|
The Digital Health Newsletter by Paul Sonnier
May 6, 2017
|
|
|
The Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, has passed the U.S. House of Representatives. One of the most humane aspects of the ACA is that it prevents insurance companies from denying coverage or pricing plans out of the reach of average people if they have pre-existing conditions. In reality this impacts everyone, as one's genetically-inherited risk of disease counts as a pre-existing condition.
|
|
As Adam Rogers points out in WIRED, the ACA protects against discrimination for pre-existing conditions that show up through genetic testing, for example if you have an inherited mutation in the BRCA gene that puts you at greater risk of breast and ovarian cancer. As I tweeted in reply to Adam (and Matthew Herper), "Also, all the other digital data being collected on us can be used to infer disease risk and even make diagnoses." For example, researchers recently created an AI system that scanned routine medical data and was able to predict which patients would have strokes or heart attacks within 10 years. And there's the case of Target using a teenager's purchasing habits to determine she was in the early stages of pregnancy. These are on the list of pre-existing conditions, which includes acne, coronary artery/heart disease, allergies, basal cell skin cancer, depression, ear infections, fractures, high cholesterol, hypertension, joint injuries, menstrual irregularities, migraine headaches, being overweight, tonsillitis, urinary tract infections, varicose veins, and vertigo.
|
|
|
"Digital health is the convergence of the digital and genomic revolutions with health, healthcare, living, and society." - Paul Sonnier
|
|
|
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched the Healthy Behavior Data Challenge, and effort to identify new ways to address the challenges and limitations of self-reported health surveillance information plus tap into the potential of innovative data sources (e.g., wearable devices, mobile applications, and/or social media) to enhance traditional healthy behaviors surveillance systems in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and/or sleep.
|
|
|
According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center Internet, a digital divide persists even as lower-income Americans are making gains in tech adoption. With fewer options for online access at their disposal, they report, many lower-income Americans are relying more on smartphones. Last year, one-fifth of adults in households earning under $30,000/year were “smartphone-only” Internet users, which means they owned a smartphone but did not have broadband Internet in the home. This was an increase from 12% in 2013. Only 4% of those living in households earning $100,000 or more fall into this category.
|
|
As inventor of the cell phone Martin Cooper recently tweeted, "The next cell phone challenge is not high speed and more apps, is lowering the cost of connectivity for all."
|
|
|
A new Holographic Navigation Platform by Scopis Medical is being used by surgeons to project an augmented reality (AR) overlay onto a patient during spinal surgery The Microsoft HoloLens-based system helps doctors to track the location of pedicle screws and enables the use of gestures for adjusting virtual displays, including a head-up display (HUD), which keeps critical information in the field-of-view.
|
|
|
A new tablet with magnetically configurable bumps is helping translate information like maps and other imagery for use by the visually impaired. The tablet is a result of the BlindPAD project and developed by researchers from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne research institute/university in Lausanne, Switzerland, which specialises in physical sciences and engineering.
|
|
|
KEYNOTE SPEAKING & SERVICES
|
|
|
|
|
If you are a digital health company, event organizer, or provider of other relevant solutions or services you can advertise in my announcements, on my website, and I'll mention you on Twitter. Working with me puts you in front of tens of thousands of targeted global prospects each week. I also provide strategic consulting and keynote speaking services. Contact me for my media kit, standard plans, and pricing.
|
|
|
Copyright © 2017 Paul Sonnier, Story of Digital Health
|
|
|
You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of every email
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
