HudsonWerks

Researchers have mapped precisely how human travel affects the spread of malaria in Kenya by using cell-phone location data. The effort is the largest ever to use cell-phone data as an epidemiological tool.

By implementing evidence-based blood transfusion guidelines and industry-wide standards, supported by an efficiency dashboard, hospitals could  save millions annually in blood purchasing costs alone, according to Premier health alliance.

Doctors are making house calls via texting, blogs and social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Cost analysis conducted across 10.2M patients discharged between 2001-2006.

“The previous studies on the effects of electronic health records in the outpatient setting have been mixed,” says the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Lisa M. Kern, associate professor of public health and medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. “This is one of the first studies to find a positive association between the use of EHRs and quality of care in a typical community-based setting, using an off-the-shelf electronic health record that has not been extensively tailored and refined. This increases the generalizability of these findings.”

“Essentially what this means is that telemedicine can fit in our pockets,” says Bart Demaerschalk, M.D., professor of Neurology, and medical director of Mayo Clinic Telestroke. “For patients this means access to expertise in a timely fashion when they need it most, no matter what emergency room they may find themselves.”