This App Prevents the #4 Cause of Death in the U.S. 

“One study estimated that mistakes with blood pressure medication alone are responsible for 89,000 premature deaths a year, which puts medication noncompliance up there in the top five causes of death.”

The inventors of the free MediSafe Project iPhone and Android app hope to save lives by helping patients keep track of their medications. 

Here are some other innovative ways that technology and medicine are meeting up:

Gadgets You Can Swallow

8 Medical iPhone Apps You Should Prescribe Your Healthcare Professional

The Future of Medical Technology is Apps, Games, and Movies

[Image from medisafeproject.com][Post by M.Cecelia Bittner]

What I love about this story is that he took a tilt-and-zoom camera that was already being sold by Sony, attached it to a stand (built the prototype in his cubicle) and then took it to a hospital. 

Traditionally we rely on Japan to build our products. I’m always looking for ways to improve workflow in the operating room. If you improve workflow, you improve patient care. It’s not a traditional role. Nobody said, “Why don’t you go do this?” I just went and did it because I thought it was a great idea, and I got support from the upper management to go for it. I created a PowerPoint presentation incorporating the feedback I had on the device from the field, and everyone understood this was an important device for Sony to move forward with.

How A Sony Marketing Manager Helped Build A Breakthrough Product

There’s a perverse system of incentives behind the spiraling cost of drug prices.

Amid all the debate about our rising healthcare costs, one thing you almost never hear about is rising drug costs. Think about it: You hear plenty about emergency rooms and chronic care, but nothing about drug prices, which are the main interaction most of us have with the medical industry.

And that’s totally ridiculous.

Infographic Of The Day: The Dirty Ties Between Docs and Drug Makers