AliveCor Heart Monitor now available for iPhone 5

The AliveCor Heart Monitor for the iPhone 5 is available.

Latest AliveECG App Updates include:

• Annotate every ECG with patient information including name, gender, height, weight, date of birth, and if the patient is a smoker.
• Include activity level, medications, and select from lists of symptoms, activities, and medical conditions.
• Receive tips on improving the quality of your ECG recordings.

Smartphone as reading glasses

Do you use reading glasses? Have you ever left them at home? There are several apps that can transform your smartphone into a pair of reading glasses:

Magnifying Glass With Light - easily magnify text and use your camera LED light to make the words easier to read.

BigMagnify - the title explains it all

Over 40 Magnifier and Flashlight - reminds us what we can all expect when we pass the 4-0 in life

Canfield’s DermScope

Canfield’s DermScope is the world’s first intelligent dermatoscope, designed to address all of the important modes of skin visualization. DermScope helps you improve confidence in your diagnosis while increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the exam.

• Evaluate lesions in live-preview mode
• Capture, tag, and store images of suspicious lesions
• Large 15 mm viewing field
• One-touch magnification
• Standard white and cross-polarized lighting
• Contact and non-contact imaging
• Long-lasting rechargeable battery

Learn more here.

An unusual way to deter iPhone theft

We know that iPhone theft is a major problem. How can we deter thieves from stealing iPhones? One way is to eliminate the market. Eradicate customers who would be willing to knowingly purchase a stolen iPhone. Police say stolen phones bought here are often resold overseas in places like China.

Undercover cops in San Francisco are walking around approaching unsuspecting customers to see if they would be willing to buy a stolen iPhone. When a customer says yes, they make an arrest. It's illegal to buy stolen equipment. You can read about this interesting story on the Huffington Post.

Most pain apps (mobile) are developed without input from doctors

An interesting article in Rheumatology News caught my eye the other day. It was titled, "Most pain apps lack physician input." An evaluation of 222 pain-related smartphone apps showed that many were developed without the input of a health professional, some had inaccurate information, and some of their features weren’t as robust as they could be. "Many of them were giving advice and offering coping strategies, but we don’t know if they’re effective," said Lorraine S. Wallace, Ph.D., who led the study. In addition, the apps could potentially be dangerous for users if the coping strategy – for instance, exercise – isn’t right for them, she said.  Read the full story here.

Smartphone Medication Adherence Apps

Looking to recommend some mobile apps for your patients? The Journal of the American Pharmacists Association has an article titled, "Smartphone medication adherence apps: Potential benefits to patients and providers."

Here are some brief snippets from the abstract:

Practice innovation:  Using smartphone adherence apps represents a novel approach to improving adherence. This readily available technology offers many features that can be designed to help patients and health care providers improve medication-taking behavior.

Results:  160 adherence apps were identified and ranked. These apps were most prevalent for the Android OS. Adherence apps with advanced functionality were more prevalent on the Apple iPhone OS. Among all apps, MyMedSchedule, MyMeds, and RxmindMe rated the highest because of their basic medication reminder features coupled with their enhanced levels of functionality.

J Am Pharm Assoc. 2013;53(2):172-181.

iClickCare for iPhone

iClickCare is an example of mobile telemedicine. iClickCare enables healthcare providers to "talk" with other colleagues using text, pictures, video, and even PDFs on the iPhone, iPad or any desktop computer – over the internet. Collaborate with colleagues using an encrypted platform to communicate privately with other clinicians. You can learn more about iClickCare