Increasingly, doctors are using mobile apps to access patient information. Hard data is scarce. For instance, the annual market for mobile monitoring devices is estimated to be a $7.7 billion to $43 billion industry, as cited by a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, "Healthcare Unwired," released in September 2010. But the trend is clear. "This level of adoption is unprecedented. Things are changing very quickly," said healthcare innovation analyst Chris Wasden of PricewaterhouseCoopers. According to a Manhattan Research study released this month, 75% of U.S. physicians own some form of Apple mobile device, whether it's an iPad, iPhone or iPod. The iPhone is the top smartphone choice for doctors, according to the study. About 30% have an iPad, and another 28% say they plan to buy one within six months. Apple's popularity, says the study, is largely driven by the increasing number of apps providing access to electronic medical records.
Cancer patients who were given full access to their medical records at the beginning of treatment said the records helped them understand and discuss their disease with others, and they weren't any more anxious than other patients in a new study from France. While there has been a trend toward increasing patients' access to their own medical information, some doctors fear that giving full records to patients will increase their anxiety, the authors note in the journal Cancer. But Dave deBronkart, a prominent blogger on patient involvement since his own recovery from advanced kidney cancer, argues that full access is helpful. deBronkart, who blogs as "e-patient Dave," told Reuters Health by email, "Detailed information on the disease is important for the patient to make informed decisions. It also allows the patient and family to cope better."
In a large chamber at the Food and Drug Administration labs here, scientists are bombarding medical devices such as pacemakers and hearing aids with electromagnetic waves. Their goal: to see how safely the critical medical devices can interact with the growing volume of waves people encounter daily from increased use of electronic gadgets like microwaves, airport scanners and cellphones. The so-called anechoic chamber, which measures nearly 36-feet long, is made of special material that absorbs electromagnetic waves. It's considered to be the purest way to measure interactions between medical devices and electronic gadgets because there are no echoes or reflections of electromagnetic waves from the chamber's walls or ceiling to affect the calibrations.
Sanofi SA contributed more than $5 million to two medical groups and a medical researcher that encouraged U.S. regulators to delay approval of a drug that would undercut the company's blockbuster blood-thinner Lovenox, according to a new report from the Senate Finance Committee. Letters to the FDA from the groups--the Society of Hospital Medicine and the North American Thrombosis Forum—and the researcher, Victor Tapson, a thrombosis expert at Duke University, said that generic versions of Lovenox, a fast-acting anticlotting medicine, might not be as safe as the brand-name drug, according to the report. The letters didn't mention financial ties to Sanofi.
Georgia insurers will soon be able to offer stripped-down health insurance policies to people who don't get coverage at work, under a new state law authorizing the sale of health plans approved by other states. Supporters say the new law will offer Georgians in the costly individual market -- typically the self-employed -- more choices and cheaper coverage. But opponents say it will have little impact on price and could lead consumers to buy policies with inadequate coverages. The new law has implications for 350,000 Georgians who purchase health insurance through the individual market, and for the 1.9 million Georgians with no insurance coverage at all. Unaffected are Georgians who buy health insurance through an employer or who receive government healthcare.
Demand for air medical transport services -- an expensive but often life-saving option -- is growing as an aging baby-boomer population suffers increasingly serious health problems and budget cuts limit rural medical center capabilities, experts say. Sierra Providence Health Network recently announced it will operate a helicopter designed as a flying intensive-care unit around the clock. Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare opened a new helipad at Del Sol Medical Center. Del Sol also plans to contract helicopter services in the future. El Paso's University Medical Center, a "Level 1" trauma center, also has a helipad. Both private hospital networks tout the benefits of being able to quickly respond to health problems such as strokes, heart attacks and serious accidents that require immediate attention. Residents of rural far West Texas and Southern New Mexico now will have access to specialists and high-tech equipment in the area's hospitals. With a range of about 150 miles, the service will reach Silver City, Ruidoso, Truth or Consequences and Van Horn.