Health Gadgets and Apps Outpace Privacy Protections, Report Finds

In 2009, Congress asked for recommendations on what to do about information that falls outside the privacy law known as HIPAA. Today, health officials released their report, but offered no suggestions.

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Pharmacies Are Awful—But These Startups Could Fix Them

So, you need to pick up a prescription. During lunch or after work you’ll go to the nearest pharmacy, where you’ll stand in line at a counter. The pharmacist will ask you to wait 20 minutes, so you’ll contemplate a new shampoo or flip through magazines. Maybe you’ll leave with your pills, but maybe the pharmacy won’t have your meds in stock.

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Feds take another step toward approving wireless body sensors

U.S. healthcare facilities are getting closer to making Medical Body Area Networks a reality. A new website has been launched so hospitals can formally register their deployments of MBANs, which support wireless patient monitoring to transmit patient health data over a short range at low power levels.

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Developing a Framework for Evaluating the Patient Engagement, Quality, and Safety of Mobile Health Applications

Growing evidence suggests that health care is more efficient and effective when patients are actively engaged in their treatment.  Engaged, or activated, patients collaborate with their providers, are treated with respect and dignity, receive information related to their care, and are involved in decision-making.  Two separate reviews commissioned by the Institute of Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that chronic disease self-management and promotion of patient engagement are essential to successful care management programs targeting patients with high needs and high costs and are associated with improved quality of life, functional autonomy, and decreased hospital use.

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Smart Printed Sensors Monitor Movement Sequences

Wearable technology has caught on to progress health and fitness. Simply worn on the body, smart garments can, for instance, track activity. Sensors in functional clothing could also help optimize exercises by monitoring movement sequences. A novel transparent sensor material developed by Fraunhofer ISC enables movement measuring sensors to be printed onto textiles. The innovative material will be presented on IDTechEX Europe at booth F16 in the Estrel Berlin on 27 and 28 April 2016.

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