Federal government launches $220 million pilot on health IT benefits
Fifteen communities have been awarded $220 million in federal grants to pilot a national program on using health information technology to improve patient healthcare quality and efficiency. According to Vice President Joe Biden and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the Beacon Community program awards will "tap the best ideas across America and demonstrate the enormous benefit health IT will have to improving health and care within our communities." The selected Beacon Communities will use local health IT resources to bring doctors, hospitals, community health programs, federal programs and patients together to design new ways of improving quality and efficiency to benefit patients and taxpayers. Each Beacon Community has specific and measurable improvement goals in the areas of quality, cost-efficiency, and population health, Biden said. A list of grant recipients is available at www.whitehouse.gov. In addition, the program is expected to help develop a roadmap for other communities to achieve "meaningful use" of health IT, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal said. A roundtable discussion on meaningful use appears in the April issue of Telemedicine and e-Health. Full Story    Further Information

Home telehealth device shipments to hit 2 million by 2013
More than 2 million home telehealth devices will be shipped annually worldwide by 2013, as popularity of such units increases due to their improved availability, according to a report by Wellingborough, United Kingdom-based medical research provider InMedica. According to InMedica market research analyst Neha Khandelwal, more than three-fourths of the units will be home-use digital blood glucose meters, blood pressure monitors, weight scales, pulse oximeters and peak flow meters used in telehealth applications. Most of the purchasers will be from the same group that now uses the equipment: those suffering from chronic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension and diabetes. But Khandelwal said a new group is expected to begin subscribing to home telehealth services by 2013: persons who are generally concerned or worried about their state of health, who may not necessarily be diagnosed with a condition.   Full Story

Virtual creations from 'Avatar' may soon reach real world amputees
U.S. Army officials are developing a project designed to create a virtual world in which military and veteran amputees can swap information and give the peer support many lose when they leave military treatment facilities. According to Ashley Fisher, a program manager at the Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center in Fort Detrick, MD, the Amputee Virtual Environment Support Space (AVESS) project will provide wounded warriors with a specialized version of the popular "Second Life" computer simulation game, where users create a virtual avatar of themselves, complete with the physical characteristics they assign it. The avatar can interact with other registered avatar beings - fellow amputees, caregivers, friends and loved ones - in a virtual world that's unencumbered by the restrictions of time, distance or disability. As AVESS develops, users may be able to check in with their professional caregivers, ask questions, get information updates, and even see online demonstrations of the best way to do a physical therapy exercise or adjust a prosthetic device, Fisher said. Full Story

New computer-based system tracks radiation exposure from CT scans
Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City have developed a computer-based system that can automatically track radiation dose exposure from computed tomography (CT) scans, improving the ability of doctors and patients to track their cumulative healthcare-related radiation exposure. According to Dr. George Shih, assistant professor of radiology at Weill Cornell, older CT scanners burn information onto an image, making it impossible to share data with clinical information systems. In contrast, the Valkyrie system's image processing automatically extracts this radiation information from that CT dose report image. Valkyrie can also calculate a patient-specific radiation dose based on each patient's size and weight. This calculation, along with age and gender, may provide a more accurate estimate of the risk involved with radiation exposure, Shih said. Full Story

Scientists test saliva-driven heart attack biosensor
Rice University scientists have developed a microchip sensor capable of processing saliva and detecting a pending heart attack. The Nano-Bio-Chip, being tested at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, provides on-the-spot detection of cardiac biomarkers of injury implicated in a heart attack, according to Dr. Biykem Bozkurt, professor of medicine at BCM. The saliva test, combined with electrocardiograms (ECG), can provide more accurate information than the ECG alone for patients with chest pain, reducing the likelihood of false alarms, Bozkurt said. ECGs fail to correctly diagnose about a third of patients having a heart attack. Over the next two years, samples from approximately 500 patients who come to the MEDVAMC emergency room with chest pain or heart attack-related symptoms will be collected. Full Story

Electromagnetic brain pulses could act as alternative antidepressant
Magnetic stimulation could be a new form of antidepressant for patients who don't respond to traditional treatments, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). According to NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D., the initial industry-independent, multi-site, randomized, tightly controlled trial found that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) produced significant antidepressant effects in a subgroup of patients, with few side effects. Only about one-third of patients treated with the pulsing electromagnet suffered remission compared to those who underwent traditional therapy. Although rTMS treatment has not lived up to early hopes that it might replace more invasive therapies, "this study suggests that the treatment may be effective in at least some treatment-resistant patients," Insel said. The findings appear in the May 2010 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Full Story

CPOE use contributes to 18-month decline in patient deaths
In the first findings of its type, use of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system has led to a significant decrease in hospital-wide mortality rates, according to a study by researchers at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH) and Stanford University School of Medicine. The system, implemented in 2007, resulted in a 20 percent drop in mortality rate at LPCH over an 18-month period, the study notes. With CPOE, doctors and other medical staff can prescribe medications, tests and other treatments electronically, making the instructions instantly and remotely available to all authorized hospital staff on or offsite. Although the findings are considered "very meaningful," researchers also noted that other patient care initiatives at the hospital may also have contributed to the decrease, study lead author Dr. Christopher Longhurst said. The findings were published online May 3 in Pediatrics. Full Story

'i6 Challenge' launched to find innovative med tech ideas
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Administration has announced a new $12 million competition, the "i6 Challenge," seeking the most innovative ideas to drive medical technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. According to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, EDA will award up to $1 million to each of six teams around the country, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) will award a total of up to $6 million in additional funding to NIH or NSF Small Business Innovation Research grantees associated with winning teams. The i6 Challenge is open to entrepreneurs, investors, universities, foundations, and non-profits; the deadline for applications is July 15. More information is available at www.eda.gov/i6, and a conference call on the competition is scheduled for May 17. Full Story

Worldwide telehealth requires change in way medicine is taught in West
Encouraging use of telehealth in developing nations will require a change in how medicine is taught in western world schools, according to a report from a retired neurologist in Northern Ireland. Dr. Victor Patterson, who has been setting up a mobile health service in Nepal for people with epilepsy, notes that 80 percent of people in Nepal live outside Kathmandu, the city's capital, while 90 percent of the nation's doctors live within that city. Basic telemedicine, driven by cell phones and text messaging, makes sense, Patterson said. The problem is, medical schools in developing countries and in the West, don't teach telephone-based medicine. The best way to make it happen? Formally teach it in local Nepal medical schools, where students are more enthusiastic to learn, and gather and publish data to show how effective telephone medicine can be. Some Western universities, such as the University of California-Los Angeles, are making the effort, and the International Telecommunication Union has put out a report on mobile healthcare and telemedicine in developing countries, Patterson noted. Full Story

Luminetx Corp. changes name to Christie Medical, releases VeinViewer
Memphis-based medical imaging firm Luminetx Corp. has officially changed its name to Christie Medical Holdings Inc., following its acquisition by the Cypress, CA global technologies company Christie Digital Systems U.S.A. Inc. earlier this year. According to Christie Medical President George Pinho, operations will continue as normal, including release of the third generation of its VeinViewer Vision product. VeinViewer uses near-infrared light to project a digital image of a patient's veins on the surface of his or her skin in real time. Christie Digital finalized acquisition of Luminetx in January; the name change officially occurred Wednesday.    Full Story  Further Information

TeleHealth Services campaign backs National Stroke Awareness month
Raleigh, N.C.-based TeleHealth Services, which specializes in interactive patient education systems and healthcare grade televisions for hospitals, has launched the High Blood Pressure and Stroke Awareness Campaign in support of National Stroke Awareness month in May. According to George Fleming, chief executive officer of TeleHealth Services, the campaign will supply four educational videos, provided by Milner Fenwick, the leading producer of patient education videos in the United States and one educational video from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in English and Spanish. TeleHealth Services will use its TIGR system, an interactive patient and staff education system featuring video-on-demand access, to provide stroke awareness information to thousands of patients throughout May. According to the National Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in America, and the No. 1 cause of adult disability. Full Story

Siemens reorganizes healthcare division due to changing customer market
Erlangen, Germany-based Siemens AG has reorganized its Siemens Healthcare division, creating separate divisions for advanced imaging modalities and less complex radiology systems. According to Hermann Requardt, chief executive officer of the Siemens Healthcare Sector, Siemens Healthcare will still consist of three divisions: Imaging and Therapy Systems, Clinical Products, and Diagnostics. Imaging and Therapy Systems will bring together the business with more advanced devices, including CT, MRI, and PET systems, for diagnostic imaging and therapy. The reorganization was made due to changes in customer groups in the healthcare market, including a growing demand by large hospitals and clinics for therapy solutions. Smaller hospitals and physicians in private practice, especially in emerging economies with above-average growth, are seeking cost-efficient and less complex equipment, Requardt said. Full Story

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