JANUARY 4, 2008

CIGNA HealthCare to take Virtual House Call program nationwide
After a successful trial run in four states, CIGNA HealthCare has announced that it will expand its "virtual house call" RelayHealth program nationwide this year. The program, which enables patients to contact their physicians via the Internet and vice-versa, was used in California, Arizona, Florida and the Tri-State/New York metropolitan area for 18 months beginning in July 2006 and "made patient access to their doctors easier, helped improve the doctor's office workflow and improved employee productivity," according to CIGNA HealthCare Chief Medical Officer Jeffrey Kang, M.D. The expansion also comes shortly after the American Medical Association established regulations allowing reimbursement for online consultations.
For complete story, visit http://cigna.tekgroup.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=832

Report: Consumer groups are better at promoting health IT than government
Consumers, businesses and nonprofit groups are doing a better job at promoting and adopting health information technology initiatives than the federal government, according to a report from Heartland.org. The report notes that there has been a growing number of initiatives within the private sector that are making better headway due to the emergence of Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs), which are "far ahead of the federal government in using electronic networks to exchange health data." Of 391 active RHIOs in the United States, 42 are in New York, followed by 38 in Minnesota, 31 in California and 20 in Florida.
For complete story, visit http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22413

American Telemedicine Conference set for Seattle in April
The preliminary program for the American Telemedicine Conference's 2008 conference in Seattle is now available, ATA announced. The world's largest scientific meeting and exposition focusing exclusively on telemedicine, ATA's 13th annual conference and exposition is April 6-8 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. The meeting includes hundreds of presentations, posters, workshops and exhibits. Speakers include Louis J. Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel Corp.'s Digital Health Group, and Lee Woodruff, author of In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing. More than 2,100 attendees from throughout the world are expected.
For complete story, visit http://www.atmeda.org/conf/2008/opener.htm

InferMed, Cogon Systems team up on hand-held computers for U.S. Army
London-based InferMed Ltd., a provider of advanced decision support and data capture solutions for clinical research and practice, has joined forces with Pensacola, FL-based healthcare software maker Cogon Systems Inc. to develop advanced clinical decision support tools for hand-held computer use within the U.S. Army's Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center. The project, which will combine InferMed's patient care protocol system with Cogon's mobile patient information service, will be carried out at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA. According to both companies, the project's goal will be determine whether the use of mobile technology has a positive impact on patient care and physician efficiency.
For complete story, visit http://www.infermed.com/index.php/news/item/48

Rwanda's New Year's resolution: connect all district hospitals this year
All major hospitals in Rwanda will be connected to each other this year via high-speed Internet, according to the nation's Web services director. Dr. Richard Gakuba, director of National e-Health Scheme, said the government plans to install high-speed fiber optic cable lines throughout the country to connect the medical facilities and eliminate a long-standing problem of slow - or no - communication between the sites. All hospitals will also have access to the Ministry of Health's medical database. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Global Fund are jointly financing the plan, which should also improve Rwandan hospitals' ability to contact other hospitals outside the country for consultations.
For complete story, visit http://allafrica.com/stories/200712310855.html

InferX strikes telehealth deal with Department of Veterans Affairs
The U.S. government has given InferX Corp. the task of improving the way the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) diagnoses diabetes. According to InferX, a McLean, VA-based provider of analytical software solutions, the company has received a long-term contract the VA's Office of Care Coordination in Support of Telehealth for automating the process of reading retinal images for diagnosing diabetes. The ultimate goal is to use the diagnostic aids to help determine clinical level of diabetic retinopathy by classifying teleretinal data to the standards and protocols used now by VA, according to InferX Chief Executive Officer Scott Parliament.
For complete story, visit http://www.inferx.com/index.htm and http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,248246.shtml

Filipino doctors extend virtual hands to remote regions
Once-far away regions of the Philippines are now closer in reach thanks to "virtual" hands placed into service a few weeks ago by the University of the Philippines National Telehealth Center (NTHC). NTHC is now using available technology, such as short messaging services, voice mail and e-mail, to provide medical advice to more than 30 government doctors stationed in remote locations nationwide, according to NTHC Director Alvin Marcelo. Government doctors use the text messaging program to refer "problematic cases" to the NTHC, which in turn refers them to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, Marcelo said. But the work is just beginning: Marcelo estimates there are more than 470 areas in the country where there are no government doctors.
For complete story, visit http://www.telehealth.ph/elearnings/display/?#8

West Virginia Chamber: EHR system needed to control paperwork
One of the nation's smallest states has a big problem: high medical care costs. The culprit? Too much paperwork. The answer: An electronic health record system. So it goes in West Virginia, where the state Chamber of Commerce is spreading the word about the merits of the EHR system to anyone who will listen. According to Chamber President Steve Roberts, nearly one-fourth of all costs associated with providing health care in America comes from paperwork. An EHR system would virtually eliminate that expense, according to Roberts. Such a system would be good news for the state and small businesses, which typically have to battle for every dollar they make in West Virginia, Roberts said.
For complete story, visit http://www.dailymail.com/Business/200712170113 and http://www.wvchamber.com/Portals/0/WVC/Policy/2008%20Policy%20Papers/WVCC%202008%20Policy
_HealthInfoTech.pdf

Telemedical 'Digital Divide' is more pronounced among poor, research shows
America's "Digital Divide" - the number of people with access to the Internet vs. those without - is best measured by considering income as well as availability of Web access, according to a new paper from researchers at Temple University's Department of Geography and Urban Studies in Philadelphia. "Theorizing the Digital Divide" argues there is a need for a policy shift of concern over people who lack computers, to an examination of how Internet information resources are accessed and used among different social classes. The paper's findings note that those at the lower end of the income spectrum face shortcomings in how digital information is accessed, shared and used.
For complete story, visit http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&
_udi=B6V68-4RDBF8J-&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F21%2F2007&_alid=670389887&_rdoc=3&_
fmt=summary&_orig=search&_cdi=5808&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=225&_
acct=C000050221&_version=1&_ urlVersion=0&_ userid=10&md5=7c7fd2a8bad6d08946b6835e18e5fff4

Health insurance remains a mystery among Americans, survey shows
Consumers continue to lack a basic understanding of their own health insurance coverage, according to a new report from e-Health Inc., provider of the nation's largest online health insurance programs. The study notes that although Americans begin each year striving to be healthier - including acquiring health insurance - most of them don't have a clue of even the most basic health insurance terms. Only half of survey respondents knew how much their monthly or annual premiums were, and few of them actually understood terms such as "HMO," "PPO" or "HSA." Most Americans would rather hit the gym or prepare their taxes instead of read up on their insurance policy, the report notes.
For complete story, visit
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=201232&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1090963&highlight=

University of Virginia to expand telemedicine program to Meadowview clinic
The University of Virginia Telemedicine Network has received federal funding that will allow it to establish a telemedicine link with its newly constructed clinic in Meadowview, VA, U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher announced. According to Boucher, D-VA, the telemedicine link should be in place by mid 2008. When complete, Meadowview Health Clinic, which opened in August 2007, will become the network's 56th telemedicine link. More than $1.5 million in block grants and low interest loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture went toward construction of the facility.
For complete story, visit
http://www.swvatoday.com/comments/boucher_looks_toward_a_greener_america/news/1388/

Telemedicine could go mobile in India
All they want is wheels: the government of Rajasthan, a province of India, has filed a Request for Proposal with the state Department of Information Technology and Communication, asking for a VSAT-based mobile telemedicine van to help provide the area with "effective and efficient medical relief." The Mobile Telemedicine Unit would offer an instant, multi-way high-capacity communication link between hospitals and remote sites on demand. Connectivity supplied would support data, voice and video communication. The MTU would also be supplied with drinking water, fuel, food, medicine and reagents for long trips through relatively barren areas.
For complete story, visit http://www.igovernment.in/site/rajasthan-floats-rfp-for-telemedicine-mobile-van/

Click here to Update Your Profile or Unsubscribe