Telehealth Soapbox: Medical device tax finally under fire; implications many (US)

September 26, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/gizmodo-the-top-10-rube-goldberg-machines-featured-on-film-rube-goldberg.jpg” thumb_width=”180″ /]A key part of the Rube Goldberg (or Heath Robinson)-esque funding of the Accountable Care Act (ACA, a/k/a Obamacare) is a punitive medical device tax of 2.3 percent levied on gross sales (not profits) of hip, knee, cardiac implants, many dental materials, diagnostics such as scanners, radiotherapy machines, catheters and more. Since it went into effect on 1 January, it has raised $1 billion according to the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance, the Advanced Medical Technology Association and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association in July–for a program that does not start till 2014. According to The Hill, senior Senators Orrin Hatch, Barrasso and Hoeven are pushing for a repeal amendment to be attached to the stopgap spending bill. The reasons why the tax deserves to be tossed out on its ear are: (more…)

Apps World

September 26, 2013 | by

22-23 October 2013, Earls Court 2, London

While this event is all about the apps and M2M in every area, the organizers are reaching out to the health tech area in both the exhibition and with speakers such as Subir Mondal, Deputy Director IS, NHS – Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, myHealthPal and BleepBleeps. Parts are free with registration, others are paid. Keynote speakers include Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple at the free Developer World. The free part also includes the 250-exhibitor expo along with 3 keynote talks within the 5 free-to-attend workshops (registration here). The Enterprise World speaker track on both days is free and includes the NHS speaker on security. M2M and Automotive is a paid track and includes content (Health & Wearables, Connected Car) relating to telehealth with myHealthPal and BleepBleeps.  Passes range from £250 (networking) to £995 (2 day Gold). According to a posting on LinkedIn, there is a 25 percent savings when you use this code for registration: LINKEDIN25. More information here.

An encouraging Australian RCT combining self-care and telemonitoring

September 24, 2013 | by

A paper just published in the Journal of Telemedicine & eHealth (Volume: 19 Issue 9) entitled “Telehealth Remote Monitoring for Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease” makes refreshing reading for those of us who still believe that a well-designed implementation of telehealth brings immense health benefit to those with chronic long-term conditions.

The authors, Kristen De San Miguel, Joanna Smith, and Gill Lewin, all from Western Australia describe a small RCT using Docobo kit that involved (more…)

Bosch to can Health Buddy, withdraw from telehealth in UK – temporarily?

September 24, 2013 | by | 8 Comments

On September 6th, Bosch announced a tie up with Remedy Health Media  [TTA 10 Sep] “to launch remote patient monitoring products designed for tablets and smartphones”, which suggested that it would not be long before they stopped selling their purpose-built telehealth hardware.

Now TTA has heard from a reliable source that they are telling their customer organisations that they are going to withdraw (more…)

Queensland Government to invest $31m in telehealth

September 20, 2013 | by

The health minister of Queensland, Lawrence Springborg, has announced that the Queensland Government will invest $31m in telehealth over the next 4 years, according to a report in Brisbane Times.  It seems the spend will be primarily in remote consultation systems. The minister has said that the $30m of remote consultation equipment deployed by the previous government of Anna Bligh had largely failed to deliver, but has admitted that some of these are used for carrying out up to 25 consultations a day.

Read the full article here.

Telehealth and Broadband in Australia

September 19, 2013 | by

Australia appears to be in the midst of a debate on the cost of building a national broadband network. According to the NBN Co which is buildng the network, the aim is to provide broadband to every home, school and workplace by the end of the next ten years. Nick Ross writing in ABC’s website suggests that just the ability to deploy telehealth and telecare nationally over such a network would save Australia enough money to more than pay for the network.

The arguments for deploying telehealth in Australia are no different to those in other parts of the developed world. The Australian healthcare budget is 10% of GDP (9% in UK) and growing at twice the rate of GDP, according to the very comprehensive article.

With a $967 price tag for a single night’s hospital stay, the economic benefit identified for using telehealth to monitor patients at home after earlier release from hospital or to avoid hospital admission altogether are very familiar. Add to that the use of telecare to allow older people to stay in their own homes for longer and Nick Ross’s article has covered all the elements for supporting telehealth and telecare.

Read the full article here.

Worcestershire 3ML Pathfinder procurement canned

September 18, 2013 | by | 1 Comment

It seems that the much-vaunted Worcestershire 3ML pathfinder tender, already the subject of a critical TTA post on 5th July due to delays, has now been cancelled.

Tenderers apparently received letters late last week informing them that no offers had been received that met the combined risk sharing requirements of the original tender.  As a result, the telecare part of the tender is to be retendered on a standalone basis (more…)

Telemedicine in the TIME Swampland

September 17, 2013 | by | 1 Comment
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/blue-blazes.jpg” thumb_width=”175″ /]TIME’s ‘Swampland’ section may be referring to the original siting of Washington, DC on reclaimed swamp land off the Potomac River, but this swampy article ultimately struggles to solid land. You will have to meander through the UVA Center for Telehealth, the Center for Connected Health Policy, WellPoint, the Institute for e-Health Policy and of course Partners Healthcare’s cardiac program [TTA 27 Aug] before addressing the real problem: the desirability of broader telemedicine reimbursement and a consistent policy in US Federal programs such as Medicare and Federally-subsidized Medicaid administered through the states. Currently Medicare reimbursement is restricted to specific rural areas, Native American territories/Indian Health Service, and of course the often-mentioned mess of cross-state physician licensing. However, the Accountable Care Act is not going to be the savior as its implementation is hardly going smoothly. Earlier CMS policies on 30-day same cause readmissions have had far more impact. There is the to-be-expected muddling of telemedicine (virtual consults) and telehealth (monitoring)–and robotics gets a ‘say wot?’ mention. The kicker is the headline and accompanying picture:

“Saving U.S. Health Care With Skype”

Skype, while used in ‘telemental health’ [TTA 11 May], is not HIPAA-compliant for patient privacy.  Were TIME’s famed fact-checkers asleep? 

Hat tip (and thanks) to reader Bob Pyke.

Ageing Well – how can technology help?

September 16, 2013 | by

This year’s Telemedicine & eHealth conference, on 25th & 26th November, at the Royal Society of Medicine at 1 Wimpole St, London will focus on how technology can help people to age well. It will cover a wide palette of issues relating to technology and ageing, including both physical & mental conditions, and the importance of social & spiritual considerations too.

Keynote speakers include Jon Rouse (more…)

Doro 2.0 smartphone QSs with Withings (EU)

September 12, 2013 | by

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Doro-Liberto-810.jpg” thumb_width=”100″ /]Doro’s unveiling of their second smartphone, the Doro Liberto 810,  along with its ‘privileged access’ to two Withings devices–the Smart Body Analyzer (weight, body fat, heart rate) and Pulse Smart Activity Tracker–continues their moves into older adult-appealing mobile telecare/telehealth offerings, as tracked by founding Editor Steve since at least 2009.  Doro’s assertive move into Quantified Selfing as part of what they call ‘the world’s most liberating smartphone’, is more fully featured and was predicted by David Doherty earlier this year [TTA 25 Feb]. It is also not Doro’s first big alliance; late last year, Bosch Healthcare announced that Doro would be the mobile platform for telecare offerings in Germany and Sweden [TTA 16 Nov 2012]. Both the release and Mobihealthnews indicate that this offering will roll out to select European markets initially, but the latter states that a similar offering will debut in the US by early 2014. (For US readers, Doro is equivalent to GreatCall’s Jitterbug line) According to Mobile, the Liberto will be available in the UK in October.

Risky Business 2 (Australia): ‘This time it’s personal….’

September 11, 2013 | by

26-27 June 2014, Hilton Hotel, Sydney, Australia

This annual international conference on changing the care models around dementia, possibly the only one focused solely on this topic, discusses two questions which telehealth and telecare can answer at least in part: How do we support people with dementia to live their lives well? Are we really delivering care that is personal to the person with dementia and their carer?  Call for papers closes 18 October 2013 (video on submitting here) and registration for the conference opens 2 December. Organized by The Dementia Centre, HammondCare-An Independent Christian Charity and the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. More information.

Poll shows why we need to promote assistive technology

September 10, 2013 | by

A survey of 2069 adults in the UK by YouGov, commissioned by charity Carers UK and supported by Tunstall Healthcare (UK), makes a strong case for the better promotion of telehealth & telecare, as we argued for in our recent post on the future of 3millionlives.

The Carers UK report, Potential for Change: Transforming public awareness and demand for health and care technology, draws an intriguing contrast between (more…)

AAMI/FDA Summit on Healthcare Technology in Nonclinical Settings (US)

September 10, 2013 | by

9-10 October 2013, Hyatt Dulles Hotel, Herndon VA

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have organized a conference on improving the safety and effectiveness of medical technologies used in homes and other nonclinical settings, such as telehealth and mHealth. There are risks and challenges to consider as technology is placed in nonclinical environments, in the hands of individuals who are not medical professionals. There is an impressive roster of supporting international organizations, including the British Standards Institution (BSI), the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA), the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) of LeadingAge, The Joint Commission and Continua Health Alliance. Information, agenda, registration. Hat tip to reader Rob Turpin of BSI Standards Limited.

Conflicting telehealth signals – is the VA or E Riding of Yorkshire CCG on the money?

September 9, 2013 | by | 4 Comments

Can there be two greater contrasts than the recent decisions by the Dept of Veteran Affairs in the US (VA) to award a five year $28.8m telehealth contract to AMC Health and that of the E Riding of Yorkshire CCG to “axe” its telehealth service?

The sheer size of the VA deal makes every recent deal in Europe seem very small in comparison. AMC’s CEO said: “AMC Health’s outcomes-based approach to telehealth and ability to actively engage patients to proactively self-manage their chronic conditions perfectly aligns (more…)

Medtronic’s telehealth strategy begins to emerge (UK & US)

September 3, 2013 | by

Hot on the heels of our two recent posts (12 August and 27 August) on Medtronic’s takeover of Cardiocom, maker of telehealth devices, came the news in the FT yesterday that Medtronic had won cardiology management contracts with NHS hospitals (University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Trust and Imperial College  Healthcare NHS Trust).  They will also develop local cardiac services.

Now in an article today, Fierce Medical Devices explains how the two fit together (more…)