Making considerable news is a Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) study published 19 May, on how physician dictation of notes, later transcribed into an EHR, resulted in lower quality than either structured documentation or free-text notes typed… Read moreDoes doctor note-taking method affect quality of care?

‘Oddly’ because it’s about the 3,500-odd robots being used in Afghanistan to probe for IEDs, clear mines and scout in advance. Instead of being discarded when mal/non-functioning (750 have been lost in combat situations), even in bits, many are now… Read moreAn oddly heartwarming robotics story

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the ‘signature wound’ of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And the causes–improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other types of bombs–are apparent. But gauging how much blast a soldier has been exposed to, where he or… Read moreDARPA/RIT's 'Blast Gauge': measuring the unseen wound

Computer-based cognitive behavioral therapy, therapy delivered via telemedicine, mobile self-tracking, social networking and games for health are all ways where therapy online is effectively extending the office visit, especially for those with moderate depression and anxiety. Strengthening this trend are… Read moreBehavioral therapy, online and mobile

A short, tart article on MedCityNews provides some valuable tips for HIT managers on how to secure all those proliferating, personal mobile devices in the healthcare environment and to manage theft and loss. Install geolocation and tracking software or services… Read morePreventing data breaches on mobile in healthcare

AMD Global Telemedicine announced their partnership with ELINCO, a Vietnamese IT and telecom company, to integrate devices such as AMD’s high-res exam cameras and ophthalmoscopes with ELINCO’s AGNES 3.0 telemedicine portal. According to the release, quoting Vietnam’s Ministry of Health,… Read moreTelemedicine ventures into Vietnam

The recent series of heavy earthquakes and aftershocks in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna has a dramatic impact on the area’s medical device industry. The region between the cities of Modena and Mirandola is home to over 100… Read moreEarthquakes in Italy damage medical device industry

At the end of April we reported the publication GP Online’s attempt which was blocked by the Department of Health to get the data on which the 3ML claim for savings from the extended use of telecare and telehealth is… Read moreAfter the evidence, GP Online still doubts telehealth savings (UK)

The BBC is the latest mainstream news organisation to report concerns about the NHS North Yorkshire & York PCT (NYY) telehealth programme where 2,000 Tunstall health monitoring units were paid for upfront by NYY and the Strategic Health Authority of the time at a cost of £3 million. It was covered on Friday in a local TV news broadcast and in an online article. Telehealth scheme criticised by GPs in North Yorkshire. The BBC report is partly based on a copy of the confidential internal audit report which it obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. [Just because a document is released under FOI does not mean that it is in the public domain, which is a pity as it must be a fascinating read.] In the BBC report, Dr David Geddes for the PCT confirms that, as we industry observers had suspected, the scale of the procurement was driven by the need to ‘spend the money or lose it’.

In brief, for readers who may not be up to speed with the other concerns, around the commissioning… [Read More below.]