Katie Matlack is the Medical Software Analyst at Software Advice, an innovative software lead-gen startup.

The iPhone and iPad are changing the world of medical devices as we know it.

Thanks to their familiar interface, Web connectivity, and powerful processing capabilities, with the right app and plug-in these iOS devices can work as super smart medical devices that make sharing as easy as the push of a touchscreen button. Consumers can now access increasingly high-quality medical devices, making it easy to be more actively engaged in their own health. And home and rural care givers can benefit from the portability and versatility of iPad and iPhone based devices.

Below I’ll discuss three examples of powerful iOS medical devices I’ve found that already exist.

1) The Withings Blood Pressure Monitor

French company Withings developed this blood pressure monitor that features an app and a cuff that fits most average-sized people. Accurate data on your blood pressure can help you monitor hypertension, which can lead to serious consequences for your heart, brain and kidney. The Withings monitor can even work with an iPod Touch, and runs at $129. You can use the device to share your data with your doctor.

2) ECEM Pulse Oximeter

This device isn’t yet available to the masses, but given its utility I imagine it will be soon. It features a small clip that attaches to your fingertip. The clip beams a light through your fingertip to a receiver on the opposite side; the amount of light received is used to determine how much oxygen is saturated in your blood. Developed by the Electrical and Computer Engineering in Medicine research group together with the Pediatric Anesthesia Research Team at the University of British Columbia, it was originally created to help make anesthesia care safer in the developing world, but can also be useful to patients with heart of lung problems such as emphysema.

3) iBGStar Glucose Meter

From Sanofi-Aventis comes this glucose meter app and plug-in. The glucose meter is a well-known device to anyone with diabetes. Today, diabetics test blood sugar with needles and a clunky kit; the iBGStar offers a small add-on to the iPhone that’s said to give better, more accurate results. Plus, getting your data on your iPhone means you can share it easily, and you can get reminders on your iPhone when it’s time for another check.

For more discussion of the benefits of these iPhone and iPad based devices, plus commentary on two more devices not discussed here and commentary from an expert on medical devices, visit the Software Advice blog for the original article.

*****
____________________________
Katie Matlack
Medical Software Analyst
Software Advice

by Katie Matlack, Medical Analyst at Software Advice

The iPad has been heralded as a gamechanger in a number of sectors. What will its impact be in home health? Pretty significant, I think. That prediction is based on the way the device empowers home health care workers to streamline logistics, and get more done. Below, I’ve identified three concrete ways the iPad is poised be a big hit within home health below (I’ve expanded further in a longer post on my blog at Software Advice, too).  

1. It can replace costly equipment. The iPad has a ton of processing power. And developers can easily build new apps. Given those two factors, the device is impressively extensible. Think about blood pressure cuffs that can plug into an iPad, or disposable EKG electrodes that do the same. Will home caregivers soon just carry a kit of electrodes, cuffs and sensors around? I imagine that day is not far off. After all, a company called Square has already built a credit card reader add-on for an iPhone.

2. It facilitates EHR adoption in home health. Though EHRs have been available for the home health specialty for some time, it’s never been simple for home health care givers to access these programs on the go… until now. The touchscreen is intuitive and offers an efficient way for caregivers to capture hundreds of data elements. Furthermore, a growing portion of the population is already familiar with how to use an iPhone and the iOS. This could decrease the levels of apprehension home health care givers have about using a tablet device.

3. It can transform logistics. As I wrote in my original article,

Home health workers can use existing iPad apps from gas station locators and mileage counters to the built-in camera to help them save time and be more efficient. For example, caregivers could use the camera to snap photos of receipts for expenses reports. Sharing information in real time is now as easy as a home health care team using a shared calendar. Some home health software programs have scheduling features built in, too.

For more discussion on how I think the iPad will transform home health, including a discussion of how the device might be used for accountability purposes in the future, please check out my recent blog post. If you have any comments, please feel free to send me an email at katie@softwareadvice.com I’d really appreciate the feedback! Thanks for reading.

 It is easier to find your imagination and your sense of humor with children. A person with dementia could make a mistake by not remembering you and you would sigh feeling slighted and sorry for their cognitive loss.

Babysitting recently, I easily became Mama Bear with Baby Bear, a delightful three year old, living in a cave under the stairs. We both felt the safety of our time together as we lay down on the floor over and over – many times – to go to sleep and wake up to Granma Bear’s breakfast of grits, bacon and fresh banana muffins.

Also recently I was told that a five year old child said “I love Julia. She makes the best pizza!”

“But,” I objected, “I didn’t make the pizza, I helped shovel pizza slices onto paper plates for hungry kids.” My informant joked, “You now know how you are remembered.” (Gee, to think that I could have made ALL those pizza pies!).

Please consider that this entire holiday season promotes the amazing cup of kindness we have shared once upon a time. “Auld Lang Syne” a Scots poem written by Robert Burns is traditionally used to celebrate and start the New Year in many English-speaking countries. In the days of “Auld lang syne” is equivalent to “Once upon a time.”  We are connected through centuries to the heart of memory, love, loss and gratitude. “For all these lives,” we say at remembrance services, “we give thanks.”

In the same spirit, the “Yes, Virginia” editorial written in 1897 is a reply to the letter from eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon who asked if there really was a Santa Claus. “Not believe in Santa Claus!” the editor wrote. “You might as well not believe in fairies.”

Especially grieving widows and widowers reply with a twinkle in their eyes that they may not be having a Christmas tree or other holiday rituals like usual but they are busy helping bring joy and gratitude for the holidays with Santa on this earth since ancient times.

Some elders are often cynical saying “It’s about the imagination – the importance of it. But as you get older like us, you lose your imagination along with everything else.”

But the imagination is extremely important. Another elder who is losing her eyesight and can no longer walk has to use her imagination to get by. She calls out in strong agreement, “Mine is getting stronger!”  Is yours getting stronger?  Do you still have your imagination?

By Julia Soto Lebentritt.  A published poet and producer, Julia Soto Lebentritt is author of As Long as You Sing, I’ll Dance: The bond not the burden – the blessing not the burn–out of caregiving (release date May 2012). She is a Bereavement Facilitator at the Community Hospice of Rensselaer County.