Blue Cross and Blue Shield, American Well to test-run new virtual clinic
Employees of Blue Cross and Blue Shield will begin to use a virtual clinic as part of a pilot project designed to make healthcare more convenient and cost-effective. The project, involving 10,000 employees and family members at the health provider’s Minnesota affiliate, begins this fall. According to officials at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the virtual clinic, Online Care, allows participants to receive a live, 10-minute physician consultation for a flat fee. Online Care will be rolled out at the company’s campuses in Eagan and Virginia, MN, with the hope of making it available to additional employer groups and consumers as soon as 2010. The system, developed by Boston-based American Well Corp., will be fully connected to Microsoft’s HealthVault™ online consumer health platform, according to Peter Neupert, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group. http://www.bluecrossmn.com/bc/wcs/idcplg?..

New York Health Department to offer $60 million in health IT grants
The New York State Health Department is awarding $60 million in grants for projects that promote use of health information technology in patient-centered medical homes, according to Gov. David A. Paterson. The funding, provided through the Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers (HEAL NY), will improve the transformation of the state’s primarily paper-based healthcare system into an electronic, interconnected one, according to Paterson. Grant recipients will include patient-centered medical home physician practices and clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, long term care providers, physical therapists and other providers. Grant applications are due June 15 and may be obtained at www.health.state.ny.us/funding/rfa/0903160302. The awards will mark the third round of funding under HEAL NY, with the state allocating $53 million and $106 million in grants in 2006 and 2007, respectively. http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/press_0409093.html and http://www.health.state.ny.us/funding/rfa/0903160302/

EHR adoption in North America meets new obstacle: cultural resistance
Cultural resistance is turning into a major obstacle in regards to the widespread adoption of e-health programs in North America, according to former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. While money has long been an issue for health information technology officials to contend with as they try to convince doctors, hospitals and patients to embrace use of electronic health records, it’s also not easy for the general public to become accustomed to e-health technology, according to Gingrich. New systems, he said, require an individual to learn new things and adopt new habits. Physicians are most resistant to change, but the public also has to get used to the concept, according to Erika Skula, chief financial officer at Manchester Memorial Hospital in Manchester, KY. “Some people feel it’s more difficult just because they are used to picking up a pen and writing things out, rather than keying it straight into the computer,” she said.   http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=52769

Stricter privacy laws slow e-health record implementation, MIT-UV study finds
Electronic health record (EHR) adoption is slowest in states with stronger privacy laws, according to a study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Virginia. “Privacy Protection and Technology Diffusion: The Case of Electronic Medical Records,” which reviewed EHR adoption in 19 states over the past decade, found that the number of hospitals implementing the systems was 30 percent lower in states with more stringent privacy regulations. Privacy rules make it more expensive for hospitals to exchange and transfer patient information, thereby reducing the value of an electronic medical record (EMR) system, according to the study. “What we found was that privacy laws are getting in the way of hospitals trying to exchange information with one another,” said study co-author Catherine Tucker, assistant professor of marketing at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. “Policy makers are going to have to choose how much EMR adoption they want and at what cost to patient privacy.” http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?... and http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=960233

Medicare incentives, stimulus package drive up e-prescriptions at Walgreens
Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, estimates that its pharmacies will fill nearly three times the number of electronic prescriptions this year compared to 2008, primarily due to the federal government’s new financial incentive for doctors to transmit e-prescriptions for Medicare patients and other incentives in the federal stimulus package. The pharmacy giant reports a record 3.1 million e-prescriptions in March, accounting for about 15 percent of the drugstore chain’s eligible prescriptions and a 211 percent increase compared with March 2008. Walgreens estimates it will fill more than 40 million electronic prescriptions this year compared with 15 million filled in 2008. The company expects such growth to continue. Nationally, roughly 4 percent of all eligible prescriptions were transmitted electronically in 2008, according to SureScripts, the country’s largest secure electronic prescribing network. http://news.walgreens.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5176

‘Vapourware’ could mean extra cash for Australian GPs – and new e-health standards
A new Australian federal health department incentive could enable general practitioners to earn up to $36,000 [USD] annually by using “vapourware” – software with specifications that have not yet been developed. According to the National e-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA), doctors will be paid simply on the basis that the software provider “has agreed” to take part in work on standards development led by NEHTA. Vendors are not required to comply with existing standards. Health department officials say the e-health incentive will encourage adoption of new e-health technology “as it becomes available.” The incentive is also uniting members of NEHTA, industry leaders and representatives of the Standards Australia IT-014 committee on a plan to develop an e-health standards program by 2014, something that hasn’t happened before, according to IT-014 Chairperson Heather Grain.http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/...

Tennessee e-health office awards $14.6 million in grants for online care services
The Tennessee Office of e-Health Initiatives (TeHI) has awarded $14.6 million in grants to 1,830 state physicians, advanced practice nurses and physician’s assistants to help them purchase hardware, software and other items needed for secure online prescription transmissions. Awards ranged from $350,000 for regional health information organizations such as West Tennessee Healthcare, to $3,500 for qualified physicians and $2,500 for qualified nurses or physician’s assistants. The grant program does not include pharmacists, who are eligible under another program, according to TeHI spokesperson Dean Flener. By encouraging use of e-prescribing and improving security of online systems, the grants will help eliminate fraud from lost prescriptions, Flener noted. The programs will also let healthcare providers view patient drug history, increasing public safety, Flener added. http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/...

MIT builds wearable blood pressure sensor for 24/7 monitoring of hypertension
Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have built a wireless, wearable blood pressure sensor that can provide continuous, 24-hour monitoring in an effort to diagnose and reduce disorders such as hypertension, heart attacks, strokes and aneurysms. Medical experts note that the common risk factor for such disorders – high blood pressure – can be monitored in a doctor’s office. But patient anxiety over a visit to a physician can cause inaccurate readings. Even when they are accurate, the visit provides a single-time “snapshot” of the patient’s condition, according to MIT engineer Harry Asada. The new monitor loops around the wrist and index finger, and can be worn for hours or days at a time. Asada said the unit could also be used to predict when heart attacks may occur, as well as keep tabs on sleep apnea – the cessation of breathing during sleep. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/...

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation offers $2.4 million in grants for PHR proposals
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is accepting proposals for up to $2.4 million in grant funding for projects that evaluate the potential of personal health records to assess and test “observations of daily living,” and help patients and physicians better manage chronic illness. RWJF’s “Project HealthDesign” calls for up to five grantees to be awarded up to $480,000 each for their 24-month projects. Funded teams will work closely with patients and providers across different care settings, according to RWJF Health Group assistant vice president Stephen Downs. Led by a national program office based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the teams will demonstrate how health data from everyday life—observations such as meals, sleep, exercise levels, pain episodes and even moods—can be collected, interpreted and integrated into the clinical care process. Grant applications are due June 3. Project HealthDesign’s call for proposals is available at www.rwjf.org/cfp/projecthealthdesign. Potential applicants should contact info@projecthealthdesign.org for more information. http://www.rwjf.org/pioneer/product.jsp?id=41288

World market for telemedicine projected to reach $18 billion by 2015
An aging population, increased medical requirements in remote locations and technology advancements are expected to expand the world market for telemedicine to more than $18 billion by the year 2015, according to an updated report by San Jose, CA-based research firm Global Industry Analysts Inc. The company’s study, “Telemedicine: A Global Strategic Business Report” notes that growth in the U.S. will be encouraged by federal grant programs and a need for increased remote monitoring of aging patients. Meanwhile, the European health software market is poised for double-digit growth by 2015, largely due to an aging population and rising demand for in-home treatments. Asia’s growing elderly population and increasing healthcare costs will also lead to strong growth in telemedicine services. http://www.medicexchange.com/Health-Informatics/...

Gemalto launches e-health terminal for e-prescription, EHR services in Germany
Amsterdam-based digital security giant Gemalto has announced the commercial launch of its Sealys e-health terminal in Germany, enabling doctors to issue electronic prescriptions, and also provide them with easier access to patient health records. The product offers optional connection of biometric and contactless devices, allowing physicians to sign e-prescriptions using their fingerprint or any contactless device, according to Jacques Seneca, executive vice president of Gemalto’s Security Business Unit. Sealys will also be compatible with Germany’s forthcoming Telematik infrastructure, due out in 2010. http://www.gemalto.com/php/pr_view.php?id=544

Tunstall, North East Essex to trial homecare-based telehealth monitoring program
In a pilot project with telemedicine product supplier Tunstall Healthcare Ltd., Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) in North East Essex plans to install 40 telehealth units by September that will help reduce emergency hospital admissions and improve quality of life of patients with long-term conditions. The one-year pilot, which begins this month, will allow patients to update nurses on their health via remote devices in their own homes, and empower them to be more actively involved in their own treatment and care, according to NHS North East Essex project manager Tracey Buckingham. The detailed monitoring will act as an early warning system so that patients can be treated before their condition deteriorates. Participating patients will involve those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart failure, as well as persons recently discharged from the hospital who would benefit from regular monitoring, Buckingham said. http://www.northeastessex.nhs.uk/...