Open-source data sharing may top list of cultural shifts in e-health
Data-sharing may finally pierce the one group that has traditionally resisted it – scientists – largely due to the advent of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Wikipedia, according to a special report in the Wall Street Journal. Seattle-based nonprofit Sage Bionetworks is attempting to launch Sage Commons, an online-driven, open-source data network that encourages researchers to share knowledge to improve understanding of disease. According to project founder Dr. Stephen Friend, scientists use data to establish their reputation and are therefore reluctant to share it. Success of a project like Sage Commons would “represent a major cultural shift.” That’s not the only shift on tap in the medical world: The WSJ report also identifies virtual online communities, regional health information exchanges and consumer health tracking as being among the hottest trends in current and future digital medical technology. Full Story

Labor Department offers $13.2 million in grants for medical record platforms
The U.S. Department of Labor is offering grants totaling $13.2 million for creation and implementation of an online platform to boost access to healthcare career opportunities, including occupations such as medical records and health information technicians. According to Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, applicants may choose from two categories: Healthcare Virtual Career Platform (HVCP), with one $6.6 million grant available; or Enhancing the Ability of Community- and Faith-Based Organizations to Deliver Virtual Career Exploration Services, Including Healthcare Careers, with four grants totaling $6.6 million available. The grants are being offered to account for an expected 20 percent growth in the number of medical records and health information technicians over the next few years. The Employment and Training Administration expects to award grants by June 30, 2010, with a start date of July 1, 2010. Full Story

New ‘nanocage’ imaging technique could mean earlier cancer detection
An experimental ultrasensitive imaging technique that uses a pulsed laser and tiny gold-based “nanocages” might enable early detection and treatment of diseases such as cancer, according to a report by researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. According to study co-author Ji-Xin Cheng, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and chemistry at Purdue, the system requires shining near-infrared laser pulses through the skin to detect hollow nanocages and solid nanoparticles – made of an alloy of gold and silver – that are injected into the bloodstream. Unlike previous methods using tiny metallic nanorods and nanospheres, the new technique does not cause heat damage to tissue being imaged, Cheng said. In addition to improved cancer detection, the tiny gold-silver cages might also be used to deliver time-released anticancer drugs to diseased tissue, the study notes. Full Story

PHR users more confident about learning health needs
Americans who access their health information through personal health records (PHRs) say they know more about their health, ask more questions, and take better care of themselves than when their health information was offered in paper record form, according to a new study by the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF). One in 14 Americans has now used a PHR – double the number from a year ago – and those that do say PHRs give them the confidence to access their personal information online and pay more attention to their health, according to the study. In addition, 1 in 3 respondents say they used the PHR to take a specific action to improve their health. Meanwhile, those that find PHRs the most helpful are persons whom doctors have had the most difficulty treating: those with multiple chronic conditions, less education, and lower incomes, CHCF Chief Executive Officer Mark D. Smith M.D. said. Full Story   Further Information

Telemedicine units becoming standard issue for long-distance flights
Telemedicine machines are growing in popularity on long-distance flights due to their ease of use and reduced risk of litigation to the airline, according to a report from Port Vila, Vanuatu-based YouMe Support Foundation. Already used by carriers such as Emirates, BMI Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia, telemedicine units like Hampshire, United Kingdom-based RDT Ltd.’s Tempus IC offer medical security to passengers in the event of an emergency even when there is no doctor on board, the Foundation notes. Although airlines may need to update communications equipment to use telemedicine machines, units such as Tempus IC “look like they are becoming an essential part of any first-aid kit,” RDT Chief Executive Officer Graham Murphy said.  Full Story

AT&T to build telehealth network for California healthcare providers
A telehealth consortium led by the University of California has selected AT&T to build a telecommunications system that will connect almost 1,000 healthcare providers throughout the state. According to Thomas Nesbitt, associate vice chancellor for strategic technologies and alliances at UC Davis Health System in Davis, CA, the California Telehealth Network (CTN), a three-year, $27 million project, will connect smaller hospitals and clinics to physicians, specialists and other networks at larger hospitals through video and audio streamed through a closed-circuit system. UC Davis Health System will oversee the project. The CTN is part of the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program, an effort to improve healthcare service in rural America. Full Story

UK to expand Tunstall telemedicine program within England
The United Kingdom’s National Health Service is expanding its Whole System Demonstrator throughout the Cornwall, England region following a successful pilot of the telemedicine program, one of the UK’s largest. According to Carol Williams, Director of Service Improvement at Cornwall Primary Care Trust, more than 2,000 patients participated in the initial pilot as of January, convincing officials to expand the program throughout the area. The Whole System Demonstrator relies on service from Yorkshire, England-based Tunstall Telehealth. The system enables patients to monitor their vital signs such as weight, blood pressure and oxygen levels in their own homes easily, safely and securely. The expansion should commence this month, and a national program evaluation will occur in 2011, Williams said. Full Story

Internet treatment for ‘panic disorder’ as effective as in-person care
Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for the treatment of panic disorder is just as effective when done over the Internet as when conducted in person, according to a study at the Center for Psychiatry Research (CPR) in Stockholm, Sweden. The process, however, is much more cost-effective when performed over the Web, a finding that supports the introduction of Internet treatment into regular psychiatry, CPR researcher Jan Bergström said. An estimated 15 percent of all people experience depression and another 4 percent experience panic disorder during their lifetime. Although CBT is an effective treatment for both, there is a lack of psychologists and psychotherapists that use CBT methods, and access to them varies greatly in Sweden and in many other countries. Under Internet-based CBT, the patient undergoes a Web-driven self-help program and has contact with a therapist by e-mail, according to the study.  Full Story

FDA considers regulation of medical smartphone applications
Medical smartphone applications could come under regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as they become more popular, according to a report in Scientific American. With more than 1,500 such applications already available online, and with more than 4 in 5 physicians expected to have a smartphone by 2012, the FDA must consider whether and how to ensure patient safety around the wide-ranging – and often freely available – medical apps market, the report notes. There is also a concern about overregulation and stymieing “part of the next great wave of innovations in health care.” Currently, the FDA has the authority to regulate certain medical devices, but no guidelines indicate whether the agency can oversee the accuracy and quality of smartphone applications and other health IT tools. Full Story

For women, the doctor is still in when it comes to private matters
Although the prospect of going online to privately and anonymously discuss medical issues is appealing, most women still prefer to speak to their doctor in person about such matters, according to a survey by New York City-based research firm Harris Interactive. Overall, 80 percent of respondents said they would be most comfortable discussing private health concerns or questions that are potentially embarrassing with a medical professional, while 49 percent said they would be comfortable doing so with an online community. But, 65 percent of online women think there are benefits to discussing health concerns or questions via an online community, primarily privacy. Forty-three percent of online women felt that the fact that their questions and concerns could be anonymous was an advantage, and 40 percent considered being able to discuss things with and get advice from someone who had a similar experience as a benefit. Full Story

New HHS Web site keeps tabs on Medicare hospital spending
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new Web site designed to track Medicare hospital spending for the 25 most expensive conditions. The CMS Dashboard (http://www.cms.gov/Dashboard/) allows consumers to compare Medicare hospital spending by state, and includes a database of more than 40 million hospital admissions dating back to 2006, updated monthly. Spending may be tracked by year and state, highest spending states for each condition, and conditions by volume. Full Story

Portable tele-ECG for home care debuts in India
Dr. Balabhai Navanati Hospital in Mumbai, India, has begun using a portable tele-ECG for improved care of its cardiac patients. According to BNH Consultant Heart Surgeon and Telemedicine Department Coordinator Pavan Kumar, the 12-lead full ECG allows patients to have their ECG recorded at home and transmitted to their physician's mobile phone immediately for quick advice. The device, designed by Vinayak Deshpande, business head of Maestros Mediline Systems Ltd. in Mumbai, works on sound-based technology for signal transfer. The unit will help the hospital provide teleconsultation to 31 peripheral hospitals in neighboring Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Union Territory, to the benefit of more than 4,000 patients in rural areas. Full Story

Martin Kohut, managing director of Ness Slovakia, announced that his firm, Ness Technologies, Inc., has won a public tender with the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic to provide the first phase of an Electronic Healthcare Services system valued at approximately $44 million (US)...U.S. Senator Chris Dodd announced that EHealth Connecticut, the Rocky Hill nonprofit contracted by the state for a health information exchange, will receive $5.7 million in federal stimulus funds to establish an EMR center...Katherine R. Tavitian has been named chief executive officer of the California eHealth Collaborative... Gerry Douglas discusses the success of his Malawi telehealth initiative, the Baobab organization, with the Toronto Star...Douglas Smith, MD, medical founder of Minute Clinic, joins Consult A Doctor, Inc., as Chief Medical Officer...Ghen Sugimoto, vice president of InteractiveMD announced the first public viewing of the company's videoconferencing technology on WPLG Local 10, ABC News' Miami affiliate...Christine Dixon, CEO of the Wilmington, Massachusetts' Visiting Nurse and Community Health, Inc. (VNCH), announced the organization had received a $3,500 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation's Catalyst Fund to support their Telehealth Program...Joshua Seidman, acting director of the Meaningful Use Division of the Office of Provider Adoption Support at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, announced the results of a survey by Lake Research Partners that found that the wealthy used personal health records more, but the poor benefited more...Tom Foulkes, vice president for Adult Learning at the New Hampshire Technical Institute, announced an initiative with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System and Arnett Development Group LLC called The Health and Wealth Care Initiative for Vermont and New Hampshire to retrain information technology workers to teach elderly patients to use new telehealth technologies…Please send us your news on Movers and Shakers in the field.

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