mobile communications

Unprecedented political and regulatory changes in the healthcare industry have driven MS&L, one of the world’s leading communications firms, to hone a new approach for its clients, called Breaking the Code. This approach is designed to enable MS&L to bring innovation to communications by leveraging proprietary healthcare consulting tools and a new stable of senior advisors in healthcare and other key areas.

Innovative mobile technologies are helping to transform health care in many developing countries, according to an iHealthBeat.org report. Last month, the Rockefeller Foundation announced a $100 million initiative to bolster health systems in Africa and Asia by building capacity, supporting policy interventions and promoting health IT applications.

WellNet Healthcare is targeting the Web 2.0 movement with the release of Point to Point Healthcare, an offering the Bethesda, Md.-based company describes as a “Facebook-like social networking platform” for healthcare consumers. The secure Web 2.0 platform, from which consumers can manage their healthcare, includes tools, a communication wall to allow the user to interact with healthcare providers, a pass-through version of the consumer’s EMR, and a view of prescription medications that includes potential substitutes and links to telemedicine, care management and wellness services.

Gwinnett Medical Center in suburban Atlanta has launched a handheld Care Team Communications system in its emergency department. The not-for-profit healthcare network tapped  Hatboro, Pa.-based InfoLogix to conduct a wireless infrastructure assessment to determine the technical and workflow requirements necessary for optimal communications.

Seizing a unique opportunity to explore innovative ways to communicate with patients and alleviative fears over joint replacement surgery, Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center, part of Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care, recently used Twitter to post live updates of a bi-lateral knee replacement surgery, showcasing the hospital's use of new orthopaedics technology.

A new study by the Center for Connected Health, a division of Partners HealthCare, claims online diabetes management programs may lead to improved patient knowledge, engagement and accountability, as well as better communication between patient and doctor. The study appears in the March issue of the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology.