Health

Will displaying calorie counts on menus make us healthier?

As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, national chain restaurants, bakeries, grocery stories, convenience stores, and even vending machines will soon be required by law to display calorie counts on all standard menu items.  

It's all part of an effort to fight obesity, and that's a step toward disease prevention.
» Read more

1 CommentPosted 14 Apr 2011 by Lori Mehen (Red Hat)

Poll: calorie labeling on your menus

Tell us why you voted the way you did on calorie labeling on menus.

4 CommentsPosted 14 Apr 2011 by Lori Mehen (Red Hat)

Is Google Health on its deathbed? Privacy and the personal health record

Google Health is approaching its second birthday, and according to some, also near death. I can't help but speculate that if it is indeed shuffling off the digital coil, that its demise has something to do with a general unwillingness to hand over such sensitive information to a company that already knows so much about us as individuals. » Read more

3 CommentsPosted 13 Apr 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Increasing nutritional transparency--The FDA wants your input

If you are what you eat, do you have any idea what you are? In an increasing push for nutrition transparency, you'll soon at least know how many calories you're taking in, whether you want to or not. » Read more

2 CommentsPosted 8 Apr 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

What does your healthcare really cost you?

Imagine heading to your local grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. As you head down the aisles, you notice there are no prices listed. On anything. You continue to gather your items and head for the checkout stand. You don't know what your grocery bill total or even what the individual items cost. Neither does the cashier. He simply tells you that "you'll get a bill in the mail." » Read more

6 CommentsPosted 7 Apr 2011 by Lori Mehen (Red Hat)

A truly open VistA

The VA has released a draft RFP to create a new open source project around their electronic health record system, VistA. This is a landmark event for both the VA and the open source community. The need for cheap and robust EHR systems is clear, and the VA has one of the leading platforms.

VistA’s a challenge, though. The community is notoriously fragmented as a result of » Read more

11 CommentsPosted 5 Apr 2011 by Gunnar Hellekson (Red Hat)

Got an idea for a healthcare mobile app? Apply for a Rock Health grant.

Applications are now being accepted for Rock Health, a program rewarding ideas that will "catalyze innovation in the interactive health space."

From Rock Health: » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 5 Apr 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Open Health: Improving health the open source way

Welcome to the Health channel on opensource.com

The stories we share and bring to life here are inspired by health innovation happening around the globe. We highlight how the principles of open source—transparency, information-sharing, community-building, and collaboration—are playing a vital role in the new ways people are thinking about health. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 1 Apr 2011 by Lori Mehen (Red Hat)

Breaking boundaries with collaboration

Google the word collaboration and you'll find websites that want to sell you collaboration tools, blogs that describe best practices for facilitating collaboration, and self-help sites that want to teach you better collaboration skills.
 
You'll read over and over again that best practices prescribe bringing together individuals with varied backgrounds. But what you probably won't read is exactly how to bring together rivals or antagonists skillfully. You may be able to find examples or debriefs of this type of collaboration--with some very interesting outcomes. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 18 Mar 2011 by Lori Mehen (Red Hat)

Todd Park, CTO of Health and Human Services, on improving healthcare with open data

Todd Park, CTO of the US Department of Health and Human Services, joined an enthusiastic audience at SXSW to talk about the power of open data and innovation to improve health. His role is not to run technology for HHS, but he serves an an entrepreneur in resident to start "virtual startups" within HHS to improve the health of Americans.

"There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur--an innovator at the intersection of healthcare and IT," said Park. He gave two reasons: new incentives and information liberation, which combined he called the "rocket fuel for innovation." HHS doesn't expect to alone transform healthcare. Rather, they want to create an environment that helps markets and the public transform healthcare. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 13 Mar 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)