Digital Health bits | September 23rd
Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer
Apple and Singapore will reward Apple Watch owners for healthy activity
Apple is working with the government of Singapore to help get citizens moving and living healthier lives with an Apple Watch.
The two-year program is a first of its kind, Apple said, because the government is offering financial rewards to people who engage in healthy behaviors.
Residents need an Apple Watch to participate, and the program is administered through an iPhone app called LumiHealth, which will go live on the App Store in October. They can then sign up to earn one-time rewards of up to $380 Singapore Dollars — about U.S. $280 — for activities like meditation, walks, swimming, better quality sleep, as well as public health actions like getting immunizations. Once a Covid-19 vaccine is made available, the app might nudge them to get vaccinated.
Participants can also sign up for wellness challenges and games created by doctors and fitness experts. The assigned tasks are based on demographic factors, such as age, gender, and weight, so super athletes won’t be competing against people who are just getting started with health and fitness.
Apple Watch Series 6 is revealed with enhanced health-tracking features
At its event last week, Apple announced its Series 6 Watch, introducing a hallmark addition to its suite of health tracking features: blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring. Other updates on the newest Watch include a new native sleep-tracking feature, a faster FDA-approved electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, and upgraded heart health monitoring.
The pandemic is driving US consumers to adopt digital health tech for the first time
Apple Watch 6 comes with health-tracking features. Business Insider Intelligence
The updated features will open the door to wider Watch applications in clinical and research settings.
Providers can leverage the Apple Watch 6 to access a swath of health data—which could be valuable in improving patient outcomes via early diagnosis. Health systems can integrate Watch-generated health data into electronic health records (EHRs), giving providers a more holistic view of a patient's health profile: The Watch can constantly gather patient health data that would otherwise be collected at a single appointment.
#DigitalHealth #Wereables
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-watch-series-6-stocked-with-health-tracking-features-2020-9
How tech disparities affect Americans' digital health: 6 things to know
For its 2020 State of Telemedicine report (downloadable for free here: https://c8y.doxcdn.com/image/upload/v1599769894/Press%20Blog/Research%20Reports/2020-state-telemedicine-report.pdf ), Doximity researchers surveyed 2,000 American adults ages 18 and older about their opinions and use of telemedicine technologies.
Six things to know:
1. Forty-five percent of Americans said cell phones are their preferred device for participating in virtual care visits, while 39 percent said they prefer using a laptop.
2. About 64 percent of households with incomes of $25,000 or lower report having broadband internet access, compared to 93.5 percent of households with incomes of $50,000 or lower.
3. Seventy-eight percent of households in non-metropolitan statistical areas have broadband internet access, compared to 86.7 percent of households located in metropolitan areas.
4. Seventy-nine percent of white Americans report having access to home broadband and high-speed internet compared to 66 percent of Black and 61 percent of Hispanic Americans.
5. However, recent tech advancements have helped expand digital health access by allowing patients to participate in telemedicine visits using just a smartphone. Among white, Black and Hispanic survey participants, 82 percent, 80 percent and 79 percent, respectively, said they have a smartphone.
6. The greatest tech disparity among the survey respondents is owning a desktop or laptop computer, which 82 percent of white people do, followed by 58 percent of Black people and 57 percent of Hispanic people.
#DigitalHealth #Telemedicine
Digital health skills and training more important than ever 29.6 million telehealth services delivered
A national digital health skills and training plan has been released last week to help the Australian health workforce use technology and further drive the digital transformation of health services to meet community demand.
As with every other sector, adoption of technology is critical for the healthcare system and the Roadmap sets out how the Australian health workforce of more than 767,000 registered healthcare providers (as at March 2020) can be transformed over the next decade.
Read more: https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/digital-health-skills-and-training-more-important-than-ever-296-million-telehealth-services-delivered
#DigitalHealth #Telemedicine
Read more: https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/digital-health-skills-and-training-more-important-than-ever-296-million-telehealth-services-delivered
Virtual clinic tool aims to provide end-to-end NHS solution
Definition Health has unveiled a digital tool aimed to reduce patient risk and improve time and cost efficiencies across the NHS and private health sector.
Called Secure Virtual Clinic (SVC), the software provides patient-practitioner consultation via video or audio call, whilst allowing secure two-way file uploading, information sharing and complete follow-up to ensure medical continuity.
The combination of SVC with the company’s LifeBox pre-operative health assessment (ePOA) app, launched in 2018, provides the UK’s first end-to-end digital surgical journey.
Definition Health co-founder, Dr Rosie Scott, said: “Secure Virtual Clinic is more than just video consultation as it replicates a face-to-face consultation.
“Medical files, scans, patient photos, and videos can be uploaded and exchanged between patient and hospital staff, for consultations and the entire pre- and post-op care. It allows for a pluralistic approach to enable individualised patient care – and it is completely secure.”
#DigitalHealth
Read more: https://www.med-technews.com/news/virtual-clinic-tool/
More than 1,700 GP practices contribute data for Covid-19 research
More than 1,700 GP practices have stepped forward to contribute patient data for Covid-19 research at the University of Oxford.
The data, which has already led to published research on Covid-19 risk factors, has come from a daily pseudonymised feed from participating practices provided by EMIS since July.
EMIS has also given researchers at the university first access to its new clinical data and analytics product. Built on the cloud-based EMIS-X platform, the new EMIS-X Analytics technology is now being piloted in a number of academic studies relating to Covid-19, ahead of its launch to NHS customers.
The response from GPs follows a joint appeal in March by the Oxford Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre (Oxford RCGP RSC) at Oxford University, and clinical systems supplier EMIS, for practices to share their data under strict governance guidelines.
To date, 1,774 practices covering nearly 10 million patients have volunteered to take part in the Covid-19 research.
#DigitalHealth #COVID-19
Read more: https://www.digitalhealth.net/2020/09/gp-practices-data-covid-19-research/
Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer