Greattrainer: Take to the Streets; Track Your Workouts and Prepare for Your Race

There are tons of apps out there that will track your workouts, and I am sure there are any number of them that are effective.  After trying to download quite a few of them with no luck I was able to download the Greattrainer app, and I am totally pleased.

The app itself is pretty straightforward and simple.  You simply put in what type of exercise you will be doing such as running or cycling,  then you click on the type of terrain you will be on, and finally you can input a certain pace if you want to.

As you exercise you get audible notices of how far you have traveled, which was actually the one problem I had with this app.  I was simultaneously using Pandora and every time the app told me how far I had gone it would pause Pandora and I would have to go back to my phone and turn it back on.  Not a huge tragedy, but it was kind of annoying.

When you finish your exercise you simply click stop and you can look at the results.  The details screen after you exercise includes distance, duration, average speed, average altitude, calories burned, and average pace.  That was quite a bit more information than I expected, but there is even more available on their website.

Like most quality apps, there is also an online community that further enhances the apps capabilities.  You can send your results to the Take to the Streets website where you can add them to your training diary.

The training diary can be used to simply track what you are doing, or it can be used to help you prepare for a specific race or event.  Along those lines, they even have training schedules that will help you prepare for those events.  The combination of schedules and tracking makes training that much more effective.

The website also provides numerous training tips and videos to help improve your training.

There is also an online community where you can share your training results and discuss whatever you want with other members.  Accountability is a huge part of being successful with exercise, and these types of communities can be great for that.  Whether you connect with your friends or strangers it really doesn’t matter as it is the support that makes the difference.

No matter what app you use, or if you use no app at all, what really matters is that we all get out and exercise.

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April 21, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Blackberry  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones
Tags:  Greattrainer  Smartphone apps  Take to the Streets  Training Diary

Health Related Mobile Applications Expected to Triple by 2012; Mobile Health Market Worth $1.7 Billion by 2014

I am well aware of the popularity of any number of apps, and especially healthcare apps in all of their many forms.  However, even I underestimated how big this industry really is.

An article about WebMD really put it all in perspective for me.  You can read the entire article here, but here is the major stuff:

According to a report by Pyramid Research, more than 200 million health applications for mobile devices are being used by doctors and patients today. The number is expected to cross 600 million by the year 2012. Another report claims that the mobile health annual market will be worth $1.7 billion by 2014.There are already several apps available in the market, most of which focus on disseminating health-related information to users. Epocrates, the leading drug reference source, was identified as the most popular health app among providers by the Pyramid Research. The app is used by healthcare providers as their point of care drug reference site…

…It is not just health care providers, but their patients who are turning to the mobile apps. Healthagen’s iTriage has information on symptoms, diseases, and medical procedures. The app is also a directory of nationwide hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. It helps users search for and gives them turn-by-turn directions to the nearest choice among its database of over 750,000 physicians or 350 specialty clinics…

…The Medscape app was recently named the most downloaded free medical app of the year for iPhone by Apple on its iTunes Rewind 2010 featured list of Apps. The app provides a comprehensive reference on more than 6,000 drugs, 3,500 diseases, 600 procedures and 80 tables and protocols; gives daily medical news and alerts; and is part of WebMD’s Continuing Medical Education activities. The company recently expanded the reach of its popular MedScape app to both the iPad and Android devices. Since its release, earlier last year, for the iPhone and BlackBerry devices, the Medscape Mobile app has registered over 700,000 healthcare professionals.

Among other apps, iPharmacy was selected as the No. 1 medical app of 2010 of Apple App Store with its medication guide on 10,686 drugs. The Pocket Lab Values app was the highest rated iPhone lab value App for being a useful reference point for students, doctors, and nurses by providing access to lab values, clinical information, critical lab values, differential diagnoses, tube colors, and useful websites. Another app, iMeds – The Medication Reference claims to be the most complete medication app with over 7,300 FDA approved medications and to be the only app to provide full prescribing info.

The really crazy thing is that the development of apps is still essentially in its infancy so who knows what we may have in the future.

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April 20, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Android  Apple  Blackberry  iPad  iPhone  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones
Tags:  Health Applications  Healthagen  iMeds  iPharmacy  iTriage    Pocket Lab Values  Pyramis Research  

Asthmapolis Developed Spiroscout Tracks Your Asthma to Determine Potential Triggers; Reminds You to Use Your Inhaler

Asthma is a serious issue for anyone who is affected by it, but it can be difficult to manage and even more difficult for doctors to monitor.  The people at Asthmapolis are trying to change that with the introduction of the GPS-enabled Spiroscout and the associated Asthmapolis community.

The Spiroscout device uses GPS to determine the time and location that you use your inhaler.  The information is then stored and sent to a remote server through a USB port.  The same port can be used to charge the device with a battery that lasts 2+ days.

The small, lightweight device attaches easily to almost any inhaler and is simple to transfer to a new canister.  There are also lights on the device that let you know when it detects a use as well as how much battery life is left.

While logging your inhaler use is all well and good, the real value of this device is how you can interact on the Asthmapolis website.

On the site you can create your own Asthmapolis mobile diary where you can map and track asthma symptoms, triggers, and your use of rescue and controller medications.  This can be done from any phone with a web browser.  You can even set it up to get text message notifications to remind you to use controller medication.

The website collects your information over time and helps you to understand your patterns of use to include trends over time that can help you identify locations that cause your asthma to get worse.  By attaching this information to maps you can avoid those areas that tend to irritate your asthma.

Having personally seen the effects that asthma can have on an individual’s life it is great to see anything that can make managing it easier.  Like most things with our personal health, the more you know the better you can handle the situation, and the Asthmapolis community should provide some much needed information.

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April 19, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
Tags:Asthma  Asthmapolis  Inhaler  Spiroscout

mHealth: Hospitals Develop Contagious Appetite for Dedicated Mobile Apps

Posted: 13 Apr 2011 08:56 AM PDT

There’s a contagious outbreak at hospitals across the US.

A rapidly growing number of hospitals and medical clinics are developing and releasing their own unique dedicated mobile applications.

OhioHealth of Columbus, Ohio is the latest hospital facility to go mobile with its own smartphone application.

According to Tech Life Ohio, the app in question is a women’s health application designed to help patients easily connect with their obstetric and gynecological caregivers.

“This is something that empowers patients to be more informed when they arrive for their office visits,” said OB/GYN Andrew Bokor, MD, Grant Medical Center.

Dr. Bokor now offers the application to his patients

“It links them to our office phones, provides directions to the hospitals where we deliver and gives them information 24/7 at their fingertips about the stages of fetal development or common pregnancy-related problems such as hemorrhoids. I don’t think there is any way it won’t improve quality of women’s health care and outcomes,” Dr. Bokor says.

“So many people are going to the web for health care information that is not always reliable, where it is hard to tell the difference between fact and opinion,” says Dr. Mini Somasundaram. “The application guarantees accurate, evidence-based answers to questions such as, ‘what kind of medications can I take’ or ‘what kind of test am I supposed to have next week.’

Approximately five dozen patients began testing the mobile app last month. OhioHealth physicians anticipate promoting the app to all of its obstetric patients by the end of April.

This type of application just makes so much sense.  Like the doctor pointed out, the first place people go to look for information is the internet, so why not provide your patients with the information so you know they are getting good stuff.

I know my wife and I looked all over the place and talked to everyone about the different stages of pregnancy and what was okay when.  It would have saved us a lot of time, and stress, if we could have gotten it straight from our doctor.

I would expect apps like this to become extremely common in the near future as people realize the good it can do.

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April 18, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Android  Apple  Healthcare IT  iPhone  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones
Tags:Andrew Bokor  Mini Somasundaram  OhioHealth  Tech Life Ohio  

Lit 2 Quit: Using Games to Help You Quit Smoking

Smoking kills more Americans than anything else.  While the number of deaths has gone down it is still at the top of the list.  That may be why 70% of adult smokers want to quit, and 40% actually try each year. (World Health Organization, 2008)

That is why the Lit2Quit team is working to develop a mobile app to help people quit.

What they are trying to accomplish is the same physical sensations that smoking provides.  They are doing that by providing options suited for what you are looking for.

If you are looking to relax then the app provides you with a game that will help you slow down and relax.  If you are looking for the rush that smoking sometimes brings it presents you with a game that gets your heart and mind running.

One of the interesting aspects of this app is that it uses your breath as a game mechanic.  Through the microphone the app senses your breathing pattern and prompts you to either increase or decrease your breathing rate to achieve the desired feeling.

Research has shown that breath therapy can aid in quitting smoking, so this unique feature may be the difference in this app being successful.

While Lit2Quit is still being developed, another quit smoking app is claiming to already have success with helping people quit smoking.

An app called Nicot is based simply on the idea of crushing cigarettes.  In the game the player crushes cigarette butts to advance in the scenario.  Compared to grasping virtual balls, participants were 15% more likely to quit smoking when they were encouraged to crush cigarettes in the game.

While the developers also recognize the value of other methods of quitting they are convinced that their app will help.

The ideas behind these apps is incredibly simple, but sometimes it is something extremely simple that makes all the difference in the world.

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April 17, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: iPhone  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
Tags:  Lit2Quit  Nicot  Quit Smoking

Mindless Eating Challenge: Inspiring Healthy Living Through a Mobile Game

Mindlessly eating can be one of the biggest causes of weight gain in people, and it is somewhat understandable as food is just so darn yummy.  However, it is an increasingly big problem that needs to be addressed.

If you search mindless eating on Google you will find numerous links to the Mindless Eating website which is based on the popular book with the same name by Dr. Brian Wansink.  It is in collaboration with Dr. Wansink that the Mindless Eating Challenge mobile game is being developed.

It is based on similar games where you have an animal or plant that you must take care of as it grows and develops.  As you make healthy choices for your character it grows big and strong and healthy.

The idea behind the game is to teach young people better eating habits so that they will make good choices and grow up healthy.

It was originally developed as a J2ME version, a mobile-optimized web app, and there is an iPhone app currently in development.

There are two major goals of the application.  The first is to help kids and teens improve their health which is obviously worthwhile.  The second goal is to better understand how games can be used to help influence good behaviors.  While there is already some research into influencing behaviors through games little has been done with an emphasis on improving health.

This is definitely an exciting app as it combines something kids love, playing games, with something that is essential to their health and well-being.  As this game continues to be developed it will be interesting to see how other developers follow suit and come up with their own versions.

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April 16, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: iPhone  mHealth
Tags:Dr. Brian Wansink  healthy eating    Mindless Eating  Mindless Eating Challenge

Dell Dives into mHealth with Mobile Clinical Computing Solution

From hardware to hospitals, tech juggernaut Dell is diving into the mobile health space with a new venture few had anticipated.

Dell is launching a Mobile Clinical Computing (MCC) solution for hospitals and health care organizations that use the Meditech Health Care Information System.

The solution, says Dell, will enable “a simplification and automation of IT operations.”

By delivering this technology solution for Meditech users – and its network of better than 2,300 hospitals, ambulatory care centers, physicians’ offices, and countless medical facilities – the MCC program represents Dell’s latest attempt, as Information Week reports, to explore new ways to offer technology to the healthcare sector.

Mobile Clinical Computing (MCC) for Meditech is based on a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) that is designed for fast, flexible deployment of virtual desktops in hospitals and their extended communities. The design includes VMware vSphere(TM) and VMware View(TM) as well as servers, optimized storage, networking, and security in a reference architecture that can be tailored to meet customer needs.

“One of the top pain points for virtually every healthcare CIO involves managing clinical and administrative desktops,” says Peter Stone, vice president and general manager of the Meditech Solutions Group within Dell Services.

“PC client issues strain otherwise carefully-deployed healthcare enterprise applications and can hinder adoption of advanced clinical software,” Stone says. “Deploying secure virtual desktops can resolve many of these challenges by utilizing VMware View(TM) to create a desktop and application design that simplifies and automates IT operations, while also reducing the risk of security breaches that plague local storage.”

Anytime Dell decides to take a venture into a new arena it is important to pay attention.  They possess the size and power to create instant influence in any industry.  It will be interesting to see if they can be equally successful in this new opportunity.

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April 15, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care  Healthcare IT  mHealth
Tags:Dell  MCC  Meditech Health Care Information System  Mobile Clinical Computing  Peter Stone  Virtual Desktop  Virtual Desktop Infrastructure  VMware View  VMware vSphere

Zamzee: An Online Rewards Program Based on Physical Activity

Childhood obesity is an epidemic that is raging across America and shows little sign of slowing down.  One major cause of this tragic sickness is the incredible growth of gaming in all of its many forms. 

But, what if there was a game that actually encouraged teenagers to get up and be active in any way that they find enjoyable?  That is exactly what Zamzee is shooting for.  They have developed an online rewards community that is totally based on its players being active.

Participants wear a small meter that is about the same size as a thumb drive for your computer.  The meter then tracks your activity throughout the day.  It could be as intentional as playing sports or going for a run, or as simple as dancing around in your bedroom, but any activity is good activity for you to progress in this community.

As your activity level increases you boost your status in the community and you can even convert your activity into currency which can then be spent in their online store.  Judging by the pictures on their site it looks like you can redeem your activity cash for items such as gift cards from major retailers. 

Based upon the popularity of games on sites such as Facebook where you earn nothing more than a shiny ribbon on your screen it seems incredibly likely that teenagers would be interested in earning actual prizes they could use.  The power of social networking is also likely to play into the success of this web-based application.

People love showing off anything and everything on Facebook and Twitter and this is likely to be just as prevalent when it comes to showing off how much activity you have participated in, and maybe more importantly for Zamzee’s success, how many prizes you have earned.

So how much will this game really help improve health?  During the tests that they performed, accounting for over 10,000 days wearing the Zamzee, they found that teenagers were 30% more active.  That is about the same as running an extra marathon every month, and that is quite an improvement.

The Zamzee is set to go out to the public sometime this year, and it will be interesting to see how well it catches on, but one thing is for sure: if it helps any kid or teenager get healthier then it is at least a few steps in the right direction.

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April 14, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: mHealth
Tags:  online rewards  Zamzee

Could Playing Mobile Games Actually Improve Players’ Health?

When we think of electronic gaming most people think of it as an unhealthy activity that should at the very least be done in moderation.  However, a new commentary from the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that games could be used to improve disease prevention and treatment.

We have seen increased activity through the use of the Nintendo Wii and similar motion based controllers on the XBox 360 and Playstation 3.  The unexpected source of health improvement games is in the development of mobile apps that encourage healthy behavior. 

These games vary in purpose from helping cancer patients better manage their treatments, to helping people quit smoking, and even to help people watch their weight by letting your friends in on what you are eating.

While the commentary does point out that additional research is needed to get real data on the efficacy of games on prevention and treatment there is already some evidence that some games on the market are already seeing positive results.

In the coming days we will look at some of the games and apps that are already available and how helpful they may be with improving your health.

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April 13, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care  mHealth
Tags:healthy gaming  JAMA  Journal of the American Medical Association  

Africa Passes Europe in Mobile Connections


RT @ Africa passes Europe in mobile connections http://j.mp/hNFhQy
via web
P L Mudd

Here’s the excerpt from the link that matters:

Africa has passed Western Europe in the number of mobile connections during the final quarter of 2010, Wireless Intelligence reported on Thursday.
…
The new report said that African mobile connections reached 547.5 million during the final three months of 2010, up nearly 20 percent from the previous year.

In comparison, Western Europe reported 523.6 million connections, or an increase of less than one percent from 2009

That’s a pretty amazing thing to consider. No wonder I saw someone on Charlie Rose last night that was talking about Africa as a great opportunity for people to grow their business. Some of the coolest mobile healthcare projects that I’ve seen are happening in places like Africa. It’s no wonder why mobile healthcare is so popular considering this growth.

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April 7, 2011 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 6000 articles with John having written over 3000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 14 million times. John also manages Healthcare IT Central and Healthcare IT Today, the leading career Health IT job board and blog. John launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: and and .

Filed Under: Health Care  Mobile Health Care
Tags:Africa  Europe  Mobile Healthcare


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