mHealth Tracking – Tooth Sensor

We’ve written about all sorts of health sensors, but until today we’ve never written about a newly created tooth sensor. Here’s an excerpt from Medical Daily on the new tooth sensor technology:

The new sensor, which was developed by scientists at National Taiwan University, uses Wi-Fi to sync with a person’s smartphone and keep a daily record of the wearer’s eating and drinking habits, along with smoking, coughing, and speaking. At less than a centimeter long, the sensor relies on “unique teeth motions” to differentiate each activity.

The wireless sensor would sit between two teeth and be held in place with glue

I’ve heard people refer to the human body as the ultimate sensor. It’s amazing to consider all of the ways we can monitor and track various elements of the human body. I have a hard time seeing the tooth sensor going mainstream. People are pretty particular about what they put in their mouths. However, for certain situations I could see it happening.

I think the final implementation might be like a mini retainer in your mouth. Many people have had retainers in their mouth for years and years. It seems like something similar could be put in your mouth as a tracker. However, the retainer might not have to be for the full mouth. It could just be on one tooth.

We’re at the very start of the sensor journey.

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August 13, 2013 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  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
Tags:Mouth Sensor  National Taiwan University  Tooth Sensor

Is Your State Health Department’s App on Your Mobile?

I came upon this excited tweet from Geeta Nayyyar, MD, CMIO for AT&T, where she excitedly links to the announcement of the Alabama state health department mobile app.

I of course was interested to know what a state health department would include in an app. The linked article talks about it being used to disseminate public health info and share opportunities for public health workers to get continuing education. Do we really need an app for this?

I’m trying to imagine a public health worker getting excited to download their state health department’s application. I don’t think we’re going to be seeing it on the home page of people’s cell phone. It’s likely to be one of the many applications that gets downloaded and never used. If that’s the case, it makes me wonder why it was even created in the first place. I guess I’m interested to hear how much engagement they really get on the app.

What I do think is interesting is the possibility for using a mobile app to disseminate public health alerts. I could see many people opting in for that type of notification. Although, does that need an entire app? I like the idea of the government trying to use the latest technology, but it seems like there could have been better ways to accomplish their goals.

I guess I don’t see what’s so “awesome” about an app that likely won’t get much use.

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August 9, 2013 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: Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Smart Phones
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Categories of Mobile Health Apps

As I’ve been covering the mobile health space for the past couple years, I think a number of categories are starting to emerge. I might be missing some, but these seem to be some of the most popular category of mobile health applications. In some cases applications can fit into multiple categories. Although, I think these mobile health categories are a good way to think about the mobile health market.

Educate and Inform – There are a lot of mobile health applications that just work to educate or inform patients. In some cases this is just through static information that can be easily searched. In other cases it is through actual communication with a person who can respond in real time, or more often in an asynchronous way.

Information Reference – In some ways this is a subcategory of the Educate and Inform category. However, I make it separate because I see this as a much higher level reference for clinicians. This isn’t usually about a doctor trying to learn about something as much as it is about a doctor looking up something they basically already knew, but didn’t remember the exact details. Epocrates has been the obvious leader in this space, but I think we’re going to see a bunch of specialty specific reference applications in the mobile health space as well.

Remind and Alert – There are a whole series of mobile health applications around reminding and alerting patients. Some of these aren’t even technically mobile applications, but instead are built on the back of SMS messages. It’s really amazing the power of a proper reminder or alert sent at the right time.

Collect Data – Many of the reminder and alert applications also help to collect data from the patient. Often the reminder or alert is a notice to have the patient input some form of data. However, there are also a whole series of other mobile health applications that are built around collecting health data. Many of these applications are tied to an external device which collects some data and then uses the smart phone to collect and transmit the data that was collected.

Communication – It should seem obvious that a “phone” would be used as a means of communication. We don’t see mHealth communication happening as much with patients yet because there’s no solid reimbursement model for the communication. However, this will change over time and a few pioneering institutions are doing it whether there’s a reimbursement model or not. One of the strongest mobile health communication opportunities is secure text message between clinical staff. In the next year or two, I expect every doctor will have a way to securely text message their office staff and other providers.

Enterprise Apps – These are the mobile health apps that provide access to other enterprise applications that are most often used from desktop computers, laptops, COWs, or other office computer. The most common of these are the mobile EHR applications. Although, no doubt there are plenty of others that will come out for labs, pharmacy, radiology, etc.

Finding Care – Quite a few mobile health applications are around trying to find a doctor, ER, or other medical establishment. Basically they’re a big database of healthcare providers, hospitals, clinics, etc and they use a variety of methods to sort and filter those organizations for the patient.

Diagnose – I see this category as the holy grail of mobile health applications. I’m not sure there are any mobile health applications today that fit this category, but they will come. In most cases I expect these applications will use many of the above categories to diagnose a patient. Whether it’s collecting data which can then be turned into a diagnosis, or whether the application can communicate data to someone who will produce a diagnosis. This is a powerful concept. In some cases this also will take the mobile health application and make it a medical device which has to be FDA cleared. The challenge is that there’s a huge barrier to entry to create a mobile health application that diagnoses. The beautiful part is that once you crack that barrier, it will be hard for your competitors to crack that barrier.

Ok, what other mobile health categories do you see? Would you divide some of the above categories even more? Are there new categories of mobile health applications that will be created as new technology arises?

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August 6, 2013 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  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
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Why Mobile Health Will Go Mainstream

Everywhere you turn in technology you hear talk about the way smart phones and other mobile devices are going to revolutionize the way we interact online. When you look at the way mobile devices have infiltrated the world, it’s easy to see how this network of connected devices will be able to do so many things. Sure, mobile has many weaknesses such as a small screen, a small keyboard, and limited processing power. However, what it can do is even more powerful.

At its core, mobile can do a couple of things really well. Mobile can collect information, display information, and it can be used as a messaging tool. Think about each of these areas when it comes to healthcare. Is there any doubt that mobile health will be huge? It can benefit from all three areas where mobile excels.

Each of the three areas mentioned are incredibly powerful from the perspective of the patient. Mobile phones will absolutely become a medical device that collects a patient’s health information. A mobile phone will absolutely be the place where patients get health information, notifications, alerts, and other health related notices. The mobile phone will certainly become the go to place for us to message the various healthcare providers in our lives. Whether it’s text, email, or video. All of these will become common place in healthcare.

Imagine the patient engagement that’s possible in just the above 3 areas.

I’m still not certain if mobile health applications will come from new startup companies or existing companies deploying a mobile strategy. My gut tells me it will be startup companies, but healthcare is backwards in so many ways that I won’t yet count out existing companies. What I will guarantee is that mobile will be an integral part of pretty much every area of healthcare.

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July 30, 2013 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  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
Tags:Mobile Health Medical Device  Mobile Health Startup Companies

The iWatch and Apple’s Role in Healthcare

Christina Farr at MedCityNews has a great article up about the rumors circling around Apple’s entrance into the digital health space. The article circles around the possible announcement of the Apple iWatch. Of course, right now it’s mostly just rumor that Apple is going to start selling an iWatch. Although, there are some strong suggestions that this is a possibility.

In some ways I can see how the iWatch is an interesting next step for Apple. However, unlike most other smart watches, I’m pretty sure that if Apple does release the iWatch it will do much more than just digital health. Sure, digital health will play a role in any watch based sensor device. I just don’t see Apple putting all their iWatch eggs in the digital health basket. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if the iWatch can’t do more than digital health, then we’ll never see an iWatch on the market.

This will be a drastic change in the battle for the wrist. Would you rather wear a smart watch that only does digital health or something that does so much more? The answer is simple and if Apple is able to create a multi function smart watch, then they’ll destroy much of the other smart watch market.

Regardless of the iWatch, Apple is going to play a major role in healthcare thanks to the iPad and iPhone. Although, much like those devices, I think it’s very unlikely that Apple will make the decision to create a digital health specific product.

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July 24, 2013 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: Apple  Health Care  Healthcare IT  iPad  iPhone  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
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The Most Underestimated Smart Health Device

I’ve written previously about the importance of the wrist in healthcare and how we’re in the middle of a “battle for the wrist.” The wrist is going to be an important battle. We’ll also see many other battles for glasses, shirts, shoes, etc. However, there’s one smart health device that I think has gotten overlooked by many: the car.

Think about how much time people spend traveling in their car each day. We can thank long commutes for this. It’s the perfect opportunity to build in smart health technologies. You’re a captive audience in a generally relaxed state. Ok, I’m sure some wouldn’t consider the daily commute a relaxed state. However, I’ve personally found it to be quite relaxing once you’re in the daily commute rhythm. Back when I was commuting regularly, I’d literally go into an almost robotic state as I made my daily drive.

Another advantage the car has is that it has no size issues. No one cares if your smart health care devices weighs 1 pound or 10 pounds. Size is also much less of an issue. Imagine how big you can make a smart health device on your wrist. Now imagine how much more space you have in a car. It’s really an almost laughable comparison.

Of course, there are some definite weaknesses of a smart health device in your car. For example, you have to drive and so pretty much everything you do needs to be voice activated or just work seamlessly with no user interaction. The great part is that voice recognition has gotten so much better. Plus, the very best health devices are going to be those that casually monitor your health with no user interaction needed. This is a powerful concept and perfect for the captive car driving audience.

While many underestimate the potential of the car as a health device, the car manufacturers aren’t underestimating the opportunity at all. Sure, they are careful in their approach, but they absolutely see an opportunity. We haven’t yet seen the breakout health app for cars, but it’s coming. Pretty soon the car will become a smart phone on wheels.

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July 22, 2013 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  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
Tags:Car Health  Health Device Interaction  Smart Health Devices  Voice Recognition

Study Shows Mobile Devices Increase Patient Engagement

I’ve heard many people ask the question of whether or not mobile health care helps or hurts patient engagement. The latest study says it definitely improves it.

A study conducted by the Center for Connected Health, published in 2013, found that when a patient used a wireless device to track data, they were found to track their blood pressure more often than those who else a telephone modem device.  In this study, the median age was 61.7 years old. Here are some of the other findings:

  • Those using wireless devices recorded and engaged more frequently 
  • The number of uploads per day were higher with those using a wireless device.

Personally, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. If I had the option of tracking health data on a mobile device, or on a regular telephone, I would definitely choose the mobile device. It’s so much more convenient, and easier to remember. I don’t know if this was an option in the study, but I know with many mobile devices, you can set up push alerts. If a person gets an alert, reminding them to record certain information, I feel like it would help as well.

What I thought was most interesting was the median age — 61.7. I don’t think it would come as any surprise that someone quite a bit younger (myself) would think that mobile healthcare would help with patient engagement, especially with the younger generation. However, the fact that the participants in this study are older, I think that is what makes this study a little more monumental.  At least with the people I know that are around that age, mobile devices can be intimidating. But if they are set up with their device, shown how it works, and understand it, I think that people of all ages will start to benefit from mobile devices.

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July 15, 2013 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Health Care  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Patient Home Monitoring
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Mobile App Reimbursement

It’s only been a question of time for when insurance companies would start reimbursing companies for a mobile health application. In an article on Forbes, they talk about WellDoc being the First to Sell Mobile Prescription Therapy. The company WellDoc has gotten FDA clearance for their mobile application BlueStar.

WellDoc has started to sale BlueStar through self-insured companies, but will now have to get out there and work with doctors much like drug companies have to do. The next generation of pharma sales reps are going to be peddling mobile applications to doctors.

The key to what WellDoc is doing is their year-long randomized clinical trial to prove that its product works and doesn’t cause side effects. The question I have is how many mobile health applications are planning to go to this effort.

I was a little disappointed to find out that WellDoc’s mobile application does require a mobile coach as well. So, the mobile is an important part of the product, but they still have a human participating as well. Certainly they’re treading lightly in this new form of mobile therapy.

I love this quote from the Forbes article:

All this was new territory for pharmacies and the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs which maintains standards for exchanging pharmacy data. “Their reaction was ‘you’re like a drug, but you’re not; you’re like a device, but you’re not,’” says Bergstrom. “They realized this is where the future is going,” adds Anand Iyer, WellDoc’s president.

No doubt there’s going to be a lot of challenges that WellDoc faces as it tries to sale doctors on using this product. However, they’re right that it is the future.

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July 3, 2013 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  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
Tags:    Mobile Diabetes Management  National Council for Prescription Drug Programs  

Pain Squad App Helps Adolescent Cancer Patients

I can’t even imagine what a scary experience it would be to have cancer, let along as a child. One of the ways to treat the symptoms of cancer is to understand the pain level, and what the patient is feeling. However, that can be difficult to get a full grasp on, especially in children. If they aren’t tracking it daily, then information collected can be flawed.

Last year, an app was released in beta testing at a Canadian hospital in Toronto to help doctors understand more fully what their younger patients were feeling as they underwent cancer treatment. The app, called Pain Squad, was developed using the feedback from children and teenagers who had cancer. It involves pain surveys that have to be filled out twice daily, but involves the child and engages them.

The app features videos of celebrities from popular law enforcement shows, Rookie Blue and Flashpoint, giving motivation to kids as they do a certain amount of journals in a row, and they can be promoted to different ranks. This video does a great job of explaining the app, and shows some of the videos. They are so motivating!

I really liked this quote, from the parents of a little girl named Olivia, who was a study participant:

Filling out a paper pain journal was like homework. The Pain Squad app is interactive and the more Olivia used it, the more rewards she got. It only takes a few minutes to complete but it gave Olivia a better understanding of and more control over her pain.”

Last year, this was in some of the final stages of testing, and because of it’s success, it was set to be released in other areas in Canada, as well as outside of Canada. I’m not sure if it’s officially been released since then, but I love the idea of this. There’s only so much you can determine from asking someone to point at a smiley face on a poster board to describe their pain level (I personally never really know what to say when I’m confronted with that sign!)

This app is designed for the iPhone.

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June 26, 2013 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Apple  Health Care  iPad  iPhone  Medical Devices  mHealth  Patient Home Monitoring
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“The Kaiser Way” – Kaiser Permanente’s Approach to Mobile Healthcare

Kaiser Permanente is the healthcare provider I went to since the time I was born, until I went to college. Imagine my surprise when I headed off to school and discover that it didn’t even exist in the state I moved to. In my limited scope of knowledge, I think I thought Kaiser was the only healthcare provider out there!

Even though I’ve come to realize there is definitely more than one healthcare provider out there, I think I’ll always like Kaiser. My husband and I are back in Colorado, and are currently working to get a plan covered by Kaiser. As I’ve heard my parents talk about them, and seen some of the services offered, I’ve been impressed with what they have to offer, and how it seems like they’ve been very involved in mobile healthcare. So I wasn’t too surprised when I saw  that talks about how Kaiser has made it possible for their patient’s to connect with their doctors via email.

In the article, Bernard J. Tyson, Kaiser Permanente’s Incoming Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said of this mobile app that “It’s something our members wanted, they have it and they love it.” I think that this goes to show that Kaiser is really trying to be intune with the changing healthcare world, and what their patients wnat. Since being launched, there have been 14 million e-visits, Tyson said, and members can access these visits through a free mobile app.

Patients are able to connect with their doctor through the app by emailing them questions, making appointments, and accessing lab results. It allows patients to decide whether or not they actually need to make an appointment, as well as build a stronger relationship with their physician. Kaiser has worked hard to ensure the safety of the patients using this app, as that is definitely a big concern across the board when it comes to mHealth.

Personally, I love the idea about being able to email your physician. Back in Utah, I was overall impressed with the patient portals that were available to me, but I was disappointed that it wasn’t easier to connect with my doctors. In fact, there was one instance where I tried to get in contact with a physician for over a month, just getting the run around from her assistants, and I eventually just gave up. The doctor seemed very on top of things, but her staff was not, and I always wished I had been able to just contact her quickly and easily through a method like the one that Kaiser has in place.

I won’t go over everything that is talked about in this article, but I highly recommend reading it. It sounds like Kaiser has a lot in store for the future. Tyson mentioned that the obvious next “natural progression” is for telehealth. I really found this article to be really excited, and I can’t wait to see what Kaiser has in store. Hopefully other healthcare systems will take note and follow in their suite.

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June 24, 2013 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Health Care  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Patient Home Monitoring  Telemedicine
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