Telehealth-RPM-Virtual Visits-Voice Health

Watson: that Jeopardy win was a good beginning -- real win is ahead.  In a computer science building at Carnegie Mellon University last week, it was cute to watch the students file into a room to watch the last Jeopardy round on TV. So by now you know that IBM's super computerized multi-year Jeopardy effort paid off and Watson handily beat the two best human Jeopardy players. So what's Watson's next act? Soon, say IBM folk, Watson's tech will be commercialized within healthcare apps: "We're going to look at creating a product offering in the next 24 months that will help empower doctors to do higher quality decision making and diagnoses."  Interesting -- and even more so while thinking about Andy Kessler's WSJ analysis of the types of jobs threatened by technology, including the roles of today's doctors.

Early 2011 was prolific for published studies. If you print all these, it's gonna get expensive. Click on the Trends link on this site and you will be awed and/or inspired -- nine studies have been posted since the start of this year, three on mobile devices and health.  The lemming effect is surely in play here: so much interest (not to mention conferences), so many apps in the iTunes App Store -- oh wait, in the top 10, we have a white noise generator and 3 weight-loss apps -- and further down the list, more white noise generators, apps for runners, baby names, mood tracking and apps about quite a few other bodily functions -- to say that the list is broadly inclusive as 'Healthcare & Fitness' is to understate.