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November 25, 2008

Technology firms set to place bets on healthcare as the next lucrative market
An aging population, rising medical costs and declining customer service ratings are pushing more technology firms into a lucrative but untapped market: healthcare. Given the expectation that newly elected President Barack Obama will overhaul the medical care industry, computer companies are beginning to view healthcare as a market that they "underestimate at their own peril," according to Andrew Rocklin, an analyst with Chicago-based Diamond Management & Technology Consultants. "Healthcare is a $2.5 trillion market in the United States alone. Anybody who chooses not to participate could be giving up a potentially large amount of revenue." That message is reaching companies with varying links to the medical industry, from Intel, with its new remote patient monitoring system, to General Electric, with an information technology business that could reach $7 billion in annual revenue within a few years. http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4AK2U620081121

Telemedicine helps improve recovery and extended lives of stroke victims
Stroke patients who receive treatment at telemedicine-supported community health centers are more likely to survive and live independently than patients treated at non-telemedicine-based facilities, according to a study by the German Federal Ministry of Research in Berlin. Researchers found that patients treated at hospitals with specialized stroke care units had a 35 percent lower risk of death and dependency one year after a stroke and a 20 percent lower death rate at 30 months. "Not only does the quality of care improve very significantly, but also the subsequent prognosis of the patients," said Dr. Heinrich Audebert, a stroke specialist at Charite Hospital in Berlin. He added that the better outcomes among patients at hospitals with specialized stroke care were associated with practices indicative of high-quality stroke care: rapid brain imaging, use of clot-dissolving drugs, assessment of stroke-related swallowing disorders, and early initiation of stroke rehabilitation. http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/...

ANSI forms new EHR workgroup to promote IT standards for healthcare
The New York City-based American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has formed a new public and private-sector working group to promote information technology standards that support clinical research and healthcare arenas. The newly formed electronic healthcare record (EHR) Clinical Research Value Case Workgroup (CRVCW) will identify priorities for the "harmonization of technical standards that are necessary to ensure the interoperability of EHRs and clinical research applications," according to CRVCW co-chairperson Dr. Rebecca Kush. It will also be pioneering a new "value case" approach that will assign priorities based on the potential for delivering value to stakeholders, Kush said. Priorities identified by the group will then be transmitted to the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel, which identifies named standards and provides implementation guidance to stakeholders. The group plans to release its findings during the first quarter of 2009. http://www.ansi.org/news_publications/news_story...

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tutu presents health IT 'Call to Action'
Health information technology and other electronic communications tools can improve health quality, efficiency, and access to care at least as much in the developing world as in industrialized countries, but there must be coordinated and aligned local and global efforts to ensure interoperability, sustainability and replicability, according to a report unveiled by South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu. The document, signed by more than 100 healthcare industry reps, health IT vendors, national governments and other groups, calls for technologies that are "person-centered, need-driven, promote health and disease prevention, and are interoperable, standards-based, collaborative, sustainable, scalable, reusable, and owned by in-country organizations." International donors should be aligned, the document says, to help "prevent the kind of fragmentation that has hampered health systems in the West." http://www.digitalhcp.com/2008/11/18/bellagio.html

New Medicare rule allows use of computer-generated faxed prescriptions
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published a final rule permitting the use of computer-generated faxes of prescriptions for Medicare patients to pharmacies until 2012. The rule, published in the Federal Register last week, reverses an earlier CMS decision to prohibit the practice. Providers can continue faxing prescriptions if their e-prescribing systems do not actually send an electronic prescription or refill request to a pharmacy, but generate a computerized fax. CMS' earlier effort to prohibit the faxes was designed to encourage vendors and physicians to use "true" e-prescribing systems. But public comments convinced federal officials that the industry was not ready for the transition. http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/...

CCHIT seeks ideas for new health IT certification efforts
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) is soliciting ideas for adding new certification efforts for health care information technology. During December, a form will be available on the group's Web site at www.cchit.org , for submitting comments. Users of the form can provide information on the benefits of expanding certification into a new area, the readiness of that area for certification and an estimate of the effort required to develop certification in that area. CCHIT currently certifies inpatient and ambulatory electronic health record systems (EHRs), health information exchanges and emergency department EHRs. http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/...

Videoconferencing services approved for Canadian telemedicine network
Ontario, Canada-based nonprofit Amherstburg Family Health Team (AFHT) has received approval from the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) to begin delivery of health-related services via videoconferencing. According to Mike Levitt, OTN Administrator, OTN helps deliver clinical care between healthcare providers and patients via two-way videoconferencing systems and telediagnostic instruments such as digital stethoscopes and patient examination cameras. "Implementation of the OTN system will provide new access for our patients and healthcare professionals to consult with out-of-town specialists and physicians," Levitt said. "Videoconferencing with out-of-town physicians will provide timely diagnosis and treatment options, as well as reduce the need for patients to drive to and from Toronto or London to see the specialist." Implementation meetings with OTN will take place in December, with service installation expected in spring 2009, Levitt added. http://www.amherstburgecho.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1304129

Telehealth providers increasingly rely on electronics to make it a small world
Telehealth innovators are relying on a variety of electronic means to make high-quality healthcare available remotely, according to an iHealth report from the California HealthCare Foundation. "Right Here Right Now: Ten Telehealth Pioneers Make it Work" reviews various approaches in encouraging health IT use, including use of virtual house calls, more-efficient office visits and medical research, cost-effective expert advice and second opinions, access in rural areas, medical education made available internationally, and around-the-clock radiology coverage. Care recipients are far-reaching, in locales such as the Scottish isles, Boston, Oahu, Hawaii, Singapore and Chile. "The organizations here share at least two things in common," the report notes. "They are driven innovators, and they have a goal of improving people's health." http://www.chcf.org/topics/view.cfm?itemID=133788

Internet search engines become consumers' top choice for medical information
Consumers have greater access to health-related information thanks to the power of the search engine, according to a report from Scottsdale, AZ-based iCrossing. According to "How America Searches: Health and Wellness," 59 percent of American adults now use the Internet to find or access health- and wellness-related information. The Internet now surpasses the physicians themselves as an information source, although 55 percent of respondents admitted to using their doctor for medical info to some degree. Of the online tools and resources used most frequently to locate health information, general search engines were the most popular, tabbed by 67 percent of respondents, followed by health portals (46 percent) and social media (34 percent). http://www.medseekblog.typepad.com/medseek... and http://www.fortherecordmag.com/archives/...

UH-Birmingham named overall winner at BT e-Health Insider awards
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust came away as the overall winner in the latest BT e-Health Insider awards, capturing the Excellence in Healthcare Information Management award, according to event promoters. There were eight winners total in the 2008 awards program, which attracted a record number of categories and entrants. Other winners included Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust for best use of wireless healthcare; Sign Translate Ltd. for best healthcare ICT product innovation; NHS National Services Scotland for best use of IM&T to promote patient safety; and healthcare ICT champion of the year York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/4335/...

Carestream Health, NDMA to develop joint product integration network
Berwyn, PA-based Carestream Health Inc., and Rochester, N.Y.-headquartered National Digital Medical Archive Inc. (NDMA) are joining forces to develop product integration initiatives designed to support the expansion of NDMA's national imaging network. The project will also improve customer access to NDMA's analytics and data management services, according to Bernard Algayres, Carestream Health's General Manager of eHealth Managed Services. "The goal of this collaboration is to provide solutions that can help hospitals and freestanding medical imaging facilities maximize revenue and profitability, enhance equipment and resource utilization, and improve patient care and outcomes," he said. The companies plan to integrate each other's technologies to create services that will enable healthcare facilities to better manage, process and evaluate digital medical images and accompanying data, according to Algayres. http://www.carestreamhealth.com/publicNewsReleases...

Most U.S. households do not track personal health data, according to survey
Only 3 in 10 U.S. consumers keep track of their personal health information, compared to 56 percent who say they do not, according to a survey by Forrester Research. Fifteen percent of the survey's 5,242 respondents say they do not know if their household tracks such data. Of the households that do, 76 percent use a paper-based record-keeping system, while 11 percent use a Web-based service or program. Ten percent use a personal computer program, such as Microsoft Word or Excel, to track the data. http://www.ihealthbeat.org/data-points/2008/...

• Home Telehealth & Remote Patient Monitoring for Hospitals & Health Systems Forum
  January 21-23, 2009 - Philadelphia, PA
  Home Telehealth & Remote Patient Monitoring for Hospitals & Health Systems is a three-day industry forum highlighting the latest trends, best case studies, hands-on experiences, and innovative strategies from America's top telehealth hospitals, facilities and other prestigious organizations.
  A special discount is being offered to the first 15 people who register early; mention the code MLP when registering. To learn more, contact Gia Bosch at (414) 221-1700, ext. 130, or gbosch@acius.net.
  
  
• The World Health Care Congress 2nd Annual Leadership Summit on Consumer Connectivity
  February 23-24, 2009 - The Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa
  This Summit will offer compelling strategies for providers, insurers and employers to revolutionize health care through the integration and adoption of eHealth applications and personal health management tools.
  
  
• ATA 2009 - Focus on Hot Topics and Outcomes
  April 26-28, 2009 - Las Vegas, NV
  Recognized throughout the world as the primary forum for the telemedicine industry, ATA's peer-reviewed oral and poster presentations and certificate courses set the standard for medical education on the topics of telemedicine and telehealth. The ATA Expo offers over 100,000 square feet of the latest in telemedicine products and services.

To showcase your event here, please email us at events@telemedicinealerts.com

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

Telethinking With Adam Darkins, M.D. — Chief Consultant for Care Coordination, Department of Veterans Affairs
Vicki Glaser
Telemedicine and e-Health. October 2008, 14(8): 739-743.
Dr. Darkins trained as a neurosurgeon and undertook research in cognitive function before working in health services development. He has worked to develop services that change the location of care with an emphasis on patient self-management. He first used telemedicine/telehealth in the mid 1990s to address operational challenges in improving access to care in community settings for large populations of patients. 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.

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Telemedicine and e-Health is the Official journal of the American Telemedicine Association.
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