Apple to add CareKit for symptom, medication adherence tracking -

The open source initiative will debut next month. It will consist of four modules that developers can expand upon. They are:

• Care Card to track medication adherence, or activities like physical therapy exercise, with the help of the Apple Watch or iPhone
• Symptom and Measurement Tracker to compile records, including in the form of surveys, photos or calculations made by the iPhone's  accelerometer and gyroscope, such as range of motion
• Insight Dashboard to provide information on whether treatments are working
• And lastly, Connect for information sharing with doctors or family members

"We're thrilled with the profound impact ResearchKit has already had on the pace and scale of conducting medical research, and have realized that many of the same principles could help with individual care," said Apple COO Jeff Williams in a statement. "We believe that giving individuals the tools to understand what is happening with their health is incredibly powerful, and apps designed using CareKit make this a reality by empowering people to take a more active role in their care."

The Silicon Valley bigwig named several stakeholders who are planning to deploy CareKit into their apps for Parkinson's patients, post-surgery progress, home health monitoring, diabetes management, mental health and maternal health. 

"With ResearchKit, we quickly realized the power of mobile apps for running inexpensive, high-quality clinical studies with unprecedented reach," said Dr. Ray Dorsey, professor of neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in a statement. "We hope that CareKit will help us close the gap between our research findings and how we care for our Parkinson's patients day-to-day. It's opening up a whole new opportunity for the democratization of research and medicine."

Apple to add CareKit for symptom, medication adherence tracking - FierceMedicalDevices

Congress Set to See a Flurry of Telehealth Activity

One bill is introduced this past week, and another is on the way. It's all part of what the American Telemedicine Association calls 'skyrocketing' interest in the technology

A Senate bill introduced this past week would spur additional Medicare coverage of telehealth in rural areas by allowing more telehealth projects at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

It’s one of two pieces of telemedicine legislation expected in Washington this month, and comes at a time when telemedicine “is skyrocketing,” according toAmerican Telemedicine Association CEO Jonathan Linkous.

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The Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), would require the Health and Human Services Department to allow eligible hospitals to test new telehealth concepts at the CMMI. It would also compel the CMMI to separately evaluate new telehealth models on the basis of cost, effectiveness and improvement in quality of care without increasing the cost of delivery.

“People living in rural Colorado should have access to the same healthcare services as those living in urban areas,” Gardner said in remarks introducing the legislation. “Telemedicine has the power to increase access to specialized services in underserved communities, and potentially lower costs and improve patient outcomes.”

Gardner said his bill “would pave the way for Medicare to expand coverage to additional telehealth services, and potentially provide those living with life-threatening conditions in rural America with more opportunities and more options to receive the care they need. At the same time, this legislation would incentivize the industry to develop cutting-edge technology that could revolutionize healthcare delivery. As we work toward a healthcare system that lowers costs and increases choices for consumers, it is important that we advance commonsense legislation like the Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act to achieve those goals.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) has let it be known he intends to submit a bill before the end of the year that would enable healthcare providers to use telemedicine technology in new, alternative payment programs overseen by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid – including telestroke programs covered by Medicaid Advantage.

During the ATA’s monthly online webinar this week, Linkous said Schatz’s bill “is imminent,” and said he and Gary Capistrant, the ATA’s senior director for public policy, recently talked to the senator about the pending legislation.

“He comes with a background (in telemedicine) and a clear understanding” of where the industry can go, Capistrant said.

Linkous and Capistrant said Schatz’s pending bill is riding the crest of a wave of telemedicine activity in Washington, where CMS is in the midst of finalizing new Medicare codes, next-generation accountable care organization and bundled payment programs are loosening their restrictions on rural and originating sites, and Congress is working on two separate pieces of legislation that would clarify or ease licensing restrictions for telemedicine.

Linkous also noted the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC) “is looking at telehealth.” MedPAC backing of telehealth legislation, he said, could spur the Congressional Budget Office to take up the concept as well – something the CBO hasn’t been asked to do in 15 years. That in turn could give Congress a better picture on just how the technology could affect the nation’s staggering healthcare budget.

Tagged Telemedicine, Telehealth Policy, Mobile Health Policy

Congress Set to See a Flurry of Telehealth Activity

Telehealth Scores Big in Joint Replacement Bundled Payment Plan

Telehealth and televideo.....their time has come

Telemedicine, teleheath and televideo have much to offer to increase access for patient care.  A large number of technical advances, such as broadband, wireless communications, smartphone, laptop and PC tablets have opened a new tool for patient care.

Consumers are already comfortable with banking online from a smartphone, ordering food, produce, clothes and almost any consumer product online.

Recent analyses have shown that those over the age of 65 are participating in this 'new age'.

The remaining obstacles are jurisdictional, from state to state. Physicians are licensed in individual states. State medical boards have been lagging behind. The title of this article illuminates the administrative burden to make such change.


Medical Boards are rightly concerned about quality of care and the competence of physicians. The jurisdictional issues are in a state of flux.  And most likely it will be decided state to state, one at a time. The first several changes may take some time, however once it passes the initial phase it will expand exponentially Issues such as population density, the physician to patient ratio, and the inertia of regulations will all play a role in the transition.

Reimbursement is also an important factor, as many insurers did not cover telemedicine or telehealth services.  This is changing rapidly as Medicare leads the change.  In the past Medicare has been loathe to add more services as a mechanism of limiting health costs to the government.  Surveys show that the ROI of tele-solutions for initial diagnosis and treatment lowers the overall cost of a chronic disease.

Quality-adjusted life year (QUALY) is a generic measure of disease burden including

both the quality and quantity of life lived. It is used in economic evaluation to assess the value for money of medical interventions. 

Telehealth promises to scale physician time, allowing one physician to monitor or instruct multiple patients in their own home.

Florida moves forward on telemedicine, Texas remains in the past - FierceHealthIT

Augmented Reality Meta Company Hologram and Health Care

Meta 2, several years in development swept SXSW this year in Austin Texas.  Augmented reality is one step beyond virtual reality.



The hardware and software have been in development for several years.  If you remember Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible sweeping his hands in front of a semi-transparent screen, moving windows,dragging and dropping squeezing and rotating images, this is what we are talking about.



The operating system is open source, allowing just about any coder to write programs for the hardware. The headset is one step beyond a VR headset.  With VR the user cannot see beyond the visor. Using augmente  reality the use sees through the transparent goggle and manipulates the object(s) he sees in virtual space in front and for 360 degrees surrounding his head.



Other than the headset the augmented reality needs no other hardware other than a high end PC. The headset has built in stereo sound. At this stage of development the headset is tethered to the PC, but I am  sure there will be a wireless connectivity.

Meta 2’s game-changing breakthroughs in optics include a full 90-degree field of view and 2560 x 1440 high-dpi display. Plus the Meta 2 see-through headset makes everything below your eyebrows completely transparent and unobstructed so you can easily make eye contact with others. You can even wear the headset while wearing glasses.

At a TED talk in Austin reviewers waxed hyping it was the best thing since sliced bread. It has the potential to eliminate the need for monitors, keyboards and mice. Future development will need to factor in multiple viewers with different head sets. When applied to online gaming or other collaborative uses it is a ground breaker. It's application to robotic surgery is self-evident.







Augmented Reality - Home | Meta Company