The maxim “doctors know best” is getting support from a new study led by Harvard Medical School researchers that shows physicians made a correct diagnosis more than twice as often as 23 commonly used symptom checkers—websites and apps that help patients with self-diagnosis. The study’s results, published October 10 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, are being touted as the first direct comparison between human-made and computer-based diagnoses...

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Health Level Seven International’s Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) application programming interface is moving closer to becoming a mature standard, with the “normative” version slated for release sometime in 2017. Standards are widely perceived as providing the greatest potential for achieving national health IT interoperability in the near future. In particular, FHIR is seen by industry stakeholders as a promising solution to the complex interoperability challenges that are confronting healthcare organizations...

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The Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a blueprint for a cloud-based technology platform that will integrate veteran data from VA, military and commercial electronic health records, as well as apps, devices and wearables, so that the information is available to providers in real time. While the VA is still finalizing plans for how it implements the Digital Health Platform (DHP), the agency has a strategy in place that is seen as the future path for providing next-generation healthcare to millions of the nation's veterans...

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The industrialized food system, studies have shown, is linked to greenhouse gas emissions, algal blooms, pesticide pollution, soil erosion and biodiversity loss, to name a few ecological troubles. Add to this a long list of social ills, from escalating rates of obesity to the demise of the family farmer and deadening of rural landscapes and rural economies across much of the U.S...

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In 2016, Linux turned 25. When it began, it was a student project. Today, Linux runs everything. From smartphones to supercomputers to web servers to clouds to the car, it's all Linux, all the time. Even the one exception, the end-user, is moving to Linux. Android is now the most popular end-user opearating system. In addition, Chromebooks are becoming more popular. Indeed, even traditional Linux desktops such as Fedora, openSUSE, Mint, and Ubuntu are finally gaining traction. Heck, my TechRepublic Linux buddy Jack Wallen even predicts that "Linux [desktop] market share will finally breach the 5-percent mark"...

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Linux is everywhere. And, I mean everywhere. You name it, home electronics, smartphones, and, of course, computers. But, one place you probably didn't think of Linux living is sitting in your driveway right now: Your car. If it's not already, your car will soon be running Linux. The Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) group's membership is a who's who of car manufacturers. This includes: Mazda. Suzuki, Honda, Nissan, Ford, and the world's largest automobile company: Toyota. And, their numbers are only increasing...

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Capital One is hoping to bring the blockchain and API tools to the healthcare industry by proving their value in the revenue cycle management arena. A pair of new partnerships between the financial services company and healthcare-focused startups aim to “reconceptualize” the claims management and patient payment processes, using blockchain and API technologies to reduce the time between service and collection...

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An increasing interest in healthcare Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that can foster patient engagement and improve patient management is likely to grow the global smart healthcare market into a $169.32 billion opportunity, according to a new Technavio report. Although organizations across multiple industries are still wary of the IoT’s potential security flaws, 71 percent of cross-industry enterprises are currently developing their IoT data stores, adds a survey by 451 Research, and the next 12 months are likely to bring a 33 percent increase in IoT infrastructure spending...

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Blockchain may have entered the healthcare lexicon in 2016 as a somewhat fuzzy concept, but the innovative method of securing and validating data transactions is poised to take the industry by storm over the next twelve months, according to an international survey conducted by IBM. Sixteen percent of the 200 healthcare executives participating in the poll have concrete plans to implement a commercial blockchain solution within their organizations in 2017, while an additional 56 percent are likely to follow by the end of the decade...

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Application programming interfaces (APIs) are quickly becoming a critical tool for healthcare organizations looking to build interoperable connections, and it is likely that this new standard for health data exchange will keep growing in importance during the next few years. A new report from Market Research Engine (MRE) predicts healthy growth for the nascent healthcare API ecosystem, forecasting a 4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) that will produce a $234 million market by 2024....

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