VA seeks bids for update of computerized patient record system
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is seeking bids to update its computerized patient record system (CPRS) to enable it to track how and when physicians respond to medical alerts. Currently, CPRS only monitors whether physicians have received abnormal diagnostic test result alerts. The system cannot report whether providers take follow-up actions based upon those alerts. Over a 16-month period, VA wants the contractor to develop three functional and documented prototypes. The deadline for bid submissions is Feb. 26, with bids sent to Matthew Truex, (732) 578-5457, matthew.truex@va.gov, or Anne Marie Vasconcelos, (732) 578-5485, anne.vasconcelos@va.gov. Full Story

Mayo Clinic’s implantable brain sensor could ease Parkinson’s
Sufferers of Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders could benefit from a new implantable deep brain sensor that delivers targeted bursts of electricity, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic. The device, a small electrode that helps record release of the brain’s signaling chemicals or neurotransmitters, has been approved for testing in a human patient and could be in place within the next few months, according to Mayo Clinic researcher Kendall Lee. The sensor works with another implanted stimulating electrode, a microprocessor, a Bluetooth module for data transmission to a computer, and a battery. Possible applications for the device include Parkinson’s, severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, epilepsy, depression and anorexia, Lee notes. Researchers hope to eventually develop a sensor that functions effectively over the long term, as well as shrink the device to where it can be packaged and implanted onto the skull. Full Story

Wireless heartbeat disorder detector is ‘very accurate,’ AHA says
A wireless, computer-driven implantable heart monitor used to detect atrial fibrillation has proven very accurate, according to a study by the American Heart Association. The common heart rhythm problem, which affects more than 2 million Americans, was detected in more than 96 percent of study participants who received the Reveal XT leadless heart monitor, according to study lead author Dr. Gerhard Hindricks, a professor at the University of Leipzig’s Heart Center in Leipzig, Germany. The monitor, about the size of a camera memory stick, is placed under the skin and tracks the beating effectiveness of a human heart. Atrial fibrillation causes the heart’s two chambers to quiver instead of beat, and can lead to stroke-inducing blood clots. Many people with the disorder have no symptoms, Hindricks said. The study was funded by Medtronic, which makes the Reveal XT monitor. Full Story

Virtual stethoscope application released for iPhone, iPod Touch
A stethoscope application that provides a real-time visual display of a patient’s heart and lung sounds is now available for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. Centennial, CO-based Thinklabs’ ds32a Digital Stethoscope gives physicians, nurses, and medical students the ability to capture, display, edit, save and e-mail sounds such as heartbeats, breathing, and bowel activity at a patient’s bedside, in the office or at a remote location, according to Thinklabs’ Chief Executive Officer Clive Smith. Transmission time, from initial usage to data sending, takes about 30 seconds, he said. Thinklabs is the first company to provide such an application for the iPod or iTouch. Full Story

Apple products version of Lorenzo patient monitor nears debut   
Australia’s largest public health information technology company plans to release a version of its popular Lorenzo healthcare monitor to the Apple iPhone and iPad later this year, chief medical officer Dr. Michael Dahlweid announced. Lorenzo allows nurses to directly register basic patient information, such as pulse and temperature, reducing the time needed for administrative actions. It will also improve physician access to data such as scans, X-rays and patient records through a one-click action on a computer, according to Dahlweid. The final version and its release will depend upon feedback that the company receives from the medical community, he said.   Full Story

MIT group releases Moca source code for mobile health products
Moca, an MIT student organization, has released the Moca source code, a set of software tools to help improve delivery of telemedicine and mobile health services to remote areas. According to MIT researcher and Moca team member Leo Anthony Celi, the Moca source code “enables the building blocks” that allow rural healthcare workers to use smartphones to record patient data and transmit the files to specialists for diagnoses and treatment suggestions. The source code, which can be downloaded for free at the Moca website, is part of the organization’s mission to “create an open, free telemedicine platform,” Celi notes. The product includes an android client application, where healthcare workers can document patient data in various formats; OpenMRS modules for receipt and viewing of patient data; and sample questionnaires on the product’s proper use. Full Story

Medweb donates PACS servers to aid in Haiti relief efforts
San Francisco-based telemedicine services provider Medweb has donated several picture archiving and communication system (PACS) servers to aid medical staff working in earthquake-stricken Haiti, the company announced. According to Kim Guevara, Medweb’s corporate philanthropy officer, two PACS servers were donated to the University of Miami/Project Medishare’s 240-bed emergency hospital at Port-au-Prince airport, and a third went to the U.S. Navy’s field hospital in Haiti. The equipment will allow clinicians in Haiti to transmit patient radiological images for remote reading and expert consultation. Images from the University’s Haiti hospital will be sent to the University of Miami Hospital, while the USNS Comfort, which already uses Medweb’s deployable PACS, will electronically receive images of transferred patients from the Navy's temporary field hospital, Guevara said. Full Story

New telemedicine system could solve shortage of eye doctors
A robot-based telemedicine system under development may go a long way toward relieving a shortage of ophthalmologists, according to researchers at the University of Yamanashi in Koufu City, Japan. According to Eye-view Robo developer Kentaro Go, many existing ophthalmology telemedicine systems connect eye doctors via a network so that the microscope images obtained by an eye doctor can be sent to another doctor for diagnosis. However, it is often difficult to take an image that the second doctor wants to have for diagnosis. The Eye-view Robo solves this problem because it enables the second doctor to control the microscope and take images, Go said. It is also not necessary to have an eye doctor at the medical institution where the Eye-view Robo is installed, meaning the product may be disseminated in regions where there is a shortage of eye doctors, according to Go. Full Story

Mandatory electronic health ID numbers to be issued in Australia
As of July, it will be mandatory for every Australian resident to have a unique 16-digit electronic health identification number, the government announced. According to Minister for Health Nicola Roxon, the Individual Health Identifiers (IHIs) will be provided in addition to Medicare numbers to help create a single process to identify patients and healthcare providers. The action is an attempt to prevent inefficiencies found in the nation’s current system, where a patient visiting a doctor has a different identifying number on their health record than the one used at the pharmacy where they get their prescription filled. Amendments will also be made to the national Privacy Act to allow action against persons or companies that misuse an individual’s healthcare identifier, Roxon said. Full Story

Non-profit group launched to help start-up medical device makers
A Seattle-based nonprofit with the goal of helping new med-tech firms get off the ground has been launched by a group of medical device entrepreneurs. The nonprofit, Wings, or the Washington Medical Technology Angel Network, was designed to help connect entrepreneurs to “the right people who can help them financially and operationally,” according to Chris Rivera, president of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association (WBBA), which is overseeing operations of Wings. Despite the slow economy of the past 18 months, the WBBA is convinced there is still money to be made in the medical device industry, Rivera said. Wings will hold its first investment event April 14, while the deadline for a start-up to submit a business plan for consideration is March 1. More information can be found at the Wings website. Full Story

Bangladesh firm to bring telemedicine services to South Asia
A Bangladesh telemedicine company plans to provide healthcare services for more than 5 million South Asian workers in the Middle East and Malaysia by April. According to Dr. Sikder M. Zakir, managing director of Telemedicine Reference Centre Ltd. (TRCL), signed agreements have already been made with approximately 25 Gulf and Malaysian companies that recruit workers from South Asia. Under the project, TRCL will begin providing medical call center services to 2 million Bangladeshi, 1.5 million Indian and 2 million Nepalese and Pakistani workers within two months. TRCL has also signed deals with seven mobile phone companies in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait, Zakir said. Full Story

Wolf Shlagman, founder and CEO of Consult A Doctor, a telemedicine solutions company, recently announced that his company had closed a $5 million Series A financing round led by Morgenthau Venture Partners, and joined by New World Angels and Promociones Bursa…Jeremy Cummin, executive chairman of UK company Telehealth Solutions, announced that his company’s Home Pod is being promoted by the British Lung Foundation (BLF) to promote the care of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)…Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, medical director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, announced that Noteworthy Medical Systems, Inc. will be the leading provider of New Jersey’s first multi-hospital health information exchange (HIE)…Dr. Steve Zatz, executive vice president of WebMD, announced a new set of enhancements for Medscape Mobile, WebMD’s free medical application for physicians to use on the iPhone or iPod touch…Dr. Stephen Coons, MD, chief of neuropathology at Barrow Neurological Institute, discusses how telemedicine has improved efficiency in his department in an audio interview on HealthLeaders Media website… Fran Schrotter, project director of the HHS’s Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP), announced that HITSP has extended its contract with Health and Human Services through April 30, 2010…Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced a scaled-back version of a Senate jobs bill that drops a health IT provision that would have created incentives for “meaningful users” of health IT in outpatient or walk-in clinics associated with hospitals…George Hripcsak and Paul Tang, co-chairs of the HHS’s Health IT Policy Committee’s “meaningful use” workgroup, announced that the group has suggested relaxing some of the meaningful use requirements for electronic health records incentives for physicians…Tom Nordman, vice president of sales and marketing for Bluegiga Technologies announced the availability of their Bluegiga eHealth Access Point, which will also be used by Alive-inc in Japan for the first large scale remote health monitoring system…Rick DeFoore, chief executive officer of Stamford Memorial hospital in Texas announced the plan for his hospital and three others, Anson General Hospital, Stonewall memorial Hospital (Aspermont) and Throckmorton County Memorial hospital, to implement Prognosis Health Information Systems’ ChartAccess Comprehensive EHR software as part of a regional health information organization…Please send us your news on Movers and Shakers in the field.