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September 2, 2008

Intel starts pilot of home care management system for chronic disease patients
Computer chip manufacturer Intel has jumped into the medical market with yesterday's pilot launch of a high-tech care management system that allows doctors to monitor chronic disease patients at home. The new device, dubbed the Intel Health Guide, is a touch-screen computer with a 10.5-inch screen that includes video conferencing capabilities and a multimedia health education library for patients. The device may initiate scheduled "check-ups" with patients several times a day, asking health-related questions and collecting vital signs, which are sent digitally to medical providers. Intel does not expect the guide to be commercially available from U.S. or United Kingdom healthcare providers until early 2009. "It's a big area of focus and a growth opportunity for Intel," said Mariah Scott, director of sales and marketing for Intel's Digital Health Group. http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/...

Telehealth and telecare MIA from Britain's updated battle plan vs. diabetes
The British trade association Intellect is disappointed about a lack of emphasis on telehealth and telecare in the government's new five-year update on battling diabetes. In its "Five Years On" report, the nation's Department of Health stresses how 600,000 people have been diagnosed with the disease since 2003, and its "Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives" strategy, which emphasizes lifestyle changes such as weight loss, can help control spread of the disease. But Intellect argues that telehealth and telecare could make the government's plan even more effective. Clinicians would be better able to understand a patient's insulin usage, more easily educate patients about their condition and remind patients to monitor their blood sugar, according to Adrian Flowerday, chairperson of Intellect's Telehealth Group. "A broader application of such telehealth programs would help provide a higher quality of diabetes care," Flowerday said. http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/4088/... and http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics...

Northwest health foundations to award $700,000 in technology grants
Two Northwest-based health foundations have almost $700,000 in grants awarded or planned for projects involving healthcare technology. The Portland, OR-based Regence Foundation, has awarded three grants totaling $195,000 to help nonprofits improve healthcare quality in Portland and Seattle, WA: $100,000 to the Virginia Garda Memorial Foundation for its electronic version of a medical home for Oregon residents; $50,000 to the Puget Sound Health Alliance in Seattle, to build a Web-based performance results portal; and $45,000 to the Oregon Health Care Quality Corp. in Portland to build a consumer Web site on healthcare quality. Meanwhile, Northwest Health Foundation, through the Oregon Department of Human Services, plans two $250,000 grants for projects related to innovative ways to improve access to, and the effectiveness of, health care delivery for families. http://telemedicinenews.blogspot.com/2008/... and http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/outreach/oregonruralhealth/...

South Dakota seeks applicants for electronic medical records project
As of today, South Dakota's eHealth Collaborative is accepting applications for a national electronic medical records project aimed at physicians in small- and medium-sized rural clinics. The five-year demonstration project, backed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seeks clinics with 20 or fewer physicians and at least 50 Medicare fee for service beneficiaries for which they provide primary care services. Participating practices receive financial incentives for using certified electronic health records to improve quality as measured by specific clinical quality measures. Eligible clinics must be primary care, internal medicine, family practice, general practice or gerontology. Interested practices can request application packets at the South Dakota eHealth Collaborative Web site at www.ehealth.dsu.edu/CMS/. Applications are due Nov. 26, 2008 and successful applicants will be notified in March 2009. Demonstration projects will begin June 1, 2009. http://www.govtech.com/gt/402348?topic=117677 and http://www.ehealth.dsu.edu/CMS/Background.aspx

Internet's popularity among health-curious continues to soar
Information gathering has become a habit for many Americans, with 75 percent to 80 percent of Internet users now searching the Web for health information, according to a new report by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Internet & American Life Project. Much of the online interest now stems from a rise in the number of households with broadband connections. Home broadband has now joined educational attainment, household income and age as the strongest predictors of Internet activity, according to Pew. Home broadband users are twice as likely as home dial-up users to perform research on a typical day. "High-speed, always-on connections enable frequent and in-depth information searches, which is particularly attractive if something important is at stake," the report notes. http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/259/report_display.asp

A Baltic first: Lithuania unveils e-Health Web site for its national EHS
A new Web site has been launched in Lithuania to provide residents, patients, physicians and employees of healthcare institutions with information on the country's new National Electronic Health System. The Web site at esp.sam.it introduces implemented and planned e-Health services, presents all novelties, and answer questions to "make e-Health services more accessible and useful for residents and specialists," according to Evaldas Dobravolskas, the site's executive manager. Physicians, administrators of healthcare institutions, and employees of the healthcare system in general will also be able to discuss various problems and issues on the Web site's Forum page. Lithuania is the first Baltic country to develop a national e-Health system. http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/Technology/?doc=4498

Here's something 'Weird' - a telehealth-based ambulance service
European medical specialists are testing a communications system that allows a moving ambulance and its hospital base to simultaneously transmit video and ultra-sonic images, telephone communications and patient data. Service promoters note that the system, known as the WiMAX Extension to Isolated Research Data networks (WEIRD), could ultimately save hundreds, even thousands of lives because medical teams can gather vital, detailed information about a patient's condition and advise an ambulance crew on patient treatment as they rush to the hospital. Mobile ambulances transmit and receive high-quality data at up to 15 megabits per second over a four-kilometer radius. "If you are transmitting data in high quality, it is very important that you don't lose any bit of information," says Enrico Angori, one of WEIRD's leading researchers. "WiMAX is the cheapest channel to use and the channel that can deliver the best quality of service." http://www.ehealthnews.eu/content/view/1278/27/

Telemedicine heralded as healthcare market's time and money savers
Telemonitoring and telehealth services continue to gain a foothold in an increasingly expensive healthcare market as a way to effectively and efficiently treat s wide array of patient ailments, according to industry officials. Nationally, telemedicine is being used to treat everything from patients suffering from congestive heart failure, to those with complex maternity cases. More than 200,000 now use telehealth home monitoring services; another 200 use dedicated telemedicine networks nationwide, involving close to 3,500 medical and healthcare institutions. "It's getting a lot of attention now in mainstream health care to help cut down on costs," said Carol J. Bickford, a senior policy fellow in the department of nursing practice and policy at the American Nursing Association. "It's been very successful, when it's done well, in reducing the hospitalization of patients, because you can reach something early." http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/...

XTend Medical begins remote patient monitoring program in UK
Sun Valley, CA-based XTend Medical Corp. has begun a remote patient monitoring program through the United Kingdom's University of Ulster. The program is targeted at patients who remotely manage diabetes and blood pressure, according to Dr. Kevin Curran, who will head up the program at Ulster. "The main focus of the program is to show how technology can assist in monitoring patients from their home in modern life, with the main emphasis being to reduce costs for the healthcare systems worldwide and improve the care delivered to patients," Curran said. "Our program is designed to assist doctors in helping patients to control diabetes through the up-to- the-minute online reports of their insulin levels." XTend Medical Corp. markets and sells healthcare and wellness products to hospitals, managed care companies, nursing homes, physician groups and individual patients. http://www.cnbc.com/id/26422866/

Coventry Health Care selects ICW for home monitoring program
German e-health specialist InterComponentWare (ICW) has been selected by U.S. health network Coventry Health Care to provide the infrastructure for a home monitoring program. ICW will provide the interoperability platform and infrastructure technology for Coventry Health's telemonitoring pilot program. The program is intended to improve patient outcomes by centralizing specialized, intense case management for chronically ill patients, according to ICW Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Coote. Studies have shown that telemonitoring of such patients increases their quality of life and can reduce care delivery costs by avoiding unnecessary emergency admissions, Coote said. The German company is already involved in two large-scale European telehealth projects, including AOK Plus, a health plan-driven telemedicine project for serious congestive heart failure patients in the German state of Saxony. http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/4092/...

Johns Hopkins seeks licensees for telehealth technology system projects
The Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University is seeking licensing for several telehealth- and data storage-related technologies. JHU's "Telewatch Patient Monitoring System" is designed to perform home monitoring and disease management for high-risk outpatients suffering from congestive heart failure, while its "Wireless Wearable Electronic Tags for Patient Triage" is designed to eliminate emergency response teams' reliance upon paper triage tags, clipboards of notes and voice communications to share patient information. Both projects are seeking a licensee for the technology. And the school's "Transdermal Optical Communication System" addresses the need to communicate with medical devices, telemedicine and wireless medical diagnostics that have been implanted in the human body by using a two-way optical link through the skin. The project is available for licensing opportunities. For more information on these items, contact Dr. T. A. Colella (443/778-3782, +ott-techmanager3) or Ms. H. L. Curran (443/778-7262, +ott-techmanager4). http://www.jhuapl.edu/ott/technologies/technology/articles/P01598.asp and http://www.jhuapl.edu/ott/technologies/technology/articles/P02272.asp http://www.jhuapl.edu/ott/technologies/technology/articles/P01649.asp

• UA Conference Explores 'Future of Health Care' Through Telehealth, Pharmacology and Rural Medicine Issues
  Sept. 4-5, 2008 - The University of Alabama
  TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Telehealth – the use of state-of-the-art telecommunications and computer technology to help health-care professionals – will be one of the key topics at a conference on the future of health care in the United States. The Ninth Annual Rural Health Conference, whose theme this year is "The Future of Health Care," will feature keynote speakers well-versed in contemporary health issues and with backgrounds in building telehealth systems in the Southeastern United States.
  
  
• The Forum 08, the 10th annual meeting of DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance
  Sept. 7-8, 2008 - Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa Hollywood, FL
  Hear the outlook for population health in the medical home from American Academy of Family Physicians leader Bruce Bagley, MD, and Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative Chair Paul Grundy, MD. Also, with just two months before the hotly anticipated 2008 general election, get the latest word on the battle for the White House and Congress from former U.S. Senator John Breaux and acclaimed political analyst Charlie Cook. Ken Thorpe, PhD, executive director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, will provide similar insights on the health policy landscape and chronic disease.
  
  
• ATA 2008 Mid-Year Meeting
  September 15-16, 2008 - Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina,Tampa FL
  The 2008 Home Telehealth & Remote Monitoring Meeting serves as a forum for sharing scientific research findings, significant advances in related technology and applications, and groundbreaking programs, projects, or case studies.
  The UC Davis 2008 Pediatric Telehealth Colloquium will be held in conjunction with the ATA Mid-Year Meeting. The Colloquium, already established as a premier event for the pediatric telehealth community, is dedicated to the presentation of original research related to pediatric telemedicine by investigators in clinical science.
  
  
• 2008 National Telehealth Conference
  September 25-27, 2008 - St. Paul International Airport Hilton Hotel, Bloomington, MN
  Children's Physician Network
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Canadian Society of Telehealth conference
  October 4-7, 2008 - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  Joint meeting of Canadian Society of Telehealth and International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth
  
  
• 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

Telethinking With Joan Sullivan Garrett
Vicki Glaser
Telemedicine and e-Health. August 2008, 14(6): 513-516.
Joan Sullivan Garrett is Founder and Chairman of MedAire, Inc., the world's first financially viable commercial application of telemedicine service to provide distance-based, medical assistance to people in remote locations on a global basis. Founded in 1985, the company today continues its world leadership in leveraging technology, medical expertise, and information resources to provide, oneon- one, real-time medical help to people in remote environments-land, air, and sea. Since founding MedAire, Ms. Garrett has expanded the scope of the company to provide complete health and security preparedness solutions that include training programs, specialized medical kits, and lifesaving semiautomated external defibrillators. Ms. Garrett consults with aviation industry leaders, government agencies such as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, provides Congressional testimony on health and safety issues, and consults with private industry on technology applications for distance-based medical care. She serves as Vice-Chair on the Board of Governors for the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), is a member of the FSF Executive Committee and is a Committee Member for the FSF Business Aviation Meritorious Awards. Ms. Garrett is a corporate member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), a member of the NBAA Associate Member Advisory Council, and sits on its Corporate Aviation Advisory Council. She is also a longtime member of the International Aviation Women's Association (IAWA) and currently sits on the IAWA Advisory Board. Additionally, she is a member of the Aerospace Medical Association and the International Society of Travel Medicine. 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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