Increased disease management could boost Telehealth market’s popularity by 2016
Increased use of telehealth services for chronic disease management is expected to drive up growth in the market by 72 percent through 2016, according to a report from medical device research firm InMedica. The 2008 update of “Opportunities in Telehealth: A Long Term View” predicts that the number of telehealth subscribers worldwide will hit almost 56 million by the middle of the next decade, due to greater demand for such products by consumers and professional care services providers. Demand will be driven by an aging global population, increasing prevalence of chronic illnesses and growing public expectations of higher standards of care, according to the report. Various barriers to growth of the telehealth market will also be overcome, such as implementation of new data standards, greater choice in telehealth products, and resolved reimbursement and privacy issues. http://www.mtbeurope.info/... and http://www.in-medica.com/...

EHR-based hospitals could save lives and money, according to JHM study
Replacing paper forms and handwritten notes with electronic health record (EHR) systems could save up to 100,000 patient lives annually and reduce a hospital’s bottom line, according to a new report by Johns Hopkins Medicine. Results of the study, involving 41 Texas hospitals and more than 167,000 patients, show use of computerized, automated notes and records helped reduce the odds of a patient’s death in a hospital by up to 15 percent, according to study senior author Neil R. Powe, M.D. “If those results were to hold for all hospitals in the United States, computerizing notes and records might have the potential to save 100,000 lives annually,” Powe said. Researchers also found that tech-savvy hospitals showed significantly lower patient costs. The paperless system surveyed by Johns Hopkins included electronic notes, previous treatment records, test results, orders for drugs and blood tests, and decision-support systems. The study was published in the Jan. 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press_releases/2009/01_26_09.html

Programmable, self-navigating ‘iPill’ under development by Philips Research
Recalling the film “Fantastic Voyage,” scientists at Philips Research in the Netherlands have developed a prototype intelligent pill or “iPill” that can be programmed to navigate to a specific place in the body, directly administer its medicine there, and send radio dispatches to the doctor as it travels through the system. The technology, which has yet to be tested in humans, could be used to treat digestive tract disorders such as colitis or Crohn’s disease, according to Dr. Peter van der Schaar, a Heerlen, Netherlands-based gastroenterologist who helped develop the device. Such a device could also deliver better-controlled dosages of medication without side effects. The device would be tracked by a noticeable increase in acidity as the pill travels through the intestinal tract. Capsules containing ultra-miniature cameras are already in use as diagnostic tools, but lack the ability to deliver drugs.  http://www.research.philips.com/newscenter/...

Researchers to conduct first world study on cell phones and cancer in young persons
Researchers at Monash University in Victoria, Australia have been awarded a $441,000 [USD] grant to conduct a first-ever international study on mobile phone use and brain cancer risk in young people. According to lead researcher Malcom Sim, the five-year study will involve people aged 10 to 24 who have had a brain cancer, as well as people of a similar age who have not, and will recruit participants from Australia, New Zealand, Spain, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Israel and Canada. Sim, who is director of the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, said previous studies conducted on older adults returned both positive and negative results related to a link between brain cancer and mobile phone use. No definitive study has been performed on children. Seventy-seven percent of 11-to-14-year-olds own a mobile phone, according to university data. http://www.monash.edu.au/news/newsline/story/1409

Britain unveils goal of implementing universal broadband in UK by 2012
The British government has released a plan calling for establishment of high-speed broadband in every home by 2012 in an effort to boost the United Kingdom’s digital economy. The interim report, “Digital Britain,” notes that universal high-speed broadband will boost acceptance and use of electronic public services such as telehealth applications, and energize an industry that contributes more than $73 billion [USD] annually to the UK economy. Currently, telecom firm are only required to provide lines that can handle 28.8 kilobits per second (kbps); telehealth applications require lines of at least 512 kbps speed. The interim report calls for everyone in the UK to have broadband speed of at least 2 megabits per second (Mbps) by 2012, which is fast enough to handle video and sites with greater interactivity.  http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/... and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/...

Use of remote patient monitoring could save hospitals $6.4 billion annually
Remote patient monitoring of patients with congestive heart failure can cut hospital readmissions by up to 60 percent and save hospitals up to $6.4 billion annually, according to a report by the New England Health Institute. “Research Update: Remote Physiological Monitoring” notes that remote patient monitoring has the potential to prevent 460,000 to 627,000 heart failure-related hospital readmissions each year. Roughly 30 percent of the 5.3 million people afflicted with congestive heart failure in the U.S. will benefit most from remote monitoring. Such patients would typically cost a hospital $2,052 annually with home monitoring technology and $2,802 annually with the technology and a disease management program according to the study. http://www.nehi.net/uploads/full_report/...

DoD, VA not on track to meet September deadline for interoperable EHR system
The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are continuing to take steps toward setting up a fully interoperable electronic health record system, but the two agencies are not yet entirely on the same page, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. Per terms of the National Defense Authorization Act, the two agencies have until Sept. 30 to develop a computer-based patient record system that complies with federal standards for data exchange. GAO notes that from June 2008 to October 2008, DoD and VA increased the number of patients whose outpatient pharmacy and drug information is being shared by more than 10 percent – to a total of 21,000 – but it is still a very small percentage of the total population. “In the absence of results-oriented goals and performance measures, the departments are not positioned to adequately assess progress toward increasing interoperability,” according to the report. “Instead, DOD and VA are limited to assessing progress in terms of activities completed and increases in data exchanged.” http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09268.pdf

Canada’s stimulus plan could be good for health IT but bad for small business
Canada’s proposed 2009 budget for information technology is receiving mixed reviews, with proponents saying it will stimulate job growth in the high-tech sector, and critics alleging it will affect productivity and innovation. Science and IT make up $1.22 billion [USD] of the government’s proposed $32.6 billion economic stimulus plan. The proposed funds include $407 million for e-health, $183 million for broadband extension, and another $407 million for the Canada Health Infoway, which is expected to help place more than 50 percent of the country’s electronic health records online by 2010. Such a budget could “help us recover quickly from the current economic downturn,” Information Technology Association of Canada President Bernard Courtois said. But critics like Richard Remillard, executive director of Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, say that too little emphasis is being placed on the nation’s venture capital sector. That sector supports emerging business in the life sciences, high-tech and clean technology fields, Remillard said. http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/... and http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en...

Purdue and Stanford engineers create stretchable electrodes to study cardiac stress
Engineers at Purdue and Stanford universities have developed stretchable electrodes to study how cardiac muscle cells and neurons react to stress caused by heart attacks, traumatic brain injuries and other diseases. The devices are made by growing cell cultures on top of a stretchable cell culture platform made of plastic polymer. Stretching cell cultures creates mechanical stress similar to that which is exerted on tissues during heart attacks and traumatic brain injuries, according to Babak Ziaie, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue. The researchers have grown mice cardiac cells on the platform and may grow cultures of neurons and stem cells in future tests. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/hp/ZiaieStretchable.html

Australian e-health recommended as ‘top priority’ in 2009-10 fiscal budget
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has made e-health one of its top priorities in its 2009-10 federal budget, calling on nearly 15 percent of its $6.3 billion [USD] Health and Hospitals Fund to be used toward information technology and rural healthcare-related grants and training. The AMA’s federal budget submission notes that the country’s rural hospitals and health facilities “lag significantly behind their metropolitan counterparts, and, in the worst cases, are in a state of disrepair.” Further investment in the e-health infrastructure can alleviate some of the stress on healthcare quality, and also “fully enable the sharing of patient information electronically in Australia.” The Federal Government Health and Hospitals Fund should allocate at least $475 million to help strengthen the infrastructure, and also plan to award at least 1,000 grants of $47,400 each toward e-health technology training, the budget submission recommends.   http://www.ama.com.au/node/4450 and http://www.ama.com.au/node/4449

Tiny nation of Qatar predicted to be huge IT hotbed through 2013
The Arabian nation of Qatar may not be the biggest information technology market in the Persian Gulf, but it is definitely expected to be one of the most successful, with a 53 percent growth rate expected from 2009 to 2013, according to a report from Business Monitor International. The oil-driven country’s IT market is predicted to reach $644 million [USD] by 2013, up from $420 million in 2009, largely due to a still-buoyant economy and numerous large infrastructure projects across public and private sectors. The report notes that some enterprises are likely to cut back their IT budgets due to the world’s economic crisis, but the government is “unlikely to retreat from key IT objectives” such as healthcare and education. Internet penetration in the 1 million-person nation reached nearly 50 percent in 2008; 11 percent of the population is on broadband, a figure which is expected to triple by 2013. http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/...

MEDSEEK has record 2008; expects continued growth in e-health adoption in ’09
Electronic health record (EHR) adoption is occurring at a record pace, at least if you’re MEDSEEK – the nation’s top e-health connectivity software provider reports having a banner year in 2008 and expects more of the same this year. The Birmingham, AL company announced a 47 percent increase in client contracts and a 33 percent increase in software licenses in 2008. Strong growth is anticipated during 2009 largely due to increasing demand for online access to medical records by consumers, and ongoing efforts by the federal government to push widespread EHR adoption by 2014. “It’s clear that our government leaders are keenly aware of the benefits of enabling secure data exchange via an interoperable technology platform,” MEDSEEK President Peter Kuhn said. http://www.medseek.com/body.cfm?...