Acquisitions, mergers to dominate health IT in coming years
New technologies for storage and exchange of patient data will lead to a flurry of acquisitions in the health information technology sector over the next two years, according to a report by Framingham, MA-based market analyst IDC Health Insights. Many health IT vendors are small- or medium-sized businesses that are perfect targets for corporations that want to get into the e-health market, IDC Program Director Lynne Dunbrack said. Enterprise health information exchanges (HIEs) serving integrated delivery networks, health, or hospital systems will be the fastest-growing market segment. Unlike regional health information organizations (RHIOs) and statewide or national HIEs, enterprise HIEs can establish a sustainable business model and are not as encumbered by organizational and data governance issues, the report notes. But acquisition activity could be hindered by state and federal budgetary constraints; other health IT projects competing for resources; existing enterprise and regional HIEs; and longstanding privacy and security concerns. Full Story

National Cancer Institute, Microsoft to create EHR software
The National Cancer Institute plans to work with Microsoft and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) to develop and release standards-based electronic health record software that would store shareable data about a cancer patient's office visits. According to Ken Buetow, NCI's associate director for bioinformatics and information technology, the product will be an open source, "ultra-light record" core EHR with features for sharing information about patient diagnosis, treatment and outcomes, usable by doctors and patients. Although specifications about the software are available on NCI's Web site at www.cancer.gov, the institute plans to create a more user-friendly version for review within about 60 days, Buetow said. Full Story

E-prescriptions continue to gain popularity with doctors
Use of e-prescriptions continues to grow dramatically, as more doctors make the switch from paper to reduce the chance of errors, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ reports that the number of e-prescriptions nearly tripled in 2009, to 191 million, from the previous year's 68 million - about 12 percent of all prescriptions excluding refills. The growth rate is accelerating, according to Surescripts LLC, the nation's largest e-prescription provider. As of this March, nearly 1 in 5 prescriptions was filled electronically, and 1 in 4 doctors now have the ability to e-prescribe - more than double the total from the end of 2008. Industry officials expect the growth in e-prescribing to continue, partly due to a regulatory ruling in March that will soon allow doctors to prescribe controlled medications such as narcotics and anti-depressants electronically, The WSJ reports. Full Story  Further Information

New mobile medical tablet 'does it all' for doctors, patients
Santa Clara, CA-headquartered Marvell believes it may "ignite a telehealth revolution in America" with the release of the Marvell Moby MED Tablet platform, a low-power unit that is always on. According to Marvell co-founder Weili Dai, who is also vice president and general manager of Marvell Semiconductor's Consumer and Computing Business Unit, the Moby MED "provides everything needed in a mobile tablet," including vital signs monitoring, Web cam and simultaneous viewing screens. It also meets federal requirements for an energy-efficient, patient-friendly electronic health records storage device. The unit also features built-in physician and patient alerts for dangerous drug allergies and drug interactions when prescriptions are written, which themselves could result in a net savings of as much as $371 billion for hospitals and $142 billion for physicians over the next 15 years, Dai said. Full Story

Thornberry, Cardiocom collaborate on patient monitoring interface
Lancaster, PA-based home health billing software maker Thornberry Ltd., and home telehealth system provider Cardiocom of Chanhassen, MN, have developed a two-way software interface that allows customers from the two companies to exchange medical data. According to Thornberry President Tom Peth, the interface between Cardiocom's Omnivisor Pro software and Thornberry's clinical software, NDoc, allows demographic data to flow from the NDoc system once a patient is enrolled in telehealth. Hospital field staff will also have access to daily vital sign data, symptom information and be able to enter clinical notes from the telehealth nurse directly in the patient record. Staff may "make better decisions based on objective telehealth information," significantly improving the time it takes to make timely interventions, such as medication adjustments, Peth notes. Full Story

Telehealth program to jump-start $3.5 million smart metering project
London-based smart grid technology company Onzo Ltd. is using telehealth to kick-start a $3.5-million [USD] project on smart metering technology for future envirofriendly applications and services. According to Onzo Research and Development Director Neil Tierney, "Project Hydra" is a consortium developed by Onzo, and the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (ESPRC), both in Swindon, UK. The consortium's focus is on applications that run on a smart grid, a modern electricity network that uses two-way digital technology to control appliances at consumers' homes to save energy and reduce cost. Telehealth, which delivers health-related services and information via telecommunications such as e-mail to communicate with patients, is an ideal start-up point, Tierney said. By 2011, Project Hydra hopes to have developed smart meters for telehealth, as well as open-architecture standards that allow telehealth devices from many suppliers to interoperate. It also wants to have found ways to locate people while preserving their privacy using a universal smart meter wireless communications network, Tierney said. Full Story

Six-dimensional motion sensor could be future of ultra-precise handhelds
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) in Cambridge, MA, have developed a motion sensor than can do the work of at least six different micromechanical sensors, and possibly make the motion detection of handheld devices - such as surgical tools - much more precise. According to CBA Director Neil Gershenfeld, the sensor is a tiny metal bead suspended in "a hole drilled in a circuit board" via a fluctuating electric field. The bead maintains a tight orbit, and disturbances of the orbit indicate the sensor's direction of motion. Gershenfeld said the device has other applications, such as scrolling through Web pages; viewing a 3-D virtual object from different angles, simply by moving a cell phone in space; or in pens that can digitally record whatever's written with them. Full Story

Binaytara Foundation, Manipal College offer telemedicine care in Nepal
The Binaytara Foundation (BTF) has launched a telemedicine program between physicians in the United States and those at the Manipal College of Medical Sciences in Pokhara, Nepal to help improve patient care and promote evidence-based medicine in Nepal. BTF, a Chicago-based nonprofit, plans to expand the telemedicine project to other hospitals in Nepal and other developing countries to allow patients to benefit from the expertise of developed nations, according to BTF Chairperson Dr. Binay Shah. Access to quality healthcare remains a critical problem in developing countries like Nepal. Shah notes that telemedicine has the potential to dramatically expand access to quality medical care in smaller hospitals far from major cities, and may be a model for addressing healthcare delivery shortcomings in places where access to medical diagnosis, treatment and training is limited. Full Story

Nurses split on benefits of EHR systems toward patient care
Registered nurses are nearly 50:50 as to whether newly implemented electronic medical records (EHRs) and charting systems in their hospitals will improve patient care, according to the first national survey of nurses on computerized records. The survey, conducted by AFT Healthcare in Washington, D.C., found that 49 percent of nurses said their EHRs have had a positive effect on the overall quality of patient care, while a nearly equal number-47 percent-said there has been a negative effect or no real effect. When compared with using paper records, 27 percent of nurses said patient care and safety is better since the implementation of computerized records, 25 percent said it is worse, and 39 percent said it is about the same. Full Story

FDA to draft safety initiative on home healthcare devices
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is drafting an initiative to ensure that caregivers and patients safely use complex medical devices at home. According to Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health in Silver Spring, MD, the initiative will develop guidance for manufacturers who intend to market a device for home use, provide for postmarket surveillance, and establish other measures to encourage safe use of these products. Currently, the FDA does not have clear regulations for devices intended for home use that describe the unique factors that manufacturers should consider when designing, testing, and labeling such products, Shuren said. The FDA will also launch a 10-month pilot program in summer 2010, in which manufacturers of home use devices may voluntarily submit their labeling to the agency for posting on a central Web site. From here, home care patients and caregivers may quickly access important information about the safe use of their devices. Full Story   Further Information

UK health department halts early rollout of EHR system
The United Kingdom's Department of Health has suspended rollout of its Summary Care Record system until patients and doctors become more aware of how the program works. According to the British Medical Association's IT committee Chairperson Dr. Grant Ingrams, the health record plan was being carried out without patient awareness and before the independent evaluation of the UK's five early adopter areas had been published. More than 1.25 million patient records have already gone onto the central database, and the health department hopes to eventually have all 50 million of Britain's patients uploaded onto the network. Doctors have not been enthusiastic about the plan, citing concerns over patient privacy and cost.
Full Story

Obama amends HITECH Act, makes more physicians incentive-eligible
President Obama has signed legislation changing the definition of "hospital-based physician" in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, making more physicians eligible for incentive payments for the "meaningful use" of electronic health records (EHRs). The change now allows doctors who treat patients in hospital-based outpatient clinics to be eligible for incentive payments under HITECH. Previously, such physicians were not eligible because the act said they used the hospital's EHR systems, not their own. Full Story

Dan Cleary of General Electric, announced that the U.S. military's Fort Gordon Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, and GE Global Research, are conducting a $2.7 million study in conjunction with Medical College of Georgia's Center for Telehealth using GE's QuietCare system...Vishal Bali, CEO of Fortis Hospitals (New Delhi, India) discussed how 3G telemedicine technology is transforming India's $35 billion healthcare sector on SiliconIndia.com...Dr. William Maisel, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, wrote an article for The New England Journal of Medicine urging the FDA to draft legislation that would improve security against hackers for implanted medical devices...Dr. Andrea Gerstenberger, director of the health sciences planning and services development program at the University of California Office of the President announced the impending launch of the California Telehealth Network...John Kelly, CEO of St. Joseph's Hospital/Foyer D'Youville (Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, Canada) announced that they have gone live with their two-way videoconferencing telehealth services...Jeff Hall, a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer, and Al Strohmetz, joined AMD Global Telemedicine's Design Group...Karen M. Bell, formerly a senior vice president of Health Information Technology Services at Masspro, will be the new chair of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology... Dr. Joseph J. Bander was named Director of the Tele-ICU program for c3o Medical Group, a California-based telemedicine solutions company…Please send us your news on Movers and Shakers in the field.

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