Brian T. Horowitz

As Microsoft prepares to move its Amalga health intelligence software into a joint venture with GE, analysts see an uncertain future for the HealthVault personal health record (PHR) platform, which remains with Microsoft. With Google announcing in June 2011 that it would close down its Google Health portal, a key bellwether for PHRs disappeared from […]

Alcatel-Lucent highlighted innovations in health care and first-response vehicles from its ng (next generation) Connect Program during the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Comprising 125 members, ng Connect brings companies together from several industries to develop new service concepts, or prototypes. The industries include health care, retail, entertainment and auto. […]

Independa, a provider of remote monitoring technology for the elderly, and LG’s Zenith division announced at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that they’re bringing senior health monitoring to commercial televisions. LG’s ProCentric displays will run Independa’s cloud-based Angela social engagement platform and medical reminders. Angela is a social-engagement platform that allows […]

At the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Qualcomm and the nonprofit X Prize Foundation announced the Tricorder X Prize contest to award $10 million to a team that can develop a handheld device to diagnose a patient’s health. The Qualcomm Foundation, the chip maker’s philanthropic arm established in 2010, is working with […]

At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sprint and remote-monitoring device manufacturer Ideal Life are exhibiting a cellular device called the Pod to help consumers manage chronic conditions such as diabetes or hypertension remotely at home. The Pod uses machine-to-machine (M2M) technology to allow patients to transmit vital data from one mobile device […]

Health care IT research firm KLAS recently unveiled its list of the top software platforms in health care, with Epic Systems at the top of its Overall Software Vendors Rankings. For the survey, KLAS looked at such application categories as Acute Care Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Ambulatory EMR (over 75 physicians) and Practice Management. For […]

Tablets will be a fixture in many doctors’ offices in 2012, research firm NPD Group reports. About 75 percent of small and midsize medical practices plan to buy tablets over the next year, according to a recent survey by the company. The results were part of NPD’s third-quarter “SMB Technology Monitor.” Released Dec. 29, the […]

Nuance Communications has launched the 2012 Mobile Clinician Voice Challenge, a contest to get developers to integrate speech recognition into mobile or Web-based health care applications. The company is calling on independent software vendors, internal development teams and health insurance providers to find new ways to incorporate speech recognition into their medical software. Nuance announced […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an initiative to replace the medical-scheduling component of its electronic health record platform and is requesting proposals for how to update and rebuild the application. The Medical Scheduling Package (MSP) is part of the VA’s Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) EHR platform. VistA manages the […]

Motorola Admiral Android Smartphone This Motorola Android 2.3 phone on Sprint’s network features push-to-talk features for first responders, along with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla glass. The phone can withstand dust, shock and solar radiation. Xplore Xtreme Tablet Announced in May, the line of Xplore Xtreme Tablets can withstand abuse, whether it’s being left in a fish […]

Users can now access personal medical information from Microsoft’s HealthVault personal health record platform through a new Windows Phone 7 application. HealthVault allows patients to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as keep track of medication schedules and fitness goals. They can also retrieve their health histories and lab test results […]

Although Hewlett-Packard announced that the TouchPad tablet will soon meet its demise, it still has a job at California’s Stanford University, where researchers are using the device to control a Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner. MRIs collect detailed 3-D images of the body without the radiation exposure levels of X-rays. The procedures are now being used […]