The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference, HIMSS25, took place earlier this month. As the foremost event in healthcare technology, HIMSS provides an unparalleled platform for insights, research and innovations that are shaping the future of digital health. Key Takeaways HIMSS25 uncovered these key insights and takeaways:  Artificial Intelligence was front and … Continue reading HIMSS: Anual Meeting of Healthcare & Technology →

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK today published new guidance to help manufacturers meet UK medical devices regulations and ensure that digital mental health technologies are effective, reliable and acceptably safe. Just as technology has become a diagnostic, clinical and administrative “partner” in medical care and healthcare, it is also … Continue reading New UK Guidance For Medical Device Regulation to Protect Users of Digital Mental Health Technologies. →

New research from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles describes the use of AI driven avatars programmed for motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy can be accepted by patients and considered helpful in counseling sessions. Patients reported that after 30 minute sessions using virtual reality goggles, 85% of participants said they found the experience to … Continue reading Study Of Virtual Avatars in Mental Health Care →

A new survey led by researchers from the Center for Quantitative Health at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has analyzed the association between self-reported social media use and irritability among US adults. Data suggests that frequent social media use, especially among active posters, was correlated with higher levels of irritability. Previous research on … Continue reading Link Between Social Media Use and Irritability →

A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry has demonstrated that while the use of teletherapy has become more widespread over the last few years, access to such care has not increased for those who cannot afford it. The researchers, from Columbia University, note that since the pandemic, the percentage of Americans seeking … Continue reading Teletherapy Has Not Improved Access to Mental Health Care for Those Who Cannot Pay →

A recent survey published this week from the Pew Research Center reveals some eye-catching statistics about teen online habits. Nearly half of the surveyed teens, aged 13 to 17, report spending almost all their time online, which is up from about 24% just ten years ago. While parents, teachers, healthcare professionals and politicians have expressed … Continue reading New Pew Research Reveals High Usage of Social Media Among Teens →

The 2024 Oxford Word of the Year - 'Brain Rot'

According to the study published in Nature Human Behaviour, the relationship between mental health and web-browsing is causal and bi-directional. Self-guided browsing of negative content online is associated with poorer mental health and continued browsing of negative content. Study results “show that browsing negatively valenced content not only mirrors a person’s mood but can also … Continue reading Browsing Negative Content Online Linked to Poor Mental Health →

Traditionally, health professionals across the world have used ultrasound as a means of monitoring the development of unborn babies and assessing the health of patients’ internal organs. Over the decades, its uses have expanded to evaluate blood flow and check for blockages in arteries and veins, assess joint inflammation and metabolic bone disease, help diagnose … Continue reading Ultrasound: Potential Use as Search and Treatment Tool for the Brain →

A recent ‘Letter to the Editor’ to MDEdge from a Maine Pediatrician reminds us that our use of technology that consumes so much of our attention is indeed taking a toll on our human interactions. Dr Willkoff describes two scenarios that troubled him but, as he points out, may also be so ubiquitous that perhaps … Continue reading Technoference →