2015: A Year of Digital Transformation for Global Healthcare Leaders

In 2015, led by hospitals (U.S.)Healthcare Service InstitutionsMomentum continues to build, and this is not limited to pilot programs; rather, a comprehensive deployment of digital healthcare initiatives is underway. Below are some key trends summarized from our analysis. Although the content is extensive and packed with valuable insights, Allen will strive to make it accessible and easy to read. Let’s get started.

Trend 1: Venture Capital Penetrates the Hospital Sector, Sparking Continuous Synergies

Some innovative hospitals are particularly focused onDigital Health, such asCleveland Clinic(Yes, he’s always mentioned when it comes to innovation!) This February, it and the telecom giantCox CommunicationsThe companies swiftly joined forces to form a “strategic alliance,” collaborating to provide digital home healthcare services. Headquartered in Atlanta, this newly established joint venture will help Cox deliver appropriate broadband services to hospitals and healthcare providers. According to Reuters, Cox has also invested in the health company HealthSpot, although the specific amount remains undisclosed. By March of this year, GE Ventures announced its partnership withStanford Health CareCollaborate to Jointly Establish a New Digital Health Efficacy Assessment AgencyEvidation Health. Shortly after its establishment, Evidation was seamlessly integrated into the comprehensive transaction system of Health Activity Platform Company. Additionally, besides Stanford University, Evidation also announced new partners in November.Ochsner Health System. In May,Meridian HealthSubsidiaryiMPakPartnering with Biomedical and Healthcare GroupsNetScientificFounded a company focused on digital health sales.Triventis Health. Triventis Health will first acquire the subsidiaries of NetScientific GroupWanda HealthCombine the products launched into the market, and then use iMPak’s devices to perform data analysis and remote monitoring on these combinations. This product series will first beNetScientificsales through its affiliated hospitals, followed by expansion to various hospitals across China. The latest news on capital penetrating the hospital sector involves one of the best hospitals in the United StatesBrigham and Women's HospitalandRock Healthmarriage. Both parties announced they will collaborate to test products fromRock HealthPortfolio technologies of its incubated companies. In fact, they had close interactions as early as last summer, and we expect this collaboration to last for approximately three years.

Trend 2: Remote Video Access & Home Medical Paging Services

The biggest digital health trend around 2015 wasRemote Access, Telemedicine GiantTeladoc, American WellandDoctor on DemandThis year has seen a bountiful harvest with encouraging growth, along with significant gains.Investment InstitutionsandHealthcare Service Providers(hospitals & private medical institutions). However, the business world is like a battlefield; how could it be without smoke and fire? This yearTeladocandAmerican WellAll were deeply embroiled in patent wars, during a chaotic melee in October,TeladocIt unexpectedly lost to its competitors, but from a historical perspective, competition among companies with different business models may sometimes help further advance telemedicine. Throughout history, hospitals have always taken a backseat, observing the fierce competition between others while quietly reaping residual profits. During this year, some hospital systems have quietly engaged in such activities, one way or another.TelemedicineStrategic layout in the field. Within the healthcare system based in Minneapolis, Minnesota,Fairview HealthTook its “significant” first step: strategically invested in a telemedicine company this JanuaryZipnosis, but the actual amount is unknown. In the following month, with 1,000 beds and revenue reaching $2.1 billion,Thomas Jefferson University HospitalA $20 million investment was made to build two new urgent care centers, complemented by a telehealth video visit solution that enables the hospital to assist remote patients. This year, California’s health systemSutter HealthThere are also new developments: in late February, it launched a brand-new iOS app, enabling access through a company invested in by Sutter Health last year.MDLiveto enable remote access. In April of this year,MultiCareIn June, the health system announced that it would provide remote video consultation services with physicians to patients in Washington.Cleveland ClinicAlso released a new remote video access applicationMyCare Online, it is capable ofAmerica WellProvide patients with 24-hour access to emergency care services. By the fourth quarter,America WellSuccessfully defeated the other two suppliersIntermountain HealthcareandCommunity Health Systems, gained the opportunity to serve local residents in Oklahoma and Washington, for which a newly establishedIntermountain Connect Carewill be established in 2016, under American WellVirtual Health NowThe platform will be integrated into the local network, with Arizona and Pennsylvania expected to come online in the coming months. In the telemedicine sector, the emergence of new opportunities coincides with the demise of established companies. This year, the German companyBoschformally shut down its U.S. subsidiaryBosch Healthcare, to reduce healthcare expenditures. This year, many outstandingTelemedicine App, some of them may become the next generation of video access applications:Home Telemedicine, while it currently remains an ordinary digital healthcare assistance tool. This year inCabalso launched many services, such asHeal, Pager, FirstLine Medical, MedZed, Dispatch Health, FRND, PediaQandCircle Medical, etc.Dispatch Healthwill also be withCenturaCollaborate to serve its patients. Although many startups this year are committed to becoming theUber, but I need to ask firstUberTo agree or not to agree. At this year's White House summit,UberAnnouncement andBoston Children's Hospital, VoalteandPractoform a partnership. However, based on his experience, Sherpaa CEO Jay Parkinson believes that this model of providing home-based services via telephone is unsustainable. Sherpaa proposed its ownTelemedicine Model, i.e., primarily relying onAsynchronous Message Passingtelemedicine services, another company with a similar business modelTalkspaceEarlier announced a partnership withDuke UniversityandColumbia Universityresearch partnerships. However, telemedicine also has its own challenges, includingLawandLegislationissues related toTeladocThe antitrust lawsuit against the Texas Medical Board is ongoing, with legal fees projected to exceed $700 million. Although the Texas Attorney General initially sided with the Medical Board, the judge rejected this position, making it a highly publicized case. Texas is not the only state facing legal challenges related to telemedicine; more than 200 telemedicine-related bills are currently pending in state legislatures. In 2015, the Federation of State Medical Boards adopted certain licensure compacts, and eleven additional states—Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming—have passed them this year.Medical Licensing Act, but it will require the remaining seven states to pass the bill for it to take effect. In October, the American Medical Association created a series of newCPT Code, to support the reimbursement process for telemedicine. These codes serve as a critical basis for health insurance, determining which services are eligible for reimbursement. This new set of standardized and clearly defined CPT specifications is expected to transform the previously chaotic landscape of the domestic telemedicine insurance market, providing significant reassurance to providers.

Trend 3: Patient-Oriented Mobile Products

This year, many hospitals, especiallyChildren's HospitalA patient-oriented mobile product has been released. AndNicklaus Children's HospitalMobile tools for patients had already been under development several years ago, yet their pace remains rapid. In an interview this January, CIO Edward Martinez stated that they plan to launch aVirtual Discharge Options, enabling the hospital to video-record the entire radiation therapy process. This March, in Washington, D.C., the private obstetrics and gynecology practice Reiter, Hill, Johnson & Nevin (RHJN) signed an agreement called Babyscripts with Washington, D.C., under which it will provide a “Mommy Kit”, including its pregnancy app and accompanying health devices, and “Mommy Kit” customers can also use Withings- or iHealth-enabled medical devices. That same month, The Wall Street Journal reported in an article that several initiatives at three different hospitals had independently adopted tablets in their intensive care units: Johns Hopkins University’sProject EmergeProject, Brigham and Women's Hospitalthe Patient-Centered ToolKitProjects, and those under development at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in BostonMyICU. In the process of developing these initiatives, hospitals have found that patients receiving treatment in the ICU often feel disrespected. The use of mobile or tablet applications offers a different experience: patients and their families can communicate directly with their care teams without needing to visit the hospital in person, thereby avoiding the feeling of being constantly monitored by doctors and nurses as if they were prisoners. They believe that transitioning from hospital-based to home-based care can grant patients greater freedom, after all, the customer is king, and patients are no exception. Also in March,Phoenix Children's HospitalAnnounced that they will install 200 tablets customized specifically for patients and their families, enabling them to interact with the patients’ treatment plans. Phoenix Children’s Hospital will digitize the entire treatment process, using this tool to help children’s families understand the necessary procedures before taking them home. Currently, these procedural instructions are printed out and distributed to patients and their families. This yearScripps Health(Scripps Health) has also launched an app for patients. Surprisingly, although Scripps Health entered the digital health sector early on, it has only now introduced a patient-centric application bearing its own name. The app, which supports iOS and Android devices, enables patients and visitors to easily locate Scripps-affiliated physicians and access their information. In the fourth quarter, an increasing number of patient-facing applications have emerged. Researchers from the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University, in collaboration with researchers from the Division of Neurosurgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, have developed an application for hydrocephalus titled “HydroAssist”. It allows patients to manually enter their treatments, schedule multiple treatment sessions, and view their treatment history by date. When patients need to seek care at a new medical institution, they can also use HydroAssist to share relevant data with other physicians. In November, Boston Children’s Hospital announced an internally developed program for discharge processing.DISCORelevant data indicate that two different research groups reported a 26% and 10% probability, respectively, of encountering issues when using the application. At the HIMSS Health Interconnectedness Conference in November,University of California, Los AngelesNumerous patient-facing applications were discussed, including a tablet designed for patient entertainment and education, an application for prostate cancer screening during hospital visits, and a remote monitoring app to track patients’ postoperative healing. Finally, throughout the year, hospitals have been conducting an ongoing experiment to determine how many patients need access to their medical records and which specific data points patients are most interested in knowing. In January, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston developed an application namedOurNotesprogram, thereby enabling patients to contribute their medical records. As is well known, this program isOpenNotesan expansion, it will cooperate with other suppliers across China. In May, Children's Hospital Los Angeles announced that they would provide free medical imaging procedures for their patientsImageInbox, this program will help patients obtain electronic versions of medical images, including MR, CT, ultrasound, and X-ray image files.

Trend 4: Chronic Disease Management

This year, a significant number of health systems have adopted connected devices designed to help users manage specific chronic diseases. In April,Partners HealthCareannounced that it willSamsungJoint DevelopmentChronic Disease Management SoftwareIn June, Partners conducted clinical trials for new software. Another collaboration took place in May, when Partners announced a partnership with PatientsLikeMe to provide patients with portal access to healthcare providers. Other relevant news has mainly focused on specific areas; below, we have listed some noteworthy updates.

Asthma/COPD

This year has seen an explosion of digital health products for treating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), yet one company has shut down its COPD product due to lack of interest: Michigan’s integrated health system.Spectrum HealthAnnounced it will shut down its asthma-related mobile app developed in 2010Ideomed. According to the local business magazine MiBiz, lukewarm sales of Spectrum Health’s asthma app, coupled with a lack of investment from external investors, forced Ideomed to shut down; the company has since developed another application.Abriiz, to help patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, other hospitals paid no heed to this; they successively launched respiratory-related research projects. This March, a company in San Jose, CaliforniaLifeMap SolutionsIn a new initiative with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, it will collaborate with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the National Jewish Health Respiratory Institute (NJHRI) to develop a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management system, comprising a mobile app and a smart inhaler. Subsequently, in December, LifeMap launched its second free app, COPD Navigator, and it is also associated with Asthma Care CompanySuperCare Health. Launched the enterprise version of the app in collaborationiBreathe。

Supercare Health (Super Health Care)

This May, California Remote Disease Monitoring Inc.Sentrian(formerly Jointly Health) announced that it would collaborate with the Scripps Translational Science Institute to test its technology on 200 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This remote intelligent platform utilizes biosensors for remote monitoring; what sets it apart is its use of machine learning to customize alert parameters for each patient. Last December, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, received a $6 million donation from the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California to help them conductPediatric Asthmaresearch in the field of.

Cardiac Disease-Related

Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital announced this year that it will pilot the application ofiGetBetter’s appsto facilitate remote patient monitoring and reduce post-discharge readmission rates. The pilot primarily targets patients with cardiac conditions, particularly those with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Subsequently, Partners Healthcare collaborated with Daiichi Sankyo to develop a mobile application designed for atrial fibrillation patients taking oral anticoagulants, aiming to improve medication adherence and provide feedback related to drug intake. Later this year, the Scripps Translational Science Institute announced partnerships with Aetna and Johnson & Johnson (Johnson & Johnson) jointly launched a trial to test the use ofiRhythm's Zio Patchandthe Amiigo activity tracke(Activity tracking) to screen for high-risk populations of atrial fibrillation. In January, a smartphone ECG companyAliveCorThe long-awaited clinical trial results of the company’s technology, tested by the Cleveland Clinic, have been released. The trial demonstrated that AliveCor’s heart monitor can indeed detect atrial fibrillation, with a false-positive rate of only 3%. Additionally, Intermountain Healthcare, a Utah-based health system, has begun evaluating the clinical application of AliveCor’s smartphone ECG device to determine whether its iPhone version can match traditional 12-lead ECGs. A Montreal-based company connecting remote patient monitoring devices via smartphones.Tactio Health GroupIt also announced this year a study involving 25 participants, conducted in collaboration with the University of Michigan Health System, to investigate the real-world impact of home blood pressure monitoring and medication adherence reminders for patients with hypertension. April is a particularly notable month, as many hospitals scramble to implement measures to reduceCongestive Heart Failure (CHF)Patient readmission rates. New York-based Health Recovery Solutions announced its inUniversity of Pennsylvania School of MedicineThe tablet-based solution piloted reduced the 30-day readmission rate for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) by 53%. Subsequently, in a pilot study involving 350 CHF patients,Philadelphia HospitalA follow-up treatment notification program for CHF patients via email and SMS successfully reduced the readmission rate by 10%. Subsequently, after analyzing the treatment processes of 348 CHF patients,Boston Healthcare HospitalResearchers found that remote monitoring of CHF patients reduces 120-day readmission and mortality.

Diabetes and Prediabetes

New York City-Based Fitness App DeveloperNoomAnnouncement and New York City Emergency Medical Care Network Service ProviderCityMDIn collaboration, a pilot test will be conducted among users of Samsung’s S Health app, which is integrated into Noom’s health program, to identify individuals with Level 2 high-risk diabetes. The pilot project will include up to 670 New York residents diagnosed with prediabetes. Noom aims to use this pilot to establish a health program that helps users prevent and treat diabetes in a timely manner. ClinicalTrials.gov also reported on another digital health initiative by Noom. According to reports, Noom will collaborate with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Kaiser Permanente on a 12-week health application study involving 200 participants.Noom Monitordevelopment to help individuals with eating disorders better manage their condition. Similarly, the Joslin Diabetes Center has begun piloting an online nutrition education platform for patients with type 1 diabetes this year.Sugar Sleuth“Glucose Alert Dog”). This online platform will help educate patients on how to analyze and optimize their postprandial behaviors and glucose levels. The app can also record relevant data to assist patients and healthcare providers in continuously monitoring their blood glucose levels. Another capital movement related to diabetes involves two U.S. and two European companies that aim to leverage Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to create new options for diabetes management. Additionally, the Mayo Clinic has partnered with Gentag, a medical technology company based in Washington, D.C., to establishAmerican half of the venture, while the Dutch medical technology company NovioSense will collaborate with the German R&D firm Fraunhofer IMS to address similar issues in Europe; coincidentally, both pairs of companies have previously worked closely together. In addition, the diabetes management startup founded by Glen Tullman last yearLivongo HealthThis year, it was announced that a platform enabling diabetes management through the Mount Sinai Health System would be launched for New York residents. The program has already been offered to Mount Sinai employees and will now be extended to patients within the Mount Sinai network. Finally, the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) has also piloted the development of a diabetes management app.Sugar", it will help diabetic patients control their weight and blood glucose levels.

Weight Loss

C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital is a pediatric hospital affiliated with the University of Michigan Health System, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1969, the hospital, which had been generously funded by Mr. C.S. Mott, was replaced by the children’s ward of the University Hospital. In 2006, the university embarked on establishing a new facility system, scheduled for completion in November 2011. According to U.S. News & World Report rankings, Mott Children’s Hospital ranks among the top children’s hospitals in the United States. This year, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital announced the launch of a new telehealth initiative aimed at reducing childhood obesity. The hospital stated that it will partner with Fruit Street, a newly established digital health and telehealth platform, to provide patients with a program application enabling remote video consultations using wearable devices. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) received a $13,000 donation this year from Providence’s Miriam Hospital and Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to help institute researchers promptly initiate studies on weight loss following bariatric surgery. Researchers will usewristwornHealth Monitoring DevicesActiGraphandSmartphoneTo track approximately 100 patients scheduled for bariatric surgery, monitoring their dietary intake, physical activity, behaviors, emotions, hunger, and cravings. Postoperatively, researchers will continue to follow these patients for four years. They will collect data on environmental factors, such as food availability, and support from family and friends, to assess which factors contribute to weight loss.

Trend 5: Mobile App Curation & Hospital App Recommendations

With the emergence of an increasing number of mobile applications in recent years, the question arises: which ones are truly worth long-term use? Therefore, it is essential to help consumers identify health apps that merit sustained adoption. Similarly, this yearHealthcare Service Providersis also actively exploringApplication Curation. First, two pieces of news from last year: the headline in New Orleans at the time was that Ochsner Health System launched its “Genius Bar-type” (Genius Bar-style) O Bar, a platform that enables face-to-faceHealth Education and Wellnessapplications. In February, the hospital developed two to three hundred applications to recommend to its patients (clients), which range fromFood lookup, nutrition tracking, fitness to diabetes management, smoking cessation assistance, and prenatal educationand so on. Another instance occurred at the end of last year, when Morristown Medical Center, a division of Atlantic Health System in New Jersey, establishedHealtheConnect. A brick-and-mortar store located in the hospital’s reception area, where patients, family members, and healthcare professionals can learn about health applications and wearable devices. Although it remains affiliated with hospital management for now, plans are in place for it to become independent after a one-year pilot period. This April,Cleveland Clinica business unit partnered with the Global Healthcare Innovation Alliance to launch a brand-new healthcare e-commerce platformADEOThrough this platform, both healthcare professionals and patients can purchase essential care tools, including mobile applications designed for patients. Since its quiet launch last October, the platform now covers thirteen categories of care products. This January, the Palo Alto-basedHealthTapReleased a report based on thousands of usersHealthTap AppRx platformphysicians’ rankings of health and medical apps. Although not every physician active on HealthTap participated in the voting, it successfully attracted attention from both the media and physicians. In fact, this is also a cleverApplication Curation, its primary purpose is simply to give every app a chance to gain visibility. The top three iOS apps recommended by HealthTap physicians are (in order):MyFitnessPal、Weight WatchersandLose It!And the Android version isWeight WatchersRanked first, followed by White Noise Lite. On iOS, White Noise Lite ranked fourth, while Lose It! once again secured the third spot on Android.The American Red Cross First Aid app、 RunKeeper rounded appranking fifth and sixth on the list, respectively. This May, a multinational big data analytics companyIMS HealthAnnouncement and Mobile Network Doctor CommunityQuantiaCollaborate to onboard Quantia’s 225,000 members onto IMS’ app curation platformAppScript, resulting in Quantia being acquired by Physicians Interactive in July and subsequently rebranded asAptus Health(AskBo Health). And throughout the entire English community, whether it is the NHS England(National Health Service, hereinafter referred to as NHS) orthe Royal College of Physicians(The Royal College of Physicians, London, hereinafter referred to as RCOP) have all begun toPatient Engagement StrategyAction has been taken. In March this year, the UK's NHS approvedFive ApplicationsFeatured on its website, the results helped these applications achieve a monthly400,000clicks. Then, in May, the professional body responsible for setting medical training standards in the United KingdomRCOPA set of guidelines on how physicians should use apps was launched. This two-page guidance document, prominently featuring the CE mark, was posted online and advised doctors to select appropriate apps based on their own professional judgment; however, the number of clicks remained underwhelming. Finally, in November, a non-profit organization established at MIT the previous summerHacking Medicine Institute(Medical Hacking Research Institute) advocates for everyone to address the existingMobile Health AppsandDigital Health ToolsConductComment Ranking. This review was conducted by physicians affiliated with Harvard University, while the institution will serve consumers and providers.Curation, to help vendors develop applications that meet patient needs. The organization believes that this curation effort will differ from previous ones, as the Medical Hacker Research Institute is an academic-level non-profit organization. This isHapptique、IMSorHealthTapThese are incomparable to companies with market biases.

Trend 6: Apple & Google’s More Direct Healthcare

andIBMCooperation, willApple HealthKitIntegrated into hospitals,ResearchKitpublication of, andapple WatchThrough pilot programs at select hospitals, Apple’s healthcare advancements this year are progressing faster than ever before. Meanwhile, Google is quietly pursuing its own moonshot projects behind the scenes.Verily(former Google X) andGoogle Glass, but it is by no means indifferent to healthcare. This is evident from the occasional exposure ofMedical Black TechThis offers a glimpse into the situation, indicating that Google is taking steady and deliberate steps in healthcare, without rushing for quick results. This year, many of Apple’s initiatives in healthcare remain faithful implementations of what it announced last year.Healthcare Master Plan, for instance, it announced a partnership with IBM to develop enterprise applications last year, but did not launch its first batch of healthcare applications until the first quarter of 2015. Based on a consolidated analysis, these initiatives can be broadly categorized into the following types:Hospital Nursecentered on helping nurses manage patient information; withHospital Directorcentered around using an iPhone application to help nurse managers manage nursing staff;Hospital Technology Assistance, using an iPhone application to help connect hospital technicians with other members of the care team;Home Care Assistance, it also uses an iPhone app to assist nurses working in patients' homes or outside the hospital. This May, Apple willapple watchHospitals have been onboarded, with plans to deploy the same enterprise applications on the Apple Watch. At last year’s Apple WWDC, Apple unveiledApple HealthKitand its associated applicationsapple health app. And a significant portion of this year's announcements are related toEpicIt is integrated with HealthKit, allowing multiple hospitals to leverage the data-sharing platform for their operations. In February, Reuters reported that at least 14 U.S. hospitals were either actively piloting HealthKit or had publicly announced their intention to develop their own solutions. These hospitals generally include Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Stanford Children’s Health, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University Hospital, Johns Hopkins University, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Cleveland Clinic. Just days after the announcement,Stanford Universityofficially launched its HealthKit-enabled iOS app for patientsMyHealth, it can help patients check test results and medical expenses, manage personal information, schedule appointments, and allow patients to access the hospital'sClickWellTelemedicine services facilitate video consultations with physicians at Stanford University. Apple’s integration enables patients to self-upload personal vital signs, ensuring that the data is securely and automatically incorporated into their medical history. Later, in April, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles launched a new initiative for HealthKit, making it accessible to all patients.HealthKitfunctionality, and allows patients to independently share relevant data with their physicians. Initially, any Sinai patient using the Epic patient portal will be able to upload data from their devices regarding weight, blood pressure, pulse, glucose, and blood oxygen saturation, and send this data to their personal electronic health records. Currently, the Cedars-Sinai patient portal has more than 87,000 active users, who can now integrate their health records with HealthKit. Additionally, Apple indeed launched two newHealthcareProduct:Apple WatchandApple ResearchKit. There are as many as 264 health- and medical-related apps on the Apple Watch, and experimental applications targeted at hospitals are also beginning to emerge. Among them, two apps are designed forCancer Treatment: Application at King's College Hospital in LondonMedoPad Apple Watch appA program developed in collaboration with Cooper University Health Care’s Anderson Cancer Center in southern New Jersey for their 30 breast cancer patients, designed to help them connect with their healthcare teams via Apple Watch and improve self-management. Currently, the Anderson Cancer Center is partnering with a behavioral health technology company in Pennsylvania.Polaris HealthConducting the second phase of randomized controlled testing for the software. Meanwhile, Ochsner Health System in New Orleans has also launched the Apple WatchPilot ApplicationThe watches will be distributed to hypertensive patients at the hospital to remind them to take their medication on time, while the built-in fitness app will help prompt them to engage in necessary physical exercise. In March, Apple announced an open-source platform designed specifically for medical research.ResearchKit, it integrates the previously launched HealthKit health data sharing system. Subsequently, Apple began collaborating with more than half of healthcare systems to develop applications targeting specific diseases. Later, the University of Rochester partnered with Sage Bionetworks to launch a research application for Parkinson’s disease.mPower, with the aim of helping researchers more easily register studies and submit study rationales; Massachusetts General Hospital used ResearchKit to develop an application for diabetes research.GlucoSucces; Stanford University and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom used it to create an application for researching heart diseaseMyHeart Counts; Mount Sinai Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine have jointly developed an app for asthma researchAsthma Health; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Sage Bionetworks jointly launched an application for breast cancer survivorsShare the JourneyDespite the numerous voices of opposition and skepticism online, ResearchKit has continued to progress smoothly. ResearchKit has now become a widely used platform among researchers. Since April, Apple has been continuously patching loopholes in ResearchKit’s policies to address concerns regarding the approval of ResearchKit projects. The company has also added guidelines stipulating that all research projects conducted through ResearchKit must be approved by an independent institutional review board (IRB). After several hospitals launched applications on the ResearchKit platform, many pharmaceutical companies have joined this growing ecosystem: The University of California, San Francisco conducted a study namedPRIDEresearch that conducted a longitudinal study on lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender individuals, and queer people (LGBTQ) to examine how sexual orientation affects their health; Yale University conducted a study titledYale Cardiomyopathy Index... research to determine who may develop cardiomyopathy; Duke University conductedAutismRelated Research; Johns Hopkins onEpilepsyresearch; Japan conducted a study namedHeart and Brainresearch; the COPD Foundation has also developed an application for COPD based on this.StopCOPD, with many more related studies to follow. By the end of the year, ResearchKit expanded to Android as a new breakthrough, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.ResearchStackThis is a project led by Deborah Estrin and jointly developed by Open mHealth and Cornell Tech. In addition to Apple and Google, several research institutions in the United States have also taken action. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded the University of California, San Francisco with $97,500 to develop a ResearchKit-like platform.ePeople, to support digital health research. It provides researchers with a digital infrastructure for conducting studies, enabling them to collect health data from volunteer participants via mobile and wireless technologies. This year, as a healthcare service provider, Google’s major news has centered onGoogle GlassIn January, Google announced that it would shut down related access services for Google Glass, and that Google Glass would move out of the Google X lab to form its own team, which would be led by Nest founder Tony Fadell. Although many media outlets subsequently declared Google Glass dead, arguing that its potential in the healthcare sector had been overstated,Augmedixand PristineYet these two startups remained committed to developing applications for Google Glass, firmly believing that the device would carve out a significant niche in healthcare. A month later, those media outlets that had been pessimistic about Google were proven decisively wrong. After two and a half years of negotiations with Google, the Illinois Department of Public Health decided to launch a collaborative project with the Illinois Emergency Medical Services (EMS) System, enabling physicians to access care delivery points online via Google Glass. Subsequently,Medical Express Ambulance Serviceor the short-term MedEx begins to usePristineThe company developed software in collaboration with the Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago to provide medical services, and it plans to expand this partnership to more hospitals. Subsequently, a study published in April by JAMA Dermatology indicated that the majority of patients were highly satisfied with the use ofGoogle Glassto undergo skin consultations, and were even willing to engage in further communication via telephone. In the experiment, 93.5% of participants reported being highly satisfied with communicating through the program; 96.8% were confident that the video device was both accurate and capable of safeguarding the privacy of their personal information; additionally, 28 participants indicated they would help promote the use of Google Glass in medical consultations. As the third quarter of this year drew to a close, the Google X Life Sciences team announced that it would develop aWearable Medical SensorsTracking of cardiac and other systemic health activities. This device approximates clinical medical device standards and is primarily designed for scientific research. Additionally, this so-called wristwornThe medical sensor will be capable of continuously measuring pulse, physical activity levels, and skin temperature. It can also perform electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring and track certain home environmental factors that affect an individual’s health status, such as light and noise levels. Google will conduct multiple rounds of testing using different protocols for this device and deploy it among patients who remain at risk of readmission after discharge. By the end of this year, Alphabet’s life sciences division has officially selected “Verilyas its new name. Prior to Google’s restructuring into Alphabet, the life sciences division was part of Google X, Google’s research and development arm. According to Verily’s new official website (www.verily.com), the company’s mission is “to uncover the truth about health and disease by integrating technology with the life sciences.” Verily is currently engaged in the development of several projects, including a collaboration with a Swiss manufacturerNovartis, developing glucose sensor-embeddedSmart Contact Lenses, they hope that this new type of contact lens can help diabetic patients continuously monitor their health status by measuring glucose levels in tears; collaborate with Biogen on research into multiple sclerosis; nanoscale “Cancer-Sensing Pill”; and conducted in collaboration with Duke University and Stanford UniversityBaseline Project, Baseline will collect massive biological samples, primarily genetic and molecular information from healthy individuals. To date, it has collected a total of 175 specimens. As the sample base continues to grow, experts will be able to use the data to comprehensively characterize a healthy human. Recently, it partnered with an instantBlood Glucose Level Monitoring Systempartnered with its manufacturer, DexCom, to create a bandage-sized, cloud-connectedSensor, to help people monitor their blood glucose levels. DexCom is responsible for developing the sensors, while the Life Sciences division handles miniaturization. Other news about Google mainly includes “Google Flu Trends“Google Flu Trends” and other public-facing tracking tools have been shut down. The Google Flu Trends team stated that they would continue to track influenza patterns using historical data. However, the data has now been made directly available to researchers at the Division of Public Health at Boston Children’s Hospital, the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and the Influenza Division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Regarding dengue fever trends, Google is no longer releasing new data.

Trend 7: Hearing and Vision Screening

This can be considered a minor trend, but we have indeed observed it this year.Mobile VisionandHearing Sectorsome developments. In March this year, providers of vision testing services for macular degeneration or diabetic eye diseasemyVisionTrackannounced that it would collaborate with the Scripps Research Translational Institute and Roche to conduct relevant clinical trials. In November, Gobiquity Mobile Health (formerly iCheck Health Connection) officially launched its vision screening smartphone application.GoCheckPediatric Version. The company initially launched the product as a handheld mobile device for children, later adding more features; it is available for download on the Apple App Store. In the same month, DigiSight Technologies released a new version of its smartphone-based vision testing product, along with a new product.Scope, this is a system that integrates software and hardware, allowing medical professionals to use smartphone cameras to capture images of the back and front of patients' eyes. EyeNetra, an eye diagnostic tool manufacturer based in Somerville, Massachusetts, has also launched new servicesBlink, this is also a tool designed to assist patients in New York City with vision testing, emphasizing that product appointments are only applicable to users who require eyeglasses. Finally, Boston Children’s Hospital validated a study on an iPhone-based system for screening inner ear disorders. This low-cost system can replace expensive traditional screening methods; during use, the iPhone is primarily placed in a soundproof container to prevent external stimulation.

This article is compiled from: http://mobihealthnews.com/content/2015-round-healthcare-provider-focused-digital-health-news