News

Summaries of open source, health care, or health IT news and information from various sources on the web selected by Open Health News (OHNews) staff. Links are provided to the original news or information source, e.g. news article, web site, journal,blog, video, etc.

See the following -

In Dramatic Statement, European Leaders Call for ‘Immediate’ Open Access to All Scientific Papers by 2020

Martin Enserink | Science | May 27, 2016

In what European science chief Carlos Moedas calls a "life-changing" move, E.U. member states today agreed on an ambitious new open-access (OA) target. All scientific papers should be freely available by 2020, the Competitiveness Council—a gathering of ministers of science, innovation, trade, and industry—concluded after a 2-day meeting in Brussels. But some observers are warning that the goal will be difficult to achieve...

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In Five Short Years, Apple's App Store Changed Everything

Dan Rowinski | ReadWrite | July 10, 2013

It was five years ago today that the way software was made, distributed and paid for fundamentally changed. Read More »

In Five Years, Microsoft’s Share Of Personal Computing Fell From 90 To 33%

Daniel Eran Dilger | AppleInsider | October 10, 2013

Over the last five years, Post-PC devices have displaced conventional Windows PCs so rapidly that Microsoft's dominance over personal computing has plummeted from roughly 90 percent share to less than a third. Read More »

In Guatemala, Shifts in Health Care Strand Communities

Colleen Kimmett | Aljazeera America | February 25, 2016

...Downloaded on the phone was an open-source app, Kawok, that allowed the community health workers to create patient profiles and access educational videos and best-practice protocols. They had direct lines to a doctor who worked for TulaSalud, whom they could call any time of day or night in an emergency, and the numbers of auxiliary nurses at nearby health centers. The idea was to create a network of professionals, resources and emergency services that community health workers could reach at the touch of a button. “Anytime I could call and ask for help, and they gave it to me,” says Pop Pop. “It was a really useful tool.”...

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In Health Care, Price Transparency Alone Isn’t Enough

Ki Mae Heussner | GigaOM | January 4, 2012

As startups and consumer advocates push for more transparency in health care pricing, a study in the Journal of Consumer Research looks at how the price of medication can influence consumers’ perceived health risk. Read More »

In Healthcare, Time To Free The Data

Mark Braunstein | InformationWeek Healthcare | November 27, 2013

To justify optimism about healthcare IT, we need to free the data tied up in electronic health records -- and it is happening. Read More »

In Hurricane’s Wake, Decisions Not To Evacuate Hospitals Raise Questions

Sheri Fink | ProPublica | November 1, 2012

Now, in the late evening hours, the worst-case scenario was unfolding at the main campus of NYU's Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, which had lost much of its backup power at the height of the storm. Could North Shore-LIJ dispatch ambulances from its Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City to pick up four critically ill babies from the neo-natal intensive care unit? New York City hospital and nursing home patients and their loved ones might reasonably have believed they were safe as Hurricane Sandy approached. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had exempted hospitals and nursing homes in low-lying "Zone A" areas of the city from his pre-storm evacuation order. Much thought and planning had gone into the decision to "shelter in place."

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In Kenya, Microfinance Is Going Mobile – Part 1

Claire Penicaud | GSMA.com | September 6, 2012

This blog has been written with the support of Tonny Omwansa, co-author of Money, Real Quick: The story of M-Pesa. We want to thank David James, CEO of Musoni and Sharon Langevin, Project Director of FrontlineSMS:Credit. Read Part 2 here. Read More »

In Kenya, Microfinance Is Going Mobile – Part 2

Claire Penicaud | GSMA.com | September 10, 2012

This blog has been written with the support of Tonny Omwansa, co-author of Money, Real Quick: The story of M-Pesa. We want to thank David James, CEO of Musoni and Sharon Langevin, Project Director of FrontlineSMS: Credit. Read Part 1 here. Read More »

In Kenyan Slum, Mobile Phones Pinpoint Better Water

Sarina A. Beges | FSI Stanford News | October 26, 2012

Single-room shacks with mud walls, metal roofs and dirt floors sleep families of eight here. Plastic bags filled with human waste are thrown into unpaved streets [...].Trash piles up in front of homes and storefronts. The flies are everywhere. People struggle to survive but the appetite for change is strong. Read More »

In Mass., You Can Now Get Prices For Health Care In Advance (But It’s No T.J. Maxx)

Martha Bebinger | Wbur.org | October 8, 2013

“How much will my MRI cost?” It sounds like a simple question. But before Oct. 1, it was very difficult to get an answer. Now, Massachusetts is pulling back the curtain on what has been a largely secret world of health care prices. A new state law says health insurers must be able to tell members, in advance, how much a test, treatment or surgery will cost. Read More »

In North Dakota, 30 People Sign Up For Obamacare And 35,000 Lose Health Insurance

Daniel Halper | Weekly Standard | November 10, 2013

In North Dakota, only 30 people have so far signed up for Obamacare. Meanwhile, 35,000 people have already or will be losing their existing health insurance plans in that state alone. WDAY reports: Read More »

In Praise Of Peer Review: A Modest Proposal For Identifying Unscrupulous Open Access Journals

John Willinsky | Slaw | November 4, 2013

I remain indebted to peer review. Sure, I’ve been called a dilettante. Had ideas dismissed as half-baked. Had the floor swept with the derivative nature of my work. Been chastised for treating data as singular. And then the self-inflicted wounds of my own careless error. But having suffered from what appears only at first glance to be the slings and arrows of outrageous peer-review, I stand by this process. Read More »

In Rwanda, Health Care Coverage That Eludes the U.S.

Tina Rosenberg | New York Times | July 3, 2012

Last week’s Supreme Court decision upholding of the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law moves the United States closer to the goal of health coverage for all. All other developed countries have it. But so do some developing nations... Read More »

In Second Look, Few Savings From Digital Health Records

Reed Abelson and Julie Creswell | CNBC | January 11, 2013

The conversion to electronic health records has failed so far to produce the hoped-for savings in health care costs and has had mixed results, at best, in improving efficiency and patient care, according to a new analysis by the influential RAND Corporation. Read More »