EMR Gap Grows Between Large, Small Hospitals

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Anne Zieger

Meaningful Use incentives may have boosted EMR adoption dramatically, but the incentive program has had an uneven effect on the industry, new research suggests.

According to a new study published  in the journal Health Affairs, the EMR adoption gap between small- and large-hospitals is substantial and growing.  The study drew on responses by executives from 2,646 hospitals, or about 58 percent of all acute care hospitals in the country.

First, the good news. Researchers found that hospitals with EMRs grew from 15 percent in 2010 and 26.6 percent in 2011. They also found that the number of hospitals with a “comprehensive system”  rose from 3.6 percent to 8.7 percent, according to a piece in Information Week.

The not-so-good news, however, is that not all hospitals are joining the party at the same rate.  The study reported that 15 percent EMR adoption gap seen in 2010 has grown to almost 22 percent last year.

And the problem doesn’t end there. As Chantal Worzala, director of policy at the American Hospital Association and co-author, told the magazine, it’s clear that smaller hospitals’ problems may get worse over time.

As hospitals struggle to move through MU stage one and move into Stage 2 compliance, smaller hospitals are likely to get further and further behind, as they don’t have the infrastructure or staff to allow for high-volume exchange of clinical data.

So, what should happen next?  Researchers had a couple of suggestions for policy-makers:

* Consider lowering the MU Stage 2 bar for smaller, rural and nonteaching hospitals
* Create a special program designed to bring hospitals with little health IT in place on board with an EMR

Short of buying systems for half the country’s hospitals, though, I don’t think the government can do much to  eliminate this adoption gap. With hospitals short of IT staff, facing a tight budget and running on a narrow or non-existent margin, moderate incentives and pressure alone won’t do the trick.  Readers, what solutions would you suggest?

Posted in Community Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, EMR Financing, HITECH, Hospital CIO, Hospital EHR, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital IT Systems, Mid-Size Hospitals | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Mark Versel, 1944-2012

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Neil Versel

My father passed away late last Friday night from a most insidious disease called multiple system atrophy (MSA). It’s a rare, progressive, neurodegenerative condition that presents itself with symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease, but it is far more aggressive and debilitating. Essentially, muscles stop working until the disease kills you. In my dad’s case, he ultimately lost the ability to breathe.

Nobody knows the cause of MSA and there is no cure. There really aren’t even any effective treatments. You can only treat the symptoms with medications designed for Parkinson’s to address muscle stiffness and such, but that’s like standing in front a speeding train with a stop sign. It’s a futile battle. My dad never had any real health issues other than sciatica until he was diagnosed with what was thought to be Parkinson’s less than five years ago (MSA didn’t really come into the picture until maybe a year and a half ago). He ate well, exercised somewhat regularly and generally took pretty good care of himself before the disease came along. Now he’s dead at the relatively young age of 68 after an excruciatingly fast decline that kept him hospitalized for his final month.

He fought the disease valiantly and courageously, but he never got the chance to retire. He was forced to stop working because he was physically unable to continue. He never even got to come home to die. The end came so fast that we didn’t get past the first hospice discussion.

As sad as it is to lose my dad in the way that I did, I want something positive to come out of his ordeal. He was selfless, kind and generous in life, and my family intends to carry on his legacy in some way that we haven’t had time to figure out just yet. I want to use his memory and my little corner of the Internet to help educate people about MSA and about patient safety.

What does patient safety have to do with this, you ask? My dad had pretty terrible care at a poorly run community hospital near his home for more than three weeks before he was transferred to the wonderful Georgetown University Hospital in Washington for what turned out to be his final days. The contrast was striking.

The community hospital was a place of inadequate communication, broken processes, obsolete workflows, neglect and harm. My dad came in with what turned out to be a urinary-tract infection. They treated that with antibiotics, but he developed pneumonia in a matter of days—a condition a doctor admitted he had acquired in the hospital. So he was transferred to intensive care, where the hospital could make a lot more money despite being responsible for the complication. (Perverse incentives rule in American healthcare.) My dad was a Medicare beneficiary, so you and I, as taxpayers, get ripped off by the incompetence.

Meanwhile, the clinicians there, who had been trained to treat the acute symptoms, neglected the MSA for more than a week, even taking him off his regular meds for several days, during which time my dad’s muscles continued to stiffen. Physical therapy was essential to prevent further atrophy. The order went in for him to receive physical and occupational therapy at least three times a week, but the PT and OT were nowhere to be found for a week or more.

Meds that had been ordered didn’t get delivered. One night while I was there, a perky medical assistant or tech or someone of that ilk burst into the room announcing it was time for an AccuCheck test, and nearly went through with taking a small blood sample before I stepped in to ask what was going on. She explained that it was a test for blood sugar (who would know what AccuCheck was if they didn’t have diabetes or some familiarity with the healthcare industry?) only after I enquired, but I stopped her to tell her that my dad did not have diabetes. Because of the MSA, he had difficulty speaking and would not have been able to stop someone acting so quickly. It turned out that the tech had gone to the wrong room. The hospital did require clinicians to scan bar codes before administering tests and meds, but who knows if the system really worked?

Later that evening, the nurse nearly gave my dad an eye drop that had not been ordered. The proper instructions were to administer an ophthalmic drug orally, but only if he had excess saliva. The nurse didn’t see that part of the note, despite the fact that the ICU had a partial EHR (Cerner, for those of you keeping score at home) with electronic medication lists.

The infectious disease specialist at the community hospital was not even familiar with MSA — and he didn’t bother to tell us that for three weeks. It should be his professional duty to call in an experienced neurologist or consult with my dad’s personal physician.

Worst of all, my dad stopped breathing for a few seconds last week under questionable circumstances and was intubated, despite the fact that he had an advance directive on file specifically stating that he did not want to be intubated.

At Georgetown, we saw nothing but compassion and competence. Care was well coordinated. People talked to each other. Clinicians huddled together during shift changes to discuss all the patients on the ward. The medical director of the ICU, a pulmonologist, personally managed my dad’s case. The neurologists at this major teaching hospital had seen MSA before, but that didn’t stop them from talking with my dad’s personal physician. It was too late to save my dad’s life, but he died comfortably and with dignity at Georgetown, without the needless agony he endured at the other place.

I am now vowing to dedicate my own career to educating as many people about MSA as possible and about the danger of uncoordinated care and poorly designed workflows. Interestingly, one of the last stories I wrote before my father passed and before I took leave was a piece in InformationWeek about patient engagement. I love the mantra of the Society for Participatory Medicine that I mentioned in the story: “Nothing about me without me.”

Every patient should live by those words. And every healthcare facility should respect that concept.

Rest in peace, Dad. You have not died in vain.

Posted in EMR/EHR, Healthcare IT, hospitals, medical errors, obituaries, patient safety, personal notes, quality | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Losing Weight on the Go: Keep Food Diary Easier than Ever

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Katie

A study conducted in 2008 by Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research (KPCHR) discovered that keeping a food diary increases the amount of weight a person can lose. Dr. Jack Hollis, a researched at KPCHR, said concerning the study:

The more food records kept, the more weight they lost. Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records. It seems that the simple act of writing down what you eat encourages people to consume fewer calories.

Seems pretty simple, right? Without going into too many details in this post, I’ve struggled with my weight my entire life. Luckily, I’ve successfully lost (and kept off) about 50 pounds in the past few years. I credit some of that success to keeping a food diary and caloric intake. But let me tell you, it wasn’t always easy. When I started tracking what I ate, it was such a pain to have to look up in a book how many calories were in certain foods, not to mention carry around a notebook and pen everywhere I went. It was well-worth it but certainly not the most convenient activity.

Luckily, there are a lot of websites and apps out there that making tracking food easier than ever (at least I think so). One of the most well-known companies to make this possible is Weight Watchers. However, it is quite pricey to join. But there are a lot of other great resources out there. My favorite? MyFitnessPal.com.

I discovered MyFitnessPal a few years ago, and it has been awesome, not to mention free. The website encourages its users to interact with friends, family, and quite frankly, random strangers on the website. I’ve used it off and on since I discovered it, and found it to really help make me aware of what I’m eating, and I have lost weight. Don’t just take my word on it. Plenty of others testify of how great the website is.

Still, I don’t always have a computer with me, so I was thrilled when MyFitnessPal came out with their mobile app. Not only is it available on the iPhone and Android phones, but the BlackBerry and Windows phones, so just about anyone with a smartphone can use it. The app is super easy to use and you can literally have your food journal anywhere you go. One of my  favorite features on the app is that you can just scan the barcode of any product and it will automatically upload the nutritional information. Even if a barcode isn’t on the food (say you’re eating out), the database has over 1 million foods. Very rarely have I actually had to enter my own information on foods. Goals are totally customizable, and there is also an option to input exercise, which is also nice (because then you get more calories added to your daily goal!) I also think it’s fun to interact with my family and friends on it.

Here are some screen shots. I think it has a pretty clean interface that’s very simple to use:

App can be downloaded for:

The iPhone

Android

Windows

BlackBerry

While the only app I use is from MyFitnessPal, there are some other awesome ones available. After doing some research, the following are the ones that seem to be most popular:

Calorie Tracker by LIVESTRONG.com — available on the iPhone and Android. Users feel like it has the most extensive food database, and that is its main draw, because it seems to lack a very good design. (cost: $2.99)

MyNetDiary — available on the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. This one seems a little more savvy than CalorieTracker and has more features. However, I would expect it to almost lose the weight for me at the hefty cost of $9.99. Even then, it seems to be pretty popular.

GoMealsHD — available on the iPhone and Android. This one claims to have 175,000 restaurants in the database and 60,000 items. A lot of people like this one because the database is accessible offline, unlike Calorie Tracker, MyNetDiary, and MyFitnessPal. It is also free. The database isn’t quite as good as some of the others, but it seems to get the job done.

So if you want to lose weight, keep a diary. And if you want keeping a diary to be as simple as possible…download one of these apps. It makes life so much easier (and honestly, if it is embarrassing to pull out a food diary in front of people, this makes it a lot more inconspicuous.) Have you found success using a food diary app? Which one is your favorite?

Posted in Android, Apple, Blackberry, Gadgets, Health Care, iPhone, Smart Phones, Windows Phone | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

CPOE Acceptance Still Slowed Down By Workflow Changes

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Anne Zieger

Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) adoption rates have been very slow over the last few years, but now, driven by Meaningful Use pressure, more providers are adopting such technology.  That being said, a goodly number of providers still haven’t managed to speed adoption, largely due to doctors’ resistance to changes in workflow, according to a new survey.

The survey, in which vendor Imprivata looked at HIT trends, found that 45 percent of respondents were seeing success with CPOE adoption, with more than half their doctors placing orders using CPOE. This represents substantial progress from a few years ago, when I was seeing studies citing total adoption rates below 10 percent.

That being said, 38 percent of respondents said that less than 25 percent of doctors were using CPOE. What’s slowing things down? Sixty-three percent of respondents said that physician resistance to workflow changes was the hangup.

When asked what technologies could speed adoption of CPOE, respondents said single sign-on (74 percent), virtualized desktops (48 percent) and remote/mobile access (46 percent) were all effective ways to engage physicians in CPOE use. I’m not surprised to hear that single sign-on leads the pack; anything that reduces the hassle factor for users has got to be a winner.

By the way, these trends are fairly consistent previous year’s research, in which the vendor found that 82 percent of respondents considered single sign-on a key factor in CPOE adoption as well as meeting Meaningful Use goals.  It’s worth remembering, when talking about SSO, that Imprivata is a security vendor, so take the prominence of that stat with a grain of salt. Still, I thought it was interesting and probably a valid observation.

By the way, Meditech’s solution ranked well at the top for preferred CPOE systems, with 24 percent using it in their facilities. Cerner and McKesson each had 14 percent of responding firm’s business, Siemens 10 percent and Epic 9 percent.

Posted in Community Hospitals, Healthcare CIO, Hospital CIO, Hospital EHR, Hospital EHR Company, Hospital EHR Vendor, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital EMR Company, Hospital IT Systems, Hospital Security, Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Using the Camera on Your Phone to Better Diagnose Fractures

Posted on May 14, 2012 by David

In this modern age of new apps and devices to monitor this or control that, it is interesting to think about what can be accomplished using the simple basics of a phone.  One of the very first additions made to cell phones was the camera.  They started out not very clear, but the fact that  you could send images from just about anywhere was incredible to me.  Now, I don’t even own a camera because my phone is almost as good.

Researchers in Ireland are now using that most basic of smartphone technologies to better assess nose fractures.  Apparently, many people who go to an emergency room with a nose injury are referred to an ear, nose, and throat specialist to get a proper diagnosis.  According to the above article, as many as 80% of those people either don’t go to the appointment, or needed no further care which is an obvious waste of time and money.

Using a relatively small sample size, these researchers found that they were able to quite effectively get diagnoses through pictures taken on an iPhone.  While the results were not perfect, there was zero negative diagnoses, or in other words, everyone who needed further treatment received it.

This is by no means a ground breaking discovery, but it does make you stop and think about what uses we may be overlooking.  Sometimes we get so excited about the newest gadget or technology that we overlook the simple abilities that we already have.  What other simple technologies do you think we are overlooking that could prove useful in healthcare?

Posted in Health Care, Healthcare IT, mHealth, Mobile Health Care, Smart Phones | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Issues To Consider When Offering Hospital-Subsidized EMRs

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Anne Zieger

Offering subsidized EMRs to doctors may be a good idea, but if they’re smart, the doctors will be very picky about the terms you offer. (After all, if they use your EMR, you’re in effect controlling part of their business!)

So I was interested to stumble over a nice list of questions to  ask hospitals before accepting an EMR deal.  Here’s the list, drawn from the excellent EHR & EMR Insights blog by EMR vendor SRSsoft:

  • Does the hospital EHR have a proven track record in your specialty?
  • Will the hospital EHR workflow be compatible with your practice specialty?
  • Will your physicians be required to exchange data with the sponsoring hospital?
  • Is the system interoperable with other, neighboring hospital systems?
  • Will learning, training, and use of the hospital system interfere with your practice’s productivity?
  • How will support be handled after initial implementation, and who pays for it?
  • Will the hospital’s EHR vendor assist you and your physicians with creating customizable templates?
  • Will the system aid—or obstruct—your ability to qualify for government incentives?
  • If there are problems, will the hospital’s EHR vendor ensure that the system is compatible with pursuing meaningful use?
  • Who will own your data?

I particularly like the questions regarding 1) the EMR’s track record, 2) the impact of EMR training on medical practice’s day-to-day productivity, 3) Whether the vendor would help with creating customizable templates and 4) who would own the data.

It seems to me that too often, partnerships like these are done on the basis of trust between  organizations rather than a detailed assessment of factors like these. Now, don’t get me wrong, trust is a good basis for starting talks on EMR sharing, but hospital and medical practices alike can get very badly burned by a deal like this if it doesn’t work. Let’s hear it for extra skepticism.

Posted in Community Hospitals, EMR Financing, Healthcare CIO, Hospital CIO, Hospital EHR, Hospital EHR Company, Hospital EHR Vendor, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital EMR Company, Hospital EMR Vendor, Hospital Healthcare IT | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

New Friend Request…From the Family Doctor?

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Katie

It seems like every company, person, or product has a Facebook page nowadays. I’m not complaining — I actually really like being able to connect through Facebook. Several months ago, I noticed quite a few pages for hospitals or doctors popping up, and I even “liked” a few of them myself. After “liking” them, I didn’t think much of it, until one day I saw an update from one, Intermountain Moms. Apparently, every week, “Nurse Dani” answers the questions of moms everywhere. Simply write a question under the status update, and she answers it.

I thought this was pretty neat. In fact, I asked my own question. It was something that I felt silly calling my son’s pediatrician about but was worrying me. Within a matter of minutes, Nurse Dani responded to my question. Not only did she put my nerves to rest, but she was so kind in answering. It felt like I was talking to an old friend. As I read the rest of her responses to other mom’s questions, the same respect was given. And while I’m not about to start text messaging my nurses and doctors (so not ready for that kind of relationship), I think it’s nice that more health professionals are getting involved with their patients through social networking.

According to an article on US News, doctors across the country are connecting through Facebook, Twitter, and FourSquare. Apparently, there is a website called TwitterDoctors.net, which is essentially a place where doctors who “tweet” register their names and make it easy for patients to find them. This article talks about how different doctors are implementing social networking into their websites. Here is a little bit of what the author said:

Some doctors are latching onto social media to issue real-time alerts and reminders, a unarguably valuable service for time-pressed patients. Stream cites colleagues who tweet when they’re running late for appointments, for instance, so patients know they needn’t rush to the office. Others post hours for flu shot clinics and encourage patients not to overlook the vaccine.

To me, I think this is great. I would love to have these types of updates readily available. Who likes waiting at the doctor’s office? Recently, when we took my son to his well-child appointment, we waited an hour in the waiting room. Or being able to post my concerns or questions and receive instant feedback, especially concerning menial topics that are worrying me but may not warrant a doctor’s visit?

I can see some downsides to this though. The professional relationship between doctors, nurses, etc. with their patients might become a bit blurry. There should definitely be limits. Like, should patients and their doctors be actual Facebook friends? When I graduated from high school, I remember becoming friends with some of my former teachers. They refused to add students that were currently still in school, and I can see why. Once someone in a position of trust (i.e., a teacher or doctor) becomes more intimately invovled in one of their student’s or patient’s life, things can get weird.

But in general, as I’ve already said, I love that practitioners are becoming involved in social networking. Like it or not, that’s the way the world is going, and I think it would be wise for doctor’s to know at least the simple parts of social networking (and maybe hire a tech-savvy office assistant to manage the Facebook page).  As the article I previously mentioned quotes Kevin Pho, a medical blogger, saying:

These are powerful, tremendously influential tools. Doctors should be taking advantage of the opportunity.”

So what do you think? Is it a good thing that doctors and hospitals are getting involved with patients through social networks, or is it making the doctor-patient relationship too casual?

Posted in Health Care, Healthcare IT, mHealth, Mobile Health Care, Social Networking Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Connecting EMRs and Smart Pumps Proving Difficult

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Anne Zieger

As they settle into their implementation, hospitals are hoping to connect key medical devices to their EMRs. But vanishingly few have pulled off connecting one important device, the smart infusion pump, according to recent research by KLAS.

KLAS’s new study surveyed 251 providers from 218 organizations.  Researchers concluded that less than 10 providers in the country are tying smart pumps to their EMRs, despite the fact that most providers see such connections as an important safety measure.  The smart pumps let clinicians know if the pumps aren’t set to match a facility’s guidelines, while standard pumps are programmed by hand.

More than half of providers told KLAS that EMR integration is a key factor in selecting future pumps, the firm says.  And they handed out higher satisfaction ratings to vendors whose technology development is moving along. Smart pump vendors Baxter, Carefusion and Hospira, for example, led in wireless technology.

That hospitals are demanding wireless pumps that connect with EMRs is no big surprise. Far too many — 23 percent — of surveyed provider organizations reported serious medication incidents within the previous 24 months.  Sixty percent of the serious errors were made while using drug libraries.  Clearly, using the libraries is good, but connecting to an EMR with auto-programming could  make a difference.

Given the difference EMR-connected pumps could make, why are so few providers already connected?  Well, one obvious issue is that only 60 percent of providers are live on wireless pump technology, which is necessary to get the integration done.

It’s not just the pump that’s an issue, however. When hospitals roll out this approach, it requires a great deal of coordination between IT, EMR users, clinical analysts and more, notes Kristen O’Shea, clinical transformation officer for WellSpan Health, who spoke with InformationWeek magazine about her organization’s smart-pump rollout.

To make sure the team worked together smoothly with the new device connections, WellSpan created a new hybrid biomedical/IT position to manage medical device connectivity. (Smart move — maybe more would be getting done in the EMR/device connection realm if they did more hiring of this kind?)

Posted in Community Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, Hospital Electronic Health Record, Hospital Electronic Medical Record, Hospital EMR, Hospital Healthcare IT, Hospital IT Systems, IDN, Medical Devices, Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

GymPact: Breaking the Commitment Breaks the Bank

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Katie

Last semester, someone mentioned an app for the iPhone called “GymPact”. The basic premise of it is to commit people to working out with something the motivates just about everyone — money. I mean, I can’t tell you often I tell my husband “okay, we are going to work out today”, only to wimp out a short time later, because really, there wasn’t much to get me to go. This app is for people like me, who need a little extra incentive to work out.

So, what exactly is GymPact. Well, I think this little blurb from the website, Gym-Pact.com, says it best

“How many of us have bought a gym membership and never used it? GymPact’s core involves this situation in which something you want later (having gone to the gym) conflicts with something you want right now (staying home to watch TV).

We realized that with real money on the line and easy, fool-proof check-ins at gyms, people could actually push themselves to get out the door and into the gym.”

Basically, a person is supposed to download the app for the iPhone, commit to going to the gym a certain amount of times a week, and how much money will be owed if that commitment is broken (an amount between $5 and $50).  Oh, and did I mention that you have to link a credit or debit card to your account, so if the user doesn’t check-in the committed amount, money is automatically withdrawn. The incentive? The money collected from the “commitment-breakers” is distributed to everyone who kept the pact. It’s typically only between .50 and .75, but hey, it’s better than nothing.

It’s an interesting idea, that’s for sure. A Harvard behavioral class developed GymPact and during a test run, the GymPact got 90% of its users to the gym, a percentage which has stayed that high since it was released to the public. The check-in won’t be valid unless it actually comes from the gym, hence why this can only be used on a smartphone (well, currently only the iPhone).

The pact can be used by just about anyone. People can commit to as little as once a week, up to seven days a week, and can be changed every Sunday. What if an injury occurs and the user can’t make it that week? A doctor’s note has to be sent to the GymPact team. GymPact really means business. Seriously, I think that this is a great idea. Money is a huge motivator, and with obesity becoming a bigger problem in the United States each year, drastic measures should be taken. Obviously, no one can be forced to use this, but if it gets one more person working out that didn’t in the past, I think it’s a success.

Since GymPact was launched, it seems to be pretty successful. Just check out the twitter account. People are constantly tweeting GymPact about successes. Not totally convinced? Head on over to the GymPact blog that has success stories, hints and tips from the CEO, Yifan Zhang, and motivation. After perusing the blog for a bit, I’m about convinced I need to try this out.

So I’m going to. After talking to my husband, we decided that once we get back from vacation, this app is getting downloaded to his iPhone. I won’t promise any big commitments; I mean, we are just poor, college students. But hopefully it will get us to the gym. Luckily, I lost all my pregnancy weight in a matter of a few days, but I want to get in better shape, as does my husband. But if I’m going to promote this app, I should use it, right? I’ll write a review on the experience and the app in awhile. Are you in?

(Right as I finished writing this, guess what the song being sung on The Voice is? Money Changes Everything. Coincidence, I think not!)

Posted in Apple, Health Care, iPhone, Smart Phones, Social Networking Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Must Have Pregnancy Mobile Apps

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Katie

Every time I went to a doctor’s appointment while I was pregnant, I always came prepped with a list of concerns. Mainly, diseases I was convinced I had, or things I thought must be wrong with my baby. My doctor would always kind of laugh and asked me where I came up with some things, to which I replied, the Internet. One time, after I went on and on about how I must have listeria because I ate a piece of canteloupe during an outbreak, he told me, “Listen, the Internet is for sports scores and the weather. NOTHING ELSE.”

But my doctor never said anything about medical apps on smartphones. Because I use my smartphone for just about everything,  I downloaded tons of apps concerning pregnancy, particularly health during pregnancy. I mean, who knew when I’d be somewhere and I needed to figure out if the sudden leg cramp I had was a blood clot, or, actually just a leg cramp (I promise I’m not as big of a hypochondriac as I’m making myself out to be. Pregnancy just brought that out in me. Now I’m just convinced my son has every single disease instead. ) Here are some great apps downloadable to smartphones (mainly the iPhone) to help make pregnancy go a little smoother (hopefully. Maybe it will just give the on-call doctor a little more sleep at night instead of being woken up by pregnant women with silly concerns).

1. Baby Center My Pregnancy Today

I think this is an awesome app, and best of all, it’s free. I loved this website during (and after) my pregnancy, and it’s nice to have it on the go. It can help give piece of mind on what symptoms are normal during pregnancy, provides week by week information, and tips on how to deal with things like morning sickness (did anyone else have that the whole time, or was it just me?), heartburn, etc. There are also handy videos, pictures, and nutritional guides. It gets down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, so for the woman who gets embarassed asking the doctor, friends, or family about different things, this is a more discrete way of getting answers from a legitimate source.

This is available on both Android and iPhone operating systems, which makes it a win-win for everyone. I had an iPhone the entire time I was pregnant, and recently made the switch to an Android phone, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to have quite the selection of pregnancy apps (including theBump.com one…which I mainly used to  get sympathy from other pregnant mom’s at 3AM when I couldn’t sleep and my husband was at work), so I’m excited I can still use this one.

Download it for the iPhone here.

Download for Android here.

2. Pilates for Pregnancy

This one is going to cost a  few dollars to get, but has some pretty good reviews with about 3.5 stars. At $8.99 in the app store,  the app includes three different pilates workouts — each one designed for each trimester of pregnancy — developed by an actual pilates instructor. In addition, there is a built-in notebook that lets the user record goals, pictures, or simple to-do’s.

Critics of the app warn that there are no videos, so if that is desired, this might not be that helpful. However, others said that the gradual progression of difficulty level throughout pregnancy was nice. One reviewer said “The exercises got harder as my pregnancy progressed but I feel like my back has been supported and in general they feel really good to do.”

I’ll be honest, I have never used this, mainly because I didn’t know it existed. However, I think it’s a handy tool for those times when a computer isn’t accessible or there is no energy left to get in the car and drive to a pilates class at the local gym. I know that toward the end of my pregnancy, I wouldn’t be caught dead in any public exercise class (besides water aerobics with all the other pregnant ladies).

Download for iPhone here

3. Full Term – Labor Contractions

There are a lot of apps out there to time ontractions, but I really think this one is the best, especially because it doesn’t cost anything. Simply just press the start button when a contraction starts and press the stop button when it ends, and it keeps a running total of how long each one was, the the length between each contraction. The intensity of each contraction can be recorded, it keeps a history of all the contractions that have been timed, and charts can be emailed with contraction history to anyone (maybe if a doctor needs convincing that a woman’s contractions are actually as close together are the lady is claiming? I have no idea!). It’s not the fanciest interface, seeing as it was created by a dad who said, “I created this application for use during my own wife’s labor and have paid special attention to keeping the interface as clean and clutter free as possible,” but it certainly gets the job done.

I used this the night I went into labor. I wasn’t sure at first if I was feeling contractions, so I hid under the covers and used it while my husband watched TV (don’t ask me why, but I didn’t want to tell him I thought I was in labor unless I was sure!). Because of it, I was eventually convinced that the pain I was feeling was contractions, and I even told the admitting nurse at Labor and Delivery that my contractions were, on average, 3 minutes and 2 seconds a part. I definitely recommend this one! It also is the only contraction counter in Apple app store that has 5 stars across the board.

Download for iPhone here

I didn’t review this one…but here’s a contraction timer for all you Android users out there!

4. Foods to avoid while pregnant

There are a lot of myths concerning foods to avoid while pregnant, but there are also a lot of things you really should avoid! I wish I had known about this app, because it has all the foods, broken down into specific categories (such as milk and cheese, meat and eggs, etc.). And unlike all the message boards I visited with moms convinced that certain things were or were not okay, this seems like pretty legitimate information. It’ll cost you .99, but it might give more piece of mind while eating out or at a friend’s home for a dinner party.

Download for iPhone here

5. Perfect OB Wheel

This one is simple enough — it calculates the estimated date of conception, estimated due date, the beginnings and endings of the different trimesters (dates in pregnancy really confused me!), and the approximate weight of the baby. This is actually based off of the calculations the obstetricians and mid-wives use, so it’s about as accurate as these apps come. While this shouldn’t replace visiting the doctor during pregnancy, it can give some updates on baby in between appointments! It costs 1.99

Download for iPhone here

Posted in Android, Apple, Health Care, Healthcare IT, iPhone, mHealth, Mobile Health Care, Smart Phones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off