Medical Devices

Soom, a pioneer in utilizing barcode and knowledge graph technologies to bridge information gaps between data sources and physical products, has introduced SoomSafety, an iOS mobile app that allows users to scan a medical device and receive instructions for use, safety and recall information directly from the device manufacturer and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "We built SoomSafety to help patients and caregivers relying on implanted medical devices and using medical devices at home answer one critical question, 'Is this medical device safe to use?'" said Charlie Kim, President and CEO of Soom. "Our technology makes it possible to connect previously siloed medical device data, giving patients-and their caregivers-more proactive control over their health and safety."

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Medical centers are testing new, friendly ways to reduce the need for office visits by extending their reach into patients’ homes. Read More »

The Gary and Mary West Foundation has provided initial grant funding to the Center for Medical Interoperability, Inc. The Center, a newly formed, independent nonprofit organization, will be led by hospitals and health systems to drive rapid, widespread and sustained interoperability of medical technology to improve patient safety and lower health care costs. [...] Read More »

...in a year when the world's largest technology, medical device and health-care firms are betting big and fast on wearable technology's role in delivering patients a more precise and cost-effective way to manage their health, experts are worried that the pace of updating data-privacy laws and building infrastructures with optimal levels of security doesn't match the speed of the market's technological rollout. The risks to consumers depend on what type of device they're wielding. In rare instances, weak links or endpoints in a cloud-based network powering something like a wearable insulin pump could be life threatening, as it opens the door to hackers tampering with them...

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Congress has pushed the date of the "sequester" off another two months, delaying the prospect of automatic 8.2 percent cuts in the budgets of NIH, FDA, and other federal science programs. But a sequester (or other cuts) could still happen. [...] Read More »

In 2006, TI published a report on health care corruption, which asserted that corruption is widespread throughout the world, serious, and causes severe harm to patients and society. "Corruption might mean the difference between life and death for those in need of urgent care. It is invariably the poor in society who are affected most by corruption because they often cannot afford bribes or private health care. But corruption in the richest parts of the world also has its costs"...

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating about two dozen cases of suspected cybersecurity flaws in medical devices and hospital equipment that officials fear could be exploited by hackers, a senior official at the agency told Reuters...

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