Monthly Archives: April 2014

BlackBerry’s Next Move May Be A Phone That Keeps You Healthy

I chanced upon an interested article at The Huffington Post that I thought might interest you folks so here goes;

Prophecies abound of BlackBerry’s demise, but the Canadian smartphone company is still making investments — including collaborating with Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of health care IT company NantHealth and mobile innovator NantMobile, to create what Soon-Shiong calls a “novel” smartphone.

Soon-Shiong and BlackBerry’s plans are ambitious, to say the least. By the end of the year, they hope to deliver a new BlackBerry smartphone with two features largely unknown to the general public: NantHealth’s Clinical Operating System (cOS), which aims to improve doctor and patient access to patient health data, and NantMobile’s iD Browser, a system for scanning and searching the “real world” via smartphone camera.

The Clinical Operating System was built to slurp up most types of medical data. Currently cOS can grab info directly from 1600 types of medical device, including ventilators, glucose monitors and IV drips. It can also mine and integrate most forms of electronic medical records, meaning that, for example, a physician will be able to see a patient’s clinical history, their co-pay data and notes from previous visits, all in one place.

Right now, Soon-Shiong told The Huffington Post, the healthcare industry keeps a lot of important information divided up in ways that don’t always make sense. Real-time data, month-old data and “data from five years ago,” he said, are more often than not stored in “separate warehouses that don’t talk to each other.”

For physicians, being able to quickly access and parse large amounts of patient data will almost certainly allow for more tailored, less erroneous treatment. Laypeople with access to cOS will be able to monitor their health in real time, engaging in checkups more rigorous and informative than anything provided by a “quantified self” app. Soon-Shiong believes that cOS access will help patients talk more knowledgeably with their doctors, instead of treating the physician’s art — and their own health — as something inscrutable and arcane.

If NantHealth’s cOS is meant to take the mystery out of medical science, NantMobile’s iD Browser aims to take the mystery out of everything else. An iD Browser works with a smartphone’s camera. Point a phone equipped with iD at a movie poster, and the phone displays movie trailers, reviews and the option to buy tickets. Similar things happen with sports logos and popular retail products.

The combination of the iD Browser and the cOS in a smartphone will certainly make for a device unlike any other. The lingering question, of course, is why Soon-Shiong chose to partner with BlackBerry over more prominent smartphone makers like Apple or Samsung.

The answer, says Soon-Shiong, is that BlackBerry excels at security. Even in these iOS- and Android-heavy days, BlackBerry is still the smartphone of choice for the U.S. Defense Department for that reason. For health care workers, never mind patients who want to look at their own information, complying with medical privacy laws would be far easier on a BlackBerry device than any other smartphone.

A BlackBerry press release regarding the company’s collaboration with Soon-Shiong doesn’t mention plans to build a new smartphone. However, the release emphasizes BlackBerry’s focus on reliability and security, with CEO John Chen noting, “Healthcare is one of the key industries in which we have unique advantages and this investment reflects our commitment to maximize our opportunities there.”

While I am not a big fan of Blackberry, I am quite eager to witness the launch of this new smartphone.

Updates on CHIA & HIMSS Chengdu Dialogue 2014 China

Time to provide an update on the CHIA & HIMSS Chengdu Dialogue 2014 China that took place on the 11 Apr 2014 (in Chengdu of course).

Firstly, Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China) is an interesting place with rich historical and cultural heritage and as a destination, Chengdu differs from the normal cities (Beijing and Shanghai) I visit when I head for  China and this definitely served as a great welcome.

Organised by the Chinese Health Information Association (CHIA) and HIMSS Asia Pacific, the event explores the theme of “Breaking health information barriers, supporting clinical decision making” and I was the invited Opening Keynote Speaker and delivered the topic Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) and Compliance Testing, partially in mandarin.

While my spoken level of mandarin is consider proficient (I obtained Level 4 of Business Chinese Test, conducted by the Hanban Confucius Institute, China), it is an entirely different story when it comes to delivering an hour long  complex topic involving technical (health informatics) fluency, hence the reason why I only attempted to deliver it partially in mandarin.

In my presentation, I covered what CDSS really is, its Intended Purposes, the Five Rights Framework, what Intervention comprises of as well as the concept of Interoperability, Standards (related to CDSS) & Data Governance and lastly, Segments within the eco-system where one should pay attention to while testing for compliance.

The lecture was very well received and there were many questions asked, during both Q&A as well as tea-breaks. To top it off, I was invited by CHIA to speak again at their next conference in July so I guess they really liked my topic!

‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says

I was re-introduced to the commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs on June 12, 2005 at Stanford and it served to re-inspired me on several levels.

Steve shared three stories;

  • The first story is about connecting the dots
  • The second story is about love and loss
  • The third story is about death

In addition was his famous message of “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish“.

While his words serves as an inspiration to almost anyone, it is particular encouraging for social entrepreneurs because we tread on the path of uncertainty during the course of our cause.

As such, I am attaching the video here to share with all of you, his words of inspiration. I hope that you too, will find new levels of inspiration.

Updates on Crowdsourcing Week Global Singapore 2014

Last week was a somewhat busy week with speaking engagements at Crowdsouring Week Global 2014 Singapore and CHIA & HIMSS Chengdu Dialogue 2014 China. (I will provide an update on the latter in a separate post).

Due to a minor family emergency, I could only attend the morning session of 9th April (Wednesday) where I had to present my topic – Generating Healthcare Data for Transformation through Crowds and participant in a panel where we discussed Innovations in Healthcare. Both sessions went pretty well and feedback has it that my message and “know-how” shared was quite clear (on how to generate data usable for meaningful use and analytical purposes in a healthcare / clinical context).

I had to leave for the airport immediately after lunch (to fly off to Chengdu, China) hence in all, I only attended Crowdsourcing Week Global 2014 for half a day. However, it was definitely an amazing half-day!

The sessions were thought provoking and the interactions were definitely fruitful, I honestly had hope to stay longer because the sessions were all so refreshing to the mind (and to a certain extend, the “soul” of a social entrepreneur trying to do his/her part  in making a difference to the world).

Thankfully, Epi (Ludvik Nekaj) invited me to help curate the healthcare topics for 2015, allowing me an opportunity to fully enjoy the “Crowdsourcing Week Global” experience in 2015.

If you are reading this and feel excited (or curious) on the power of Crowdsourcing (in its various forms), make a note to join the event in April 2015!

Next Speaking Slot : Crowdsourcing Week 2014 and HIMSS Dialogue Chengdu

As mentioned back on the 31 March, my next speaking slot is at Crowdsouring Week 2014 and I personally think the event is interesting because of the nature of the topic – Crowdsourcing.

Unconvinced? Then check out the event’s agenda. I will update you folks more on my experience with the event (the event has not started yet).

In addition to Crowdsouring Week 2014, I also mentioned that due to a conflict of schedule with prior engagements, I will be flying to China, hence missing out half of the event.

Well, the reason why I am flying to China? I am the opening keynote speaker for the HIMSS Dialogue Chengdu (yup, I will be going to Chengdu in China.)

Co-organised by the Chinese Health Information Association (CHIA)  and HIMSS Asia Pacific, the theme of the dialogue is ” Breaking health information barriers, supporting clinical decision making” and I will be delivering a lecture on Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) where I will examine;

  • Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS), the Five Rights Framework and what does Intervention comprises of
  • The concept of Interoperability, Standards (related to CDSS) & Data Governance
  • Segments within the eco-system where one should pay attention to while testing for compliance

Interested in the topic I will be presenting? Drop me a note if you are.

FDA to clarify mHealth regulatory power

This is a topic I have been following for awhile now and would like to share with you folks, an update I got off mHealthNews;

Congressional pressure notwithstanding, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is forging ahead with plans to regulate mobile medical devices. This week the FDA published a proposed rule updating how the agency would classify those devices.

Appearing on March 25 in the Federal Register, the 52-page document basically clarifies the process by which the FDA would classify medical devices – an action required under the 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), which amended sections of the earlier Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act. That amendment enabled the FDA to reclassify medical devices by administrative order instead of regulation.

According to the proposed rule, the FDA is offering “these revisions to update its regulations to reflect these and other changes, and to ensure classification of devices in the lowest regulatory class consistent with the protection of the public health and the statutory scheme for device regulation.”

According to a National Law Review article written this week by Lynn C. Tyler and Hae Park-Suk of Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, the proposal would place regulated medical devices into five categories, with the FDA keeping track of devices that would:

  1. Show uncontrollable known risks;
  2. Display an unknown or unfavorable risk-benefit profile
  3. Require a complete review of manufacturing information;
  4. Require pre-market review for changes affecting safety or effectiveness; and
  5. Include a drug or biological product that must be reviewed for safety and effectiveness.

The FD&C Act had established three categories for the regulation of medical devices: Class I (General controls), Class II (special controls) and Class III (pre-market approval). With the growth of mHealth and the proliferation of mobile medical devices and apps, however, it became clear that federal regulators would have to be more specific in what they could govern.

“(The) FDA proposes to amend the definitions of class I, class II, and class III by revising the definitions to reflect a key principle underlying device classification, namely, that a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness is necessary for all three device classes; however, the level of regulation necessary to provide such assurance should be closely tailored to the risk presented by a type of device,” the proposed rule states. “Explanatory language about general and special controls has been removed from the definitions of class I and II, respectively, to avoid repetition with the new proposed definitions for the terms ‘general controls’ and ‘special controls.’ Other minor changes are intended to improve the clarity and structure of these definitions.”

The proposed rule follows recent attempts by Congress to closely control what the FDA regulates, with some lawmakers expressing fears that too much FDA control could hinder innovation in this fast-moving field. Others, however, have noted that the FDA and other federal agencies need to set clear standards to prevent the mobile app industry from becoming so unregulated that it could squash good innovation and potentially hurt or kill patients.

In published reports, Bradley Merrill Thompson, a Washington D.C. attorney and general counsel for the mHealth Regulatory Coalition, hailed the FDA’s proposed rule, saying current mHealth products “do not fit squarely into the old classification system.” He added that the FDA, through this new action, could “do a better job of keeping up with these important new technologies, providing clear guidance for the new categories of technology being developed.”

Public comment on the proposed rule ends on June 23.

The proposed rule can be found here.

Stay tune for the updates.