5. Now that’s a security breach: England’s entire healthcare data set uploaded to Google servers
@JuliaHCox @CLeslieMP so HES data uploaded to ‘google’s immense army of servers’ , who consented to that @hscic ?!
— Sarah Wollaston MP (@drwollastonmp) March 3, 2014
Who needs a national spy service to track your citizens when you’ve got a national health service?
HealthCare.gov hasn’t been around long enough to replace the NSA, but that’s not the case in Britain with the respective agencies there.
The National Health Service’s plan to share de-identified data with pharma companies was bad and unpopular to begin with. The UK government’s Health and Social Care Information Centre quietly announced plans to share all patient records held by the National Health Service with private companies, from insurers to pharmaceutical companies.
Continue reading here.
4.GE Healthcare app uses art and music therapy to stimulate minds of Alzheimer’s disease patients
The complexities of developing a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease as well as for other neurological conditions has led to a lot of experimentation to puzzle out how the mind works. Some of the most fascinating findings point to the power of music and art therapy not so much as a cure but as a way to stimulate and engage patients with Alzheimer’s disease. To that effect, GE Healthcare developed an iPad app that includes activities across music and art called MIND. Continue reading here.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
3. Pills are no longer enough. Patients today want info, help & rewards from pharma companies
About half of U.S. adults take prescription drugs, but according to a new Accenture survey, those drugs are only part of what consumers today expect pharmaceutical companies to provide.
Three-fourths of prescription-taking consumers say pharma companies should offer services that complement the products they sell, either directly or through a healthcare provider. The services consumers value most? More product information, financial assistance programs, rewards programs and physician referrals. Continue reading here.
2. Merck digital health arm hopes to generate big data healthcare insights
About half of U.S. adults take prescription drugs, but according to a new Accenture survey, those drugs are only part of what consumers today expect pharmaceutical companies to provide.
It’s been more than one year since Merck (NYSE: MRK) launched a digital health arm to develop big data insights in healthcare to guide therapies and develop patient-centered outcomes. CMIO and innovation officer Sachin Jain offered up a progress report detailing some of the collaborations it has forged. It’s working with electronic medical record providers, hospitals and integrated health systems. Continue reading here.
1. This 15-year-old 3D printed a case that turns an iPhone into a stethoscope & started a company
Here’s a testament to how 3D printing is making rapid prototyping more accessible to startups and entrepreneurs. Pictured here is a smartphone case designed and 3D printed by 15-year-old Suman Mulumudi, a student at Lakeside School in Seattle (where Bill Gates attended).
Mulumundi is also the CEO of Stratoscientific, a company he co-founded with his father, a cardiologist, to commercialize the case and another cardiology device he developed. Continue reading here.
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