Ram Dantu, a professor of engineering and computer science from the University of North Texas, along with his colleagues have deveoped a suite of mobile applications that can help people on the scene talking to 911 operators.  One app is for CPR, the other for detecting the heartbeat, and the other is access to the phones camera by the 911 operator.  The team is waiting for FDA's approval to market the apps.  This article is useful to anyone and everyone who might find themselves in a middle of an emergency, communicating with a 911 operator and wanting to give more accurate information regarding the emergency at hand.

The CDC is getting some help from Wikipedia as far as tracking and predicting flu outbreaks.  The algorithm that two researchers from Boston Children's Hospital, David J. McIver and John S. Brownstein, is based on the number of views of flu-related articles on Wikipedia.  This algorithm is said to have cut down the time it currently takes the CDC to track and predict flu outbreaks.  The algorithm was developed by analyzing view data from late 2007 through the middle of August 2013.  Given the number of people affected by flu year after year, I think that this article is relevant and should interest everyone.

Rumors have been swirling for months that Apple is planning on launching its very own health wearable device dubbed as the iWatch. After Nike's failed attempt at developing a wearable that would/could be fully embraced by consumers, there are reports that Nike has scrapped further plans of developing its Fuelband but instead will focus on how its own products can be integrated with the iWatch. Wearables are slowly gaining popularity and for those of us who have been waiting for a wearable that captures more metrics than the ones currently out in the market, this article confirms that there are better ones being developed.

First there was telecommuting, now there's telemedicine.  In this article, Google glass is being utilized to determine whether an in-person consult with a doctor is necessary to treat a wound by sending video and audio of patient to doctors and nurses.  While telemedicine seems like a practical way of linking up doctors with patients who really need legitimate medical consult, could we be compromising quality of care in the process?

Ginger.io is developing a mobile app for the Mood Matters Project that will help doctors better understand people who are suffering from depression.  If eligible to take part in the Mood Matters Project, the participant will answer surveys everyday in his/her smartphone that will be sent through Ginger io's mobile app.  I think this is a very interesting way to gain a bit more understanding of the behavioral patterns of depressed people in a non-clinical setting.  

This article talks about mobile meditation apps that are slowly growing in popularity despite no hard evidence of its (positive) effects.  These mobile apps have been especially helpful to those who would like to do their meditation "on-the-go."  I believe that despite these apps' immeasurable effects, if people think that it helps them reduce their overall stress level, it seems to me that they're doing more good than harm.

This news article is about the director of the MA Health Connector appearing before a congressional health panel to discuss the problems that the state's insurance website has encountered during its launch using the same vendor who worked on federal counterpart website (healthcare.gov).  For those of us who've been following the roll out of the new Healthcare Act, there has been so much focus on how much the federal government "fumbled" on the healthcare.gov website launched, seems like some of the same issues encountered on the state level were overshadowed.

This article talks about recent rumors that Apple is on the verge of releasing its very own body-monitoring app, Healthbook.  The app is designed to track things such as heart rate, weight, physical movements, and etc.  For those of us who've purchased other body-monitoring apps by third party developers on our iPhones, this new Apple-developed app provides us with another option.

This article talks about the FDA providing guidelines to developers of mobile apps that can potentially carry more than minimal risks for its end users. App examples provided on the article include those that can diagnose arrhythmia or mobile devices that can be utilized as an ultrasound.  I think this article would be a good read for anyone who have purchased any health/medical related up on Google Play or the iTunes store.  It's good to know that the FDA recognizes the importance of putting some regulations in place in terms of these apps knowing that some individuals have a tendency of doing self-diagnosis using these apps prior to paying their doctors a visit.  

The CMS website provides information as it pertains to the new Sunshine Act that went into effect in 2013. The law requires certain industries to report payments made to physicians and encourage transparency. Data gathered by the CMS will be published on the website and can be accessed by the public.