthcare executives responding to a KPMG Healthcare survey say they expect major changes in the way healthcare is delivered and paid for in...

 

The way to save money in health care is not through ill-advised, random rationing of care, but rather through systems that ensure the right professional provides the right care, at the right place, and at the right time. 

Via Texas Medical Association

“Download this app and call me in the morning.”

 

A new type of prescription developing within the field of healthcare is reaffirming the impact that technology is having on medicine. In a recent Information HealthCare article titled, “Online Program Lets Docs ‘Prescribe’ mHealth Apps,” author Ken Terry discusses the emergence of mobile app prescriptions, an innovation that many patients may experience in the near future.

Via nrip, Thomas N. Burg, Brian Stack

Hospitals will soon see a significant increase in the use of analytics tools, according to new research from Frost & Sullivan. In fact, new figures show that only 10% of U.S. hospitals implemented health data analytics tools in 2011. That number will grow to approximately 50% adoption in 2016, representing a 37.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

 

Health data analytics, which the report describes as "advanced analytics techniques applied to clinical, financial, and administrative data that is used to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care," will become more ubiquitous over the next three to five years.

 

As the nation modernizes its health information infrastructure, the report notes that historically, healthcare delivery organizations have implemented business analytics that focused on financial and administrative systems. During the last five years, however, implementing clinical IT systems such as EHRs has raced to the top of the priority charts.

 

Still, the report asserted that the majority of providers have not yet applied advanced data analytics tools that can access information from EHRs to gain actionable insights from this information. The report also noted that providers have yet to integrate clinical information with financial and administrative data--a process that must occur if hospitals want to implement a comprehensive data analytics strategy.

 

Via nrip

Medical apps are not necessarily medical devices. The FDA only want to regulate those that are, but guidelines are various shades of gray.

 

There has certainly been a lot of hype lately (as in “Extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion”) about the role the FDA will have in regulation of medical apps for mobile devices. The draft guidance put out by the FDA on mobile medical apps (document 1741) at first seems very straight forward, but gets a bit more ambiguous the more you look into it.

Now I realize this is just “guidance”, but there are some potential implications to consider. Last year, a study came through our IRB that looked to implement the use of an iPhone app. While I won’t disclose the details of the study, I will say there was a bit of an urgency to read and better understand the guidance from the FDA for medical apps. As many researchers know, if they are using a tool or piece of equipment in their research that meets the definition of a “medical device” then it must be regulated by the FDA (Title 21 CFR). Their definition of a device is below and can include anything from a simple tongue depressor to a sophisticated robot that conducts surgery:

“an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, or other similar or related article, including a component part, or accessory which is:

- Recognized in the official National Formulary, or the United States Pharmacopoeia, or any supplement to them

- Intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, in man or other animals, or,

- Intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals, and which does not achieve any of it’s primary intended purposes through chemical action within or on the body of man or other animals and which is not dependent upon being metabolized for the achievement of any of its primary intended purposes.”

Via nrip

Lorraine Lawson writes:

 

'Oracle recently released a report noting, among other things, that healthcare isn’t prepared to manage Big Data. That’s hardly shocking, since healthcare seems largely inept at managing any data, much less Big Data, which is generally defined as having one or more of these characteristics:

 

* Variety, meaning structured, semi-structured and unstructured data
* Velocity, meaning you want it moved at high speeds
* Volume, think petabytes and terabytes

 

Maybe health care IT doesn’t have a data problem so much as it has a Big Data problem.

 

What do I mean? Well, most health care records actually fall into the domain of Big Data more than your typical, relational database kind of data. Specifically:

 

* Most health care records are actually unstructured data, e.g., text documents or images. Doctor’s notes on patients, nurse’s care plans, lab results, x-rays and MRI results all fall well outside the domain of structured data. I

* Health care data is often high volume, particularly when you’re talking about a state or national electronic health records system. What’s more, when you deal with images, like x-rays or other scans, you’re increasing the data’s volume in terms of storage requirements.

* Finally, most health care records need to be moved relatively quickly, and as individual records. So, if I’m having a consult tomorrow with a surgeon, then the x-rays need to be at the office by morning.

 

It looks like there’s a clear use case for Big Data technologies in health care.

 

In fact, if I may be so bold, maybe health care’s data problems are not entirely caused by niche vendors, data silos and a lack of investment.

 

Maybe the reason health care IT is such a mess is because the existing tools couldn’t handle Big Data needs in an affordable way.

Via Andrew Spong

Turn your camera into a biosensor. No extra hardware required.

Via Thomas N. Burg

I wanted to use the iPad to deliver the education however the patient wanted. I thought the iPad with small screen would be private and allow learning in multiple ways – patients could read a blog, watch a video, or listen to a podcast. Or, if people wanted more personal interaction, our nurse educators could use the iPads with them. At our Cancer Education Center, we always start with a conversation to assess the person’s educational needs. Then we may suggest they use our iPads to learn some of the information they are interested in.

 

 We were loaning the iPads to patients to use during their treatments. And, we discovered patients primarily used the iPads for diversional activities – surfing the web, posting status on Facebook, or playing games — to help take their minds off of treatment. By the time they sit in the infusion chair for Day 1 of treatment, patients are overloaded with information and feeling anxious. For them, this wasn’t the time for learning about their cancer or treatment. I wish we could give an iPad to patients to use at home when they are dealing with their diagnoses or having to make decisions about treatment. It’s exactly at these points when patients most need guidance on what to learn and where to go online for accurate, practical information.

Via nrip

Innovative health insurers are turning to consumer technology to encourage members to lead healthier lifestyles and thus improve margins.

 

A new report outlines 40 programs that use consumer technology such as social media, games and mobile apps to draw consumers to use health, wellness and disease-management programs.

 

The report finds that innovative health insurers increasingly are either building their own consumer-engagement applications or collaborating with technology developers to create such tools. A few payers, it says, have gone so far as to acquire software companies.

 

Via nrip