New diabetes telehealth trial in Mississippi (US)

January 30, 2014 | by

A new telehealth trial for diabetes patients will be recruiting patients in Mississippi this spring. Known [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ummc_aerial.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]as the Diabetes Telehealth Network, the trial is planned to provide a classic telehealth service for up to 200 patients for a period of 18 months.

This trial is a result of a collaboration between several public and private organizations: the Mississippi Governor’s office, University of Mississippi, North Sunflower Medical Center, GE Healthcare, Intel-GE Care Innovations and C Spire.

The recruited trialists will be provided with a broadband connected tablet PC which will have software to enable daily medical measurements to be transmitted to a specialist team at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. A press release states that the measurements will include weight, blood pressure, and glucose level and these will be monitored by the clinical staff at (more…)

Startup develops online telepsychiatry platform

January 30, 2014 | by

A Chattanooga based startup has launched an online videoconferencing facility for providing remote counselling services.  WeCounsel (wecounsel.com) claim their browser based application is “HIPPA compliant”, a key selling point for their product, although it  is not obvious from their website what specific aspcts of HIPPA they have addressed with their platform. WeCounsel claim to have around 75 clients using the platform to provide direct counselling services to patients.

The Chattanooga Times recently reported that WeCounsel has been signed up by a larger telepsychiatry facility provider InSight to resell the WeCounsel online platform as a lower cost alternative to the traditional videoconferencing facilities which requires relatively expensive equipment.

Database of telehealth and telecare projects in Scotland (UK)

January 29, 2014 | by

A database of telehealth and telecare services and projects in Scotland has been developed and made [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/SCTT.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]available as a public resource. For any given project included in the database it gives the organizations behind the project, a brief description, the type of users targetted and the technology used.

Developed by the Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare (SCTT) the database can be searched online, say, to pick up all diabetes related projects in the database. One purpose of the database is to help the SCTT to review the uptake of technology used to deliver care.

SCTT is a part of NHS 24, which was established by the Scottish Government in 2001. NHS 24 is [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NHS-24.jpg” thumb_width=”100″ /]responsible for the delivery of clinical assessment and triage, health advice and information by telephone and online means in Scotland 24 hours a day all year round.

The database can be accessed here and further information on NHS 24 can be obtained here.

Videolink telehealth continues expanding in Yorkshire (UK)

January 28, 2014 | by

The video-link/ videoconferencing system used by Airedale NHS Foundation Trust in Yorkshire, [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Airedale-digital-healthcare-centre.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]England, to provide remote medical assistance is being rolled out to additoinal care home sites. The service is staffed by a specialist nurse at Airedale General Hospital who uses the system, known as the Telehealth Hub, to assess patients and support staff at the homes.

According to the Keighley News the service was installed in a Bradford nursing home with the first use on New Year’s Eve. Staff at Ashville Care Home are quoted as saying that the service allows their residents to receive medical care without having to call a GP out or take them into hospital. A hospital visit would mean having to get extra cover as a member of staff needs to go as well.

Meanwhile the Telegraph & Argus reports (more…)

South Korea to push Telehealth – good for Samsung

January 27, 2014 | by

Returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where she met with several company CEOs, [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Park-Geun-hye.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]South Korean President Park Geun-hye has decided to promote telehealth as a new growth engine for South Korea according to the Shanghai Daily. The president wants to see the country become a global leader in telehealth with a strong domestic use of the technology.

This is particularly fortunate for Samsung, the country’s largest group of companies, which is also said to be planning biomedicine and medical equipment to be among its growth sectors with a reported 10-year total of $22 bn (US) of investment across all its growth sectors. Samsung already produces major hospital equipment such as ultrasound and digital radiography systems, currently operates a massive hospital and cancer center in Seoul and is, (more…)

Telehealth counselling program expands in Texas

January 27, 2014 | by

Following on from our article on the school telehealth scheme in Michigan  (Smaller scale telehealth and telecare sucesses, [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/videoconf-Texas.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]TTA Jan 4), we report now how a remote counselling clinic started by Texas A&M to provide psychological counselling to rural population has expanded. The Telehealth Counselling Clinic in Centerville, Leon County, was started from a grant in 2007 to the Center of Community Health Development (Texas A&M) and Leon County, and provides counselling using Texas A&M faculty and graduate students in the counselling psychology program, supervised by licensed psychologists.

The service has now been expanded to Madison and Washington counties based on the success seen in Leon County. Two more sites are planned for opening  in 2014. (more…)

Council funded care receivers cut by 1/3, half a million lose service

January 21, 2014 | by

With the Government’s Care Bill currently working its way through the UK parliament, a discussion paper has been published showing that over the past five years the Councils have reduced the number of people with “moderate needs” receiving Council funded care by one third. [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Infirm-person.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]The paper, produced by the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent and the London School of Economics, paints a dire picture of how budget cuts have squeezed Councils into cutting the number of people eligible for care.

Fair Access to Care Services guidelines were introduced in the UK in 2003 in an attempt to provide a common framework for eligibility for state funded care services (more…)

Telehealth leads to same health outcomes as face-to-face consultations

January 16, 2014 | by

Researchers working for the US military National Centre for Telehealth and Technology (T2) have concluded that telehealth based on [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/National-Center-for-Telehealth-and-technology-logo.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]videoconferencing leads to the same health outcomes as treatment by traditional face to face consultations for treatment of depression. In an analysis of care for depression symptoms Janyce Osenbach and colleagues found that there was no statistically significant difference in effectiveness between telehealth based consultations and face-to-face consultations.

The conclusions were drawn from an anlysis of 14 previous studies and has been published in Depression and Anxiety the official journal of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Osenbach says in an article on the Defence Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury website that another study (albeit a very small one with 7 participants) by T2 into the usability and feasability of using FaceTime with active-duty service members produced mostly positive results.

App helps guide the visually impaired

January 9, 2014 | by

You may be familiar with the floor tapes used in large buildings to guide people to different areas or departments – [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Kirugi-Hospital-Floor-Lines-2.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]I have seen these in many hospitals. A team in Italy’s University of Palermo have extended the idea to develop an inexpensive way to guide visually impaired people.

In a paper published last month Pierluigi Gallo and colleagues have described their work in developing Arianna, a system which can be used to guide people along complex paths (more…)

Smaller scale telehealth and telecare successes

January 4, 2014 | by

It is usually the large scale telehealth and telecare projects that hit the news, be it for their successes or, indeed, failures. So as the new year starts, let’s celebrate a couple of  smaller scale projects which have made progress recently.

From Coldwater, Michigan, we have a student telehealth scheme opening this month. With significant funding from the Michigan Department of Community Health, clinics will be opened in two schools in Branch County to provide primary healthcare services from a central Adolescent and Pediatric Center which has four physicians and a nurse practioner. A school based nurse provides physical assessment of students in need and, if appropriate, links via video to the Center to consult a physician or the nurse practitioner. Diagnostic equipment at the schools are also networked so the Center staff have access to these in real time. Prescriptions, if needed are sent direct to a convenient pharmacy. The state funding provides the majority of costs for equipment, a nurse at each school and operation for 3 years. See Branch County CHC website for more details.

From the other side of the Atlantic, in Doncaster, England, the local council’s telecare service reported that it has reached its 1,000th user. Doncaster’s service povides access to a comprehensive range of sensors from simple fall detectors to other sensors placed discreetly around the home on ceilings, doors, walls, beds and chairs. The 24-hour monitoring service attracts a weekly charge under £4 and there is no charge for the equipment. The benefit to the user is obvious and the Council benefits too, as it has an obligation to provide care services to residents who are unable to live at home.

Yet another House Bill on Telehealth (US)

December 20, 2013 | by

House Bills supporting telehealth and telecare are coming thick and fast with a third bill in just over a month being introduced on Tuesday, 17 December. The Telehealth Modernization Act of 2013 (H.R. 3750) introduced by two Representatives from California and Ohio [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/US-Congress.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]follows the 21st Century Care for Military & Veterans Act (H.R. 3507) (see our item Bill to expand military telehealth services introduced (US) on November 19) and the Health Savings Through Technology Act (H.R. 3577) (see our article Another House bill supporting telehealth and telemedicine (US) on November 22).

According to the press release Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Bill Johnson (R-OH), (more…)

In-home activity monitoring telecare trial launched in the US

December 20, 2013 | by | 10 Comments

A year-long trial to monitor the day-to-day activities of elderly Medicare members is being launched in the US. The 100-participant trial [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Humana-logo.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]will monitor eating, sleeping, physical activity and toileting according to a press release from Humana. The trial appears to be a collaboration between Humana and a sensor provider Healthsense.

The idea of using bed occupancy sensors, weight (more…)

Small scale telehealth is effective says The Guardian

December 19, 2013 | by

A very interesting article in The Guardian (UK) on Monday (16 December) that argues for small scale telehealth implementations. [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/The-Guardian-logo.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /] Dick Vinegar (aka the Patient from Hell) reports in the article from a telehealth conference organised by the Health Service Journal last month where some examples of  successful small scale implementations were (more…)

Telefonica and Capita to partner on eHealth

December 16, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Telefonica-logojpg.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Five months after pulling out of the telehealth market in the UK, Spain’s Telefonica has struck a partnership to develop eHealth solutions. In a recent press release Telefonica announced a “global partnership agreement” with Capita “to deploy innovative communications and telehealth technologies”. According to the release Telefonica is set to enhance its portfolio of eHealth services with clinical content.

One of the three criteria for choosing Capita as its partner is stated as Capita’s NHS Direct website for the UK Department of Health. However, the same NHS Direct service was said by a Department of Health spokesman earlier this year to have “struggled to meet the standards required” (more…)

Feros Care ponders what is beyond the telehealth pilot

December 12, 2013 | by

The trouble with trials and pilots is they come to end. As the two-year pilot in Coffs Harbour, Australia, looms ahead Glen Payne, CIO of Feros Care has told iTnews that he is not looking forward to the day he has to go back to his elderly participants to uninstall the equipment.

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Ferros-Care-logo.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Under the service, participants are equipped with and trained to use technology such as a digital thermometer, blood pressure monitor, weight scale, pulse oximeter and glucometer according to Your Life Choices. (more…)

Use of telehealth in diabetes self-management – Taiwan study

December 11, 2013 | by

An 18-month study of diabetes patients in Taiwan has shown that using a telehealth programme was effective in enhancing blood glucose monitoring and that the patients in the programme showed improvements in glycemic control, according to a paper published this month.

Wrting in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the authors Lichin Chen and others describe what they refer to as a diabetes telehealthcare programme whereby patients received assistance from an online diabetes self-management system to record and manage their daily activities, a 3G glucometer to monitor their glucose and a teleconsultant service to enhance their self-management activities. (more…)