Telemedicine helps hospitals deliver better stroke care, improve patient outcomes
Improved methods of stroke care, including the use of telemedicine to increase the number of patients who can receive clot-busting drugs, are improving the chances for full recovery by patients at hospitals, according to a new report by The Stroke Association. “Getting Better” highlights 12 examples of the progress that has been made across the United Kingdom to improve stroke care. It also highlights the challenges to be met in turning the one-year-old national stroke strategy into a reality, according to The Stroke Association Chief Executive Jon Barrick. “Our report shows what can happen when national direction is matched by local action,” Barrick said. “The Getting Better report outlines examples in providing the level of stroke care that ensures everyone who has a stroke, and their carers and loved ones, get the service they deserve, wherever they live.” http://www.stroke.org.uk/media_centre/...

Cancer diagnosis goes 3-D with help of new microscope at University of Washington
University of Washington researchers have helped develop a new microscope to visualize cells in three dimensions, an advance that could bring great progress in the field of early cancer detection. The technique could also bridge a widening gap between cutting-edge imaging techniques used in research and clinical practices, researchers said. According to Eric Seibel, a UW mechanical engineering associate professor, the machine, known as Cell-CT, rotates the cell under the microscope lens and takes hundreds of pictures per rotation, then digitally combines them to form a single 3-D image. The process represents a major leap forward, as scientists have been using basically the same technique for cancer diagnosis for more than 300 years, Seibel said. “Scientists have been using fluorescent dyes in research for decades, but these techniques have not yet broken into everyday clinical diagnoses,” Seibel said. “There’s a big gap between the research and clinical worlds when it comes to cancer, and it’s getting wider. We’re trying to bridge that gap.” http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=47061

Canadian home telehealth program directed at seniors with heart failure
Heart failure patients in the Greater Victoria, Canada area can manage their healthcare from the comfort of their own homes through an in-home monitoring program launched by the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA). Every day at a set time, an in-home monitoring device will greet the patient with a pre-recorded message to remind them to take their vital signs: blood pressure, pulse, oxygen saturation level and weight. This information is then automatically transmitted over the phone to the VIHA’s Home and Community Care office where the data is reviewed, according to Health Services Minister George Abbott. The first phase of the Telehomecare program will measure the progress of approximately 100 patients living with heart failure chosen through VIHA’s Seniors At Risk Integrated Network, currently operating in the Greater Victoria area. The long-term goal is to provide Telehomecare services throughout Vancouver Island.http://www.cst-sct.org/en/index.php?module...

Patients opt for electronic ‘mouse call’ over house call or hospital visit
A growing number of patients nationwide are embracing electronic medical programs, choosing to be online, not on hold, with their doctors’ offices. Michigan’s doctor practices are adding electronic programs to cut telephone tag and unnecessary office visits for routine health questions, prescription refills, lab results and appointment requests. And more doctors are dispensing medical advice through an eVisit – a “mouse call,” or a pared-down, technology version of a house call. It describes a range of medical advice, sometimes a running dialogue, in which a doctor can monitor how a person is managing a chronic health issue or an immediate non-urgent condition. Michigan employers are at varying stages of implementation, with Ford and Blue Cross Blue Shield leading the pack. http://www.freep.com/article/20090208/BUSINESS06/902080406

Henry Ford switches to blogging service to provide real-time surgical updates
Surgeons at Henry Ford Hospital have begun using Twitter, a micro-blogging service, to provide real-time updates on robot-assisted surgery. Using the blogging Web site, doctors upload short messages – or “tweets,” – from a laptop in the operating room, giving Twitter users a play-by-play rundown of the surgery. At Henry Ford, doctors also answer – in real time – questions from users about the surgery. “With the way medicine is going, patients are looking for more information about procedures going on,” said Dr. Rajesh Laungani, chief resident of urology at Henry Ford. “This kind of lets them know our world, what we go through in the O.R. and what kind of new technology we’re using.” http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?...

Student delegation to expand international telemedicine aid to Central America
A group of ambassadors from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Memorial Hermann Healthcare System traveled to Guatemala in January to offer medical and scientific collaboration as part of an outreach program to increase international aid. The group hopes to offer telemedicine to help provide medical advice over the phone. According to Maximilian Buja, M.D., UTMS Vice President of Academic Affairs, six Central American countries will be involved in the program: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic. “The agreements are a chance to share our expertise in the prevention and treatment of the most common diseases that afflict the region, but it doesn’t stop there,” Buja said. “There is a need for help in specialty areas.” http://www.panamanewsbriefs.com/?p=69982

National eHealth Collaborative applauds EHR funding in new stimulus plan
The National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) has given its approval to the newly approved American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, calling the effort “an essential foundation for significant health system reform and improved health quality and safety.” The House and Senate gave their respective approvals to the $880 billion plan over the past two weeks. The bill includes $20 billion to health information technology. NeHC “applauds the significant steps taken by Congress and the Obama Administration to ensure the utilization of an electronic health record for each American by 2014,” and the group looks forward to “continuing to build on the momentum, trust, and leadership that has been established.” http://www.nationalehealth.org/uploadedFiles/NeHC%20statement...

Australian e-health projects suffer from ‘lackluster’ financial effort
Health professionals are critical of the Australian government for a “lackluster” investment in e-health, citing a $139 million [USD] fund allocation as the latest example of inadequate resources dedicated to an ailing e-health industry. The three-year funding plan, allocated to the National E-Health Transition Authority, is far less than the agency needs to help Australia catch up to electronic health record implementation efforts in other developed nations, according to University of New South Wales Prof. Branko Cellar. “Australia was a world leader, but now we need to start catching up with the rest of the world,” Cellar said. “There is no policy for [telehealth] in Australia and the government has never run a clear trial of the technology.” http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/...

Allscripts to sell medication services business, focus on core health IT unit
Health information technology firm Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc. is selling its medication services business to spend more time focusing on its core health IT and electronic health record (EHR) businesses. No buyers have been announced for the medication services unit, which specializes in point-of-care medication management and medical supply services for physicians and other healthcare providers. But Allscripts expects to continue to offer medication services to existing and future clients of Allscripts under a co-marketing agreement, according to Allscripts Chief Executive Officer Glen Tullman. The proposed sale occurs “at a time when we expect EHRs and electronic prescribing, along with our interoperability and connectivity efforts, to receive a substantial boost from the federal economic stimulus package,” Tullman said. “We want the total focus of the business to be on taking advantage of this opportunity to accelerate growth.”http://investor.allscripts.com/phoenix.zhtml...

Emageon calls off $62 million merger with Health Systems after missed deadline
A merger between Health Systems Solutions and medical information technology system provider Emageon Inc. has been terminated because Health Systems failed to provide the $62 million for the deal by its Feb. 11 closing date. According to Health Systems Chief Financial Officer Michael Levine, the company’s financial backer, Stanford International Bank Ltd., was not ready to proceed with the deal. The merger was originally scheduled to close in December 2008 but was delayed for similar financial issues by Stanford. Emageon will still receive $9 million from Health Systems as a result of the missed closure deadline and will “continue to evaluate its options in response to these developments.” http://investor.emageon.com/phoenix...

Study shows highs and lows for RFID implementation in Europe
Successful implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in healthcare settings requires tracking and availability of staff, but is likely to be held back by operating costs and privacy issues, according to a report by RAND Europe. The technology can also be complemented by use of data transfer and sensing/telemetry services, according to RFID. The report also promotes use of automatic data collection and transfer in regards to assets, staff and patients. “Overall, our structured literature search and analysis revealed that not only does a large functional range of RFID applications in healthcare exist, but applications, trials and pilots evaluating these applications are already emerging,” the report notes. http://www.ehealthnews.eu/content/view/1496/62/ and http://ec.europa.eu/information_society...

CCHIT^® unveils roadmap for expansion of IT certification programs
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT^®) has issued its roadmap for expansion of its health information technology certification programs. The roadmap, posted on the Commission’s Web site at www.cchit.org , includes development of several new certification programs for launch in 2010.  Two areas already named in previous years, Behavioral Health and Long Term Care, will be developed as planned. Four new program areas are also proposed, all of which are optional add-on certifications for Ambulatory EHRs: Clinical Research, Dermatology, Advanced Interoperability, and Advanced Quality. “We think 2009 will see an across-the-board acceleration in health IT activities: more research and development, accelerated adoption, and new financial incentives that demand realization of the full benefits in quality, safety and efficiency,” said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D, CCHIT chairperson.  “It’s the right time to add more flexibility to our approach, so we can fine-tune our programs to meet everyone’s needs for health IT certification.” http://www.cchit.org/about/news/releases/... and http://www.cchit.org/files/Expansion/...