Connectyx enters telemedicine market in deal with Consult A Doctor
Hoping to take advantage of a telemedicine market that is expected to grow to more than $8 billion by 2012, personal health products provider Connectyx Technologies Holdings Group Inc. has entered a joint marketing agreement with online health manager Consult A Doctor Inc. According to Connectyx Chief Executive Officer Ronn Schumann, the Palm City, FL company’s debut into the telemedicine field will provide 36 million Americans currently being treated with telemedicine with MedFlash Personal Health Manager (PHM) ’s. MedFlash is currently used with electronic record services such as Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault. The Connectyx and Consult A Doctor pairing will also help more than 50 million uninsured people in the U.S. acquire some form of medical care, as well as extend services to millions who are too embarrassed or live too far away to see a doctor, Schumann said. Full Story

Federal government awards another $44 million for health IT center
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has awarded nearly $44 million in supplementary funding to develop the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s upcoming Health Information Technology Research Center, which will help doctors and hospitals install and use electronic health record systems. The Health IT Research Center is being established to support a network of 60 HHS Health IT Regional Extension Centers, for which HHS has already pledged $642 million in funding. Recipients of the $44 million include Westat research firm in Rockville, MD ($10.7 million), Booz Allen Hamilton ($9.2 million) in Rockville, MD, and RTI International of Research Triangle Park, N.C. ($6 million). All funding came from the 2009 federal economic stimulus package. Full Story

GetWellNetwork hopes to ‘engage’ patients in hospital healthcare
Bethesda, MD-based GetWellNetwork is marketing its patient healthcare information services to hospitals under the logic that the more patients know about their medical conditions and their treatment, the less likely they’ll end up back in the hospital. According to GetWellNetwork founder Michael O’Neil Jr., the more informed a patient is, the more engaged they will be. GetWellNet’s service delivers health information and other programming to patients through televisions in their hospital rooms. Patients can use a wireless keyboard or handheld device to call up videos to learn more about their condition, or click on another button to watch a movie, play a game or log on to the Web. The idea, O’Neil said, is to “put the patient smack in the middle” of looking at their healthcare. GetWellNetwork currently serves 1.2 million patients annually in about 70 hospitals across the United States. Full Story    Further Information

Johnson & Johnson virtual training program tackles nurse shortage
Johnson & Johnson has unveiled a virtual nurse training program designed to help new nurses transition from classrooms to hospital rooms. According to Andrea Higham, director of J & J’s “Campaign for Nursing’s Future” the “Your Future in Nursing” program combines the interactivity of video computer gaming with real-life nursing scenarios. Nurses select a 3D nurse character and navigate through the rooms of a virtual hospital; as they tour the hospital, nurses interact with animated versions of hospital administrators, nurse managers, doctors, other nurses, patients and their families in various scenarios. Training sections close with a video message from an experienced nurse mentor, who provides perspective and coaching on the new nurse’s performance. “Your Future in Nursing” can be downloaded in digital format or ordered in CD-ROM at no cost at the campaign’s Web site, www.DiscoverNursing.com. Full Story

BIOTRONIK MRI-safe pacemakers cleared for marketing in Europe
Wireless cardiac device maker BIOTRONIK has received European approval for marketing of its new ProMRI Pacing systems, Evia and Safio S, providing European patients with the first bradycardia systems that are compatible with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans under specific conditions. According to Marlou Janssen, vice president of BIOTRONIK’s Global Marketing and Sales Cardiac Rhythm Management division, the approval of BIOTRONIK’s ProMRI series marks the first time an entire pacemaker line, including two single-chamber and two dual-chamber devices, has been cleared for use in combination with MRI. The systems are used in conjunction with the company’s Home Monitoring product, which allows physicians to remotely monitor their patients’ clinical and device status at any time from anywhere, Janssen said. Full Story

New iPad viewed as doctors’ future educational e-health tool
After only a couple weeks on the market, the Apple iPad has caught the attention of medical device manufacturers, who plan to develop applications to help doctors perform surgeries, medical scans and training procedures. Among the early developers is Eagle, ID-based Unity Medical Inc., which is testing its Medical Video jLog, an application that utilizes short form interactive video to explain common medical procedures such as CT scans, cardiac stent placements, and physical rehabilitation treatment, at Florida Hospital for Children at Walt Disney Pavilion in Orlando and St. Luke’s Health System in Boise. According to Unity Medical founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Boerner, a highly portable platform like the iPad makes it possible to offer “dynamic, visual and impactful educational tools like jLog” that help healthcare professionals in hospitals and clinics provide care for patients. Full Story

Mobile medical equipment to turn telepresence into $2.7 billion market by 2015
Growing demand for mobile medical equipment is expected to help boost the telepresence field into a $2.7 billion market by 2015, according to a study by New York -based ABI Research. Growth in the market, valued at $567 million in 2009, is also expected to occur due to increased need for devices enhanced with unified communications features such as whiteboards, document sharing and webcam videos, according to ABI Enterprise Communications Research Service Director David Lemelin. And, the increased number of telepresence products and services will maintain strong market growth, Lemelin adds. Full Story

Despite computer’s help, half of all translated prescription labels contain errors
Half of all prescription labels written for Spanish speakers contain errors, some of which could result in life-threatening situations if misinterpreted by the patient, according to a study by researchers at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE and Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. The study found that more than four of every five pharmacies surveyed used a computer program to translate their labels from English to Spanish, and nearly all pharmacies had someone double-check the labels for errors. But researchers still found dozens of examples of poorly translated instructions, lead researcher Dr. Iman Sharif said. Reasons for the errors included use of the hybrid language Spanglish – a blend of English and Spanish words not recognized by computers – misspellings, illegible handwriting, and a “shaky” understanding of Spanish by English-speaking doctors, according to the study. Full Story    Further Information

Effort launched to bring more elderly online through broadband
Technology vendors and groups have launched an effort to convince more elderly people to use broadband. The Project to Get Older Adults onLine (GOAL) hopes to promote the benefits of the Internet for seniors, including access to health information and healthcare, entertainment and education, as well as being a connection to the community, according to project founder and executive director Debra Berlyn. Project GOAL will also sponsor a series of forums to discuss issues related to delivering broadband to older people, Berlyn said. Only 35 percent of U.S. residents over age 65 subscribe to broadband, compared to about 65 percent of the population overall. Project GOAL’s sponsors include AT&T, Comcast, Facebook, Microsoft, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, T-Mobile and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. Full Story

VA turns to social media tools to regain vets’ confidence
In an effort to improve communication between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and veterans, the VA is turning to a variety of social media tools, including Facebook, Twitter and VetVoice, an online forum. According to Brandon Friedman, the VA’s Director of New Media, veterans want a two-way conversation with the department “to tell us what we can improve upon,” and the various online efforts are accomplishing that. The VA’s Facebook page, for example, has picked up 20,000 fans in five months. Veterans in general are distrustful of VA due to a long history of non-responsiveness by the department to the vets’ various claims. Even “new media” such as Twitter may not be enough to immediately reverse that distrust, according to VA Watchdog Editor Larry Scott. But Friedman is more optimistic, noting that the department has already successfully used blogging to solve a recent reimbursement notice problem.Full Story

EHRs not perfect in providing patient data access or lowering costs
Electronic health records (EHRs) may not be a perfect cure-all to solving access to patient medical data and lowering medical costs, according to a pair of recent studies. A report from the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Mongan Institute for Health Policy in Boston, use of EHR systems alone have little effect on measures such as patient mortality, surgical complications, length of stay and costs. Instead, the authors note, greater attention may need to be paid to how systems are being implemented and used, with the goal of identifying best practices. Meanwhile, a report by the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C. notes that EHRs can help improve physician-patient interaction, but the technology also can be distracting to doctors and cause them to miss subtle patient symptoms during exams. Study author Ann O’Malley said continued refinement in EHR design should eventually help reduce this problem. Further Information    Further Information

E-health product makers win at Medical Design Excellence Awards
Products from 3M, Zargis Medical Corp., iRhythm Technologies Inc., Angel Medical Systems, and BIGfish Communications were among 39 winners of the 13th annual Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) competition. According to Canon Communications LLC media relations spokesperson Dan Cutrone, the MDEA competition recognizes the achievements of medical device manufacturers, their suppliers, and the engineers, scientists, designers, and clinicians who are responsible for “groundbreaking innovations that are changing the face of healthcare.” 3M and Zargis won for the Littmann electronic stethoscope Model 3200 with Zargis Cardioscan heart sound analysis software; iRhythm won for the Zio Patch continuous cardiac ECG (electrocardiogram) data recorder; Angel Medical won for AngelMed Guardian implantable cardiac monitoring and alerting system; and BIGfish Communications won for its GlowCap Internet-connected pill bottle cap. All 39 winners will receive gold or silver awards at a ceremony to be held on June 9 during the Medical Design & Manufacturing East 2010 Conference and Exposition in New York City. Full Story

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