By the year 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants interoperability between disparate electronic health records systems (EHRs) to be a common capability. This would allow patient data to be shared among authorized practitioners more seamlessly. But how do patients feel about this?
According to a recent survey conducted by Software Advice, 46 percent of patients want their doctors to directly exchange the health records, and fewer (21 percent) favor in-person delivery.
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Medtronic Unveils New App Enabling Diabetics to Remotely Monitor Their Diabetes Data
Global medical technology provider Medtronic has announced the U.S. commercial availability of MiniMed Connect, the first and only product to enable people with diabetes to discreetly and conveniently view their insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) information on a smartphone. The announcement reinforces Medtronic's vision to transform diabetes care by beyond insulin pumps and CGM devices and integrating leading consumer technologies, data and informatics to enable better therapy
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Teva To Acquire Gecko Health Innovations for its Smart Inhaler
Israeli generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. has reached an agreement to acquire mobile health technology company Gecko Health Innovations, Inc. The acquisition will help strengthen Teva's respiratory capabilities and help reinforce its leadership position in respiratory care. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CareTRx (formerly GeckoCap) is a cloud-based solution designed to simplify chronic respiratory disease management, connecting patients and caregivers
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WEDI, Nate Partner on Virtual Clipboard to Support Interoperability
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), a nonprofit authority on the use of health IT to create efficiencies in healthcare information exchange, and the National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE), a nonprofit authority in consumer-mediated electronic health information exchange, announced a partnership to cooperate on Phase II of the Virtual Clipboard Initiative and to advance research concerning healthcare interoperability.
Virtual Clipboard Initiative Overview
Built
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CliniCloud Pulls In $5M For Its IoT Medical Home Kit
CliniCloud, the consumer digital health company bringing healthcare home with smart medical devices anyone can use, has raised $5 million in funding led by Tencent and Ping An Ventures. Additionally, CliniCloud announced a retail partnership with Best Buy to sell its first product, a connected medical kit containing a digital stethoscope, a non-contact thermometer and a mobile app that empowers patients to proactively manage their wellness at home in the U.S. and Canada, starting in
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ONC Releases Final Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020
Today the ONC has issued the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020 that lays out the vision, goals, and actions that the federal government intends to apply the effective use of health IT immediately and in the coming years. This outlined plans aims to modernize the nation's health IT infrastructure to enable individuals, their providers, and communities achieve their health and wellness goals. The ONC states that this robust health IT infrastructure should support the dynamic use of
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AMA, 41 Other Medical Societies Push to Delay Meaningful Use Stage 3
On Thursday, the American Medical Association (AMA) and 41 medical societies have backed Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) in urging the administration to delay Meaningful Use Stage 3 in light of pivotal changes to Medicare. The coalition of physician organizations firmly believes that locking in Stage 3 rules for the Meaningful Use program would be a detrimental step that undermines the implementation of Medicare payment reforms.
In letters delivered to the Secretary of Health and Human
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Medfusion’s New App Enables Aggregation, Patient Access to Healthcare Data
Medfusion, a patient engagement platform has launched a consumer mobile application, Medfusion Plus to provide patients with a one-stop destination for all of their medical records. Available now via download on the App Store and Google Play, iOS and Android device users can now aggregate and access their healthcare records onto their mobile devices. The information is pulled via Continuity of Care (CCD) documents from the patient portals and includes laboratory results, immunizations,
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FBI issues IoT Security Warning for Medical Devices, Wearables
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to any object or device which connects to the Internet to automatically send and/or receive data may pose serious security risks for medical devices and wearables, according to an FBI public service announcement. For healthcare, medical devices, such as wireless heart monitors or insulin dispensers and wearables e.g. fitness devices could provide opportunities for cyber criminals to intrude upon private networks and gain access to other devices and information
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Senator Calls For Delay in Making Final Rules for MU Stage 3
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), on Wednesday called for a delay until January 1, 2017, of making final rules for Meaningful Use Stage 3. Alexander is urging that MU Stage 3 requirements should then be phased in at a rate that reflects how successfully the program is being implemented. Additionally, the modified rules proposed for MU Stage 2 should be adopted immediately because it will help most doctors and hospitals
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