Consumer

Patient data: Who owns it? Who can improve it? What's it worth?

By Laura Lovett February 18, 2019

We are living in a time when there is increasingly more data being collected, opening up more opportunities for researchers. As the industry begins to see patients become consumers, the conversation around this data has begun to include questions of ownership and compensation. “What we really want to do is empower patients to take back full control of their data,” Nicolas Schmidt, chief product...

The consumerization of healthcare: the good, the bad, the baffling

By Laura Lovett February 15, 2019

Getting to a doctor’s office for a diagnosis can take days if not weeks — but getting a Google "diagnosis" takes seconds. Accessing information, both accurate and inaccurate, is easy today, opening new doors for consumers of healthcare. “We are in a world where consumers have a lot of information and we need to give them a system to figure out how do we use that information appropriately and how...

AliveCor's new interim CEO talks debt funding, remote patient monitoring, other big plans for 2019

By Jonah Comstock February 14, 2019

Smartphone-connected ECG maker AliveCor has officially named an interim CEO, shortly after securing $20 million in debt funding from Oxford Finance. Ira Bahr, the new interim CEO and former chief commercial officer, told MobiHealthNews that the company is gearing up for a big year in 2019. “I think we’re going to do more in the next six months than we have in the last six years,” he said. “That...

How Samsung platforms are supporting health tech’s toolmakers

By Dave Muoio February 12, 2019

Samsung’s inroads into healthcare have taken numerous forms over the years, but often the international electronics company is happy to serve as the technological backbone of its partners’ novel health products. The company's HIMSS19 showing suggests that the coming year will be little exception, with Samsung showcasing a number of health assessment tools and provider workflow products supported...

Photo by Caiaimage/Chris Ryan

How many companies stand to benefit from the FDA Pre-Cert program? Fewer than you might think

By Bradley Merrill Thompson February 8, 2019

About the Author: Bradley Merrill Thompson is a member of the firm at Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. There, he counsels medical device, drug, and combination product companies on a wide range of FDA regulatory, reimbursement, and clinical trial issues. In January, FDA released version 1.0 of its Working Model for the agency’s Precertification Program for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) (i....

Kaia Health unveils a feasibility study to explore a digital COPD treatment for Japan’s ageing population

By Dean Koh February 7, 2019

Digital therapeutics company Kaia Health has unveiled a feasibility study to examine the impact of its digital therapeutic treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) on Japan’s ageing population. This follows a German pilot study which successfully decreased symptoms. COPD is an umbrella term to describe chronic lung diseases that cause limitations in lung airflow. According to the...

Giblib launches VR app to stream pre-recorded, live operations

By Dave Muoio January 30, 2019

Giblib — the maker of a variety of streaming medical education videos that can be viewed the web, on mobile and in virtual reality — has launched a new app on the Oculus Store that features 360-degree VR videos of pre-recorded and live operating room procedures, the company announced yesterday. The app and its videos are available to any consumers with a subscription to Giblib’s service and an...

Interoperable artificial pancreas system reliably controls blood glucose levels in pilot trial

By Dave Muoio January 28, 2019

A recent paper published in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics describes the design, safety and basic efficacy of a device-agnostic smartphone app that can interface with continuous glucose monitors, insulin pump devices and dosing algorithms from various manufacturers. Run on an unlocked smartphone, the interoperable Artificial Pancreas System (iAPS) smartphone app was reliable and generally...

Lively launches telehealth hearing assessment, consultation alongside $16M funding round

By Dave Muoio January 28, 2019

To complement its catalogue of connected hearing aids, New York City-based Lively has launched a telehealth service that will allow users to complete an online hearing assessment, conduct a virtual video consultation with an audiologist and have their device remotely tuned. According to Lively’s website, device owners in need of an appointment can now request a virtual consultation and receive a...

From left to right: (Ying Tang, Vice President, Head of Business Operation, Healthcare, Merck China; Rogier Janssens, Managing Director and General Manager, Biopharma, Merck China; Chris Round, Executive Vice President, Head of International Operation & Global Core Franchise, Healthcare, Merck; Meng Zhang, Vice President, Tencent Medical; Jordan Liu, Strategy and Business Development Director, Tencent Medical). Photo credit: Merck

Merck, Tencent enter strategic collaboration on intelligent digital health services in China

By Dean Koh January 24, 2019

Yesterday, Merck, a German multinational pharmaceutical, chemical and life sciences company, and Tencent, a Chinese multinational investment holding conglomerate, signed a strategic collaboration agreement. The collaboration will primarily focus on increasing public disease awareness and providing more accessible healthcare services via digital platforms in China. “In this collaboration with...