News & Updates

September 16, 2022 - By Tali

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is honing in on misleading medical apps. Apparently there were thousands of people who purchased apps that made false claims of acne-curing capabilities; these companies were forced out of business by the FTC.

Joseph Cafazzo is a biomedical engineer at the University Health Network who has played a major role in the development of apps capable of wireless interface with medical devices. His projects try to go beyond the common daily feature of many apps we see today by integrating patient readings in order to create suggestions and offer guidance to chronically ill patients who are managing their diseases.

The AppStore made changes designed to suit the interests of consumers seeking specifically health related apps- it’s called the itunes Room for Health Care. The new section hosts a collection of 49 iPhone apps and 52 iPad apps, some also include a designated subsection for health care professionals, and narrowed interest related categories make sifting more simple.

HHS is providing 85 grants totaling $8.5 million for community health center programs. These grants are mostly being issued to the 15 Beacon Communities to promote the adoption of Health IT.

Recent benchmark studies from business and IT researchers at Vetana have disclosed that “organizations who take a focused approach to each element of their operations [...] are able to improve transparency, safety and improve overall quality of care.” Over 150 worldwide health care organizations participated in the study to unveil how and why the use of business analytics among health care organizations is useful.

E-prescription network Surescripts has announced their new capabilities to prescribe controlled substances. Earlier this year, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced an adjustment to regulations that has allowed for such actions to take place.

Home health agency Great Lakes Caring have conducted studies revealing positive results of the use of tablets as tools for advanced documentation and coordination of care. Successful pilot studies were conducted using the new app developed by Homecare Homebase, a hand held version of their PointCare Manager tool, and resulted in the purchase of 800 android tablets for all field staff of the Agency.

University of Virginia’s Center for Telehealth has been awarded nearly $1 million this month in federal funding to expand their telehealth capabilities and expertise.

An agreement between Polymedco, Inc., and Cardinal Health will harness the distribution of their FIT product- a fecal occult blood analyzer that helps with early detection of colorectal cancer.

Based on research conducted by the University of Missouri, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect has motion sensors that are said to have capabilities of early detection of elderly falls. Researchers created a fall detection system and a gait analysis to track patient patterns.

General Electric is investing $1 billion to cover the next five years of research and development for technologies enhancing early detection of cancer, beginning with breast cancer. Part of the money will go towards launching a six-month contest that they hope will initiate the idea innovation commencement.