Government to spend $15 billion on health IT by 2014
Spending on information technology systems in support of public health and health insurance programs will top $15 billion in 2014, according to a report by Reston, VA-based research firm Input. The new study indicates that federal health IT spending will rise from $4.5 billion today to $5.6 billion in 2014, and state and local health IT spending will increase from $7.6 billion today to $9.6 billion in five years. Spending at the state and local levels is expected to remain relatively low due to budget deficits and other financial issues, with most of the health IT growth occurring in public hospitals. Further, with U.S. healthcare expenses projected to rise from $2.4 trillion in 2008 to $4.5 trillion by 2018, there will be an increased need to control spending, the report notes. http://fcw.com/articles/2009/10/23/...

House to consider legislation on health IT loans for physicians
An amendment to the Small Business Financing and Investment Act of 2009 (HR 3854) would make state-licensed pharmacists and other healthcare providers eligible for a health information technology-based lending program. The amendment, by House Small Business Regulations and Healthcare Subcommittee Chairperson Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA) would provide reduced-cost health IT loans guaranteed up to 90 percent, with a subsidized deferment period of up to three years. The amendment has been incorporated into HR 3854 and has been approved by the Small Business Committee; the House is currently reviewing the bill. If approved, HR 3854 will allow many physicians to invest in health IT who otherwise would have bypassed it due to everyday operating pressures, according to Bruce T. Roberts, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Community Pharmacists Association. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3854

Hospitals tackle critical-care specialist shortage with eICUs  
Remote monitoring systems in intensive care units can help solve a growing shortage of critical-care specialists, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Studies show that the death rate is 30 percent to 40 percent lower in hospitals where intensivists are used to provide around-the-clock care, but only 1 in 3 patients in the ICU currently receives such treatment. Remote monitoring, or an “eICU,” can offer a high-tech solution, The Wall Street Journal notes. A study at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center reveals that a hospital can save about $5,000 per case by using an eICU. The remote systems can also increase a hospital’s revenue by shortening patient stays, enabling more patients to enter the ICU, participating hospitals reported. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...

Cardiac device patients can safely digest diagnostic technology
A new Mayo Clinic study suggests that video capsule endoscopy (CE), a procedure that uses wireless technology in diagnosing intestinal disease, is safe for patients with heart devices. Wireless electrical gadgets, such as cell phones, have been shown to interfere with implanted heart devices, including pacemakers and defibrillators. This risk has led medical experts to speculate that capsule endoscopy could similarly cause heart devices to fail. But the study – the largest of its kind, according to report senior author Jonathan Leighton, M.D., chair of the Division of Gastroenterology at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ – concludes that video CEs do not impair heart devices. Approved by the FDA in 2000, capsule endoscopy calls for a patient to swallow a vitamin-sized capsule containing a battery-driven camera that takes thousands of pictures as it travels through the intestines. The pictures are then transmitted to an external receiver from areas inside the small bowel previously accessible only through surgery. http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2009-sct/5467.html

Baylor researchers use mini cameras to zoom in on sleep apnea
Doctors at Baylor College of Medicine are hoping to develop a cure for sleep apnea with the help of a miniature video camera. Obstructive sleep apnea – where tissues in the back of the throat collapse during sleep – often results in cessation of breathing, restless sleep, daytime fatigue, and loud snoring. Baylor researchers are using a micro-sized camera to pinpoint the cause and determine the areas that need to be targeted for treatment. According to Dr. Mas Takashima, assistant professor of otolaryngology at Baylor, patients are sedated and placed into a drug-induced sleep. While asleep, an endoscope is inserted into the back of the nose to view the throat. Doctors will then watch what happens inside the throat as the person sleeps. The technique should help physicians and patients understand what surgical options are available, as well as prevent unnecessary surgery, Takashima said. http://www.bcm.edu/news/item.cfm?newsID=1577

GE Healthcare upgrades ‘E9’ ultrasound system
GE Healthcare has upgraded its LOGIQ E9 agile ultrasound system, offering new transducers and software enhancements that provide improved image quality and productivity to pediatric, vascular, and cardiac imaging situations, the company announced. The seven new transducers include tissue velocity imaging, ECG, and “Color M-Mode,” according to Brian McEathron, GE Healthcare’s general manager of General Imaging Ultrasound. The productivity and ergonomic upgrades will allow faster diagnosis of injuries and lead to improved patient care, McEathron said. http://www.genewscenter.com/content/detail.aspx?...

Dossia adds dependent capabilities to personal health records
Nonprofit employer consortium Dossia has extended its electronic health records option to dependents of employees who already use the service. The new capabilities allow family members to create their own lifelong personal health records. Although that may sound simple, implementing the dependent service has actually been more complicated than expected due to federal regulations, complex legal issues, and other inconsistencies from state to state, according to Dossia Chief Executive Officer Colin Evans. The new service will make it easier for families to keep track of kids’ immunization records, chronic conditions, and other matters among family members, Evans said. Launched three years ago, Dossia now consists of several large employers, including AT&T, Cardinal Health, Intel, Abraxis BioScience, and Walmart. http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/...

NY database to set reimbursement rates for out-of-network care
New York government officials and universities are developing a national database designed to help health insurance companies determine reimbursement rates for out-of-network care. According to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a new nonprofit company, FAIR Health, will be set up to work with state universities to oversee the database and a consumer Web site. Consumers will be able to check the Web site to see what an insurer was likely to pay before they went to an out-of-network doctor. Cuomo said the effort is the result of a $100 million settlement reached with more than one dozen insurance companies investigated for “systematically overstating” doctors’ fees for more than a decade, and shortchanging consumers by hundreds of millions of dollars. The system is expected to be operational within a year. http://www.oag.state.ny.us/media_center/2009/oct/oct27a_09.html

Hospitals for lower-income patients are behind in EHR adoption
Hospitals that serve primarily poor patients are far behind other hospitals when it comes to adopting electronic health records (EHRs), according to a study sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the federal Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The “disproportionate share” hospitals may actually miss federal funding designed to help hospitals switch to EHRs due to the way the stimulus law is written and how bonus payments are allocated, according to John Lumpkin, MD, senior vice president of RWJF’s Health Care Group. The study, which examined EHR use in nearly 2,400 acute care hospitals, was conducted by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, and George Washington University. The findings were published online on Oct. 26 in Health Affairs. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.28.6.w1160

Consumer health technology could improve health outcomes
Consumer health information technology applications can boost outcomes for various diseases and health conditions, according to a study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study, involving researchers at Johns Hopkins University, shows that consumer informatics had the strongest influence on outcomes for treatment of mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Patients used Web-based cognitive behavioral therapy, computerized stress management systems, and interactive self-help stress management programs. Researchers recommended further use of Web 2.0 tools, social networking, and health gaming technology to study additional effects of consumer health IT on human health. http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/...

Online wireless medical application store on horizon
With the advent of the iPhone and its popular online applications store, the day when wireless health has its own medical app store is not far off, according to a recent report by Joe Rothstein, the editor of EIN News. Rothstein, responding to a recent study by The Brookings Institution on the use of Internet-based healthcare management tools, notes that physicians and patients will need to “learn to migrate into the new medical world,” one that is based on cell phones, smart phones, and iPods. For doctors, accepting the need to make an IT switch might not be so hard, given the fact that many people today “have grown up with Nintendo and Game Boy as their constant companions.” The real challenge, Rothstein said, is encouraging public and private health insurers to cover most “mhealth” communications and wellness programs, and changing licensing of health providers to permit practice of medicine across state lines via telemedicine. But steered correctly, “technology is going to cure a lot of our healthcare and health costs ills,” he said.  http://uspolitics.einnews.com/article/758841-21st-...   http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/...

Mental health to be studied during virtual Mars trip
The European Space Agency and Russia’s Institute of Biomedical Problems are recruiting candidates for Mars500, a 520-day virtual trip to the red planet. The mission calls for a 250-day simulated trip to Mars from within a sealed facility, followed by a 30-day “stay” on the planet, during which the crew moves into a separate module to allow a psychological and physiological study of the effects of isolation on humans. Another 240-day return trip would conclude the voyage. Preferred candidates must have backgrounds in medicine, biology, or computer engineering. Volunteers may only be from ESA member states such as Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Norway, The Netherlands, Sweden, or Canada; application deadline is Nov. 5, 2009. http://a1862.g.akamai.net/7/1862/14448/v1/esa.download.akamai.com/...