World’s largest test of remote monitoring for chronically ill underway
Electronics giant Philips has launched the world’s largest trial of remote monitoring of home-based, chronically ill patients in an effort to prove that telehealth can help control growing healthcare costs for providers. The trial, underway in Newham, United Kingdom, involves 400 patients suffering from illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, according to Malcolm Hart, director of Philips’ medical business in Britain. The patients are monitored at home via diagnostic equipment linked by broadband internet connections to local hospitals and clinics. Additional trials are taking place in the counties of Kent and Cornwall. The overall project could save the government “millions of pounds,” according to Britain’s Department of Health (DoH). More than 14.5 million people in Britain have chronic conditions that require monitoring, the DoH said. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business...

Army tests virtual reality-based aid for combat burn victims
A virtual reality project developed by University of Washington researchers is helping injured Army veterans forget about their pain. The SnowWorld program, being tested at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, effectively works through distraction: users wear high-tech goggles that block the view of their wounds and charred skin as they navigate an icy canyon or throw snowballs at giant penguins or mammoths. The project has great promise, according to UW researcher Hunter Hoffman. He said the patients in the most pain show the most pain reduction as they participate in SnowWorld. The program has also reduced stress for nurses and family members, BAMC Chief of Anesthesia, Dr. Christopher Maani said. The Army is also researching use of virtual reality to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120638735

EU gives marketing approval to new wireless health monitor
Medical equipment maker Intelesens has received approval from the European Union to market its Vitalsens wireless health monitor in Europe and Southeast Asia, the Belfast, Ireland company announced. According to Intelesens Chief Executive Officer Michael Caulfield, the device – a disposable electrode patch and reusable clip-on transmitter that can measure heart rate, ECG, body temperature, and other health conditions – offers a low-cost technology solution toward management of care for chronically ill patients at home, and the monitoring of patients at hospitals. The company next hopes to gain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Vitalsens in the United States, Caulfield said. Intelesens is a spin-out company of the University of Ulster, which developed the sensor-based technology. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news...     http://www.intelesens.com/news/091221_ceclass.php

Telepsychiatry can provide quick care to patients, lower costs
Applying telemedicine to psychiatry can make it easier for patients to obtain appointments and speed up the provision of care, according to a report by Walnut Creek, CA-based healthcare consulting firm The Abaris Group and the University of California at Davis. “Telepsychiatry in the Emergency Department: Overview and Case Studies” notes that patients in the emergency department with mental health issues typically encounter long delays before being admitted, transferred, or discharged. But those few facilities that have used telemedicine or “telepsychiatry” have achieved fairly positive results. “Emergency department (ED) telepsychiatry programs appear to provide quick and specialized care to patients with the risk of psychiatric emergencies, and have the potential to assist in reducing crowding in EDs and lowering costs,” the report notes. The report is available from the California HealthCare Foundation at www.chcf.org.    http://www.chcf.org/documents/hospitals...

Health IT vital to medication adherence and error reduction
Health information technology can help reduce medication-related errors and improve medication adherence among older people, according to a report by the Center for Technology and Aging (CTA) in Oakland, CA. “Technologies for Optimizing Medication Use in Older Adults” notes that 12 percent of the 3 billion medication prescriptions issued annually in the U.S. are never picked up by the patient, and 40 percent are not taken correctly. But use of devices such as medication kiosks, online personal medication records, smart pill bottles, mobile phone apps with medication management, and wireless point-of-care testing devices can improve medication use by seniors, CTA Director David Lindeman said. Such an action will save the nation $290 billion in healthcare costs, according to the New England Healthcare Institute. http://www.techandaging.org/MedOpPositionPaper.pdf

Telegenetics could be next generation of telemedicine
Telegenetics – the remote viewing of DNA test results for diagnosis and treatment – could be the next phase of telemedicine, according to the industry trade group LifeScience Alley in St. Louis Park, MN. The group recently named Eden Prairie-based Access Genetics as one of the state’s top new medical technology companies, largely due to its successful dealings in long-distance genetics. According to Access Genetics Chief Executive Officer George Hoedeman, telegenetics is possible through use of the proprietary virtual software product TeleGene. The product allows doctors, patients, genetic counselors, and lab technicians nationwide real-time viewing and discussion of DNA tests and customized patient reports through text, chat, and video. Telegenetics is also the logical direction for telemedicine to head, according to Ethan Rooney, co-founder of research firm Symbios Clinical Inc. in Blaine, MN, as Internet-based DNA testing is “crucial to healthcare reform.”     http://www.medcitynews.com/index.php/2010/01/...

Grant assistance program available for EMS projects
Ridgefield, NJ-based emergency communications and telemedicine systems provider General Devices has initiated a grant assistance program for those in emergency medicine trying to locate grants, write a successful grant proposal, and manage grant-funded projects. According to General Devices Sales Director Rhea Lazarus, the service is free to those seeking grant funding for such activities as improving communications, disaster response, improving patient outcomes, telemedicine, and training and delivery of prehospital and emergency healthcare. In addition to working with a leading grant research team to locate applicable grants, General Devices has also teamed up with emsgrantshelp.com, a leading grant specialist in EMS and emergency medicine. The company will refer those in need of grant writers and grant managers to experts with experience in EMS and emergency medicine. For more information, visit www.general-devices.com or www.emsgrantshelp.com, or call Lazarus at (201) 313-7075. http://www.emsresponder.com/web/online/Industry...

Contractors needed to evaluate health IT projects for ONC
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks contractors for four projects designed to examine, evaluate, and manage health information technology grant programs created by the federal economic stimulus package. The projects are designed to help the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT assess progress toward meeting stimulus goals, develop customer relationship management software for regional health IT centers, identify key performance measures of state health data exchange (HDE) initiatives, and provide technical assistance to participants in the state HDE program. Deadlines for response vary by project, with the earliest date of Jan. 14. More information is available at https://www.fbo.gov.  https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity...    https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity...   https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity... https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity...

Kaiser, VA join in first-ever linking of public, federal EHR systems
San Francisco-headquartered Kaiser Permanente and the Department of Veterans Affairs have initiated a pilot program linking the electronic health records (EHRs) of patients who receive care at private and government medical facilities in San Diego County. The joint venture is the first-ever linking of a federal agency’s EHR system – in this case, the Veterans Affairs Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) – with a private medical organization, according to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. The VistA-Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect venture will allow clinicians to electronically, securely, and privately share authorized patient data, and help avoid redundant care and testing. Later this year, the Department of Defense’s healthcare system will be added to the exchange, with the eventual goal of making the program available to all veterans and service members.  http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases/nat/...

Telemedicine makes its way into Saudi Arabian waters
Houston-based InPlace Medical Solutions has expanded its video offshore medical services to the Arabian Gulf. Scorpion Offshore Inc., a Houston-based operator of the drilling rigs Freedom and Intrepid, will use InPlace Medical’s video remote services for episodic and continuing medical care for its employees, according to company vice president of human resources Travis Fitts Jr. The use of InPlace Medical’s services follows a successful pilot program in Malaysia. It also brings “wellness and lifestyle coaching that previously was only available shoreside,” Fitts said. Shannon Caldwell, executive director for offshore and remote services for InPlace Medical parent company NuPhysicia LLC, said the expansion into Saudi waters demonstrates the firm’s growing global competence.  http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news...

HHS seeks contractor to ‘re-identify’ private patient data
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans to hire a research contractor to test the privacy of anonymous medical record data. The contractor hired must have experience conducting comprehensive research on re-identifying data that was deemed “de-identified” under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Under HIPAA, hospitals and other healthcare providers de-identify personal medical data by removing the 18 identifiers in the data. Under this new contract, the researcher will attempt to re-identify the individual from whom the medical data was obtained. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will award the contract; no date or award amount has been announced. The public notice is available at https://www.fbo.gov.   https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity...

Healthcare providers ready for ‘meaningful use’ – but not hospitals
Healthcare providers are confident that they can meet the recently released requirements of the federal government’s definition of “meaningful use” and qualify for incentive payments, but hospitals are not as likely to do so, according to a pair of new research reports. Orem, UT-based research firm KLAS reports that 85 percent of healthcare providers believe their electronic health record (EHR) products will meet the definition, with users of Epic and NextGen EHR products topping the list. But two-thirds of hospitals surveyed by Falls Church, VA-based Computer Sciences Corp. have “gaps” that could prevent them from meeting the requirements. Among the findings: a mere one-fourth of the facilities surveyed have met at least 70 percent of the government’s readiness criteria, and only 50 percent of EHR-using hospitals surveyed collect most of their required quality measure data with those systems, according to the survey. http://www.klasresearch.com/Klas/Site/Store/ReportDetail.aspx?ProductID=559    http://www.csc.com/newsroom/press_releases...