February 28, 2008
Interest in Online Health Access By Consumers
A new survey by Deliotte shows that nearly eight out of 10 adults are interested in having online access to their medical records and test results, and 26% said they would be willing to pay extra for the service. Only 6% of respondents said they have accessed their medical records and test results online.
The same survey noted that 76% of respondents are interested in communicating with physicians via e-mail, while 72% would like to schedule appointments online. Twenty-three percent of respondents said they would pay extra for e-mail access to a physician, and 18% said they would pay extra for online appointment scheduling.
Results are based on a September 2007 survey of 3,031 adults.
Source: Deloitte
February 20, 2008
Brain Control Headset For Games
A neuro-headset which interprets the interaction of neurons in the brain will go on sale later this year. It works by picking up electrical activity from the brain and then sends wireless signals to a computer. It has been created by a company called Emotiv and will allow the user to manipulate a game or virtual environment naturally and intuitively.
The headset implements a technology known as non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) to read the neural activity. The brain computer interface reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically.
The technology can also be used to give authentic facial expressions to avatars of gamers in virtual worlds. For example, if the player smiles, winks, grimaces the headset can detect the expression and translate it to the avatar in game. It can also read emotions of players and translate those to the virtual world. According to the manufacturer, the headset could detect more than 30 different expressions, emotions and actions. They include excitement, meditation, tension and frustration; facial expressions such as smile, laugh, wink, shock (eyebrows raised), anger (eyebrows furrowed); and cognitive actions such as push, pull, lift, drop and rotate (on six different axis).
Gamers are able to move objects in the world just by thinking of the action.
Emotiv is working with IBM to develop the technology for uses in strategic enterprise business markets and virtual worlds.
See how the headset works
Source: BBC News
February 14, 2008
Whose Data Is It Anyway?
A special report from the California Healtcare Foundation discusses data ownership. The changing landscape of health information technology and the ability to exchange personal health information requires that the legal foundation that facilitates consumers’ access to, and control and use of, such data for their own and society’s benefit must also change.
"This policy brief explores the technological and legal landscape governing personal health information, as well as important issues that must be addressed if consumers are to have new, meaningful rights to the electronic records they entrust to an information custodian serving on their behalf. Challenges include defining "personal health information custodian" as an entity; determining the obligations of custodians, providers, and payers in an updated legal framework; providing economic incentives for clinicians to acquire the capability to electronically convey personal health information to consumers; and enforcement of applicable new laws.
The authors conclude that a modernized legal structure is necessary to ensure that consumers can maintain control over their health information. Such laws have the potential both to clearly define patients' rights and increase the level of consumer engagement in health care."
Here is the report (pdf)
Whose Data Is It Anyway? Expanding Consumer Control over Personal Health Information (539K)
February 02, 2008
Medical Publisher Launches Health Wiki
Publisher Elsevier has launched a clinical health information wiki called WiserWiki. It is geared toward consumers and built on the premise that there is a lack of trust about online health care information. The basis for the wiki is Elsevier's "Textbook of Primary Care Medicine, Third Edition," by John Noble, published in 2001.
Like other wikis, it allows users to create and power a collaborative, community Web site that is populated with information contributed by community members. Thus content can only be added to or edited by board certified doctors "to ensure that the information is as trustworthy and reliable as possible," according to a statement on the WiserWiki site.
A study by Forrester in December 2007 found that 84 percent of the 7,500 surveyed consumers had researched a health topic using an online source such as a Web site, an RSS feed or an e-mail alert and that 81 percent had visited a web site, the survey also showed that overall, consumers did not trust the information they found.
The Forrester study reported that 53 percent of consumers don't trust health information blogs, 46 percent don't trust social networking sites and 34 percent don't trust wikis.
In addition to the community editing process that wiki software offers, it also gives the reader the opportunity to see who makes changes and when. In WiserWiki, consumers can view contributors' names and the changes they've made to the site. The consumer can then use that information to evaluate recent updates and validate the accuracy of the content on the site
Related Links
Elsevier
Search Engine Health Survey
Have Online Consumers Used Health Search Engine Sites To Find Health Information?