News & Updates

February 3, 2023 - By Deb Linton

Assistant Sec. for Health at H2.0 SpringFling | Xbox Kinects for Boston code-a-thon-ers | Teladoc gets $4M | WellAps wins NYC H2.0SharkTank | Kaiser’s EveryBodyWalk! |  Medical Fusion’s event | Health Chatroulette | TEDxPearlRiver on  virtual world learning | Physique 7′s splash at WVU | The implications of InQuickER

- Dr. Howard Koh, the Assistant Secretary for Health, will be speaking at the Health 2.0 Spring Fling this March in San Diego and announcing the winner of the HealthyPeople 2020 Challenge!

- 5 Xbox Kinects will be thrown into the mix at the Boston code-a-thon on February 19th! Register today, it’s FREE!

- Teladoc Medical Services receives a nice $4M boost from their existing investors, Cardinal Partners and HLM Venture Partners. Teladoc offers access to a national network of locally-licensed physicians who can pull member (CCR-compliant) electronic medical records and  offer round-the-clock web telehealth consultations. You can read all of the lovely things Cardinal and HLM have to say about Teladoc in the Business Wire article. Keen Health 2.0 fans may remember David Kibbe making a call using Teladoc at the start of the Health 2.0 Great American Motor Cycle Tour documentary in 2008.

- WellApps took first place at The Health 2.0 NYC Chapter Shark Tank event by building a mobile application to track the symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis. WellApps received a cash prize, entry to the Health 2.0 Spring Fling and a number of business offerings. Shark Tank is an event that allows startup and early stage healthcare companies to pitch their businesses to seasoned angel investors and venture capitalists. If there’s any chance you can get to NYC, this chapter’s events are not to be missed. Further details can be found in the formal press release

Keep reading for News on: Kaiser’s EveryBodyWalk! ,  Medical Fusion’s event , Health Chatroulette , TEDxPearlRiver on  virtual world learning , Physique 7′s splash at WVU and the implications of InQuickER

- Kaiser Permanente launches it’s Every Body Walk! Campaign. Similar to Kaiser’s Thrive agenda, this pubic service aims to educate people about the dramatic connections between walking and common public health issues like diabetes, cancer, dementia, heart disease, depression, etc. Videos with heart-warming ukulele soundtracks present the latest research and community health concepts such as “walking school buses” for kids.

- Our friends at Medical Fusion will be hosting a fabulous conference in Vegas from November 11^th-13^th. The event aims to help physicians apply their medical training in unique ways.  Check out their site for more information.

- HealCam HEALTH.CHAT.ROULETTE… because someone had to do it. So, before you scoff, explore, bookmark, shrug, block, or tweet, please pay close attention to the first thoughts that come to mind. Whether or not this site accomplishes it’s objective may be less significant than your immediate reaction to the notion that people might want to reach out to strangers to discuss health over video chat. HealCam, started by the folks at Medgadget, has been around since July 2010 but is experiencing a small media revival. The question is whether or not a spike in attention will change the number of people “online.”

- TEDxPearlRiver has just posted a great presentation in which Claus Nohmzow summarizes his discovery of how persuasive virtual worlds can be. Behavior change and tools that enable users to learn-by-doing are important aspects of Health 2.0.  While some of the learning modules Claus chose to adapt to a virtual environment are questionable (i.e. of all the medical concepts to teach in a virtual space why Nutrition?), his talk provides a good overview of 3D web education and the implication of serious games.

- Physique 7, a product that evolved out of the first ever Health 2.0 West Wireless Challenge, is getting attention by offering West Virginia University Students a web fitness platform. Developed by Videntity Systems, Physique 7 targets students as they prepare for spring break by tracking their BMI against other students via online charts. You can check out local news coverage of student reactions here.

- The LA Times featured an interesting spot on a growing number of hospitals that, for a small fee, allow patients to make emergency room appointments online with InQuickER. For anyone who’s spent a full day in the ER, gotten hurt after business hours or just needs to see someone before they start their shift, InQuickER is good news. Although some worry that this will encourage unnecessary ER use, the growing popularity of the platform highlights some of the unmet needs in urgent care workflow. You can check out CEO Tyler Kiley’s demo of InQuickER at Health 2.0 in 2009 here.