Historic Supreme Court decisions aside, there were several other stories that MedCity News reporters covered this week, from doctors behaving badly to the multiple perspectives on population health. Check them out.
Figuring out effective ways to reduce 30-day readmissions for chronic conditions is an ongoing healthcare challenge facing hospitals as they try to avoid slashed reimbursement from CMS. Hahnemann University Hospital, a Philadelphia healthcare facility affiliated with Drexel University Medical School, made a case for using emails and text messages to reach patients on their mobile […]
Choosing the right brain injury rehabilitation program is a critical decision that can shape the future for you or your loved one.
A 3D printer to print live tissue, a therapy for tinnitus and a smartphone-enabled cervical cancer screening were among the technologies that championed the first day of the SXSW Accelerator track for digital health companies. They were selected by a judging panel representing a mix of corporate and venture investors: Stacy Feld of J&J Innovation, […]
Pager, a startup that has developed a mobile service that aims to better coordinate patients and providers between visits through a series of apps, closed its first round of funding at $10.4 million. The apps are designed for patients to get a provider to visit them in-home or at an office and starts with a […]
SocialWellth has geared up to take its approach of offering private, healthcare-focused app stores to health systems – moving beyond its current customer base of insurance companies and self-insured employers, according to a company source. The company has raised $7.5 million from a yet-to-be disclosed investor. It will also use that money to increase its […]
Emocha, a health IT startup that developed an interesting approach to tackling the challenge of medication adherence by recording video selfies, has inked a deal with Harris County’s public health department to use its technology for TB patients there. The Baltimore-based company’s remote patient management platform miDOT platform will be applied to patients who live […]
Across the nation, state-based health insurance exchanges are searching for ways to better serve their communities while making enrollment easier, more personal, and more accessible for everyone.
South Carolina mobile health startup ChartSpan Medical Technologies today said it has raised $1.7 million, bringing the total amount of capital raised to $3 million. The startup has developed a mobile patient medical record for iOS that seeks to help patients better manage their own health information. Last December, the company said its application was […]
News reports that highlight good Samaritans who successfully revived people who suffered a heart attack are the kind of feel-good stories that make us wonder if we’d be capable of keeping it together in that stressful situation. A team of developers from France and Spain with a fondness for Star Wars developed an app for […]
While mobile health technologies and companies offer great promise is reaching patients and consumers, perhaps the greatest challenge is quantifying actual success versus hype and simply touting the next app. Partners Healthcare in a blog post notes that the success of mHealth platforms is increasingly difficult to gauge or is taken from a tiny sample […]
Israeli startup MediSafe took top honors at this year’s Health 2.0 Startup Champions, impressing Silicon Valley with its mobile-based platform and reminder system to address medication adherence, the $290 billion problem that is increasingly a top priority in healthcare. The award was part of Health 2.0’s Traction, which isn’t a pre-seed contest but instead a […]
Employee assistance programs have become essential tools for organizations aiming to address mental health challenges, reduce burnout and foster healthier workplaces.
Insurance heavyweight Aetna is dropping its CarePass mobile fitness app, MobiHealthNews reported yesterday, with plans to phase out the platform by the end of this year. The reasoning was vague, but an Aetna spokesperson told MobiHealthNews in a statement that the company had “decided to make no further investments in the CarePass platform. In addition, […]
It’s well known that scores of military veterans face a difficult transition upon returning from battle zones, often manifested through mental health conditions that can lead to isolation and desperation. In an attempt to reach those veterans that are struggling to cope, a group of developers in Los Angeles is launching a free mobile app […]
Eight minutes. That’s approximately how long new doctors spend face-to-face with patients today. In those precious eight minutes, doctors have a laundry list of tasks to accomplish: convey patient’s condition, prognosis and treatment options–all while charting protected health information securely. The abbreviated visit is even more problematic for the 88 percent of adults who have […]
In the United States, there’s a primary care shortage and an uneven geographic distribution of those physicians across the country. The average wait time to see a physician in the United States, according to Merritt Hawkins, is 18.5 days. If you live in Boston, your wait could be closer to 70 days. In January, the U.S. […]
Never mind reimbursement codes and getting doctors to adopt your new technology, patients are the ones who will make or break healthcare startups, according to one entrepreneur. Homero Rivas, MD, is not only co-founder of Apps4Patients, a small startup that has designed and created several mobile phone applications for patients. He is also a Google Glass […]