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October 21, 2008

Healthcare industry slowly turns to Web 2.0 for private health issues
Web 2.0 is "slowly but surely" making its mark upon the healthcare industry through the emergence of open source technology such as social networking Web sites and electronic health records, according to a report in Newsweek . The report notes that Web 2.0's ideals of transparency and decentralized problem-solving have "done wonders for" software and could also benefit diabetics and Parkinson's sufferers. A growing number of Web-savvy healthcare practitioners are also realizing that making data about a person's health freely available to family, friends and doctors could enhance quality of care and may become an everyday occurrence. "On the one hand, you care a lot about the privacy of health information," said Peter Neupert, a Microsoft Vice President in charge of the company's health-related products. "But in order to make it valuable, you have to be able to share." http://www.newsweek.com/id/164231

FTC shuts down, freezes assets of international spam e-mail network
One of the world's largest spam operations - which regularly encouraged people to click through to fake or misleading medical product Web sites - has been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The network, involving countries from New Zealand to China and the United States, sent out billions of e-mails annually promoting Web sites with false claims for prescription drugs, including "male enhancement" and weight loss pills, according to FTC Midwest Region Director Steve Baker. The sites were difficult to distinguish from legitimate online pharmacies and typically marketed products as being "100 percent herbal and safe," when they actually couldn't verify their claim, Baker said. They also lacked proper security protocols for online transactions. A federal judge in Chicago has issued a temporary injunction to halt the operation and frozen its assets; those involved could face criminal charges, according to Baker. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/10/herbalkings.shtm

Australia hopes new IT program will reduce medication error rates
The use of new information technology could significantly reduce the number of drug-related injuries in Australian hospitals, according to a University of Sydney researcher. Prof. Johanna Westbrook is currently heading research into the use of revolutionary electronic medication management systems (e-MMS). Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the world-first three-year program will examine whether these systems have a significant impact on patient care and the efficiency of medical professionals. Virtually no data exists in Australia on local medication-related error rates, but overseas figures indicate that one-third of all preventable medication-related harm is caused by drug administration errors, according to Westbrook. http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/...

FDA unveils drug safety Web page for healthcare providers and consumers
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has launched a single-page Web site to help consumers and healthcare professionals find a wide variety of safety information about prescription drugs. The Web page at www.fda.gov/cder/drugSafety.htm offers links to information on items such as drug labeling, Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) benefits, and drug-specific safety information. "By placing Web links to these up-to-date resources on a single page, we're helping consumers and health care professionals find drug safety information faster and easier," said Paul Seligman, M.D., M.P.H., associate director of Safety Policy and Communication in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "This type of communication is aimed at helping consumers and healthcare professionals make well-informed decisions about medication use." http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01904.html

Alberta to offer Canada's first prescription medical information online
Alberta is set to become the first province in Canada to allow residents to access private information online whenever they wish. The Progressive Conservative government plans to start slowly, at first offering only a bit of information such as vaccination records. However, the end goal is to post everything, including prescriptions, X-rays and laboratory test results, according to Mark Brisson, executive director of information management for Alberta Health. Although the budget is still being finalized, the province hopes to have the Web portal running within a few months. That's a far cry from the start of the program earlier this year, when Alberta spent months researching whether residents would even want or use the technology. But Alberta can take this step because it's already developed an electronic medical record system accessible exclusively to healthcare providers. Every other province and territory is now setting up similar paperless systems, Brisson said. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/...

Despite error-reduction capability, CPOE still not a hit with American hospitals
Fewer than 10 percent of American hospitals have a fully implemented Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) system, and those facilities are achieving varying results, according to a study by the Washington, D.C.-based consortium The Leapfrog Group. Leapfrog estimates that CPOE systems can cut medication errors by at least in half when used properly. Unfortunately, the systems need to be customized to the individual hospitals to be most effective, according to Leapfrog Group Chief Executive Officer Leah Binder. "There is no doubt that hospitals investing in CPOE are taking positive steps to address medication safety, and a transition period between installation and effective implementation is natural and expected," Binder said. "We all need to recognize that installing a system is really just the beginning." http://www.leapfroggroup.org/media/file/...

North Dakota Blue Cross-Blue Shield to start statewide diabetes control program
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota plans to take its pilot diabetes control program statewide as of Jan. 1, 2009. Under the MediQHome quality program, patients select a primary care doctor who becomes their "medical home," with that physician keeping track of all patient health information and coordinating care with other providers. The doctor also acts as a single source of information about the patient's condition, according to MediQHome Director Petrice Balkan. "Our pilot project revealed that this coordinated approach results in an improved health control for the patient, with a bonus of $500 savings per participant each year," Balkan said. "By changing the way healthcare is delivered, we can make a huge impact on the coordination of care, and ultimately the health of all North Dakotans." https://www.bcbsnd.com/newsroom/archive/2008/10_14_08.html

Strong performance rating increase for NHS trusts, except for record keeping
Performance ratings for Britain's 391 National Health Service (NHS) trusts posted significant year-to-year improvements, with 34 percent fewer respondents giving the service a "fair" or "weak" rating compared to 2007, according to a survey by the Healthcare Commission. But record keeping remains one of NHS' weakest areas, with almost 15 percent of healthcare providers saying they are unable to meet the nation's standards for organizational performance. This is slightly better than in 2007, when 19 percent said they were not complying or not sure if they were complying or not. "We are a lot closer to getting core standards in place across the NHS but there are still too many trusts that are not there," said Healthcare Commission Director Sir Ian Kennedy. "But patients and the public should celebrate these results, as they show a real shift in performance." http://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/newsandevents/...

Australian approach to EHR system needs to move beyond pilot phase, study says
Clinicians and consumers are getting impatient with the Australian government's slow-motion rollout of a national electronic health record (EHR) project, according to an independent review by a noted United Kingdom-based efficiency analyst. "The Review of the Australian Government's Use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)" by Sir Peter Gershon recommends that the Rudd Government stop conducting pilots and actually begin implementing an EHR program. Otherwise, the nation will spend substantially more than it should - about $1 billion - if it continues work at a 15-year developmental pace. "Early decisions will need to send out clear signals about the pace and direction of change, which is then reinforced through subsequent decisions," Gershon noted. "It will be essential to ensure that agreed whole-of-government ICT approaches and arrangements are 'fit for purpose.'" http://www.financeminister.gov.au/media/2008/mr_322008.html

Web-based comments placing more attention on hospitals' quality of care
Measuring and improving patient satisfaction has become an increasingly bigger priority at the nation's hospitals, according to an analysis of data by South Bend, IN-based healthcare consultant Press Ganey Associates. The data notes that the reputation of a hospital can affect its market share, its ability to recruit doctors and how much money it receives in reimbursements from the federal government. Hospitals typically poll patients internally to get an idea of how they are doing in terms of providing services, but such feedback became public this past spring when Medicare started posting online the responses of discharged patients. Still, officials such as Craig Becker, president of the Tennessee Hospital Association in Nashville, noted that such surveys are not always good indicators of a hospital's quality because they're too "subjective." http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810150408

E-medical record service for organ transplants shows solid growth
Rochester, NY-based eHealth Global Technologies has established its eHealthConnect™ medical record retrieve and e-delivery service at more than 25 solid organ transplant departments across the U.S. since launching the service just 18 months ago, according to company Chief Executive Officer Michael Margiotta. Under eHealthConnect, a patient's records and images are digitized and made accessible to these hospitals through a secure delivery method of their choice. The service is being used by many leading transplant centers, including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centers, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, Rush University Medical Center and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. "The growth of our service in transplant departments nationwide further demonstrates the strong need to streamline the process of obtaining patient records for transplant candidates," Margiotta said. http://www.ehgt.com/ehealth_press_release_10-01-08.html

XIRING, SCM to develop mobile terminals for German e-Health market
XIRING, a Suresnes, France-based provider of security solutions for remote transactions, and SCM Microsystems, an Ismaning, Germany-based provider of digital content storage systems, are developing a mobile eHealth smart card terminal for the new German healthcare system. Beginning in late 2008, new electronic health insurance cards will be distributed to 82 million German citizens, creating a market for compatible mobile eHealth terminals that facilitate at-home patient consultation and treatment by Germany's 310,000 healthcare professionals and 130,000 physiotherapists. XIRING has previously developed a similar, widely deployed mobile platform for healthcare professionals in France. SCM will sell the mobile terminals in Germany through its existing distribution channels and various partners. http://www.scmmicro.com/press/p_report....

• 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

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

Neurology Diagnostics Security and Terminal Adaptation for PocketNeuro Project
C. Chemak, M.-S. Bouhlel, J.-C. Lapayre
Telemedicine and e-Health. September 2008, 14(7): 671-678.
The PocketNeuro project supports transfer of image and text to a mobile phone for prompt response by a neurologist. The program was analyzed for security and image quality using a DICOM image library and transfer of 30 256 × 256 pixel medical images. The analysis showed the system to be robust, effective, and secure. Large-scale validation between French and Swiss hospitals with secure connections is recommended. 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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