Automobiles and computers may be complicated machines, but they pale in comparison to the human body. The challenge of working in an industry committed to that complexity brought Adriana (Andi) Karaboutis from Dell, where she served as CIO, to join Biogen as executive VP of technology. Speaking at the InformationWeek Conferenceat Interop in late April, Karaboutis argued that the age of biotechnology has arrived. "Biotech has progressed to the point where we're actually able to edit or code DNA …," said Karaboutis, characterizing the intersection of biology, information technology, and data as massive opportunity.
The new machine that could one day replace anesthesiologists sat quietly next to a hospital gurney occupied by Nancy Youssef-Ringle. She was nervous. In a few minutes, a machine — not a doctor — would sedate the 59-year-old for a colon cancer screening called a colonoscopy. But she had done her research. She had even asked a family friend, an anesthesiologist, what he thought of the device. He was blunt: "That's going to replace me." One day, maybe. For now, the Sedasys anesthesiology machine is only getting started, the leading lip of an automation wave that could transform hospitals just as technology changed automobile factories. But this machine doesn't seek to replace only hospital shift workers.
Recording raises issues of trust for doctors as well as patients, especially if it's done surreptitiously. Seifi's interest in this issue began when he noticed a patient secretly recording their conversation. The message was clear, he says: "The patient doesn't trust me." Perhaps that's true. On the other hand, Elwyn says, his research has shown that doctors who agree to go on the record with advice can boost their patients' trust and strengthen their relationship. It takes confidence to grant permission, though. Even experienced, competent doctors may worry about subjecting their advice to extra scrutiny.
The screenshot above is courtesy of Norse ? a cyber intelligence company that uses their global sensor network to track cyber threats around the world ? in real time (online here). Warning ? this global view can be a tad mesmerizing if you haven't seen it. There's no audio, but it's easy to imagine a John Williams soundtrack from some epic galactic battle. Attack origins and their targets (down to the IP address) are clearly listed by country ? and type of attack. In the course of about an hour on a nondescript Wednesday afternoon, China had originated over 4,000 global attacks and the U.S. was the target of over 10,000 such attacks from all over the world.
American electronic records are, routinely, a pretty terrible way to organize and share health-care data. Lots of hospitals and doctor offices still rely on pen and paper. One federal report found that as of 2013, 59 percent of hospitals are using a basic electronic record system — which means 4 in 10 hospitals aren't. Perhaps the most frustrating issue with electronic medical records right now is that they don't talk to each other; hospital A and hospital B typically have different records, made by different vendors, that can't share information.
Connected gadgets in your home have grown increasingly connected, but healthcare is only just beginning to join this brigade. One of the biggest reasons why health professionals are reticent to connect their devices is a concern over security — for health tech, attacking a device can mean attacking a person. Hospitals have sought out ways to mitigate digital attacks, however, and legacy antivirus programs have been the mostly common route. But researchers have recently been tinkering with a new method for detecting nefarious digital actions: a program called WattsUpDoc. WattsUpDoc is a program that uses power and electricity as a means to detect if a malware has been introduced into a network.