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October 10, 2008

National Institutes of Health to launch IT-based health-tracking project on U.S. kids
Information technology is poised to play a key role in a National Institutes of Health-backed study that will follow the health of 100,000 U.S. children from birth to age 21 beginning next January. The study, authorized by the Children's Health Act of 2000, will examine the effects of genes and environmental factors on the health of volunteer American children in 105 locations nationwide, according to Sarah Keim, deputy director for operations and logistics at the National Children's Center in Washington, D.C. Data collection will be a central component, especially information dating prior to conception of the children, Keim said. "A major challenge is to provide an IT architecture that supports 105 study locations, with additional field sites at each, that is compliant with the Federal Information Security Management Act and is still reasonably easy to use," she said. As more doctors nationwide deploy electronic medical record systems in their offices, data from patient records will be used in the study as well, Keim added. http://www.informationweek.com/news/...

European nations take joint first step across e-health borders
Twelve European Commission member nations are collaborating on a project designed to ensure interoperability between the countries' e-health systems. The European patient Smart Open Services (epSOS) project will also help citizens benefit from the latest health technology wherever they travel in the European Union, according to Fabio Colasanti, European Commission director general in charge of information society and media in Brussels, Belgium. Currently, every EC member state has its own system of storing healthcare information, yet these systems often cannot "talk" to each other, Colasanti said. The large-scale pilot program is scheduled to run through the end of 2012. Participating nations include Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. http://www.healthtechwire.com/... and http://www.epsos.eu/index.html

New interactive video tries to stem tide of war-related Army suicides
The U.S. Army has unveiled a mandatory interactive video designed to reduce a record-high suicide rate among active-duty soldiers. The video, "Beyond the Front," puts soldiers in the boots of 19-year-old Midwesterner, "Kyle Norton," after a bomb-clearing mission in Iraq. Norton encounters relationship troubles, financial problems and scrapes with the law, items that Army research shows are major events that precipitate suicide. The suicide rate is 18.1 per 100,000 soldiers as of 2007, up from 12.4 per 100,000 in 2003, when the Iraq war started. Ninety-three soldiers have killed themselves as of the end of August this year, according to Army statistics. "We are hoping it will make a difference," said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, a psychiatrist at the Army Surgeon General's Office. Army officials will begin distributing 14,000 copies of the video by December, making it mandatory instruction for all active, National Guard and Reserve units. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/...

Link found between pay-for-performance efforts and IT use
California physicians who consistently use information technology in their practices had the highest scores in a recent set of pay-for-performance (P4P) awards offered by the Integrated Healthcare Association. Those practices involved with IT had performance scores that were, on average, 40 percent higher than those that did not use such devices, according to IHA's fifth annual P4P performance awards. The results, to be posted in November on the California Office of the Patient Advocate Web site at www.opa.ca.gov, will be used by health insurers such as Aetna, Blue Shield and Cigna to calculate incentive payments for distribution to physician groups in 2009. Steven Halpern, M.D., senior medical director for CIGNA HealthCare, said his company was "pleased that so many medical groups have embraced P4P in recent years and are using it as a foundation for implementing systems that continually enhance care." http://www.iha.org/p4pyr6/... and http://www.iha.org/p4pyr6/...

Australian medical data Internet goes live, boosts research among scientists
Medical and life scientists will share information from thousands of cases through a new digital network at The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. The BioGrid network, a collaborative venture between ANU and virtual research platform BioGrid Australia, will allow practitioners from hospitals, universities and research centers to share and aggregate data on diseases like cancer, dementia, diabetes and cystic fibrosis, according to Associate Professor Desmond Yip, a medical oncologist with ANU Medical School. Researchers using BioGrid will be able to extract the de-identified data they need to test hypotheses using their own analytical tools. The information in the virtual repository will be extracted on a regular basis from all source databases and then mapped back into local repositories at each site, according to Yip. http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=738

New 'How-To' guide helps clinicians switch from paper to e-prescription systems
A first-ever 'How-To' guide has been released by a Boston-based nonprofit healthcare foundation to help physicians decide how and when to transition from paper to electronic prescribing systems. "A Clinician's Guide to Electronic Prescribing," released by the eHealth Initiative, is designed to meet the needs of two target audiences: office-based clinicians who are new to the concept of e-prescribing, and those who are ready to move forward and bring e-prescribing into their practices. The guide presents fundamental questions and steps to follow in planning for, selecting and implementing an e-prescribing system, and offers a list of key references and resources readers may consult to make the transition to e-prescribing as smooth as possible, according to eHI Chief Executive Officer Janet Marchibroda. The full prescriber guide is available at www.ehealthinitiative.org. http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/news/2008-10-07.mspx and http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/assets/...

GAO study looks at IT use and infection control rates in hospitals
Use of the Centers for Disease Control's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) has resulted in improved infection control procedures at hospitals, according to a new study by the General Accounting Office (GAO). "Health-Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals" identified 14 hospitals and hospital systems in 23 states that used mandatory healthcare-associated infection (HAI) reporting systems as of last February, with many making changes such as new hand hygiene practices and different surface disinfection techniques as a result of using NHSN guidelines. Hospitals that tracked methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection rates also reported a decline in the infections as a result of their efforts, according to the report. IT also plays a role, with hospitals using electronic health record systems to identify patients who have not been tested for MRSA, the report notes. http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-808 and http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08808.pdf

Doctors offered cash incentive to boost use of England's e-appointment program
A London Primary Care Trust is offering to pay general practitioners $6 [USD] for every referral made through Choose and Book, a national electronic booking service that gives patients a choice of place, date and time for their first outpatient appointment in a hospital or clinic. Bromley PCT has made the offer in an effort to improve use of the appointment service in London, which is England's worst-performing strategic health authority on the plan, according to Choose and Book National Director Nick Chapman. In general, about 53 percent of the nation's referrals go through the system, far short of the 90 percent target planned for early 2009. The local medical committee notes that participation will only improve if local hospitals offer more available appointments. http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/4215/...

Scotland NHS given $1.7 million to tighten up IT security - starting with USB ports
Scotland's 14 National Health Service (NHS) boards will share $1.7 million [USD] to help improve their information technology security, starting with software to secure their computer USB ports. The funding, from the Scottish government's e-health budget, will help the boards comply with new federal standards on encrypting NHS data. The new encryption rules were implemented after the discovery last May of paper patient records at a hospital that closed in 2005. Primarily intended to ensure security of laptops and USB memory sticks, the new standard applies equally to other mobile devices such as PDAs, CDs, BlackBerries or DVDs. Scotland Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said the new benchmark for information security "should help patients rest assured that their details are in safer hands." http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/... and http://www.ehealth.scot.nhs.uk/

FCC awards $1.6 million telemedicine grant to Wisconsin IT network
The Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative Information Technology Network (RWHC ITN) in Sauk City, WI, will receive $1.6 million over the next five years from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help deploy a broadband network in that part of the state. RWHC is the first network to receive funding from the FCC's rural healthcare pilot program, which plans to distribute up to $400 million over the next three years to regions that need high-speed networks to support telehealth. The announcement comes almost a year after the FCC released the Rural Health Care Pilot Program Selection Order, which identified 69 projects from 43 states that qualified for funding. RWHC will use the funds to supply broadband to four critical access hospitals, two physician clinics and two data centers involved in hospital information system and electronic health record initiatives, RWHC Chief Information Officer Louis Wenzlow said. http://www.rwhc.com/whatsnew/FCCPressRelease.pdf

California's Schwarzenegger signs HIPAA-based healthcare privacy bills
A pair of bills signed into law by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gives Golden State-based healthcare organizations two more reasons to comply with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)'s data security and privacy requirements. The bills, Senate Bill 541 and Assembly Bill 211, increase state fines for security and privacy violations involving patient information, and they set new breach-disclosure standards and mandate security controls for preventing unauthorized access to patient data. AB 211 also establishes a state Office of Health Information Integrity responsible for enforcing statutes and fines on the confidentiality of healthcare data. The new laws come at a time when the federal government has increased its HIPAA enforcement efforts, according to Peter MacKoul, president of consulting firm HIPAA Solutions LC in Sugarland, TX. http://www.computerworld.com/action/... and http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/... and http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/...

IT specialist Sectra awarded $51 million contract for radiology program in Ireland
Northern Ireland's Department of Health has awarded a 10-year, $51.8 million [USD] contract to Swedish medical information technology specialist Sectra for implementation and management of a radiology information and images program. The program will be carried out in 25 hospitals, organized in five medical trusts. The contract is Sectra's largest ever, according to Sectra-UK/Ireland Managing Director Jan Wolffram. "This major project is unique in the way it links together so many hospitals for a totally seamless workflow of images and information throughout their entire public healthcare system," Wolffram said. Nearly 1 million radiology exams are performed in Ireland every year, Wolffram adds. http://www.sectra.com/global/news/...

• 2008 AHIMA Convention and Exhibit
  October 11-16, 2008 - Seattle, WA
  The 2008 AHIMA Convention and Exhibit presents incomparable opportunities to connect with colleagues and learn from key leaders who influence change in health information management. Take advantage of the exceptional educational sessions, explore the exhibit hall and network with fellow HIM professionals.
  
  
• 2008 5th Annual Connected Health Symposium
  October 27-28, 2008 - The Conference Center at Harvard Medical, Boston, MA
  Who Provides, Who Decides, Who Pays: Consumers, Clinicians and Business Models in the Connected Care Era

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

Innovative Programs in Telemedicine: The Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Kevin D. Blanchet
Telemedicine and e-Health. September 2008, 14(7): 637-641.
As medical subspecialties go, child abuse is unique. The field is small and tight-knit with only a few fellowship opportunities available at major medical centers. Those involved are eagerly awaiting the first subspecialty board examinations in child abuse to be offered in November 2009. Pediatricians who specialize as child abuse experts find that reimbursement for their services is practically nonexistent. While the need remains great and continues to grow, funding opportunities for programs are often limited. 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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