A blood pressure monitor, which plugs into an iPhone or iPad, recently received FDA approval, marking the expanding use of smartphones as health maintenance devices. Read More »

Adam [Papendieck] is particularly interested in crowdsourcing and has experience working with Ushahidi, both on the development/applied side for the Gulf Oil Spill last year, and on the evaluation side following the earthquake in Haiti. Here are some of Adam’s (paraphrased) comments on the field, the merits and pitfalls of some of these technologies, and his vision for the future: Read More »

For scientists and researchers whose high-density data requirements make traditional, limited-capacity cloud storage an inconvenience, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has an alternative. Read More »

A year ago VA was the first health plan in the country to launch a Blue Button-enabled Personal Health Record (PHR) so Veterans could keep track of their own health data on My HealtheVet and download it any time they want...Veterans can now download their VA prescriptions, diagnosed allergies, upcoming appointments and VA lab results.  And there is more to come. Read More »

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is exploring security systems that would permit employees to use as many as 100,000 mobile devices, including Apple Inc.'s iPad and phones using Google Inc.'s Android, without endangering the privacy of sensitive information. Read More »

A handful of developers has sought and received Food and Drug Administration clearance for their mobile apps considered to be clinical devices. And the FDA, which hasn't involved itself in regulating or enforcing any rules that might be related to clinical app development, has indicated that it will be more proactive in monitoring that class of product. Read More »

The South East Michigan Health Information Exchange has become operational on the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) in preparation for sharing patient data with the Social Security Administration beginning in December to speed up decisions on disability claims. Read More »

In Uganda, where many lack access to the Internet, people can engage with local radio stations to make informed choices and hold their leaders accountable. Using SMS and a new tool, TRAC FM, listeners can respond to poll questions such as: What service delivery should be a priority: health care, education, security, sanitation or transport? Read More »

Martha Kanter, Undersecretary of Education in the US Department of Education, gave today's opening keynote at the 2011 Open Education Conference in Park City, UT, followed by Jim Shelton, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement. Read More »

Craig Luigart, CIO for the Veterans Health Administration, earned the Janice K. Mendenhall Spirit of Leadership Award for his significant contributions to the federal information technology community at the Executive Leadership Conference, held in Williamsburg, Va., by the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council... Read More »