Technology

By Dr. Sean Otto

The approval of electrocardiogram’s (EKG) through the FDA that enables atrial fibrillation detection right from a patient’s watch band¹ is just one example of how the digitization of medical devices, a part of the Internet of Things movement, is leading product development and innovation in medicine.

However, while medical devices built on a connected services platform include components for data storage, security, accessibility, and mobile applications, along with advanced analytics, successfully implementing artificial intelligence to drive actionable intelligence remains a challenge from an execution perspective. According to Gartner, 85% of data science projects fail.  Successful integration of data science into medical device development requires a rethinking around the role of data science in product design and life-cycle management.

Viewing Data Science as a Product

While data science is rightly defined as the process of using mathematical algorithms to automate, predict, control or describe an interaction in the physical world, it must be viewed as a product. This distinction is necessary because, like any medical product, data science begins with a need and ends with something that provides clear medical utility for healthcare providers and patients.  

[Read more…] about Medical Device Development and Data Science Integration

By David Conejo

The statistics are terrifying.  According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Alcohol poisoning kills six people every day. Of those, 76 percent are adults ages 35-64, and three of every four people killed by alcohol poisoning are men. The group with the most alcohol poisoning deaths per million people is American Indians/Alaska Natives (49.1 per 1 million). More than 15 million people struggle with an alcohol use disorder in the United States, but less than eight percent of those receive treatment.

Almost 72,000 Americans died last year from drug overdoses, a record high acknowledging an increase of about 10 percent, according to new preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control. The death toll is higher than the peak yearly death totals from H.I.V., car crashes and even US gun deaths.

Treating addiction is not a simple process and the current treatment of 90-day detox programs works well if you have thousands of beds, staff and other resources. The actual behavioral health treatment of addition is not much better.  It is still a time-consuming process requiring individual diagnosis, but largely driven by paper and trial and error guesswork.  

[Read more…] about Fixing the Need for A Fix–Bridging the IT Gap Between Physical and Behavioral Healthcare 

By Jeffrey W. Brown

More than half of patients prefer electronic billing and payment, a recent survey shows, yet healthcare organizations are slow to make the move: Just 20 percent are ready to accept payments other than by check, cash or traditional credit card.

Meanwhile, the cost of paper-based check payments is staggering. Providers spend 8 to 30 minutes more processing manual transactions than electronic transactions, according to the 2016 CAQH Index. Costs increase by $3 per check-based transaction. At more than 3 billion manual transactions a year between payers and providers alone, that’s a significant expense.

One paperless payment option that has the potential to revamp medical billing: virtual card payments.

Virtual card payments are widely used by other industries, with total spend for business-to-business transactions expected to reach $377 billion this year. But while 69 percent of executives expect use of virtual cards to increase over the next three years, more than 40 percent of CFOs admit they don’t know enough about virtual card payments to use them, according to an industry report. [Read more…] about Moving from Paper to Electronic Payment: 3 Key Considerations

As most other industries have expanded, mining has been left behind in terms of development. With hesitation surrounding new technologies and limited room for error, the health of those in the industry has been under question now for a number of years. Here we are going to look at some of the technology making mining a healthier career option for all those involved as the industry finally looks to be making strides toward the future.

Technological Advancements

In the past mining has been a very difficult career to go into. With a lot of health implications it can be a challenge to complete a job without falling ill. However over the years there have been technological advancements put in place to make the health afflictions that employees face, much less severe. With technology such as a drilling rig and other advanced innovations such as self-driving vehicles, there are efforts being made to help keep employees happy and help to ensure that they are not affected by any of the debris that surrounds them. [Read more…] about The Technology Making Mining A Healthier Career Option For All

By Wilmer Castro

The advancement of technology has created exciting new opportunities for the healthcare industry, and now, more than ever, organizations are seeking to adopt innovative solutions that enable connectivity and streamline clinical workflow. Evidence of this trend can be seen in a 2018 poll by Ernst and Young, which surveyed 195 executives and 152 physicians to understand their perceptions of digital technologies in healthcare. An overwhelming 91 percent of respondents reported they already have or will undergo a digital adoption initiative within the next year.

While it’s clear healthcare organizations are eager to embrace new technologies, the transition to these platforms requires a formal digital adoption program that identifies the specific needs of healthcare staff. Without a human-centric adoption approach in place, the change could be unsuccessful and unprofitable.

Nearly every organization experiences difficulties with adoption, regardless of industry. These issues can range from lack of employee engagement, lack of relevant training and general low awareness due to poor communication from leadership. A digital adoption strategy for this particular audience must consider a few unique factors in order for it to be successful. [Read more…] about Ensure a Successful Digital Transformation in Your Healthcare Organization

By Akhil Docca

The healthcare industry – from hospitals to health insurers – is riding the technology wave. It has sparked the development of cutting-edge solutions to better serve patients and improve operational efficiency. To that end, these enterprises are developing and using technology and solutions like mobile health, electronic medical records, medical imaging, and artificial intelligence. This adoption of technology is driving the industry forward and creating a huge amount of information to process, manage, and store in ways that are both accessible and secure.

Globally, the volume of healthcare data accounted for over 700 exabytes in 2017 and is expected to grow to 2,314 exabytes in 2020. Mobile health alone, including healthcare-centric wearable devices, was a nearly $18 billion market in 2016. Medical imaging, which constitutes between 7.5-10% of total expenditures in healthcare, is seeing an increase in the volume of imaging done and in the file sizes. Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) storage requirements for hospitals are growing at more than 20% per year – to more than 8,900 terabytes in 2011. [Read more…] about Healthcare and the Data Center