By Thuc Huynh, MD Rock Health, the first seed accelerator specifically for health technology startups, has revealed their newest class for the 2013 season. Eleven startups will have the chance of a lifetime receiving a slew of perks including $100,000 investment, free legal advice, free design help from Cooper Design, and mentorship from tech giants such as Microsoft, Genentech, the makers of Guitar Hero, and more. This years class had many services for providers and large healthcare organizations. But there were a couple patient-centered groups. To me, there was one company that stood out the most as a promising tool to change healthcare -- Fluid. Fluid touts they can help people diagnose the flu in minutes, without the need for a doctors visit. But how? A home kit with fluid analysis similar to a home pregnancy test? A sophisticated question/answer algorithm? Whatever the case, if it works and is easily accessible to all ranges of patients, then this could be a huge game-changer. It could decrease unnecessary emergency room visits during the flu season saving a ton of money for the patient which would also decrease the risk of spreading the infection into already ill patients. I am excited to see what they will bring to the table. Without further ado, here are Rock Healths 11 startups : * Amplify Health - builds population management tools for at risk provider groups * Anapsis - a research platform and marketplace for scientific and statistical computing * Augmedix - service for medical doctors thats powered by Google Glass * CancerIQ - harnesses big data to accelerate personalized cancer care * CRIXlabs - builds software for de-risking drug development * Fluid - helps people diagnose the flu in minutes, without the doctors visit * Lift Labs - makes active stabilization tools for people living with tremor * Sensentia - developing a new breed of intelligent systems for healthcare administration and operation * Smart Patients - an online community for motivated cancer patients and their caregivers * Spire - a wearable sensor that tracks both physical and psychological fitness to lower stress and increase productivity * ThriveOn - delivers mobile mental health programs from screen to treatment customized for every individual

Apple iPhone users are probably getting excited about all the new features that will be introduced in iOS 7. For example, there is the ICLOUD KEYCHAIN: _Lots of things you do on the web require passwords. Now iCloud can remember your account names, passwords, and credit card numbers for you. And Safari can enter them automatically whenever you need to sign in to a site or shop online. It works on all your iOS 7 devices and your Mac computers running OS X Mavericks. And with 256-bit AES encryption, it’s highly secure._ Or, how about: PASSWORD GENERATOR. _Every time you create an account, you can have Safari generate a unique, hard-to-guess password. And remember it for you._ So, what happens if your iCloud password gets compromised and someone gets access to all these accounts and passwords? Given that so many people still use the same password for multiple accounts, these new iOS 7 features ought to be beneficial for the average user.

The following is a guest post by Jim Kelly The healthcare industry is one of the most profitable entities of the US economy. The advent of smartphones as everyday tools has not only merged two vibrantly growing industries, it has provided both patients and providers with a new dimension to medical care. When it comes to applying for a job in the healthcare sector, applicants need to be aware that proficiency with technology, particularly web apps and mobile devices, is becoming a normal job requirement. During the last few years, trends indicate the healthcare industry in US is improving and jobs are being created after the Obama Care policy of medical insurance. The demand is on the higher side, so that means that even relatively inexperienced graduates have a decent chance of getting a job. The main context is more centered on the applicant’s ability to work in tough conditions or multitasking skills. And the multitasking part is where mobile devices and web apps are becoming key. Research labs, however, still focus on hiring healthcare professionals with a good research exposure. They would always grill you on your graduate thesis, research aptitude, techniques you’ve learnt and any related innovation ideas that you have in mind. Read more »

I purchased my iPhone 5 last October through Verizon. I rarely drop my iPhone and I always carry it in a protective case. My iPhone 5 practically looks brand new when you remove it from the case - no scratches, dents, dings, or other blemishes. The other day, I noticed that the vibration (vibe) motor had stopped working. So, I took it to my local Apple store and they did something to repair it. Im still not entirely clear what they did. They replaced the vibe motor but informed me that the problem wasnt the motor. They didnt replace the phone or the circuit board, so I retained all my data. Then, today I noticed that the vibration had stopped working again! I was frustrated, but a few hours later I noticed that the vibration was working again, so I remained puzzled. Nevertheless, I took my iPhone 5 to the Apple store because of a different problem: the sleep/wake button wasnt being too responsive. If you press the button on the left corner, it works fairly well. If you press it towards the right corner, it works less than 30% of the time. Failure of the sleep/wake button seems to be reported by other iPhone users. The Apple store replaced my iPhone with a new phone. Thank you Apple. So, heres the bottom line: if your iPhone is still under warranty and youve noticed that the sleep/wake button isnt as responsive as it used to be, you may qualify for a replacement. Take it to the Apple store. Make an appointment online for the Genius Bar to reduce your wait time.

As technology advances, I find myself wondering if the smartwatch will ultimately replace that smartphone that we put into our pockets. Add a Bluetooth earpiece and some Google Glass - type of visual aid, and you dont really need a smartphone. You can do all your mobile computing through a tiny digital device that you simply wear on your wrist. Plus, the smartwatch can monitor your physical activity and give you quantitative data on your fitness each day. The first generation of smartwatches will emerge in 2013 from major smartphone OEMs like Apple, Samsung, and others. These devices will probably rely on your smartphone for essential functions, so they wont be designed to replace your smartphone. However, eventually well start seeing models that will have full cellular capability. Once the smartwatch phenomenon really takes off, the days of the traditional smartphone may be over.

uChek by Biosense Technologies Pvt is a mobile medical app for the iPhone. Originally designed and used in India, Dr Abhishek Sen from the Biosense team said, "If it can work in India, it can work anywhere" uChek urine analyzer is designed to use the iPhone camera to read urine test strips and analyze the urine for glucose, urobilinogen, pH, ketone, blood, protein, bilirubin, nitrite, leukocyte, and specific gravity. According to the FDA: The uChek Urine analyzer appears to meet the definition of a device as that term is defined in section 201(h) of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. The FDA recently issued an inquiry letter to Biosense Technologies Private Limited, saying: We have conducted a review of our files, and have been unable to identify any Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance number for the uChek Urine analyzer. We request that you provide us with the FDA clearance number for the uChek Urine analyzer. If you do not believe that you are required to obtain FDA clearance for the uChek Urine analyzer, please provide us with the basis for that determination. Please provide the requested information within thirty (30) business days. This may be the first example of the FDA issuing a letter regarding a mobile medical app/device. Will we see other examples in 2013?

In case you havent heard, the smartphone will soon be the most powerful tool that clinicians will use when they perform a physical exam on a patient. Take a look at this video that describes the "smartphone physical."

Box is offering verified Doximity members a free personal account with 50 GB of permanent storage. I dont know when this will end, but claim your storage space now: https://www.doximity.com/promo/box Doximity is an online social networking platform for U.S. physicians. Box is an online file storage and sharing platform (similar to Dropbox, SkyDrive, Google Drive, SugarSync, and many others). 50 GB is a lot of storage. Most platforms only give you about 5 GB of free storage.

The AliveCor Heart Monitor for the iPhone 5 is available. Latest AliveECG App Updates include: * Annotate every ECG with patient information including name, gender, height, weight, date of birth, and if the patient is a smoker. * Include activity level, medications, and select from lists of symptoms, activities, and medical conditions. * Receive tips on improving the quality of your ECG recordings.

Do you use reading glasses? Have you ever left them at home? There are several apps that can transform your smartphone into a pair of reading glasses: Magnifying Glass With Light - easily magnify text and use your camera LED light to make the words easier to read. BigMagnify - the title explains it all Over 40 Magnifier and Flashlight - reminds us what we can all expect when we pass the 4-0 in life

Canfield’s DermScope is the world’s first intelligent dermatoscope, designed to address all of the important modes of skin visualization. DermScope helps you improve confidence in your diagnosis while increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the exam. * Evaluate lesions in live-preview mode * Capture, tag, and store images of suspicious lesions * Large 15 mm viewing field * One-touch magnification * Standard white and cross-polarized lighting * Contact and non-contact imaging * Long-lasting rechargeable battery

We know that iPhone theft is a major problem. How can we deter thieves from stealing iPhones? One way is to eliminate the market. Eradicate customers who would be willing to knowingly purchase a stolen iPhone. Police say stolen phones bought here are often resold overseas in places like China. Undercover cops in San Francisco are walking around approaching unsuspecting customers to see if they would be willing to buy a stolen iPhone. When a customer says yes, they make an arrest. Its illegal to buy stolen equipment. You can read about this interesting story on the Huffington Post.

An interesting article in _Rheumatology News _caught my eye the other day. It was titled, "Most pain apps lack physician input." An evaluation of 222 pain-related smartphone apps showed that many were developed without the input of a health professional, some had inaccurate information, and some of their features weren’t as robust as they could be. "Many of them were giving advice and offering coping strategies, but we don’t know if they’re effective," said Lorraine S. Wallace, Ph.D., who led the study. In addition, the apps could potentially be dangerous for users if the coping strategy – for instance, exercise – isn’t right for them, she said. Read the full story here.

Looking to recommend some mobile apps for your patients? The Journal of the American Pharmacists Association has an article titled, "Smartphone medication adherence apps: Potential benefits to patients and providers." Here are some brief snippets from the abstract: Practice innovation: Using smartphone adherence apps represents a novel approach to improving adherence. This readily available technology offers many features that can be designed to help patients and health care providers improve medication-taking behavior. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2013;53(2):172-181.

iClickCare is an example of mobile telemedicine. iClickCare enables healthcare providers to "talk" with other colleagues using text, pictures, video, and even PDFs on the iPhone, iPad or any desktop computer – over the internet. Collaborate with colleagues using an encrypted platform to communicate privately with other clinicians. You can learn more about iClickCare

TEDMED 2013 starts today and runs until April 19. This is where you will hear about some of the most innovative advances and concepts that will revolutionize health care. Find and interact with Delegates at the Kennedy Center and TEDMED Live viewers around the world, or check out the latest about whats happening at the event. Download TEDMED Connect today for iPhone, Android, or access TEDMED Connect via mobile web. http://www.tedmed.com

Ready for your annual physical? Get ready for the smartphone physical. Here's a press release describing it: TOP MEDICAL STUDENTS, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NURTURE(R) BY STEELCASE, MEDGADGET AND TEDMED SHAKEUP THE CONCEPT OF PATIENT CHECKUPS _A new way to perform physicals, known as the Smartphone Physical, debuts at TEDMED 2013_ WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2013-- A forward thinking team of medical student-engineers has designed a checkup of the future, titled the Smartphone Physical. At this year's TEDMED, Nurture, a Steelcase brand dedicated to providing user-centered solutions in healthcare, and a leading medical technology and innovation blog, Medgadget, have joined forces with the students to showcase the Smartphone Physical, a comprehensive physical examination conducted by minimal equipment that connects to an iPhone. Together, they are embracing TEDMED's theme of unexpected connections, to provide one-of-a-kind physicals to attendees. Delegates will be offered a series of quick diagnostic tests using devices connected to an iPhone to pull patient data ranging from weight, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, visual acuity and lung function. Patients will be able to receive an overall health picture and electronic health record (EHR)-ready results from the Smartphone Physical immediately after the experience. Anonymized data and infographic depictions of the health status of participants throughout the conference will also be made available. The Smartphone Physical's team of clinicians aims to perform nearly 800 of the personal ten-minute office visits at TEDMED, geared toward the forward-minded doctor and savvy patient. Read more »

Clinical practice guidelines are used by physicians and healthcare professionals when they make treatment decision. The ACP has just released a mobile app that contains ACP guidelines. Internal medicine physicians and other clinicians can now access the evidence-based clinical recommendations from the American College of Physicians (ACP) through the ACP Clinical Guidelines mobile app. Available for free on iPhone, iPad, and Android, the ACP Clinical Guidelines app includes recommendations from ACP’s clinical practice guidelines and guidance statements. Users can conveniently access clinical recommendations and rationale, summary tables, algorithms, and high value care advice for all currently active guidelines in an easy-to-read and interactive mobile format. “The ACP Clinical Guidelines app continues ACP’s goal to improve health care quality by disseminating evidence-based clinical recommendations through innovative web and mobile applications,” said Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHA, FACP, Director, Clinical Policy, ACP. “And the app will help save busy clinicians one of their most valued assets -- time.”

Research2guidance has released a complimentary whitepaper titled, "Whitepaper: Smartphone App Market 2013" Some findings include: While Apple’s market share of app downloads constantly fell from 81% in 2008 to 39% at the end of 2012, Android’s app downloads increased year over year reaching 42% at the end of 2012. Microsoft, BlackBerry, Firefox, Ubuntu or Jolla have come up with fresh and new app platforms which will challenge the two market leaders. About research2guidance: research2guidance is a Berlin-based mobile app economy specialist. The company’s service offerings include app strategy consulting, market studies and research.

The shift towards digital patient records could save the British taxpayer millions of dollars through efficiency gains, according to an article in ComputerWorld. The digitization of patient records has been mandatory in the NHS since 2000, and GPs nationwide are now creating electronic data for each of their patients. But within these same surgeries remain the old-style ‘Lloyd George’ patient medical records, which must still be stored and shared physically should a patient wish to change doctor. Lloyd George records were paper-based and stored in envelopes, making them an administrative burden for the health service. Under the present system, these records still need to be sent off to a processing center for redistribution to the patient’s new healthcare provider. Read more »

ATA is where traditional telemedicine meets mHealth. Telemedicine is being practiced around the world using mobile devices, so when should we call something telemedicine and when should we call something mHealth? The lines of distinction are getting very blurry. Register now for ATA 2013 - American Telemedicine Association May 5 - 7, 2013 Austin, TX Join 6,000 healthcare and technology professionals at the worlds largest telemedicine meeting. Featuring over 450 presentations on telehealth and mHealth and industry expo. This year at ATA, get there a day early and dont miss the ATA 2013 Telemedicine Venture Fair: Connecting capital, telehealth startups. Learn more at http://www.americantelemed.org

Mark your calendars now! In the upcoming #mHealthchat TweetChat on Thursday, April 11, Joseph Kim, M.D., MPH, President of MCM Education and mobile health expert contributor for SearchHealthIT.com’s Health IT Exchange, will be on hand to discuss the rapidly changing mHealth landscape and answer your most pressing questions about moving mobile adoption forward throughout the industry. Follow @DrJosephKim on Twitter now! * What: #mHealthchat * When: Thursday, April 11, 2013, 12:00 – 1:00 ET * Where: The Twittersphere, using #mHealthchat With additional thought leadership from John P. Donohue, Associate Chief Information Officer (CIO) at University of Pennsylvania Health System, we’ll spend 60 minutes discussing a variety of topics around the challenges, opportunities and best practices for mHealth usage and implementation. Follow @JohnDonohue17 on Twitter now! We will cover the following topics: T1: BYOD security best practices, solutions: Mobile device management (MDM) solutions. Privacy and security best practices for mobile health implementation and telemedicine initiatives. Impact of and concerns around the cloud in this growing arena? T2: Impact of HIPAA omnibus rule on BYOD and mHealth privacy and security strategy? What are the 3 top things to check NOW to make sure your compliance team is ready for September deadlines so you have time to fix glaring weaknesses, specific to BYOD? T3: Patient engagement: How are e-patients helping, or hindering, with mobile management frameworks? Learning from the empowered, engaged digital patient and ensuring a positive patient experience through telemedicine and mobile health tools. T4: Future of mHealth: Where are we going? What will we see in 2013 or 2014? Impact of recent FDA announcements? Follow along at #mHealthchat and get your questions ready for Thursday, April 11, 12:00 – 1:00 ET! And be sure to follow @HITExchange and @SearchHealthIT for even more dynamic health care IT conversations and all of our site updates.

Right now, many people use smartphones. Soon, most people will be using smartphones. Many people walk around with a Bluetooth headset in their ear. So, were already talking about wearable gadgets and computers. Some manufacturers have designed Bluetooth headsets to be fashionable pieces of high-class jewelry. The future of wearable computing include self-tracking gadgets like the Fitbit and the Nike+ FuelBand. Those types of gadgets may be reserved for fitness geeks or people actively trying to achieve and sustain weight loss. However, other types of wearable computers will become standard issue for business executives and health care professionals. Lets start with the smart watch. In the near future, well also see many people wearing smart watches that connect to our smartphones using low-energy Bluetooth. We know that Samsung is planning on releasing a smartwatch soon. Rumors of an Apple smartwatch will eventually come true. There are many smartwatches on the market and they dont resemble the clunky gadget that Dick Tracy used to wear. How will smartphones evolve once the smart watch phenomenon takes off? Will we see smartphones getting smaller? Bigger? Willl everyone want a phablet so that they can be more productive by having a larger screen? Will the smart watch replace the smartphone entirely? I think that could happen as we all wear more gadgets and computers on our body. For instance, why would you need to wear a smart watch and carry a smartphone if you also wore smart glasses? Google Glass is a new technology, but well see other manufacturers release similar smart glasses. So, imagine that your smart watch is your phone. It has cellular connectivity. You dont need a Bluetooth headset since audio is built into your smart glasses. Voice command and voice dictation. Plus, your hand/arm gestures will get sensed by the built-in accelerometer in your smart watch and get translated into commands. The days of typing on an on-screen keyboard may be over soon. Its time to practice your speaking skills so that you can dictate voice commands precisely. Voice recognition engines are getting much more sophisticated to recognize certain accents or speaking patters. Wearable computers. Body computing. These terms are about to have new meaning. These technologies will become a part of everyday life. Plus, they will be highly effective in promoting behavior change, in coaching healthy behavior, and in assisting with disease self-management. The possibilities are endless. Are you ready for this?

Want to learn more about mobile health? Stanford University is offering a free online course on mHealth titled: Mobile Health Without Borders INSTRUCTORS: Eric Leroux, M.D., M.B.A, Stanford University Homero Rivas, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Director of Innovative Surgery, School of Medicine, Stanford University Starting April 29, 2013 The course will function like a conference, but it takes place over three months rather than two days, and encourages the transformation from passive audience observer to active participant and thought leader. The themes to be addressed are: 1) Global Health Challenges. 2) Mobile Health Opportunities. 3) Entrepreneurship in Health Care. Learn more and sign up here.

I find myself wondering what the mobile folks are doing at Microsoft. Where is Windows Phone going? How will it differentiate itself from iOS or Android to really make a significant impact? Windows Phone 8 resembles Windows 8 in many ways. But, thats not going to be enough to get people to switch. Windows Phone is an elegant OS, but right now there are not enough apps for Windows Phone. This is especially true if you look at professional medical apps for medical students, residents, and physicians. My mobile ecosystem uses so many cloud-based apps that I work in a device-agnostic fashion. I can grab almost any device - iOS, Android, Windows 8 - and get my work done. I have access to all my critical files and my applications. Perhaps eventually we will all work like this. If we rely on web apps that are running on any web browser, then the issue of native apps will become irrelevant. However, the native app vs. web app (HTML5) debate will probably never end in my lifetime, so I will find myself testing and playing around with a wide variety of mobile devices to keep up with them.