Hope Phones: Recycling Smartphones to Save Lives in Underdeveloped Countries

E-waste is no joke. 500 mil cell phones disposed in landfills= 312,000 lbs. lead released. Giving your cell for doubly saves lives!
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Hope Phones

This tweet brings up a very interesting angle on the mHealth arena.  I have already written a lot about the intense growth of mHealth in underdeveloped areas, and specifically in Africa.  I have made it very clear that mobile phones and the new apps and devices that utilize that will save many lives in these countries where the healthcare is more sparse, and in some cases, nonexistent.

Like most people I have three or four old cellphones floating around my house that get used mostly as toys by my kids.  Hope Phones is trying to put those phones to good use, and prevent them from doing harm to the environment.  The dual benefit nature of their mission is something worth recognizing.

I’m sure it is no surprise to anyone that cellphones are full of chemicals and other things that are bad for the environment.  If we can eliminate even a small percentage of the millions of cell phones going in the garbage then we are having an impact for good.

Maybe more importantly, if we can put those phones in the hands of people that could use them to improve their quality of life then we have done even more good in the world.  It is sad how much stuff in this world gets thrown away that could be used by other people.  It is a trite phrase that, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” but it is anything but trite when you consider that this action could quite literally save someone’s life.

For more information about Hope Phones, and to learn how you can contribute to their cause, please visit their website.

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September 30, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care  Healthcare IT  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones
Tags:Healthcare in Underdeveloped Countries  Hope Phones  mHealth in Africa  Recycling Smartphones  Smartphone Growth in Africa  Utilizing Old Cell Phones

Could a Smartphone Give You an Eye Exam?

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: It never ceases to amaze me the things that can be done with a smartphone.  The MIT Media Lab has developed a device that can attach to a smartphone and essentially provide an eye exam.  Here is the description they gave with the video below:

Our small, portable solution allows for anyone, anywhere to get an eye exam, and access a care provider through the mobile network. The setup consists of three parts: a smart phone, a hardware app and a software app.

Snap the NETRA adapter onto a smart phone loaded with NETRA software, follow the simple instructions, and quickly receive your prescription for glasses right on the phone. NETRA fits snugly in a pocket and requires minimal training to operate.

Starting with refractive errors and cataracts, NETRA and CATRA are our first of a growing line of solutions geared towards eye health. Stay tuned to our twitter feed for continual developments over the coming months.

 

 

They claim that it only requires minimal training, and judging by the video it looks pretty simple.  Obviously this won’t provide a comprehensive eye exam, but for people who can’t afford to go long distances to a doctor this could easily help them to see better.

As someone who has never really had vision problems, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to deal with not seeing well.  On the other hand I have seen my wife deal with poor vision and all of the difficulties it provides when she is not wearing her glasses.  Now people who previously had little to no chance of getting a prescription will no longer have to suffer through those difficulties.

It is also great to see that the caliber of people at MIT are working on healthcare devices and apps.  As more and more high quality developers get into the industry, the quality of new applications should only improve, and improve our lives.

More information is available on their website.

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September 28, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones
Tags:CATRA Adapter  Healthcare Apps  MIT Media Lab  Netra Adapter  Optometry Devices  Optometry Smartphone Devices  Smartphone Optometry

New Smartphone Device May Bring Brain Scanning Home

An amazing new gadget has been developed by researchers from the Technical University of Denmark.  They have developed a portable EEG device that can monitor brain activity using a Nokia N900 smartphone.  According to an article from medgadget.com this new device would allow people to monitor their brain activity from the comfort of their homes without having to go in for an expensive procedure.

The system also uses a commercially available Emotive EPOC wireless EEG headset and a specially designed app.  Using these tools together, multiple users can monitor their brain waves while working together on a task.  That should provide interesting insights into how our brains work individually.

It can also be hooked up with more powerful computers to provided in depth analysis of the information.  While it will likely not replace traditional scanners, not will it become something that everyday people will use, it could become extremely useful.  It could allow people to save time and money by being tested at home rather than making expensive doctors visits.

This also seems to be the general trend of mobile medical devices.  Creating the ability to do things at home that previously required a visit to the doctor.  It will be interesting to see how many of these devices actually achieve widespread adoption.

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September 26, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
Tags:Brainwave Monitoring System  Emotive EPOC Wireless EEG Headset  Healthcare Apps  Medgadget.com  Nokia N900  Portable EEG Device  Technical University of Denmark

Regulation of Medical Apps Debated at FDA Medical Apps Workshop

The Great Debate: Future Scope Of Regulation Debated At FDA Mobile Medical Apps Workshop: http://j.mp/r6f8uD
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Orca MD

This appears to be growing in popularity as a matter of discussion.  There is little doubt that the government will step in an regulate medical apps they way they regulate everything else in the healthcare industry.  What remains to be seen is what exactly that regulation will entail.

One of the points that I found interesting from this article was the thought the consumers should simply regulate quality apps through their purchasing power.  Simply put, if an app is garbage, people won’t buy it, and it will disappear.  While this would be the easiest way, it would also be the lazy way, and in the end would likely result in more work do to the magnitude of lawsuits that are bound to appear.

Some seem to believe that regulation similar to that put on other medical devices would be more appropriate.  This just doesn’t make sense to me, and creates somewhat of a slippery slope.  How can we possibly consider x-ray machines and sophisticated surgery equipment to be on the same level as something that measures you blood pressure through your phone?

If we do start to regulate these apps on the same scale, you open up the need to regulate everything that even remotely relates to healthcare.  What makes more sense to me is to provide guidelines for development, and maybe even classification groups so that developers can have a clear understanding of what would be expected for certain levels of devices.

As is mentioned in the article, regulation ultimately comes back to liability.  No one wants to pay a huge price for developing a small app that was intended to help people.  In this day and age, it is increasingly important to cover your bases to ensure your original intent to do good doesn’t end up in a lawsuit where nobody wins.

I understand the FDA’s lack of direction at this point since the market has developed so rapidly.  Only a few years ago the most complicated apps would give you the news and some sports scores.  Now they can do just about anything, and more are being developed everyday.  What I would like to see is the FDA do or say something.

If a reasonable set of regulations can be established now, then there will be much less heartache later.  I have to think that there are numerous developers out there who are anxious to take advantage of this opportunity but are afraid to do so because they don’t know where the boundaries are.  The really quality developers will want to do it right the first time, and these are the people who will provide us with the best apps in the long run.

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September 21, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care  Healthcare IT  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones
Tags:App Development Guidelines  FDA Medical Apps Workshop  FDA Regulation of Medical Apps  Future of Medical App Regulation  Medical Applications

Could Telehealth Provide Savings for Medicare?

As we get into the heated debates of the upcoming presidential election, the biggest area of debate will be the same topic that breaks up businesses and marriages, and leads others to great success: Money.  Sure that is simplifying something that is far more complex than me paying my bills, but in reality is it that different?

When you don’t have money you don’t spend it, and when you want/need more money you come up with ways to earn more, or you cut spending in one area to pay for another.  A new study suggests that telehealth may be able to provide a 10%, or more, reduction in healthcare costs for chronically ill patients.

According to an article at CardiovascularBusiness.com doctors were able to reduce spending between 7.7% and 13.3% per person, per quarter using the Health Buddy Program.  While that only equates to about $300-500 per person, per quarter, when you consider the huge number of people using Medicare that could translate to massive savings.

According to the article 80% of US healthcare spending goes towards treating chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, and COPD.  Now imagine lowering those costs by about 10% and you see the magnitude of influence this could have.

The Health Buddy Program involves giving patients a small handheld device that they use to input metrics such as weight, blood pressure, and other information tied to their diagnosis.  This allows doctors to respond more efficiently and effectively to changes in the patient’s health saving everyone time and money.

As I listen to news reports about the billions of dollars going to healthcare, and how in debt our country is I can’t help but wonder why we aren’t more actively pursuing ideas like this.  Americans are some of the most ingenious people on earth so why aren’t we taking advantage of that brilliance to solve these problems instead of leaving them with politicians who have lost touch with reality?

I can’t think of a single business on earth that would not gladly reduce spending by 10% while still operating at the same level.  The technology is out there if we will just take advantage of it.

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September 19, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Telemedicine
Tags:Cardiovascular Business  Chonic Disease Spending  Diabetes Monitoring  Health Buddy Program  Heart Failure Monitoring  Medicare Spending Debate  Reducing Healthcare Costs  Telehealth Saving Money  US Healthcare Spending

Federal Trade Commission Makes First Crackdown on Medical Apps

It was going to happen sooner or later, but a government agency has made its first crackdown on a medical mobile application.  According to Fierce Mobile Healthcare the apps in question, AcnePwner and AcneApp, have been forced to stop making medical claims about their smartphone apps.

The Federal Trade Commission cracked down on the two apps for claiming that they helped stop acne by emitting a special light from your smartphone.  The FTC determined that the claims were based on shoddy and deliberately misinterpreted science.

The story in and of itself is not really that groundbreaking, but it does bring up a very interesting topic.  Government regulation of apps, and healthcare apps in particular.  We all knew that government oversight would come at some point in the healthcare sector of mobile apps, and now we have the first “victim”.

I’m glad that the first regulation came against apps that were clearly making false claims simply to try and make a buck.  If we can eliminate more of these useless apps that simply cloud the market with false claims, then the truly valuable apps will be more easily accessed allowing for the improvement in health that these apps can provide.

That being said, I also hope that the government doesn’t begin to regulate the market so much that quality apps cannot be efficiently and cost effectively developed.

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September 16, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care  Healthcare IT  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones
Tags:AcneApp  AcnePwner  Federal Trade Commission  Fierce Mobile Healthcare  Government Application Regulation  Healthcare App Crackdown  Medical Mobile Application

Greenway Medical Releases PrimeMOBILE app for Apple iPad

One of the biggest advantages of EHR’s is the convenience that it gives doctors in all aspects of their practice.  In adding to the convenience provided by Greenway Medical’s PrimeSUITE 2011, they have now released their PrimeMOBILE app for the Apple iPad to complement the same app for the iPhone which was released last year.

This app helps streamline the medical process as doctors are able to more readily access patient information by providing patient summaries, the ability to graph patient vitals, place provider notations and access communications.

F. Jon Senkowsky, MD, a vascular surgeon in Arlington, Texas has been using the iPhone app for sometime now, and was allowed to use the iPad version for several months during its development.  He says, “It’s been very successful and very convenient for us, especially in the hospital setting where I don’t have to bring back a paper facesheet from patient encounters.  I can view images, CT scans, and current prescriptions, all in the patient’s room, and I can access my daily schedule as well.”

From the press release:

“We’ve heard from our customers about how much PrimeMOBILE for iPhone has been beneficial, so moving the application to the iPad was a natural evolution of our offering,” said Johnathan Samples, executive vice president of Research and Development at Greenway. “We want physicians, nurses, and administrators to be able to use every capability of PrimeSUITE regardless of where they are in the clinical sequence. If they want to check their schedule, lab results or charges it’s all right there. We want to make the entire office immediately accessible.”

By providing this app across the major Apple devices, Greenway is responding to the widespread use of these devices by medical providers.  They also plan to release similar applications for Android devices this fall.

The full press release can be found here.

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September 14, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Apple  Health Care  Healthcare IT  iPad  iPhone  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Tablets
Tags:Apple iPad EHR App  Apple iPhone Apps  EHR Mobile Apps  F. Jon Senkowsky  Greenway Medical App  PrimeMOBILE  PrimeSuite 2011

The Day After: Reflection on September 11

It has been ten years since the world was shocked by the events of September 11th.  Like most people, those images are forever ingrained on my mind.  None of us will ever forget where we were, or how we felt.  The magnitude of emotion that I felt is something that has had a deep impact on my entire life since then.

I was living in The Netherlands and was incredibly impressed with the people and their complete concern with the US and Americans in general.  There was an outpouring of love and concern from people who had not been personally affected, but felt the need to show their support for their friends and allies.

I vividly remember the images from the US Embassy in The Hague surrounded with hundreds of people, most of whom had brought flowers or other items to show their support.  One man was asked why he had come and left flowers, and his response was that, “The Americans are our friends and they need our support right now.”

There is a particular set of beliefs and ideals that make America great, but they are not exclusive to America.  There are people all over the world who value freedom and democracy just as much as we do.

In the ensuing ten years I have served six years in the Marine Corps, and am currently serving as an officer in the Air Force.  It is truly an honor to play some small role in helping to secure that freedom.

While the troubles facing our country today may not be violent or immediate, they are just as important when it comes to the strength of our country.  I have all the confidence in the world that the American people will come together and unite to bring America back to its full level of greatness.

We were all effected in some way by the events of September 11th.  May we never forget the sacrifice made by those on the ground that day, and equally important, the sacrifice of the men and women who have fought for our freedom since.  It is the people that make America great.  Always has been, always will be.

 

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September 12, 2011 I Written By

Filed Under: Health Care
Tags:American Values  Remembrance of September 11th  September 11  World Trade Center Attacks