So where do we draw the line on how deep we let the AI technology go in our healthcare system? And can we fully trust the results that come out of an AI’s calculations, especially since those calculations are black-boxed (hidden) from those who are interested in learning the reasons behind the AI’s final decision? A few months ago, academics debated these questions against developers from Google Health.

The Root Problem

AI-enabled medical applications, like those we mentioned earlier, span a variety of fields and disciplines, from academia to industry enterprises like Amazon, Google, and Apple. Everyone involved has different incentives, ideas for the future, and thoughts about where the technology stands today. The two sides engaged in a heated discussion in Nature, one of the most well-known science journals. The two sides included AI researchers from the University of Toronto, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Harvard, and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC), as well as researchers from Google Health.

It began when Google Health published a study about their AI’s phenomenal results in screening for breast cancer. The company said that its AI vastly outperformed professional radiologists in finding and diagnosing breast cancer. It also added that this technology could be generalized beyond training populations, which is a very confident statement, given that large datasets of high-quality medical images are incredibly rare.

The academics argued that the study was non-replicable, which is a must for published studies so that other researchers can help bolster the claim or warn others that the authors are just blowing hot air. Google Health didn’t include sufficient descriptions about its model and code, requiring readers to blindly trust the results and model’s performance. Google Health’s rebuttal stated that they couldn’t release that information in order to protect patients and the AI.

In science, discourse like this is necessary to push the boundaries of ethics, morality, and regulations surrounding emerging technologies. When big-name companies and schools argue, even the public takes notice.

Academics’ Arguments

Without a replicable method and enough details, published scientific studies are at risk of losing credibility and trustworthiness. Anyone could publish something, make up stellar results, and get praise and credit from the media. But science is formed in replicated experiments that return the same results, follow-up experiments that explore a slightly different question, and novel ideas on how to apply the study. Thus, in all published studies, you’ll read about the exact number of people used in the research, how they were split up, what technologies and tools were used, what experimental procedures were carried out and when, and much more.

But with AI mixed in, it’s difficult to publish replicable studies. Dr. Benjamin Haibe-Kains is a senior scientist at the Toronto-based PMCC. He explains, “In computational research, it’s not yet a widespread criterion for the details of an AI study to be fully accessible. This is detrimental to our progress.” As any developer knows, asking five developers to write code to solve one problem will likely result in five different programs. So without having the exact program, a developer might have a different way of accomplishing the same thing using the very few details he or she knows, which in turn could impact the performance of the AI.

The academics said Google Health’s study is just an example of a major, far-reaching problem. The study lacked transparency and not just for the AI algorithm’s code but for the dataset used for training the algorithm as well. Many medical datasets are under license and can cause patient privacy problems, but that’s not an excuse as datasets can be anonymized. Ultimately, the authors wrote, “such resources can considerably accelerate model development, validation and transition into production and clinical [implementation].”

Google Health’s Rebuttal

Google Health’s team, led by Dr. Scott McKinney, centered around protecting patients and the AI’s code. They also mentioned that regulations require that the AI algorithm remain private, for example, because it could be classified as “medical device software”. Without the proper permissions and regulatory body overseeing the release, developers, patients, and providers can be at risk. Google Health also mentioned that the largest dataset they used is accessibly online by putting in an application to Google. But the other datasets cannot be shared at all.

The Next Big Debate

This is just the start of a series of debates that multiple stakeholders will have over new AI algorithms, their performance, their underlying black box calculations, and the effects on patients and providers. These arguments could rage on for decades, as the line between “right” and “wrong” is still unclear and can vary from stakeholder to stakeholder. One thing is for sure: because this debate was held publicly, it opened up the possibility of hosting these discussions with input from patients. If nothing else, the researchers on both sides piqued the public’s interest in the pitfalls of AI, publishing AI research, and medical experimentation.

Would you trust an AI to diagnose you from your medical scans, or do you prefer a physician to make a decision before looking at what the AI thinks? Let us know in the comments below!

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked unfathomable damage on the lives of Americans and the country’s economy. To move forward in the right direction, we must take new and drastic action to address this crisis. This includes employing cutting-edge developments in medical technology to the best of our abilities.

Dogtown Media fully supports the Connected Health Initiative’s request for the Biden-Harris administration to extend the existing declaration of a public health emergency (PHE) so that the use of connected health technology is available to all U.S. citizens during this time of need.

Innovation Can Help Flatten the Infection Curve

It has become painfully clear that we must leverage connected medical technologies such as telehealth if we are to ever beat COVID-19. But antiquated regulations will stand in the way unless the declaration of PHE is extended. The Connected Health Initiative (CHI) aims to make that happen.

An initiative of ACT | The App Association, CHI is a coalition of healthcare industry stakeholders and partners that strives to lead efforts to effect policy changes that allow medical providers to harness the power of technology in order to improve patient engagement and outcomes. Its steering committee consists of the American Medical Association, Apple, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, Dogtown Media, and many other notable figures in the tech and healthcare space.

CHI recently sent a letter to the Biden-Harris administration that not only congratulates them on their victory in the 2020 Presidential Election but also urges them to continue to use digital health technologies such as telemedicine, remote patient monitoring (RPM), artificial intelligence (AI), and other modalities to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. Each of these innovative modalities allow us to implement effective and necessary measures to flatten the infection curve in the United States.

Telehealth Technology Is Key to Managing The COVID-19 Crisis

Alongside CHI, we believe that congressional action focused on permanent telehealth policy changes can help provide immense relief from the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such changes would play an integral role in defeating this crisis. Not only this, but permanent policy changes for connected healthcare tools can also help to modernize American medical laws so that they correctly reflect the value that these paradigms offer. We also think that Congress should prioritize providing all Americans with the high-speed broadband infrastructure needed to use these digital health tools.

Of course, we know that pursuing these congressional efforts can take time. So it’s critical that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to extend the existing declaration of PHE. This provides millions of Americans with the allowance to use connected health technology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth and RPM have been invaluable in preventing, diagnosing, and treating American citizens as we all adhere to social distancing guidelines. These must not only be maintained throughout the entirety of the pandemic but also built upon so that this country is better equipped to handle future health crises.

Should the PHE expire before the Biden-Harris administration is in place, the new HHS Secretary under them should immediately reinstate it.

Actions That Can Help Us Fully Leverage Digital Health Tools

CHI’s letter to the Biden-Harris administration is meticulous in detail and spans several suggestions. Below, we’ve outlined some of the most crucial ones:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should ensure that Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and rural health clinics (RHC) can provide RPM services.

Both FQHCs and RHCs are key actors on the frontlines of America’s medical ecosystem. Thus, they should be able to monitor key patient-generated health data (PGHD) metrics for the populations they are serving on a permanent basis. This includes those receiving treatment for COVID-19.

CMS should provide Anti-Kickback Statute relief for digital health.

Many clinicians are remotely monitoring COVID-19 patients. This has raised concerns that any equipment or access to software platforms provided free of charge could inadvertently trigger Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) liability. The CHI has requested that HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) provide clarity that access to software platforms for PGHD or telehealth at low or no cost doesn’t violate the AKS.

HHS should provide certainty with regard to HIPAA’s application to various remote technologies during the PHE.

The HHS’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced enforcement discretion for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that clarifies that the use of private, secure telehealth tools which aren’t part of the provider’s official offerings will not draw a penalty as long as the provider makes their patients aware of the risks. CHI is urging OCR to issue guidance that certain telehealth tools are merely “conduits” and thus don’t require business associate agreements (BAAs). The guidance should also clarify that the providers of these telehealth services should only store electronic protected health information (ePHI) temporarily.

HHS should leverage AI-enabled technology to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

There’s no doubt that AI has incredible technology to augment healthcare by preventing hospitalizations, reducing complications, and improving patient engagement. Unsurprisingly, public health experts and providers are already using AI to combat COVID-19. This has given rise to a variety of opportunities and challenges for U.S. policymakers to consider (e.g., bias, inclusion, and transparency). As a coalition with many leading developers of AI, CHI urges for the design of healthcare AI systems to be informed by human-centered design, real-world workflow, and end-user needs.

Unrecognizable woman doctor using tablet in office with double exposure of creative ncov coronavirus covid 19 treatment and vaccine search icons. Toned blurry image

COVID-19 Will Come To an End

From New York City to our hometown of Los Angeles, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented tragedy and hardships to many of our lives. The Biden-Harris administration represents an opportunity for America to tackle this problem in a new and better way.

We stand by CHI’s request of the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect to fully leverage telehealth and other emerging technologies to mitigate this crisis. With time, proper guidance, and unity, this too shall pass.

To make matters worse, the U.S. is facing a PPE (personal protective equipment) shortage for the public and for medical workers. There is also a lack of infrastructure to administer cheap, effective, and rapid tests to citizens, which bodes terribly for eventual vaccine distribution.

Research and history show, however, that the U.S. federal government has played a major role in the past in catalyzing medical innovation and healthcare development. With the official federal government response taking months, the private sector may be the best hope for citizens to protect themselves.

Medicine in the Civil War

The U.S. government is already set up to regulate and push along healthcare innovation: the FDA approves new treatments, insurance companies figure out which treatments to cover, Medicare covers low-income citizens, the U.S. patent office helps determine pharmaceutical prices and competition, and the NIH and NSF provide grants and funding for medical research. These entities all have a substantial influence on medicine and healthcare in this country, and with more grants, faster patenting, and more experimentation, we could accelerate medical innovation in the U.S.

For the private healthcare sector, the government requires professionals and clinics to follow well-defined quality standards and clear financial incentives. Performance in the private sector depends on the rules and payments structure that government agencies set. But it wasn’t always like this. During the U.S. Civil War, MedTech developers were working on innovating the design and manufacturing of artificial limbs. During wars and pandemics, the need for dramatic and unprecedented levels of care and supplies create faster medical innovations.

For the roughly 70,000 veterans with disabilities who returned home, the U.S. government launched a program called “the Great Civil War Benefaction” for providing prostheses. Federal agencies worked together to examine and certify prototypes, allowing wounded veterans some leeway in choosing an approved product. The government controlled pricing as well: each leg cost $75, and each arm cost $50. Because of the government’s priority of cost, inventors began simplifying the design and costs to manufacture the prostheses. Over time, wounded veterans experienced better functionality, comfort, and pricing.

And the government saw an influx in the number of patents awarded to prostheses applications. 15 patents were approved between 1858 and 1862, and 87 patents were approved between 1863 and 1867. Within five years of the war beginning, prostheses production increased rapidly from five manufacturers selling 350 prostheses in 1860 to 2,020 legs and 1,441 arms sold in 1865. By 1870, there were 24 manufacturers producing prostheses.

Medical Innovation Today

In modern times, most economics research into medical innovation has been focused on pharmaceuticals. When the government gets involved, for example, by introducing guidelines, policies, and mandates, profits and innovation accelerate. Vaccine development rates have increased and so have profits and clinical trial activity.

Another case study revolves around the introduction of a drug benefit in Medicare programs. It accelerated pharmaceutical research for diseases that impact elderly people. When the government invests money to provide incentives for research, research shows that diseases in robust or expanding drug markets get more research and attention. Drug development also ebbs and flows with the number of incentives given out by the patent system. When, for example, insurers exclude drugs for a particular disease, R&D typically slows down greatly for that disease.

The Main COVID-19 Blocker? The Government

Many critics and citizens of the U.S. government say that the government has not provided any certainty, inspired any confidence, or pushed along innovation as well as it should have. With a vague plan that became politicized quickly, the government stopped states and the private sector from initiating their own research and development, which has, in turn, stymied the national response.

When the pandemic first began, the government worked closely with private companies, like 3M, to product N95 masks and ventilators. But there was no guidance for state and medical officials about who would get that equipment from the federal government or when. Of course, the national government also started explicitly favoring Republican states over Democratic states for federal aid in both money and PPE.

Early testing planning was also thwarted by the FDA when states were trying to design and implement new testing infrastructure, supported by private companies like the Seattle-based Gates Foundation. The federal government further blocked progress by rejecting tests manufactured in other countries as well as refusing to rollout testing kits early and often. Even though it’s been months since the pandemic hit America, citizens still can’t get fast access to a COVID-19 test. They must wait a few days for their test appointment, possibly travel to a new town or area, and wait another week or so before receiving test results. That, by itself, makes it difficult to track the disease and get it under control.

Clearly, the government has to play a bigger, more well-informed role in fighting the pandemic. Experienced officials must be respected and their advice followed closely. Masks and other PPE must be distributed equally, fairly, and quickly. Testing must be rapid, and results need to be returned faster. If that requires hiring and training more lab technicians, so be it. There needs to be bigger financial incentives for companies to research and innovate new solutions for PPE shortages, vaccination testing, and faster testing.

Progress Is Still Possible

It’s not too late for the U.S. federal government to turn around its performance from the last six months. There are still myriad opportunities to improve PPE distribution, funding allocation, school reopening policies, testing infrastructure, the messaging around mask-wearing, and social distancing. By setting clear incentives and standards, science can prevail over the pandemic, and we can possibly save many more lives than we previously thought possible.

Have you taken a COVID-19 test? How was the experience for you? Let us know in the comments below!

Doing the right thing isn’t always easy. But it’s certainly necessary to progress in the correct direction. Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) recently introduced the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act.

If passed, the legislation would extend the telehealth policies implemented by the US Federal Government during the coronavirus pandemic. This would enable thousands of Americans to continue receiving access to emerging medical app technology — something that could make the crucial difference between life and death for senior citizens and those living in rural areas.

Expanding Modern Telemedicine Capabilities Is a Must

COVID-19 has exposed some significant flaws in the US healthcare system. Chief among them is the lack of access to adequate medical treatment for those living in remote regions.

If you don’t live in a major metropolitan area like New York City or Los Angeles, you’ve probably all too familiar with this problem. Rep. Gianforte has seen it firsthand in the state of Montana: “Many Montanans live in frontier and rural areas where access to doctors, particularly specialists, is a big challenge.”

Telemedicine has brought some invaluable benefits in our fight against COVID-19. And Gianforte is intent on keeping those advantages available. “Using technology to connect patients with doctors, telehealth tears down barriers, making it easier to see a doctor,” he explains. “This bill will keep the barriers down for good, ensuring Montanans have greater access to high-quality, more affordable care.”

Gianforte’s Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act is his latest in a long list of efforts to leverage telehealth to both increase access to medical care and reduce costs. Just this past February, he introduced bipartisan legislation with Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), the Chair of the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, to expand telemedicine services. This endeavor was only amplified as COVID-19 outbreaks sprung up across the US in March.

Addressing a Remote Problem That Hits Close to Home

With the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services can waive geographical limitations beyond the public health emergency period specified by the CARES Act. Prior to this waiver, medicare beneficiaries wanting to use telehealth services could only do so at designated “originating sites” and only during physician shortages.

The new legislation aims to make the telehealth coverage at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and Rural Health Clinics (RHC) a permanent fixture. Essentially, this would enable rural providers to remotely serve patients and be properly compensated for their work.

The bill also removes restrictions on the provision of smart devices and other digital health technologies for patients. That’s huge — with remote monitoring and tracking, patients can be more proactive in improving their quality of life and reduce expensive trips to the emergency room.

We Proudly Support the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act

Many healthcare and medical technology organizations have voiced their support for Gianforte’s new legislation.

The Montana Hospital Association (MHA) has made telehealth’s integral role in managing the COVID-19 outbreak well known. “Access to this critically needed healthcare services was made possible through the expanded use of telemedicine. Legislation proposed by Congressman Gianforte will ensure this expanded access to care will continue,” explains Rich Rasmussen, President and CEO of the MHA.

Alongside the Connected Health Initiative (CHI), we also proudly stand by the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act. CHI is a coalition of ACT | The App Association. It’s composed of digital health ecosystem partners striving for positive policy changes that empower providers to harness the capabilities of emerging technologies like telemedicine. Committee members include Apple, Microsoft, Roche Holding AG, Intel, and Dogtown Media.

COVID-19 has made it clear that we need to improve how our healthcare system handles medical crises. The Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act represents a substantial step in the right direction — one that can lead us towards a healthier future for all.

Our smartphones are amazing. With the tap of a button, we can order an Uber ride, takeout food, and even toilet paper if needed! But mobile technology has taken things even further. Whether you want to stay hydrated, manage your sleep cycle, or lose weight, an assortment of health and wellness apps can help you achieve your goals.

As healthcare app developers, we’re always exploring and experimenting with the newest digital products in this niche. Check out this list of our favorite health and wellness apps, as well as the trends they’re employing to reach the top of the charts. And don’t be afraid to try out a few — your mind and body will thank you for it!

1. Streaks: Habit Management & Motivation (iOS)

Habits usually aren’t the first topic that comes to mind when you think of health and wellness apps. But here’s the truth: You are your habits. Fortunately, Streaks makes habit management seamless. With a minimal and colorful interface, this app can track up to a dozen different habits.

Streaks also gives you an array of customization capabilities. Use a variety of icons to symbolize a habit and check off each one on any linked iOS device. If you want to get more granular, try changing the number of times you want to complete a habit in a week or the length of time you want to spend on it.

Having problems reading 30 minutes a day or brushing your teeth each night? If you’re experiencing trouble adhering to your habits, Streaks will make helpful suggestions to get you back on track, like starting with smaller increments.

Why We Love Streaks

• Gamification of healthy goals
• Simple interface packed with advanced features
• Frictionless syncing with Apple Health

2. Flipd: Focus on What Matters Most (iOS, Android)

We each only have 24 hours in a day. Time is precious. Luckily, Flipd helps you spend it better by teaching your mind to refocus. With a research-backed design, this app offers dozens of ways to keep you focused on reaching your goals.

Whether you’re studying for an exam or writing a paper, leverage Flipd’s collection of meditative music tracks to get the job done. You can even lock the apps distracting you from tackling those important tasks.

And in case you want to get away from all things digital and examine your thoughts, Flipd also encourages you to unplug from your phone every day for a little while. All of this adds up to improved productivity and profound mental clarity.

Why We Love Flipd

• Science-backed productivity booster
• Sharpens your focus
• Unplugging = mental health breaks

3. Noom: Sustainable Weight Loss (iOS, Android)

Losing weight and getting fit are often easier said than done. Unfortunately, most programs and products on the market are geared for short-term gains, not your desired big picture. The NYC-based developers of Noom take an alternate approach.

Designed by psychologists, Noom evaluates and identifies your thoughts, triggers, and preferences. It then concocts a personalized, scientifically-proven game plan for you to adopt healthier habits.

Pharmacy Drugstore: Portrait of a Handsome Young Indian Man Using Smartphone Device, Chooses to Purchase Best Medicine, Drugs, Vitamins. Shelves full of Sport Supplements, Health Care Products

Want to eat better? Exercise more? Think more positively? No problem. With Noom’s coaches and community, you have all the help you need to log your activities, make progress towards your goals, and overcome any challenges in your way.

Why We Love Noom

• Focus on long-term sustainability
• Personalized for your unique situation
• Coaches and community support

4. WaterMinder: Seamlessly Stay Hydrated (iOS, Android)

Water is important; it makes up 60% of the average human body. But staying hydrated can be tough. It’s not unusual for busy individuals to realize they haven’t had a single sip of water for an entire day! WaterMinder helps ensure you’re getting a proper amount of hydration.

This app tracks your daily water intake and reminds you when to drink more. And if you use an Apple Watch, you can log the amount of water you drank from your wrist.

Why We Love WaterMinder

• Simple to use
• Badges and achievements keep you motivated
• Analyze your progress for insights

5. Sleep Cycle: Optimize Your Zzzz (iOS, Android)

Sleep shouldn’t be a stressful endeavor. But low quality and quantity of sleep detrimentally affect the lives of many people. Thanks to Sleep Cycle, you can say goodbye to restless nights and tired days.

Using your phone’s microphone and accelerometer, Sleep Cycle tracks and analyzes your rest (or lack thereof) throughout the night. Simply place it on your nightstand or at the top of your bed, and it will wake you up during a light sleep cycle. Rising during this opportune wake-up window means you’ll feel naturally energized and less groggy.

Why We Love Sleep Cycle

• Non-intrusive
• Rich features
• Great rest practically guaranteed

What Health Apps Should We Try?

We hope you’ve enjoyed this short ‘n’ sweet list of awesome health and wellness apps you can try today. No matter what your health goals are, remember: There’s an app for that!

Now that we’ve given you our recommendations, what apps in this space do you think we should try out next? Innovative mobile products that put a twist on the status quo always excite us, so don’t be shy about sharing. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Original article featured in ReadWrite.

Apple has gone beyond its original vision in many ways through the years, and one of the most significant is its moves into the healthcare space. CEO Tim Cook recently shared that he believed it will be his company’s “greatest contribution to mankind.” But the fact that it’s moving in this direction now might be exactly what Apple needs to rekindle the spirit of innovation it once had.

Healthcare could be the key to making tech innovation again.

Apple’s newfound pivot toward health is leading to more competition in the wearable health space. Fitbit recently teamed up with Bristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance to develop a way to detect irregular heart rhythms in a pursuit to compete with the Apple Watch.

The tech competition in healthcare will certainly lead to exciting innovations.

Apple is seeking to reignite the creativity and disruptive work it was known for in the Steve Jobs era. Unfortunately, too many of its projects just aren’t excelling like they used to. Its driverless car unit, for example, wasn’t great for a number of reasons, including its inability to capitalize on the data being pulled in by Apple Maps. The innovation simply wasn’t there.

Because Apple operates as a publicly-traded company, it doesn’t have total freedom to take bold risks at any point in time. 

Like other tech giants, the company is beholden to the vicissitudes of the markets, hedge funds, pension funds, private equity analysts, and other institutional investors. Innovation is more of a challenge when you have to show shareholders a predictable revenue stream and a regular uptick in profits quarter after quarter to maintain support.

Long-term goals take a backseat to achieve short-term growth that’s easily provable.

Short-term growth prioritization inevitably results in bold, creative ideas taking a back seat as well. While Apple has undoubtedly gotten caught in this cycle, an opportunity is looming for it to move into the healthcare space, where the innovation the company was built on is in high demand.

How Tech Is Transforming Healthcare

As Baby Boomers enter retirement, our society will be increasingly reliant on and powered by high-tech healthcare solutions. People are living longer than ever before, and there aren’t enough caregivers, doctors, nurses, and senior living facilities to take care of the aging population.

More than that, Baby Boomers don’t necessarily want to move into assisted living facilities or rely on other people to take care of them. They’d rather age at home. Thankfully, technology is making it possible for them to do just that.

Because of remote health monitoring tools, wearable devices, and telemedicine, the idea of “aging in place” is becoming more of a reality.

Imagine being in your 70s or 80s and having a blood pressure machine and a smart scale that sends all of your health data to the cloud. AI will track it in real-time to determine whether the data is trending up or down. If it’s the latter or if a new issue is spotted, you’ll be alerted and invited to the hospital where you can receive preventative care.

The Shift

Until the past few years, our healthcare system has been set up in such a way that it provides reactionary care. Hospitals, physicians, insurance companies, and the federal government have been laser-focused on treating illness, disease, and discomfort. Healthcare issues are treated when they occur rather than preventing problems before they become a problem.

Providers are focusing more on prevention.

A paradigm shift among providers to focus on prevention is being bolstered by startups that offer groundbreaking devices, cloud solutions, mobile technology, and more for seamless, personal, and efficient healthcare. 

For instance, in the span of just a few years, we’ve managed to move medical records from paper and carbon to the cloud.

Patient records can now be stored securely, accessed easily, updated when necessary, and shared among providers instantaneously. The claim is that all of the information is leading to better patient experiences and outcomes.

The technology sector is finally undergoing momentous change.

The change in the technology sector creates huge opportunities for Cook and other entrepreneurial spirits who have a desire to innovate and leave a mark on the world.

Solutions need to be addressed now.

They’ll find no shortage of problems that need solving — an aging population, fewer caretakers, rising costs, increased demand. As the healthcare transformation picks up speed, the potential for technology to be a part of that transformation is growing.

The critical need for innovative technology in the healthcare space makes getting back to the creativity of the Steve Jobs era more possible than ever before. Now is the time for technology companies to rise to the challenge.

Want to leverage emerging technologies like 5G, AI, and IoT in your organization? Get in touch with my team for a Free Consultation.

Lawmakers have reached an agreement to provide an emergency funding package of $8.3 billion to aid the United States’ response to the coronavirus crisis. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law last Friday. The funds will go towards treating and preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Telehealth capabilities like remote patient monitoring (RPM), voice calls, and video conferencing offer an efficient, effective way for healthcare providers to combat pandemics like the coronavirus. The Connected Health Initiative (CHI) recently sent letters to U.S. House and Senate leadership requesting that federal law be amended to ease the use of telehealth technology during this emergency.

Dogtown Media is proud to sign and support this letter.

Striving to Make Telehealth Available for Everyone

CHI is an initiative of ACT | The App Association. It’s a coalition of medical and digital health ecosystem partners seeking policy changes that allow providers to harness the power of technology to improve patient engagement and outcomes. Members of the committee include tech titans like Apple and Microsoft, pharmaceutical companies such as Roche Holding AG, numerous healthcare centers, and medical tech developers like Dogtown Media.

The global coronavirus outbreak has been undeniably tragic to watch unfold. Members of CHI also see it as a warning that we must rectify current telehealth usage capabilities before other health emergencies occur. Because the coronavirus spreads via face-to-face contact, academic institutions, companies like Twitter, and even government organizations like the SEC have now urged their members to stay home and work there if possible.

This poses a problem for healthcare providers; not only are they tasked with treating patients, but they are also focused on stymying the spread of the virus by encouraging those affected to stay home. Telehealth like voice and video communication are indispensable in helping these efforts. But the laws governing these technologies for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) make it cumbersome to leverage telehealth capabilities.

In its regulations, the CMS does provide an incentive mechanism for payment to clinicians using telehealth. But a number of substantial barriers impede its use. For example, CMS usually requires a 20% copay on monthly RPM services, which a patient must pay. In its letter, CHI has urged Congress to waive this copay requirement during the COVID-19 crisis so that RPM systems can be deployed as quickly as possible.

People over 65 years of age (the main category of Medicare patients) carry a high risk of contracting the coronavirus. Clearly, voice and video tech, as well as RPM capabilities, offer clinicians an avenue to stay up-to-date on patient status and treat them safely.

When asked about the response from Congress, Morgan Reed, CHI’s Executive Director, says the group has received “uniformly positive feedback.”

Preparing for Future Health Emergencies

Besides waiving the copay requirement during the coronavirus pandemic, CHI has also asked Congress to incorporate legislation that waives telehealth reimbursement restrictions during future national emergencies. Rather than revisit these barriers during the next crisis, Congress should completely remove these restrictions. It would be in the best interests of public health.

“We got into the situation because we didn’t solve this over the years that we have been asking Congress to solve this problem of preventing telemedicine from being reimbursed,” Reed explains. “Our response today is two-fold: One, solve the immediate problem to help with the coronavirus, and that is with real-time voice and video and remote patient monitoring. Two, how do we solve for the next crisis?”

Sources close to the negotiations say that lawmakers have agreed to include a provision that enables the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department to waive certain telehealth restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak. This would let Medicare providers give telehealth services to beneficiaries, regardless of if they’re located in a rural area. This provision is estimated to cost $500 million.

We hope to see more positive change enacted soon. Medical emergencies like COVID-19 must be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. When public health is on the line, there is no time for debate. Action must be taken so that everyone from Los Angeles to New York City can receive the proper care and treatment they need during a crisis like the coronavirus.

Stay safe, everyone.

For many clinics and healthcare facilities at the moment, the cost of unlimited data does not beat current operating costs. Additionally, the strain that healthcare puts on current network speeds and latency is massive, and it seriously impacts patients’ experiences and outcomes. This issue isn’t unique to healthcare, and it affects any company doing business with IoT (the Internet of Things) implemented in its operations.

But 5G promises to repair the network strain, improve patient experience, and introduce more seamless transfer for large files. Here are five ways that 5G will help healthcare organizations provide better experiences for patients and their providers.

1. The Doctor Will See You… Right Now!

Video telecommunication can be laggy and difficult to connect in rural areas. Even in urban areas that have slow Internet speeds, video chatting quality isn’t great. But with 5G and IoT, telemedicine is forecasted to grow at a compound rate annually of 16.5% from 2017 to 2023. These huge growth numbers are attributed to the increase in demand for healthcare in rural areas and government initiatives in implementing 5G and IoT across the nation.

In telemedicine, patients and providers cannot afford any miscommunication through broken audio or laggy video; for most patients, this technology requires 5G as a foundational system upon which it can grow and expand. With telemedicine, patients can get faster treatment, prescription orders, and appointments with specialists.

2. Better AR, VR, and Spatial Computing

We know that robotic surgery has existed for the past decade, but with the addition of AR, VR, and spatial computing, doctors can train independently to offer less invasive and more innovative treatments.

Many critically ill and mentally unwell patients have been trialed with AR and VR headsets to introduce post-operative therapy and relaxation exercises. This approach is working well for many patients, and it can save these patients the discomfort and stress of physically going into an office once a week.

Dallas-headquartered AT&T is one of the mobile companies at the forefront of 5G, and they’re working with VITAS Healthcare to study how 5G-enabled AR and VR affect patient engagement. AT&T’s ultimate goal is to lessen anxiety and pain for patients with terminally ill conditions by giving them distracting and calming content through their AR and VR headsets.

Even if the patient is video conferencing a doctor across the world, a translator could join and act as the intermediary communicator between the patient and provider.

3. Sending Files Faster

Generating giant images with the tiniest details showing clearly is very important when doctors are trying to find signs of cancer, bone loss or break, and other conditions. Although an MRI can take the photo, it is often sent to a specialist in a different facility for analysis. This data transfer costs time, money, and network resources. Often, the image takes hours to upload, only to output a notification that it could not successfully send the image.

For the patient, however, waiting for news about potential cancer or immediate surgery is nerve-wracking. The image transfer process creates a bottleneck in the process for both the provider and the patient.

With 5G, however, sending large image files or large patient electronic medical records should become a thing of the past. We will be able to stably and reliably send massive amounts of data to specialists all over the country with 5G technology. In particular, for rural and elderly patients, this will transform their experience with medicine and doctors by introducing faster access to care and better quality of care.

Jason Lindgren is the CIO of Austin Cancer Center, which has a PET scanner that creates massive files: up to 1 gigabyte per patient per study. This adds up very quickly, but Lindgren says that 5G has helped the Austin Cancer Center overcome this bottleneck.

“We used to have to send the files after hours,” he says. “Now, as soon as the patient leaves the scanner, the study is already on its way. It’s beneficial to doctors because they can get the results that they need quicker.”

4. Remote At-Home Monitoring in Real-Time

Wearables are growing in popularity with consumers, and these connected devices will be key in remote monitoring. Wearables are projected to save hospitals 16% in costs over the next five years.

Moreover, an Anthem study found that 86% of doctors surveyed said that wearables increase patient engagement with their health and care.

With 5G and IoT, providers and insurance companies can monitor and encourage patients remotely and in real-time while gathering data to incorporate into the patient’s treatment plan. This data generation can also help personalize care, and providers can rest assured knowing that the data is accurate and current.

5. AI’s Impact

AI is already helping healthcare analysts determine patient treatment patterns, find potential diagnoses, and predict which patients will have postoperative complications. By giving each patient a risk score, providers can devote more time to those who need it. And for those patients who are determined to have preventable issues, providers can work earlier to mitigate any risks.

5G will allow AI algorithms to expand their training datasets, add new data in real-time, and run analyses concurrently without taxing the facility’s network.

Healthcare app developers can also create data-rich dashboards for providers to check using their mobile devices.

2020 and Beyond

5G will introduce so many different medical applications that it’s hard to fathom what they’ll be. The possibilities are truly endless for innovation in this space. With 5G in healthcare, we look forward to better quality of care, patient experiences, and patient outcomes.

Costs should go down as a result, and providers can (hopefully) expect to experience a much better work-life balance, while treatment and care will become more preventative, personalized, and predictive.

How do you think 5G will impact healthcare? Which of the items on this list was your favorite? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

The explosion of innovation in the Internet of Things (IoT) has been exciting to witness over the past few years. IoT development has accelerated so fast that most people still view this technology as a distant concept that could have some impact down the line. But the truth is that IoT is already transforming several product niches and markets.

IoT is even making a profound impact on how we receive healthcare. It has been integral to innovations in this field that have occurred in the last couple of years, particularly those in patient safety. Let’s look at a few of the most important ways that IoT is improving this space.

Surgical Robots

Thanks to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT, robotic surgery is no longer a far-flung fantasy of science fiction works. Recent medical developments now allow for even the most complex and intricate surgical procedures to be carried out by software and robotic systems. You can now find robots conducting surgery in fields like neurology, gynecology, urology, orthopedics, and more.

Obviously, being operated on by robots is not easy to stomach for many people. Fortunately, it’s been shown that robots tend to be safer, cheaper, and more efficient than their human counterparts. In fact, they enable minimally invasive procedures, which in turn means lower rates of error and faster recovery.

As surgical robotics continue to improve, more healthcare facilities around the world will invest in and implement this technology. By 2024, the global surgical robot market is forecasted to reach a value of $98 billion.

Advanced Adverse Event Reporting

The medical field is filled with an overwhelming number of rules and regulations. Not only is it difficult to navigate and understand the myriad laws and restrictions, but they also tend to make healthcare facilities and providers hesitant to report issues or errors for fear of being hit with fines and lawsuits.

But reporting is necessary to address problems such as dangerous products or defective pharmaceuticals. Fortunately, integrated IoT platforms are here to help. Connected device platforms are giving medical teams the ability to access patient vitals and results in real time. Combined with predictive analytics, these platforms not only allow providers to seamlessly report events properly but also make more informed decisions about patients’ treatment plans.

As a result of these capabilities, both patients and providers benefit. More immediate, long-lasting solutions means less likelihood of complications. And providers can focus on the medical problems at hand without worrying about potential litigious mistakes coming back to haunt them.

Remote Patient Monitoring

Directly monitoring a patient around the clock is not only unrealistic but financially unfeasible when you consider the amount of money and man-hours required to do so. But for many medical conditions, monitoring is necessary to ensure that recovery and treatment are going according to plan. Fortunately, IoT has brought advancements to remote monitoring that make it much more practical.

With IoT-connected devices, doctors and medical staff can accurately monitor the vitals of numerous patients, no matter how far they are. For instance, patients with a history of heart failure can use an Internet-connected scale to record and transmit key information. Alongside regular phone check-ups, this has been shown to drastically reduce readmissions in the near future.

Similarly, patients with heart issues can also now use wearable devices to track heart rate data in real time. With this information, doctors can establish notification systems to alert patients of alarming trends or changes that may lead to increased risk for complications.

Looking ahead, “smart pills” with embedded sensors will become more ubiquitous. They not only tell a doctor when medication has been taken but also track the pill’s activity and ensure the patient’s metrics adjust accordingly.

Nobody can be everywhere at once. But with IoT-powered remote monitoring, healthcare teams can now monitor patients in San Francisco and New York City, even though their facility may be in Denver. This flexibility improves how different medical situations are handled, which in turn leads to consistently better patient outcomes.

More Insights from Mobile Apps

Improvements to both IoT and mobile technology now allow patients to take their health into their own hands. An influx of IoT-connected mobile health apps enable people to monitor and treat a variety of maladies. Here are a few of our favorites:

AliveCor: This mobile app can be paired with a medical-grade EKG pad that lets users turn their smartphones into mobile electrocardiograms that are capable of detecting tachycardia, bradycardia, atrial fibrillation, and other heart problems.

Glucose Buddy: This free app enables patients with diabetes to manually input data like insulin doses, glucose numbers, and carb consumption. From this information, the app then creates push reminders to keep users informed about and on top of their health.

WebMD Pain Coach: Chronic pain affects millions of Americans. This WebMD app lets patients input their pain levels, record treatments and moods, and even identify potential triggers. With this journal in tow, patients are better equipped to discuss their chronic pain with their providers.

IoT Is Connecting Us to the Future of Healthcare

By improving patient safety, IoT is truly paving the way for better patient outcomes. As this technology evolves alongside consumer-grade mobile devices, expect to see even more innovations to emerge in the near future. We can’t wait to see what IoT brings to healthcare next.

Which IoT application discussed in this article is your favorite? How do you think IoT will change healthcare in the near future? Let us know in the comments!

Perhaps nothing is shaping the future of medicine more than healthcare app development. Fueled by fast advancements in mobile technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT), medical apps are giving life to innovative solutions not even possible a few years ago.

As a result, healthcare mobility is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. In 2018, leading medical publication Physicians Practice conducted a Mobile Health Survey of its readers. It found that 75.9% of its respondents utilize mHealth solutions on a weekly basis. And three out of four of its readers believe mobile apps are now a staple in modern medical practices.

In 2017, the global mHealth solutions market was valued at $21.3 billion. By 2025, this is anticipated to reach $151 billion. It’s undeniable that there are profound opportunities for organizations in this space. But building a proper solution can be a complex and arduous process.

In this post, we’ll walk through some vital healthcare app development tips that every innovator should know.

Find a Specific Problem That Actually Needs Solving

When it comes to healthcare mobility, there are a variety of categories you can venture into; workflow process improvement, management of medical records, portals for patient care, appointment booking, self-diagnosis, and nutrition apps name just a few.

Regardless of which type of medical app you focus on, it’s imperative that your creation solves an existing problem. No matter how sophisticated, accessible, or innovative your app is, its ability to gain traction and thrive is severely stunted if it does not address a specific issue. Figuring out the purpose of their solution is the first step every healthcare app developer should take.

Elegantly tackling a prevalent obstacle in the medical industry ensures that your app is a sustainable solution and makes it easier for it to stand out in the market. Before going any further, identify the tangible problem your app is supposed to take care of. Then approach this situation from the other side. Ask yourself, what is the most efficient and effective way to solve it?

Identify Your Target Audience

After you’ve discovered and evaluated the issue your medical app is solving, it’s time to identify your target market. The clearer you are on your target problem, the easier this step becomes.

For example, if you’re developing a telehealth app, it must be built to work seamlessly for both patients and providers. If you’re working on a self-diagnosis app, it must come equipped with all the tools and information necessary to streamline the process for the average layperson. They should be able to understand and operate the app without the need to consult a medical professional.

Identifying your target audience greatly informs your app development and design. It also empowers you to optimize your app’s value for target segments of your market.

Let’s say you’re working on a remote monitoring app. Key users of your solution would obviously be physicians and patients. But dig deeper into this. A growing geriatric population and the rising prevalence of chronic diseases means a substantial portion of your users could fall into either of these categories. On the flip side, you’ll have doctors who are specialists in these and related fields utilizing your app. Knowing all of this allows you to better cater to the interests of your target groups.

For bonus points, you can take this process a step further by consulting professionals and industry insiders who have an intimate understanding of the healthcare landscape. A lack of clinical or industry knowledge is one of the main causes of medical app failures. Users are quick to realize if your app lacks authenticity or expertise.

So after you’ve identified your target audience, get their input. The insights and understanding that clinicians or patients provide can profoundly improve your final product.

Prioritize Simplicity, Scalability, and Sustainability

One of the biggest challenges facing medical app developers is making something that’s both user-friendly and sustainable. Put simply, every successful app not only looks good but functions seamlessly.

And with all of the information you’ve gathered in tow, you can accomplish this much more effectively by tailoring your app’s features and functionality accordingly. For instance, if you’re building an app that accesses medical records, efficiency in flow and connectivity to different record-keeping systems are paramount priorities.

Regardless of your niche, focus on making a healthcare app that can not only accommodate new users easily but also has room to grow. It’s almost inevitable that you’ll want to add new features in the future; this prevents your app from becoming outdated. To do this, develop iteratively.

Iterative methodologies like Agile software development are behind the success of the world’s best software. It allows your team to break colossal projects down into bite-sized chunks and add features one by one.

It also allows you to identify your minimum viable product (MVP), the most basic iteration of your medical app that can function in a production setting. MVPs are far from the endgame as far as healthcare app development goes. But they allow you to gain priceless customer feedback faster and start incorporating features that users actually want.

An MVP coupled with an iterative process enables you to future-proof your solution. Together, they shine a light on what produces the most value for your users. Feedback can result in a plethora of possible features. You may find that gamification in the form of badges greatly increases user participation. Or maybe you’ll start looking to AI for simplifying the most complex processes of your app.

Whatever type of feedback you get, it’s important to remember that it always helps to point you in the right direction.

Make Your Medical App Accessible

Accessibility is a core component to achieving widespread use of your healthcare app. Without taking the right steps to make it approachable and reachable, your app could go completely unnoticed by the community you’re targeting. Strive to make it as easy as possible for your end user to find and download your app.

If your user group is discretely defined, you may find that a download link or listing on a major app store suffices. But if your target group is larger and multi-faceted, it may be a prudent move to get your app on private enterprise app stores that health organizations or facilities use.

Besides digital accessibility, it’s crucial that you consider physical accessibility as well. Your target hardware should be taken into consideration early on in your medical app development process. It’s common for app developers to target more than one platform. You may decide that a desktop platform in addition to tablet and smartphone counterparts is a necessity.

If you are diversifying the avenues that people can utilize your app on, it’s important to be cognizant of how each one affects user behavior. The way that smartphone users interact with your app can be radically different from how tablet or desktop users do. This becomes more nuanced when you consider the actual problem your app is solving.

For example, on-demand doctor apps are more likely to be used on smartphones for their speed and convenience. On the other hand, enterprise healthcare mobility solutions are more likely to be accessed on tablets, which can accommodate for features than smartphones.

Each platform usually doesn’t merit its own unique build of your app; often, apps developed for smartphones can work on tablets quite seamlessly. But it’s still important to be aware of the subtle differences. They can become bigger problems down the line. Besides this, customizing your app to each platform allows you to leverage the unique strengths each one possesses.

Interoperability Is Imperative

When developing healthcare mobility solutions, interoperability is one of the most important factors to consider. Interoperability refers to the ability of systems, devices, products, or applications to effectively connect, communicate, and coordinate with each other.

You’ll want to ensure your medical app can interact with all of the necessary information systems and software applications in a typical healthcare facility ecosystem. At the very least, this includes existing clinical management systems utilized by hospital staff and can become more detailed depending on your app’s use. Great healthcare apps can exchange data and use it to improve patient care without any extra effort needed from users.

Today, many enterprise healthcare mobility solutions such as medical scheduling software rely on the cloud to facilitate interoperability. But some hospitals still leverage traditional hosting methods and even standalone software installation to circumvent the often exorbitant costs associated with cloud hosting. In this case, you’ll have to build a compatibility layer into your app for it to function with the existing setup.

Incorporate APIs for Efficient Information Exchange

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are processes, tools, or routines that execute specific tasks with software. They’re commonly used by both advertisers and social network apps to pass information in a continuous way.

They play an integral role in healthcare apps by ensuring that medical records are accessed by the correct users. APIs make it possible for patients to have more control over their data while giving healthcare providers the ability to access records in one consolidated, convenient place.

When users log in to your app, API requests support authentication and connect your device to a remote server. For patient care and engagement solutions, you’ll most likely need to add API components that authenticate your device prior to accessing the patient’s repository.

On top of this, you’ll also probably have to add APIs from suppliers and vendors to simplify workflow. It’s important to note that not every API is third-party accessible.

Design a Delightful User Experience

If your medical app lacks usability, it won’t be long before users abandon it and your traction slows to a crawl. No other aspects play more of an integral role in shaping the outcome of your app than your user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). This makes sense when you think about it. In healthcare, both patients and doctors dedicate an enormous amount of time to entering data frequently.

While hammering out the details of your UI/UX, simplicity is the keyword to keep in mind. Designers are really advocates for users. So it’s important for them to deeply consider how people are engaging with the app. Because patients and doctors will be spending a lot of time on your medical app regularly, emphasize ease of use.

Poor interface planning, complex user flow, and unintuitive CTAs will do nothing but take users away from your healthcare app. Instead, prioritize design that delights. Great design is intentional, balanced, and relevant. it should always add positive aspects to the user’s overall experience and foster productive results. Anything that takes away from this or causes the users to stray off course doesn’t need to be included.

Legal Compliance & Security Are Crucial

Far too often, healthcare apps fall to the wayside because they fail to comply with legal requirements and security standards. Wherever you are releasing your app, make sure it complies with the set standards in that location. For the United States, medical apps should comply with HIPAA Rules and Regulations.

Strong cybersecurity goes hand-in-hand with being HIPAA compliant. There are several practices and tools you should employ to ensure the safety and privacy of your users.

Today, many medical app developers also avoid storing app data on devices for extra security measures. Unfortunately, many clinical management systems also limit the number of simultaneous API requests. As a result, apps often turn to app servers for data storage purposes.

But these servers focus on speed and efficiency, not security. And data transfers between devices and servers are susceptible to interception by nefarious organizations and individuals. If your healthcare app exchanges sensitive information, consider utilizing end-to-end encryption and secure communication channels. Both can help tremendously in negating data breaches.

What’s Your Monetization ModelFinding an effective monetization model can be hard for any type of app. But when it comes to medical apps, the difficulty is increased substantially.

As tempting as it may be, do not turn toward a subscription model initially. Building a strong user base can take a lot longer than you think. Instead, consider other methods for generating revenue. Introducing certified content, gamification, and freemium subscription plans are all fair game. And when just starting out, in-app advertisements can be a promising avenue.

When considering revenue generation models, take a step back and really analyze the kind of healthcare app you’re creating. Many monetization models don’t fit with certain types of medical apps. Don’t rush this part of your development process. With some due diligence, you can identify a monetization model that aligns with your app without diminishing its value and effectiveness.

Put Your Healthcare App to the Test

Testing your app multiple times before end release is essential to avoiding errors. It helps elucidate discrepancies that are often easy to miss. Plus, you cannot truly understand how well your app performs without testing aspects like cross-platform support, security, regulation compliance, and scalability.

For healthcare mobility solutions, releasing an app without proper testing can lead to fatal consequences. Whether you’re doing manual or automatic testing, ensure you evaluate your app’s performance in regard to the following factors:

• Test security and authenticities (HIPAA compliance, Personally identifiable information (PII), Protected health information (PHI)).
• If your app needs geo-location services, test their accuracy and precision.
• Test app performance with various loads and performance benchmarks.
• Check app compatibility by testing it on the different platforms you plan to release on.
• Create real-world scenarios like poor connectivity and test your app in them.

Better Medical Apps = a Healthier Future

The healthcare mobility market is growing at an unprecedented exponential rate. Elegant technological solutions are making way for improved patient and provider engagement, which in turn cultivates better health outcomes.

Mobile medical apps are the future of the healthcare sector. And it won’t be long before they are the foundation of every modern medical ecosystem. Whether your app focuses on medication adherence, remote patient monitoring, or medical record management, we hope you’ve found these tips for making a healthcare app helpful.

Ultimately, market need, usability, and user-friendliness will determine the fate of each medical app. By taking these tips to heart and building the best app you can, you not only increase your chances of achieving success—you also help create a brighter, healthier future for each person that uses your app. If you are interested in developing a healthcare mobile app and are looking for one of the top healthcare software development companies to partner with, contact us for a free healthcare app consultation.