Best Android medical apps for physicians
Author: Cory Schultz
A new wristband measures hand washing compliance by healthcare providers
An RFID-reading, motion-sensing wristband called Hygiene Helper, buzzes to tell healthcare workers if they are washing their hands properly or not.
Body Implant uses mobile networks to detect potential diseases
Swiss scientists have developed a tiny, portable personal blood testing laboratory that sends data through mobile phone network
The iPhone is now a handy tool for detecting and diagnosing parasites
Visiting doctors to Tanzania recently created an effective and cheap method of diagnosing parasites in children. The device they hobbled together costs around $8 to assemble and uses commonly found items.
FDANews is hosting medical device mobile apps virtual conference
The FDA is hosting a virtual web conference on August 30th. This conference will be focused on helping to define which apps need FDA approval and the process of getting there. It will occur from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm EST. To register, go to the official website or call 888-838-5578.
Qualcomm’s new 2net SDK available, along with announcement of App Developer Challenge
Qualcomm Life Inc. recently announced the availability of its new 2net(TM) App Software Development Kit (SDK) on the Qualcomm developer network, also known as QDevNet. QDevNet is geared toward giving developers the tools and resources needed to create mobile experiences and bring them to market. Along with this announcement came the announcement of the 2net App Developer Challenge to identify the best 2net-enabled applications.
Significant growth seen by patient’s accessing Kaiser’s electronic health record
Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest healthcare providers in the United States recently announced that over 4 million people are accessing their web-based electronic health record via Kaiser’s My Health Manager.
Mobile phones helping to control AIDS in Uganda
Uganda is at the forefront of fighting AIDS in Africa. According to the article, Uganda has been widely praised for its effective AIDS policy, which saw condom use promoted and disease rates slashed from over 15 percent in the early 1990’s to less then half, at around 6 percent.One of the reasons for the decrease in disease rates is through the use of targeted educational campaigns that remind people to take their medication. Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) need a compliance rate of 95% or greater to have maxium effectiveness, so programs aimed at increasing awareness and medication adherence are driving the decrease in AIDs rates.
Epocrates Essentials is free for a limited time
As part of their back to school promotion, Epocrates, is giving away its popular Epocrates Essentials App for free to qualified medical students.
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine students invent app that checks your symptoms
Two fourth-year Johns Hopkins School of Medicine students, Craig Monsen and David Do, have recently created a website that is smartphone compatible and able to help determine what your sickness is based on symptoms that are input into the system.
Research uncovers increased need to track medical device security
Because medical devices commonly use standard PC’s running mainstream operating systems they are often at risk to security vulnerabilities and require frequent updates of the software. Wireless connections pose a similar threat by exposing medical devices to potential malware and researchers have conducted a study that indicates the US may not be doing an adequate job of tracking these vulnerabilities and risks.
Diagnosing eye injuries in the emergency department with a smartphone
A recent study in the Archives of Opthalmology had two Ophthalmologists compare high resolution images of eyes from a standard desktop and an iPhone. They reached the conclusion that the iphone images were of higher quality. The researchers noted that sending a high quality image to an Opthalmologist could be used to diagnose certain eye diseases in patients, even when one isn’t readily available.
Pennsylvania awards grants to healthcare providers to speed up adoption of HIE
Pennsylvania eHealth Collaborative launches grant program that encourages doctors to use secure emails instead of paper and fax to share patient information.
New dedicated medical smartphone released, incorporating wide range of capabilities
Mobile devices are continuing to improve in power and functionality. Recognizing this, LifeWatch AG, a leading ambulatory health monitoring services company, has released LifeWatch V, which can only be described as a ” healthcare” smartphone.
mHealth Industry is ripe for investment
Discussion of the growing mHealth market, who is investing in it and what the government is doing about it.
Hand hygiene compliance up at Vanderbilt University Medical Center due to new app
Hand hygiene is one of the most important steps that can be taken to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Especially in a healthcare setting, it is the first line of defense when interacting with patients. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) physicians, nurses and IT specialists understand this all too well, having recently collaborated on an iOS app that more efficiently documents and reports hand-hygiene compliance.
CHRISTUS St Michael’s Health System has been awarded $1,600,000 for an Integrated Nurse Training and Mobile Device Harm Reduction Program
Recently, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that CHRISTUS St Michael’s Health System has been awarded $1,600,000 for an Integrated Nurse Training and Mobile Device Harm Reduction Program (INTM). The INTM system is an iPad-based clinical decision support platform that utilizes advanced analytics. It is conceptualized, developed, and piloted by Ringful Health. […]
Using the iPad’s camera and algorithms to estimate blood loss in the operating room
Many surgical teams currently use visual estimation to determine blood loss. This can often be an imprecise, and the consequences of overestimating or underestimating blood loss can create patient complications. Gauss Surgical saw an opportunity to improve this system and are now using the iPad as the base of a new method to help track blood loss during surgery in real time.
The SMS for Life program helps reduce malaria related deaths in Tanzania
Novartis started a project that focused on keeping adequate supplies of malaria medication stockpiled, especially in rural areas. The name of this endeavor is SMS for Life, and it has helped reduce the number of deaths from this disease throughout Tanzania.
Perform vascular surgery with the help of Microsoft’s Kinect
British surgeons are developing a Microsoft Kinect hack to view, control and manipulate medical images without any physical contact using gestures and voice commands
VA is launching iPad patient study to evaluate healthcare benefits of tablet use
The VA has announced that it has created an initiative aimed at studying the benefits that are associated with the use of mhealth apps and tablet devices to improve and coordinate care between physicians, veterans and their families/caregivers.