December 31st, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
Tags: Dave deBronkart, e-Patient Dave, e-Patient Skills, e-Patients.net, Empowered Patients, Informed Healthcare Consumer, Informed Healthcare Decisions, Informed Patient, Participatory Medicine, Patient Empowerment, Patient Participation, Practice Variation, Salzburg Global Seminar, Shared Decision-Making, Understanding Statistics
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This is the first of the follow-up posts I hope to write from participating in the Salzburg Global Seminar titled “The Greatest Untapped Resource in Healthcare? Informing and Involving Patients in Decisions about Their Medical Care.”
One of our purposes on this site is to help people develop e-patient skills, so they can be more effectively engaged in their care. One aspect is shared decision making, which we wrote about in September. A related topic, from August, is understanding the challenges of pathology and diagnosis. Both posts teach about being better informed partners for our healthcare professionals.
I’ve recently learned of an another topic, which I’m sure many of you know: Practice variation. This is a big subject, and I’ll have several posts about it. It’s complex, the evidence about it is overwhelming, and its cost is truly enormous. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
December 31st, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Cellphone Technology, Cellphones and Healthcare, Cellphones and Medicine, Diagnostic Platform, Disposable Test Strip, Electronic Medical Records, EMRs, GENTAG, Lab Studies, Lab Tests, Laboratory Testing Platform, Medgadget, Medical Technology, Near Field Communication, NFC, Rapid Test Results, Self-Testing
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GENTAG, Inc. has announced a new diagnostic platform which uses near field communication (NFC) technology to transmit test results from a disposable test strip to a patient’s cellphone. Once results have been sent to a phone, they can then be uploaded to internet-connected EMR systems. The company claims their platform can test for pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, pathogens, and a number of different cancers, and monitor glucose, fever, as well as deliver drugs.
From the press release:
GENTAG started with well-established immunoassay technology and made it wireless and compatible with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which enables consumers to use their cell phones as diagnostic tools to instantly test for pathogens, allergens or common medical conditions at any time, no matter where they are.
NFC is currently being integrated into all major cell phone brands, and GENTAG is working with major OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] worldwide to promote the uses of its disposable wireless sensor platform for consumer markets.
Press release: Cell Phones Are Now Personal Diagnostic Tools That Can Monitor Fertility, Pathogens, AIDS, Drugs, and Allergens…
GENTAG products page…
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
December 30th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Opinion, Research
Tags: Army National Guard, Combat Veteran, Dr. Ramona Bates, Female Military Servicemembers, Female Soldiers, Female Wounded Warriors, Janet Cater, Military Healthcare, Military Women Amputees, Occupational Therapy, Physical Disabilities, Physical Disability, Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation, Suture For A Living, Traumatic Amputation, U.S. Military, University of Arkansas Alumni, Women in the Military, Women Veterans
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I am a proud University of Arkansas alumni. The current issue of the alumni magazine has a short segment on Janet Cater and her work with female wounded warriors. Her research on military women amputees earned her a doctoral degree in rehabilitation counseling.
I did a Google search and was happy to find she has a blog: Female Wounded Warriors Posterous. There were only four entries but they allow an understanding of her research project.
The first one, Institutional Review Board Information (November 10, 2009), lays out the goal:
I am seeking to understand the psychosocial adjustment issues experienced by women veterans who have had a traumatic amputation. I am interested in your life experience.
The second one, Volunteer To Help Future Wounded Women Warriors, presented the goal and method again:
My study seeks to understand the adjustment issues faced by American women warriors who experience a traumatic amputation. At the present time there is no published research. As the number of women warriors returning with physical disabilities increases, it is vital that medical and mental health support staff understand the unique challenges these women face. Over 220,000 female soldiers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for one or more tours of duty. As of August 2009, a total of 121 women warriors have died, and it is estimated over 620 have received serious injuries. This study will use internet interviews using Skype to understand this life experience. Each woman will be invited to tell her story of how she adjusted to life as an amputee with the assurance of confidentiality. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
December 30th, 2010 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: David Zar, Dr. Satish Misra, Healthcare Apps, Iltifat Husain, iMedicalApps, iPad, Medical Apps, Medical Imaging App, mHealth, MIT Enterprise Forum, Mobile Health Expo, Mobile Medical Apps, Mobisante, Ultrasound
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Imagine walking into the room of a patient with ascites and pulling out your iPad (which you were just using to put in orders on another patient), pulling an ultrasound probe out of your pocket, connecting the two, and finding a fluid pocket from which to drain the abdominal fluid.
We’ve already shown how iPad’s can be useful in the OR. Now they, along with other tablets and smartphones, can be applied to bedside diagnostics and therapeutics to enhance patient safety while reducing costs. It’s a pretty exciting prospect being put forth by an mHealth startup called Mobisante. And having won awards at an MIT Enterprise Forum as well as the Mobile Health Expo, others certainly seem to buying in as well.
Mobisante, an mHealth company based in Redmond, WA, has recently been showing a new smartphone peripheral at conferences across the country: An ultrasound probe. According to the MIT Technology Review, the current prototype connects to a Toshiba TG01 smartphone and was originally developed as a laptop peripheral by David Zar, a computer engineer at Washington University in St. Louis. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
December 30th, 2010 by admin in Better Health Network, News, Research, True Stories
Tags: ACP Internist, American College Of Physicians, Amgen, Anemia, Biochemistry, Dialysis, Dr. John Schumann, End Of Life, End Stage Renal Disease, EPO, Epogen, Erythropoietin, Gene Goldwasser, GlassHospital, Hormone, Internal Medicine, Kidney Failure, Medical Discoveries, Merrill Goozner, New Red Blood Cell Production, Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacology, Prostate Cancer, University of Chicago
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Gene Goldwasser died last week. He was 88, and he was my friend.
I wrote previously about a series of conversations I conducted with Gene and Rabbi A.J. Wolf a few years ago. I met Gene one spring day after calling to invite him to sit in on a class I was teaching to a small group of medical students about social issues in healthcare.
I’d read about him in a book called “The $800 Million Pill,” by Merrill Goozner. In the book, Goozner writes the story of Gene’s two-decade hunt to isolate the hormone erythropoietin (EPO).
Part of the story relates how Gene tried to interest traditional big pharma companies in his discovery, only to be brushed aside. Instead, Gene wound up sharing his discovery with what became Amgen. The company went on to make a windfall from recombinant production of the hormone and licensing it as a drug for patients with anemia and kidney failure. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
