Georgia Health Information Network Aims To Facilitate Sharing of Patient Health Information

Emory, Grady Join Georgia Health Information Network by Ellie Hensley.  Atlanta Business Chronicle.  April 2, 2014.

Ability of different Electronic Health Record Systems to Communicate Is Key Coordinated Care

Interoperability To Bet Boost From New Pay Models, HHS Says by David Pittman.  MedPage Today.  August 7, 2013.

(1) According To HHS greater financial motivations are needed to ____________________.

(2)  Interoperability of information systems is defined as ______________________________.

(3)  An objective of Health and Human Services is to incorporate _________________________
into payment reform efforts such as ___________________________________.

(4)  HHS aims to extend health information exchange standards  to _____________________________________ to link all spectra of the health care continuum.

Artificial Reality Simulations Through Avatars Might Help Weight Loss

New Skinny On Weight Loss:  Avatars Might Help by Fatimah Waseem.  USA TODAY.  July 1, 2013.

(1)  The research here, according to an expert quoted in the article, can show "how using virtual world technologies can be ______________________________________."

(2)  The participants in the study were able to ______________________ so as to better identify with the weight loss behaviors illustrated.

(3)  What were some limitations of the study?

(4)  What are some of the other uses for virtual reality systems for health promotion and behavior modification?

(5)  The study recounted here supports the idea that a computer avatar could be useful in influencing a person's ___________________.

Thought-Controlled Robotic Arm Gives 'High Five' to Researchers, Hope to Paralyzed Man

Paralyzed Man Uses Thoughts Alone To Control Robot Arm, Touch Friend's Hand, After Seven Years.  Science Daily.  February 8, 2013.

Brain-computer interface technology was employed on a man who had suffered a spinal cord injury allowing him, first, to move a computer cursor and, later, a robotic arm.

How The Human Brain Adapts To Injury

Research Reveals Exactly How The Human Brain Adapts To Injury.  Science Daily.  January 16, 2013.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have delineated the back-up mechanism for a temporary incapacitation of the Wernicke area, a key area for language comprehension.  This mechanism included the contralateral areas, the areas next to the impaired area, and a frontal executive area.  The researchers used a theory of how brain systems self-organize in response to change.

Disease Forecasting Models Increasing Incorporate Weather

Flu?  Malaria?  Disease Forecasters Look To The Sky by Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press.    January 3, 2013.

Increasingly weather is being incorporated into computer disease prediction models.  The article cites some successes such as hantavirus and Rift Valley fever in Africa.  A model that was created by Columbia University faculty is said to be able to predict the peak of the flu season up to seven weeks in advance.  While there is some optimism about such models one expert said that he "wasn't sure any of them are ready for prime time."

Technology Opportunities in Medicaid Expansion

Health Law May Boost Tech Firms' Revenue by Phil Gatewitz, Kaiser Health News.  December 20, 2012. 

Firms set to profit from the possible expansion of up to 17 million new enrollees in Medicaid include Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, and smaller firms such as CNSI.  Among the services these firms may offer include cost control, program operations, health insurance exchanges, claims processing, verification of eligibility, fraud detection, and call center operation.

The Future of Diagnosis: Knowledge Versus Intuition? Human Versus Computer?

For Second Opinion, Consult a Computer?  by Katie Hapner.  The New York Times.  December 3, 2012.

The breathtaking diagnostic skill of Dr. Gurpreet Dhaliwal, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco is highlighted to raise questions about the source of diagnostic skill and the present and future roles of computers in diagnosis.

Health Care Industry Megatrends

Health Care Industry Megatrends with Paul Keckley, Executive Director, Deloitte Center for Health Care Solutions.

Excellent brief overview of seven megatrends impacting the health care industry.  The trends discussed by Dr. Keckley include demanding demographics, strategic globalization, unconstrained connectivity, constrained resources, accelerated consolidation, big data, and consumer discontent.

Study: Online Contact with Physicians Increases Office Visits

Online Access To Docs Increases Office Visits, Study Finds by Eric Whitney, Colorado Public Radio. November 21, 2012.

In light of requirements from the Department of Health and Human Services that doctors offer online access to their patients, important questions arise.  A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association addresses one of these questions.  Online access to doctors seems to increase, not decrease, the number of office visits from patients. Another key question involves compensation for email contacts.  At present the health care system does not compensate doctors for time replying to emails.

High School Senior Develops Artificial Neural Network for Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Too Smart For School by Mark Gordon.  Gulf Coast Business Review.  November 16, 2012.

This article features Brittany Wenger, winner of the Google Science Fair, who has developed a method for diagnosing breast cancer that has a 99.1 percent accuracy rate.  This method uses artificial neural networks, a computing technology that mimics the brain.  She plans to explore business opportunities, become a pediatric oncologist, and be on the team that cures cancer.

IBM's Watson Harnesses Big Data for Medicine

IBM's Watson is Learning Its Way to Save Lives by John Gertner.  Fast Company.  October 15, 2012

While IBM's  computer Watson is best known for willing on Jeopardy! it is this fall being tested on real patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer in New York.  Building upon its ability to grasp the complexities of human language and answer difficult questions, IBM researchers are applying Watson to complex decision trees in diagnoses and cancer treatment.  Watson is being used by Wellpoint, the big insurer, to evaluate medical procedures for payment.  However, the article focuses on the role of Watson at providing "second opinions" to any doctor anywhere.  In an environment where 90% of the world's information was created in the last two years, the role of computers such as Watson is seen as certain to expand.  Key is also Watson's ability to interpret unstructured or semistructured information such as doctor's notes.   The article also reviews IBM's approach to innovation.

Technology and the Future of Medicine

The Digital Doctor.  The New York Times.  Science Times.  October 11, 2012.

In this special edition of the Science Times, writers explore technological issues in medicines including apps and iPads, electronic medical records, computer-aided design and manufacture in dentistry, telemedicine, the new doctor's bag, accessibility in therapy, and other issues.

Quick DNA Analysis For Infants

Infant DNA Tests Speed Diagnosis of Rare Diseases by Gina Kolata.  The New York Times.  October 3, 2012.

An article in Science Translation Medicine outlined a new approach to quickly analyzing a baby's entire DNA to pinpoint mutations in two days instead of weeks or months.  Disease symptoms are used to narrow the search for genetic aberrations.  A computer program searches for genes based on those symptoms.  In narrowing the search for mutations the new method avoids ethical problems that arise when genes are discovered which can lead to adult disease.