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August 1, 2008

Canada allocates $6 billion to expand broadband to rural regions
Canada's federal government and provincial officials in Ontario have approved a $6 billion [USD] plan to expand broadband coverage to rural locations in eastern and southern Ontario. Over the next year the Canada-Ontario Framework Agreement will work with communities in those regions to identify potential broadband expansion projects. Ontario is already seeking its first group of local applicants for rural broadband project funding; candidates have until Sept. 18 to respond. Documentation from the applicants is due in February 2009. Projects will be awarded up to $1 million per application. The Framework also includes road and transit improvements to help urban and rural employees get to their workplaces. http://ip-telephony.tmcnet.com/topics/...

AHIC successor to consider marriage of e-health and medical research standards
It doesn't have an official name yet, but the successor to the American Health Information Community (AHIC) may already have its first goal: expanding the soon-to-be former agency's scope and meshing data standards for medical research with existing work on standards for e-health records. The not-yet-official successor group, commonly referred to as A2, is considering how it will respond to the standards incorporation requests posed by several major health coalitions, according to John Glaser, vice president and chief information officer of Pacific HealthCare System, one of four health IT groups planning to head up A2. Authorized by Pres. Bush in 2004 to help promote health information technology, AHIC originally was to terminate in July 2009. But Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt in 2007 opted to transform the organization into a private nonprofit organization, saying AHIC's prospects in a new presidential administration were "uncertain at best." AHIC is now scheduled to shut down at the end of this year. http://www.govhealthit.com/online/news/350492-1.html

Federal government devises new plan to coordinate public and private health IT
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, has released a plan to coordinate the federal government's efforts to achieve a nationwide, interoperable health information technology infrastructure throughout the public and private sectors. The "ONC-Coordinated Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2008-2012," which focuses on patient-centered healthcare and population health, hopes to create higher-quality, more cost-efficient care that uses technology such as electronic health information access to better meet patients' needs. The five-year plan "establishes the next generation of health IT milestones to [help] transform health and care in this country," HIT national coordinator Robert Kolodner said. But the plan has its critics: Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choices at Chicago-based think-tank The Heartland Institute said the "poorly conceived" initiative would be obsolete in five years. http://www.heartland.org/... and http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/resources/...

Britain's best doctors have great Web sites, value patient privacy
The best general practitioners offer "clear and precise" Web sites and seek a patient's consent before giving private patient information to other healthcare professionals, according to a newly released guide on good medical practice. In contrast, the "unacceptable GP" does not have a Web site or has one that is misleading or self-promoting, according to the 2008 edition of "Good Medical Practice of General Practitioners" by the Royal College of General Practitioners. Although many GPs use Web sites to provide information to their patients, the sites are often incomplete, lacking basic but vital information such as when surgery is open or when phones are answered by a living person, the guide notes. There is also an emerging need for emphasis on different ways patients can communicate with their GP beyond the basic telephone, such as e-mail or videoconferencing. http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/... and http://www.rcgp.org.uk/PDF/GMP_web.pdf

Entrepreneur serves up plan to help diseased patients establish virtual biotechs
Cancer patient and entrepreneur Jay Tenenbaum, who became a multimillionaire during the Internet boom of the 1990s, has created a new company designed to help cancer patients develop virtual biotechs in the search for new treatment drugs. The medical firm, CollabRx, taps into patient-supported research - a trend largely driven by people wealthy enough to help fund drug-discovery projects and who are affected by rare or overlooked diseases. Such research is typically not funded by large pharmacies, according to Tenenbaum. CollabRx aims to expand patient-funded research further by connecting individuals or small numbers of patients with needed tools and services. Patients could get started for as little as $50,000, a sum that could, for example, help predict the combination of drugs required to treat a particular cancer. Promising results could lead to a "full-blown" virtual biotech with a research budget in the millions, he said. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121727953947391015.html

EHR availability is key factor in helping med students choose future practice
Electronic health record (EHR) systems are a big deal for more than just doctors and patients. Ninety percent of medical students consider such system to be a key factor in where they choose to practice, according to a survey by San Mateo, CA-based medical research analyst firm Epocrates Inc. In the firm's third annual "Future Physicians of America" survey, 62 percent of medical students considered an EHR system's presence "very important," and another 28 percent said the system was "important" in helping them choose a future practice. In contrast, only 2 percent considered the issue "not important." The survey also found that just 2 percent of medical students believe there will be universal EHR adoption within the next one to two years. Eighty-three percent said universal EHR adoption will take more than five years to occur. http://www.epocrates.com/company/news/062508.html

India heads into second phase of telemedicine network expansion
Government officials in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India plan to extend telemedicine facilities to at least 22 districts over the next nine months. The new phase of the Orissa Telemedicine Network would consist of three government-run medical college hospitals connected with district medical facilities (OTN) throughout the mid-east Indian state, according to Health Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey. The network would extend through community health centers and public health centers if the initial expansion plan proves successful, Pandey said. The first phase of OTN began in 2003 and connected all three government medical colleges to the Sanjay Ghandi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. More than 1,300 patients have since benefitted from the telemedicine program, according to Pandey. http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/27/stories/2008072753510200.htm

U of New Mexico telepsychiatry program gains $767,192 award for larger network
New Mexico's telepsychiatry network is about to get bigger courtesy of a $767,192 award from the state's ValueOptions New Mexico program. The recipient, the University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, will use the funds to expand its telepsychiatry services program into a larger effort called the Psychiatry Telehealth Network. The network uses a specially encrypted wireless technology that enables psychiatrists to video conference with patients in remote areas, according to Eddy Broadway, chief executive officer of ValueOptions. "The idea fits very well with our community-based service expansion," Broadway said. "It's also a good way to address the state's shortage of mental healthcare providers." http://www.santafenewmexican.com/...

Cell phones, telemedicine technologies hold power to change healthcare
Mobile electronic health tools such as cell phones and telemedicine technologies are rapidly transforming the face and context of healthcare service delivery worldwide, according to a presentation during the ongoing mHealth and Mobile Telemedicine conference at Bellagio, Italy. According to United Nations Foundation President Timothy Wirth, the power of these technologies to improve health and the human condition cannot be underestimated. "Modern telecommunications, and the creative use of it, has the power to change lives and help solve some of the world's biggest challenges," Wirth said. There are currently 3.5 billion mobile phones is use worldwide, a figure that is expected to double over the next decade. Telemedicine's role in clinical care is also expected to continue to grow from continent to continent, Wirth noted. http://www.chetansharma.com/blog/...

E-prescription use by doctors to be priority for HHS through 2012
E-prescriptions will be one of the Department of Health and Human Services' top priorities over the next four years, according to agency director Mike Leavitt. Acknowledging that the government's goal of creating a national electronic health records system is still in its infancy, Leavitt said e-prescriptions will be HHS' focus because it is "an area where significant progress can be made quickly." A new Medicare e-prescription incentive program will reimburse physicians 2 percent of their billable Medicare charges for 2009 and 2010, 1 percent for 2011 and 2012, and 0.5 percent for 2013. Doctors could be fined for non-compliance beginning in 2012. Although e-prescriptions rose from 700,000 to 35 million from 2004 to 2007, only 6 percent of U.S. physicians regularly use them, according to the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-07-28-eprescribe_N.htm

AMD reports growing demand for telemedicine in global marketplace
Demand for telemedicine-related products continues to grow worldwide, according to North Chelmsford, MA-based manufacturer and supplier AMD Global Telemedicine. The company reports receiving orders and shipping products during the past quarter for new projects in Canada, China, Greece, Greenland, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Spain, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. AMD attributes the increase to continual technological advances in telemedicine, which "open more doors for telemedicine use," a continuing gap between urban medical resources and rural residents, and the company's international staff and worldwide network of resellers. "This is an expanding market, with more and more countries interested in [telemedicine's] mainstream utilization," AMD Global Sales Director Dan McCafferty said. http://www.amdtelemedicine.com/press_detail...

Horizon Information, Vocollect Healthcare enter reseller agreement
Vocollect Healthcare Systems Inc. and Horizon Information Services, both based in Pittsburgh, PA, have reached an agreement where Horizon will resell Vocollect's AccuNurse® voice-assisted care system to customers in western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. Vocollect specializes in healthcare products for the long term care market, including wireless networks, IP-based cameras and patient monitoring systems. Horizon is a leading regional provider of nurse call systems, wireless networks, and staff and asset tracking systems. Vocollect President James Quasey said the company is "excited about the potential of this type of strategic partnership." Horizon General Manager Jeff Novosel called the arrangement "a natural fit." http://healthcare.vocollect.com/index.php/...

In the Current Issue of the peer reviewed publication Telemedicine and e-Health

Roundtable Discussion Venture Capital and Telemedicine
Bernard Harris, M.D., M.B.A., Charles R. Doarn, M.B.A., Robert Ulrich, Ph.D., Mark VanderWerf, and Tony Thomas, M.B.A.
Over the past several decades, more and more companies are entering the telemedicine space offering technologies and services across the globe. But what if you want to have someone invest in your idea(s), services, or products? Friends and family, personal savings, and angel funding all help, but one really needs venture capital to move a concept to market. A group of telemedicine experts and venture capitalists got together for a roundtable discussion on key issues such as: What does the landscape look like for venture capital for telemedicine, what areas are a priority, what is the return on investment (ROI) expected, what is the market size to make it interesting for the venture firm to invest, and what is the impact of various factors on investments? These questions were designed to spark discussion. Dr. Bernard Harris and Mr. Charles Doarn assembled this small group and moderated the discussion. Full Article

Published 10 times a year in print and online, Telemedicine and e-health covers all aspects of clinical telemedicine practice, technical advances, enabling technologies, education, health policy and regulation and biomedical and health services research dealing with clinical effectiveness, efficacy and safety of telemedicine and its effects on quality, cost and accessibility of care, medical records and transmission of same.

Telemedicine and e-Health is the Official journal of the American Telemedicine Association.
To learn more, click here.

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