Wearables are on the rise again, despite sagging sales and stock prices for Apple Watch, Fitbit, and others in 2016. And now there’s a new digital health tool in town: hearables. As we mentioned in our post, What’s to Come for Health Care in 2018, this emerging technology ranges from Bluetooth-connected wireless earbuds to voice-activated devices that improve hearing and more.Read More
A lot can change in a year. That’s especially true in health care. Last December in our annual predictions post, we said that wearables had hit a rough patch as the industry struggled with what to do with all that data. Fast-forward a year: “Today, Apple Watch is poised to become the world’s best selling wearable. And, the market is quickly diversifying as hearables (once again led by Apple) and clinical wearables gain importance,” reported health care technology news site HIT Consultant. (Hearables, by the way, are Bluetooth-connected, wireless earbuds and headphones that can improve hearing loss and act as voice-activated assistants, among other things.)Read More
Patients who do not take their medication or follow through on doctor-prescribed treatments are a common – and costly – problem. A recent study published in the American Journal of Managed Care examined more than 857,000 patients mostly being treated for chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. The patients were undergoing more than 1.2 million distinct therapies.Read More
Exciting changes are underway for technology in health care. In our post about what to expect in 2017 we touched on many key trends, but one particular emerging technology deserves a closer look: artificial intelligence (AI).
The alarm on your smartphone buzzes next to your bed. You get up, check your FitBit to see how many hours of sleep you logged, then pull up your calendar on your Apple watch. “Alexa, what’s today’s weather report?” you ask your Bluetooth speaker. As you’re using your daily meditation app, you get a FaceTime call from your daughter in college. All this technology is great, right? So easy, so useful, so … harmful?Read More
In the first half of 2016 alone, there were 263 health data breaches, reports Healthcare IT News. The number of individuals affected by a protected health information breach skyrocketed from less than 600,000 in 2010 to just under 112 million in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Protected health information (PHI) is a prime target for hackers and cyber criminals because in many cases it is easier to steal than credit card data or financial records. It’s also far more valuable, since health records contain all of a patient’s personal, medical, and financial data. Are you doing enough to protect yourself, your practice, and your patients?Read More
