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 -

Are Apple iOS, OS X Flaws Really Backdoors For Spies?

Ellen Messmer | Network World | February 26, 2014

Two recently-discovered flaws in Apple iOS and Mac OS X have security experts openly asking whether the software vulnerabilities represent backdoors inserted for purposes of cyber-espionage. There's no clear answer so far, but it just shows that anxiety about state-sponsored surveillance is running high. Read More »

Are Digital Health Patents Beginning To Shape The Market?

Brian Dolan | MobiHealthNews | September 11, 2012

With the latest news this week that another major player in mobile health has won what appears to be an important patent, it seemed like a good time as any to review and follow-up on recent patent happenings. Read More »

Are digital health technologies really good for our health?

Christina Hernandez Sherwood | Fortune | August 31, 2015

Countless entrepreneurs around the world have launched digital health companies in the last decade and more than 100,000 mobile apps are currently on the market—all with the goal of making us healthier. But how many of these companies have concrete evidence to support their health claims? Not many, says Sean Duffy, co-founder and CEO of Omada Health, a digital health company that develops programs for people at risk for chronic disease. “It’s still rare,” he adds.

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Are EHR Installations Derailing Hospital Finances?

Matt Mattox | Axial Exchange | July 23, 2013

It is an open secret that large EHR installations can cost health systems over $100 million to license and implement. A ticket that large is a material investment for any company on the planet. For a hospital it can be enough to put the bottom line in the red. Read More »

Are EHRs Getting All The Right Notes?

Jeff Rowe | Government Health IT | October 24, 2012

He goes on to argue that “If Epic was the only thing promoting this kind of reductionist approach, it might be survivable. But it’s not. In the face of duty-hours limits, our trainees are increasingly programmed to operate in a ‘just the facts, ma’am’ mode, to approach patients as a series of problems to be addressed expeditiously and algorithmically.”

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Are Federal IT Initiatives Strangling Agency Networks?

Tom Sullivan | Government Health IT | September 10, 2013

Dubbing the collective of federal IT efforts currently under way the “Big Five” in a report published Monday, MeriTalk found that the majority of agencies intend to deploy them within the next two years. Read More »

Are Health Workers Delivering For Women? And Are We Delivering For Health Workers?

Rebecca Kohler | CapacityPlus | June 10, 2013

In 2010, an estimated 287,000 women died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Of these deaths, 85% occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. This represents a global decline of 47% since 1990—but falls disappointingly short of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target of 75%. Read More »

Are Hospitals Switching EHRs?

John Lynn | Hospital EMR and EHR | July 2, 2013

There’s definitely been a trend in EHR replacement that’s happening on the ambulatory side of the EHR market. Many ambulatory EHR practices are dropping their EHR and switching to another EHR. Read More »

Are Indie App Developers Becoming An Endangered Species?

Mary Ellen Gordon | Flurry Blog | March 5, 2013

Suppose you’re an app developer who wants to ensure that your app is optimized to function well on 80% of the individual connected devices currently in use (e.g., my iPad, your Windows phone). How many different device models (e.g., Kindle Fire HD 8.9" Wi-Fi, Galaxy S III) do you think you need to support? 156... Read More »

Are Innovation Hubs The Future Of Open Government In Africa?

Chris R. Albon | TechPresident | September 18, 2012

Set alongside one Nairobi’s main roadways, the Bishop Magua Centre looks on the exterior no different than any other mid-rise office building. However, inside its drab khaki walls are some of the most innovative technology projects in Africa... Read More »

Are Mapbox And OpenStreetMap's Personalised Maps The Future Of Cartography?

Sarah Shearman | The Independent | June 26, 2013

People are creating their own maps and databases in a movement called open-source mapping, as Sarah Shearman discovers. Read More »

Are Med Schools Failing Future Docs?

Mike Miliard | Healthcare IT News | October 7, 2013

As the most-wired generation works toward their degrees – and gears up to practice in a whole new healthcare world – some are rethinking how much IT should be taught. Read More »

Are Multiple Concussions Driving Suicides In The Military?

Alan Zarembo | Los Angeles Times | May 16, 2013

The U.S. military has faced two epidemics over the last decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. One is suicide. [...] The other is concussion, also known as mild traumatic brain injury, or TBI. Read More »

Are New Ultra-Cheap 3D Printers Revolutionary Or Just Toys?

Christopher Mims | Nextgov | May 30, 2013

[The] parallels between the personal computing revolution and the one in 3D printing are irresistible [...]. Ok, so these things don’t do much more than print out easily-breakable, rough-hewn plastic tchotchkes, but watch out! Some day we’ll use them to solve the really big problems. Read More »

Are Open Source Developers Too Demanding?

Matt Asay | ReadWrite | November 26, 2013

Developers can be a fickle bunch. Gifted with mountains of free, open-source code of ever-improving quality, some developers can’t help but complain that there’s not more, and even more free, software. But the problem often isn't the code itself, but poorly calibrated expectations and scanty training. Read More »