We’ve come a long way since Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, presented his research on experiments in plant hybridization in 1865. The Augustinian monk spent years crossing pea plant varieties in a monastery garden in the Czech Republic. … Read More
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A Big Year for Precision Medicine
Geisinger’s MyCode Community Health initiative recently reached its goal of enrolling 100,000 participants, marking a major milestone for precision medicine. The news comes just months after the White House announced important pilot projects that move the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative … Read More
Are There Better Ways to Price Medicare Drugs?
Prescription drug spending is rising fast and the Obama administration has proposed a plan to test new ways of pricing drugs covered under Medicare part B. National spending on prescription drugs was about $457 billion last year, nearly 17 percent … Read More
A ‘Magic Wand’ for mHealth Security Concerns
Researchers at Dartmouth College have developed a ‘magic wand’ to wave away concerns about mHealth data security. The device called ‘Wanda’ uses radio waves to securely link mobile health devices in hospitals, clinics and the home. Wanda addresses a growing … Read More
Pigeons Elevate Wearable Air Quality Monitors
In March a flock of ten trained pigeons wearing air quality ‘backpacks’ took flight across London to launch a novel air pollution monitoring campaign. The backpacks detected nitrogen dioxide and ozone, two main gases that make urban air pollution so … Read More
What is the Internet of Things? (and why does it matter for healthcare?)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term first used in 1999 to describe a phenomenon that has since become commonplace: machine-to-machine communication using wireless technology. Healthcare IoT has huge potential to disrupt the industry while raising questions about data … Read More
A Cookie Now or Cheap Health Insurance Later?
A recent study shows that premium-based financial incentives may not improve employee health (photo: avartawellness.com) Today, about 80 percent of large employers in the United States offer some sort of financial incentive for employees to improve their health. These workplace … Read More
What Do Smart Inhalers Mean for Asthma Patients?
1 in 12 Americans have Asthma, a disease responsible for 10.5 million physician visits a year. While some of these patients carry rescue inhalers – used as necessary during asthma attacks – many use maintenance inhalers, which are prescribed on … Read More
Next Steps for mHealth in 2016
Where is mHealth headed in 2016 and beyond? This question couldn’t be more relevant coming out of last week’s HIMSS conference in Las Vegas, which brought together 41,000 healthcare IT professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors. In light of the big … Read More
Digital Social Networks for Patient Health
In 2007 Dave deBronkart was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer, a disease with a median survival of 24 weeks. Dave’s doctor directed him to an online community of cancer patients called acor.org, where other patients gave Dave some medical advice … Read More