By Cheryl L. Serra A person could get plenty lost in the maze of a ten-story, one-million-square-foot new building addition. But leaders at University Health System (UHS) in San Antonio, TX acted quickly to make sure that didn’t happen. They teamed with Etelu to develop a wayfinding application (app) that helps patients, visitors, and staff Read More
A growing percentage of the U.S. population does not speak English – greater than 35% in some states. How can hospitals and health systems cope with this potential safety issue? How does a teenager tell his doctor he has a “dolor de estómago” (stomach ache) if the doctor doesn’t speak Spanish? If an elderly woman Read More
By Lisa D. Ellis The latest technological approaches are helping healthcare facilities do their job better—and more efficiently—than ever before, right down to the very last detail. In fact, that’s where Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) comes in, offering on-demand video interpretation services to facilitate accurate communication for patients who are hearing impaired or have language Read More
by Thomas Ames “I have a mobile site.” It’s the quote heard around the world. But what does it mean to have a mobile site? Some organizations have an app, others have a dedicated mobile site that differs almost completely from their main consumer site, and still others simply make their site’s design responsive to Read More
by Cheryl L. Serra This month Intermountain Healthcare will begin promoting Intermountain Health Hub, a container application and nine applications that launch from within it. The apps and a mobile responsive patient portal also included in the container will allow users to learn about health-related issues and complete tasks related to their healthcare on their Read More
Ask The Expert with Daniel Fell Recently, my 91-year-old father voiced considerable frustration about changes in his insurance plan. Rather than presenting changes in a clear, concise manner, the plan used language that only confused him more and forced him to spend hours on the phone talking to customer service representatives. At the time, I Read More
Ask The Expert with Ben Dillon With the growing number of ways that consumers access the Internet, responsive design is fast becoming the industry standard for hospital websites. Responsive design enables websites to adapt to the device being used, presenting an optimal experience on smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Research by Geonetric, an online solutions company, Read More
Ask The Expert with Ted Balowski With the healthcare Web environment rapidly changing, new technologies are constantly emerging and are being adopted in varying degrees by demographic target groups. Now, four generations have unprecedented access to healthcare information and the providers that deliver it. According to a 2013 survey by Econsultancy, four in 10 global Read More
Ask The Expert with Mark S. Gothberg Winners of the 2013 eHealthcare Leadership Awards, the competition’s 14th year, were recognized in November in New Orleans during a presentation at a healthcare Internet conference sponsored by Atlanta-based Greystone.Net. The November issue of eHealthcare Strategy & Trends listed the winners. Last month’s “Ask the Expert” column discussed Read More
WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS Free Messaging Platform Introduced to Improve Medication Adherence. Care4Today Mobile Health Manager 2.0, which also works on a website, sends out reminders on scheduled medications to be taken and prompts a response from users that is recorded in an adherence report. Caregivers can link family members to their account. Go to www.care4today.com. Hospital Read More
Ask The Expert with Mark S. Gothberg Key provisions of the Affordable Care Act will be in full force on January 1 – less than two months away. Millions of newly insured consumers will be seeking health services, with many of them having limited knowledge of how the healthcare system works or the providers serving Read More
by Theresa Jacobellis As the American healthcare system is reformed, greater emphasis is being placed on wellness and prevention. Savvy providers are harnessing mobile technology to empower patients to be more engaged in their own healthcare, with the potential to improve treatment compliance, enhance outcomes, and even maximize reimbursements by reducing readmissions. Earlier this year, Read More
WEBSITES/MOBILE APPLICATIONS Concussion Recognition App Now Available for Free. The popular Concussion Recognition & Response app from PAR is available at the Apple App Store and at Google Play for Android devices. New Symptom Checker Identifies Conditions Caused by Drugs. The free personalized symptom checker from eHealthMe compares symptoms with more than 40 million drug Read More
by Mark S. Gothberg “I began actively helping my elderly parents a number of years ago. Every time I took them to a doctor’s appointment, we would be asked for the same information over and over again, especially about what medications were being taken,” says Jim Rattray, until recently vice president of marketing and public Read More