Sara Jackson, FierceHealthIT
“Health and fitness apps and websites may be getting a bad rap these days, with many viewed as ineffective and unlikely to help users achieve long-term results. But add a “virtual coach” and you may boost effectiveness, according to a new study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, conducted by Partners’ Center for Connected Health in Boston.
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Eric Wicklund, Healthcare IT News
“Overweight people who make use of web-based virtual coaches show more commitment to improving their health than those who don’t, according to a new study by the Center for Connected Health and Massachusetts General Hospital.
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Watson A et al, J Med Internet Res, 14(1)
Background:
Addressing the obesity epidemic requires the development of effective, scalable interventions. Pedometers and Web-based programs are beneficial in increasing activity levels but might be enhanced by the addition of nonhuman coaching.
Objectives:
We hypothesized that a virtual coach would increase activity levels, via step count, in overweight or obese individuals beyond the effect observed using a pedometer and website alone.
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Ranit Mishori, The Washington Post
“It’s a return trip nobody wants to take: You are discharged from the hospital only to find yourself re-admitted a few days later.
More and more people are finding themselves in this revolving door — at a cost to both hospitals and patients.
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Colin Barry, Government Health IT
“The research on coordinated care is clear: Patients experience better outcomes when medical teams operate within a connected healthcare ecosystem. Access to the patient’s complete medical history helps physicians make better decisions, reduces medical errors and eliminates duplicate diagnostic testing.
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Emily Singer, Technology Review
“Researchers at Northeastern University have developed a virtual nurse and exercise coach that are surprisingly likable and effective—even if they’re not quite as affable as the medical hologram on Star Trek. In fact, patients who interacted with a virtual nurse named Elizabeth said they preferred the computer simulation to an actual doctor or nurse because they didn’t feel rushed or talked down to.
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Eric Wicklund, Healthcare IT News
“Developers of a subscription-based telehealth service launched today in New York say it will give the nation’s ever-growing ranks of seniors the ability to “age gracefully at home.”
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Andrew Barbash, Health Management Technology
“Whether enjoying happy moments, as in the birth of a baby, or navigating serious health issues, such as a stroke, there’s a transformation now in how healthcare professionals collaborate in real time to track and share data, consult with one another and communicate with other care providers, patients and their families.
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PressTV
“Studies show that virtual stroke care or Telestroke may help providing treatment and recovery for stroke sufferers who are admitted to rural hospitals.
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Michelle McNickle, Healthcare IT News
“It’s noble and potentially cost-efficient, but embracing the “go green” trend isn’t simple.
If properly executed, green IT can mean healthcare organizations see fewer bills, contribute lower levels of carbon emissions, and enjoy an easier transition into mandated practices. But it has to be done right.
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Arie C. Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman, KNMG
“Patiënten die ik mijn e-mailadres heb gegeven, kunnen mij altijd bereiken voor vragen over uitslagen of een voorgestelde behandeling. En zij doen dat ook. Meer en meer wordt via twitterspreekuren informatie tussen artsen, ziekenhuizen en patiënten of patiëntgroepen uitgewisseld.
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Molly Merrill, Healthcare IT News
“The pilot for the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER), which enables sharing of Veterans’ health records will be expanded, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Thursday.
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The MedBonsai
“Here is where Second Life a free 3D virtual world where users can socialize and connect, could have an important role in medical education. Imagine the following scenario. You read about treatments for Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Respiratory Failure, STEMI, Pulmonary Edema, Heart Failure etc you name it. Once you read about it instead of having your usual, boring and annoying test your test becomes a 3d Virtual game where you get to exercise your knowledge.
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Schwaab J et al, Academic Emergency Medicine, 18(5)
Objectives:
Oral examination is a method used to evaluate emergency medicine (EM) residents and is a requirement for board certification of emergency physicians. Second Life (SL) is a virtual three-dimensional (3-D) immersive learning environment that has been used for medical education. In this study we explore the use of SL virtual simulation technology to administer mock oral examinations to EM residents.
Methods:
This was a prospective observational study of EM residents who had previously completed mock oral examinations, participating in a similar mock oral examination case scenario conducted via SL. EM residents in this training program completed mock oral examinations in a traditional format, conducted face to face with a faculty examiner. All current residents were invited to participate in a similar case scenario conducted via SL for this study. The examinee managed the case while acting as the physician avatar and communicated via headset and microphone from a remote computer with a faculty examiner who acted as the patient avatar. Participants were surveyed regarding their experience with the traditional and virtual formats using a Likert scale.
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Jay Mehta, Express Healthcare
“Today, the definition of healthcare for hospitals has become wider than just ‘providing treatment’ to patients. Owing to better education, internet and globalisation, the patient has become more informed and looks forward to more from hospitals – such as smoother registration process, better nursing, pre-operative orientation, post-operative care, dependable administrative support, etc.
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Nicole Lewis, InformationWeek Healthcare
“As the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) build their electronic medical record systems to serve veterans and active duty service members, both organizations lack a coordinated health information technology management plan to jointly address common healthcare business needs, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) official said.
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Mupela EN et al, Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, 6(1)
This paper is a commentary on a project application of telemedicine to alleviate primary health care problems in Lundazi district in the Eastern province of Zambia. The project dubbed “The Virtual Doctor Project” will use hard body vehicles fitted with satellite communication devices and modern medical equipment to deliver primary health care services to some of the neediest areas of the country. The relevance and importance of the project lies in the fact that these areas are hard-to-reach due to rugged natural terrain and have very limited telecommunications infrastructure. The lack of these and other basic services makes it difficult for medical personnel to settle in these areas, which leads to an acute shortage of medical personnel.
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Cedric Duval, Les Echos
“Après les jeux vidéo ou la formation, la réalité virtuelle est en train d’investir un autre domaine : la santé. Le nombre croissant de conférences médicales consacrées à cette technologie est un bon indicateur de cette tendance. La dernière en date s’est tenue hier dans le cadre du festival Laval Virtual, sous la direction d’Evelyne Klinger, responsable de l’entité Handicaps et innovations technologiques d’Arts et Métiers ParisTech.
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Bernie Monegain, Healthcare IT News
“HealthPoint, a network of 12 not-for-profit clinics in suburban Seattle, reaped significant cost savings by consolidating IT that was spread throughout seven of the network’s 12 facilities.
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Brian T. Horowitz, eWeek
“As we move into 2011, the Obama administration’s meaningful-use requirements governing health care IT and EHRs (electronic health records) will continue to influence how health care companies adopt technology to improve patient care.
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