Nowadays there is an app for everything; even one to keep tabs on your health. Many doctors believe that using apps that keep track of your health will help reduce your doctor’s visits.
According to data published by Float Mobile Learning, 40% of doctors believe that using mobile health technologies like apps that monitor fitness and eating habits can decrease the number of office visits needed by patients. Float Mobile Learning is a leader in creating mobile learning products and services for health care and pharmaceutical companies. Approximately 88% of doctors are in full support of patients monitoring their health at home, especially when it comes to watching weight, blood sugar and vital signs. Many consumers should take advantage of the apps which are currently on the market to ease the process along.
“With the forth coming changes to the U.S healthcare system, there will be an increased focus on wellness programmes and preventative medicine,” Chad Udell, Managing Director of Float Mobile Leaning. “Mobile health offers a tremendous opportunity for people to become more involved in their own health and wellness.”
The mobile health industry has grown; more than 10,000 medical and healthcare apps are now available for download from the Apple App Store, making it the third fastest growing app category among iPhone and Android users. Doctors are also joining in on the trend, as 80% said they use smartphones and medical apps. Physicians are also 250% more likely to own a tablet than other customers. Chad noted that doctors continue to buy tablet devices largely because they offer an easy way to stay in touch with their co-workers and patients. 56% of doctors said they turn to mobile devices to make faster decisions and 40% said that they reduce time spent on administrative work. Chad is looking forward to see how professionals like radiologist will take advantage of the fantastic graphic capabilities that the new iPad will offer.
Three physicians from Minnesota, U.S.A have credited an iPad for helping to save a patient’s life. Andy McMonigle, felt a pounding sensation in his arm after cycling. With a history of heart trouble, McMonigle asked a nearby man for help. Fortunately for McMonigle, that man was Dr. Daniel Lueders, an internal medicine resident at the clinic in which he worked. The resident was joined by two other doctors from the clinic. Lueders was said to have grabbed his iPad from his rucksack and connected to the clinic EMR (electronic medical record) to quickly review McMonigle’s medical history. The doctors compared his symptoms with his medical history to conclude that he had blockage in his stent, and were able to quickly get hold of some Aspirin and a simple drug to thin the blood. Using the iPad to view the EKG record in side-by-side format, and with a strip that the ambulance crew had printed, doctors were happy with their evaluation and sent the patient to the caridac catherisation laboratory for the clot to be removed.
Among some of the most popular apps are Nike Plus and Adidas MiCoach; which turns a smartphone into a personal trainer and iStethoscope that allows iPhone users to record and play back a heartbeat. Additionally, Welldoc is a series of programmes and apps that can reduce hospital and ER visits in half by having patients monitor and manage their own chronic diseases.
EU innovation and competitiveness through better uptake of ICT
The Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) has recently hosted the national information session for the 2012 call for proposals of the European Union’s ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP). This event was organised in collaboration with the Malta National Contact Point for the EU’s Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP). The various opportunities for Maltese entities under this programme were outlined, best practices for participation where shared and a local project (e-CODEX – refer to next article) currently funded under this programme was presented to the various local ICT stakeholders of public and private entities which were present. The event provided a forum for debate and experience sharing, as well as various avenues that can be considered by stakeholders regarding ICT-PSP projects. It also served as a meeting platform to establish direct communication channels and set the base for possible further collaborations and joint projects between local entities.
The ICT PSP is one of the three operational pillars of the CIP and is the EU funding programme through which the Commission seeks to stimulate European innovation and competitiveness by accelerating the development of a sustainable, competitive, innovative and inclusive information society. It supports activities to step up innovation and implementation of ICT-based services and systems through the wider uptake and best use of ICT and the utilization of digital content by all citizens, governments and businesses, in particular small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
In the EU the greater uptake of ICT and utilization of digital content in areas of public interest – like health, inclusion, cultural heritage, public sector information, learning, public administrations, or energy efficiency – requires greater availability of ICT-based services, improved interoperability of solutions across the Member States, as well as less market fragmentation of the information space and ICT-based solutions. Therefore the ICT PSP assists the development of markets for innovative ICT-based solutions and digital content. This opens-up a wide range of new business opportunities, in particular for innovative SMEs that provide such solutions and are keen to form part of a European network of partners. The Programme builds on and complements national, regional and other EU initiatives.
The funding available through this programme goes mainly to pilot actions, involving consortiums of public and private organisations from various European states, for validating in real settings, innovative and interoperable ICT based services. The 2012 call for proposals focuses on areas such as ICT for “smart” cities; Digital content, open data and creativity; ICT for health, ageing well and inclusion; Innovative government and public services; Trusted eServices and other actions. These themes will be supported by a number of high impact pilot or best practices projects, as well as thematic networks addressing specific objectives.
Networking actions for sharing experiences and preparing the deployment of innovative ICT based solutions in such areas are also supported, as well as the monitoring of the Information Society through benchmarking, analyses and awareness raising actions. The focus is placed on driving this uptake in areas of public interest while addressing EU challenges such as moving towards a low carbon economy or coping with an ageing society. The programme contributes to a better environment for developing ICT based services and helps overcome hurdles such as the lack of interoperability and market fragmentation.
More information about this year’s call, the funding priorities, regulations as well as all the call documentation can be found on the European Commission website: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/index_en.htm. For more information about the funding opportunities under this programme local stakeholders are encouraged to contact the Malta CIP National Contact Point.
About the Malta CIP
National Contact Point
Malta Enterprise has been recently appointed as the new National Contact Point for the European Commission’s CIP Programme, enabling the Corporation to offer an even more comprehensive range of support and services to facilitate the successful operation and growth of local enterprises. The CIP’s National Contact Point’s main role is to promote and disseminate information on CIP and its funding opportunities, encourage and guide the participation of Maltese entities under specific calls for proposals and other networking initiatives, and offering partner search support. Further information about the ICT PSP may be obtained from www.cipmalta.com, by sending an email to [email protected] or by contacting Mr Pedro Fernandez Alvarez on telephone 2542 3214.
Pedro Fernandez Alvarez is Malta’s CIP National Contact Point
Cross-border e-justice through e-CODEX
The e-CODEX (e-Justice Communication via Online Data Exchange) is the first European large scale pilot in the domain of e-Justice. The three-year €14 million project was launched in January 2011 by a consortium of 18 partners from 15 European Union (EU) member states, associated states and stakeholder organisations. The aim of the e-CODEX project, of which MITA is a partner, is to improve the cross-border access of citizens and businesses to legal means in Europe, as well as to improve the interoperability between legal authorities within the EU. The application of ICT will help make judicial procedures more transparent, efficient and economic. At the same time, it will assist citizens, companies, administrations, and legal practitioners to obtain facilitated access to justice.
The e-CODEX consortium is developing building blocks that can be used by member states to support cross-border operation of processes in the justice field. The consortium partners are jointly mapping existing experiences and developing interoperability solutions which will be implemented in a real-life setting through four pilots: (i) small claims procedure; (ii) European procedure for payment order; (iii) European arrest warrant; and (iv) secure exchange of criminal data. The pilots will involve a broad range of technologies including document formats and standards, information security, secure electronic identities, electronic signatures, e-delivery and semantic technology. Furthermore, the solutions developed will contribute to the pan-European interoperability layer needed for electronic exchanges in Europe in the field of Justice. This will be achieved by setting up common horizontal standards.
Through the knowledge gained from its participation in this project, MITA will be better prepared to tackle the challenges of securing the interoperability of systems used by the Maltese Courts of Justice, whom it represents, with systems used by equivalent institutions across Europe.
Priscilla Bugeja is an ICT Consultant at MITA
The Malta Independent ICT Feature
This week we’ll be looking at a recent study by the Pew Internet Project about the usage of latest technologies by teens and young adults - how they react to the social side of mobile technology. The survey was sent out to 5,000 key leaders from in the ICT field. Most respondents believed that there is a definite change happening. Two possible 2020 scenarios were given were they had to explain their choice with regards to the impact technology is having on children and youths.
They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away but according to a new study it seems that apps have the same affect! According to data collected by Float Mobile Learning, health technologies which monitor our health, such as, fitness apps and diet apps have the backing of most doctors. Such apps allow patients to monitor their health from the comfort of their own home rather than visiting their local GP. Doctors are advising people to take advantage of the wide variety of health apps available. We will also look into how an iPad saved a man’s life after his physicians utilised online medical records to review the man’s history and administer medicine appropriately.
The Malta Information Technology Agency recently collaborated with the Malta National Contact Point for the EU’s Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) to host a national information session. This session called for proposals of the European Union’s ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP). This programme is a portal through which the Commission seeks to encourage European innovation and competitiveness by pushing society towards sustainability. The aim is to increase the use of ICT-based services through the best use of digital content by citizens, governments and businesses; in particular SMEs
Roderick Spiteri is Marketing and Communications Manager at MITA and editor of Malta Independent ICT feature
Hyperconnected Youth
Teens and young adults have been at the forefront of mobile internet adoption and the lifestyle it has made possible.
The most recent study on tech usage by Pew Internet Project shows how engrossed teens and young adults are in the technological environment and how attached they are to the mobile and social sides of it. The study reveals that 95% of teens aged 12-17 are online, 76% use social networking sites and 77% have mobile phones. In addition, 96% of those aged 18-29 are internet users, 84% use social networking sites and 97% have mobile phones. More than half of those in that age bracket have smartphones and 23% own tablet devices.
Between now and 2020 the teens-to-20’s age group will benefit and suffer thanks to their reliance on rapidly evolving digital information networks. They will approach problems in a different manner to their elders. “There is no doubt that brains are being rewired,” said Danah Boyd of Microsoft Research.
In a new survey conducted by Elon University and the Pew Research Centre, Boyd and more than 1,000 technology stakeholders and critics discussed their expectations for the budding hyperconnected youth. Children born since 2000 will likely have the ability to multitask, gather information and analyse that information much faster by 2020. Report co-author and Director of ‘Imagining the Internet’, Janna Quitney Anderson, refers to the teens-to-20’s age group born between the turn of the century and the 2020’s as Generation AO for “Always On.” Anderson continues to say that this generation “are growing up in a world that offers them instant access nearly everywhere to nearly the entirety of human knowledge, with incredible opportunities to connect, create and collaborate.” To add to this, she said that experts are expressing concern these trends are showing a future where consumers see information superficially and take it for granted, endangering society.
The survey was sent to around 5,000 people identified as leaders in the field. Most of the respondents believed that definite changes are occurring. Respondents to the survey were presented with two potential 2020 scenarios, they were asked to choose one and encouraged to explain their choice about the impact of technology on children and youth and share their views of any implications for the future.
This produced a number of opinions about the future. Some stated that education will need to adapt to the changes. Memorisation of facts is now seen as outdated by today’s youths, who can find the date of an event or the name of an important person instantly. Instead, respondents said that special instructions need to be given on how to analyse and process the large amount of information available and how to decide its reliability.
Today’s children will probably have shorter attention spans by 2020, respondents thought. Some called for schools and parents to apply quiet times, where children disconnect from technology for a specific time. Some participants were worried that a shutdown of all of part of the internet or a sector of technology could partially paralyse a society that is totally dependent on it.
Human trends drive human uses of technology tools. Many of the people who participated in the survey emphasised the importance of the impact of basic human instincts and motivations. Some respondents noted that all new tools tend to be questioned and feared by some part of the public. For example Socrates, mourned about the effect of writing tools and their likely threat to the future of intelligent communication. Survey respondents still believe that there is value to be found in traditional skills but new items are being added to the plethora of most-desired capabilities.