If Garmin can sell a GPS that can do voice too,
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
What damage could a Healthphone do?
Monday, 17 January 2011
Freemium in care: Zorgbeheer care-platform looking for webdev
Zorgbeheer (dutch for 'care management') is a platform for Flemish care-managers since 2006.
It grew from a small private communication platform for carehome owners to a communication platform for the captains of care.
The website has about 5 to 600 unique visitors a day.
There's a strong demand for further development, which should take the platform from it's current situation (stage 1) to a perpetual stage 3.
Stage 1
Improvements in matchmaking
Offering mobile content
Where's the money?
First two stages will be paid by commercial revenues (ads).
During the last (perpetual) stage, the webdev company can develop apps for individual care organisations too. The webdev business card being a solid (and proven) reputation as Zorgbeheer-platform-builder.
Why in English? It's a site in Dutch!
As far as I know, there are no platforms offering the stage 3 solution; improving care by offering web and mobile tools for free.
This format might be interesting for international development.
Requirements
- Good knowledge of Joomla CMS (in stage 1)
- Proficiency in mobile development
- Experience with mapping, communication and community (matchmaking) tools
- Determined to produce apps that are Fisher Price easy.
Win-win!
Contact: bart at mhealth BE
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Improve patient - doctor communication with a smartphone
- prepare your visit to the doctor by taking notes (you can use a FAQ for your specific medical problem)
- use these notes (checklist) during the visit
- you can even record (by doctors consent) the doctors diagnose
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Questions for the mhealth market for seniors
If I had gone, I would have searched for answers on following questions.
Questions:
- Mobile OS for elderly (for smartphone + touchscreen). I personally think such OS doesn't have a great future, but i get a lot of questions for the need of such OS. Do such OS'es exist?
- Apps for elderly that are 'triple blonde proof' (although i prefer the term "Fisher-Price"-apps). Which companies are good at this?
- Mobile phones conceived as hub/router for medical devices (specialising in connecting to devices and forwarding data). Special interested if they also offer connecting to userfriendly and disguised monitors like iMonsys http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/innovative-imonsys.html
- For service-flats (flats specifically for elderly with basic (paid) services) i'm looking for white-label apps. Besides the registration and interaction (menu-choice, leisure program/subscription , calender planning, ...) such apps should offer medication checks, PERS and video interaction. Here in Antwerp there's a 200-flat experiment in collaboration with Falcom (which runs Linux), but it's too basic imho. Any companies wanting to produce such apps?
- Companies that are targeting young elderly people and focus on easy to use location based services, photo-sharing and tourism (food + guidance). If they concentrate on that core service AND also offer basic medical apps/services, they will do well and sell easier. Which companies are doing so?
- only offer service 'coverage' within a certain range of a specific transmitter/receiver. A lot of fall detection devices are doing this. But older people are very mobile, so their product is useless.
- don't have a camera or GPS or Wi-Fi
- have small buttons, tiny text, ...
- are sold by companies that target OLD people (old people don't think of themselves as old .. and won't buy)
Mobile health and geolocation
Presentation for Flagis about mhealth and location / gps.
Small intro on care & mobile trends.
A lot of practical uses of mobile phones in healthcare, with the emphasis on location based applications.
Might be a bit too Flemish/Dutch for most English readers, despite the absence of text.
Feedback is always appreciated!
Looking for location based healthy/fitness game apps
... for mobile phones ofcourse AND that are location-exercise-centred.
I know there are a lot of apps that track your course (runkeeper, nokia, garmin, etc). But these only monitor a limited amount of sports.
Sportypal, Tallyzoo and Endomondo have more disciplines, but are still centred around your personal results.
I want to look at it from a different perspective: "look for exercises (of whatever kind) that where performed in your vicinity"
Opportunities
- Compare with friends
- Interact with people doing the same workout
- Challenge people
- Search for people doing the same exercise/trajectory
- Businesses proposing healthy exercises
Ingredients that are put in this blender are: social fitness app + GPS + getupandmove + business advertising
I welcome your suggestions!
Saturday, 30 January 2010
mHealth is HUGE (MoMoAMS #14 about Mobile Health)
- The impressive organisational talents of the MoMoAMS team (in particular @mdbraber) and their expertise to produce a full circle 360° overview mHealth program.
- The insights of Nick
- The friendliness of Robert (sure we'll meet soon + frequent)
- A night in an Irish pub in the company of David (anytime! anyplace!)
- The relaxed coolness of Jeanna (don't want to play poker with you though ;) )
- The drive and optimism of Ivor (TOP presentation!)
- The style, 'gentlemenness' and creativity of Fabio (no one noticed Steve Jobs is a Fabio look-a-like!)
- My first psychedelic mushroom experiment in the company of Jen, joining me in this experiment (need someone to take notes!!)
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Overview of non-invasive mhealth solutions + trends
- Is mHealth going to be a succesful export product of developing countries?
- I have undoubtely overlooked companies and services, which are they?
- I certainly should have incorporated mobile medication checks and alerts, any pointers?
- If wearable solutions are the outcome, can i take them to the drycleaners?
- If devices evolve from medical ones to consumer goods, will the pricedrop be sufficient to overcome reimbursement problems?
- What policies are needed if everyone starts spreading and sharing information?
- How long it will take before specific medical ringtones are developed (or even mandatory)?
- Are hospitals and practioners ready to handle the amount of data coming their way (with current hard- and software)?
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Updating blogs with mobile
Using a Nokia N97 and the new functionality of Posterous, which is autopostr.
This is no 'groundbreaking' technology, but I only want to stress the ease of use. The very simple keyboard (which allows reasonable fast typing) of the N97 and its 5 megapixel camera are the base for this lightweight type of communication. The posterous autopostr updates posterous + blog by sending ONE email. Can't get any easier then that.
Could use a spellcheck though.
Produced in
Friday, 26 June 2009
DIY Telemedicine for at home monitoring
Companies can offer:
- non-expensive devices that are easy to use and install
- services/platforms for interpretation of the data (and sharing?)
- guidance/advice for end-users
- alarm-procedures/interventions
What effect will this have on government spending?
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Company communication improvement: Yammer and Present.ly

YAMMER
The Solution to Email OverloadIn 2007, The New York Times described email as "a $650 Billion Drag on the Economy", and it's easy to see why: email inboxes are overflowing with messages tangentially relevant to the people addressed. Meanwhile, those who should see the information are omitted.
Yammer is an enterprise productivity solution that uses a publish-and-subscribe model to improve communication while reducing email overload. Yammer allows you and your employees to:
- Publish status updates, ideas, news, links, and questions without cluttering up inboxes.
- Subscribe to the people and topics that are relevant to you.
- Reply to status updates and have discussions.
- See what people are actually working on and talking about.
- Search archived messages as a knowledge-base.
- Find people in the directory to contact them or learn more about them.
GOOD
- no restriction on number of characters used
- auto fill tags (for faster typing & consistency)
- daily digest per email
- no limit on number of users
NOT SO GOOD
- slow loading time (at least slower than present.ly)
- no attachments
- mobile: only blackberry and iphone are supported
COULD BE GOOD - COULD BE NOT SO GOOD
Members of a group should be from the same e-mail domainPRESENT.LY
Present.ly is a communication platform that, like Twitter, is designed to allow for short, frequent updates to be posted by individuals and tracked or "followed" by others. Unlike Twitter, however, Present.ly provides a secure and private way to share updates among members of a company without it being visible to the outside world.Many times a problem that one person in a company experiences may have already been experienced and solved by another. Present.ly gives you the ability to tap the collective knowledge of your colleagues to find quick answers to difficult or time-consuming research tasks.
With Present.ly, it's easy to share images, documents, video, and audioclips with your colleagues. Whether you're looking for feedback on a new design mockup or sending out new policy documents for human resources, it's never been easier to rapidly share and communicate media in your company.
You don't always have a computer at the ready when you need to tell people what you're up to. Present.ly provides interfaces that let you keep in touch wherever you are. Use it from your computer, your mobile phone, or most any device capable of connecting to the internet.
Present.ly allows you to create groups and direct communication to and from those groups. Send messages only to members of a group or simply direct relevant news and information to the group for its information.
GOOD
- fast load times
- attachments are allowed
- excellent mobile application, for all platforms
- support for Twitter API
- elaborate email settings (but no daily digest in the free plan like Yammer )
- not only tags, but also groups for filtering
NOT SO GOOD
- 140 character restriction
- free plan is restricted to 5 users
- no autofill for tags (for faster typing & consistency)
COULD BE GOOD - COULD BE NOT SO GOOD
Members of a group are not limited to have the same e-mail domainLINKS
Article Socialmediatoday: Enterprise Twitter heats up with Present.ly
NYT: Popularity or Income? Two Sites Fight It Out
Ross Dawson: Business models for micro-blogging in the enterprise
CO-OP: Co-op makes it easy to stay connected with your co-workers without disrupting them.
Articlebase: Tear Down That Firewall Mr. Corporate it
DIY microblog with Laconica: http://laconi.ca
An eLearning experience: Tweeting for business
Matt's Musings: Threats, risks and mitigation treatments for Twitter
Monday, 15 September 2008
WIFI in healthcare = too many arrows

updated: 2008-10-13
Never in my life i have underestimated a buyers decision more than the one I am facing right now. This decision is about replacing the current PABX business phone system in a home for the elderly.
As we are building new rooms for new customers, we will have to change the current system as it's maximum capacity will be exceeded.
Replacing the current PABX/DECT solution by a new one seems most obvious. But I am frustrated by the high costs, the limitations and inflexibility towards rapid evolving technology. It is very difficult to add value (through improved team-communication, better response to customers, better logging, better compatibility with third party software, etc.). Buying a telephone solution with PABX/DECT looks like trowing away your money.
Wading through enormous piles of information and brochures, I quickly understood that WIFI gives me the best (future-proof) possibilities and added value. Team communication can be optimized (imagen an interface like MSN/Gtalk/AIM), data and voice is integrated (and coupled) in one system, integration of WLAN and web-based applications, ... flexibility galore, without expensive cabling! Moreover I can improve communication for elderly customers: big button WIFI-cellphones, big screen devices, softphones, message boards (kiosk), free possibilities like Skype, Netmeetings, etc.
The theory is obvious, the practicalities not. I spoke with 9 firms, some once, some 3 times. Each firm contradicting the opinions of their opponents, some firms making mistakes in areas/technologies they are not familiar with, each firm giving more questions and doubts than answers. As a customer I'm forced to study the possibilities and impact of the technology for an objective view.
In this study it's very easy to get completely lost in information overload. As a technical minded user it is very easy to get blinded by the thrill of the chase of new technology.
Bottom line is that WIFI is entangled in so many disciplines within my care organisation that I end up with too much different technologies, too many questions, too many sales reps, too many technicians, ... each defending their technology. I have too many arrows on my diagram ...
WIFI Plus
- No slowly dying technology like DECT. "It is clear that VoIP technology will replace traditional circuit-switched telephony in the enterprise. It is no longer a question of if, but when enterprises will migrate to IP-based telephony solutions. This is where WiFi holds a clear advantage over DECT, or any other proprietary TDM-based wireless solution. WiFi allows for end-to-end IP telephony making it the most elegant — and cost-effective — technology for enterprise wireless in the long run."
- Connectivity: all WIFI devices can be connected (no propriety installation like DECT)
- Compatibility: all (current + future) applications can be coupled to this one voice + data-highway
- Limitless configuration- and management- possibilities
- Flexibility: end solution being *exactly* what a customer wants, dataflow (like for example UMS) can be tailor made
- Possibility to add "tracing" to your network
- Cost of communication will go down as more people will use VOIP (instead of landlines)
- No expensive wiring.
- Battery-life of mobile WIFI-devices is 8 hours maximum. In a care-environment this could be insufficient.
- Range of WIFI-transmitters is smaller than it's DECT counterpart. You need more transmitters (about 30% more).
- Maximum length of an UTP (cat 5) cable is 100 meter.
- What if the switch has a defect? Default backup-solution is essential.
- Power-out = no communication possible.
- Cost of installation (a lot higher than traditional solutions, although no cabling is required)
- No completely integrated and proven solution in a healthcare-setting. Where can I personally witness a working WIFI-installation and ask for user-feedback?
- Is quality of voice communication with WIFI inferior to other solutions? As i've used different Java-communication-apps frequently, I can't say I've ever experienced any quality loss though. But this situation is a single user situation.
- Is it possible to have different ringtones on a DECT-phone. This is, can the receiver perceive a distinction in ringtones on a mobile dect-device, if it's origin differs. Origin could be: inbound call, room service, fire-alarm, etc.
- How much will internal WIFI communication cost? I fail to see any costs, 3 sales reps claim the opposite.
- Is seamless handover (from one transmitter to another) guaranteed with WIFI-handsets?
- Alarms-handling: How are alarms handled? Is it possible that a certain alarm(-signal) gets lost?
- Is WIFI secure? This is the communication itself, access to the network and usage (bandwidth).
- How much capacity should the switch have? How many lines are needed for, as example, 10 staff people and 70 customers?
- Will WIFI-devices interfere with one another?
- How much different actions do i have to perform to make an internal call, to accept an alarm, to put calls through, ... how easy can regular users perform these everyday actions?
http://www.howstuffworks.com/search.php?terms=voip&x=0&y=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voip
http://www.pcmech.com/article/taking-your-phone-line-online/
http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/0205/WiFi-Telephony-All-Grown-Up.htm
http://www.intel.com/healthcare/ps/mca/index.htm?iid=healthcare_mcadevelopers+tabs_overview
http://blog.abptech.com/blog/the-dect-versus-wlan-wifi-debate/
http://blog.voipsupply.com/mobile-voip/dect-vs-wi-fi-death-match%E2%80%A6who-will-be-victorious
http://www.chcf.org/documents/chronicdisease/HealthCareUnpluggedTheRoleOfWireless.pdf
http://www.texting4health.org/slides/Landscape%20of%20Texting4Health-R%20Adler.pdf
http://www.ehealth-connection.org/files/conf-materials/mHealth_%20A%20Developing%20Country%20Perspective_0.pdf
Considerations for deploying Voice over Wireless LANs (25' webcast registration required)
Thanks to
Nextel http://www.nextel.be/
Essec http://www.essec.be/
Telecom-IT http://www.telecom-it.be/
Newtel http://www.newtel.be/
Avaya http://www.avaya.be/
Televic http://www.televic.com/
CLB http://www.clb-belgium.be/
AMR-ICT http://www.amr-ict.nl/
Tadicom http://www.tadicom.com/