healthcare

Tim Cook warns government can’t save us from climate change

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Tim Cook and Co. bring the hardware heat at The Brooklyn Academy of Music during the
Businesses need to step up to help fight climate change, per Tim Cook.
Photo: Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook made an appearance at the TIME 100 Summit in New York City today where he spoke about leadership and innovation.

Cook sat down with Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs who asked about everything from education to privacy policy. Of course, politics came up as well. While Cook refrained from talking about his conversations with Donald Trump, he did warn the crowd that some issues like global warming are too big for us to rely on the government to fix.

Apple brings veterans’ health records into 21st century

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Apple Health Records veterans
It’s a first for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Photo: Apple

Apple today confirmed that the Health Records feature on iPhone will soon be available to veterans.

The company is working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that, for the first time, U.S. veterans receiving care through the Veterans Health Administration will have access to their health records directly on their iPhone.

Apple hires famous OB-GYN to boost women’s health efforts

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christine curry
Dr. Christine Curry at her old office in Florida.
Photo: Sammy Mack/WLRN

Apple might be planning to come out with some new health features that are specifically geared toward women, based on the company’s newest big hire.

Dr. Christine Curry — an obstetrician-gynecologist that made a name for herself by treating women with the Zika virus — has reportedly been hired by Apple to bolster its women’s health projects.

Aetna’s new app lets you earn an Apple Watch by being fit

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We took Apple Watch Series 4 to the running track for the ultimate test of GPS accuracy
Apple Watch is a great tool for staying in shape.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

One of the biggest health insurance providers in the U.S. is giving customers the option to earn a free Apple Watch Series 3 by engaging in healthy activities like exercise and sleeping better.

Aetna revealed today that it is collaborating with Apple for its new app called Attain. Through the app, Aetna members will get personalized goals, be able to track their activity and get recommendations on healthy action. And if you do a good job, you’ll earn some cool rewards too.

Mango Health CEO quits to join Apple’s health team

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Mango Health
The CEO behind this medication-tracking app joined Apple.
Photo: Mango Health

Apple has made another high-profile hire that could help the company gain a stronger foothold in the healthcare space.

Former Mango Health CEO Jason Oberfest left his highly-regarded startup last month. At the time, Mango Health only named a replacement but didn’t say where Oberfest was headed to. Now we have news that he has joined Apple as a member of its health team.

Poor people should give up iPhones for healthcare, congressman says

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iPhone-7
Why buy healthcare when you can eat an iPhone?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Are you unable to afford your new health insurance premiums now that Obamacare might be going away? Well, according to Rep. Jason Chaffetz, you should trade in your iPhone.

The GOP’s replacement plan for Obamacare has been met with plenty of hate from both sides of the aisle, but in an interview this morning, Chaffetz pointed out that people just aren’t focusing on how the new law will give us all more choices.

Apple COO Jeff Williams talks child labor, improving healthcare

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The man described by Fortune as
Jeff Williams wants to save the world.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

With innovations like HealthKit and ResearchKit, Apple has been making big strides into healthcare in the past couple of years. In a new interview with Conversations with Health Care, Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams talks about Apple’s belief in the “democratization” of medicine, among other topics.

Having a hot demo at an Apple keynote comes at a cost

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Screen Shot 2015-09-10 at 10.54.02
AirStrip's servers skipped a beat after the Apple keynote.
Photo: Apple

When Apple sends its millions of followers your way, you’d better be ready!

That’s the lesson learned by mobile health developer AirStrip Technologies, which reports that it was unprepared for the stampede of digital feet which came after its Apple Watch demo at yesterday’s keynote.

“Our website was crashed within seconds,” AirStrip CEO Alan Portela said — adding that, “I have to confess, I didn’t know we were going to be right after Tim Cook.”

New Federal Rules Show The Impact of the iPhone and iPad on Healthcare

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acknolodge the success of iPhones, iPads, and other mobile devices in healthcare in new EHR rules.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges the success of iPhones, iPads, and other mobile devices in healthcare in new EHR rules.

The success of devices like the iPhone and iPad in healthcare has become so pronounced that the Department of Health And Human Services has begun to single-out the use mobile devices as part of the meaningful use requirements for electronic health records (EHR) systems. In addition to identifying mobile device use, the agency has also taken steps towards explicitly regulating mobile device security needs in the healthcare industry.

IBM Envisions Watson As a Super Smart Version of Siri On Your Smartphone

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In Watson 2.0, IBM plans to bring the supercomputer to smartphones worldwide.
In Watson 2.0, IBM plans to bring the supercomputer to smartphones worldwide.

Could IBM’s Watson replace Siri? That’s an interesting question and IBM’s answer appears to be yes. Big Blue is working to turn the supercomputing solution that made news when it beat Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter into an app that could run on a smartphone. If successful, IBM will turn Watson into a supercharged version of Apple’s digital assistant.

Waiting For FDA Approval For Humans, This iPhone Heart Monitor Is Helping Pets Instead [Video]

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AliveCor's Veterinary Heart Monitor for the iPhone helps vets diagnose heart disease in dogs, cats, and horses.
AliveCor's Veterinary Heart Monitor for the iPhone helps vets diagnose heart disease in dogs, cats, and horses.

What do you do if you’re a medical technology startup while waiting for the FDA to approve your flagship iPhone-based product?

If you’re AliveCor, you launch a veterinary version of it.

The product in question is AliveCor’s iPhone ECG heart monitor, which the company showed off nearly two years ago, at the CES in 2011. The device allows a medical professional to assess a patient’s heart rhythm, providing more data than a stethoscope or manual check of their pulse. Although the device has broad potential, it has yet to be approved by the FDA.

Doctors Love The iPhone And iPad Even Though Many Electronic Records Systems Don’t

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The iPhone and iPad are the most preferred mobile devices in healthcare.
The iPhone and iPad are the most preferred mobile devices in healthcare.

The iPhone is the most popular device among medical professionals, followed by the iPad and then Android smartphones. That’s one of the key findings in a new study that examines the relationship between electronic health records (EHR) systems, mobile technology, and how doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers use both mobile devices and EHR systems.

One of the biggest points of the survey, however, is that the vast majority of U.S. healthcare providers do not use a mobile device to access electronic records. In fact only about in one in twenty (6%) use a mobile device to access electronic records or prescribe medications using an electronic prescribing system. That’s despite the fact that almost three-quarters (72%) of providers report using mobile technology as part of their practice.

The iPad Helps Pharmaceutical Reps Influence Prescribing Practices Among Doctors

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Study shows growing number of pharmaceutical reps using iPads and having great influence with doctors as a result.
Study shows growing number of pharmaceutical reps using iPads.

We talk about the iPad’s role in healthcare pretty regularly. Many physicians and health care practices have found innovative ways to integrate the iPad into daily patient interactions. According to a new study, the pharmaceutical industry has discovered that the iPad is an excellent tool for promoting new medications and that it can influence the prescribing habits of doctors.

iPads Used To Record Health Data Deliver Significant Improvements In Cancer Care

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iPads at Duke cancer clinics lead to more accurate medical histories and symptom tracking.
iPads at Duke cancer clinics lead to more accurate medical histories and symptom tracking.

The iPad has become a fixture in health care that simplifies the lives of doctors and nurses. It turns out that the iPad can improve the quality of care patients receive if it is used as a mechanism to record a patient’s medical history and/or as a way of monitoring that patient’s progress on follow-up visits.

VA And Bon Jovi Launch Mobile App Contest To Help Homeless Vets

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Vet Reach Out is one of the finalists in the Project REACH app contest sponsored by the VA and JBJ Soul Foundation.
Vet Reach Out is one of the finalists in the Project REACH app contest sponsored by the VA and JBJ Soul Foundation.

Department of Veterans Affairs is no stranger iOS devices or to developing custom apps to help deliver key services to veterans and their families. In fact, the VA’s CIO last year said that the agency needed to become “iPad friendly” in order to effectively support the agency’s physicians, nurse, and other medical staff and an iOS pilot program was launched earlier this year.

More recently, the VA has been looking for ways that mobile technology can help homeless veterans find food, shelter, and other critical resources. To achieve that goal and raise awareness of veteran homelessness across the country (one out of six homeless adults in America is a veteran), the VA has teamed up with JBJ Soul Foundation, the non-profit charity created by music legend Jon Bon Jovi to launch an iOS/Android app contest called Project REACH.

The iPhone Is The New Doctor’s Housecall

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New trends show health-related apps are changing how patients experience healthcare.
New trends show health-related apps are changing how patients experience healthcare.

Health related iOS apps are proliferating quickly in the App Store. While the most popular health related apps tend to be focused on diet, exercise, and stress relief, there are some other fast growing trends that show how the iPhone and iPad transforming the healthcare experience for consumers.

According to MobiHealthNews, which provides an annual assessment of the market for mobile apps related to medicine, health, and fitness, three new trends are emerging that could significantly reshape our experience of healthcare.

Panasonic Hopes Its New 3.48 Pound Windows 7 Tablet Will Beat The iPad In Healthcare

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Panasonic hopes to drive the iPad out of healthcare with new 3.48 pound Windows 7 tablet.
Panasonic hopes to drive the iPad out of healthcare with its new 3.48 pound Windows 7 tablet.

Seeking to challenge the iPad’s ongoing success in the healthcare field, Panasonic has announced an updated version of Toughbook tablet for doctors offices and hospitals. The update is the latest for Toughbook product line that Panasonic introduced in 2008.

The 10-inch screen size is about the only thing in the new Toughbook CF-H2 Health tablet offers that is similar to the iPad. The Toughbook is a Windows 7 tablet powered by an Intel Core i5 processor that relies on a 320GB hard drive rather than flash memory for storage (though a 128 GB SSD is available as a custom build option). It weighs in at a whopping 1.58 kg (3.48 pounds) – more than double the weight of the new iPad.

The Toughbook, which will ship next month, will have an entry-level price of €1,898 (approximately $2,330). That’s more than four times the cost of an entry-level new iPad and just shy of six times the cost of the entry-level iPad 2.

Doctors Rate Four-Year-Old iPhone 3G As A Better Ophthalmology Tool Than A PC

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Even without a retina display, the iPhone 3G delivers a better view of a retina than a PC.
Even without a retina display, the iPhone 3G delivers a better view of a retina than a PC.

The uses for Apple’s iPhone and iPad in healthcare seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. The latest field of medicine to take note of the power that iOS devices offer doctors and healthcare providers is ophthalmology. A new study shows that the iPhone may make a better tool when reviewing certain types of ophthalmology images that a standard desktop PC workstation.

What’s truly amazing is that the iPhone used in the study was a four-year-old iPhone 3G.

How The iPhone Is Revolutionizing Nursing

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Nurses embrace iPhones/smartphones for somewhat different uses than doctors.
Nurses embrace iPhones/smartphones for somewhat different uses than doctors.

When it comes to talking about iOS devices in healthcare, most of think of doctors carrying iPads the way that they used to carry lengthy paper charts or clipboards. We think about doctors looking at X-rays and other diagnostic tests on an iPad, perhaps even using the iPad to illustrate a broken bone, illness, or surgical procedure.

Doctors, however, aren’t the only healthcare professionals to be embracing mobile technology. A new study shows that the vast majority of nurses have also embraced mobile devices, particularly the iPhone and other smartphones. It also highlights that differing needs of healthcare professionals when it comes to mobile technology.

Why Your Doctor Doesn’t Want You Using iPhone And iPad Health Apps

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Doctors are concerned about how mobile health apps and tech may empower patients
Doctors are concerned about how mobile health apps and tech may empower patients.

Doctors may be fans of the iPad as a clinical tool, but they’re not certain that Apple’s iPad, the 5000+ health and medical apps in the App Store, or other mobile technologies are safe and effective health tools for patients. That’s the gist of a report by PwC Global Healthcare. The report was based on surveys of physicians, healthcare management professionals and payers, and mobile technology users in ten countries around the world.

According to the report, just under two-thirds (64%) of healthcare providers acknowledged that mobile technologies offer potential benefits for patients, but feel that mobile health (also known as mhealth) is virgin and untested territory. As a result, the majority of doctors (73%) don’t suggest iOS or mobile health apps to their patients and some (13%) even discourage patients from using them.

Griffin Launches iPad Case Designed Specifically For Doctors

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Griffin's AirStrap Med case makes the iPad more physician-friendly
Griffin's AirStrap Med case makes the iPad more physician-friendly

The iPad has been popular with doctors and healthcare providers since it debuted two years ago. In fact, the iPad’s form factor and capabilities are almost tailor-made for many common and emerging uses in medicine like electronic health records, medical and drug reference guides, and even remote diagnosis using FaceTime.

With hospitals rolling out iPad deployments and many physicians in private practice buying them, it was only a matter of time before healthcare-specific iPad accessories hit the market. Griffin Technologies is one of the first companies to focus on making the iPad an even better fit for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals with a new case that’s designed specifically for medical environments.

The Difference Between A Mac And PC Could Kill You In Medical Imaging

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Never mind Touch ID, this could be the best way of unlocking future phones.
This brain scan is measured differently on Mac and PC.

A team of researchers have discovered that the software used to analyze images of the brain gives significantly different results depending on whether it’s used on a Mac or PC. It means the measurements gathered on one machine can be up to 15% different than those gathered on another — using exactly the same images — which is a serious issue that medical professionals and developers need to fix… fast.

New Emergency Program Uses iPhones And QR Codes To Save Lives

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Lifesquare uses QR code stickers, iPhone app to provide emergency workers with health data
Lifesquare uses QR code stickers, iPhone app to provide emergency workers with health data.

Healthcare has been a natural fit for the iPad and, to a slightly smaller extent, the iPhone. iOS devices can provide interaction with electronic records and other patient information as well as offer access to reference guides, medical images like X-rays, and even remote diagnoses via FaceTime.

A new program being tested in California’s Marin County aims to bring some of those abilities to paramedics in the field. The program, which equips paramedic teams with iPhones via a specialized QR reader app, is a joint venture with Silicon Valley startup Lifesquare. Its aim is to allow paramedics instant access to patient information using QR codes stickers.

New Program Will Deliver iPads To Family Caregivers Of Injured Veterans

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VA app to give healthcare resources to caregivers of injured veterans
VA app to give healthcare resources to caregivers of injured veterans

 

The iPad is already a big hit with the healthcare industry. A new pilot project being run by Veterans Affairs Department could encourage the iPad to be used as a longterm home care solution as well. As part of the agency’s Family Caregivers program, the VA will deploy 1,000 iPads to family members of veterans suffering from injuries and disorders associated with military deployments after 9/11.

The VA program was created to help disabled veterans remain at home with loved ones providing personal care. It already provides a range of important resources for caregivers including a monthly stipend, travel expenses for care-related activities, health-related training, counseling services, and respite care.