Nothing Better to Increase Adherence Like Rewards

A new smartphone app has be launched to improve medication adherence. The app uses a system of reward points that can be used to obtain real prizes. The app also uses games and educational facts to improve medication adherence. This new app offers improvement in helping prevent the $290 billion in healthcare spending that is brought about from medication non adherence. The company who invented the app, HealthPrizes, looked at behavioral economics, gaming dynamics, and consumer marketing to help promote their product and its ability to improve medication adherence. The app was recently used in a study with COPD and asthma patients showing high engagement rates. 


By improving medication adherence, health problems will most likely be reduced and clinical outcomes improved. There will be less doctor visits and reduced costs for medical visits. Overall this will decrease the amount of unnecessary health care spending. Lastly, if medication adherence improves quality of life improves which is ideally what every patient is looking for from taking medication. 


http://medgadget.com/2011/11/healthprize-smartphone-app-for-improving-drug-compliance-released.html

I've Fallen, and I Can't Get Up

Everyone has seen those panic buttons on t.v. however, has anyone ever wondered what happens if the person becomes unconscious and can not press the button. Well it did happen and some students at Northeastern University developed the next generation medical alert bracelet. It is able to detect the acceleration of a fall and able to distinguish it from other activities like a high five using its accelerometer. It also has microcontroller, a zigbee chip, custom pulse oximeter and integrated them into a single point fall detection system with biometric sensing. This capability is essential in whether someone could be saved or end up dead depending on the condition. Ultimately affecting the biggest medical outcome...LIFE!

http://medgadget.com/2010/04/college_students_invent_nextgeneration_medical_alert_bracelet.html

CardioDefender! Sounds like a Super Hero...

Everist Genomics has come out with a smartphone ECG that can provide continuous readings throughout the day. Its most beneficial characteristic is its ability to detect arrhythmias that might not be able to be detected in an office visit. Once detected on the smartphone, the information can be sent to the clinician via email or by other electronic means. This is a great way for doctors to help prevent complications for arrhythmias. My grandmother actually suffers from arrhythmias and this would be great for her because hers are usually triggered by too much activity. If she would wear this watch, all the information can be sent to her primary physician who can look at the ECG and correlate what activities exacerbate the problem through inquisition of her activities at the time of the abnormal heart rhythm.

Through all this prevention of additional health costs, health problems, and complications can be accomplished. Most of all it can help my grandmother with complying to the avoidance of the exacerbating factors which we tell her to avoid all the time.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/everist-genomics-to-launch-cardiodefender-worlds-only-mobile-ecg-system-that-delivers-real-time-beat-by-beat-quantitative-heart-monitoring-data-to-physicians-2011-11-09

What can social networking do for you?

Researchers at the University of Washington are trying to help cancer patients with an online system called HealthWeaver. The program, HealthWeaver, includes a social networking tool that aims to help cancer patients manage information about their healthcare, have their questions answered and create a network with others who can aid them in their treatment. It allows these cancer patients to ask for assistance with daily activities that they now can not do anymore without help. 


The social networking aspect of it allows patients to interact with others in other parts of the country or maybe even world who are going through the same thing. Other programs like HealthWeaver include CaringBridge and Lotsa Helping Hands. What makes HealthWeaver a little different is that it is not just a social networking tool. It also gives the user the capability to post how their feelings about their treatment or even how they are feeling that day and updates about their health. The creators of this program are now trying to create a mobile application. 


This is similar to James' post about the family who had the child diagnosed with that rare disorder who turned to social networking and found other families going through the same situation. However, this program offers a little more. This program just shows how social media can improve health outcomes. It does not necessarily help cure the cancer the patient has, but does help with improving patients quality of life and helps them better manage and understand their illness. An example as learned in some of my classes, some cancer patients become depressed when diagnosed, but with this program it may help prevent that. More and more programs like this are being developed and I believe it will greatly improve the healthcare field one way or another. 


http://cbpowell.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/cnn-covers-healthweaver-my-teams-software-for-cancer-patients/