As part of the Town’s continuing effort to improve transparency, Arlington is announcing the launch of Arlington Visual Budget (AVB). AVB is a new online tool intended to provide the public with a visual representation of the Town’s financial history and outlook, as well as illustrate key trends. AVB allows users to dive into the budget like never before using graphics to more easily understand how tax dollars are spent.

“Increasing transparency and accessibility to financial information has long been a goal for the Town,” said Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine. “We hope this new feature will encourage users to learn more about Town finances and be more engaged in the annual budget discourse.”

Involution's hGraph, an open source health metrics visualization, was recently featured in Wired Magazine online, highlighted in the article, “How Restyling the Mundane Medical Record Could Improve Health Care.” The Wired spot discusses hGraph’s strong social component: By tracking the data for entire families hGraph illustrates how some conditions, like obesity and heart disease, can be affected by collective health choices.

Health IT Buzz, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services innovation blog, also mentioned hGraph as a notable entry to the Patient Health Record Graphic Design Contest, where it inspired the judges and challenged the status quo. The article notes that Involution designers “weren’t afraid to think outside the box.” A simple-to-use tool like hGraph has the potential to improve patient care, prevent medication errors, and supply clear health metrics. By making health records usable and interactive, this software can empower doctors, caregivers, and patients to make better health decisions and save lives.

Involution client uTest has launched Applause, an analytics tool that offers clear, explicit data about what users truly feel about mobile apps. Applause enables app-owners to see how each version of their app measures up and the ability to compare their app to those of their competitors. Applause features sleek multi-version app graphs and a revolutionary rating scheme, with user interface design and development by Involution.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), challenged designers across the United States to re-imagine the presentation of the medical record in order to create a better patient experience. The objective of the Health Design Challenge was to create a usable, beautiful medical record enabling patients to more easily manage their health, and health professionals and caregivers to more effectively understand and use patients’ health information. On January 15, from the over 230 submissions, Involution Studios entry — a dynamic, system view of your health — was selected for the online showcase, featuring the most innovative designs that challenged the status quo. There’s no doubt that a well-designed medical record has the potential to provide many positive outcomes, including improved care coordination, prevention of medication errors, and quick, on demand access to critical health information in emergency situations.

hRecord and hGraph
Involution has long been involved with the design of open source solutions for the healthcare industry. We’re sharing a sample of our hRecord designs here, including versions for iPad and iPhone. You can also view our complete Health Design Challenge submission.

The way in which patients and doctors make healthcare decisions — from choosing therapies to evaluating possible side-effects — is changing rapidly based on newly available genetic testing and analysis. Involution client GeneInsight, a subsidiary of Partners HealthCare is on the forefront of this revolution in personalized medicine.

Last week, Partners HealthCare was featured in a Boston Globe article detailing its ground-breaking technology in whole genome sequencing. The innovative work in this space is being done by Partners HealthCare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine (PCPGM), which is dedicated to making people’s lives healthier and better by transforming the practice of medicine through increased personalization — based on the accelerated integration of genetic knowledge into clinical care.