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 -

Popular Mobile Health Apps Fail to Serve Vulnerable Populations

Press Release | University of California San Francisco | July 14, 2016

A new UC San Francisco study of top-rated mobile health apps showed that they offer little help to vulnerable patients – those who might benefit the most from these tools. The new study, published in the July 14, 2016 online issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, was conducted with 26 patients at The Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG), a UCSF partner hospital that treats many low-income patients. Although participant income was not directly queried, a majority of patients at ZSFG qualify for publically funded insurance, or do not have insurance.

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Population Health in Crisis: The Blind Leading the Blind

Deborah Leyva, RN, MSHIDeborah Leyva, RN, MSHI | LinkedIn Pulse | August 13, 2016

Everything you may know about Population Health (PH) is wrong. I wrote about the complexities associated with PH in the ACO Survival Guide (the Guide). The Guide describes the moving parts necessary to succeed using the accountable care model including data analytics, care coordination, quality metrics and, of course, a deep understanding of HHS' evolving reimbursement regulations. Certainly, any knowledgeable observer could review the Guide and conclude that the ACO model was fraught with complexity and there were plenty of opportunities for false starts and outright failures, potentially costing an organization tens of millions of dollars...

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Portability Challenges For Government Agencies Moving To Hybrid Clouds

Jeff Baxter | Computerworld | October 17, 2013

The inaugural IDC Government Insights report, released earlier this year, paints a revealing picture of how the U.S. Federal Government is spending and planning to spend information technology (IT) dollars on cloud solutions. Read More »

Porter Struggles With Electronic Records System, Sees Big Cost Overrun

John S. McCright | Addison County Independent | January 10, 2013

Porter Hospital has fallen behind in its multi-year effort to implement an electronic medical records system designed to improve patient care by replacing outdated paper recordkeeping. Read More »

Portman, Heinrich, Thune and Bennet Introduce Bill to Streamline Patient Access to Medical Devices

Press Release | Rep. Rob Portman | July 14, 2015

Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) introduced legislation to increase patient access to medical devices by removing government red tape. The Accelerating Innovation in Medicine (AIM) Act, authored by Portman and Heinrich, will streamline access to medical devices by giving patients the option to self-pay rather than going through the time-consuming Medicare coverage process. It will also allow doctors to present patients with more choices when deciding on the best care for them. Read More »

Positive Future For Health Information Exchange On The Way?

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | July 8, 2013

Even with the increased adoption and meaningful use of EHR technologies, current attempts at healthcare reform will not avoid history repeating itself unless the EHR adopters participate in health information exchange (HIE). Otherwise, it is simply the condition of adding new solutions to those that came before them. Read More »

Possible Belarus Connection Prompts Probe Of Healthcare.gov

Jaikumar Vijayan | Computerworld | February 5, 2014

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a security probe of Healthcare.gov after a U.S. intelligence unit last week warned that portions of the Affordable Care Act website was built by software developers linked to the Belarus government. Read More »

Post-Berlin 10 Open Access Meeting For Those Interested In SCOAP3

Staff Writer | Stellenbosch University | November 1, 2012

Dr Ralf Schimmer of the Max Planck Digital Library will meet with members of institutions that publish in high energy physics journals on 8 November – directly after the conclusion of the Berlin 10 Open Access Conference. Read More »

Post-EHR Era: Bunk Buzzword or Here Before Long?

Staff Writer | Healthcare IT News | November 7, 2016

Electronic health records certainly enjoy their share of controversy and criticism. The software is hard for clinicians to use, the data therein more often than not is difficult to exchange with other systems and it appears there is little relief in sight. So it's not entirely surprising that even while EHRs are storming toward near-ubiquity among healthcare providers many forward-looking health IT professionals are already predicting the post-EHR era...

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Post-PC Microsoft Signs Its Death Warrant -- With An iPad

Jonny Evans | Computerworld | April 11, 2013

A leaked report claims Microsoft [MSFT] intends bringing Office to Apple [AAPL] iPads -- but not until 2014. Meanwhile IDC informs us that PC sales have slumped to a 20-year low. Microsoft's refusal to follow trend means it has signed its own death warrant, and here's why: Read More »

Potential For Open-Source Car Customization Showcased On Ford Mustang Using Openxc Platform

newsla | PaddockTalk | July 26, 2013

An important part of the total gaming experience for hardcore video gamers is getting physical feedback through the controller as they keep their eyes on the screen. It’s called haptic feedback. For drivers of performance cars like Ford Mustang, feedback is just as important to understanding how the car is behaving. Read More »

Power of Open Source Demonstrated by Successful Response to EHR Vulnerability

Press Release | OSEHRA | November 15, 2013

Open source collaboration has tightened the security of one of the most widely used Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems in the world. In July 2013, Georgia Tech graduate student Doug Mackey evaluated the VistA EHR for a term project on computer security. That project uncovered a significant security vulnerability, catalyzed a landmark collaboration between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the open source community, and created a textbook example of how the concept of open source can improve system security.

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Powerful New VA Scanner Targets Brain Research, Veterans' Health

Victoria Colliver | Las Cruces Sun-News | August 3, 2012

The San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center is adding a new, $8 million magnetic resonance imaging machine, which will join an arsenal of some of the most powerful research scanners in the world. Read More »

PowerLinux Users Group: Founding Meeting

Ben Collins | Linux.com | January 22, 2013

Every renaissance starts with one thing that you can point your finger at and say "that's where it all began." Sometimes you realize that moment while you are right in the middle of it, but most times you can't define it until well after it happens. Read More »

Practice Fusion Invited Millions Of Patients To Write Reviews They May Not Realize Are Public. Some Are Explicit.

Kashmir Hill | Forbes Magazine | October 21, 2013

Medical records start-up Practice Fusion has attracted a whopping $134 million in venture capital thanks to its appealing business model: it offers 100,000 (and counting) medical types free, web-based patient  management services.  The doctors get for free something that’s usually quite expensive, while cashing in on $150 million (so far) in government incentives to adopt electronic health record technology.

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