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August 12, 2008

Patients deem doctors' use of EHRs, e-prescriptions vital to better medical care
Electronic health records (EHRs) and e-prescriptions are key components to fixing America's "fragmented" healthcare system - and most patients want doctors to use them, according to a report by The Commonwealth Fund Commission. A telephone survey of 1,004 U.S. adults conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Commonwealth noted that nearly 90 percent want physicians to be able to share information electronically, while more than 70 percent want doctors to use e-prescriptions. But "Organizing the U.S. Health Care Delivery System for High Performance" also notes that healthcare in the United States is still very much a "cottage industry" with fragmentation at national, state, community and practice levels. A "comprehensive approach" including health information technology, payment reform, patient incentives, regulatory changes, accreditation, provider training and government infrastructure support might "lead progressively to greater organization and better performance," according to the study. http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/...

Pharmaceutical companies to take 'e-pharmacy' more seriously than in past
With the advent of social networking, pharmaceutical firms are seriously considering electronic pharmacy methods more than ever, according to industry experts. Social networking is considered one of the hottest new marketing topics and should have a major impact on pharma's interactions with patients and the industry's online relationship with doctors, according to Len Starnes, head of global and digital sales and marketing for Schering Germany. But the industry is lagging behind others, such as retail and high tech, he adds. But facets of pharma can learn from each other: According to Mark Bard, president of New York City-based Manhattan Research, U.S. companies can benefit from European best practices, including how to effectively build Web site or invite physicians to interact with online content. And European pharmas are learning from the mistakes made by U.S. counterparts, Bard said. http://www.hospitaliteurope.com/default...

University of Houston researchers combat obesity with virtual weight loss program
The University of Houston's Texas Obesity Research Center (TORC) plans to help obese people lose weight through a totally virtual program that rewards online versions of participants for healthy dietary habits and increased physical activity. TORC is recruiting 500 people from different countries for its online project using the Second Life program from San Francisco-based Linden Labs. Participants will exercise their virtual avatars and watch them get into shape onscreen over a period of weeks. The hope is that seeing 3-D manifestations of themselves shedding pounds will encourage the real-life versions to do the same, according to Kristen McAlexander, a research assistant at TORC. "It's not so much your avatar losing weight or eating healthier," McAlexander said. "It's whether these health behaviors in Second Life translate to your real life." Study participants will be monitored online and self-report their weight and activity to help researchers "determine if life imitates virtual reality." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/... and http://www.uh.edu/news-events/...

Telehealth-based home care mere years down the road, Global eHealth head says
Picture a future where your pillow could detect changes in your breathing patterns and notify medical authorities when you need help. Or where the fibers in your carpet can detect an unsteady gait. Or a television routinely reminds you to take your medication. It may sound far-fetched, but it's not far off, according to Alejandro Jadad, the founder of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation in Toronto. Such wondrous elements could be a mere few years off with the proper cooperation by various medical, public and corporate groups. Jadad has already issued a challenge to the Ontario Home Builders' Association to switch priorities from "continued suburban sprawl" to embracing high-tech and high-touch. "This is a challenge that transcends boundaries," Jadad said. "This is the right time for us. It is not a question of whether." http://www.thestar.com/article/470177

Europe sets sights on single satellite service network, start selection procedure
The European Commission has begun efforts to develope a single satellite service network for all of Europe, replacing some 27 different national systems and increasing the ability to make remote medical services, disaster relief high speed data and mobile TV available throughout the continent. EC officials hope to select a single provider and have the network in place by 2009, according to European Union Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding. Development of a continent-wide network has been hampered in the past by different selection procedures in the various member nations. But now, there will be one market, not 27, for such services. "Henceforth, the ball is in the camp of the industry," said Reding, who also expects intense competition for service provision rights "from the North of Sweden to the South of Spain." Interested companies have until Oct. 7 to apply to the Commission. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction...

New JHU software helps detect, treat brain injuries in U.S. service members
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed software that uses electronic medical record (EMR) data to help detect and treat severe brain injuries among U.S. service members. The software integrates real-time data from on-battlefield medics with information from the patient's EMR, filters it through a template and presents a visual to a remotely located physician for diagnosis. "The result is to virtually transfer the physician to the battlefield," said Jai Rampersad, an entrepreneur working with JHU researchers. "The physician can triage and assess the situation before the patient is even removed. This tool also allows one physician to monitor a large number of people at the same time and to better triage the wounded." http://www.govhealthit.com/online/news/350507-1.html

'Virtual Iraq" program helps bring post-traumatic soldiers back to reality
Scientists at the Institute of Creative Technology at the University of Southern California have developed virtual reality world software to help returning soldiers deal with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. In use by the Telehealth Center of the Defense Center of Excellence (TCDCE) in Rosslyn, VA, the "Virtual Iraq" program recreates the battle environment in extreme detail - including sights, sounds, smells, length of daylight and temperature - and helps trigger memories in an afflicted person that might not normally be reached during traditional patient-therapist sessions, according to Dr. Greg Reger, a clinical psychologist at TCDCE. "Soldiers are very good at emotionally distancing themselves from difficult stuff - it's adaptive, it's part of the job," Reger said. "And yet, when they come into therapy, it can actually get in the way of the clinical outcome." http://www.psycport.com/showArticle...

Nigerian metropolis of Lagos embarks on e-health project
Realizing a need to keep the city's 8 million residents more in tune with their medical histories - and help local and long-distance doctors provide care - officials in Lagos, Nigeria have embarked upon an e-health project designed to implement electronic medical records and telemedicine access by 2009. According to Gov. Babatunde Fashola, the project will provide better medical records access and assist in better case management. Three health facilities will serve as the pilot facilities for the program during its first phase by the end of this year, followed by extension of the service to 10 more hospitals during phase two in 2009. The state government is also planning to expand the number of state health workers to handle various medical emergencies stemming from a densely populated area like Lagos, which is the largest and second-fastest-growing city in Africa. http://www.tribune.com.ng/08082008/news/news22.html

Cyber healthcare card making the rounds at Indiana hospitals
Indianapolis, IN-based hospital system Community Health Network is offering patients a medical access card, similar to an ATM card, which simplifies access to and from hospitals. The myCommunity card features express check-in kiosks - similar to ones at airports - where patients can swipe their cards and use touch screens to check in or out of a hospital. The three-year, $1.2 million service also allows patients to keep track of their medical conditions and medications. Similar programs have been unveiled this year from other Indiana medical service providers, a sign that patients are ready to embrace cyber healthcare and avoid paperwork and long lines, according to Erika Fishman, director of research with Manhattan Research in New York City. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...

Regence pilot shows affordability of payer-driven EHR system
Connecting and maintaining an entire community to a Web-hosted electronic health records system costs about $3,000 per provider per year, according to a study by Portland, OR-based BlueCross BlueShield insurer Regence. A one-year pilot in LaGrande, OR, conducted by Regence in 2006, connected the city's Grande Ronde Hospital, clinical laboratory Interpath, 12 provider practices and local pharmacies. The pilot was designed to reduce the errors, waste and duplication of medical procedures that devour 30 percent of healthcare dollars, according to Regence Senior Medical Director Ralph Prows M.D. The pilot also came up with a surprisingly low price tag, Prows noted. "It was well below the five- or six-figure estimates that some providers say discourages their investment [in EHRs]," Prows said. "What this proved was that we can pull this together for a reasonable cost." http://www.insurancetech.com/feed/showArticle...

U.S. only a middleweight when it comes to broadband access
Fourteen of the world's 30 developed nations have better broadband access than the United States, according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study from the Paris-based group ranked the U.S. 15th in providing broadband access to its customers, with fewer than 25 subscribers per 100 residents. Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland topped the list with more than 30 subscribers per 100 residents. The OECD's report also said the U.S. lags behind other countries in broadband speed and price. But progress is being made: 55 percent of Americans now have broadband at home as of April, up from 47 percent in April 2007, according to a report by the Pew Research Center's Pew Internet and American Life Project. And the number of U.S. broadband lines has increased from 6.8 million in 2000 to 82.5 million in 2006, according to the Department of Commerce. http://news.medill.northwestern.edu... and http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/57/40629067.pdf

UK doctors' accreditation status to be viewable by patients
Connecting for Health (CfH), the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) information technology agency, will allow patients to go online to check whether their general practitioner meets national data accreditation standards. Patients can log onto the CfH tracking database from the NHS Choice Web site at www.nhs.uk and see how their doctor's practice measures up, according to CfH Group Program Director Carol Clarke. The IT agency plans to publish practices' data accreditation status in early 2009. http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/... and http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/...

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

Optometric Referrals to Retina Specialists: Evaluation and Triage via Teleophthalmology
Chris Hanson, Matthew T.S. Tennant, Chris J. Rudnisky
Telemedicine and e-Health. June 2008, 14(5): 441-445.
A teleophthalmology program linked Canadian optometrists to retina specialists for 171 patients and 190 consultations. In this carefully described study, 21/25 patients who required treatment condensed their visit to the specialist to a single day by having diagnostics done by telemedicine. Office visits to the specialist were reduced by 48%. 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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