mobile point of care

Gartner expects two new versions of Bluetooth to emerge by 2011. Bluetooth 3 will introduce 802.11 for faster data transmission, and Bluetooth 4 will introduce a low-energy mode that will enable communication with peripherals and sensors, making it a match for industries such as health care.

While President Obama signed the healthcare reform bill into law on Tuesday, other segments of the federal government are in the midst of decision-making that could also influence a proliferation of new healthcare devices and services.

A pilot project at the Cleveland Clinic has found that patients with chronic diseases manage them more effectively when they use medical devices to regularly send health information to physicians.

AnyDATA Corp. has launched the DTW series of low cost embedded CDMA and GSM/HSPA modules designed for mobile Internet devices. Measuring only 21mm x 22mm x 4.5mm--smaller than a quarter and weighing only 4 grams--the wireless modules serve as the communications platform for a wide array of connected devices, including mobile healthcare devices.

The first winner of the Motion Excellence in Mobile Point of Care Award is Springfield, IL-based St. John's Hospital. Motion Computing, a provider of integrated mobile computing solutions, announced the creation of new award at HIMSS10. St. John's, a Motion C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA) user since 2008, has deployed a flexible mobility solution that supports the way clinicians work.

Fiberlink Communications Corporation, a developer of cloud-based Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions, has rolled out the Healthcare IT Compliance Service, a comprehensive business intelligence reporting platform for healthcare and life sciences organizations.

Although telehealth remains an emerging category for the consumer electronics industry, consumer-led telehealth services could prove to be the disruptive influence required for professional care authorities to drive telehealth forward, according to U.K.-based IMS Research.

Montreal's McGill University Health Centre is developing a new Web tool that, among other things, will deliver medication reminders to patients via their iPhones and Blackberrys. The secure Internet program, known as Unani.ca, allows anyone to maintain a list of personal health conditions, medications, allergies and family medical history.