Digital Medicine

Health 2.0 India Is A Grand Success: Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:16:26 PST

Health 2.0 was finally in India. On 30th Jan 2012, innovations in use of technology in health and healthcare were showcased at this one day event held at New Delhi. Also held was a code-a-thon which saw 5 fantastic apps developed in 6 hours!

Listed here are some of the highlights from the event.

Publicis Healthware International used this event to launch its India presence. PHI is part of Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), the largest healthcare communications network in the world. Roberto Ascione, President of PHI showcased their most recent product, Videum.com.

Videum is a global health video portal able to globalize video assets leveraging an exclusive subtitling technology and featuring unparalleled search engine optimization. In a multilingual country like India ( with at least 30 languages spoken by more than a million people each), Videum.com promises to break this very significant barrier to health communication.Videum is a joint venture between Publicis Healthware International (PHI) and dotSUB.

Also shown at Health 2.0 was Kazemill. This innovative tool analyzes tweets to look for 6 common symptoms presented by people suffering from cold and maps them. Tool from McCann Healthcare.

Dr. Anirudh Malpani , an IVF specialist and a keen Health IT enthusiast, presented his HELP initiative, the world's largest free patient education library. You can also view their video channel here.

Ash Damle showcased his very useful MEDgle product for the audience, a personalized medical search and secure private discussion network.

Rajiv Pratap demonstrated the awesome capability of Abzooba, a unique healthcare communication product. Abzooba's Smart Health Information Platform (SHIP) is a collaborative knowledge platform that brings health providers and patients together in an interactive community. Too bad we couldn't find a video to showcase the outstanding features of Abzooba.

On show was also India's largest healthcare community, mDhil.com . Nandu Madhava, CEO, heads this innovative project which provides health information via online and mobile channels.mDhil averages 5000 video views per day and has more than 150,000 followers on Facebook. Their marketing strategies rely heavily on social media and they are now looking to expand into providing many other types of healthcare information via their varied distribution channels. Do check the mDhil Health channel on Youtube.

Kunal Sinha, CEO, HealthcareMagic.com provided his solution for improving access to healthcare. HealthcareMagic is a portal allowing live interaction between doctors and patients over the internet and on the phone, creating an integrated comparison-shopping environment for health-related products and services.

Other interesting presentations included:

The Cheetah Development Project by Dr. Mark Ereth of Mayo Clinic, an innovative initiative where they have boosted the local economy so as to be able to provide healthcare in Tanzania.
Pharmsecure providing ways to authenticate genuine drugs and safeguard patients from fake drugs.
Innovative route to culturally sensitive ways of providing HIV Aids information by TeachAIDS
Ayurvaid for individualized sustained care across the patient's life-cycle.
Health SuperHiway, an integrated cloud based health information network.
And the most interesting talk by Mr. Anil Swarup, the architect of India's National insurance scheme, which is "light on the front-end and technology heavy back-end".

Also on display were Mediphone , a call-a-doctor service from Healthfore and some innovative eHealth solutions from Plus 91 Technologies.

Check some tweets below to see the reactions from Tweeple.

The Top 20 EMR Software Solutions

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:35:29 PST

A very useful infographic provided by Capterra, the website which specializes in comparing business software. This infographic takes a look at the most popular EMR solutions in the market ( eClinicalWorks is number one) and grades them by total number of users, target audience, followers on social media etc.

Claim Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:31:05 PST

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Ten Best TEDMED 2011 Videos And Takeaways

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:17:41 PST

TEDMED is a medical technology conference eagerly awaited by all of us. In 2011, it was held in Feb-March at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, but the videos have only recently been uploaded on YouTube.

You can watch the Top 10 videos here.

Also check out this PowerPoint about Top 10 takeaways from the TEDMED 2011 gathering:

10 TEDMED 2011 Takeaways from Luminary Labs

View more presentations from Luminary Labs

Exploring What We Don't Know at TEDMED 2011 (rwjfblogs.typepad.com)

Cisco Helping Provide Healthcare For All In India

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:39:46 PST

The vast distances and the low density of healthcare professionals require extensive use of telemedicine to enable Healthcare For All in India. Cisco, the technology and networking giant, recently (9th November, 2011) announced the launch of its Cisco healthcare solution pilot in collaboration with Government of Madhya Pradesh.

Using the telepresence solution provided by Cisco, patients in remote primary health centers will now be able to consult specialist doctors present at far away district hospitals in real time. The patients will be helped in this by the nurses and other paramedicals present at the rural setups.In total, eleven community/primary health care centres across four districts of Sehore, Datia, Gwalior, and Chhindwara will be connected to district hospitals remotely using Cisco Healthcare Solution.

Check this video for a demonstration of how the system will work:

Using Social Media For Practicing Evidence Based Medicine

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:42:48 PST

The two biggest buzzwords in medicine today are Social Media and Evidence based medicine (EBM). Social media allows people to easily share information (via blogs, twitter, Facebook etc). This information can easily reach fellow professionals. With more and more doctors using these tools to share information (evidence) they find useful, such social media platforms are becoming important information resources.

Check this Presentation on using Social Media to Promote Evidence-Based Practice : A Primer on Blogs, Wikis & Twitter by Dean Giustini et al.

Cochrane Social Media Workshop 2011

View more presentations from Dean Giustini

Five Free And Simple Google Tools For Medical Practitioners

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 09:43:42 PDT

Google is the biggest influence on the web over the past 20 years of the internet. Their “Do No Evil” ‘philosophy’ has given us a whole stable of free and easy to use tools which can make any work easier and better. All of us use the Google Search Engine Homepage everyday! There is lots more a doctor can do with Google tools. Let’s take a look at Five Free And Simple Google Tools For Medical Practitioners.

1) Gmail

This is the most useful service ever by Google, barring Google Search. And you can have more of it! You can use Gmail to create 2 (or more) free accounts. So you can create one personal and another public email address for your medical practice. Eg: one can be dr.abc@gmail.com and another neuromumbai911@gmail.com. By going to settings, you can then set to import your other email account into your primary gmail account. You can enable ‘multiple inboxes’ via Labs subtab, allowing you to receive neatly segmented mails. Check this video.

You can reply by your choice of account, enabling you to keep your personal and professional emails separated by different accounts, yet accessible and answerable from one single account.

Here’s a detailed screenshot enhanced post about this feature on Make Tech easier.

2) Google Alerts

If there are certain terms you want to follow on Google and receive any new mentions directly to your email inbox, create a Google Alert. Fill in the term you need to follow, like ‘Cardiology India news’ or ‘neelesh bhandari’ and set the frequency/type of alerts required. Stay updated via email.

3) Google Maps

Maps and Places allow you to mark your professional locations and timings on a map. Link this marked map within all your emails. Henceforth all patients you email will see how to reach you easily via a map, with additional info about consultation hours that you might want to share.

4) Google Scholar

You don’t need to always go to Pubmed for all your medical searches. Head to Google Scholar and do any advanced search (author, type, publication year and lots more filters). You will get More Results. You will search more medical databases. Try it.

5) Youtube Channel

Online videos are the most important medical info resource. But you don’t need to create videos to run a medical educational channel for your patients. Just create a channel by free login and start marking as favorite the best medical education videos you think might help your patients. Set channel settings to demonstrate your video favorites. Thus, you have a full blown video channel. Zero cost!

We are planning another post on 5 Advanced And Free Google tools For Medical Practitioners. If you want to read that soon, Share This.

If you need help with any of the above 5 tools, comment below.

(cross-posted on Technology For Doctors )

5 Useful and Free Android Medical Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 11:47:15 PDT

Use of Smartphones in healthcare is the latest intersection of Technology and Medicine. These inexpensive handheld computing devices allow users to download third party applications (apps) which can perform specialized tasks. Most Smartphones run on either the Apple iPhone’s iOS or the Android OS and there are literally tens of thousands of medical apps available for either of these operating systems.

Clinical care is information intensive and some of the most commonly used mobile applications by physicians are for medical reference. By providing the latest evidence based medicine updates at the point-of-care, Smartphones are proving to be a very important tool for improving quality of healthcare.Here's a list of Top 5 Free Medical Reference Apps For Android Smartphones which physicians can use everyday for clinical purposes.

1) Medscape : Medscape is a popular web resource for physicians and other health professionals. This is a must have application which provides offline access to clinical reference tools like Drug Reference, Disease & Condition Reference and Treatment Guide, Procedures Reference, Tables & Protocols Reference and Drug Interaction Checker.

2) Skyscape Medical Resources : Founded by a group of Indian innovators, Skyscape is a worldwide leading service for providing trusted medical information via mobile devices. The Skyscape portal provides a number of free as well as paid medical apps for almost all specialties.

3) Epocrates : Epocrates is a publisher of mobile device software applications, designed to provide information about drugs to doctors and other health care professionals. The Epocrates application is the most popular of its kind providing a huge amount of information about pharmaceuticals. Regular use of this app can definitely help reduce errors in drug prescriptions.

4) PubMed Mobile : An uber useful app by the National Library of Medicine, PubMed Mobile allows the user to search its database with over 21 million citations for articles and journals, save articles and searches, view abstracts, and export selected abstracts and citations for future use. NLM also provides a number of other mobile optimized tools and apps. Check the NLM Mobile Gallery here.

5) WebMD : WebMD is the leading health information portal of the United States. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Clark and Pavan Nigam as Healthscape, later Healtheon, and then acquired WebMD in 1999 to form Healtheon/WebMD. The free app provides access to information regarding health and health care, including a symptom checklist, pharmacy information and drugs information.

This article has been cross-posted on Technology For Doctors blog.

How WWW Has Changed Healthcare Over 20 Years

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 05:48:07 PDT

Nothing has overwhelmed the world as quickly as the WWW. Twenty years ago (on 6th august, 1991) the World Wide Web was thrown open for the public ( Thanks to Tim Berners-Lee). Since then, billions of people have joined each other online and converted this into a social platform like no other.

The web has also changed the way healthcare is practiced and delivered. Check this video by Life Healthcare Agency

Also See:

NHS Direct plans to use Facebook to provide medical advice .
How the internet is changing healthcare.
Sixty-one percent of all U.S. adults have used the Internet to look for health or medical information
The Internet's impact on healthcare

Medical Simulations in Emergency Medicine : Study

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 03:50:35 PDT

Using virtual reality or simulations in medical training can be a wonderful tool. Especially in medical situations which are difficult to replicate with possibilities of making errors during training. A recent prospective observational study on use of virtual simulation technology in emergency medicine is revealing of the open acceptance of such tools by young medical professionals.

Twenty seven EM residents of the Ohio State University completed mock oral examinations in a traditional format, conducted face to face with a faculty examiner. All residents were invited to participate in a similar case scenario conducted via Second Life for this study. The examinee managed the case while acting as the physician avatar and communicated via headset and microphone from a remote computer with a faculty examiner who acted as the patient avatar. Participants were surveyed regarding their experience with the traditional and virtual formats using a Likert scale.

None of the examinees had used SL previously. SL proved easy for examinees to log into (92.6%) and navigate (96.3%). All felt comfortable communicating with the examiner via remote computer. Most examinees thought the SL encounter was realistic (92.6%), and many found it more realistic than the traditional format (70.3%). All examinees felt that the virtual examination was fair, objective, and conducted efficiently. A majority preferred to take oral examinations via SL over the traditional format and expressed interest in using SL for other educational experiences (66.6 and 92.6%, respectively).

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2011; 18:559–562 © 2011 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Do check out eMedsimulations , an innovative medical eLearning company from Rhode Island with development center in Mumbai, India.

Also See:

Learning in a Virtual World: Experience With Using Second Life for Medical Education

The results of this pilot suggest that virtual worlds offer the potential of a new medical education pedagogy to enhance learning outcomes beyond that provided by more traditional online or face-to-face postgraduate professional development activities.

Global Survey of mHealth Initiatives: W.H.O Report

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:04:24 PDT

The World Health Organizations (WHO) recently released the findings of a comprehensive survey on the state of mHealth usage in 112 member states. For the purposes of the survey, the Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe) defined mHealth or mobile health as medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other wireless devices.

The survey results highlight that the dominant form of mHealth today is characterized by small-scale pilot projects that address single issues in information sharing and access. A vast majority (83%) reported at least one mHealth initiative in their country. Of this 83%, most Member States reported implementing four or more types of mHealth initiatives.

The four most frequently reported mHealth initiatives were: health call centres (59%), emergency toll-free telephone services (55%), managing emergencies and disasters (54%), and mobile telemedicine (49%). The least frequently reported mHealth initiatives were health surveys (26%), surveillance (26%), awareness raising (23%), and decision support systems (19%).

The study identified 6 major types of mHealth initiatives:

1) Communication between individuals and health services

• Health call centres/Health care telephone help line

The African, Americas and Eastern Mediterranean Regions reported health call centres/ health care telephone help lines that address specific health issues such as HIV/AIDS, H1N1, reproductive health/family planning, pandemics, and drug abuse.

• Emergency toll-free telephone services

The South-East Asia Region reported the highest percentage of emergency toll-free telephone services (88%).

2) Communication between health services and individuals

• Treatment compliance

Approximately one third of responding Member States across all WHO regions reported conducting treatment compliance initiatives.

• Appointment reminders

Countries in the high-income group reported the largest proportion of appointment reminder initiatives (71%). The majority of these initiatives were established (42%) using various functionalities including voice, SMS, and the Internet.

• Community mobilization

SMS was the primary method of communication used in the initiatives. The Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, and South-East Asia Regions reported the highest adoption for community mobilization and health promotion.

• Awareness raising over health issues

Awareness raising initiatives showed relatively low levels of uptake across WHO regions, though the Eastern Mediterranean (28%), European (28%) and Americas (25%) Regions reported using this initiative the most. Main health topics for these initiatives were women’s health, drug and alcohol abuse, smoking cessation, and HIV/AIDS.

3) Consultation between health care professionals

• Mobile telemedicine

The Americas (75%), European (64%) and South-East Asia (62%) Regions reported high rates of adoption of mobile telemedicine initiatives, though a large proportion of these initiatives were informal or in the pilot phase.

4) Intersectoral communication in emergencies

• Emergencies

The use of mobile devices for emergency communications was one of the most frequently reported initiatives across all WHO regions. The African, South-East Asia, and Americas Regions, have the highest levels of adoption at 48%, 75%, and 67% respectively.

5) Health monitoring and surveillance

• Surveillance

mHealth surveillance activity is more prevalent in countries in the low-income (40%) and lower-middle income groups (27%) than those in the higher-income groups.

• Patient monitoring

Patient monitoring initiatives were most prevalent in the European Region (47%), followed by the Region of the Americas (33%). Countries in the high-income group reported the highest levels of activity in this area (58%).

6) Access to information for health care professionals at point of care

• Information and decision support systems

The South-East Asia (62%) and Americas (58%) Regions had the highest proportion of Member States with information initiatives. There is low global uptake of mobile decision support systems within WHO regions; no region reported adoption of over 25%.

• Patient records

The level of adoption of mobile patient records was moderate across all WHO regions and World Bank income groups.

Competing health system priorities was consistently rated as the greatest barrier to mHealth adoption by responding countries

One Indian mHealth initiative merits special mention. mDhil is a health promotion organization launched in India with a for-profit business model. For 1 rupee a day, consumers receive to their mobile phone three health messages created by registered nurses and physicians on topics such as weight management, sexual health, and H1N1. At the end of 2009, mDhil had 150 000 paid subscribers, and closed a ‘series A financing round’ with a venture capital firm. mDhil sent out 1 million public health SMS messages by the end of 2010

You can Download the report here:

http://www.who.int/entity/goe/publications/goe_mhealth_web.pdf

Doctors' Use of Email and Social Media : Guidelines

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Thu, 26 May 2011 23:27:59 PDT

Tens of Thousands of Indian doctors are using the internet, efficiently and otherwise. From search rankings to blogs and community building to branding, the internet has brought up new ways to communicating and researching. Here are the links to a few helpful guidelines to help doctors navigate the online world.

Doctor-Patient Email Communications is a growing trend and hard to underestimate. Very often, physicians are unsure of the limits and liabilities of conducting medical communication via email. Luckily the American Medical association has long back issued a set of practical guidelines to follow

Social Media is now being widely used by doctors as well as patients. All doctors even remotely on social media face many ethical and moral questions regarding online physician-patient relationships. Recently, the AMA posted some guidelines for Doctors use of social media tools in a professional capacity. Even the Australian and New Zealand Medical Associations have come out with their combined effort on this dilemma. Here’s the link to the Physician Social Media Guidebook (a 14 page pdf you can download/ view online). It is one of the most practical and useful guide of its kind online.

Doing More With EMRs: What Are The Top Reasons For Failure?

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Tue, 24 May 2011 03:35:36 PDT

Electronic Medical Records hold a lot of promise. When used well, EMRs decrease drug errors, streamline work flow, assist in clinical decisions and allow efficient accounting. At the same time, EMRs chosen without proper thought and assessment can cause long term pains. The really restrictive EMRs won't even let you shift medical data elsewhere and healthcare providers maybe stuck with outdated EMRs soon after buying them.

EMR failures are most often a cause of one or more of the following four reasons

Technical EMR implementation failures, because of issues with hardware/ software combination or wireless connectivity issues;
Financial failures, where the expected EMR ROI wasn’t realized, or the costs were significantly more than expected;
Software incompatibility issues, where the EMR system didn’t interface with an existing medical practice management system; and
People-related issues, where some physicians or staff members avoid training or simply refuse to use the EMR system.

Making an EMR work for a healthcare provider needs work before, during and after installation of an EMR system. When choosing an EMR system, Ignore the bells and whistles and Look at the nuts and bolts.

The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Healthcare '2011

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Mon, 16 May 2011 08:52:45 PDT

Here's a list of 10 most innovative companies in health care ( as per Fast Company), working to provide simple but effective technology solutions in healthcare.

1) Epocrates

For creating software that gives doctors and nurses instant information on drug-to-drug interactions, treatment recommendations, and more on their mobile devices or laptops.

2) SynCardia Systems

For giving mobility to artificial-heart recipients. Syncardia makes the world's only FDA-approved completely artificial heart. During a ten-year study for the FDA, 79 percent of patients successfully lived on the man-made heart until receiving a human heart transplant.

3) Voxiva

For developing mobile apps that coach users through everything from smoking cessation to diabetes management. The company recently worked with the U.S. government to launch Text4Baby, a mobile education program for pregnant women, and its work in poor countries like Rwanda has been a lifeline.

4) Cleveland Clinic

For rethinking the entire hospital experience, from the buildings to the hospital gown, with an eye to delivering a better patient experience. Ombudsman complaints dropped over 40% last year (versus 2009), patient satisfaction scores have gone up, and medical outcomes have been better across the board.

5) SafePoint

For providing a solution for one of the most intractable global health care issues: reused syringes, which render most injections in India, Pakistan, and Africa--and a growing number in the U.S.--unsafe and sometimes fatal. Inventor Marc Koska's low-cost syringe can't be reused--one use, it locks in place. Now, after eight years in the marketplace, Koska has licensing agreements with 14 countries and SafePoint's global awareness campaigns have reached over 500 million people.

6) Envoy Medical

For creating the first FDA-approved surgically implanted hearing system to address hearing loss caused by aging, noise and viral infections. Placed under the skin behind the ear, the Envoy device comprises a sound processor, sensor, and driver that convert vibrations in the ear into electrical signals that are processed so they're perceived as sound.

7) GE

For promising to revolutionize diagnosis with the Vscan, a mobile, pocket-size ultrasound machine the size of an iPod, connected to short wand. It works just like the bulky conventional ultrasound machine, providing an instant visual image (in color or black and white) inside the body, beyond a patient's vital signs.

8) PharmaSecure

For coming up with cost-effective protection against counterfeit drugs, which are especially prevalent in developing nations. Each individual drug package is stamped with a unique code and phone number. Consumers submit the code via text message, and PharmaSecure confirms the drug's authenticity. The service launched last year and is currently being used in India, where the government has moved to mandate the technology.

9) Neurovigil

For building a database of brainwave activity to help researchers recognize disease patterns in people affected by neural or nervous system maladies. The company's iBrain headband, worn at night, uses wireless electrodes to capture brainwaves. NeuroVigil's software interprets the data to produce a map of activity during sleep that's richer than anything previously available.

10) Second Sight Medical Products

For its ground-breaking retinal-implant technology, which recently hit the European market. FDA approval is pending.

You can also see the last year's list:

Top 10 Innovative Companies in Healthcare 2010

Indian Medical Association Plans Programs to Make Members Tech Savvy

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 06 May 2011 06:02:17 PDT

The potential of improving Healthcare quality by proper use of technology is immense.Recent advances in information technology offer clinicians valuable new tools to support the medical management of patients. HIT has the potential to enable a dramatic transformation in the delivery of health care, making it safer, more effective, and more efficient.

The national unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has decided to make its two lakh members across the country, especially senior medical practitioners, more tech savvy. The National vice-president of IMA, Dr Devendra Shirole says,“Short contact programs of four days will be organized at all local branches of the IMA. Doctors will be trained on how to use information technology for the betterment of medical profession and patents’ data collection.” He said the doctors will be also trained on using e-books in their daily practice.

The IMA will launch this project initially in Maharashtra and the inauguration will take place in Mumbai. Groups, formed for research purposes, will use information technology to study diseases and viruses.To undertake this vast project, talks are on with software companies to provide trainings and technical support, as well as help IMA build web pages for the same.

Also See:

Impact of Use of Healthcare Information Technology on Environment

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Thu, 05 May 2011 20:55:42 PDT

Optimum use of technology in healthcare can work wonders on many parameters. It improves patient safety. It streamlines use of hospital resources. It betters regulatory compliance. Patient satisfaction and physician efficiency is increased.But there's another parameter which has never been measured before : Impact of use of healthcare information technology on environment.

An analysis by Kaiser Permanente shows that use of health information technology can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and produce other important environmental savings.The analysis found that comprehensive use of health IT by Kaiser Permanente:

Avoided the use of 1,044 tons of paper for medical charts annually
Eliminated up to 92,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions by replacing face-to-face patient visits (and the associated travel) with virtual visits
Avoided 7,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions by filling prescriptions online
Reduced the use of toxic chemicals, such as silver nitrate and hydroquinone, by 33.3 tons by digitizing and archiving X-ray images and other scans
Resulted in a positive net effect on the environment despite increased energy use and additional waste from the use of personal computer

Though paper based records are legally still required in India (for 5 to 15 years, depending on type of record and location of institution), the numerous benefits of health IT and use of electronic medical records by hospitals and physicians cannot be ignored.
Also See:

Using EMRs to improve Efficiency : Video

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:38:51 PDT

Using Electronic Medical records in managing medical practices provides a number of benefits, especially in smaller practices where it is much easier to introduce. A few of these benefits include efficient and portable patient care management, lesser errors and improved patient safety.

See how one private practice made the change to electronic medical records and hear how the new technology has changed the office's workflow and staffing levels.

Automatic Analysis of Medical Images from Microsoft Research

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 02:32:58 PDT

Analysis of medical images is a very useful tool in modern medicine. With advent of Artificial Intelligence and Evidence Based Medicine, automatic analysis of medical images promises significant advantages in reducing diagnostic errors and increasing speed of diagnosis.

The 'Inner eye Project' by Microsoft Research is an extraordinary project which aims to extract semantic information from images. This demo shows how automatic anatomic recognition algorithms can be used in Radiology to decrease the information overload for physicians and specialists.

Furthur, it can be used for image analysis and comparison with large medical images database.

Microsoft Research is now working on extending the algorithms to allow it to pinpoint exact diseases and pathologies within the organs.This technology has potential for use in automatic diagnosis, personalized medicine and computer-assisted surgical intervention, to name a few.
Now lets just wait for something similar in Histopathology.

Understanding the Cancer Process

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:47:35 PST

Another Interesting TEDMED 2010 Video.

Danny Hillis is an inventor, scientist, author and engineer. While completing his doctorate at MIT, he pioneered the concept of parallel computers that is now the basis for most supercomputers, as well as the RAID disk array technology used to store large databases. He holds over 100 U.S. patents, covering parallel computers, disk arrays, forgery prevention methods, and various electronic and mechanical devices

Shopping for Your Body: Mobile app for Plastic Surgery

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:30:40 PST

Theres an app to shop for Plastic Surgery. Check the surgeons in your vicinity, check the procedures you want done, check the appointment time: and You have planned your plastic surgery.

Approved by the iPhone App store and designed for Dr. Kaplan & Dr. Boudreaux, BuildMyBod is now available for cosmetic surgeons to subscribe to the database and upload their practice data. Consumers can download the free app at the iPhone App Store. As more surgeons upload their data, the app will allow consumers to search for cosmetic surgeons by zip code and review different procedures by gender with pricing information that includes the total costs – doctors fees, operating room costs, anesthesia costs, implants, etc.

This is the power of mobile apps. They do one thing and they do it well.

Training in Advanced eHealth Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:24:36 PST

The widespread use of EHR is being held back by one simple but profound obstacle, Interoperability.It is important to follow certain global standards, so that the true benefits of Electronic health records can be recieved. The standards issued by Health Level Seven regarding the communication and architecture of health records are therefore vital.

Digital MedCom Solutions, in collaboration with HCIT Consultant , provides Personalized Consultations and Trainings to software industry and healthcare organizations in all things HL7.They provide trainings to software companies and large Corporate Hospitals in a number of health plus technology related issues, thus ensuring best eHealth practices and maximum benefits to all.

Their Popular Training courses include the whole gambit of eHealth, viz:
Generic

Healthcare IT
HL7
DICOM
EMRs
EHRs
Others

Customized

Specific Applications
Specific Processes
‘Train the Trainer’ Processes

They can be contacted on info@digmed.in
You could also simply fill the Contact Form below.

How iPhones and iPads Will Revolutionize Healthcare

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:39:26 PST

iPhones and iPads are increasingly prevalent in health care space.Medical imagery used for diagnosis can now be seamlessly integrated with portable Viewer apps . This easily sets up the Radiologists and Pathologists to be the change leaders to push for in time-high Quality devices which can allow them to consult from anywhere in the world, for anyone in the world. Thus the redundancy of Physical presence at a diagnostic center for such consultants. Communications technology has revolutionized the fundamental practice of medicine by providing faster healthcare , which can only be enriched by more data.

One such app,Mobile MIM displays full-resolution medical images, like CT, MR, or X-rays, with easy-to-use image controls such as window/level, zoom, and pan.

Mobile MIM is currently available in the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India.

In US, it is being thwarted by the FDA. This decision is based on the fact that

your device has a new indication for displaying medical images for diagnostic use on a mobile/portable device…that alters the diagnostic effect, impacting safety and effectiveness, and is therefore a new intended use.Furthermore, your device has new technological characteristics that could adversely affect safety and effectiveness and raise new types of safety and effectiveness questions…< unquote>

FDA will soon have to reconsider their positions as Tele-diagnosis becomes mainstream.

No 'Waste Paper Basket Diagnosis' Anymore: Joe DeRisi solves medical mysteries |

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:09:35 PST

Joseph DeRisi is a molecular biologist and biochemist, on the hunt for the genomic basis of illness. His lab at UCSF is focused on the cause of malaria, and he's also poked into SARS, avian flu and other new diseases as they crop up. His approach combines scientific rigor with a nerd's boundary-breaking enthusiasm for new techniques -- one of the qualities that helped him win a MacArthur "genius" grant in 2004. A self-confessed computer geek, DeRisi designed and programmed a groundbreaking tool for finding (and fighting) viruses -- the ViroChip, a DNA microarray that test for the presence of all known viruses in one step.

Joe DeRisi solves medical mysteries | Video on TED.com

5 Trends Which Will determine the Future of Healthcare ecoSystems.

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 11:29:25 PST

A new report on www.csc.com looks at the 5 trends they believe will shape the future of healthcare ecoSystems. Increasing use of collaborative tools, better data analysis and improved clinical practices will change the current business models for providing healthcare.

1) E-Power to the Patient -- Patients take on a larger, more active role in managing their wellness and health. In this new world, the patient is in charge of his or her care management on a daily basis, with “shared care” between patient and provider; the patient and primary care provider lth and wellness plan together and pull in resources as needed.

2) Earlier Detection -- Earlier detection maximizes options for successful treatment, leading to a speedier return to good health. Detection starts with the patient – a person knows when something is not right health-wise. Now armed with a library of medical content written especially for nonclinical professionals, many people start on the Internet with sites such as iTriage, WebMD and ADAM.

3) High-Tech Healing -- New technologies can significantly boost outcomes and quality of life.Advances in the science of medicine using technology are leading to new treatments that improve health outcomes and quality of life with remarkable and even near-bionic capabilities.

4) Resources: More, but Different -- Solving the healthcare resource puzzle requires new players and new care models. Distance monitoring devices, Tablets and apps, Evidence databases have thrown up new resources to improve healthcare quality.

5) Global Healthcare Ecosystem Emerges -- More information, more connected, leading to better care and better research. The growing number of nations turning to electronic records will gift us an abundance of data. Better connected healthcare will let us utilize collective data better.

If you believe these trends are worth watching for, you should consider joining us on Facebook.

Using Communications Technology to Provide Better Healthcare : DiagnosisONE

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 01:26:28 PST

DiagnosisONE, Inc. develops and markets Intelligent Connectivity Solutions which allows customers in the clinical and public health environments to collect data from disparate sources, apply clinical and bioterrorism rules to that data and deliver the resulting information to care providers and decision makers. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Nashua, New Hampshire.

DiagnosisONE, the clinical decision support and analytics firm, has announced that Greenway Medical Technologies has selected the company to provide clinical decision support for its EHR deployments. Through this relationship, Greenway will now seamlessly integrate DiagnosisONE’s CDS solutions into its ONC-ATCB-certified PrimeSUITE 2011 EHR solution to deliver real-time, patient-specific alerts at the point of care. The collaboration will enable customers to more easily satisfy the CDS requirements necessary for demonstrating Meaningful Use.

Read more at www.healthcareitnews.com

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Using Communications Technology to Provide Better Healthcare : DiagnosisONE