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Hacking Health in Hamilton Ontario - Let's hear that pitch!

What compelled me to register for a weekend Health Hackathon? Anyway, I could soon be up to my ears in it. A pubmed search on Health Hack...

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Awesome Wearable Intelligence Google Glass in the ER Video


http://geekdoctor.blogspot.ca/2014/04/google-glass-details.html

John Halamka posted this video on his blog about the Wearable Intelligence software using Google Glass technology for healthcare (ER). It is awesome to see this from a Health Informatics perspective. They are experimenting with Google Glass in their ER. I like that he said:

"After several months of testing, we have deployed the product to clinical providers in the ED and are completing the first IRB approved study (to our knowledge) of the technology’s impact on clinical medicine."

The devices using the Wearable Intelligence software are medical devices and need to be tested clinical and cleared by the IRB. Evaluating the efficacy and patient safety over a longer term will also be interesting. I wonder how how they designed the clinical trial methodologically.

One commenter on the blog post on their experience with the efficacy of Google Glass over EHR/EMR has an excellent article:
http://www.acutecarecontinuum.com/Home/tabid/84/entryid/245/Slow-Death-by-EMR-or-How-I-Learned-to-Stop-Clicking-and-Love-Google-Glass.aspx


There are other stories on Google Glass I have picked up recently:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/7/5589940/google-glass-and-the-specter-of-instant-facial-recognition

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/04/prweb11740581.htm

The International Association for Privacy Professionals had this news item posted:
https://www.privacyassociation.org/publications/google_glass_surgeon_saves_lives_with_it_bar_bans_it


FACIAL RECOGNITION
Google Glass: Surgeon Saves Lives with It, Bar Bans It
Livestream has released its first piece of Glass software, PC Magazine reports, which allows users to tap the headset and say, “Okay Glass, Livestream,” and then livestream the event to viewers. Meanwhile, The Verge reports on the multitude of facial recognition apps on the market today, including “NameTag,” which links a user’s face to “a single, unified online presence.” And The New York Times reports on both the opportunities and the challenges inherent in Google Glass, with some welcoming the technology enthusiastically—such as one lung surgeon who recently used Glass to help perform a procedure—and others banning it entirely, such as one California nightclub.
Full Story


Friday, April 4, 2014

Semantic webTag Cloud at Bioethics website http://www.bioethics.net

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Coursera, Health Hacking, Diagnosis Apps, and Interoperability

There has been a lot happening and this is just briefly some of the things I have been tracking. A lot of my time is being spent taking a Coursera online course taught by Dr. Peter Singer (the Australian, not the U. of T. Ethicist) called "Practical Ethics". It is a 12 week course and there are about 25,000 people taking this MOOC. There are writing assignments, peer evaluations of such, video lessons, guest lecturers, discussion forums, essential background readings - I am very impressed and at the same time, very busy just trying to hang on.

COACH recently had a webinar on Health Hacking, facilitated by some of the founders of this fascinating organization. I would strongly recommend that anyone with an interest in healthcare technology and informatics, take a serious look at their website, and / or attend one of their hackathons. It is becoming so popular the next eHealth conference will have a Hackathon. During the webinar they mention how even the Canadian Medical Association thought highly of the concept. I was trying to find the article the CMA wrote about it but could only find this one:

We all know what happened to Google Health, and I am not sure today where Microsoft Healthvault is these days, so I am skeptical about any buzz we might hear about Apple Healthbook.

The Kuzweil Accelerating Intelligence news reported on a new Do It Yourself Medical Diagnosis App.  I have not had time to look into the details of this, but it might be a software candidate for an integrated Tricorder project.

The last item is really a gem, and it is the keynote talk given at HIMISS interoperability showcase, by Malcolm Gladwell. Malcolm uses 3 examples in the evolution of technology to make comparison to how new standards in interoperability can transform healthcare technology: shipping containers, Israeli military technology example called the Bekaa Valley Turkey Shoot, mp3 players.