It's always a big week when it comes to healthcare, especially when it comes to the technology that drives health care. With plenty of news to cover in the field, that gives us a lot of room to find the high points, and that's exactly what our Week In Review coverage is here to do. So settle in and let's check out the biggest news of the week!
First off, we had a report from Dr. Thomas Kalb, M.D., who released the results of a study during the American College of Chest Physicians' annual conference. The study discussed daily scheduled ventilator rounds by way of a Tele-ICU platform. As it turns out, patients whose progress was studied with Tele-ICU showed a marked improvement in not only overall health, but also a reduction in time spent on a ventilator, and better adherence to a low tidal volume strategy, which has been shown to better protect lung health.
Next came a bit of kudos for Vidyo, who earned the 2012 North American Frost & Sullivan Customer Value Enhancement Award for applications in healthcare-focused videoconferencing. The sector has been gaining impressively across a wide variety of industries, but the healthcare industry has seen some especially big gains in the field by allowing doctors to connect with both patients and with other doctors. Vidyo's applications have played a big part in that movement, thus earning them the award.
Then, we took a special look at broader trends to come in the healthcare industry. Always a hot-button issue, but especially while a Presidential election is in the works as it is right now in the United States, there are several trends emerging to take notice of. Among them are a move to more low-cost facilities in response to rising insurance costs, the rise of CDHP—Consumer Driven Health care Plans—and the increasingly global nature of the economy as a whole, which is providing more options for consumers, options both hospitals and insurers alike can ill afford not to notice.
Next, with Halloween now a memory and stacks of candy likely still on hand, we took a look at the importance of limiting the sugar intake of young children to prevent a host of potential issues. But what to do with all that extra candy? In many locations, dentist's offices—themselves somewhat against the excess consumption of candy—have established candy buyback programs in which tots can take a portion of their haul in and exchange it at variable rates, often a dollar a pound. The candy will then be sent to offices, or to soldiers serving overseas.
Lastly we took a look at how Kiip, a company widely acknowledged for bringing reward structures to mobile apps and games, was successfully using its reward structure program to get more users engaged in fitness-related apps. Results of a recent study from UC Berkeley revealed that users used apps that featured Kiip rewards structures on average of 225 percent longer than those without. That means a lot more time spent in fitness apps, and a lot more time spent making a move to get healthier.
That was the week that was in healthcare technology, and it's a week that had plenty going on within. Our global online community is always on the job, keeping an eye out for the best and freshest news to bring your way, so be sure to join us back here next week for plenty more news.
