News & Updates

Fooducate™ announces that its mobile app has been used more than 10 million times to scan food products since launching in January of this year  (and being featured at Health 2.0 in March). Fooducate‘s free Android and iPhone app enables consumers to automatically scan the barcodes of food products, and see how nutritious they are.

Mobile application developer Kony Solutions debuts Member Mobile, an app designed for health insurers and health plan providers to more easily engage with members across mobile platforms. Member Mobile offers features to enhance member engagement, medication management, health plan and provider communication, and health and wellness initiatives.

A commentary published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week argues that more information is needed before direct to consumer laboratory testing is rolled out. Among the concerns are that patients might not understand how to interpret medical data and that patients could be less inclined to accept physician advice.

Humana announces that it will acquire acute care management company SeniorBridge. SeniorBridge supports seniors citizens living at home through their care-management teams of nurses, social workers and other caregivers.

Medicare officials announce that obesity counseling will be covered without cost sharing by enrollees. Obese beneficiaries will receive one face-to-face counseling visit per week for the first month and then every other week for the next five months. Those who lose at least 6.6 pounds during the first six months will be eligible for once-a-month visits for another six months.

A study published in the American Journal of Medical Quality finds that physician rating websites that contain anecdotal patient reports are easiest to find when conducting Google searches for health care quality and cost information. Researchers studied the top 30 Google search results for terms such as “hospital ratings” or “doctor reports” and found that 67% included information based on patient experience while only 22% included evidence-based physician performance measures.

Doximity announces that 30,000 physicians have now joined their mobile phone based physician network. Doximity offers a HIPAA-compliant SMS messaging system as well as the ability for physicians to securely fax directly from their mobile phone.

WellDoc makes Forbes list of 100 most promising companies. WellDoc makes the only FDA-approved software that helps patients manage illness by computer and smartphone with the aid of an automated coach.

JAMA has begun inserting QR codes into its articles.  The codes will allow readers to access podcasts of study discussions and other relevant content.

100Plus raises an additional 1.25 million in seed funding from Greylock Discovery Fund partners John Lilly and Reid Hoffman, Felicis Ventures and Band of Angels Acorn Fund. 100Plus is developing an interactive health application that uses large clinical datasets to help users predict their future health, and uses game mechanics to encourage incremental behavior change.

As expected HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius amended the current meaningful use timeline guiding eligibility for meaningful use associated incentive payments. Health care providers who attest to Stage 1 in 2012 can now wait till 2014 to meet Stage 2 requirements , instead of completing all requirements by 2013.

Following weak earnings and a stock down more than 50% from its IPO high earlier this year, Epocrates announces that Peter Brandt, a member of Epocrates‘ board of directors, has been appointed as the company’s interim president and CEO. Brandt succeeds CEO Rose Crane.

GE Healthcare’s Centricity Radiology Mobile Access 2.0 app receives FDA 510k clearance. The mobile imaging app allows for remote viewing of computed tomography and magnetic resonance exams through PACS. The app follows Mobile MIM and Calgary Scientific’s ResolutionMD in achieving FDA clearance.