Are Healthcare Consumers at the Forefront of Digital Health?

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA and Ben Heubl Simply put, healthcare is about the patient. Healthcare is a multidisciplinary team approach and patients are at the center of healthcare. The urge to understand healthcare and medicine from the perspective of the patient, or consumer, is something that even key stockholders fail to understand, writes David Shaywitz in a Forbes piece. The author refers to an article from The Journal of the American Medical Association…

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Sharecare Helps to Engage and Empower Consumers with Mobile Health App-AskMD

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA From digital to doctor with a click on your iPhone or iPod touch Self-diagnosing is not a good idea, but arming yourself with accurate, credible and trustworthy information is a great idea. It’s such an exciting time in health care today. Digital technology helps to empower and engage consumers to take charge of their health, and it fosters consumers to be active participants in their healthcare. One way to…

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Too Much Hype in the Mobile Health App World?

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA [Original post, “Too Much Hype in the Mobile Health App World?” published on The Huffington Post on 7/23/12 in the Healthy Living/Health News Section.] The Wild West of mobile health (mHealth) is taking the health care industry by storm, but “there are no rules to the game,” said Joseph C. Kvedar, M.D., founder and director at the Center for Connected Health in a recent interview. Mobile health is a…

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5 Buckets to Patient Engagement and the Role of HIT

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA What is patient engagement? Patient engagement is a connection between patient, caregiver and health care provider.  A trusted relationship forms and mutual respect is fostered.  Patients and their families are empowered and they are active in health care decisions.  However, patient engagement begins before the initial interaction with health care providers. When patients and consumers recognize the need to be in charge of their health, patient engagement evolves.  Patients…

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Grand Rounds on Healthin30 Features Health IT – Mobile Technology, Telemedicine and More

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Thank you to everyone who submitted posts for Grand Rounds. I greatly appreciate it.  Grand Rounds is a summary of the best health care writing online.  It features stories, opinions and analysis from doctors, nurses, patients, researchers and administrators, as well as journalists.  This edition features health care technology blogs from industry experts.  I explored the web searching for blogs that I feel are worthwhile to read.  If your…

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