University of Houston in home stretch on wireless in-home monitoring system
After a four-year effort, researchers at the University of Houston are nearing completion of an inexpensive wireless in-home health monitoring system that they say will help caregivers and family members keep better track of loved ones’ whereabouts. The system, developed in conjunction with the Abramson Center for the Future of Health, a partnership between UH’s College of Technology and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, requires a patient to wear a quarter-sized sensor on a belt or piece of clothing to allow tracking of movement. A second sensor, which monitors vital signs such as temperature, heart beat, and oxygen level, is worn on the patient’s skin. Sensors transmit the data to a caregiver’s PDA or Smartphone. The technology is plug-and-play and uses off-the-shelf components that cost about $70, making it extremely easy and very affordable for caregivers, according to UH assistant engineering technology professor Driss Benhaddou. More work is on the way, with future refinements including the ability to transmit the data through a regular phone line or Wi-Fi network – the current design requires setting up transmitting sensors throughout the home – and direct transmission of emergency alarms to doctors’ phones, Benhaddou said. http://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2009articles...

Less-expensive HP telepresence product’s reach could extend to telemedicine
Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to offer a less-expensive version of its Halo telepresence technology – a fact that could make the product more attractive to the telemedicine industry, according to the Palo Alto, CA-based computer products firm. The new version of Halo – which in its current form is a complete end-to-end system that uses HP hardware, software and services to transform a traditional conference room into a virtual collaboration space – would allow employees to participate from wherever they are instead of requiring gathering in a conference room or sitting at their desk, according to Victor Garcia, chief technology officer for HP Canada. The cost of the new system is also expected to decrease from the $249,000 to $350,000 currently paid by users, which has the healthcare industry considering the product. “The cost and the value of being able to treat people at a distance really justifies the investment in Halo technology,” Garcia said. At present, Halo is used in government, defense, pharmaceuticals, retail, energy, oil and gas. http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=1DB043A0...

Texas Tech receives $6.7 million grant to expand telemed services to rural children
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has awarded a $6.7 million telemedicine grant to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center to help improve access to medical care for the state’s Medicaid-enrolled children. “Project CHART for Children’s Healthcare Access for Rural Texas,” to be coordinated by the F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and Community Health, will establish 30 patient sites to expand and study access to pediatric primary and specialty care for Medicaid recipients in rural west Texas, according to TTU Health Sciences Center President John C. Baldwin, M.D. Members from TTU’s four medical school campuses are assessing the needs of local communities to determine where the 30 sites will be established, according to David Lefforge, F. Marie Hall Institute’s chief operating officer. More than half the counties in Texas do not have a general pediatrician, he said. In many cases, gaining access to pediatric care means lengthy travel to places where the pediatricians are available, which can be an expensive and unaffordable process, Lefforge added. http://www.ttuhsc.edu/newsevents/search/Default.aspx?id=4056-4

Ontario emergency stroke care program treats 1,000th patient
A “Telestroke” program operated by the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) has now helped more than 1,000 Ontario, Canada residents survive the disorder’s debilitating effects over the past seven years, according to the Toronto-based not-for-profit group. Telestroke, which began in Ontario in 2002, uses live, two-way television and digital image transfer to connect local stroke patients and their emergency physicians with remote neurologists at larger urban healthcare facilities to obtain urgent diagnosis and management advice, according to OTN Telestroke Program Medical Director Dr. Frank Silver. Every year, 16,000 Ontario residents experience a stroke, resulting in $863.1 million [USD] in medical and other stroke-related costs. Nearly one-fourth of the program’s participants ultimately received the clog-busting drug t-PA, which can dramatically reduce the effects of a stroke if administered within a few hours of onset, Silver added. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2009/24/c9704.html

Telemedicine helping to keep kids in school and out of the emergency room
A telemedicine program at elementary schools in Rochester, N.Y. has helped cut student absences by almost two-thirds and reduced emergency visits by nearly one-quarter, according to officials at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). URMC’s Health-e-Access program, implemented by the Rochester City School District in 2005, allows a school nurse to contact a roving certified teleheath assistant when children become sick at school, according to program coordinator Nancy Wood. The technician, who carries a portable laptop with a stethoscope and throat scopes, can visit the school, take images of the child and transmit them to a primary care physician. The children receive treatment, and parents usually do not have to leave or miss work. “Quite often, kids can be cleared to stay at school and not be sent home sick and miss class,” Wood said. The program currently covers 11 schools with access to 5,000 children in northeast Rochester; URMC is in talks with the school district to expand the program into other parts of the city, Wood added. http://www.catholiccourier.com/tmp1.cfm?nid=88&articleid=107768

Polycom to release full-featured, entry level-priced telepresence system
Pleasanton, CA-based telepresence solutions maker Polycom Inc. has unveiled a full-featured but entry level-priced room telepresence system as it attempts to expand its presence in areas such as medical care. The HDX 6000™ includes high-definition- and DVD-quality video options, as well as HD stereo audio quality and StereoSurround for two-way conversations. The system also allows HD presentation and sharing of movies, spreadsheets, presentations, images or physical items such as barcodes and envelopes, through peripherals like PCs, DVD players and document cameras. The company reports that the HDX 6000 will also interoperate seamlessly with the more than 1.5 million existing standards-based videoconferencing systems, including 50,000 Polycom telepresence systems shipped to date. The product is available worldwide from Polycom or certified Polycom channel partners as of July 1. http://www.polycom.com/company/news_room/press_releases/2009/20090617.html

UK’s NHS Connect to test-run new EMIS telehealth platform by end of year
The United Kingdom’s healthcare services upgrade program, NHS Connecting for Health, plans a product trial linking information from an advanced telehealth platform into the new EMIS Web GP system, as a possible prelude to a national roll-out in 2010. A three-month trial, to begin at the end of 2009, will enable vital signs data, collected from remote telehealth sensors, to be automatically integrated into the patient’s electronic medical record (EMR), according to NHS Connecting for Health project lead Michael Dillon. The trial should help promote wider adoption of telehealth, Dillon said. EMIS’ new system will also allow clinicians outside general practice to access the patient’s EMR, view other patient information recorded on the system and add to that data, EMIS Managing Director Sean Riddell said. The system, which has been in development for five years, is scheduled to receive NHS Connecting for Health accreditation in November. EMIS hopes it will become widely used by general practitioners in 2010, according to Riddell. http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/4968/emis...    http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/4949/...

Patients are less likely to hear of test errors if doctor uses EHRs and paper records
Physician practices that use electronic health records (EHRs) and paper records are less likely to tell patients about abnormal test results than practices that use just one system, according to a study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. According to “Frequency of Failure to Inform Patients of Clinically Significant Outpatient Test Results,” 1 out of 14 abnormal test results are never seen by patients, with many medical practices advising patients to make the assumption that “no news is good news.” Weill Cornell researchers reviewed more than 5,000 medical records from doctors’ offices nationwide, and found that use of EHRs has done little to prevent this type of medical oversight. “The electronic medical record doesn’t magically fix the problem,” said Lawrence P. Casalino, M.D., the study’s lead author. “There are many steps in the testing process, which extends from ordering a test to providing appropriate follow-up. An error in any one of these steps can have lethal consequences.” The study was published in the June 22, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. http://news.med.cornell.edu/wcmc/wcmc_2009/06_22_09.shtml   http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/169/12/1123

CMS issues timeline for implementation of Recovery Act’s health IT provisions
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a timeline for implementation of health information technology provisions within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Recovery Act establishes financial incentives from CMS, starting “no earlier than” January 2011 for healthcare providers who make “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs). The definition of meaningful use is one of the items included in the timeline; it and proposed rules that allow public input on the incentive program policies should be complete by the end of this year. Other timeline items include: Systems to support the payment of incentives, as well as rules on policies needed to pay the incentives and evaluate those payments should be in place by 2010; by 2015, CMS will begin issuing payment reductions to Medicare hospitals and eligible professionals that have not adopted EHRs. The complete list is on the CMS Web site at www.cms.hhs.gov.    http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/...   http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/factsheet.asp?...

Irish residents to cross border for healthcare via $40 million in funding from EU
Residents who live on the borderlands between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland may now seek healthcare from whichever jurisdiction is closest to their homes, following allocation of nearly $40 million [USD] by the European Union’s INTERREG IVA telehealth program. Persons in the border region typically needed to seek medical care from within their own jurisdiction, even if a neighboring one was geographically closer to where they lived, according to the Co-operation and Working Together (CAWT) cross-border health partnership from the departments of health for both Irish states. The funding will be used to support 12 large-scale cross-border health and social care projects and services through 2013, including initiatives for older people in telehealth and telecare; a diabetes education project for women who plan to become pregnant, and care for young people with diabetes. All services will involve the community and will have a strong voluntary output, according to CAWT Management Board member Tom Daly.  http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/FH/free/297825906934842.php

EMR system conversion leader Phoenix now facing new trend: deinstallation
The Phoenix metropolitan service area (MSA) may be ahead of the curve in adopting electronic medical records (EMRs), but many physicians are canceling their contracts due to training, functionality or affordability issues, according to a report by medical care analyst HealthLeaders-InterStudy. The Nashville, TN-based firm notes that the rate of “deinstallation” is most prevalent among smaller physician groups and demonstrates the need for a simplified, affordable record-keeping solution. Since 2005, the MSA’s largest healthcare providers have installed EMR systems, as have many smaller providers and physicians. But a tight economy and physician shortage are preventing adoption from going any higher, according to HealthLeaders-InterStudy market analyst Chris Clancy. “With overcrowded waiting rooms, it’s difficult for doctors and their staffs to carve out ample time for training on EMR technology,” Clancy said. He added that Phoenix is not likely to be the last market in which deinstallation occurs.    http://home.healthleaders-interstudy.com/index.php?p=press-releases-detailed&pr=pr_62309MO

Alcatel-Lucent, Orange Austria pilot telehealth manager to Austrian workers union
French communications service Alcatel-Lucent and Austrian mobile network operator Orange Austria are piloting a joint e-health solution designed to provide a mobile solution for measuring blood sugar levels and blood pressure. According to Franz Schnabl, president of Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund, the two companies have equipped Austrian workers union Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Österreich with the Alcatel-Lucent Telehealth Manager, which can record a patient’s medical data and automatically transfer it to a database via Bluetooth and general packet radio service (GPRS). The data is transferred securely to maintain the necessary high level of privacy of the persons being treated. The device has been available in Canada since mid-2008 and is due to be marketed in Austria soon, Schnabl said. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/...