News From Around the Web
> MyFitnessPal, the free personal health and fitness resource, and global health service company Cigna have announced a new initiative that will combine MyFitnessPal's nutrition, physical activity and weight management resource with Cigna's health coaching programs. The strategic venture is MyFitnessPal's first formal expansion into the insurance and healthcare industry. This initiative will give customers the ability to choose to connect their MyFitnessPal accounts with their coach to share their diet and exercise activity. Coaches will be able to view a participating user's progress and provide advice, motivational support and encouragement, according to an announcement. Article
> AirStrip has announced a strategic partnership with Samsung that will include the development and optimization of AirStrip ONE, its enterprise-wide mobile interoperability solution, on Samsung tablets with Android and Windows 8.1 operating systems, as well as convertible and all-in-one desktop and laptop PCs with touch screens. According to the company's announcement, AirStrip is one of the first enterprise clinical mobility solution providers to join the Samsung Enterprise Alliance Program as a Gold Partner. "Samsung's innovative and wide-ranging product portfolio embraces a range of form factors and supports rapid, secure access to clinical information of all types," said AirStrip CEO Alan Portela in a written statement. Article
> Richard Katz, M.D., Bloedorn Professor of Cardiology, professor of medicine, and director of the division of cardiology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, has been awarded $1.9 million by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute for a three-year project to study the combined use of mobile phones and community health workers to enhance patient management of chronic disease. This research is part of a portfolio of projects that will advance the field of patient-centered comparative effectiveness research and provide patients with information that will help them make better-informed decisions about their care. Article
EMR News
> The American College of Physicians, in a letter addressed to federal health officials last week, says that the "very aggressive" timeline and "overly ambitious" objectives of Meaningful Use Stage 2 threaten to limit the success of the overall program. In the letter--sent to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari--ACP Medical Informatics Committee Chair Peter Basch adds that relying on "evolving and draft standards" and untested technology could create "unintended consequences" and "additional costs" for physicians. Article
Healthcare IT News
> Telemedicine could prove instrumental in helping to keep healthcare costs stable as the Affordable Care Act takes hold, according to Mario Gutierrez, executive director for the Center for Connected Health Policy. Gutierrez, who talked with Time about the potential for a mainstream breakthrough for telemedicine, said that as more and more patients obtain coverage, doctors subsequently will be stretched thin. "There is this perfect storm of increased demand with the newly insured, a shortage of primary-care physicians and specialists, and a need to keep costs in control," Gutierrez said. "I think telehealth provides a real vehicle for doing that." Article
And Finally… Living in Splitsville. Article