Telemedicine, IT to drive personalized health market
Information technology and telemedicine are expected to boost the market for personalized medicine from $232 billion now to $452 billion by 2015, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. “The Science of Personalized Medicine: Translating the Promise Into Practice” projects an 11 percent annual growth rate in a somewhat volatile market over the next few years. Personalized medicine, which targets individualized treatment and care based on personal and genetic variation, will create opportunities and challenges for traditional healthcare and emerging market participants, the report notes. But the market potential “is enormous for any company that learns to leverage the science, target individuals and develop products and services that promote health,” said PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Healthcare Leader David M. Levy M.D. http://www.pwc.com/US/en/...

President to grant $600 million to community health; $88 million for EHRs
President Obama said he plans to allocate nearly $600 million to the nation’s community health centers, including $88 million to increase electronic health record adoption. The funds come from the $787 billion economic stimulus plan approved earlier this year. Obama said the money will also create new jobs in construction and healthcare. “The lesson here is simple,” he said. “In order for healthcare to be effective, it has to be coordinated.” The President also announced a three-year trial that will examine how community health centers can improve care for Medicare patients. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/...

Allscripts to release new versions of remote EHR product
Electronic Health Record (EHR) product maker Allscripts has a version of its popular Allscripts Remote EHR software available for BlackBerry devices and plans to launch a similar version of Allscripts Remote for Windows Mobile devices by year’s end, the company announced. Previously available only on the iPod, Allscripts Remote enables physicians to access and control EHRs directly from their mobile phones. The application’s capabilities include access to real-time patient summary information, communication to local hospital emergency rooms, ePrescribing, and real-time access to other information, including medical history, lab results and medications, according to Allscripts Chief Executive Officer Glen Tullman. http://mobihealthnews.com/5700/allscripts...

New e-Net Messenger designed to save medical staff time
Ridgefield, N.J.-based General Devices has released a product designed to help emergency medical technicians respond to calls for aid in a faster, more-efficient manner. According to Rhea Lazarus of General Devices, e-Net Messenger is designed to save valuable nurse and physician time by eliminating time-consuming phone calls and unreliable e-mail messages, while improving inter and intra facility communications. The device also sends secure voice, text, reports, and images at the click of a button, and provides the user with continuous message-status updates and automatic alerts if the message is unanswered. Users also have a complete record of all messaging activity for training and QA review, Lazarus notes. The product works with any standard PC. http://www.general-devices.com/e-net-messenger

VA, DoD seek vendors for Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record project
The Department of Veterans Affairs needs vendors to act as coordinators for its Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) pilot project. VLER, a collaborative effort between VA and the Department of Defense, is designed to create a single electronic health record system for members of the military during and after their period of service. The community coordinator will also encourage EHR adoption among the local community. VA and DOD have selected the first VLER Health Community – scheduled to begin operation in February 2010 – and plan to choose two to six more by the end of September 2010. Each community is expected to operate for up to three years, depending on availability of funds. Responses regarding the program are due to VA by Dec. 15. https://www.fbo.gov/index?...

Senate passes legislation on health plan ratings Web site
An amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that would create an online health plan ratings site for consumers was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate, 98-0, earlier this week. H.R. 3590 by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create customer satisfaction surveys and make the results available online. The system would review medical plans with more than 500 members. According to Pryor, the result would be similar to a health plan ratings system available on the Office of Personnel Management’s Web site for federal employees. http://pryor.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=320497&   http://democrats.senate.gov/reform/patient-protection-affordable-care-act.pdf

ONC to offer grants for regional IT centers sooner than planned
In an effort to speed up creation of its regional information technology extension centers, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT has decided to award its series of grants in two rounds instead of three. According to National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal, the first round of 30 grants will be announced Jan. 21, 2010 and the second round in March in response to the large number of “high quality applications” it has received thus far. ONC originally planned to award the first set of 20 grants on Dec. 11, and the second and third rounds by September 2010. The earlier, shorter number of rounds will also enable healthcare providers to spend as much time as possible to gain the training needed to qualify for health IT incentives under the federal economic stimulus act. http://www.govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=72686    http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/...

England may cancel multi-billion-dollar national EHR project
A multi-billion-dollar national program to upgrade computer systems for the British National Health Service (NHS)’s electronic health record (EHR) project might be cancelled for budgetary reasons, according to Chancellor Alistair Darling. The National Programme for IT (NPfIT), designed to create a single EHR system for 50 million patients in England, is already four years overdue and has cost the government more than $20.6 billion [USD] since its inception in 2002. The program, considered the world’s largest non-military IT project, was to have been implemented throughout the nation by 2010, but so far fewer than 20 hospital trusts in England have installed EHRs under the program. Health ministers insist that NPIT will save the NHS almost $2 billion [USD] if the project deadline is extended to 2014. But Darling said the IT system is “something we do not need to go ahead with just now.” http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/...

Medical device industry expects stronger 2010 for sales
Nearly three-fourths of medical device companies believe their prospects in 2010 are better than what they experienced in 2009, according to a survey by Austin, TX-based consulting firm Emergo Group. The survey of 1,100 medical device makers and distributors worldwide reveals that many companies are pleased with their sales this year, with more than one-third reporting increased sales over the past three months. Nearly another 1 in 5 respondents said their sales have declined. However, despite the general optimism about 2010 sales prospects, slightly only half of participating companies expect to add more employees next year, according to the report.   http://www.prlog.org/10424702-medical-device...

Privacy rights groups issues low grades for PHRS
Many personal health records (PHRs) are not very private, according to a new report card released by the Austin, TX-based nonprofit Patient Privacy Rights Foundation (PPRF). The “Personal Health Record Report Card” reviewed five current independent PHR systems as well as a combined review of PHRs offered by employers and insurers and gave only one – NoMoreClipboard.com – an A. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault and employer/insurer PHRs all received F grades for inaction or poor business practices, according to the report card. PHRs by WebMD and CapMed received Cs. The report rankings are based on the information available from the various companies’ Web sites, according to PPRF. http://www.patientprivacyrights.org/site/...

Malaysian medical device market to reach $1.7 billion by 2012
Medical device usage in Malaysia is expected to grow by more than 6 percent from 2009 to 2010, according to the Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI). AMMI’s latest report on demand for medical devices and services also projects the market size to increase from $877 million [USD] in 2010 to $1.7 billion by 2012. The gains are the result of the nation’s efforts to raise the quality of healthcare services by focusing on managing, building, and upgrading of hospitals and clinics, B. Braun Medical Industries corporate communication director Yeong Lih Chyun said. B. Braun, KPJ Healthcare Bhd, and Symmetry Medical Malaysia are some of the nation’s leaders in growing medical device and healthcare services opportunities throughout the country. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story...

Cardiac implant maker Transoma Medical closes doors
St. Paul-based wireless cardiac implant maker Transoma Medical Inc. has shut down due to lack of money, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Transoma, originally a subsidiary of Data Sciences, went public in 2007. Despite gaining fans among physicians for products such as its Sleuth AT cardiac monitor, the company was unable to secure the investors needed to remain in operation, the article notes. A spin-out division, Data Sciences International Inc., remains in business. Transoma is the latest in a long line of venture-backed healthcare companies to close recently due to tight funding times, according to The Wall Street Journal .   http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2009/12/07...