February 19, 2008

FCC extends financial support to grandfathered sites
The Federal Communications Commission will implement a three-year extension of an eligibility order for certain healthcare providers receiving financial support under the Rural Health Care Support Mechanism. In 2005, approximately 200 providers lost their funding eligibility when the FCC changed its definition of "rural." In March 2005, the American Telemedicine Association filed a petition asking the FCC to grant approximately a permanent exemption the 200 sites. Although the FCC's ruling is a temporary measure that will have to be revisited when the extension ends in 2011, the decision is "a welcome present for rural health providers across the nation," according to ATA Executive Director Jonathan Linkous.
For details, visit http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/...

Healthcare IT drives presidential campaigns
All of the remaining U.S. presidential candidates - Sens. Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain - cite technology in their healthcare reform campaigns. But while IT may feature prominently in the next president's healthcare agenda, doubt remains as to whether candidates can deliver fully on their proposals, according to a report from CBR-Oracle. Clinton plans to institute a paperless health IT system; Obama intends to spend $50 billion over the next five years on healthcare IT, including electronic record systems; and McCain is encouraging use of telehealth by all physicians. The government will continue to promote health IT regardless of who is elected, according to the report. But a bigger barrier may be acceptance of healthcare IT by providers, who have yet to fully embrace or understand the technology.
For details, visit http://www.cbronline.com/article_...

Welsh hospitals to share $48.5 million telemedicine award
Hospitals in Wales will receive nearly $48.5 million (USD) to buy new equipment for use in telemedicine, according to British government officials. Most of those funds will go to trust in five districts: Swansea ($13.9 million USD), Carmarthenshire ($4.7 million USD), Conwy and Denbigshire ($4.3 million USD each), and Bro Morgannwg ($3.2 million USD). The money is the result of "careful budgeting," according to National Health Service Health Minister Edwina Hart. The funds will "help the NHS deliver better services for patients, including access to diagnostic tests, such as scans," she said. The money will also fund minor building work and help hospitals reduce energy consumption.
For details, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/7244952.stm

Coalitions urge Congress to pass health IT legislation
Members of the Health IT Now! Coalition and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) are urging Congress to pass health IT legislation this year "so doctors and patients can reap the benefits of this vital technology," according to former Rep. Nancy Johnson, co-chair of the Health IT Now! Coalition. The associations note that legislation is required to establish a nationwide electronic health record system that could prevent up to 98,000 deaths annually and eliminate most medical record errors. Two such bills have been drafted: HR 3800, the Promoting Health IT Act, which would provide $163 million each year to help providers adopt health IT, is under consideration by the House; and a similar bill, S. 1693, the Wired for Health Care Quality Act, has stalled in the Senate.
For details, visit http://www.healthitnow.org/wp-content/...

Data problems hold back Payment by Results program
Britain's Payment by Results (PbR) program would have more impact on National Health Service (NHS) activity and efficiency if problems with the quality and timeliness of data were solved, according to a report by The Audit Commission. "The Right Result" singles out the Secondary Uses Service (SUS), developed by NHS Connecting for Health and now handled by the NHS Information Centre, as failing to deliver information primary care trusts need for PbR. To compensate, many NHS trusts have developed local systems to give them the data they need, according to the report. The Payment by Results policy, introduced four years ago, is a system of paying hospitals nationally to set prices for the number of patients and types of conditions they treat.
For details, visit http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/reports/...

Prescription Web sites have limited usefulness
Extensive gaps in price information seriously hamper effectiveness of state drug price comparison Web sites, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). As of late 2007, 10 states - Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont - had Web sites providing prescription drug prices available at retail pharmacies, according to the study. All but one of the states use Medicaid pharmacy claims data, which often contain "usual and customary" price information - not the actual price paid by Medicaid for prescription drugs, but a pharmacy's general retail price to a cash-paying customer, absent any discount. Price information is also only available when a pharmacy submits a Medicaid claim containing a "usual and customary" price for a particular drug, according to the study.
For details, visit http://www.hschange.com/CONTENT/967/

EC Web site now features eTen videos
To provide support for ongoing projects funded by the European Commission's eTen program, the EC has uploaded videos of some of the projects - including a half dozen on e-health related firms - to its Web site at http://ec.europa.eu. The funding program, which ran from 2004 to 2006, offered funds to make e-services available throughout the European Union. The Web site now provides support via its "Project of the Month" program, with some of the spotlighted groups producing their own informational videos. Each video provides links to the project's Web site and eTen fact sheet. European Commission Vice President Margot Wallström noted that the commission "can not ignore the developments which have taken place on the Internet in the past few years, in particular the popularity of video sharing."
For details, visit http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/eten/project_videos/index.htm and http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/3472/ec_uploads_eten_videos_to_its_website

Australian e-health plan viewed as 'too hasty'
Australian electronic health experts are welcoming an attempt by state and federal ministers to create a national e-health strategy, but worry that the government's construction timeframes are too short. The Council of Australian Governments (CAG) is shopping for private consultants to develop the program, which will "drive solutions to patient and clinical data sharing problems in the next five to 10 years," according to Greg King, a spokesperson for IBA Health, Australia's largest e-Health specialist. CAG wants to complete the strategy by July 31, but IBA Health and the Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) - a health technology specialists group that has long advocated creation of a national e-health program - doesn't see that as realistic. "Three, or even six months is not anywhere near enough time," said HISA President Michael Legg.
For details, visit http://www.misaustralia.com/viewer.aspx?EDP://20080215000020304888

Rhode Island tightens up health data privacy and security
Lawmakers in Rhode Island have introduced a bill that creates patient privacy and data security protections for information shared through the state's forthcoming Health Information Exchange. The Rhode Island Health Information Exchange Act of 2008, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed (D-Jamestown) and House Rep. Peter Kilmartin (D-Pawtucket) ensures that patients are aware of the health information exchange and have given permission to share their data, according to Laura Adams, president of the Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI). RIQI - a not-for-profit community-based group - has been partnering with the State of Rhode Island since 2004 to lead a community-based effort to design and build a statewide electronic health information exchange.
For details, visit http://www.riqi.org/matriarch/documents/HIE_legislation.pdf and http://www.riqi.org

XTM launches remote diabetic telehealth program
Sun Valley, CA-based XTend Medical Corp. is piloting a remote diabetic monitoring program to 500 patients in Southern California. Through the program, patients can take their glucose readings and transmit results to participating physicians through an Eocene transmitter. Once the data is reviewed by the physician, any adjustments in medication, compliance with testing, and follow-up visits can be relayed immediately to the patient. "This remote diabetic monitoring program is nothing short of groundbreaking for the company and the medical community," XTend Medical Chief Executive Officer Paul Lisenby said. "Physicians [can] closely monitor diabetic patients from their office while the patients maintain their regular daily lives in their own homes." XTend Medical will eventually take the system nationwide, Lisenby said.
For details, visit http://www.medindia.net/health-press-release/...

GE buys Image Diagnost International
GE Healthcare has acquired Munich, Germany-based Image Diagnost International GmbH, a provider of information technology (IT) systems used in the diagnosis of breast cancer, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will expand GE Healthcare's capabilities in breast cancer detection, offering clinicians and national screening services one of the most comprehensive ranges of systems available, according to GE Healthcare Mammography Business General Manager David Caumartin. Image Diagnost, founded in 2005, develops integrated software solutions for mammography workflow and image processing at more than 150 locations across Germany. GE first commercialized digital mammography in 1999. Image Diagnost founder Dr. Wilfried Schneider said the merger will "bring substantial benefits to hospitals, screening services and women's healthcare worldwide."
For details, visit http://pressroom.gehealthcare.com/...

India inaugurates telemedicine project
The governor of Punjab, India plans to link five polyclinics in outlying territories to the government's medical college and hospital in Chandigarh through a new telemedicine project. Punjab Gov. and Administrator Gen. S.F. Rodrigues said the project will help the doctors and patients manage clinical problems in the five peripheral institutions. "Poor people come to these polyclinics with no means of transport and no access to diagnostic centers for medical & clinical investigations, like X-ray and laboratory tests. [Connection to] this facility can benefit them greatly," Rodrigues said. The general has asked the director of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) to start the connection process; Dr. K.K. Talwar, director of the area's Telemedicine Network Communication program, said they will "do their best to make the facility a fruitful venture" for GMCH doctors and their patients.
For details, visit http://northernlines.in/2008/...