News From Around the Web
> Pregnant women can contribute to research on reducing the chance of intrauterine fetal demise via a free iPhone app that taps Apple's ResearchKit framework. The research, being led by Yale scientist Harvey J. Kliman, M.D., focuses on the role of undersized placenta and its role in a pregnancy loss. Announcement
> IBM Research and Carnegie Mellon University are teaming up to build a platform to improve navigation capability for the visually impaired. The first program pilot is an app called NavCog, through which users can choose verbal or vibration modes provide turn-by-turn directions inside and outside buildings, according to the Washington Post. Article
Health Insurance News
> A newly proposed rule from the federal government, which would allow voluntary employer workplace wellness programs to ask for genetic health information from employees and their spouses, is expected to receive praise from employers but may worry some consumers. The proposed rule, announced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, looks to change some parts of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. Article
> UnitedHealth Group Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire employee benefit management company Helios in a $1.7 billion deal. The potential deal with Helios would expand UnitedHealth's footprint in the workers' compensation industry after its takeover of Catamaran Corp. earlier this year. Article
Healthcare IT News
> As Director of IT Security at Children's National Medical Center, Chad Wilson believes his job is not to "implement a bunch of widgets and speak a foreign language," but rather to protect the investments of his facility. Wilson and Nathan Gibson, director of IT operations at West Virginia Medical Institute, discussed the challenges of keeping healthcare facilities secure from cybersecurity threats while balancing maintaining provider and patient convenience at last week's Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange conference in Reston, Virginia. Article
And Finally... Those living in Dakotas are likely super friendly. It's all in the name. Article