News Clips

Google to Create Blockchain Style System for Healthcare to Track Patient Data

Gautham | News BTC | March 11, 2017

Ever since Bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology became popular, many businesses are trying to find uses for it in their operations. Alphabet, Google’s spin-off holding company is also one such company working on creating a “blockchain-style” system for the healthcare industry. Alphabet’s DeepMind Health has announced its plans to use a distributed ledger-like system to keep tabs on how every bit of patient data is being used. The blockchain like tool goes by the name – Verifiable Data Audit which will be released sometime later this year...

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Boston Scientific’s Connected Patient Challenge: Big Data Takes Center Stage

Brad Perriello | Mass Device | March 10, 2017

Big data, artificial intelligence and patient-engagement technologies were among the systems featured at yesterday’s Connected Patient Challenge hosted by Boston Scientific at Google’s Cambridge, Mass. facility. The Shark Tank–style event featured 6 companies competing for a chance to work with Boston Scientific to develop their proposed products or systems...

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ClinCapture Launches Breakthrough Electronic Data Capture Product

Press Release | ClinCapture | March 10, 2017

On March 29, 2017 ClinCapture, a leading provider of EDC (Electronic Data Capture) software, will launch its newest product, a premium offering called Captivate. The company plans to celebrate the product’s debut during an open house event at their new office in the hip Polk Street neighborhood. Captivate will offer all of the advanced features of ClinCapture and more. New platform features include...

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DHS-Developed Krona Software Powers Humanitarian Project

Tammy Waitt | American Security Today | March 10, 2017

Software originally developed at the at the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) to sequence DNA for biodefense is now being used by Microsoft to sequence mosquito DNA in the fight against disease. Developed by the NBACC’s National Bioforensic Analysis Center Genomics Team for bioforensics applications, Krona is a unique visualization tool that enables users to quickly analyze massive quantities of data – such as more than 100 million sequences of DNA in a single mosquito sample, according to Microsoft...

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Linux Foundation Chief: Businesses That Don't Use Open Source 'Will Fail'

Conner Forrest | TechRepublic | March 10, 2017

Open source took center stage at the final keynote address of the 2017 Google Cloud Next conference on Friday, where tech leaders presented on the importance of openness in tech and business. The focus on open source was highlighted in an address from Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin, who claimed that organizations that "don't harvest the shared innovation" of open source "will fail." Open is the new economic norm in tech and business, Zemlin said, as "all of us are smarter than any one of us"...

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To Your Health Deadly Fungal Infection That Doctors Have Been Fearing Now Reported in U.S.

Lena H. Sun | Washington Post | March 10, 2017

Nearly three dozen people in the United States have been diagnosed with a deadly and highly drug-resistant fungal infection since federal health officials first warned U.S. clinicians last June to be on the lookout for the emerging pathogen that has been spreading around the world. The fungus, a strain of a kind of yeast known as Candida auris, has been reported in a dozen countries on five continents starting in 2009, when it was found in an ear infection in a patient in Japan. Since then, the fungus has been reported in Colombia, India, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Pakistan, South Korea, Venezuela and the United Kingdom...

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What Hospitals Waste

Marshall Allen | Pro Publica | March 9, 2017

Just outside Portland, Maine, there’s a 15,000-square-foot warehouse that’s packed with reasons the U.S. health care system costs so much: Shelves climb floor to ceiling, stacked with tubs overflowing with unopened packages of syringes, diabetes supplies and shiny surgical instruments that run hundreds of dollars apiece. There are boxes of IV fluids and bags of ostomy supplies and kits with everything you’d need to perform an obstetrics surgery...

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Angular vs. React: An Epic Battle for Developer Mind Share

Peter Wayner | Info World | March 9, 2017

When the boss says it’s time to pour data into the screens of a bazillion visitors to your website, you have dozens of options for getting up and running fast. In the old days, most work was done on the server, but today much of the heavy lifting has been pushed to the client, making for a zippier, more interactive experience, because the client often has cycles to spare. There are a number of tools for client-side code that shoulder the job of laying out the data and interacting with the user. Two of the latest leading contenders are Angular and React, a pair of open source projects from Google and Facebook, respectively...

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Connected Tech Is Just the Thing for the NHS

Martin Barrow | Raconteur | March 9, 2017

Healthcare systems all over the world are struggling with two fundamental concerns – how to afford the rising cost of delivering care and how to integrate ever-changing new technologies? These twin challenges are intrinsically connected, for emerging technologies offer the promise of making care more affordable as well as more effective. The rewards for successful implementation will be significant, for patients as well as for those responsible for the sustainability of healthcare systems. In healthcare, the internet of things (IoT) is changing the way we think about looking after people. At the heart of this technological revolution is a focus on connectivity. Drug discovery and greater understanding of disease are critical.

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Allscripts, Cerner, Epic Signal More Open EHRs Ahead

Tom Sullivan | Healthcare IT News | March 9, 2017

Top executives at three electronic health record companies — Allscripts, Cerner and Epic — revealed that they're working to make their EHRs more open. That means embracing APIs as a means to enable third-parties to write software and apps that run on their platforms... Allscripts CEO Paul Black said publishing APIs that third parties can use to create apps for its platform "is a big deal" and, in fact, the company has some 5,000 developers certified to do just that: Some 2 billion API data exchanges have been conducted on its platform since 2013...

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Opinion: How a Few Costly EHRs Could Harm the Healthcare System

Erin Dietsche | Becker's Health IT & CIO Review | March 9, 2017

In a recent blog post, Medsphere President and CEO Irv Lichtenwald outlined his thoughts on how EHRs' prices affect the larger healthcare system. A CNN Money article from last September found healthcare costs increased more in August 2016 than in any other month since 1984. The reason behind the rising costs is, as Mr. Lichtenwald wrote, complex. But technology is largely contributing to such increases...

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AHIP Speakers: Soaring Drug Prices Reach Crisis Stage

Ryan Basen | MedPage Today | March 9, 2017

On the same day that President Trump met with Democratic leaders to discuss controlling prescription drug costs, physician advocates and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) debated and vented about drug costs at the America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) National Health Policy Conference. "The system is broken right now," Marilyn Tavenner, AHIP's CEO and former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said Wednesday...

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Homeland Security Open Sources Software to Power Humanitarian Projects

Press Release | U.S. Department of Homeland Security | March 9, 2017

Software originally developed at the at the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) to sequence DNA for biodefense is now being used by Microsoft to sequence mosquito DNA in the fight against disease. Developed by the NBACC’s National Bioforensic Analysis Center Genomics Team for bioforensics applications, Krona is a unique visualization tool that enables users to quickly analyze massive quantities of data – such as more than 100 million sequences of DNA in a single mosquito sample, according to Microsoft...

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OSEHRA Summit 2017 - Abstracts Due March 15

Press Release | OSEHRA | March 7, 2017

Planning for our 6th Annual Summit, Succeeding with the new Federal Open Source Policy, is well underway! A robust schedule is planned again this year, and the Program Committee is looking forward to receiving an abundance of abstracts from the community for presentations, posters, and roundtable discussions. All are invited to participate and submit their abstracts for this year’s Summit, which will be held from June 13-15, 2017, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. Abstract submissions are due no later than March 15, 2017. Read More »

OpenEMR Achieves Complete Meaningful Use Certification with Release 5.0

Press Release | OpenEMR, OEMR | March 1, 2017

OpenEMR, the most popular open source electronic health records (EHR) and medical practice management solution, has announced today that OpenEMR version 5.0 has achieved Complete ONC certification, through Infogard.  This certification is vital for medical practices in the U.S. to comply with MACRA and participate in Medicare's Quality Payment Program. The Complete Meaningful Use Certification was the result of a community effort that spanned several years, involving over $200,000 in effort and code contributions. Read More »