Dose of Digital

Friday Follow Ups

Bill Evans — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:57:16 +0000

Amtrak Upgrades Wi-Fi Service on Trains – To…working?

Former Groupon Co-Founder Plans to Release An Album of Motivational Music – It’s 88% off when booked with a laser hair removal appointment!

Injectable Microscopic Robots Can Detect Threat of Blindness – I think, and this is just me going out on a limb here, that if you’re injecting robots into your eyes, blindness is the least of your problems.

iPhone Placebo Effect App Hopes to Change Patient Behavior – VC funding for pretend medicine? Where do I sign?

The Ultimate Video of People Being Idiots in Shopping Carts – Excuse me, Mr. Darwin? You have a phone call on line 2.

Novartis To Close The GISTearth Community

Bill Evans — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:02:41 +0000

From the email:

“Since the launch of www.GISTearth.com in May 2009, the mission of the social network has been to provide members of the GIST global community with a place to give and receive support; make valuable connections and share personal experiences; as well as connect patient/caregivers members to patient advocacy groups for further support.

At this time, Novartis Oncology, sponsor of GIST Earth, has decided to close the social network (on or about May 15, 2013). The platform is not optimized for current technologies (such as mobile devices and tablets) which compromises the user experience and lessens the value of the platform.

Thank you for your participation, dedication and support of the GIST global community.

Sincerely, Your GIST Earth Team”

Surprised to see this community go by the wayside. The utilization must have not been there to justify continuing on.

The Android Additions to the Mobile Wiki Are Up

Bill Evans — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:45:39 +0000

I may have missed a couple though. The consistency of the data in the Android submissions is far more hit or miss than in the Apple App Store. For instance, AstraZeneca has an app with the developer listed as ‘Bob in IT.’

Pharma Mobile App Wiki

The iOS Mobile App Wiki is Now Live

Bill Evans — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:30:54 +0000

Up next, everyone’s favorite green robot. One thing is clear from going through this exercise: the industry has produced a lot of junk.

Pharma Mobile App Wiki

Why The Smartphone Physical Isn’t Ready for Prime Time

Bill Evans — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:17:10 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege to attend TedMed 2013 in Washington DC. One of the highlights of the conference was a technology showcase area, staffed by a number of start-ups and healthcare innovators looking to show off their wares. One booth, sponsored by Steelcase and Medgadget, offered to provide a ‘smartphone physical’ utilizing 10 of the latest generation medical diagnostic devices built to work with the iPhone. The experience left me wanting.

For starters, a majority of these devices were iPhone-enabled variations of diagnostic tools that already exist, albeit with a much higher price tag. A Pulse Oximeter? $30-$50 on Amazon.com. Want the iPhone-enabled version? $249. Same exact features, except one plugs into an iPhone and the other does not. Similarly, the Withings blood pressure monitor, which does everything your top-end Omicron cuff does, costs $129 to the Omicron’s $65. You decide for yourself if the time saved by not having to manually enter the diagnostic data into an app or spreadsheet is worth the cost difference. I have stand-alone, non-iPhone versions of all these tools (including a thermometer, HR monitor, BMI calculator, scale and otoscope) and they work just fine, with no iPhone required. What’s more, your cost increase doesn’t give you any insight or information about whether these readings are good or bad.

For tools that are being touted as ‘smartphone enabled’ they certainly behave like dumb objects.

The collection and monitoring of health data is growing rapidly, and users should do a bit of research to understand what the data, say the numbers for your blood pressure or O2 saturation, means and what it may positively or negatively [...]

Comments Deactivated Temporarily

Bill Evans — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:05:26 +0000

We seem to still be having database issues. I’ve turned off the comment plug in to see if that fixes the issue. Stay tuned.

Hey there! Where ya been?

Bill Evans — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:08:05 +0000

Hi all-

Just wanted to pop a quick note to bring you up to speed on why DOD has been quiet lately. It’s been a combination of 2 things. First, I was moved off a medication (a benzodiazepine) and the withdrawal symptoms kicked my ass for about 3 weeks, so writing was the last thing I wanted to do. And second, we’ve been migrating the site to a new database to keep it from crashing every 5 minutes. (which I know a few of you noticed). Anyway, I’m back and we’re live. I’m updating the long overdue mobile wiki as you read this and hope to have the first data set up today. I’ve got a bunch of other writing in the works too, so stay tuned.

-Bill