Dell enters EMR market, targets small practices
Computer giant Dell has launched a new service to help doctors and hospitals more easily switch to electronic medical records (EMRs). Dell’s Affiliated Physician EMR Solution will also connect physicians and their sponsoring hospitals so that they can “harness the power of electronic patient information to improve and coordinate care, help reduce costs and streamline administration across their local healthcare system,” according to Dr. Jamie Coffin, vice president of Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences. The company plans to target small practices with 10 or fewer doctors, the locations where most physicians practice. Less than 10 percent of such physicians have fully functional EMR systems, primarily due to cost, according to Coffin. The service has been tested at hospitals in Boston with positive results, Coffin said. http://content.dell.com/us/en/...

Hospital system tests ‘device-free’ remote patient monitoring
A “device-free” remote patient monitoring system developed by Pharos Innovations has reduced expected hospital admissions for enrolled heart failure patients by 36 percent over six months, according to results of a pilot study. The pilot, conducted at Michigan-based Henry Ford Health System from July to December 2008, utilized devices or technologies that a patient already uses, such as a cell phone, land line, or the Internet, in place of remote monitoring equipment such as wireless sensors, connected medical devices, or video terminals for home health monitoring. The Tel-Assurance program offers a cost-effective and easy way for many patients to keep track of their own health, freeing space in hospitals for more urgent cases, according to Richard Dryer M.D., Henry Ford Health System’s medical director. http://www.pharosinnovations.com/pdfs/...

New York agencies set sights on $775 million in IT grants
Twenty-two New York state government agencies and non-governmental organizations have applied for $775 million in federal stimulus grants designed to make broadband service available to underserved communities across the state. The proposals include efforts to link state health agencies through an electronic records program, develop a high-speed network for exchange of information through different New York universities, and encourage use of new medical technology at hospitals statewide. The projects are part of Gov. David Paterson’s vision to build a “New Digital Economy” that will increase digital literacy and spur economic development, according to the Governor’s office. The grants are part of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). http://www.recovery.ny.gov/News/press090909.htm

Connected Health roundtable: Healthcare’s future lies with supply chains
In preparation for the Center for Connected Health’s Sixth Annual Connected Health Symposium, set for Oct. 21-22 in Boston, Center Director Joseph Kvedar, M.D., recently conducted a roundtable of four featured symposium speakers – Jason Hwang, executive director of healthcare, Innosight Institute, Sunnyvale, CA; Tracey Moorhead, president and chief executive officer, DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance, Washington, D.C.; Laurie Orlov, founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch, Port St. Lucie, FL; and Peter Ubel, Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI – to discuss the current state and future of healthcare. Their verdict? Transformative change must occur from supply chains, using catalysts such as payment reform, new paradigms such as retail outlets, and a focus on wellness and prevention rather than on acute and reactive medicine. Disruptive innovations are also key change agents on both a micro and a macro scale. The full discussion is featured in the September 2009 issue of Telemedicine and e-Health. http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/tmj.2009.9948

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LifeWatch unveils IT program to detect cryptogenic strokes
Wireless telemedicine systems provider LifeWatch Services Inc. has unveiled a remote patient care program to help monitor persons who have suffered a cryptogenic or “unknown origin” stroke. The LifeWatch Stroke Patient Care program – the second patient care program launched by the company in the past 18 months – will help tackle a problem that afflicts one person every 40 seconds, according to Leigh Ann Kelly, LifeWatch’s vice president of business development. The monitoring system will identify stroke patients with abnormal heart rhythms but no symptoms, a condition affecting nearly 1 in 4 stroke victims, according to Kelly. http://www.lifewatch.com/upload/infocenter/info_images...

UA granted $1.1 million for regional telehealth center
The Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP) at The University of Arizona College of Medicine has received a $1.1 million federal grant to create the Southwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center. The Center will coordinate telehealth services for five states – Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah – and will be a key part of a national network of seven regional resource centers and one national resource center, the Center for Telehealth and E-Health Law in Washington, D.C., according to Ronald S. Weinstein M.D., ATP’s founding director. The funds were granted by the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, part of the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). http://www.medicine.arizona.edu/news/story.cfm?ID=1745

Remote pandemic preparedness product launched
AnyWare Group Inc., a provider of remote access solutions for hospitals and healthcare facilities, has launched its ROAM Disaster Preparedness solution to support and enable pandemic planning when physical access to a facility has been restricted. According to Robert La londe, chief executive officer of AnyWare Group, ROAM allows healthcare professionals, first responders, and others to remotely access essential applications and vital information from any device, such as PCs, Macs, or PDAs. ROAM also maintains contact between employees, something that is typically hindered during an outbreak – a time when a facility requires “all hands on deck,” said J.R. Dick, director of information technology at Quinte Health Care. The system may be set up in less than a week, and there are no monthly fees until the service is used to provide remote access during an emergency or pandemic. http://www.anywaregroup.com/news098.php

Secure eHealth to market DRM’s EHR storage product 
Electronic health record security systems provider Secure eHealth has signed an agreement to market DRM Security’s Secure Document Courier and Storage technology, Cifra, to the healthcare markets. The agreement gives Secure eHealth preferred rights to market Cifra directly to end users, including small and large physician groups, and regional health organizations, health information exchange programs, and other healthcare vendors, according to Jim Renfro, president of VirtualHealth Technologies Inc. VirtualHealth is Secure eHealth’s parent firm. Cifra grants users with the ability to control the privacy and accessibility of confidential records, and also allows single-click access to messages without interrupting workflow, Renfro said. The Secure eHealth platform will be ready for use this month. http://www.virtualhealthtechnologies.com/pdfs/...

Mobile healthcare can improve chronic disease management
Chronic disease patients can better manage their healthcare at home or elsewhere through use of mobile platforms and applications, according to a new report from the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF). “Participatory Health: Online and Mobile Tools Help Chronically Ill Manage Their Care” notes that successful mobile health applications should allow input on a full range of patient health activities, consistently monitor patient health status, continuously adjust recommended health regimens, interpret patient data according to individual treatment goals, and proactively communicate tailored health advice to the patient. Seventy-five percent of the $2.2 trillion spent on healthcare in 2007 went toward patients with chronic conditions, according to the study. http://www.chcf.org/topics/chronicdisease/index.cfm?itemID=134063

Tech companies promote new EHR delivery systems
Technology firms are heavily promoting health information technology products and services as they attempt to take advantage of federal health IT incentives, according to a report in The New York Times. Only 17 percent of all U.S. physicians use electronic health records (EHRs), and the federal government is investing $19 billion to promote EHR adoption. Those funds won’t begin reaching tech companies until 2010, but that’s not stopping many from pursuing new ways to deliver the products to the market now, according to the Times . Among the front-runners: eClinical Works, which offers EHR services in software and Web-based forms; General Electric, which plans to release an Internet version of its EHR service in early 2010; and IBM, which is developing a low-cost EHR adoption system based on cloud computing – where most data is stored in remote centers that may be easily accessed by healthcare providers through Web browsers on personal or tablet PCs. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/technology/10records.html?_r=1

Health data standards should include race, ethnicity, and language
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can improve its ability to track racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare delivery by adding data on ethnicity, race, and language proficiency to its electronic health record (EHR) standards, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. “Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data: Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement” notes that patients receive less care than needed 60 percent of the time, and that disparities exist for specific population groups. Hospitals, doctors, and health plans can use the ethnicity, race, and language proficiency data to better understand the population being served. While adding these parameters will not guarantee improvement in healthcare or patient satisfaction, “the absence of data, however, essentially guarantees that none of those actions will occur,” the report notes. http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/72/817/...

Intamac Systems to expand home device control program
Northampton, United Kingdom-based Intamac Systems Ltd. has acquired $1.65 million [USD] in funding to develop and deploy a series of Zigbee-controlled devices that enable consumers to monitor and control items in their homes via the Web or any mobile unit. The Smart Grid power management service is an extension of the company’s mobile security, automation, and telecare services, according to Intamac Systems Chief Executive Officer Kevin Meagher. The iPhone-based application also allows consumers to track energy usage in real time, and adopt practical services such as the ability to power down devices left on standby when the user is not home or has gone to bed, Meagher said.   http://www.intamac.com/media/IntamacFundingRoundAugust2009.asp