CVS/pharmacy, some of its most devoted customers argue, has raised the bar in mobile with its popular iOS and Android applications.

But that high praise hasn’t stopped the retail pharmacy giant from seeking to make a good thing even better.

This week, CVS/pharmacy announced its mobile app has undergone a complete transformation, with new features and an improved look and feel.
Read the full story

It is not very often that a new industry emerges, and especially one that has true staying power. While the mHealth industry hasn’t been here for long, technology developers are preparing for the protracted boom that’s already begun. This includes software developers, smartphone developers, gadget developers, and, of course, app developers.

In a new report from Visiongain, some of the methods technology developers are using to prepare were discussed. mHealth technology holds the potential to change the way in which everyday health concerns, emergency health concerns, and ongoing health concerns are managed. But without adequate hardware and software solutions in place, the promise of mHealth will be missed.

Read the full story

The future of health and science is coming into focus across the pond.

On Wednesday, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, launched a major new initiative backed by some of the UK’s senior academics and business people that will transform the London-Oxford-Cambridge life sciences sector into a world beating “power-cluster.”

Through MedCity, the mayor says, the life sciences sector in the South East will come to match the crucial position of financial services in the UK’s national economy.

Read the full story

Although Windows Phone owners are no strangers to health and fitness apps, the latest in the works is a new ballgame altogether among fitness trackers.

The new app in question comes to us from Bing and helps users stay healthy after they’ve finished tracking their run.

The Bing Health & Fitness app helps you stay on top of health and fitness trends and provides the tools you need to support a healthy lifestyle. Designed for Windows Phone, the Health &  Fitness app brings together great fitness, nutrition and health content, along with trackers, tools and other features.

Read the full story

The worldwide adoption of mobile health devices, solutions, and resources has been well documented across the global healthcare spectrum. According to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, apps in particular have become ubiquitous in many aspects of our lives over the past five years, fueled by the widespread availability of tablet computers and smartphones.

Tens of thousands of health, wellness, and medical apps are now available for download to Apple or Android devices from online stores, IMS says, while cautiously noting that mHealth has not grown in all markets at the same accelerated pace observed elsewhere.

In recent years, for example, the United Arab Emirates has been slow to embrace the potential of mHealth. But this former-laggard has begun slowly warming to mobile health and could soon be classied as one of the world’s hottest emerging markets for mHealth.

Read the full story

Waiting for blood work and other lab results will become a less time consuming and nerve-wracking process if patients get their way and have access to this critical information online.

The demand for online lab results was conveyed in the findings of a recent email survey of Kaiser Permanente members.

Study participants were patients who had viewed at least one test result online within the past year.

Thanks to the convenience and expedience of online lab results, survey participants reported high levels of satisfaction, appreciation, calm, happiness, and relief. Few experienced worry, confusion, fear, upset, or anger.
Read the full story

Jawbone has secured another $100 million in funding in an expanded effort to “keep up with demand” for a market that can’t get enough wearable and mobile technologies.

“Over the past several months, the company behind the Up fitness-tracking wristband and Jambox wireless speaker has acquired nearly a handful of companies, including Massive Health and BodyMedia,” Gigaom reported Thursday, confirming that it’s just raised more than $100 million in a combination of debt and equity financing.

The raise comes amid booming interest in wearable technology. Jawbone’s Up band faces competition from Nike’s Fuelband, Fitbit’s trackers and similar products from other health and fitness technology companies. Mobile apps like Noom Walk and Moves are increasingly making the smartphone a contender in the wearable computing space.

Read the full story