Apparently. A Connecticut woman wasn't feeling well and noticed on her Fitbit that her heart rate was climbing. She sought medical help and it was determined that she had a blood clot in her lungs. Kind of remarkable. But let’s face it, we’re desperate for stories about digital gimmicks that save lives. It’s these stories that fuel saucy digital health keynote ... Continue Reading about Fitbit – Can it Save Your Life?
EKGs and Artificial Unintelligence
Modern EKG software does its best to tell doctors when they’re facing rhythm abnormalities. As you’ll see in John Mandrola’s post on fake atrial fibrillation (AF), machine intel isn’t quite there yet. It seems emerging EKG illiteracy facilitated by not-quite-ready-for-prime time software has created an environment for fake AF. This is one of the more interesting ... Continue Reading about EKGs and Artificial Unintelligence
Wearables and Disappearables
Lauren Goode’s run down on wearables and disappearables at SXSW in Verge is worth a read. I found this interesting: If there’s anything to be said about the wearable tech shown off at SXSW this year, it’s that it falls into one of two categories: it either performs a highly specialized function, or it’s easy to wear.. But it’s also increasingly clear that ... Continue Reading about Wearables and Disappearables
Medicine’s Race with the Machines
Like many professionals, I'm trapped in the now. I function with dated workflows and connect with patients like doctors did a hundred years ago. Elements in our world are moving, however, but no one notices. Even those of us with a remote sense of the changes ahead have a hard time understanding what’s happening to us. According to tech visionary Kevin Kelly we are ... Continue Reading about Medicine’s Race with the Machines
The Way We’ve Always Done It
The most dangerous phrase in medicine is this is the way we’ve always done it. This is one of those internet memes that resonates with our disruptive side. Virally passed on Twitter, it suggests that they’ve just had it wrong all these years and we know what’s right. In some cases they have and we do. Sometimes not. There are many things in medicine that work ... Continue Reading about The Way We’ve Always Done It
Physician Anesthesiologist
The anesthesiologist has been re-branded as the physician anesthesiologist. Check out the site for the American Society of Anesthesiologist. The Twitter feed for the American Society of Anesthesiologists has members referencing this designation. When you modify anesthesiologist with ‘physician’ it implies that anesthesiologists are no longer only physicians. I ... Continue Reading about Physician Anesthesiologist