Posts tagged ‘health technology’

June 7th, 2012

#HAchat Recap: Health Activists Talk Technology

by Caitlin

Image Credit: jimyounkin on Flickr

It’s Health Technology Month at WEGO Health, and what better way to kickoff our exciting discussion of apps, devices, EHR and much more than by a special #HAChat?  Technology is an inextricable aspect of many of our lives, and this tweet chat is just one example of how intertwined our lives have become with technology, and how technology binds us together. In this week’s chat, Health Activists talked apps, what health tech means to them, and how technology has vastly improved healthcare.

……

Health tech is an all encompassing term.  It refers to medical devices such as X-rays, MRI’s, glucose monitors, electronic health records, mobile apps, and much more.  Health technology has revolutionized the way healthcare is practiced, as well as given patients the tools to have a more active role in their care.  How has health done this, you might ask?  The ways are too numerous for this recap, but in general, technological advances have led to earlier diagnosis and new treatment and surgical techniques for more precise outcomes.  There are even robots that can perform surgery these days!

 

The accessibility of certain health technology and devices has had a profound impact on the lives and care of patients across conditions.  It’s amazing just how often patients can say, “there’s an app for that!”  There are apps that help you track the severity of your symptoms and record notes regarding triggers, track your pain, remind you do take meds (or just reminders to fight brainfog!), and record your visits with your doctor.  Use these apps to track your nutrition, to find innovative exercises based on your health needs or limitations, to track your sleep cycles, to reduce stress through meditation and mindful breathing.  These trackers help you to recognize patterns in your health overtime, and also help you to be better prepared for your doctor’s appointments.  This can be especially helpful for unplanned visits to the doctor or the ER.  Using apps that track symptoms and medication means that you’ll have all the information that you need right at the tip of your fingers. This will help you better communicate with staff in the ER, and will also win you respect from your healthcare team. julianna12369: when I have organized notes, on my phone, I look better and more educated to the staff, I get more respect. That helps #HAchat

 

Finding these apps and then deciding which one to use can be a little overwhelming; this is why it’s good to do your research.  Some health activists suggest online resources such as TedMed, BBC Health, or charities and organizations, but others rely on the power of their online community.  Facebook and Twitter are some of the greatest resources for health tech and for finding resources that have already been vetted by the consumer.

 

We’ve heard many Health Activists discuss the fact that there isn’t an app for their condition, but this chat revealed that Health Activists don’t necessarily want an app specific to fibromyalgia/lupus/other chronic conditions.  Many chronic conditions have similarities or comorbidities and it doesn’t necessarily make sense to have an app that focuses on one condition rather than integrating a range of conditions.  Julianna12369 suggested that the welcome screen for the app could have you select a condition.  Suggestions like this, and others regarding usability demonstrate that apps should be made for and by patients. And speaking of integration, apps and data should be able to be accessed on multiple platforms, not just a smartphone. First off, not everyone has a smartphone. Second, who likes typing on an iPhone/Android?  Apps that sync to multiple devices are more likely to be used.

 

Unfortunately for patients, doctors and healthcare practitioners seem to be woefully behind on apps and health tech specifically geared towards patients.  Many are just starting to get into communicating with patients via email, and as we’ve discussed, social media is a foreign land to many healthcare practitioners.  As Health Activists, you should tell your doctor about different apps that you’re using so that she/he can let other patients know.  Like the rest of the online space, there’s a lot of information to sort through, and many healthcare practitioners don’t have the time to be doing this.

serenebutterfly: No, my general practitioners’ to my knowledge don’t use apps, can only get hold of them during appointments, no access to email #HAchat –

julianna12369: My GP came in with a trainee. Trainee was using an Ipad, my doc just paper. Who was teaching whom?#HAchat

 

Generally, the power of technology to improve healthcare is endless.  Patients are being more quickly and more accurately diagnosed, health tech empowers patients to monitor their health in a more detailed way between appointments, has allowed patients to connect with each other all over the world and find the information they need to get the care they need, and finally to drive change in the healthcare field”: kimmieCollas: patient communities drive change, since more informed patients leads to more informed doctors #HAchat

 

Do you have a favorite health app that you would like to share? WEGO Health will  be featuring Health Activists reviews on the Facebook page all month long and want to hear what you think! If you’re interested, email us at community@wegohealth.com for the review guidelines and we’ll feature you and your post over the course of June.  Be sure to join us next week for the Men’s Health Week #HAChat.  Tuesdays, 3 PM ET.

 

 

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June 1st, 2012

Health Technology Month!

by Amanda

Happy June 1st! We’ve got a lot of things planned this month and hope you’ll join us for Health Technology Month.

 

Aside from the fact that Health Activists are captivated by: their communities, learning new things, and sharing – many members of our online health community are also notoriously tech-savvy, tech-curious, and eager to learn about how technology can improve the lives of patients, the work of healthcare professionals, and healthcare overall. So this month is dedicated to Health Technology and all of its many incarnations.

 

From self-tracking to mobile apps to robots to virtual medicine — we’ve got a lot to examine. We’re hoping to pull information from the most technologically-advanced among us and bring their wisdom (and just really cool info) to the whole community. Whether you’re developing an app for your health community or just really like your medical device — there’s a place for all of us to discuss this month.

 

Additionally we’re so ready to bring in the fellas this month for Men’s Health Month. Though it’s not secret that the majority of Health Activists are women (and we’re so proud to share that this is one place where we ladies truly dominate) — it’s time men who work for health starting discussions, raising awareness, and being generally health-centric got the spotlight. Men need emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual care too. We’re ready to talk about it and hope you will join us during the week of the 11th-17th to focus on Men’s Health with us (no matter your gender identity). Living better is a worthy goal for everyone and empowerment is powerful for all.

 

Have you written about Health Tech and your health, community, or just how tech enhances your life? We hope you’ll share your posts with us! Be sure to check out our Facebook for lots of features. Here is the official list of June Happenings so you can join us all month long.

 

 

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June 30th, 2011

Connect to Your (Mobile) Health

by Amanda

Today’s post is a blog by Tayla that explores the other side of the cellphone health story – texting. This week we discussed apps in our webinar and how to utilize these applications on your smartphones and tablets but there are also health organizations utilizing text messaging to reach their audiences. One of the best parts of mhealth (mobile health) is that orgs are discovering and pursuing ways to reach out to a much wider demographic (even internationally) and allow a wider range of patients and caregivers to become empowered. Personally I’m psyched to learn more about this and watch how mhealth evolves. –Amanda

Connect to Your (Mobile) Health

by Tayla Holman

 

Are you ready for a revolution?

 

If so, be prepared to see an explosion in mobile health (mhealth) technology. Cell phones are now quickly becoming an integral part of healthcare, with new health and medical apps quickly exploding in mobile markets. But mhealth goes beyond just mobile apps; now it includes texting as well.

 

Sites such as text4baby.org offer healthcare tips, delivered via SMS, to pregnant women and new mothers. Simply text the word BABY (or BEBE for Spanish speakers) to 511411, along with your baby’s due date or birthday, and you’ll receive information on pregnancy and caring for your baby.

 

For women who are not yet pregnant, but are trying to conceive, babycenter.com’s “Booty Caller” may be helpful. The site will send 3 ovulation alerts per menstrual cycle right to your phone, letting you know when you are most fertile. They also offer pregnancy tips and will send parenting tips until three months after the baby is born.

 

Some organizations are taking texting for health one step further and engaging in SMS-based public health campaigns. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have teamed up with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to expand the use of IT in diabetes management. They even used Text4baby as their model.

 

Cities and countries are getting in on mobile health technology as well. San Francisco recently launched SexinfoSF.org, a text messaged based service for youth in the Bay Area. The text messages include information about safe sex, STDs, peer pressure, and more. The texts even include numbers and addresses for health clinics. Australia has launched a similar campaign – Sextxt.org.au aims to provide contraceptive and sexual health information to teenagers.

 

The texting for health initiative isn’t entirely new, however. The Kaiser Family Foundation launched their “KnowIt” campaign back in 2007. Cell phone users can text their zip code to “KNOWIT” (566948) and receive information about HIV testing centers near them. And Diet.com started offering weight loss support texts in 2008. The site allowed users to type in the name of a restaurant and menu item and receive its nutritional information.

 

So what do all of these different campaigns and initiatives mean for health activists and our communities?

One benefit of the rise of mobile health technology is that it allows information to be distributed cheaply to those who may not have had access otherwise. Most, if not all, of the text-based campaigns are free, and the only fees are those that may be required by the wireless carrier. In the case of Text4baby, their partnering with the Wireless Foundation allows them to bypass even carrier-imposed fees.

 

Mobile health technology also has the potential to reach a vast amount of people. In the U.S. alone, nearly 300 million people now have cell phones. This means that SMS-based health information is capable of reaching over 90 percent of the population.

 

In our increasingly fast-paced, technology-driven lives, we often make excuses for why we don’t do certain things, such as visit the doctor or maintain weight loss goals. But with health information available in seconds with just a text message, we really can’t use these excuses anymore. As activists and patients alike, we now have the power to control and maintain our health, literally, in the palm of our hands.

 

What, if any, health texts do you or your community subscribe to? What information do you wish was available via text messaging?

 

 

 

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June 22nd, 2011

The iPad and Your Health (Activism)

by Amanda

Today’s post on Health Technology is written by WEGO Health intern Tayla Holman (Welcome, Tayla!). Tayla’s post zeros-in on the tablet phenomenon (particularly, the iPad) and how the shiny magazine-sized pieces of technology are sliding their way into our healthcare. Whether you have your own iPad or, like me, still covet one – the use of tablets are changing healthcare in a way that will begin to influence all of us. Check out Tayla’s thoughts on how the iPad is changing the health sphere. As you read, keep in mind your own health community – have conversations about tablets or apps come up? (Don’t miss our Apps & Activism Webinar next Monday 6/27- to learn a lot more!) Have you begun to manage your health with apps or are you waiting for the tablet market to diversify a bit more? And, perhaps most importantly, how can we, as Health Activists, bring the iPad-for-health conversation back to our communities with all the excitement, healthy skepticism, and curiosity we bring to our leadership? –Amanda


The iPad and Your Health

by Tayla Holman

Once again, Apple has changed the game.

It’s clichéd, but true. With the release of the original iPad, and now the iPad 2, came an onslaught of new apps, many of which were in the medical category. Some are even free, or at least relatively cheap. There are dozens, if not more, websites dedicated to the best medical apps for the iPad, and many doctors are incorporating the tablet into their interactions with patients.

Let’s take a look at three ways the iPad is revolutionizing health care.

iPads are playing an increasingly large role in exam and surgery rooms:

Doctors are using iPads to show patients what they may look like after reconstructive surgery, and to show them radiographs of their injuries. The iPad also allows doctors to have all of their patients’ information in one place, instead of having to get a different chart every time they enter an exam room. Apparently it can even take X-rays through clothes! Cool, but kind of creepy.

Doctors have been quick to embrace the iPad and what it can do for them and their patients.  Dr. Richard Watson, an emergency room physician at MetroSouth said that the use of the iPad for electronic health records (EHR) spread “like wildfire.” The Loyola University Medical Center has even given iPads to its orthopedic residents. There’s no doubt that other hospitals will adopt this practice if they haven’t already.

Take control of your own health:

With the availability of medical record, drug interaction, and symptom checker apps, it is much easier to take control of your own health. While an app can’t – and shouldn’t – replace getting professional medical attention, it can be helpful for keeping track of medications, records, and lab reports. Having that information close at hand is just one step to being an informed and empowered health activist or patient.

There are so many different apps that you let you keep entire medical histories, not just for yourself, but for your family members as well.  With one of these apps, you never have to worry about if different medications have a negative interaction or what dosages to take. This is especially helpful for people who are caregivers or who take several medications and need to keep track of that information on a daily basis.

Keep in touch with your health community on the go:

Imagine sitting in a waiting room at your doctor’s office, and flipping through a magazine with an interesting article. The article gets you thinking, and you can’t wait to get home and write about it. But you remember – “I brought my iPad today!” – and get your blog post (on your WEGO Health page, of course) done before you’ve even had your temperature taken. You share the post on Twitter and Facebook and in the time it takes to get your weight and height checked, you’ve already received several comments.

Or perhaps you want to share news with one of your health communities once you’ve left an appointment. Some smart phones just aren’t convenient for heavy-duty writing, but the iPad is. Or you might be like Alicia Stanley and make it a “mission to find the best apps for patients and health activists.”

How else do you use an iPad for healthcare? Do you see it is a negative or positive that this technology is radically changing the medical field?

 

CategoryHealth Technology, June, physicians | Comment2 Comments »

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June 8th, 2011

How Tech Is Making Us More Efficient Health Activists

by Amanda

So Organized!

We’re living what Jane Sarasohn-Kahn calls, “Do It Yourself Lives.” By applying the best tools, information, and ambition – we’ve found ways to just about do everything on our own and more importantly, on our own terms. We are well aware of how quickly life moves and we want to make more of it than ever before. This, in fact, goes well with our theme of Health Technology because – we owe a lot of our independent, fast-paced lives to technological devices. As Health Activists, we want a new, better version of what’s out there for us. We owe it to our own curiosity but also to our communities who look to us for conversation on it. Sure, this means we want upgrades for all of our technology but it also means that, most importantly, we want upgrades in our thinking. It’s no surprise that we want so much to be treated like intelligent and self-sufficient people when it comes to our healthcare – we are intelligent and self-sufficient.

 

Health Activists especially are on the forefront of the DIY trend – not only have we taken control of our health and learned to analyze it in a productive outward way (through communities, blogs, forums, social media) – but we have also taken it upon ourselves to bring what we’ve learned to others. What I love about Health Activists is that no one is saying “I wish we could go back to a simpler time” we are saying “I want to know what’s next. I want to gain more control and more influence. I want to be more efficient and more effective even if that means taking more responsibility.”

 

Isn’t it time our healthcare caught up with us? Of course it is. This is the whole idea behind the powerful e-patient movement – DIY healthcare starting with what you can give yourself. In the wise words of E-Patient Dave, “We who’ve become e-patients don’t wait for our providers to tell us everything; we get it in gear, we ask questions, we do what we can to help.”


Recently, one way that people are fulfilling this is through self-tracking. Watching what you do, recording it, and looking at the data you’ve collected. This goes for everything from budgeting your paycheck to watching your weight loss – and really provides a sure-fire way to achieve your goals (and doing so through the use of new technology).

 

Health Activists have been tracking their health, symptoms, flares, appointments and so much more for a while. It makes for better health management and better interaction with our doctors. By watching how we feel and what influences our bodies, we are more effective caregivers to ourselves (and our families as the case may be). In the past we’ve used whatever we can: three-ring binders, manila folders, notebooks, and spreadsheets. Now we can integrate technology into that tracking process. We can use apps, devices, and programs to make this Health Activist staple even easier.

 

A burgeoning community focused wholly on the trend of self-tracking is The Quantified Self. What is it? Well, as it says on their site, “Quantified Self is a collaboration of users and tool makers who share an interest in self knowledge through self-tracking. We exchange information about our personal projects, the tools we use, tips we’ve gleaned, lessons we’ve learned. We blog, meet face to face, and collaborate online.” Sounds pretty perfect for Health Activists, doesn’t it? Sponsored by personal health management site Cure Together, The Quantified Self has already gathered a great collection of ways you (and your community members) can try health self-tracking. The Institute for the Future (IFTF) partnered with The Quantified Self to build a complete guide to self-tracking. This means that, soon, we’ll all be able to share self-tracking resources with our communities and get in on taking this new movement of DIY living to the next level.

 

As quoted in this IFTF article, project head Alexandra Carmichael knows what DIY folks want: “People interested in measuring their cognitive function, or sleep, or body fat, will be able to come to the guide to learn about the different tools available, interact with people who are measuring the same thing, and discover new ideas about how these observations can be useful.”

 

How much will this idea of self-tracking influence the world of Health Activists? Ten-fold. I see a future of more organized health communities and online support groups with even more sophisticated conversation. I foresee the elevation of online conversation that many of us are already having about health daily. I also see the ability to engage in that elevated conversation becoming a possibility for everyone in a way that socioeconomic limitations has made difficult thus far. Health Activists will be able to speak from experience in a more complete way and encourage others to do the same. There will be: more effective doctors’ appointments, better patient adherence, and more proof (anecdotal backed up with data!) as to what works and what doesn’t. But that’s just my two cents and I haven’t even scratched the surface of this self-tracking movement or more intricate health technology trends!

 

What do you think? What sort of self-tracking do you do now and what self-tracking (or health tech) would you like to try? How do you think the future of self-tracking (through health technology) will improve your health and influence your health community?

 

Categorye-patients, Health care, Health Technology, June, patient empowerment | Comment1 Comment »

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June 6th, 2011

June Poll: HealthTech SayWhat?

by Amanda

As we announced last week, our theme for June is Health Technology. We’re excited about our theme and the implications of technology especially with regards to health but… we could use your help with defining what “health technology” actually means to Health Activists. In your community do you talk about health tech? In your life, do you utilize health tech? Let’s get a better look at how Health Activists are influenced by and would like to be influence by the idea of health technology.


Share your thoughts on our June poll to help us define health tech!



Feel free to share the poll with your community to get their thoughts! This month we’re hoping to help inspire you to start conversations about health tech and hoping to learn from you what aspects of this topic are most important and exciting to you!

CategoryHealth Activist Poll, Health Technology, June | CommentNo Comments »

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June 1st, 2011

Health Technology!

by Amanda

Tech Yourself Before Your Wreck Yourself

This month we will be learning all about Health Technology together. Health tech that you already use, love, and recommend – as well as some new health tech that you’ve heard of, invented in your dreams, or want to try. The important part of our focus is how these technologies will influence your health community in a positive (and futuristic) way.

Whether you’re a smart phone user, proud owner of a shiny tablet, utilize a device for managing your condition, or are just interested in the way healthcare is going to evolve through technology – there will be a lot to see and share this month. Everything from the fitness, nutrition, and wellness aspects of health tech to adherence, device usage, and condition management. What technology excites you the most right now? What health apps or games are your favorites? Have healthcare professionals started using technology in your care?

We’ll be discussing everything from mobile to video and lots of technology in between. Because the term “health technology” is wide-reaching and rather undefined – we have the opportunity to go in lots of different directions and bring in a range of topics to our conversation.

Will the future be this cute?

Stay tuned for editorial features this month and, if you haven’t yet, check out our Health Technology Group over in the WEGO Health Community to join in a conversation or start your own. I can’t wait to learn more about “the future” with you and help you talk about health tech in your communities!

 

CategoryHealth Technology, June, Theme, wego health | Comment3 Comments »

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May 11th, 2011

Finish This Tweet May

by Amanda

Alright Twitter users (or Facebook status-writers) – we’ve got another tweet for you to finish. This month’s tweet involves your use of technology for health – can you share thoughts in 140 or less?

 

“My favorite health-related app (or device) is…”

Health Technology is a topic we’ve discussed in our community in the past – so let’s revisit it now! Is there an app you use for your health? Whether it’s an actual health app designed to track or improve your health/wellness or an app that improves your emotional app (games, pics, creative apps, etc) – tell us about it! If you don’t have a phone or device that uses apps – what device or piece of technology do you use or rely on? What’s your favorite way to combine technology and health?

Tweet us @wegohealth or tag it #FTTMay so we can collect all of your awesome tweets! Thanks for joining us – can’t wait to see what you’ve got to say on this :)

CategoryTwitter, wego health, WEGO Health Community | CommentNo Comments »

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