mHIMSS Bloggers

Health sensors the size of a postage stamp

 January 18, 2013
| Miraj Sanghvi, Blog Manager, Medigram
Think of the range of possibilities available with cheap active monitoring - not only will the quantified-self movement have new tools to track their body, but doctors will have a new tool to monitor at-risk patients in real time. More

Measuring the ROI of digital health technologies

January 17, 2013
| David Lee Scher, MD, Owner & Director, DLS Healthcare Consulting
Alere's purchase of Medapps prompts me to discuss a question posed to me daily: "What is the ROI of digital health technologies?" More

What's a guy like me doing at CES, anyway?

 January 15, 2013
| Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, Director, Center for Connected Health
I spent the bulk of the last week in Las Vegas attending the 2013 International CES. If there were other academically oriented physicians attending, I didn't find them. More

A look back at the highs (and not-so-highs) of CES

 January 14, 2013
| Eric Wicklund, Editor, mHIMSS
Too short for a story, too good to be forgotten, here are a few (mostly) digital health-related observations from last week's 2013 International CES event and the two-day Digital Health Summit in Las Vegas. More

A tablet to alleviate physician pain points

 January 09, 2013
| Matthew Hawkins, CEO, Vitera Healthcare Solutions
If you're of a certain age, then you remember the first cell phone. Resembling a brick and weighing in at a hefty two pounds, it was bulky (about 13 inches long), expensive (almost $4,000) and offered maybe half an hour of talk time before needing to be recharged. More

mHIMSS January 'tweet up' to focus on consumer engagement

 January 09, 2013
| The mHIMSS Workgroups
The online mHIMSS event will take place at 12:30 p.m. ET on January 11. More

2013: The year of the mHealth user

 January 04, 2013
| Jonathon Dreyer, director of mobile solutions marketing, Nuance Healthcare
From my point of view, 2012 was the "year of the developer," as it brought about mHealth innovation in the form of well-designed solutions for both providers and patients alike - mobile EMRs, specialty point-of-care solutions, secure messaging platforms, medication adherence tools, disease management apps, WiFi-enabled monitoring widgets, and the list goes on. And I predict that 2013 will be the "year of the mHealth user," with more widespread availability and adoption of mobile health technology. Let me expand on my reasoning: More

State-by-state telemedicine licensure

 January 02, 2013
| Christina Thielst
The Federation of State Medical Boards has produced an overview of telemedicine licensure across the United States. More

Five big developments for digital health in 2013

 December 31, 2012
| David Lee Scher, MD, Owner & Director, DLS Healthcare Consulting
I read with interest a few articles discussing predictions for digital health technologies for 2013. One such amusing article in Informationweek.com had some which were in more detail, such as, by the end of 2013, the implementation of such a system will be "only (five) years away from being a reality ..." Meanwhile, a truly welcomed breath of intellectual and reality-filled fresh air was furnished by an article by David Shaywitz in Forbes. More

Patient portal adoption

 December 19, 2012
| David Lee Scher, MD, Owner & Director, DLS Healthcare Consulting
Wikipedia defines patient portals as "healthcare-related online applications that allow patients to interact and communicate with their healthcare providers. Some patient portal applications exist as stand-alone websites and sell their services to healthcare providers. Other portal applications are integrated into the existing website of a healthcare provider. Still others are modules added onto an existing electronic medical record system. What all of these services share is the ability of patients to interact with their medical information via the Internet. …" More

Two types of innovation – what is the right balance?

 December 18, 2012
| Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, Director, Center for Connected Health
I recently coined a phrase while talking to our senior leadership at Partners HealthCare. I told them that we aspire to bring them "innovations they don't yet know they need." Folks at the center like this, especially those who are primarily focused on innovation. They feel that it defines us as cutting edge. And you know, I would not put forth such an aspirational goal if I did not have evidence we could achieve it. More

Festivus

 December 17, 2012
| Matthew Grob, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, Senior Director of Enterprise IT Planning, The Mount Sinai Medical Center
Well, it's that time of year again. Break out the aluminum pole and prepare for the Feats of Strength. Festivus is drawing near, and I'm ready for the Airing of Grievances related to mobile health. More

mHealth executives take a look back at the 2012 mHealth Summit

 December 17, 2012
| Eric Wicklund, Editor, mHIMSS
mHealth enthusiasts are invited to join the mHealth Summit Follow-Up Google+ Hangout OnAir, a one-hour presentation featuring several executives and taking a look at the recently concluded mHealth Summit in Washington DC. More

Rep. Honda's bill won't ease us back from the healthcare cliff

 December 06, 2012
| David Lee Scher, MD, Owner & Director, DLS Healthcare Consulting
The term 'fiscal cliff' is familiar to most Americans and many outside observers of this periodic political posturing around the need to address hardcore financial issues facing the country. If both political parties hashed out their differences and came to a (very) hypothetical agreement of significantly higher taxes, markedly reduced spending (including modest cuts to Medicare providers and Social Security), with a plan that would be estimated to decrease the deficit to almost zero, there would still be a large elephant in the room: rising healthcare costs. More

KISS

 December 04, 2012
| Matthew Grob, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, Senior Director of Enterprise IT Planning, The Mount Sinai Medical Center
No, this is not a piece about rock 'n roll, even though Gene Simmons did teach at my elementary school just before the band KISS came to be. Rather, it's about the acronym "Keep It Simple, Silly." Yes, you can replace silly with stupid. I'm trying to be nice. More

Why payers are critical to mHealth adoption

 December 03, 2012
| David Lee Scher, MD, Owner & Director, DLS Healthcare Consulting
In previous posts I have talked about the importance of some of the major stakeholders (physicians, non-physician providers, hospitals and caregivers) in mHealth adoption. For a few reasons, insurers will also play a pivotal role in the development and adoption of patient-focused mHealth technology for wellness as well as for the management of chronic diseases. More

Adoption of mHealth technologies: UK vs. USA

 November 28, 2012
| David Lee Scher, MD, Owner & Director, DLS Healthcare Consulting
Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of Health for the UK, recently said, "While mobile broadband technology is revolutionizing most walks of life, there is a problem once people encounter the relatively antiquated systems of the NHS." More

mHealth: What's here and what's next

November 27, 2012
| Jonathon Dreyer, director of mobile solutions marketing, Nuance Healthcare
According to Manhattan Research, the use of tablets among doctors doubled in 2012. Given the dramatic rise of mobile technology in medicine, it's no surprise that "experience enhancing" technologies for these mobile devices and apps are also being introduced at a rapid pace. More

Wellocracy is coming! Watch for it

 November 26, 2012
| Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, Director, Center for Connected Health
After working at this remote patient monitoring game for about 10 years now, we are ready to bring self-care to consumers -- couch potatoes, weekend warriors and all of us in between hoping to live a little healthier, lose a few pounds or just feel a little better. Meet Wellocracy! More

Kick off the 2012 mHealth Summit with a breakfast panel discussion

 November 20, 2012
| Eric Wicklund, Editor, mHIMSS
Why are physicians - especially those in single or smaller practices - hesitant to embrace mHealth, even as they and their patients are acquiring smartphones and tablets in record numbers? More
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