My subjective take on HIMSS10 is that the general consensus of attendees thought it was a great success (and personally, I want to thank those who allowed me to be involved with the educational outreach in the areas of medical banking and social media). Read »

A new sleep apnea device—the brainchild of Royal Philips Electronics and Cinterion Wireless Modules—has won the Best Embedded End-to-End Service Award, part of the GSMA's Embedded Mobile Competition. By leveraging Cinterion’s cellular machine-to-machine communication modules, the M2M solution joins mobility and reliable two-way wireless communications with advancements in sleep apnea therapy to help patients and their healthcare providers, who are faced with meeting rigorous new reporting standards. Read »

Telecom spending in healthcare is expected to increase 44 percent over next three years, from $8.6 billion to $12.4 billion. With wireless applications likely to represent two-thirds of that jump, it's not surprising that HIMSS10 would draw out the wireless industry honchos to bang the drum in support of mobile HIT. Although much of what they had to say you've heard before, it's always worth getting their take on the future of the mobile point of care. Read »

An Irish company, with offices in the U.S., Taiwan, Mexico and South Africa, has rolled out what's being touted as the first flexible circuit loop antenna, which promises over 40 percent efficiency in healthcare monitoring devices. Taoglas, which designs and manufactures reduced size VHF and UHF antennas for satellite, cellular, Wi-Fi, and multi-band markets, says its new FLA.01 antenna is a penta-band cellular antenna that is embedded inside medical devices. The buzz is that it should help medical device designers ensure that their devices achieve reliable, consistent wireless connections for transmitting patient data and meeting healthcare industry tests, such as Specific Absorption Rates (SAR) and PTCRB. Read »

With the right mix of advanced sensor technology, wireless communications and IT, diagnosing patients on the go--and monitoring patients with chronic diseases--is about to get a whole lot easier. That was the message coming out of TEDMED last week, where experts such as Eric Topol, cardiologist, director of the San Diego-based Scripps Translational Science Institute, and CMO of the West Wireless Health Institute, were predicting a wave of innovation that is expected to render obsolete numerous standard medical tools and instruments. Read »

Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (VCU Medical Center) in Richmond, Va., knows it pays to involve nursing staff in the assessment and application of health IT. By actively engaging its nurses in the planning process, VCU Medical Center has transformed workflow to much higher levels of efficiency since opening a new, state-of-the-art facility in October 2008. Read »

Telecom service providers have always targeted the healthcare industry with specialized solutions, but two specific trends are shifting attention to the telehealth and telemedicine markets in a major way: The health care industry’s need to use IT and telecom to operate more efficiently, and an aging population’s need and desire to use remote health care monitoring to promote better care for the chronically ill in their own homes. Read »

Mobile technology adds value to healthcare, but as the industry's adoption of applications that improve patient recovery and render clinical services more effective grows, we need to consider whether advances in technology pose a security threat, since information transmitted across a network should be accessible only to authorized users. Read »

The wireless industry's trade association is firing up its mHealth campaign to make better known the potential of mobile devices to improve the nation's health care system. Last week, CTIA hosted a policy forum featuring medical experts and government officials, who touted the promise of mobile health applications to drive down costs and to improve the quality of care. The forum took place as the Department of Health and Human Services struggles to define the "meaningful use" criterion attached to the $19 billion Congress appropriated for health IT initiatives in the so-called economic stimulus package. Read »

Irvine, Calif.-based American Industrial Systems (AIS) has rolled out a medically certified 8.4” and 10.4” Rugged Tablet PC for the medical industry. The company aims to keep healthcare professionals connected through the device’s integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules, which promise easy connection to wireless networks and Bluetooth devices without the need for external hardware. Read »