South Korea has an extensive and well developed ICT infrastructure emphasizing innovation in next generation technology. It is estimated that the health IT market in South Korea will be $5.6 billion by 2020. The 4G/LTE service and broadband internet cover the entire population and there are plans to upgrade services to 5G in preparation for the 2018 Olympics. (more…)
Philips Submits Study to FDA
Royal Philips www.philips.com has completed their controlled multicenter pivotal validation study. This study compares pathologists that use digital whole slide imaging as compared to traditional optical diagnoses done through a microscope. The study which examined the diagnosing of surgical pathology tissue slides from a range of tissues met the pre-specified endpoint. (more…)
AHRQ Director’s Thoughts
In a recent interview, Robert M. Wachter MD, Chief of Medicine at UCSF Medical Center www.ucsfhealth.org discussed important issues related to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) www.ahrq.gov with Director Andy Bindman M.D. They talked about the progress that AHRQ is making in patient safety. (more…)
Connecting Devices Correctly
Patients receive food, medication, and other therapies through a variety of devices or delivery systems such as syringes, catheters, and tubing sets that connect to each other. Medical devices are often packaged together in tubing sets or co-packaged with another device. These sets comprise all the parts needed to use the tubing for its intended purposes, including the connectors that attach tubes to the other parts of the set or to other devices. (more…)
Physician Fee Schedule Finalized
CMS www.cms.gov has finalized the 2017 Physician Fee Schedule final rule by improving payment for chronic care management and behavioral health. The rule also finalizes policies to expand the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) starting January 1, 2018. (more…)
Smart & Connected Health Projects
The goal of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) www.nsf.gov “Smart and Connected Health” (SCH) Program is to develop and use innovative approaches to support the transformation of healthcare. (more…)
Commercializing Biosensors
Middle Tennessee State University http://mtsu.edu and Tecport Optics www.tecportoptics.com have signed a licensing agreement to commercialize the university’s biosensor technology as a medical diagnostic tool to be used by research labs and point-of-care health professionals. (more…)