iPhone

This week's top stories include UnitedHealthcare re-examining a policy that allows it to deny ER claims, Apple unveiling walking stability assessments for the iPhone, and Mount Sinai catering to patients with limited English proficiency.

Published yesterday in PLoS ONE, the data suggests an alternative to the six-minute walk test often conducted in clinics to measure functional capacity.

To free up its physicians, OrthoIndy turned to the Kara artificial intelligence iPhone app, which integrates with its EHR, sending caregivers' spoken words directly into the right places in the record.

The three-year investigation will use iPhones, Apple Watches and Beddit trackers to monitor sleep, physical activity, heart rate and other daily signs.

The study will use the smartphones, Apple Watches and a custom health engagement program to influence stroke risk and atrial fibrillation detection.

The smartphone's distance measurement algorithm does not appear to account for the length of an individual's strides, making it difficult to recommend for health applications. 

The United States Patent Office has published a patent from Apple, filed December 18 of last year and not yet granted, for a "sunscreen detector" that could be incorporated into the Apple Watch or the iPhone and could even include augmented reality functionality.

Apple has announced a partnership with RapidSOS that will allow iPhones to more easily send detailed location data to first responders in the event of an emergency, the Cupertino tech giant announced yesterday.

Smartphone-enabled heart monitor device maker AliveCor has launched a new app for patients, which is both timed with the new iOS 8 launch and incorporates the atrial fibrillation algorithm the company received FDA clearance for in August.

A new longitudinal study of the microbiome from researchers at Harvard and MIT demonstrates how the ubiquity of a smartphone enables research that would have been much more difficult previously.