Hans Oh's eHealth Blog » news

Mobile Health App Contest

Hans — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 05:18:47 +0000

Just sharing a very interesting contest that I became aware of recently. The contest is called “Applications for Good” (www.applicationsforgood.org) and will be “giving away $50,000 in prize money to develop mobile, desktop, web, and SMS applications to help people learn, be healthier, get jobs, and get financial security”. The contest is being run by [...]

It’s official. Mobile Health is hot!

Hans — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:37:30 +0000

I’ve been following the mobile health (aka “mhealth”) for a while now. In fact, I’ve been more intrigued by mhealth than ehealth for the past couple of years. Why? Well, the main reason is that mhealth seems to be a more dynamic space at this point in time. In general terms, eHealth seems to be [...]

Dollars for Docs: Is your physician taking $$ from drug companies?

Hans — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:35:47 +0000

ProPublica just released a series of articles and a report titled “Dollars for Docs” which investigates the “financial tiles between doctors and drug companies” Basically, ProPublica is investigating the effect of financial support from pharmaceutical companies on physician behaviour. ProPublica’s investigation seems to suggest that drug companies are increasingly using physicians to market drugs and [...]

Knowing is Better

Hans — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:11:05 +0000

While relaxing in front of the tube last night, I was intrigued by an ad that I saw which depicted a daughter visiting a doctor with her elderly father. The physician was asking about the medications and the daughter showed her a small bag full of pill bottles. We next see the physician use a [...]

Poll: Will Regional Extension Centres (RECs) deliver on their mission?

Hans — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 17:00:02 +0000

I was notified of this interesting poll regarding the future success of RECs and recommend that you check out the poll (see link below) and information on reviews of EHRs. Eight months have passed since the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) began funding Regional Extension Centers (RECs). Sixty RECs have been [...]

Vignettes about using Google to find health information

Hans — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:51:33 +0000

On the Official Google Blog, there’s an interesting series of stories about how people are using Google in their lives. The one that piqued my attention was on using Google to find health information. A cynic would probably point to this series as propaganda and PR, but I think there’s something quite compelling about the [...]

“Aspire, Inspire, and Transform” – CPHA UW Alumni Lunch (2010-06-15)

Hans — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:15:47 +0000

Had an opportunity to attend an alumni event hosted by the University of Waterloo (UW). Apparently this is the first time event for Health Studies & Gerontology alumni. This event was taking place at the Sheraton Centre, Toronto during the Canadian Public Health Association’s (CPHA) Centennial Conference. It was great to catch-up with a mentor [...]

Introducing OHA Today

Hans — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:56:38 +0000

Just saw an email announcing the launch of OHAToday. According to the website, OHAToday is: your source for the latest, comprehensive health care news and information. This website — and the email updates you can sign up for — replaces other emails sent to the thousands of health care professionals that subscribe to our communications. [...]

Scientific American profiles 10 mobile health apps on the iPhone

Hans — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:19:46 +0000

Scientific American has a short video titled "Mobile Medicine" which highlights a few mobile apps on the iPhone. According to the video, medical apps are one of the fastest growing areas for development, with over 2000 applications and growing.

Health care is not immune from innovation making jobs obsolete

Hans — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:41:19 +0000

An interesting report from NPR.org, titled “The jobs of yesteryear: Obsolete occupations” got me thinking about what health care will look like in 10, 20, and 30 years from today. In the article/slideshow, several occupations are shown to be obsolete because they are no longer relevant due innovation. What all of these jobs had in [...]