Former Google Health director launches consumer e-health database
Attempting to make online personal health information more decipherable to the general public, a start-up firm led by former Google Health director Adam Bosworth has announced an effort to create patient-specific health plans through a new database system. San Francisco-based Keas Inc. wants to take what is currently a “vast trove of generalized health information” on the Web and combine it with a patient’s personal data to form a system that can personalize health education for consumers, according to Bosworth. Bosworth, who oversaw development of Google Health until 2007, will partner with Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, and Quest Diagnostics in the effort. Keas will offer the data service for free initially, but will eventually charge a subscription for the plans, Bosworth added. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/...   https://www.keas.com/logon.html...

Telehealth services introduced to online personal record platform
Boca Raton-based MDLiveCare Health Services Inc. has become the first telehealth provider to join the Google Health online personal health record platform, the company announced. According to MDLiveCare Chief Executive Officer Bob Smoley, any Google Health user who has an MDLiveCare HIPAA secure video, phone, or e-mail telehealth consultation with a board-certified physician or therapist will be able to share medical records with the doctor prior to the appointment. The service will fill a major need by Google Health users – that of more convenient access to secure consultation services, according to Google Health Product Manager Roni Zeiger, M.D. The service should also help improve patient medical compliance by improving interaction with physicians and the review of those encounters, Smoley said. https://www.mdlivecare.com/press_googlehealth

New microchip offers faster, more-effective cancer detection
Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed an inexpensive microchip that can detect the type and severity of cancer afflicting a patient, potentially enabling faster and more effective treatment. According to Prof. Shana Kelley, lead investigator on the project, the device easily senses the signature biomarkers that indicate cancer at the cellular level. An analysis can be completed in 30 minutes, compared to existing procedures that require several days. Instrumentation required for the analysis can be contained within a unit the size of a BlackBerry, Kelley said. Thus far, the microchip platform has been tested on prostate cancer, and could potentially be used to diagnose other cancers and diseases such as HIV, MRSA, and H1N1 flu. Research results were published online Sept. 27 in Nature Nanotechnology. http://www.news.utoronto.ca/lead-stories/...

Scottish Centre for Telehealth, NHS care program to merge
A merger of The Scottish Centre for Telehealth (SCT) and the National Health Service’s 24-hour Web care line (NHS24) could result in improved teleconferencing between patients and their general practitioners. The integration of services, set for completion by April 2010, follows a recent critical review of SCT by Scotland’s e-health Directorate that called for substantial program improvements. Those improvements included better communication, development of “a clear strategic direction”, and simplification of its telecare system. The merger should also help bring telehealth technology to all of Scotland at a faster pace, in part due to a planned 40 percent increase in the Scottish government’s investment in e-health during 2010-11, according to Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon. http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/...

Telemedicine spending to near $3.6 billion by 2014
The market for telemedicine devices and services will generate nearly $3.6 billion in annual revenue within the next five years, and mobile-services companies will make up a sizeable part of that business, according to a report from market research firm Pike & Fischer. According to “Telemedicine and the Economic Stimulus: Broadband Opportunities in a Swelling Market,” growth will be driven by the need to control costs, as well as development and expansion of faster wireless broadband networks, smartphones, and data compression solutions. Wireless applications, devices and services solutions will account for more than 70 percent of total market spending through 2014. The market’s biggest players will be AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint Nextel, while smaller device and software manufacturers will become targets for acquisition, the report notes. http://www.broadbandadvisoryservices.com/researchReportsBriefsInd.asp?repId=723

Home-based blood pressure monitoring, ‘house calls’ lower hypertension
Combining home-based blood pressure monitoring and telephone counseling significantly improves a person’s blood pressure control at a minimal cost, according to a study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. The two-year study showed that people trained to monitor their blood pressure at home, who also received regular calls from a nurse, lowered their blood pressure by 11 percent, compared to a 7.6 percent decrease in blood pressure for a home monitoring-only group and 4.3 percent for people who only received phone calls. Less than 40 percent of people with hypertension in the United States have adequate blood pressure control, putting them at risk for heart attack and stroke, Duke researchers noted. http://www.dukehealth.org/HealthLibrary/...

New CARESCAPE monitor receives FDA clearance
GE Healthcare’s new CARESCAPE Monitor B850 has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, allowing it to be marketed in America, the company announced. The CARESCAPE monitor links directly to hospital networks, electronic medical records, diagnostic images, lab results, and third-party devices with real-time patient monitoring data, to support efficient clinical decision-making, according to David Ataide, vice president and general manager of Monitoring Solutions and Diagnostic Cardiology at GE Healthcare. The system may also be easily customized for various clinical needs, including ECGs, administering of anesthetics, and diagnostic images and lab reports. http://salesandmarketingnetwork.com/news_release.php?ID=2029113

New Zealand launches first at-home telehealth pilot
Ten central New Zealand residents with a history of chronic illnesses have begun hooking themselves up to home-based electronic health monitors as part of the nation’s first telehealth pilot. The one-year, $75,000 [USD] project is piloting TeleMedCare, an Australian Internet-based technology, according to Anton Venter, national integrated care manager for Healthcare of New Zealand (HNZ). Long-term conditions such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes have been labeled “the health care challenge of this century,” Venter said. The pilot provides an opportunity for HNZ to be part of a potential solution. The pilot will test the benefits of using a telehealth program, which international trials have shown can reduce hospital admissions, convert emergency department attendances to planned admissions and even reduce mortality compared to other forms of care, Venter added. http://infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?l=1&t=0&id=42943

E-prescription technology use to double by end of year
The number of active electronic prescription technology users in the U.S. is expected to pass 140,000 by the end of the year, meaning it will have doubled since the end of 2008, according to a report from e-prescribing firm Surescripts. Nearly one-fourth of all office-based doctors, nurses, and physician assistants currently use e-prescribing technology, and prescribers can select from more than 200 types of software for e-prescriptions and electronic health record certification – a 38 percent increase from the number available at the start of 2009, according to Surescripts Chief Executive Officer Harry Totonis. The increase in certified software allows more physicians to use e-prescribing in the communities they cover, Totonis said. http://www.surescripts.com/container_pdf.aspx?name=downloads/The_Nations_E_Prescription_Network.pdf

Single-source e-health program application proves popular
In a sign of challenging economic times, a Web-based system that simplifies the process of applying for publicly funded health and social service programs has been inundated with applicants. One-e-App, which allows program applicants to submit their single aid applications to multiple services, has watched its membership rise from 1 million in 2008 to 2.2 million this year, according to Bonnie Wilbur, director of application solutions at The Center to Promote HealthCare Access. The California nonprofit oversees use of One-e-App, which is available in California, Arizona, Maryland, and Indiana. The program uses the concept of the “mash up,” where data is combined from two or more sources into one application. Thus far, One-e-App can link to 38 different health and social services systems despite the different interfaces at many of the sites. Applicants can currently access the system on their own, at home, or at a public location such as a library. Businesses, public agencies, and large groups such as school districts are next, Wilbur said.        http://www.govhealthit.com/ArticlePrint.aspx?id=72085

Hospitals go low-tech with scribes in switch to high-tech EHRs
As medical facilities transition from paper health records to electronic ones, many campuses are taking an old-world approach to ease the switch: they’re using scribes. At the University of Virginia Medical Center, scribes follow doctors and use notebook computers to record conversations with patients for later transcription. Doctors at other hospitals dictate their notes and use transcriptionists to computerize them, or they use voice recognition software to upload verbal notes onto a computer. The scribes also allow doctors to spend more time with patients and less on paperwork. Most other businesses scrapped paper files decades ago, but hospitals continue to remain “in the olden days,” according to Ashish Jha, associate professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health. Less than 10 percent of hospitals have at least a basic version of EHR in place, primarily due to cost, which can range from $20 million to $200 million, Jha said.  http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-10-06-electronic-medical-records_N.htm

AHIMA unveils Health Information Bill of Rights
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has released a Health Information Bill of Rights to promote the need for privacy protection in use of personal health information. The seven-point bill stresses the rights of patients to: free access to personal health information; access to accurate information; access to health information during treatment; use of “adequate” health data privacy and security protections; knowledge of anyone who accesses or updates a patient’s health data; the ability to hold healthcare providers accountable for data safety breaches; and the ability to seek legal action if a data breach causes harm. And, in November, AHIMA also plans to begin offering a certification that states that a selected healthcare provider agrees to uphold this bill of rights.  http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_045343.pdf