InstaMD Headset’s Failed IndieGogo Campaign

I was really interested to watch and see how the InstaMD IndieGogo campaign would do. Here’s their video preview of the product:

I think the trend of making vital signs tracking easy is an important one. Although, I wasn’t sold on the use of an existing stethoscope with a headset being the modality that would be found interesting by users. The problem is that most patients don’t just have a stethoscope laying around the house. So, you have to buy the stethoscope and the InstaMD headset. Plus, those two items together with your mobile device feels quite cumbersome.

Considering the campaign only got 9 funders of their project reaching $546 raised, I have a feeling many others saw it the same way I did.

While InstaMD wasn’t a success on IndieGogo (and maybe they’ll find success outside of that platform), I think that much of their thinking is correct. We’re going to want to track our vital signs in a really simple, effective way. So, I guess it’s fair to say that I’m bearish on InstaMD’s technology, but I’m bullish on the future of personal health monitoring and personal health data tracking.

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June 25, 2014 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  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
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Turn Any Stethoscope Into a mHealth Device

I was intrigued by a mHealth startup company called InstaMD that’s Launching at TiECon today. Here’s a short description and video of the product.

The InstaMD Multi-Use Headset is easily attachable to any stethoscope and provides users with the ability to record heart, lung or GI sounds, which can then be uploaded directly to the InstaMD provided web and mobile app. Users with access to the InstaMD web and mobile app can record and archive their audio files and, if desired, share their information with their medical provider in real-time. For the first time, convenient audio and video health monitoring is available to consumers through any computer or smart mobile device. In essence, InstaMD’s Multi-Use Headset is making advanced health monitoring more convenient and cost-
effective than ever before.

I think it’s a pretty interesting use of the traditional stethoscope. I’d be interested to see it in action. What isn’t clear to me is whether InstaMD wants to be in the device space or whether they want to be in the Telemedicine space. It would be interesting to learn what their long term goal is for the company.

Ont thing that is an issue for this product is that I don’t know many patients who just have a stethoscope laying around at home. Usually the doctor is the one with the stethoscope and not the patient. It’s not like the thermometer where everyone has one already. That’s a barrier to adoption that I think will be an issue. I think they’ll have to sell the stethoscope with the headset.

If this interest you, check out their Indiegogo campaign.

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May 15, 2014 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  Mobile Health Care  Telemedicine
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Stethoscope Replaced by USB Cable

I saw this tweet and it illustrated the shift to technology that’s happening in healthcare really well. It even has a picture that’s definitely worth 1000 words.

I’m sure this idea horrifies many doctors. However, Dr. Goh is absolutely right that power management and batter tech do need to catch up with the rest of technology. From many of the technologies I’ve seen in that space, I think we’re close to getting there. Mobile health definitely won’t reach its potential without some advancements in battery tech.

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July 16, 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  mHealth  Mobile Health Care
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