Video Games to the Rescue!

Everyone loves playing video games! I know I sure do! It's fun playing and competing with your family and friends and brings upon great laughter and memories. A recent study from the UCSF School of Nursing and Red Hill Studios (a California gaming software) say that they have seen a positive impact on the gait and balance of patients with Parkinson's disease who have played these computer based physical therapy games. Parkinson's is a progressive neuromuscular disease characterized by shaking, slowness in movement, limb, and trunk rigidity.  So, the clinical team members designed 9 'clinically inspired' games that are designed to improve coordination in those patients that have Parkinson's Disease. These games are similar to the motion controlled systems such as Nintendo Wii, Playstation Move and Microsoft Kinect that incorporate motion and gesture sensing technology that mimics the movements from the user. 

The trial consisted of 20 participants with moderate levels of Parkinson's disease and after playing the games for 12 weeks, 65% of the players demonstrated longer stride length and 55% increased gait velocity and balance. The games have multiple difficulty levels so once the patient passes a certain level it engages them to perform other abilities with different ranges of movement. 

As these programs are implemented into various physical therapy programs and other disease states that deteriorate balance and movement, it shows a great promise by implementing these video game programs. While the patients may think that they are just playing a game, they are in fact improving their coordination and movement. Read the article here: Video Games

Hospital scans palms to pull up medical records

New York University Langone Medical Center has been one of the first to start scanning palms to access the patient's medical health records. This new strategy prevents identity theft and reduces the amount of paperwork that needs to be involved. The device uses infrared light to scan palms and will use patient's veins on the palm for proper identification.

That's right folks, no more digging through your purse or wallet for the insurance card. With your next visit to the hospital, all you will need to do is scan your palm. Hope with this new technology is that there can be more patient interaction and less paperwork. Don't worry, this isn't a mandatory so those of you that feel uncomfortable, can opt of the process.

Check out the video here:

Patient Secure

The Little Blue Book

Isn’t it amazing the things you find when you’re just surfing the Internet? Well, as I was browsing, I came across this amazing app for the iPhone. It’s called The Little Blue Book. It’s like the Yellow Pages for doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and health plans in your area. More than one region can be added just in case you have a holiday destination spot. All listings will show up in alphabetical order along with their addresses and phone numbers. A plus point is that it will also show what type of insurance the doctor accepts. It’s very easy to navigate through but the only downside is that it won’t give any reviews. But other than that, no more looking through MapQuest or Google maps for the nearest doctor or pharmacy. This nifty app is available at your fingertips. It’s free to try out in the App store and if you plan on upgrading to the pro version, it will provide you access to the detailed listings of specialists in your selected area. Check out more screenshots here: The Little Blue Book

Diabetes Training via Smartphones

Technology has evolved so rapidly within the past few years...actually evolved exponentially. It still amazes everyday with all the new innovations that are released. If you look in a crowd of people, every other person has a smartphone...it's like having your own personal computer at your own fingertips. Of course, most people use it for texting, browsing the internet, checking their facebooks, etc. What most people don't realize is how educational these smartphones can actually be. One such way is receiving diabetes training via smartphones!! I know, exciting isn't it?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health, American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), and AT&T have all come together and announced a first to its kind Diabetes Self Management Training (DSMT). It is used for those patients who are at high risk or have diabetes and will used as a collaborative process within in underserved minority community in Dallas, Texas. It's hoped that by using mobile health programming, patients can gain knowledge and skills to manage their disease. Diabetes educators will deliver video to an application located on the mobile devices.

The study will be over an 8 month period and the AADE will monitor patient self care and behavior over time, as well as looking at lab values to confirm these results as well. Based on these results, it will change the way how diabetes education can be implemented by providing various resources that can be most beneficial to the patient.


Check out the link here: Diabetes Training Via Smartphones

High risk OB monitoring...Telemedicine to the rescue!

The IT team at Memorial Hospital & Health Systems in South Bend, Ind. came up with an innovative remote monitoring system for high risk Obstetrics (OB) patients. The patients take home a Health Guide monitoring device that can perform a health status assessment of vital signs, survey questions, and has an interactive visual observation through two-way video calling. The nurses monitor the patients weekly through web conferencing to ensure that the patient is doing well, following recommended guidelines, or have any questions. The beauty of this monitoring system is that it is all done outside of of their weekly OB visits.

The only downside is that there can only be 10 patients in the OB telemedicine program. The devices are given to patients who are diagnosed around 20 weeks with gestational diabetes and/or are at a high risk for pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure). The patient will make weekly logs in a logbook with their blood sugar levels and blood pressure readings and report them in their weekly OB visits via video conferencing. It's still to early to tell about the specific metrics of improvement but one thing's for sure is that is has lowered the cost of treatment. With this remote monitoring system, patient irregularities can easily be detected and the doctor can intervene without the patient coming in to visit. In a November  2006 study, the Annals of Internal Medicine outlined a total of $5,439 cost of savings with the benefit of having a high-risk OB monitoring system from home.

With the success of this technology for patients, CIO Steve Huffman is looking to make further use of this technology by incorporating a bigger population of disease states, such as those patient who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Check out the success stories here: High risk OB Monitoring