Consumer ultrasound: Dangerous & irresponsible? Will patients ever use handheld ultrasound devices at home? Some sonographers believe that’s idiotic, moronic, dangerous, highly irresponsible, “right up there with in-utero glamor shots,” and “the worst idea I have heard of.”

eHealth, mHealth, what’s the diff? There are important distinctions between eHealth and mHealth, according to Dr. Ted Eytan of the Permanente Foundation. Here are six.

Almost three-quarters of caregivers interested in mHealth Consumers are not only interested in embedded devices and services, like connected health services, but many believe that using them would enrich their lives, according to a recent survey by Accenture and the GSM Assn. Their research included results from an online survey which polled 1,005 early adopter consumers that own at least four networked devices and use multiple Internet software services. Survey respondents were from the U.S., UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, India and Brazil.

Report: Health spend to top $4.5T by 2019 Wireless health services aim to improve care, but they also seek to reduce overall healthcare spending, which a recent study by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports is increasing. The study shows that healthcare spending increased by 5.7 percent in 2009 and projects that this decade may bring about an average annual growth rate of 6.1 percent. By 2019, spending is expected to reach $4.5 trillion, double the amount in 2009.

Brian Dolan is editor of MobiHealthNews, the emerging wireless health industry’s daily monitor.