Consumer Health Informatics News
MIE Data Compromised
The General’s Public Protection Department in Arkansas has been receiving several emails and phone calls regarding a recent security breach, which has apparently compromised MIE (Medical Informatics Engineering) data, which includes both personal and health care information for many patients across the US.
MIE started to send out letters to the affected individuals, and this has troubled some people, who were not aware of the fact that third party companies may have access to their data, be it personal or health care related.
Since a few people have wondered if these letters are real, Attorney General Rutledge has confirmed that they are authentic, coming from the Public Protection Department indeed. The first step is to verify with the Health Department if your data has been compromised; if the answer is affirmative, you should contact your financial institution and change the account info ASAP.
For more information, you can call the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office: (800) 482-8982 or you can visit the http://arkansasag.gov/ website.
Mobile Health Apps Boost Patient Engagement
The production of Mobile Health Apps has been experiencing a solid boost within the last few years. And there’s a simple reason why this has happened: patients use them regularly, because they care about health and overall wellness.
Some of the apps help people manage their prescriptions and take their medications on time, while others can help by tracking the meals’ calories, exercise routines, and so on.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society has recently released its 2015 Technology Survey, and the results are more than promising. The survey has showed that mobile health apps and other similar technologies help engage patients, while also assisting the health care providers and helping them do a better job.
The survey has used data offered by over 200 health care providers; close to 90% of them have stated that they are using mobile technologies to boost their patients’ satisfaction levels. On a side note, some hospitals have reported occasional problems with Wi-Fi Internet access, which can prevent people from making use of their health apps, but this issue can be easily solved by using inexpensive antenna cable adapters, and then finding a better Wi-Fi antenna position.
Half of the surveyed hospitals and clinics have reported that they also use health care apps internally, to better coordinate care.
Apple’s New App Framework Allows iPhones to Recruit and Track Patients
Several Silicon Valley giants want to get a slice of the big data pie, and Apple has just joined the team. The company has recently announced ResearchKit, an open source software framework that helps developers create health apps.
It is known that clinical laboratory scientists have a big stake when it comes to big data and healthcare, because medical laboratory test data needs a lot of digital storage. Due to ResearchKit, researchers can recruit people and collect data by using the iPhone and its sensors, just like Samsung does it with its S Health apps for Android, for example.
Apple has helped a few developers create ResearchKit apps that show some of its potential. Two promising titles are GlucoSuccess and mPower.
Pacemaker for Pain
Chronical pain is not treated, and there are close to 100 million people suffering from chronic pain in America today. Many people are force to take pain medication, in an effort to lead a normal life. There is a pain level scale that ranges from 1 to 10, but some patients have pain levels that exceed the maximum scale value.
The pain can be so excruciating that it immobilizes the patients in their home, making them unable to go and get themselves food from the refrigerator or even go to the bathroom, for example.
Neurostimulation devices are recent inventions that have been having a very positive impact lately. Patients with severe chronic pain are the ones that benefit the most from these inventions; those that have upper back pain, for example, will find the new neurostimulators to be extremely beneficial.
Ingesting lots of medications, which can have dangerous side effects, tiring physical therapy and similar treatment or pain management options could be a thing of the past in the very near future. Some people have actually had several surgeries and their pain levels didn’t decrease significantly.
A neurostimulator device, also known as pacemaker for pain, is used as an implant. Basically, the spinal cord area is stimulated using electrical impulses, and this prevents the pain pulses from getting to the brain.
The patient feels the action of the neurostimulator as a slight massage of the area; basically, the entire area that was once affected by pan is now tingly.
Technically speaking, a small electrode is advanced into the epidural space, and that electrode will be connected to a small device – called a “programmer”. The stimulation can be applied to one or both legs, arms, etc, depending on the area that causes pain. The patient is awake at all times during the surgery and he is able to tell the doctors when they have found the perfect spot, annihilating the pain.
The first patients are already benefitting from pacemakers for pain. You can find out more about these devices at Bingham Memorial Hospital’s Website. For more news from Bingham Memorial Hospital, follow Louis Kraml on Twitter and subscribe to the Official Louis Kraml Youtube Channel.