Search Tag: Technology
2017 25 Apr
Digitisation is a term thrown around in the public sector, and the NHS is no exception. Just like many organisations, it faces backlogs, inefficiencies and administration burdens, but there is a solution: technology. Technology can help NHS employees offer the best level of patient support, and in return, reduce stress and improve recovery. Adopting...Read more
2016 19 Jan
Financial constraints have hindered implementation of electronic records, interoperable systems and patient access in many countries and within many acute hospitals, according to John Rayner, Regional Director – Europe and Latin America, HIMSS Analytics. He points out that the vast majority of health economies are tasked with creating comprehensive...Read more
2016 12 Jan
HIMSS Value Score is healthcare's first international quality measurement for the value of health IT. Launched in early December, the model will provide guidance to organisations seeking better strategies for turning their health IT investments into meaningful returns. The Value Score can be a useful tool especially to providers who may not understand...Read more
2015 13 Dec
A University of Illinois researcher has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create drones that could perform small household chores, like retrieving a bottle of medicine from another room. This kind of innovation becomes more important given rapid growth in the elderly population especially in the developed world....Read more
2015 11 Dec
Technology is becoming integrated into healthcare processes. In the examination room, for example, use of computers is aimed at promoting safer and more efficient care. However, exam room computing is challenging and there is growing evidence that it can be a threat to patient safety. There is an urgent need to develop and implement patient-centric,...Read more
2015 02 Nov
Healthcare globally is moving towards connectivity centred around the patient, aiming to improve the overall patient experience. However, the existing IT infrastructure must first be optimised before a truly connected healthcare system can be implemented, according to an article published online by The Information Daily . This means simplifying the...Read more
2015 29 Oct
A new report from Accenture suggests that use of virtual health technology can lead to annual savings of $10 billion in primary care costs, as well as allow treatment of more patients without the need to train more doctors. While technology has greatly improved productivity rates for many industries, healthcare has made no such strides in two decades,...Read more
2015 29 Oct
Researchers at the University of Twente (Enschede, Netherlands) have developed an eHealth application that provides support for care providers when administering antibiotics in hospitals. They say this eHealth tool is intended to help improve the quality of work of healthcare professionals that leads to safer patient care. The app was created as part...Read more
2015 23 Oct
According to researchers, disparities exist in kidney disease patients’ access to e-health resources, with race, income and Medicaid/Medicare insurance status impacting use of online portals. Such disparities, the researchers note, may reinforce or widen existing health-related inequities that relate to race and income. Their work is published in the...Read more
2015 09 Oct
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on Standards for the Digital Single Market (DSM). The aim is to gather views on priorities for standards in key technology areas which are critical to achieving the DSM. eHealth is one of these key areas where standards need to be built. "Broadly speaking, we are following up on the eHealth...Read more
2015 06 Oct
Americans prefer doctors who are digitally savvy and demand a connected healthcare experience, a new Surescripts survey finds. Sixty-eight percent of the more than 1,000 respondents to the nationwide survey say that practices that have adopted technology to replace outdated methods of administrative tasks, such as scheduling appointments online, provide...Read more
2015 25 Aug
In his State of the Union Address this January, President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) that was launched with a $215 million investment. PMI aims to enable a new era of medicine through research, technology, and policies that will lead to the development of individualised, tailored treatments for patients. PMI is looking...Read more
2015 10 Aug
The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) has released a mobile security guide which is specifically written for safeguarding medical information. The 82-page handbook offers healthcare organisations insights on how to improve mHealth cybersecurity via open-source or commercial tools. The guide currently in draft form is awaiting public...Read more
2015 01 Aug
Primary Care Information Network (https://www.pcin.org) is a new online resource intended to help improve practices of safety net primary care providers. The website features a library of tools and resources — all of which are free to download — that can help providers tackle issues such as scheduling workflows, care coordination and management, and...Read more
2015 25 Jul
The U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released its Health IT Safety Centre Roadmap, detailing a plan for optimising use of health IT for improved care safety and quality. In recent years, the increased adoption of health IT and electronic health record (EHR) has seen impressive advances in electronic...Read more
2015 17 Jul
As its name suggests, Figure 1 is a mobile app for sharing images. Medical professionals can upload photos, x-rays, biopsies and other images of their patients' health conditions or disorders. Figure 1, also referred to as “Instagram for doctors", lets colleagues chime in with comments, questions and potential diagnoses. The app was launched in May...Read more
2015 29 May
Uber, Tesla, Xiaomi Executives Make Juniper Research’s Top 10 Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella heads Juniper Research’s newly-released rankings of the most influential executives in the technology space, followed by Apple’s Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive. Microsoft & Apple Lead The rankings, which are based on Juniper’s assessment...Read more
2015 23 May
Although cellular phones and other mobile devices providing patient-centred technology actively engage patients in care, evidence of effectiveness in improving health-related outcomes is limited, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. In addition, "providers have not been able to effectively leverage technology tools" to improve population...Read more
2015 23 Apr
Electronic health records (EHRs) are designed to improve patient safety and quality of care, but the intended benefits of EHRs are not always realised because of implementation-related challenges. Enlisting clinician super users to provide frontline support to employees has been recommended to foster EHR implementation success. However, their enlistment...Read more
2015 20 Feb
Tech behemoth Salesforce has released its “2015 State of the Connected Patient” report detailing the potentially huge shift in how patients interact with their healthcare providers, particularly younger patients, and how technology might help improve connectivity. The report came out just ahead of the closing enrolment for Obamacare (Affordable Healthcare...Read more
2014 01 Nov
Google is currently developing a wristband that would have the ability to carry out non-invasive blood tests. The company is working on technology that can combine disease-detecting nanoparticles which could enter a patient's blood stream via a swallowed pill, with a wrist-worn sensor. The concept is that the sensor would be able to identify changes...Read more
2014 06 Oct
To overcome the limitations of current technology, "citizen hackers" are now finding ways to hack their medical devices and gain access to data that would otherwise not be available to them. NightScout, a system developed by a constellation of software engineers, many of whom have diabetic children, is an open source system that hacks the Dexcom glucose...Read more
2014 12 Aug
The world's largest scientific society, the American Chemical Society (ACS) is holding its 248th National Meeting & Exposition, offering nearly 12,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics. One such presentation highlights the impressive developments in cyborg technology, which is producing tangible results in the domains of prosthetics,...Read more
2014 12 Aug
New tele-robotic medicine innovations are becoming virtual assistants to the physicians and hospitals providing ultrasound evaluations. Two Mount Sinai research studies, published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology- Imaging, describe how the latest developments in tele-robotic technology are bridging geographical...Read more
2014 12 Aug
A team of bioengineers from ETH Zurich's Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) in Basel, Switzerland, have developed an implantable molecular device that is composed of two modules: a sensor that can measure blood pH constantly, and a gene feedback mechanism that produces the necessary amount of insulin. Both modules have been constructed...Read more
2014 11 Aug
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the US. Approximately 76,690 men and women were diagnosed with it in 2013. While only 5 percent of all skin cancers are due to melanoma, it is the primary cause of 7 percent of deaths related to skin cancer. Moreover, the incidence of melanoma is increasing at a much faster rate than any other cancer, providing...Read more