With the financial support of Owens & Minor, Inc., the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) has just launched what we’re told is a “ground-breaking, easy to use, mobile application for its web-based software, The Pharmacy Connection (TPC).”

The offering “expedites access to low or no-cost prescription medicines for uninsured Virginians.”

Created by VHCF, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving access to primary care for uninsured and medically underserved Virginians, this app helps doctors, who treat healthcare safety net patients, quickly identify and prescribe free or low-cost medications for chronically ill, uninsured individuals throughout Virginia and in 14 other states.
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Ahead of the weekend, MHW was privy to the announced rundown of new mobile health apps designed to assist with advancing telemedicine.

The popularity of telemedicine technology within the healthcare sector is booming, as tech companies are striving to develop the latest and innovative methods to improve and create new mobile applications and remote patient monitoring while implementing SAAS platforms to enhance the efficiency in various facets of operations.

That’s according to an announcement from Reliq Health Technologies Inc., a technology company focused on developing innovative mobile health and telemedicine solutions for Community-Based Healthcare.

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In response to the growing number of consumers searching for weight loss products on their mobile devices, the weight loss industry is taking note. Intechra Health is one such company that has invested much time and energy in meeting their mobile consumers’ needs.

According to Mobile Commerce News, it is estimated that 1 out of every 4 searches is now performed on mobile devices, and this number is higher for some industries than others. For example, before purchasing a weight loss product found in a store, on TV, or in a magazine, most consumers will perform a Google search.

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There’s something secretive happening at Apple? What else is new.

A small group of app developers is being carted in to Apple’s laboratories to work in complete secrecy on a number of unnamed apps that Apple presumably wants to have ready to drop when Apple Watch arrives on April 24th.

In typical Apple fashion, very little is known about what’s taking place inside of these developer tinkering sessions. Source, however, tell The Financial Times that Apple handpicked 20 developers to labor at its labs until their apps are perfect.

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Freshly published findings from a new study conducted by Research Now is providing some positive insight for those who may otherwise doubt the value of mobile medical apps being good for our health.

The digital data collection provider connected with 500 healthcare professionals and 1,000 health app users in the U.S. to reach the following conclusions:

•     46% of healthcare professionals say that they will introduce mobile apps to their practice in the next five years.
•     86% of healthcare professionals believe that health apps will increase their knowledge of patients’ conditions.
•     96% of users think that health apps help to improve their quality of life.
•     72% of healthcare professionals believe that health apps will encourage patients to take more responsibility for their health.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has just launched what’s being called the agency’s first mobile application “specifically designed to speed public access to valuable information about drug shortages.”

Conveniently, the app identifies current drug shortages, resolved shortages and discontinuations of drug products.

Drugs in short supply can delay or deny needed care for patients. Drug shortages may also lead health care professionals to rely on alternative drug products, which may be less effective or associated with higher risks than the drug in shortage.

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Could people soon be “paid” to practice healthier behaviors?

It might be enticing enough to make people do jumping jacks. Word has just reached us that UnitedHealthcare is developing a new app that “offers financial incentives for users who practice healthful behavior.”

Minneapolis-based UnitedHealthcare is now piloting the iPhone app — dubbed “Reward Me” — in Arizona and Illinois. The pilot offers a bevy of rewards based on both usage of the app as well as achievements in four defined categories: healthy eating, relaxation, healthy activity, and life style.

According to Kirk Pion, vice president and Innovation Champion for UnitedHealth, “We wanted to acknowledge what people were doing every day to stay healthy.”

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