Tag Archives: health

Adolescent Health Initiative uses IT to train health care providers

By | August 25, 2021
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A young person reads a brochure.

The Adolescent Health Initiative (AHI), a program of Community Health Services at Michigan Medicine, works to transform the health care landscape to optimize adolescent and young adult health and well-being. AHI provides customer-focused, youth-driven, and innovative approaches to improving adolescent care through coaching and technical assistance including engaging webinars, virtual clinic tours, implementing an assessment tool, and more.… Read More »

U-M rolls out updated ResponsiBLUE app

By | January 20, 2021
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Illustration of mask, ResponsiBLUE 2.0

The ResponsiBLUE application has been updated and expanded for the winter 2021 semester. U-M first launched ResponsiBLUE during the fall 2020 semester to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, aid in circulating public health knowledge, and ensure student safety. University Information and Technology Services developed ResponsiBLUE in partnership with the university leadership and the Office of Research. The app, which… Read More »

ResponsiBLUE Guest required for all university visitors

By | December 15, 2020
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Block M with mask icon below

Information and Technology Services (ITS) has been overseeing the technical aspects of U-M’s recent effort to implement the guest version of ResponsiBLUE, the health-screening tool developed to help keep the university healthy and reduce the spread of COVID-19. The State of Michigan now requires all visitors, contractors and vendors through April 14, 2021, to complete a preliminary health… Read More »

U-M launches COVID-19 screening tool

By | September 2, 2020
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Responsi-blue screening check logo and entry point to the health screening tool.

The University of Michigan recently launched the accessible, mobile-friendly website ResponsiBLUE (responsiblue.umich.edu) to help keep university community members healthy and reduce the spread of COVID-19. A downloadable mobile app for both Android and Apple platforms is in development and will be available soon. All faculty, staff and students entering U-M buildings are required to use ResponsiBLUE to meet… Read More »

Using machine learning to detect disease before symptoms manifest

By | March 27, 2020
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crowd of tiny people around several viruses

Alfred Hero, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, has been working on predicting health and disease of people exposed to infectious viral pathogens since early 2007. His research uses machine learning to help discover genes in whole blood that can be used to detect early signs of acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI), as well as improve the… Read More »

Big Data advances research, but it shouldn’t do so at the cost of privacy

By | March 5, 2020
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cell phone with "I Agree" & "HIPPA" buttons surrounded by health related icons.

It might seem pretty safe to add an app that promises to help take control of your health. But doctors who appreciate the research potential of incorporating big data into medical care are also warning about the need to manage the risk of exposing such health data while it’s still possible to do so. “Some health data shared… Read More »

How should you clean your phone?

By | March 4, 2020
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The average person touches their smartphone more than 2,000 times a day, surveys have shown. Also, people tend to carry their phones everywhere with them, including the bathroom where most contamination happens. So it’s not surprising that phones can harbor lots of bacteria and germs. Wiping your phone or cleaning it with soap and a little water, or preventing your phone… Read More »

Home for Dinner: HITS aims to reduce physician burnout

By | December 6, 2019
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A family with two children sharing a healthy meal

Last year, HITS instituted a program called Home for Dinner, to help physicians use MiChart more efficiently. Provider exhaustion is a significant issue across the medical community. While MiChart, the electronic health record (EHR) at Michigan Medicine, can enhance coordination and quality of care, it can also have unintended negative consequences. Michigan Medicine providers are spending significant time… Read More »

Eating and Tweeting: What social media reveals about attitudes on food

By | November 29, 2019
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asian man drinking coffee looking at phone

An interdisciplinary group of U-M researchers turned to Twitter to see whether online discussions about food can help inform policy makers. They used community-based surveys to gather demographic and health-related behavior information that might help explain health status and disparities between groups, and whether there were differences between how groups of residents of a given region discussed food. Their… Read More »

Michigan Medicine researchers make sleep trackers more effective

By | November 4, 2019
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A drawing of an Apple Watch wrapped around a drawing of a pillow against a night sky.

Michigan Medicine researchers have developed an algorithm to be used with consumer sleep trackers. The algorithm, built by post-doctoral research fellow in neurology Olivia Walch, outperforms expensive medical trackers. The University of Michigan algorithm could be used on consumer wearable devices in the future and would be a more transparent, scientifically rigorous tool.

HITS helps Michigan Medicine improve screening rates for adults at risk of liver complications

By | June 19, 2019
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Loving Senior Couple Relaxing On Sofa At Home

Michigan Medicine was recently featured for using its electronic medical record to improve screening rates for adults at risk of liver complications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, baby boomers are at high risk of liver complications from hepatitis C, even though the virus is easily treated after it’s identified. To increase awareness and prevent… Read More »

Is ‘digital addiction’ a real threat to kids?

By | June 3, 2019
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young boy holding tablet

There’s a great deal of talk these days about “digital addiction.” But several experts from U-M say we should teach kids to think of screens as something to handle in moderation rather than something without any healthy place in our lives. Ellen Selkie, an assistant professor of adolescent medicine, who does research on adolescents’ use of social media,… Read More »

U-M launches health study using Apple Watch

By | March 15, 2019
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apple watch

Consumers are increasingly turning to wearable devices to learn more about everything from their heart rate to sleep quality. Yet, the question remains: what can all of this data tell us about people’s overall health? U-M has launched a study to discover if data collected on Apple Watch, combined with other health information, can provide insight into health,… Read More »

Does social media really make a difference in vaccination rates?

By | March 8, 2019
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gloved hands inserting hypodermic needle into upper arm

Social media companies face increasing scrutiny for amplifying fringe anti-vaccine sentiment amid measles outbreaks in several states like Washington. In response, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest recently made headlines by announcing initiatives to reduce vaccine misinformation on their platforms. Brendan Nyhan, a professor of public policy at the Ford School, recently wrote in “The New York Times” that while… Read More »

U-M Precision Health use case to focus on mobile technology and mental health

By | February 27, 2019
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Precision Health at U-M is is funding a new use case focused on the effects of wearable and mobile technology on mental health outcomes. The project, “Enhancing Mental Health Care through Mobile Technology,” is led investigators Amy Bohnert and Srijan Sen from Michigan Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry. Researchers will use machine learning to identify key predictors of treatment… Read More »