What HIPAA says about texting (SMS) mobile messaging

Don't miss this upcoming free webinar sponsored by TigerText:

HIPAA Texting What Are You and Your Hospital Doing?

Please join us for a free webinar roundtable overview of how the medical community is using mobile communication and how you can adopt the speed and efficiency of mobile messaging without compromising PHI.

Monday October 17th @ 11 a.m. PST

Webinar Topics:

• Mobile Communication in Hospital Environments
• What HIPAA says about mobile messaging
• What's your potential exposure?
• Case Study - Cone Health Hospitalists Program

Why Attend:

• HIPAA Audits are Coming
• Understand mobile and how it impacts your staff
• Learn what HIPAA actually says about mobile
• Find out how to protect you and your staff

AFib Educator

To help healthcare providers explain AFib to patients, their families and caregivers, AF Stat has developed the AFib Educator.

This iPhone app and desktop widget provides healthcare professionals with an interactive resource to help illustrate how AFib can affect the heart; visually demonstrate the symptoms, risks and management strategies of atrial fibrillation (AFib); and where patients can learn more.

New features

• AFib management animations: demonstrates the effects of different management strategies for a heart in AFib, including:
oRate control
oRhythm control
• AFib risk animations:
oStroke risk animation:shows an AFib-related stroke to illustrate that a blood clot can travel from the heart to the brain as a result of AFib
oRemodeling process animation: depicts the remodeling process,
which is a result of untreated AFib that affects the shape and size of the heart

Nanosensor tattoos and an iPhone attachment to measure blood glucose in diabetes

A while back, we heard about researchers using nanosensor tattoos and an iPhone attachment to measure glucose levels in patients with diabetes. Could this type of technology revolutionize the way blood glucose levels are measured in patients with diabetes? Is this going to open the door for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring?

I encourage you to read the article here on HCPLive and leave your thoughts.

Calculate (Medical Calculator) by QxMD updated

Calculate (Medical Calculator) by QxMD for iPhone has been updated.

1. Management of Peritoneal Dialysis

As the US government struggles to fund health care at current levels, more attention is being paid to the cost of dialysis services. Home peritoneal dialysis (PD) is recognized as an alternative to hemodialysis that provides excellent patient outcomes, promotes patient independence and does so at remarkably lower costs than hemodialysis. It has recently been estimated that US dialysis expenditures could be cut by >$1 Billion over 5 years simply by increasing the percentage of dialysis patients receiving PD from 8% to 15%.

As the trend to support home peritoneal dialysis continues, physicians and other health care providers will need point-of-care educational resources to support their practice.

The updated version of 'Calculate by QxMD' provides a robust module to support peritoneal dialysis practice. Content includes:

• Access Care and Complications Manual including detailed content on management of PD catethers and infectious peritonitis
• PD Prescription Guide with calculator to assist in determining the PD prescription and extensive manual to learn principles behind PD dose, adequacy and modelling.
• Rapid Access to Clinical Practice Guidelines including CSN PD Adequacy Guidelines and Recommendations 2011, ISPD PD-Related Infections Recommendations 2010 and ISPD Guidelines for Peritoneal Access
• Quick Assessment of PD Candidacy using the MATCH-D tool

Participate in this oncology mobile CME activity on QuantiaMD

I invite you to participate in this certified CME activity on QuantiaMD called "NSCLC: The Evolving Role of Molecular Markers for the Selection of First-Line Therapy." Thomas E. Stinchcombe, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Hematology/Oncology, University of North Carolina, is the presenting faculty for this certified CME activity. You can view this CME activity on your smartphone by downloading the QuantiaMD app on your mobile device and looking under "CME."

My company (Medical Communications Media) is currently developing several additional CME activities in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania. These activities will appear on QuantiaMD so stay tuned!

QuantiaMD is an online physician-to-physician learning collaborative where 1 in 6 U.S. physicians engage, share, and learn from experts and each other, free of charge. Members visit QuantiaMD daily to interact with respected experts who deliver clinically relevant, unbiased content in a concise, interactive format to fit the busy schedules of today's physicians..

HealthTap Releases HealthTap Express

Free Health Care on the Go – HealthTap Releases HealthTap Express; Revolutionary Mobile Application Puts Thousands of Top Docs at your Fingertips

Expanding from Limited Beta for Pregnant Women and New Moms, HealthTap Now Addresses All Health Topics with 5,000 Top US Physicians

Palo Alto, CA (PRWEB) September 26, 2011

HealthTap, (http://www.healthtap.com), the first Interactive Health Network, today launches its innovative mobile app, HealthTap Express, where users can ask any health question, and for the first time get immediate answers from thousands of trusted physicians, anytime, anywhere. For free.

In conjunction with the new mobile offering, HealthTap has also expanded its coverage beyond its successful beta program that focused on pregnant women and new moms, to now cover all areas of health, for everyone. HealthTap’s new mobile and online applications benefit both physicians and consumers, by providing an easy and reliable way for them to find one another, and by creating a better way to discover, use, and share trusted health information. In addition to rapid, succinct answers to health questions, consumers on HealthTap can receive better, more personal care and discover the best local physicians based on those doctors’ knowledge and expertise.

Endomondo Sports Tracker Raises $2.3 Million from SEED Capital

Endomondo Raises $2.3 Million and Reaches Five Million Downloads of Motivating, Fun and Social Fitness App

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – September 26, 2011 – Endomondo Sports Tracker (http://www.endomondo.com), the fitness app that turns the mobile phone into a full-fledged personal trainer and training partner, announced today that it has raised $2.3 million in funding from SEED Capital.

The company also reached the milestone of five million downloads of its fitness app that uses the motivational factors of fun and positive social peer pressure to help users improve their fitness and health.

Endomondo will apply the funding towards increasing staff needs, especially on the development team; expanding its presence in the U.S. by adding an office in the San Francisco Bay area; and creating scalable revenue channels to secure profitability by year end 2012.

Lunch with one of the founders of MediBabble Translator

Earlier this month, I was at Stanford for the Medicine 2.0 conference and I had the opportunity to have lunch with Dr. Alex Blau, one of the founders of MediBabble Translator. He's currently working for Doximity as a medical director, but he's also keeping himself busy with MediBabble Translator.

MediBabble is a free, professional-grade medical translation tool. MediBabble is a robust history-taking and examination application designed to improve the safety, efficiency, and overall quality of care for non-English speaking patients.

MediBabble Translator was featured in this UCSF news story.

The following is a short video where UCSF interviewed the founders of MediBabble:

Smartphone as pedometer: another digital tool for the Quantified Self movement

The Quantified Self (QS) movement has been generating a tremendous amount of buzz this year and I've jumped into the QS movement with several devices. Right now, I'm mainly using the Fitbit (I got my Fitbit at the e-Patient Connections 2011 thanks to the fact that Klick Pharma handed these out to all the attendees), but I also intend to use the Zeo during sleep and the BodyMedia Armband monitor.

Are you familiar with the QS movement? Here's a brief description: Quantified Self is a collaboration of users and tool makers who share an interest in self knowledge through self-tracking.

For those who are not interested in purchasing additional hardware and wearing more gadgets on your waist, arm, or head, consider this: you can use your smartphone as a QS device. This is because most modern smartphones includes a built-in accelerometer to detect movement. Hence, your smartphone can become an accurate pedometer if you wear your phone on your belt. However, this also means that you'll need to keep it on your waist all the time to accurately measure your physical activity. If you're like me and you keep your smartphone in your pocket, then the pedometer apps won't be very accurate. Plus, some pedometer apps may drain your smartphone battery.

Popular iPhone apps for doctors and medical students

Author: Amada Kidd

Earlier ‘app’ was an abbreviation for “application,” which is a program running on a standalone computer. Since smart phones like iPhone have evolved, ‘apps’ now refer to software for handheld device like tablet, phone, iPod, iPhone etc, which are connected to internet. The promising features of mobile apps have made them very useful and popular in the field of medicines and they are becoming an excellent choice for doctors and students pursuing a medical degree.

The reason is that Mobile apps assist and make the procedure easy for doctors to deal with people suffering from various problems. The doctors and hospital staff are able to keep an eye on patients’ signs, even when patients are at home, so that remedial action can be taken at the earliest.

Few of the popular and interesting apps used in medicine are:

1. HeartWise Blood Pressure Tracker: In this iPhone app, data entered by the user is processed and it lets you know your blood pressure, heart rate and weight. This comes very handy as the data can be exported, analyzed and shown to the doctor.

Attend the Medical Fusion conference and explore alternative career opportunities

Medical Fusion brings together physician thought leaders as mentors who have developed careers outside of traditional, clinical practice.

Whether you are a medical student, a budding physician entrepreneur, a full time clinician with a busy practice, or a seasoned physician considering retirement, Medical Fusion will help you evaluate your options, teach you unique ways to leverage your clinical training, and introduce you to career possibilities that you have not considered. Come learn from physicians who have already succeeded in their attempts to create more personal freedom, a more balanced lifestyle, increased financial security, and a thriving career.

2011 Medical Fusion
November 11-13
ARIA Resort & Casino, Las Vegas

“The Medical Fusion Conference is a great way to meet other physicians considering non-clinical transitions or learn more about how to supplement your income. If you’re stuck in a rut, I’d recommend it.”
Arlen D. Meyers, MD, MBA, President and CMO of Medvoy.com, CEO, Society of Physician Entrepreneurs

Here's a short video about the conference:


Learn more about the Medical Fusion conference here.

Cosmetic Surgery Centers in your Phone

More and more telephone consultations that take place in the field of aesthetic medicine: cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery, performed to correct functional impairments caused by injuries and burns.

In fact, there has been an increase in interventions like the rejuvenation, laser techniques abdominoplasty, blepharoplasty, mammoplasty, chemical peel, etc., increasing visits to centers of aesthetic medicine, searching to improve their physical appearance. The significant increase in phone calls has a relation with a social pressure to have a shape and healthy and beautiful appearance, and greater indulgence of many people when making a cosmetic treatment.

Planning for your next smartphone?

Recently, I've been speaking with medical professionals and students about their "next" smartphone. What will it be? Will they wait for the iPhone 5? Maybe they'll get a new Droid.

The discussion is generally limited to an iPhone vs. Android. The interest in other devices like BlackBerry or Windows Phone has certainly diminished. We're seeing the greatest innovation around iOS and Android and medical professionals are recognizing the need for a smartphone that will offer them clinically useful apps.

So, what about you? My wife who is a family physician tells me that she's waiting to get an iPhone. She currently uses an Android smartphone that's a few years old. I'm still using my HTC ThunderBolt which is a 4G Android smartphone. How will you choose if you're on Verizon or AT&T? Here are a few suggestions to consider:

Screen Size. the iPhone is smaller and that means that the on-screen keyboard is smaller. If you have large fingers, try typing on an iPhone and then try a larger Android smartphone. You'll immediately notice a significant difference.

I'm diving into the world of Quantified Self (QS) monitoring with my smartphone

Are you familiar with the Quantified Self (QS) movement?

After attending the Medicine 2.0 conference where I learned more about the Quantified Self (QS) community, I've decided that I want to get a QS device and I want to start tracking some of my own biometrics so that I can share that information with the QS community. When I exercise at the gym, I usually wear a Polar heart rate monitor, but that's about the extent of collecting quantifiable biometric data on myself.

There are a number of QS devices out there ranging from clips, arm bands, keychains, and watches. Which one should I get? Should I wait for some of these newer devices to get released? Or, maybe I'll end up using 2-3 of them simultaneously. That's my style of testing devices. That wouldn't be a true comparative study, but it would give me some qualitative data on these different digital tools.

Stay tuned. I'll share more information as I research QS devices and pick one (or two) out. Several of these QS devices communicate via Bluetooth with your smartphone. There are a variety of apps available on the iPhone and Android for some of the major QS devices. I plan to test some of these over the coming weeks, so stay tuned. One of the first devices I plan to test is the BodyMedia FIT armband that has Bluetooth so that I can use my smartphone to track my biometrics. The BodyMedia FIT will help you track:

• Total Calories Burned
• Total Steps Taken
• Total Time Spent In Physical Activity
• Sleep Duration and Efficiency

You can learn more about the BodyMedia FIT armband here.

SmokefreeTXT

Have you heard of smokefree.gov? The government is using mobile health technologies to help people quit smoking.

SmokefreeTXT is a free mobile service designed for teens and adults across the United States. SmokefreeTXT was created to provide 24/7 encouragement, advice, and tips to help smokers stop smoking for good.

Signing up is quick and easy – and FREE! Quit smoking today and learn more here.

Impressed by the 3D photos on the Sprint HTC EVO 3D

Over the weekend, I had the chance to spend some time with an HTC EVO 3D from Sprint. This phone has a special camera that allows you to take photos in 3D. I was very impressed by the 3D camera. Once this phone comes to Verizon (assuming that it will), I may need to sell my ThunderBolt and get this one so that I can play around with taking 3D photos and videos. Here's how Sprint describes this phone:

Big black glasses are for hipsters, not watching movies. Ditch the frames and go glasses-free with the HTC EVO 3D, America's first 4G smartphone with a 4.3-inch 3D qHD display. Create and stream HD video, view it in 3D and share it easily. Quickly download movies and enjoy a Flash-enabled web browsing experience that takes advantage of the speed of the Sprint 3G/4G network and the power of a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon® processor. With the latest version of the HTC Sense user experience including Friend Stream to integrate Facebook, Twitter and more into a single flow of updates and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), the HTC EVO 3D is ideal for users who want to update their social network in a flash. The HTC EVO 3D makes the most of the power of 4G and lets you share it, offering Mobile Hotspot capability for up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices simultaneously.

Right now, the HTC EVO 3D is only available on Sprint.

iPhone and iPad in medicine teaching and clinical practice: Medicine 2.0 #med2

I'm here at Medicine 2.0 and I'm attending a session titled, "iPhone and iPad in medicine and health sciences: experiences in teaching and clinical practice." Here I am at Stanford where medical students are using iPads in the classroom. The presenter was Rhoda Weiss-Lambrou, Professor of occupational therapy at the School of Rehabilitation, Faculty of medicine, Université de Montréal.

Mobile tools like the iPhone and iPad are being used by medical students and health care professionals. In particular, hospitals and adopting these mobile devices to improve communication, collaboration, or networking. Mobile learning is driving greater interaction and participation. In the rehabilitation setting, clinicians are using mobile features as therapeutic tools with patients.

During the presentation, the speaker spoke about useful online resources like Facebook, Dropbox, YouTube, SlideShare, Wikipedia, and others. Students in the health professions are using these Web 2.0 tools to enhance their educational experience and to share their information with other students.

Jiffpad launches to innovate communication in healthcare

Author: Thuc Huynh, MD

Last Tuesday at Techcrunch Disrupt, Jiff Inc launched their stealth product called Jiffpad.  It is an app made for the iPad to help patients and doctors communicate with each other.

How many times have you been to the doctor, talk with them about a diagnosis and treatment plan, and then go home only to forget what was said?  Some physicians draw what they mean.  But how many times have patients gone home only to wonder what the scribbles were?  Jiffpad seeks to change that.

The app comprises pre-loaded images of nearly every part of the human body.  As a physician, you can select images pertinent to a subject and create a personalized storyboard complete with your own voice and favorite explanation for that problem.  You can control when the images show, zooming in and out of the image, as well as using a stylus (or finger) to draw lines or add text.  Once you save the file, you will be able to store it in the ipad and use it for any patient with that problem.

Jiffpad essentially replaces those expensive, plastic, easily broken models that physicians use in the office.  Instead, a physician can go through the narrative with the patient in the office, and then email the file to the patient through the app.  The patient can then access the file on any web-enabled device so they can remember what you said or share it with their family.

AT&T Names Chief Medical Information Officer

This came out earlier this week. I want to congratulate Geeta on this new position!

AT&T Names Chief Medical Information Officer
Respected Physician Reinforces AT&T ForHealth Industry Expertise, Momentum in Delivering Solutions to Patients and Institutions, Physicians Who Treat Them

Continuing its strong momentum in delivering healthcare solutions to patients and the institutions that serve them, AT&T* today announced the appointment of Geeta Nayyar, M.D., M.B.A. as the company’s first Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO).

As CMIO, Dr. Nayyar will guide the overall AT&T ForHealthSM strategy by providing industry expertise in evidence-based medicine, health outcomes, disease management and wellness. She will also help translate healthcare issues and technology implications with a wide range of stakeholders including physicians, patients, providers, policymakers and consumers. Dr. Nayyar complements AT&T’s deep bench of healthcare industry experts in the AT&T ForHealth practice area focused on delivering advanced IT solutions to healthcare industry businesses.

mHealth Summit Joins AAMI to Focus on Wireless Issues

The mHealth Summit has signed on as a supporter of AAMI’s fall edition of Horizons magazine, which will focus on the challenges and opportunities of wireless and network management in the healthcare environment.

The award-winning magazine—which will be published in September—will provide in-depth, practical articles and research on the issues that manufacturers and hospitals face in managing medical devices on the IT network—in a world that’s going increasingly wireless.

The Horizons publication will be distributed to 10,000 medical technology professionals, including to all AAMI members and attendees at several biomedical association meetings and industry events this fall. The publication will also be available at AAMI's Annual Conference & Expo in Charlotte, NC, June 2-4, 2012.

Patty Mechael Joins the mHealth Alliance as Executive Director

WASHINGTON, DC (September 12, 2011) – The United Nations Foundation and the mHealth Alliance (mHA) today announced the appointment of Patricia (Patty) Mechael, PhD, MHS, as the mHA’s new Executive Director. In this role, Mechael will lead the mHA in strategy development and implementation, partner outreach and engagement, and thought leadership in conjunction with the mHA Partnership Board.

"Mobile health offers innovative solutions to some of global health’s most pressing issues," said Tom Wheeler, Chairman of the mHA Partnership Board. "Under Dr. Mechael’s leadership, the mHealth Alliance will continue to mobilize this innovation in order to deliver quality health to the furthest reaches of wireless networks and mobile devices."

HHS, American Association of Diabetes Educators and AT&T Announce mHealth Initiative to Deliver Diabetes Self-Management Training

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Minority Health, the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and AT&T* today announced an initiative to evaluate the use of mobile devices to deliver Diabetes Self-Management Training (DSMT) within an underserved minority community in Dallas, Texas.

DSMT is a collaborative process through which people with or at risk for diabetes gain the knowledge and skills needed to modify behavior and successfully self-manage the disease and its related chronic conditions. DSMT must be prescribed by a Medicare beneficiary's healthcare provider in order to be eligible for Medicare reimbursement.

Join a Mobile Monday event in your area

Join a Mobile Monday event in your area. Here are the MoMo event plans in 14 locations:

Boston – http://bit.ly/nFdWsN
Brussels – http://bit.ly/oVbPCU
Dallas – http://bit.ly/nH4TUZ
Detroit – http://bit.ly/pIjYUG
Frankfurt – http://bit.ly/oeCs5P
Hanoi – http://bit.ly/oYwVQN
JoBurg – http://bit.ly/nyFdS3
Madison – http://bit.ly/oxcK16
Melbourne – http://bit.ly/oyydyQ
Montreal – http://bit.ly/k8B4LX
Paris – http://bit.ly/ozasCK
Silicon Valley – http://bit.ly/p3lmnY
Skopje – http://bit.ly/pgxANt
Tokyo – http://bit.ly/nGwNFn

There are many other chapters, so see that entire list by visiting http://www.mobilemonday.net and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

MobileMonday™ (MoMo) is an open community platform of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influential individuals fostering brand neutral cooperation and cross-border P2P business opportunities through live networking events to demo products, share ideas and discuss trends from both local and global markets.

Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic: Oct 3

The next big event is Mobile Media and Advertising: "How local mobile advertising is transforming local media" featuring keynote speaker Greg Osberg (CEO and Publisher of Philadelphia Media Network).

Date: October 3, 2011, 5:30PM - 8:30PM
Location: The HUB at the Cira Centre, 2929 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

MobileMonday Mid-Atlantic (MoMoMa) is hosting its October 2011 event titled “Mobile Media and Advertising. In coordination with the Philly Ad Club, MoMoMa will bring together the best and the brightest of the Philadelphia-area media and advertising industry for a lively and interactive event focusing on one of the hottest topics in the industry – how mobile is transforming the digital media and advertising landscape.

Registration and more info at http://www.momo-ma.org

Smartphones perking up the practice of neurology

Author: Amanda Kidd

Introduction
Medical services and cures are going mobile, thanks to the application of smart phones. Applications, generally known as ‘apps’ are software which run on hand held devices. The potential characteristics of mobile apps have been employed in several aspects of medicines. These apps used in smart phones or other devices have a great potential and benefit in the field of neurology as they can give real-time information and help people suffering from neurologic problems. For instance, people who suffer from neurological problem like seizures have to keep track of the frequency, time, duration and even seizure activities. This becomes difficult because the person who suffers from seizures does not remember and it is not possible for parents or family member to be present with him/her every time he/she suffers from seizure. Due to this they are not able to provide the correct information to the neurologist. This lack of correct information does not let the neurologist to diagnose properly and decide on the best course of treatment. Doctors believe that in order to know the correct details of seizure it is desirable that you are there during the seizure (which is not possible).

The new developments related to neurology and mobile apps are:

SeizureTracker.com
This web site was created by Robert Moss. Robert Moss’s son Evan Moss use to suffer from epilepsy seizures and as his seizures became more frequent his parents were not able to record all the details regarding the seizures which were important to be shared with the doctors. The sole purpose of the web site was to be a medium to log seizures’ data and medications, so that it was convenient to be share with doctors. This was a personal initiative of a father for his son but soon it became quite powerful, comprehensive and very useful tool.

Wireless Health 2011 Conference

Wireless Health 2011 Conference Convenes Vanguard of International Research Communities in Wireless Health Technology and Medical Research

Scientific Conference Highlights New Global Research in Wireless Health –
October 10-13, 2011

LA JOLLA, Calif. – September 8, 2011 – The Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA), convenes its second annual scientific conference, Wireless Health 2011, where researchers from global institutions such as MIT, University of Edinburgh, UCLA, and other leading universities will share the best new research and significant advances in wireless health technologies with thought leaders from academia, medicine, government and industry. In addition to the scientific discussions, keynote presentations from Qualcomm’s Paul Jacobs and other global organizations will highlight the four-day conference.

Join Dr. Lisa Gualtieri for "Designing Mobile Experiences for Healthcare Consumers"

If you're interested in mobile health, then make sure to join Dr. Lisa Gualtieri for "Designing Mobile Experiences for Healthcare Consumers" at the 2011 mHealth Summit on December 7. This workshop is limited to 25 attendees and I think it will be an excellent session.

Overview: In this workshop, you will learn how to design health apps through user experience (UX) techniques including persona and scenario development, formative evaluation, and competitive analysis. The following topics will be covered:

• Best practices in mHealth UX and the key factors that make the difference between adoption and abandonment
• How to develop and use personas representing your target audience(s) using Consumer Reports Health as an example
• How to conduct formative evaluations to receive feedback as early as possible
• How to use competitive analysis to borrow from design successes and avoid design flaws
• Case study highlighting the user experience considerations that informed Alliance Health’s mHealth design and development process

Presenters:

• Lisa Gualtieri, PhD, ScM, Assistant Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine
• Tara Montgomery, Director, Consumer Reports Health
• Matt Goldfeder, Director, Mobile Products & Services, Consumer Reports
• Stead Burwell, CEO, Alliance Health

You can learn more here.

iPhone App Relieves Insomnia and Dulls Snoring

SleepPhones introduces iPhone App with soothing sound tracks that induce sleep and dull annoying noises like snoring.

Bellefonte, PA, September 07, 2011 --(PR.com)-- AcousticSheep, LLC has developed a free iPhone soothing sounds app that is the perfect companion for SleepPhones®, the unique headphones designed specifically for falling asleep to music or other sounds.

The app is called “SleepPhones” and is available in the Apple App Store in the Lifestyle category. It offers four different soothing sound tracks designed to lull the SleepPhones user to sleep. The 30 minute tracks play on a loop all night long and include “A Minor Thing” (relaxing piano), “Newport Waves” (ocean waves), “Noise” (white noise), and “Pentatonic Waves” (piano with background sounds). You can listen to it with an iPhone or an iPod Touch.

iPhone app Nexercise rewards users for exercise

Author:  Thuc Huynh, MD

Nexercise Inc. introduces their free iPhone app Nexercise to encourage people to exercise by giving them real-world rewards. The app can track various physical activities from running to yard work, and offers users free and discounted items in an attempt to make users adopt long-term exercise habits.

Users can earn points for the length of their workout as well as other positive physical behaviors. Users can also earn bonus points for certain positive exercise routines like working out with a friend or exercising during a rainy day.

To earn points, the workout length should be at least 15 minutes. The real-world rewards are offered through a lottery system where the more in-app points a user earns, the higher the probability of winning. Users that have achieved higher rankings can avail of much more expensive merchandise.

UpToDate® for iPhone® now available

UpToDate for iPhone is now available in the United States.

This new App, which you can download FREE from the App Store or through iTunes®, allows individual subscribers to access UpToDate content quickly and easily on an iPhone, iPod® touch or iPad® over Wifi or a 3G connection.

The offline version of UpToDate for iPhone (content will reside entirely on your device) is coming soon. The current version is not optimized for the large screen of an iPad, but that's coming soon as well.

So, when's the Android version of UpToDate coming?

Doximity blog providing sound advice for physicians shopping for smartphones

Should I get an iPhone or a Droid? I get this question all the time. My wife, a family physician, uses an Android smartphone but she's already told me that her next smartphone will be an iPhone. We're on Verizon, so she wasn't fortunate enough to be an early iPhone adopter when it was only available on AT&T.

Do you know the differences between iOS vs. Android? The Doximity Blog "Physician’s Guide to Buying a Smartphone" does a nice job outlining some of the basic pros/cons and I would encourage you to read it if you're thinking about shopping for a smartphone.

Medilyzer Smart Phone OTC Drug Information and Interaction Applications

Have you tried the Medilyzer™ Smart Phone OTC Drug Information and Interaction Applications?

A mobile user first enters the UPC Code (IPhone Users) or snaps a picture of the barcode(s) of the medication (Android Users) and the software retrieves the necessary OTC information and interactions from the MediLyzer™ database.

Here's a short little video that shows Medilyzer in action:



Learn more about Medilyzer here.

MD-IT Releases Android App for Physicians

MD-IT’s new Android app for the Google operating system provides efficiency and accuracy for physician documentation and improves on previous mobile applications by offering the full Patient Chart View (PCV) for MD-IT’s EMR users.

Boulder, CO, September 06, 2011 --(PR.com)-- MD-IT, the leading provider of medical documentation software and service to ambulatory clinics and physician groups, announced today the release of MD-IT iConnect for the Android operating system, enabling smartphone dictation, direct access to the MD‑IT Platform, and a new feature that allows MD-IT’s EMR users to view a patient’s entire longitudinal history – right from their mobile device. Available immediately through Google’s Android Market, the free application allows physicians to join the mHealth revolution by enabling smartphone dictation with a direct schedule interface for quick and accurate clinical documentation.

Speaking with physicians about the Walgreens mobile app

The other day, I was speaking with a few physicians about the Walgreens mobile app. This app allows you to take a photo of your bottle (bar code) and order prescription refills at your neighborhood Walgreens. My mother-in-law works at Rite Aid and they don't have any mobile apps like this (at least, not yet).

The Walgreens app also includes a handy feature which is the flu shot locator. As flu season approaches, you may want to tell your patients about this app so that they can get their flu shots in time.

FastMed Urgent Care Goes Mobile with iTriage Smartphone App

Patients now have convenient, on-the-go access to symptoms, diseases and facility information with free healthcare app.

Gilbert, AZ, September 02, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The explosive growth in mobile phone subscriptions has led FastMed Urgent Care to expand its presence in the mobile community from its North Carolina locations to include its Phoenix locations by launching iTriage® - a free consumer mobile healthcare application developed by Healthagen®.

A recent comScore report estimates that 70 million Americans now own a smartphone, and it’s predicted that 1 out of every 2 mobile subscribers will own one by the end of 2011. To access iTriage, consumers can download the free application from the app stores for their mobile devices or access it through any Web-enabled device at www.iTriageHealth.com.

Market Overview: Mobile Commerce Solutions for Retail

Want to read Peter Sheldon’s new report titled "Market Overview: Mobile Commerce Solutions for Retail" published by Forrester Research? You can get it for free by downloading it on the Kony website here.

In this report, Peter provides a positive review of Kony. Only Kony was rated Best of Breed in Mobile apps and Development tools. In addition, Kony was rated as having Strong Competency in 1) Catalog and search, 2) Product discovery, 3) Shopping experience, 4) Multichannel tools, 5) Purchase/checkout, and 6) Creative services - all key components of the retail mobile user experience.

Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit

The Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit will be held in Brussels Sept 20-21, 2011

The 3rd Annual Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit brings an expanded hands on demo exhibition for ideas swapping, plus a technical stream tackling M2M connectivity and new medical devices interoperability and regulatory approval. The conference develops to accommodate separate discussions for mature/growth markets.

Some of the speakers include:

Alan W. Portela
CEO of Airstrip Technologies

Peter Hudson
CEO of Healthagen, USA

Brian Dolan
Editor of mobileheathnews.com, USA

Learn more about the Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit here.