While the world turns its attention to the hottest mobile hardware of the future in Barcelona, Spain as Mobile World Congress 2015 gets underway today, some of the biggest innovations in mobile healthcare applications are taking place today in the U.S. at some of its most prestigious schools.

Case in point: Stanford Health Care recently announced its new iOS 8 MyHealth mobile app for patients.

Developed in-house by Stanford Health Care (SHC) engineers, MyHealth “connects directly with Epic’s electronic health records, Apple’s HealthKit and cloud services for consumer health data monitoring.”
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This week, the Federal Trade Commission stood up to marketers deceptively claiming their mobile apps could achieve some far-fetched things.

Chief among the claims criticized is that the apps in question could possibly detect symptoms of melanoma, even in its early stages.

“In two separate cases, marketers of MelApp and Mole Detective have agreed to settlements that bar them from continuing to make such unsupported claims,” the FTC explained in a news release.

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Maybe you’ve got an allergy — or just an item or two which don’t fit with your new dietary regimen. How can you find out which restaurant meals are sure to contain the ingredients you want to avoid?

Now a new and innovative mobile app is in development. Yes, there’ll soon be “an app for that,” if Bleyd, a Florida-headquartered app development firm, has anything to say about it.

The proposed app — for which fundraising is being conducted via Kickstarter — will identify which restaurant meals contain allergens.

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If you’ve ever wondered just how accurate are medical apps that track blood pressure, you’re not alone. A good number of these apps found in the world’s foremost app stores claim they can screen for hypertension by simply holding the phone or taking a picture of your arm. Either medical advances have jumped light years ahead in technology or these claims are just not accurate.

According to recent research conducted by Cambridge Health Alliance, most of these apps falter in accuracy. For the study, researchers looked at 100 apps – apps that have collectively been downloaded millions of times.

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On Thursday, The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and global telecommunications operator Orange announced a new alliance.

At the heart of the partnership is a passion for mHealth and a desire to bring its potential to new markets.

Together, the organizations pledge to work together to develop innovations in mobile health across Africa.
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While the resounding majority of blood donors are both loyal and well-intentioned, the Red Cross still struggles with a 50% no-show rate for their scheduled blood donations.

In an effort to decrease the number of no-shows, and increase the frequency of donations, the Red Cross has launched a new mobile app, the Red Cross Blood Donor App.

The Red Cross’s other mobile apps focus primarily on first aid, as well as a variety of disaster preparedness and safety tips. But the new Red Cross Blood Donor App is designed to focus solely on donations.

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