Telemedicine and e-Health News

Advertisement


HEM-670ITN Blood Pressure Monitor Better than a slap on the wrist • Includes Omron Health Management Software-easily takes blood pressure readings and directly downloads them to a PC; statistics are organized into easy-to-read graphs to chart trends over time. • Advanced Positioning Sensor confirms the monitor is at heart level, ensuring an accurate reading, and it detects advanced diagnostics including morning hypertension and irregular heartbeat. • New wrist design for ease of use. To learn more: Omron Healthcare www.omronhealthcare.com/ RP-7® Remote Presence Robot Yes, you can be in two places at once • Remote Presence is the ability to project yourself to another location to move, see, hear and talk as though you were actually there. • Under the direct control of a remote physician seated at a Control Station, the RP-7 Robot can move untethered, allowing the physician to observe patient behavior, check bedside monitors and ventilator settings, listen to heart and lung sounds, and interact with patients, family members and hospital staff from anywhere, anytime. To learn more: InTouch Health www.intouchhealth.com

July 25, 2008

Mobile medics to shape forthcoming medical device and e-health market
A growing reliance upon mobility by healthcare workers will drive the medical device and consumer electronics markets to new highs during the next decade, according to a study by Cambridge, United Kingdom-based analyst Wireless Healthcare. "Wireless Healthcare 2008" notes that many companies will enter the medical device market through diet and fitness monitoring segments, which can be launched without undergoing long, complex and expensive approval procedures. "Some of these companies will attempt to emulate ones like Polar Electronics, which has built a strong presence in the e-health sector and uses its sports and fitness monitoring technology to capture vital signs data in e-health applications," Wireless Healthcare Analyst Peter Kruger said. Sales of preventative healthcare devices will also be driven by aging baby boomers concerned enough about their health to purchase a device privately rather than wait for their healthcare provider to prescribe one. http://www.wirelesshealthcare.co.uk/wh/pressroom.htm

Healthcare industry plans medical version of online encyclopedia Wikipedia
Medical professionals want to create their own version of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in an effort to provide consumers with access to easy-to-understand health information. Written and edited only by trained professionals, the Medpedia Project will compile the type of information usually found only in academic circles, according to Medpedia founder James Currier. "Medicine is one of the least-developed areas of the Internet, and at the same time one of the areas that can be most improved by the Internet," Currier said. Physicians, medical schools, hospitals, health organizations and public health professionals have signed on to assist in building the site, including Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. The Web site will be launched by the end of the year; a preview can be seen at www.medpedia.com. http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-fi-medpedia23-2008jul23,0,1873061.story

Scotland physicians to prescribe telephone and online therapy
The Scottish government has authorized a three-year, $6 million [USD] pilot study on the effects of telephone and online-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). General practitioners in the Western Isles, Shetland, Greater Glasgow and Clyde-Lothian regions will be able to refer patients to the telephone-based CBT system. The patients may then call a National Health Service number - NHS 24 - and be talked through ways to ease anxiety and depression. One-to-one self-help clinics, group sessions, workbooks and college courses are also being run to aid patients with their CBT, and a Web site with self-help tips and other advice is being developed, according to Scotland Public Health Minister Shona Robison. "This funding will deliver accessible, user-friendly cognitive behavioral therapy, and put people more in control of their mental health," Robison said. ce companies to show the financial benefits of AAL projects for the social security systems," he said. http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/... and http://www.livinglifetothefull.com/index.php

XTend Medical to tap into lucrative European telemedicine market
Sun Valley, CA-based XTend Medical Corp. in August is beginning a telemedicine program in Europe to track the remote monitoring of diabetic patients. The company is making the move due to its popularity with European companies that came to the U.S. to view XTend's telemedicine programs, according to XTend Chief Executive Officer Paul Lisenby. Business sense is also involved, as the European telemedicine market is expected to reach $236 million by 2014, according to Frost and Sullivan. "Having a presence in Europe will assist the company as we grow our brand globally over the next three years and on," Lisenby said. The company will release further details on the program as it obtains results of the monitoring, Lisenby added. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/...

Public believes EMRs carry three times more risk of theft than paper
Electronic medical records (EMRs) are believed to be nearly three times more likely to be stolen or lost than paper, according to a survey by Harris Interactive. The Harris Poll noted that 47 percent of respondents believe EMRs are the most likely to be stolen or lost, compared to 16 percent for paper records. Twenty-three percent of respondents believed either could be easily lost. "For this Harris Poll, we were trying to measure perceptions among the public of having suffered a loss or theft of medical records or health information from health-information holders," said Dr. Alan Westin, coordinator of the study. "The harms involved in loss or theft of medical records involve not just worries about medical identity theft but also feelings of personal violation and fears of potential misuse or publication of sensitive medical information." http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=930

Australian e-health researchers receive nearly $20 million for healthcare ICT
The Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC) has received $19.2 million [USD] to further the center's efforts to develop new ways to improve healthcare using information and communication technologies (ICT). The funds were granted by the Commonwealth Scientific Research Organization and the Queensland government. Initiatives to be undertaken include a $4.8 million [USD] high-speed broadband project for remote medicine, and $1.9 million [USD] for a system to track patient information. "This funding will ensure that we have the critical mass to apply technology to make a real difference to health outcomes," AEHRC Chief Executive Officer Gary Morgan said. The $20 million should fund AEHRC through 2012, according to Morgan. http://www.csiro.au/news/eHealthFunding.html

Computer illiteracy slowing down adoption of e-health by Canadians
Integration of e-health into the Canadian healthcare system is being hampered by the adult population's low literacy and technology skills, according to a study by researchers from York University and the University of Toronto. More than 40 percent of Canadian adults have literacy levels below what is considered necessary to optimally participate in society, and many e-health resources are inaccessible to large portions of the population, according to York University Faculty of Health Dean Harvey Skinner. E-health literacy is defined as the ability to read, use computers, search for information and put it into context. In developing the report, Skinner and Prof. Cameron Norman of the University of Toronto created an e-health literacy scale to assess people's ability to understand health data presented on Web sites. "We're finding a real lack of ability and opportunity to use e-health resources among those we would expect to be skilled users," Skinner said. http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/... and http://www.health.yorku.ca/news/

NuPhysicia, My Healthy Access to run telemedicine clinics at Wal-Mart
Texas-based medical service providers NuPhysicia LLC and My Healthy Access Inc. have entered an agreement to run telemedicine clinics at select Wal-Mart Supercenters in the city of Houston. The new clinics will operate under the name "Walk-In Telemedicine Health Care." Under the agreement, patients will receive telemedical care through paramedics, who will examine them under direct supervision of a remote physician, according to NuPhysicia President Glenn G. Hammack. "The program replaces care typically provided by nurse practitioners at retail clinics," Hammack said. "Our alliance takes that care a step further, bringing new levels of service, convenience and value to the retail healthcare setting through interactive physician visits." Galveston-based NuPhysicia specializes in providing telemedicine services worldwide, while Houston-headquartered My Healthy Access provides retail healthcare services to the urban marketplace. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2008/07/21/daily4.html

Microsoft launches European version of Amalga e-record system
After a successful run in the United States, Microsoft is introducing its Amalga electronic medical record system to European healthcare. In use at U.S. healthcare facilities and networks such as Johns Hopkins, Novant Health, St. Joseph's and MedStar Health for the past 10 years, Amalga will give European physicians up-to-the-minute information about their health enterprises, according to Graham Harrop, director of Microsoft's Europe and Middle East Health Solutions Group. "The amount of data in hospitals is increasing exponentially. One of healthcare providers' biggest challenges is that care givers can't access patient information when and where they need it," Harrop said. "Amalga offers proven solutions that bring together information from across the healthcare enterprise into one easily accessible view." No timeline for implementation has been released. http://www.ehealthnews.eu/content/view/1257/26/

Doctors take online video route toward attracting more patients
Attempting to attract more patients and compete with the Internet, physicians are increasingly posting video profiles on their Web sites to give potential clients more data about their qualifications. This corresponds to a growing trend by patients to use the Internet for medical information. Proponents say the videos offer insight into a doctor's personality and help consumers make healthcare provider decisions. They can also, for example, help consumers choose between healthcare providers with similar credentials and medical track records, according to National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg. But others, such as Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollock, note that consumers should not make such decisions based solely on what is presented or said in the videos. http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2008/...

New housing plans mean increased remote patient monitoring for England's elderly
Telemedicine services are about to go on the rise in England following announcement of a $160 million [USD] plan to build extra care housing allowing more elderly people and those with long term care conditions to live in homes of their own. Twenty-five locations nationwide have been selected as sites for 2,035 extra care homes to be constructed over the next two years, according to Health Minister Ivan Lewis. The homes will offer tenants "greater privacy, dignity and independence," with some degree of healthcare offered through remote patient monitoring, Lewis said. England's Department of Health has already allocated nearly $300 million [USD] for extra care housing, resulting in 72 housing schemes and 4,200 separate dwellings since 2004. http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.asp...

Popularity of online consultations continues in slow-growth mode
After more than four years in the mainstream in Florida and a few states, online doctor consultations are catching on, although not like many had hoped. Only a fraction of doctors offer the service, and a small number of their patients take advantage. Less than 4 percent of 990,000 doctors involved with Cigna and Aetna, which currently cover the service, offer online consultations. It's a Catch-22, experts note: physicians won't provide consultations unless patients show interest, but patients won't show an interest in the service unless they know doctors are providing it. Some doctors remain traditionalists, preferring the in-person visit, which they say has a lesser risk of misdiagnosis. But supporters say the service can be limited to basic health issues for greater accuracy. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/...

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

Pioneers in Telemedicine Interview with COL Ron K. Poropatich, M.D.
Interview by Vicki Glaser
COL Ron Poropatich, M.D., is assigned to the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) at Fort Detrick, Maryland as the Deputy Director to the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) and the USAMRMC Military Liaison to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). COL Poropatich is also the Medical Informatics Consultant for the U.S. Army Surgeon General where he works toward wide-scale implementation of IM/IT solutions across the Army Medical Department. He is a former President and Board Member of the American Telemedicine Association and a practicing Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine physician at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC. He is also an Associate Editor for Telemedicine and e-Health Journal. 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.

This email was sent by: The Mary Ann Liebert Companies
140 Huguenot Street, 3rd Floor, New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215, USA
Phone: 914-740-2100 (Toll Free in USA/Canada) 1-800-M-LIEBERT Fax: 914-740-2101 Email: info@liebertpub.com