Despite slow economy, medical device makers are still positive in attitude – and sales
Medical device companies appear to be immune to the sharp economic downturn and are actually reporting domestic and international sales growth this year, according to London-based research firm Frost & Sullivan. According to the company’s annual medical device profile – which focuses primarily on European manufacturers – there is continued optimism about prospects for the industry in 2009. Manufacturers have been “capable of quickly adapting to market trends and were able to achieve greater profit margins,” the firm reported. Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America are viewed as the biggest potential medical device markets for the foreseeable future. Frost & Sullivan also predicts that the healthcare industry will begin to “exploit the digital technology that is fast being adopted in other sectors,” such as wireless technology. The United States, at 40 percent, has the biggest share of the global market for medical devices, followed by the European Union (30 percent) and the rest of the world (30 percent), the group notes.   http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/...

Demand for home health to help push ‘Smart Home’ market to $6 billion by 2012
The Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) Smart Home Market will top $6 billion by 2012 due to soaring energy needs and government spending, and an increased emphasis on home health, according to a report by San Diego-based research firm ON World. ON World’s annual evaluation of the Smart Home market notes that the nation’s financial crisis is accelerating the merger of wireless sensor networks, information technologies, and telecom solutions. Governments and the private sector are “scrambling to develop smart technologies that pay for themselves in months, not years,” according to ON World Research Director Mareca Hatler. “Two years ago, homeowners were installing wood floors and pools, but today they are installing in-home energy management and health systems,” Hatler said. Major forces driving the market include the energy-efficient “Smart Grid”; WSN technologies such as ZigBee and low-power Wi-Fi; home health, with Bluetooth^®-based Body Sensor Networks; and Internet Protocol-based sensor networking, according to ON World.   http://www.topix.net/content/prweb/2009/...

UK could turn storage of EMRs over to private vendors such as Google, Microsoft
Patients in the United Kingdom could be allowed to transfer their electronic medical records (EMRs) to online services run by Google, Microsoft or other private firms, under a plan being considered by the UK’s conservative political party. Under the proposal by the “Tory Party,” patients could move their records to private Web sites and then be able to access those records from home computers. Lawmakers are considering the idea because the UK’s $20 billion [USD] National Health Service (NHS) Information Technology Program is over budget and already four years late, and the existing system is not secure because all NHS staff can access patient records. The Conservative Party has not decided which private firms will provide the services – Google Health™ and Microsoft^® HealthVault™ are in the running – nor does it have a price tag for the project. The party does say, however, that it will “almost certainly” be free to users. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

MIT projects explore use of cell phones to improve health in developing nations
A pair of offshoot companies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are helping people in developing countries diagnose diseases through their cell phones. Moca, a nonprofit company that is part of MIT Media Lab’s NextLab program, has developed an open-source software system that allows patients to transmit their health information, including pictures, to a doctor or nurse in a remote location. The physician may then determine whether the patient’s condition warrants a visit to the medical facility. The software will be field-tested in the Philippines this summer, according to Moca team member Richard Lu. Meanwhile, a Cambridge, MA-based startup, has been working on ways to get software like Moca’s effectively deployed in developing nations. Such programs will be tested this summer in South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Botswana, according to company co-founder Ting Shih, a fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/mobile-0702.html

CDC to track disease and contaminants with new Web-based public health network
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched an environmental public health tracking network to help scientists and the public examine potential links between environmental contaminants and chronic diseases. The new network brings together data that are collected across the country to monitor air quality, drinking water, and other environmental information, and allows researchers and the public to compare it against disease data, according to Michael McGeehin, director of the CDC’s Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects. The ultimate goal, he said, is for better control of costly chronic health conditions. “About 70 percent of the dollars spent on healthcare is on chronic disease, and the environment plays a role in the development and exacerbation of those diseases,” McGeehin said. The data will not cover every city or state, but the CDC plans to improve surveillance and eventually cover more regions, hazards and health conditions. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124700096841007671.html

iMedicor to distribute MMC’s Global Video Library of Medicine over Internet
Nanuet, NY-based health information exchange provider iMedicor has agreed to free distribution and streaming of a global medical library produced by Paterson, N.J. nonprofit Medical Missions for Children (MMC) to U.S. physicians, starting in January 2010, the companies announced. MMC’s Global Video Library of Medicine represents “one of the largest and most extensive collections of medical content in the world” and has never been available as streaming video via the Internet, according to Fred Zolla, iMedicor’s chief executive officer. “Through this partnership, thousands of hours of the highest-caliber of medical education will be available to physicians in every specialty field.” Access is free and will be available at www.imedicor.com. MMC specializes in providing diagnostic and treatment consultations for critically ill children in 108 countries worldwide. The agreement is expected to be final by Sept. 7. http://www.b2i.us/profiles/investor/...   http://www.mmissions.org/mmc/about.html

InTouch Health^® launches Multi-Presence™ software for simultaneous patient consults
Remote care services provider InTouch Health^® has released its new Multi-Presence™ software, which allows physicians in different locales to simultaneously participate in the same patient consultation. The Santa Barbara, CA firm’s remote presence solutions typically enable doctors to perform comprehensive real-time consults with hospital patients. Multi-Presence™ represents “another leap forward for the advancement of telehealth care delivery” by allowing physicians to enlist additional experts when needed to offer specific knowledge, collaboration and consultation, according to InTouch Health^® Chief Executive Officer Dr. Yulun Wang. Multi-Presence™ also facilitates training and education, where physicians and healthcare professionals can observe, train and collaborate on clinical cases and procedures, he said. http://www.intouchhealth.com/pr07-08-09.html

Cardiocom^®, Focused Health collaborate on early intervention telehealth technology
Chanhassen, MN-based telehealth products specialist Cardiocom^® and Deerfield, IL-based population health management services Focused Health Solutions are partnering in an effort to provide home telehealth technology to patients with chronic illness. According to Charlene Bonvissuto, president and chief executive officer of Focused Health, Cardiocom’s Commander Home Telemonitoring System guides the participant through an interactive health check and collection of vital signs, including weight, blood pressure, glucose, and heart rate. The information is immediately transmitted via a standard phone line or cellular connection to the participant’s nurse coach at Focused Health’s clinical nurse call center. The participant’s nurse coach reviews the information with the participant during their scheduled condition management education calls throughout the year. Focused Health Solution’s tailored disease management program is available to all members who qualify as an option to their health coverage with their employer. http://www.cardiocom.com/press_fhs.html

AVTEQ enters telemedicine market with new remote patient care cart
Dallas-based videoconferencing cart manufacturer AVTEQ Inc. has entered the telemedicine market with the release of its first mobile cart for remote patient care, the company announced. The TMP-600 was designed in conjunction with the health sciences department of “a major Texas university,” according to AVTEQ President Kelly O’Donnell. The unit’s integrated, universal locking screen mount system holds a single display of up to 42 inches and comes standard with an integrated adjustable-height camera platform for use with any videoconferencing system. The cart’s interior has ample storage to accommodate essential medical equipment and it can be customized to meet the needs of each individual medical institution, O’Donnell said. http://avteq.net/page122.html

Medical Alarm Concepts™ unveils two-way voice speakerphone EMR pendant
Plymouth Meeting, PA-based Medical Alarm Concepts™ has released a medical alarm system that allows the wearer to call for help by speaking into and listening directly through the pendant. The system, designed to improve safety and mobility for persons at home, consists of the MediPendant™ hands-free communication device and the LifeSafety Monitoring™ service. According to Medical Alarm Concepts Chief Executive Officer Howard Teicher, the MediPendant™ features the world’s first two-way speakerphone pendant for the personal emergency response system industry and may be used from virtually anywhere within the wearer’s home. It is also programmed to dial a pre-designated proprietary call center that provides multilingual monitoring services for the user 24 hours a day, “creating a new level of communication between an end user and the LifeSafety Call Center,” Teicher said. http://www.medicalalarmconcepts.com/technology.html

Healthcare providers are committed to EHRs, but hospitals tighten spending on IT
Choose your survey: Most healthcare providers are skeptical about how they will benefit from the government’s stimulus program but many plan to proceed with implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems. Meanwhile, many hospitals are considering delaying or scaling back their information technology projects because of limited budgets and rising costs. According to a new report by Stamford, CT-based network services supplier IVANS Inc., 7 in 10 healthcare providers believe EHRs will have a positive impact on their businesses and patient care, but more than 5 in 10 do not think the $20 billion stimulus package will help encourage health IT adoption. Still, 40 percent of those surveyed say they will deploy an EHR system over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the American Hospital Association’s annual Most Wired Survey notes that even with the incentives offered by the package to implement IT, hospitals still need a lot of encouragement in making the switch. “The economic slowdown is forcing hospitals to look closely at IT spending,” said Alden Solovy, executive editor of Hospitals & Health Networks, AHA’s official journal and publisher of the survey. “Most Wired hospitals are doing their best to stay the course.” http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag_app/jsp/...  http://www.informationweek.com/news/show...