This week was a week of innovation in the Health Techzone. Let's take a look at the latest industry happenings and trends that the HealthTechZone team reported on this week.
Parks Associates released a report stating that 50 percent of broadband-equipped households with access to online health services use the services consistently. Online health capabilities like prescription refill and telemedicine were popular with these households. Additionally, 20 percent of users want more live chat services with health experts, 15 percent want post-surgery virtual monitoring and 13 percent want tools for medication management.
Online health services could become a big money-saver for healthcare in the U.S. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that mHealth alone could cut 25 percent off of care costs for the elderly, and electronic prescriptions could knock $29 billion off of the nation's healthcare bill.
Also this week, HealthTechZone profiled five great mobile health apps. These included SkinVision, which could provide great peace of mind for the pasty person living in fear of melanoma. The app analyzes moles for cancer risk, gives the daily UV exposure for the user's geographic location and offers tools to help users determine their skin types. Once users know their skin types, the app provides helpful skin care tips to help users care for their body's largest organ.
Other apps profiled in the slideshow included mySugr, an app for diabetes management; WebMD, an app connected to the popular website of the same name; Zyrtec Allergy Cast for predicting pollen levels; and SleepCycle to analyze your sleep.
Finally, HealthTechZone Contributor Ed Silverstein gave us a look at the hospital room of the future. Generated by the Patient Room 2020 project and designed by NXT Health, the room features a headwall that supports machinery for capturing vital signs, in addition to oxygen machines and other hardware. An overhead panel contains lighting, and the footwall features a solution to enable entertainment viewing, hospital information access and video conferencing with doctors. The patient, by using a bedside tablet, controls these features.
Come back to the Health Techzone daily to see the fascinating developments in the world of healthcare technology. As always, have a great weekend, and here's to your health!
