The digital health space refers to the integration of technology and health care services to improve the overall quality of health care delivery. It encompasses a wide range of innovative and emerging technologies such as wearables, telehealth, artificial intelligence, mobile health, and electronic health records (EHRs). The digital health space offers numerous benefits such as improved patient outcomes, increased access to health care, reduced costs, and improved communication and collaboration between patients and health care providers. For example, patients can now monitor their vital signs such as blood pressure and glucose levels from home using wearable devices and share the data with their doctors in real-time. Telehealth technology allows patients to consult with their health care providers remotely without having to travel to the hospital, making health care more accessible, particularly in remote or rural areas. Artificial intelligence can be used to analyze vast amounts of patient data to identify patterns, predict outcomes, and provide personalized treatment recommendations. Overall, the digital health space is rapidly evolving, and the integration of technology in health

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Review your CMS data Before it Becomes Available to the Public – You Have Until May 20

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT BROUGHT TO YOU COURTESY OF DIGITAL HEALTH SPACE.


Review Your Data Before it Becomes Available to the Public – You Have Until May 20

On June 30, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will publish additional data about financial interactions between drug and medical device makers and physicians and teaching hospitals on its Open Payments website. Open Payments is a national effort that promotes transparency by making information reported by applicable manufacturers available on the website annually. Before the data is made public, CMS provides physicians and teaching hospitals the opportunity to register and review information submitted about them by applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations; if they disagree with what has been reported, physicians and teaching may initiate data disputes.
You are receiving this message because this email address is associated with a physician or teaching hospital who has payments or other transfers of value reported on them in the Open Payments system. These data records are available for your voluntary review, and can be disputed if needed. However, please know that regardless of your review, the data will be publicly posted on June 30, 2015. We encourage you to review this information and initiate any disputes (if needed) by the May 20, 2015 deadline.
Registration in the Open Payments system is required to view the information before it is made public, and dispute anything inaccurate or incomplete. 
ACTION
  1. Register in CMS’ Enterprise Portal (Enterprise Identification Management system – EIDM) to receive your CMS User ID. Use the EIDM Registration Quick Reference Guide to help you through this process.
  2. Register in the Open Payments system using your CMS User ID to review your payment records. Refer to the Physician Registration Quick Reference Guide or Teaching Hospital Registration Quick Reference Guide for assistance.
For more information about the registration process, visit the physician and teaching hospital registration page on the Open Payments website.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Global Health Information Technology


The impact of Health Information Technology impacts the global  health community. The marketplace for developers and vendors is global in nature, requiring flexibiltiy in offerings tailored to each region.

Digital Health Live 2015, in partnership with DHA, launches on Tuesday 5th May
DHA and homegrown Emirati company nuviun, join forces spurring today's technology for a healthier tomorrow across the emirates 

UAE based company nuviun, in partnership with Dubai Health Authority will hold the Digital Health Live 2015 event which opens this Tuesday, 5th May 2015 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The three day conference and world's first interactive digital health exhibition, that will host local, regional and global leaders in the digital health space, will run until Thursday 7th May 2015.

Register



The strategic partnership, which also includes the support of the Emirates Health Informatics Society, the Health Authority Abu Dhabi, Dubai Healthcare City, Smart Dubai, Dubai Ambulance, and the Emirates Medical Associationaims to use the eventas a platform and catalyst to spur digital health and wellness in the UAE and providepeople with the knowledge and innovation to make better health life choices.

Dr. Tamer Shahin, CEO of nuviun said:"We are pleased to have the support and commitment of the DHA for Digital Health Live. The event is a great opportunity for the public to see first-hand how digital innovations can help them make better choices, to live longer and healthier. It is also a key platform for local and global leaders in the digital health and technology industry to come together to discuss and create a new vision for healthcare focusing on three main areas of framing health, supporting health and consumer health."



The three day conference includes high-profile speakers from across the health and technology industries including:Dr. Aisha Butti Bin Bishr, Assistant Director General of the Executive Office, Dr. Mohammad Al Redha, President of Emirates Health Informatics Society and Director of the Health Data and Information Analysis Department at the Dubai Health Authority ; John Nosta, Google Health Advisory Board Member, President Nostalab, and Conference Chair, John Sculley, Ex-CEO Apple and Pepsi, Dr Reed Tuckson, President of the American Telemedicine Association and Neil Jordan, Worldwide General Manager, Health Industry at Microsoft.
Digital Health Live is also supported by a number of international organizations including: Cerner, Microsoft, FUJIFILM SonoSite, Dell, Granteq and Spotcheck.
The Digital Health Live Expo, which is free for the public to visit,is for everyone interested in health, wellness and technology. The world's first interactive digital health exhibition will feature a fully interactive life-sized model smart city within the expo hall, giving visitors the chance to take a unique experiential walk into the not so distant future of healthcare, through 4 fascinating zones: Digital Home, Digital Hospital, Digital Smart City and Digital Wellness and Gamification zone. Global product launches will also take place here during the three days.
Digital Health represents the state of the art technologies converging to deliver a new vision for smart medicine, healthcare, and wellness, including: telemedicine, mhealth, ehealth, genomics, sensors and wearables, and electronic medical records. It embraces all healthcare-related applications, technologies, and delivery systems.

Register

International interest and cooperation will fuel further development for HIT throughout the global community. Technology companies are often rooted in international venues.

Telemedicine and Telehealth Opportunity


Telehealth






One of the most typical ways how physicians
communicate with patients is through email
and whenever they do so, it’s mostly to treat
routine illnessess. When the patient needs
to order a drug prescription or just receiving
any kind of healthcare service it can easily be
done through chat as well. It only takes a few
minutes to get the attention they need nowadays;
people know that the digital world is changing as time goes by and on a fast
   pace, which is no longer surprising for anyone, therefore it’s only reasonable for
   everyone to get involved.
An important similarity to telemedicine is that it can be quite beneficial to those
patients that live in areas where the traditional delivery of any kind of healthcare 
At times service is compromised by distance or any other factor like a shortage
of medical professionals. Many are the adversities that those folks living in rural
areas have to go through everyday; shouldn’t we make it easier for them to have
access to the health care they deserve?
It is necessary to point out the fact that at this moment people can enjoy the real
benefits of a healthcare service whenever they need it, it doesn’t matter where their
location is or how hard it is for them to get out of a rural place.  Reaching out to the
 patient is our responsibility and we are going to do everything within our power to provide
as much service as we can. Our certainty relies on the fact that by hiring qualified
professionals we will be educating the masses on how to make use of every medical
via of communication existent in the market, and that way keep them up to date with
every change regarding telecommunication and how to get a service of quality and on
time, right when they need it. It only takes a simple call after all.



A key barrier to increasing the availability of telehealth 
is it is not a covered benefit for most health insurance 
policies.  Perhaps this is a major defect in the scope of 
coverage for the Affordable Care Act.


Sunday, May 3, 2015

The future of preventive care: How 7 startups are making an impact

Chronic Disease and Prevention




Chronic Diseases and Prevention are at the top of the list for Startups, according to Mashable
Venture capitalists are evaluating the candidates, and competition will be stiff.

Counsyl      Get Started

The genetic testing services provided by Counsyl help people make knowledgeable decisions about their lives. They offers three tests: Family Prep Screen, Informed Pregnancy Screen and Inherited Cancer Screen.



The Family Prep Screen and Informed Pregnancy Screen provide future parents with information about the genes that they will potentially pass on to children; the Family Prep Screen does so before conception whereas the Informed Pregnancy Screen test does so after. Genetic counselors are then available to help the clients interpret their results and evaluate possible next steps.
The Inherited Cancer Screen lets adults know whether they have a high risk of developing breast, prostate, ovary or pancreas cancer. With this knowledge, adults can either get screened earlier and more frequently, or, in extreme cases, undergo preventive surgery.

Huneo

Excuse the cliché, but regarding health data, knowledge is truly power. Huneo has capitalized on this notion by developing its HuNet infrastructure that stores time series health information that is then available to any HuNet authorized user. Time series data is made up of measurements conducted over a certain period of time, an example being patients' vital signs. This information is usually not stored and consequently lost forever — a problem that Huneo hopes to address with HuNet.
Alzheimer’s disease is the only one of the top 10 causes of death in America that cannot be prevented, cured or slowed, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, but early diagnosis of the disease could help facilitate drug testing and development.
Neurotrack has developed a noninvasive, computer-based test that has the potential to diagnose Alzheimer’s patients three to six years before they show symptoms, thereby allowing pharmaceutical companies to better recruit patients for clinical trials. The company claims its technology will eventually be used as a screening test to help slow and possibly prevent the disease’s progression.
Omada developed its 16-week online Prevent program as a comprehensive lifestyle intervention for people who have a high risk of chronic disease. The scientifically based program is developed to encourage participants to adopt healthier behaviors in multiple aspects of their lives. To do this, the program includes online lessons about topics like nutrition and fitness, as well as a digital scale that tracks results. Health coaches and supportive peers are also there to help push participants through trying moments. The program boasts a retention rate that is often over 75% — a number that Duffy says is well above most face-to-face programs.

With the Virtual Consult service, HealthTap allows patients to connect with its digital community of doctors to get credible answers for any of their health questions and even checklists of healthy habits to maintain. Other helpful services offered by the company include its Concierge program, which helps patients connect with their existing doctors from anywhere in the world via video, phone calls or text messages, and the RateRx program, for which doctors have rated and reviewed certain medications.

SkinVision

 With SkinVision’s melanoma app, users can take photos of their moles that the app will analyze for abnormal growth and save and organize so users can track their moles over time for dangerous, potentially cancerous changes. If users want a  professional opinion about a mole, they can also share the photographs with their dermatologist.

Wearable technology is having a moment. Companies like FitbitJawboneMisfitand even Apple are producing their own versions of activity trackers. Lumo goes one step beyond this, though, and not only tracks activity but also corrects people’s posture and alleviates back pain with its most recent product, the Lumo Lift.
Lumo’s first product was the Lumo Back, inspired by the chronic back pain one of Lumo’s founders used to suffer. The Lumo Back is worn around users’ lower backs, and works to reduce back pain by improving back posture. Following its positive reception, the company decided to create another product to reach an even bigger market.
Most of these offerings have yet to be FDA approved for accuracy and/or reliability. The offerings will need to be vetted.