May 24, 2012
news
Following up a request from Chairman Julius Genachowski, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially adopted rules that will enable spectrum for Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs). These low-power wideband networks consist of multiple body-worn sensors that transmit a variety of patient data to a control device. MBAN devices aim to free patients from cumbersome cables that tether them to their hospital bed.
May 23, 2012
news
A recent report from Englewood, Colo.-based research firm, IMS Research, is predicting that medical devices utilized by the consumer to self-monitor their health, rather than those used in managed telehealth systems, will be the biggest opportunity for wireless technologies in healthcare over the next five years. In the report, “Wireless Opportunities in Health and Wellness Monitoring – 2012 Edition,” IMS Research forecasts that more than 50 million wireless health monitoring devices will ship for consumer monitoring applications during the next five years, with a smaller number being used in managed telehealth systems.
January 26, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
One sector of healthcare IT that will be worth watching over the next few years is telehealth. From the sounds of my recent chat with Jonathan Linkous, the CEO of the American Telemedicine Association, the industry is on the brink of explosive growth.
January 25, 2012 John DeGaspari
article
Secure messaging is of critical interest to physicians in how they communicate with each other and with their patients. CIOs and other healthcare IT leaders speak about what they are hearing from their clinicians, and what they are doing to meet their requirements.
January 19, 2012 John DeGaspari
article
Real-time location systems (RTLS) have been selected for asset tracking and nurse call location at the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital. The selection process gives some insight into how one major hospital evaluates new technology.
The evaluations took place in the hospital’s 12,000-foot simulation center, followed by pilot runs in two of the hospital’s clinical facilities.
December 15, 2011 John DeGaspari
blog
Some are raising the alarm about the use of smartphones and other mobile devices by medical staff.
December 1, 2011 David Raths
article
Although many healthcare organizations are making progress in their efforts to create an infrastructure to stop data breaches, a new study by the Ponemon Institute LLC found that the frequency of reported data breaches among organizations in its study increased 32 percent from the previous year. Unsecured mobile devices are a key point of vulnerability, the study found.
September 27, 2011 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Minority Health, the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), and AT&T recently announced a first-of-its-kind initiative to evaluate the use of mobile devices to deliver Diabetes Self-Management Training (DSMT) within an underserved minority community in Dallas, Texas.
June 30, 2011 John DeGaspari
article
How secure is cloud computing as far as protecting patient data? At a time when many health providers are considering the use of the cloud, it’s a question worth considering.
May 26, 2011 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
To extend its geographic reach to enable patient tele-visits and physician tele-consults, the five-surgeon Dallas Neurosurgical and Spine Associates (DNS) recently implemented a communication platform, Lync (from the Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft). DNS, which has five office locations, is preparing to offer consultations to patients in rural areas around Dallas-Fort Worth, and to as far away as Saudi Arabia and Peru. Adding a new communication layer is just one step in this practice’s IT journey, as it recently moved to an electronic practice management system and will soon adopt an EMR.
May 26, 2011 David Raths
article
Of all the companies on the HCI 100 list, perhaps none garners more interest in the industry than Chicago-based Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. After pulling off a merger with Misys Healthcare the year before, publicly traded Allscripts doubled down last year by announcing a merger with Atlanta-based Eclipsys Corp. That deal was seen as a game-changer because it brought together EHR vendors with complementary strengths in ambulatory and hospital settings.
April 28, 2011 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
With the announcement this week of PHR provider MMRGlobal offering military members and their families a MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record account at no cost for as long as they are on active duty (and veterans and their families a no cost one year access), I wonder what it will take to get true market penetration of PHRs. Personal health record adoption has been slow to catch on. This point is reinforced by a recent study by IDC Health Insights that showed that the vast majority of the 1,200 respondents aren't using a PHR simply because they don’t know about them yet. There is a bit of promise in IDC’s results, as 28 percent of the respondents indicated that they would use a PHR system if their physician recommended doing so. However, some patients don’t see the value of a PHR since they don’t seek many healthcare services, while others don’t trust the security of PHRs.
