Let’s talk #mHealth again tonight on Twitter!
Join us for another great discussion! The chat will be held tonight, Wednesday, May 16 at 9pm EST/8pm CST using the hashtag #mHealth.
We will be discussing the impact of mobile technology on physician communication, physicians on social networks, and issues of patient privacy. See you online tonight!
What’s a Tweet Chat?
If you haven’t participated in a Tweet Chat before, it is a way to have a discussion with people in real time via Twitter. A moderator, in this case one of the iMedicalApps staff, will lead the chat and pose topics or questions to the participants. Participants will then tweet in response to the topics using a designated hashtag in all their tweets during the chat. We will use the hashtag #mHealth.
The rules of the TweetChat are flexible. Though we have a set start time, you may come and go as you please. You may even lurk– but we’d love to hear your thoughts! You can expect the chat to last anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. Of course, you are encouraged to continue the conversation with others even after the chat is officially over.
How can I participate in the Tweet Chat?
1. If you don’t have a Twitter handle already, sign up here.
2. Follow @iMedicalApps.
3. On Wednesday, May 16, at 9pm/8pm central, go to TweetChat.com. Log in with your Twitter handle and enter the hashtag #mHealth in the field marked “Enter hashtag to follow”. The stream of tweets from people talking about #mHealth will appear below.
4. Enjoy a stimulating conversation about mobile health in medical practice!
Disclaimer: I have no relevant conflict of interest relationships to disclosure, and have no affiliation with the makers of iBGStar.
Recently making it’s debut into the online Apple Store is the much hyped and anticipated iBGStar Blood Glucose monitoring system by Sanofi US.
Although the peripheral device had gained clearance by European regulators more than a year ago, only at the end of last year did the glucose monitor receive FDA 510(k) clearance.
The peripheral device connects to your iPhone or iPod Touch and allows patients to record their glucose levels using the accompanying test strips.
The accompanying app and sync capability is where this iPhone medical peripheral truly shines. The app allows patients and physicians to analyze glucose levels in a multitude of ways, and hopes to allow better glycemic control and titration of diabetes medications.
Although I’ve been skeptical of some iOS health peripheral devices in the past, I think iBGStar is a different beast. Even though the majority of diabetics might not be able to afford it or have access to it, it shows a great fusion between mobility, software, and hardware.
Leading me to believe there are three reasons why Physicians should consider prescribing this device to patients:
(read more)
mHealth Research Digest with Cole Zanetti, DO
Reducing the time to treat for patients with cardiac related symptoms could be life saving. Connecting physicians who can accurately diagnose ECG tracings and patients before they enter the hospital would have a huge impact on timeliness.
We have reported on sophisticated system to transmit ECG tracings wirelessly from ambulances in Baton Rouge, LA that was demonstrated a decreased time to balloon angioplasty, and thus presumably better outccomes.
Recently, a team of researchers from Basxkent University in Turkey developed a system to evaluate the accuracy of diagnosing abnormal 12 lead ECGs in the prehospital setting using ubiquitous mobile media messaging (MMS) on cellphones. (read more)
by: Philip Xiu, MA, MB BChir (Cantab)
Most physician offices are still stocked with Harrisons’ Principles of Internal Medicine, perhaps a Bates’ Guide to the Physical Examination, and other venerated medical texts.
With the advent of smartphones and tablets, many of those texts are becoming more of a decoration than a resource as its far easier to refer to your tablet version of Harrisons‘ than the physical text. Knowledge of internal medicine is vital however the skills of clinical diagnosis are also an important aspect of any healthcare provider.
Coming from a strong lineage of medical texts including the venerable Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine, the Oxford Book of Clinical Diagnosis makes the jump to mobile in this app. In this review, we will be looking at the merits of the app for the Blackberry platform.
(read more)
mHealth Research Digest with Mohamed Elawad
Paper based data collection has long been the typical method for research subjects to report data on themselves during clinical trials, such as what they are eating for each meal or any side effects related to a drug.
A problem that often occurs with this method of data collection is that the subjects often record their data after the prescribed times in order to “fill in the blanks.”
(read more)
One of the many formalities for junior doctors is ensuring that each patient is correctly registered with the right ICD code.
The ICD is the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological, many health management purposes, and clinical use.
These include the analysis of the general health situation of population groups and monitoring of the incidence and prevalence of diseases and other health problems in relation to other variables such as the characteristics and circumstances of the individuals affected, reimbursement, resource allocation, quality and guidelines.
(read more)
The efficiency of anesthesiologists in the OR is always something that hospitals are looking into.
In response to this need, researchers at Vanderbilt University recently reported the creation and successful implementation of a medical app that can be used to increase their situational awareness of patients.
Their implementation of the app focused on its use by anesthesiologists, but the app could be replicated in concept to meet the needs of other health professionals.
Situational awareness is a concept from the airline industry which is used to enhance airline safety.
According to the researchers, the concept promotes adherence to three core principles:
- perception
- comprehension
- projection
(read more)
by: Jim Brockett (MSIII)
Time may heal all wounds, but 10 Second EM for Android can help you make intelligent decisions about acute problems seen in the ED and elsewhere.
This app can mean the difference between sending a patient out the door vs. getting a CT scan.
It can save crucial seconds off an ACLS code, and it can be a lifesaver when determining correct drug dosages, the likelihood that a patient has a PE, or the severity of a patient’s chest pain…IF you know what you’re trying to find in the app. And most importantly, the app is pointless unless you have a good fund of baseline knowledge in Emergency Medicine.
(read more)
Video and computer games are something that most children living in the developed world have been exposed to. From the early days of Super Mario on the Nintendo Entertainment System, to the engrossing, cinematic-like titles that are part of today’s game consoles and computers, gaming is something that is familiar to many.
Because of this, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to tap into this gaming expertise to apply the interactive techniques found in video games to create an educational app that can be used on mobile devices that will specifically teach medical first responders. (read more)
Today employers spend an average of $629/employee every year to incentivize healthy behavior, up nearly 70 percent in just two years. That’s approximately $60 billion spent annually by employers and payer groups on health incentive programs
But these programs are highly fragmented, utilizing a mixture of cash, gift cards, and prepaid cards. As a result, these programs fail to effectively engage consumers over the long-term, and it’s impossible to track the usage of these programs or tailor programs to the specific user.
Hence, the inspiration for a new concept called Tailored Spend by United Preference (@utdpreference), a Princeton, NJ startup attempting to revolutionize the way health and wellness incentives are delivered by payers and employers. A few months ago I interviewed the team, when they were partway through the Healthbox accelerator program. They are now ready to launch the program and took a few minutes to share their plans with iMedicalApps.
(read more)
Why doctors should consider prescribing the iPhone iBGStar Blood Glucose peripheral
Disclaimer: I have no relevant conflict of interest relationships to disclosure, and have no affiliation with the makers of iBGStar.
Recently making it’s debut into the online Apple Store is the much hyped and anticipated iBGStar Blood Glucose monitoring system by Sanofi US.
Although the peripheral device had gained clearance by European regulators more than a year ago, only at the end of last year did the glucose monitor receive FDA 510(k) clearance.
The peripheral device connects to your iPhone or iPod Touch and allows patients to record their glucose levels using the accompanying test strips.
The accompanying app and sync capability is where this iPhone medical peripheral truly shines. The app allows patients and physicians to analyze glucose levels in a multitude of ways, and hopes to allow better glycemic control and titration of diabetes medications.
Although I’ve been skeptical of some iOS health peripheral devices in the past, I think iBGStar is a different beast. Even though the majority of diabetics might not be able to afford it or have access to it, it shows a great fusion between mobility, software, and hardware.
Leading me to believe there are three reasons why Physicians should consider prescribing this device to patients:
(read more)