Content about Health care informatics

NEW YORK — More patients are actively looking for and expecting to find mobile health solutions, according to the global Economist Intelligence Unit report, which was commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers and released Thursday.

Roughly one-half of patients surveyed for this report predict that mHealth will improve the convenience, cost and quality of their health care in the next three years. Meanwhile, 6-in-10 doctors and payers believe that its widespread adoption in their countries is inevitable in the near future.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Retail clinics and medical centers are poised to expand, thanks to several enhancements in technology.

MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Poor medication adherence is a national problem, but it can be particularly problematic among populations with low health literacy or limited English proficiency.

A deal between two companies aims to provide mobile medication adherence services to both groups. Polyglot Systems and CellepathicRx have partnered to use CPRx's mobile health platform to deliver Polyglot's Meducation content to hard-to-reach patients through mobile Web and email technologies and smart phone applications.

MINNEAPOLIS and SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Zipnosis, which offers an online Web portal that allows patients to have virtual visits with a clinician for minor ailments, and Verizon Wireless have announced that Zipnosis will be a featured technology in the Verizon booth at the mHealth Summit Convention in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 5 to 7.

The mHealth Summit is the largest conference in the world focused on mobile and wireless health solutions.

CVS Caremark’s MinuteClinic continues to evolve and play a greater role in the U.S. healthcare system as evidenced by its expanding footprint, broadening scope of service and growing roster of strategic affiliations.


Since opening its doors in 2000, MinuteClinic has surpassed 10 million patient visits and remains on course to add about 100 clinics annually over the next five years — putting the clinic operator in an ideal position to play an important role in the U.S. healthcare system.


WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Walgreens’ winning of an award for its MTM services came right before it joined the Care Continuum Alliance — a group of more than 200 stakeholders that provide such services as wellness and prevention programs and management of chronic conditions — of which CVS Caremark already was a member.

(THE NEWS: Walgreens takes top honors for MTM services. For the full story, click here)

LAS VEGAS — The Continua Health Alliance and member companies Intel, Trac, Andago, Bluegiga, Texas Instruments and ZyXEL will demonstrate personal connected health solutions this week at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, held from Jan. 6 to 9 here, the alliance announced Monday.

NEW ORLEANS Opening another front in its long campaign to extend electronic prescribing and health information technology throughout the United States, e-prescribing platform provider Surescripts said Monday that it will expand its nationwide e-prescribing network to accelerate the digital transformation of the nation’s healthcare system by enabling the electronic exchange of all types of clinical information.

BALTIMORE —Remote management of diabetes increasingly is becoming a reality to day with WellDoc’s Diabetes-Manager system, which recently received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration.

BALTIMORE WellDoc, a healthcare company that develops technology solutions to improve chronic disease management outcomes and reduce healthcare costs, on Monday announced that it has received Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance to market the WellDoc DiabetesManager System to healthcare providers and their adult patients with Type 2 diabetes.