A Partners Healthcare study finds a 27% higher rate of medication adherence with the use of Vitality’s GlowCap pill bottle cap. GlowCap has built in wireless, allowing for automated calls for missed doses, reminders, and reporting. This is pretty cool stuff, as studies find daily medication adherence at 50% with $300 billion in annual estimated costs associated with non-adherence. I’m sure insurance companies might be interested as well.
The University of Arizona Rural Health Professionals Program links medical students to rural physician preceptors and even provides exposure and education around telemedicine.
A House Committee claims mHealth as the answer to the VA delivering healthcare to rural veterans. The only mHealth application I’ve seen at the VA is retinal images, taken at a VA hospital, transmitted to an optometrist in Utah to check the status of diabetic retinopathy. Are readers familiar with VA mHealth programs currently available?
Integrating communication with Voalte into one smart, mobile device is catching on with nurses and administrators.
Baptist Easley Hospital (SC), facing shortages of psychiatrists and cost pressures, implements telepsychiatry for ED patients.
President Obama calls for another 500 MHz of spectrum for wireless data services to “allow for the development of mobile telemedicine”, among other things.
A recent report finds that true innovation in Health IT will be in the arena of mobile and wireless technologies.
John Linkous, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association, recently wrote an article on mHealth, with coverage of the industry, its role in the broader health reform debate, and the pending increase in regulatory oversight.
This is an interesting interview with Eric Topol, co-founder of the West Wireless Health Institute in San Diego, on the present and future application of wireless technologies in healthcare. Speaking of West Wireless and San Diego, they hosted an mHealth Summit this past Monday organized by the World Economic Forum.
The AMA House of Delegates calls for separate payments for providers in “non-face-to-face electronic visits” to include Web portals, remote monitoring, and virtual visits and telemedicine.
Hearing aids get the addition of Bluetooth, making the use of mobile phones and other wireless devices possible.
Healthcare Innovation EXPO 2010 (October in London) focuses on “mobile health and social care” geared to community-based providers.
Do you suffer from erectile dysfunction? There’s an app for that.
InVivoLink expands its offering of scheduling and inventory management software for implant surgeries with the introduction of mobile Remote Control app for all major mobile platforms.
Healthagen’s iTriage, which we’ve been reporting about every post it seems, is now being deployed by Meridian Health (NJ). I think we should get an interview with these guys.
In iPhone 4 news, here’s a article about Facetime, Apple’s new video chat service, which has obvious potential healthcare applications. Do any users have opinions on the quality or usability of the service? I would give my own opinion, but my iPhone 4 order has been put on hold and both AT&T and Apple are blaming each other at the moment.
NEC Corporation rolls out an RFID asset tracking system at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (Brazil), which the article calls “a pioneer system in South America”.
MIT researchers develop a $2 cell phone add-on called PerfectSight that will let patients, particularly those in developing countries, check their own eyesight. Also using consumer technology to create diagnostic tools: Rice University, whose biomedical engineers worked with MD Anderson to rig a $400 Olympus digital camera and special dyes that can detect cancerous cells in the cheek, which could make it possible for non-pathologists to perform portable cancer screening.
With more than 1.5 million phones sold, the last week has been iPhone 4 week. The world was inundated with news, views, and reviews of the latest version of the phone and OS. Notable links:
MediConnect (formerly PassportMD) announces compatibility of its Web-based PHR with the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and most Google Android and HP/Palm WebOS smartphones.
Dr. Feldman follows up with his iPad experience in John Halamka’s blog.
Humana releases video games apps, Colorfall and Goldwalker, for stimulating your lifestyle. I’m not sure if they should charge $2.99 for them, though. Not many people may know it, but Humana has a video games division that focuses on the elderly population. Humana’s mobile app is also better than the competition’s.
Aprima Medical Software announces the availability of its EHR on Macs, iPads, and iPhones.
Epic plans to port its Haiku iPhone application to the iPad, to be named Canto.
Dr. Chrono provides a PM/EMR app for the iPad. While they are at it, they might want to improve their Web site.
Presenting the advent of Dialysis Apps, which have nothing to do with dialysis other than being intended for people to kill time with while waiting for their dialysis to finish. It has a couple of games and general healthcare literature, but should probably be renamed While You Wait For Something App. Steve, maybe you can monitor naming of the apps along with porn.
M is an anonymous contributor to HIStalk Mobile, focusing on new mobile applications and iPhone/iPad news.
Ascom Wireless Solutions unveils VoIP and IP-DETECT, a rugged handset for its teleCARE-IP wireless communication platform. The added functionality will improve clinical team collaboration and patient monitoring.
Qualcomm utilizes 3G technology to gather actionable public health information in the Philippines in real time.
This Florida Hospital Oceanside video shows its use of the iPad for speech therapy in stroke victims.
An ABI Research study finds wireless adoption in healthcare is up more than 60% over the past year and will continue to grow similarly over the medium term. ABI has several reports on wireless healthcare.
The video above shows some of the impressive capabilities of PatientView, a plug-in for FrontlineSMS, which utilizes text messaging to record and distribute information on patients, health workers, appointments, etc. International applications, including in Mali where it was launched, seem to be the focus.
An NCR Corporation report finds patients want to be able to utilize online and mobile platforms to interact with healthcare providers.
Research firm Frost and Sullivan will host a Web conference on the European Remote Monitoring Market on July 1.
UMass Memorial Medical Center implements NDoc by InterSystems Corporation for home health and hospice workers. The system allows for storage and synchronization from remote workers to office databases.
This is a great video of Chris Moses of MIT discussing his work with Sana, a mobile phone based telemedicine system being deployed in the Philippines.
In more general iPhone 4 news, AT&T announces it will not have iPhone 4s available in stores until Tuesday, even though Apple stores have them in limited supply.
Motion Computing announces its J3500 tablet PC for healthcare and other vertical markets that require a rugged device. It’s way uglier than an iPad and quadruple the price (it starts at $2,299) but it’s tougher.
This NYT article provides some good commentary around the value, potential and challenges associated with implantable heart monitors. As the article highlights, the amount of data being generated from the devices is staggering.
Baptist Memorial Health Care completes installation of RF Technologies’ Safe Place Infant and Pediatric Security Solution at eight hospitals. The system prevents abduction of infants by sounding an alarm and locking all doors if a baby is moved without authorization.
Here’s a review article recently published on telestroke. The findings are positive from the studies reviewed.
The Mayo Clinic and University of Illinois announce a research collaboration partnership around healthcare IT. The effort aims to leverage different capabilities at each institution.
The University of Minnesota and Good Samaritan are awarded a three-year grant to assess the impact of telemedicine and remote monitoring and sensing on clinical outcomes and costs. It will include over 1,600 elderly patients in 40 rural cities, making it the largest study of its kind in the US.
GWU and Howard University (DC) secure grant funding to implement the popular NoMoreClipboard.com PHR system for the management of diabetics. Patients will use cell phones running NoMoreClipboard to update providers.
Using Continua standards, Cambridge Consultants combines its Vena platform with Qualcomm’s Wearable Mobile Device module to enable connectivity of medical devices and online health services wirelessly.
A recent study published in Archives of Internal Medicine (Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(7):648-653) finds lower mortality and ventilator use in ICU patients with remote intensivist coverage.
The return of the doctor’s house call, only virtual now, enabled (and written) by Cisco.
Do you live in the Boston area and have an interest in HIT? An open house to launch the new Collaborative Care Technology Working Group (CCTWG) will take place in Waltham on June 30.
Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Healthcare (KY) announces an app for iPhone and BlackBerry allowing users to access hospital information, make appointments, and track caloric intake.
A study of 14 patients in the journal Movement Disordersfinds improved quality of life and motor performance in Parkinson’s patients receiving telemedicine care.
Pri-Med, which provides education services to over 220,000 clinicians, introduces Pri-Med Mobile for iPhone and Android. The app provides CME-eligible content as well as clinical challenges for Amazon gift cards. The BlackBerry version is slotted for July.
Cook Children’s Medical Center (TX) selects Amelior Tracker by Patient Care Technology Systems to provide RFID-based tracking of equipment, staff, and patients.
We appreciate that 3G Doctor took the time to respond to M’s product review this week. Their logical points:
The questionnaire is long because doctors need that level of information, plus it directs patients logically given logical answers.
The question responses are often used to document the care and advice given.
The UK system is far superior to that of the US (OK, they were a bit over the top on that one, but we’ll let that slide since long waits for NHS appointments probably give patients more time to try their app).
The actual consultation itself is conducted on the company’s call, so the patient does not incur telephone charges.
Lighthouse1 announces its mobile app to be released this fall, providing users with more control of and transparency into health benefits and spending.
This CBS News story discusses mobile apps and Web sites targeting patients.
Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. announces its upcoming e-911 app for the iPhone, which transmits a user’s medical history information when they dial 911 on the phone. The company has set a goal of 1 million downloads in the first year. My only question: is it victims/patients who typically dial 911 or is it bystanders?
Behemoth HCA announces a partnership with Healthagen to provide clinical and facilities information to smartphone users in Mississippi and Louisiana. It’s been a good week for Healthagen, as Riverside Community Hospital (CA) states it will use iTriage to provide smartphone users with average ER wait times.
The local paper profilesSmile Reminder, a Utah-based company formed in 2000 to send text message appointment reminders to patients. It’s grown to 60 employees, servers 10,000 doctors and dentists, now does patient-doctor communication, and just signed a deal with GE Healthcare (details not provided). It charges $299 per month per practice and claims to drop no-show rates by up to 80%. It suggests interesting customer retention services: sending birthday greetings, offering last-minute cancellation appointments, embedded refer-a-friend links, and sending surveys.
Health workers in Malawi use free SMS messaging software to track TB outbreaks, saving money and allowing twice as many patients to be treated. They bought recycled cell phones at prices ranging from $15 to $50 each, a GSM modem for $200, and a donated Compaq laptop. The software is from FrontlineSMS:Medic, a non-profit started by Stanford students that recently received a Google charitable grant.
UnitedHealthcare and Centura Health launch the Connected Care network to link rural Coloradans to specialists on the Front Range (I-25 corridor) of Colorado. The service will take advantage of the Colorado Telehealth Network.
This H&HN article calls for standards, certifications and global payment modifications to ensure the success of home monitoring technology.
Has anybody else seen all the press recently about the new, extra rugged Motorola ES400 Enterprise Digital Assistant with potential applications in healthcare? Here’s a pretty good review of it.
Practis introduces mPractis, a mobile version of the Web sites it designs for practices.
As the name suggests, you have a doctor in your 3G-enabled hands (at least if those hands are in the UK or Ireland).
3g Doctor is a 24×7 service that provides an online PHR (free) and access to 3G video consultations with a doctor (£35, $52) payable by credit card or PayPal, for a consult at your convenience (that price is not bad, especially if Dr. Fiona in the picture above is treating you).
Without access to Mr. H’s credit card account, I managed to noodle into 3GD for a free account and created my PHR (they badly need some usability tips from Google Health).
The concept of video conference is not new, but 3GD makes it available to the common man for a quick consult anytime, anywhere (in the UK and Ireland). Also, it own the domain 4GDoctor.com, which answered my question what happens with 4G.
One can share their records by printing a PDF or showing the mobile to the provider (who of course will make you fill out their clipboard). Consults come with a diagnosis and treatment advice with OTC meds, but they probably won’t prescribe Vicodin.
I started an online consult through their Web site, but after answering 50+ questions, I began to feel that the system lacks usability. It’s guaranteed to give the user an additional symptom — headache.
3GD is not meant to replace the family physician, but is meant for casual, semi-emergent consults at the user’s convenience. Some features that would be useful — CCR/CCD exports and integration with other PHRs (why re-invent the PHR wheel?)
With over 10 million 3G mobile-wielding eligible subscribers in the UK, video calling still is used by a minority (Vodafone charges an additional 35p per min). With the iPhone4 and Evo starting to lead innovations in the front facing cameras in the US, time will tell when we will have our first phone video doctor. Dr. Hodge, are you listening?
