...stabilize. FAIR Health’s latest reports for August and September report that the percent of medical claims coded as telehealth are back up to 5.4%. June and July dropped slightly to 5.2% and 5.3% respectively. Also steady are that the vast majority of claims are for mental health services. In September, they were 66% of diagnoses far ahead of ‘acute respiratory diseases and infections’ at 3.1%. In procedure codes, psychotherapy accounts for over 43%. A patent troll Epically bites the dust. Back in the early to mid-2010s [TTA’s index here], patent trolls (technically non-practicing entities which have no active business) presented... Continue Reading
Search Results for "patent troll"
HealthSpot closes the doors, shuts kiosks in Rite Aid, Cleveland Clinic (updated)
...otoscopes, maintaining the kiosks in good order and cleanliness was labor intensive. Thus we see a quick burn on funding, a probable lack of consumer takeup, coupled with a persistent legal action by a three-decade old, seemingly inactive company (the last news on Computerized Screening’s website is dated 2013) providing a similar service. This last alone has undone more than one early-stage company. (And returns us to the business necessity of protecting your patents and IP, and where necessary doing a ‘deal-deal’: acquiring a company with similar systems or licensing patents. This doesn’t include those pesky patent trolls.) We note... Continue Reading
What’s news at the end of the week
...data from a data-capable band”, with the added fillip of going to the International Trade Commission, which could ban the import of Fitbit products or component parts. The 28 May lawsuit was about Fitbit’s hiring of five former Jawbone employees who allegedly stole IP. The companies between them have hundreds of patents, and as this Editor has noted in previous IP and patent troll articles, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is not especially rigorous in ensuring that patents are not overbroad. Wonderful for the IP attorneys, but not exactly what Fitbit wants as a runup to their expected... Continue Reading
A mélange of short subjects for Tuesday
ATA accredits American Well, Apple ResearchKit, diabetic contact lenses, Hackermania Falls on Indiana, patent trolls get a haircut, and more The ATA (American Telemedicine Association) has gained more than 200 applications for their US-only Accreditation Program for Online Patient Consultations [TTA 17 Dec 14]. First past the post in accreditation is American Well’s Amwell virtual visit app, which will shortly be listed on the ATA consumer website SafeOnlineHealth.org. Release, MedCityNews….Stanford University, one of the five academic centers using the Apple ResearchKit, had a mind-boggling 11,000 signups for a heart health study–in 24 hours. The downside is that they may not... Continue Reading
Finally a curb on ‘patent trolls’? (US)
...now a legal action against the FTC in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging violations of the First Amendment on free speech. Under US law, ‘deceptive’ may not be good enough–their letters threatening lawsuits must be shown to be ‘objectively baseless.’ The FTC requested dismissal of MPHJ’s suit this past Monday. Their rejoinder: the suit would disrupt its work. National Law Review, Law360 (subscription/Lexis Nexis access required). Previously in TTA on patent troll strategies and how companies defend themselves: TTA 13 Sep 13, 10 Feb 13. (Also search on ‘patent troll’, ‘MMRGlobal’ and ‘patent infringement’.... Continue Reading
Box.com’s odd swerve into healthcare cloud storage and PHRs
...bunch. Effective tomorrow (21 March), they are moving into the PHR business by providing the file sharing platform (starting tomorrow) for EHR CareCloud, which claims 7 million patients covered. Patients can now download their records to their own Box account and store/share them as needed. The Eye agrees with Neil Versel that this is quite less than it seems–only a fraction of CareCloud’s 7 million patients will ever set up a PHR. They’ve gained little user traction (except in the courts, where not-a-patent troll MMRGlobal keeps companies and countries busy). It remains to be seen if Meaningful Use (MU) Stage... Continue Reading
2014: the year of reckoning for the ‘better mousetraps’
Or, the Incredible Immutability of the Gartner Hype Cycle From Editor Donna, her take on the ‘mega-trend’ of 2014 This Editor expected that her ‘trends for next year’ article would be filled with Sensors, Wearables, Glasses, Smartwatches, 3D Printing, Tablets and Other Whiz-Bang Gizmos, with splashes of color from Continuing Crises like Healthcare.gov in the US, the NHS’ 3million lives plus ‘whither UK telecare’, various Corporate ‘Oops-ses’, IP/Patent Trolls and Assaults on Privacy. While these will continue to spread like storm debris on the beach, providing continuing fodder for your Editors (and The Gimlet Eye) to pick through, speculate and... Continue Reading
Telehealth & IP Soapbox: Hacking through Patent Thickets
Not only do company founders have to deal with patent trolls, but find their way through patent thickets. Patent thickets are overlapping patent rights through which developers must find a safe, defensible space for their technology. This article introduces this concept to our readers and outlines a strategy to deal with it–in early days, and not sticking one’s head in the sand as this Editor has encountered. What may surprise you in reading this excellent article is that the author, Dolly J. Krishnaswamy, is not an experienced litigator, but a law student at NYU while working as a Project Manager/Law... Continue Reading
How startups are being damaged by patent trolls–and turning the tables
...made a point of not pursuing any additional patent licensing.” (page 20) Whether this leads to patent reform per the Congressional study of “patent assertions brought by non-practicing entities (NPEs)…as part of the America Invents Act” is anyone’s guess. Big company threats against smaller ones are still more significant, and point to the need for an overhaul at the USPTO. Patent Trolls Are Killing Startups — Except When They’re Saving Them (Wired). The Open Technology Institute’s Report makes for weekend reading (link to PDF, 24 pages) Related TTA articles are numerous: search on ‘patent troll’, ‘MMRGlobal’ and ‘patent infringement’. ... Continue Reading
New York, New York…it’s a health tech town (Part 1)
...most litigated patent area–a favorite of NPEs (non-practicing entities) which own patents (a/k/a ‘patent trolls’)–is patient self-management. The five preferred ways of collaborating with health providers (Jahan Ali, Partnership Fund for NY) Treat the collaboration as feedback on your tech The first question is how to integrate it with their workflow and current systems The CMIO (chief medical informatics officer) should be your primary champion–but have multiple ones On pilots, think through issues on payment and how much it really costs to structure the deal Create ways to utilize the provider as a mentor Editor Donna thanks Health 2.0’s Joy... Continue Reading
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