‘Sticky sensor’ research at USAF Research Lab

April 24, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Biosensors.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Sticky biosensor patches are seemingly all the rage in wearables, but in very preliminary stages. The US Department of Defense (DOD) research labs are no exception. Here’s one from the USAF Research Lab that is intriguing because of its less-than-chunky profile (pictured) compared to the University of Illinois research prototypes [TTA 10 April]. The concept is basically to measure biometrics through vital sign measurement and body chemicals through perspiration (a/k/a sweat) that would be sent to a (hold the fanfare) smartphone. It’s advanced enough to be beta tested on runners in the September Air Force Marathon. The key researcher, Josh Hagen PhD., also notes it’s being developed not only for military use, but also for commercialization.  Armed With Science

WLSA announces global adoption theme for Convergence Summit

April 24, 2014 | by

The Wireless Life Science Alliance’s Ninth Annual Convergence Summit, 14-16 May at beautiful San Diego’s Omni Hotel, will be themed around greater global adoption of technology-enabled healthcare. This marks a change from the technology-heavy early days (your Editors have been covering since at least 2010) to worldwide institutional adoption (too slow), outcomes (public health still deteriorating) and consumer engagement (limited). The Wednesday sessions are for members only, the following two days are general sessions and exhibits. Featured speakers include Jeff Arnold, founder of WebMD and now CEO of Sharecare; Dr. Leroy Hood of the Institute for Systems Biology; Ralph Simon, CEO of Mobilium Global Limited which is active in Africa; from the UK, Dale Athey, PhD, CEO & Founder of OJ-Bio Ltd. Another feature of the Summit is the announcement of the TripleTree iAwards for Connected Health winners. Twelve finalists were announced earlier this month. More information and registration.

Another alliance to promote connected health

April 24, 2014 | by

The formation of the Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHA) by the Continua Health Alliance, mHealth Summit and HIMSS solidifies what has been a close working relationship into what will “represent the consumer voice in personal connected health.” With the three organizations having worked together for some years particularly in relation to the mHealth Summit, the PCHA will now be the Summit’s formal presenter with Continua, HIMSS and the Foundation for the NIH as partners. Clint McClellan, Qualcomm’s Senior Director of Business Development and Continua’s board chair, is the acting chair and the PCHA will be located in Arlington, Virginia. According to Rich Scarfo, Vice President of the PCHA and the developer of the mHealth Summit,“The Personal Connected Health Alliance, in cooperation with the mHealth Summit and Continua, will continue driving the industry forward by generating a new knowledge base around the personal connected health space, providing a strong and united voice on policy, regulatory issues and government relations, and advancing education and awareness for the widespread adoption of personal connected health technologies.” Continua, after a few uncertain years while it shifted from a sole mission of interoperability standards and certification to combining that with advocating personal telehealth, now enjoys a membership of roughly 200 companies and has largely shed its ‘subsidiary of Intel’ reputation. The mHealth Summit has undergone its own shifts from a focus on governmental and NGO wireless health to a much wider scope (and major expansion) courtesy of HIMSS. Certainly PCHA’s activities will bear watching with this tripartite backing. Release on HIT Consultant (hat tip to publisher Fred Pennic), mHealthNews, YouTube video

One can only speculate on PCHA’s mission overlap with another DC advocacy group, the Alliance for Connected Care. The latter, a thinly veiled lobbying group [TTA 13 Feb], has been strangely quiet, with the news section of its glossy website not updated since early March. (Lobbying is best done quietly?)

Redesigning PERS artistically in Glasgow: the winners

April 24, 2014 | by

Following up on our 28 March story of Chubb Community Care sponsoring a competition at the Glasgow School of Arts to redesign the traditional telecare medical alarm (PERS), the five winning entrants and teams were announced today (23 April). They are:

Element: Craig Meakin, Kayleigh Nelson, Eilidh Gibson and Ramsay Black
Pebbl: Gordon Ritchie, Francesca Stephens, Jordan Smith, Erin Wallace and Heather Walker
Bodyguard: Steven McCauley, Harry Hutton, Kim Stendahl, Matias Rinne and Andrew Robertson
Lumeo: Nadia Bassiri, Robert Turner, Harry Opoku Agyeman, Helen Campbell and Jonathan Thomson
Suit: Michael Tougher, Hannah Kirkbride, Euan Spalding and Tristan Stoner

The winning teams will share a £2,500 cash prize, and their designs were publicly presented at Municipal Buildings in Forres, Moray in the north of Scotland. The Glasgow Arts teams worked with Moray residents who currently use PERS and their carers to determine design and functionality factors. According to the release, Chubb is using the designs to complement the work of its own engineering teams, and thus at this point the concepts are still under wraps. We hope these concepts gain wider exposure. Release link to come.

Getting ‘Better’ with a personal health assistant

April 23, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

Is Better going to where better healthcare should be?

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pha.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Making its formal debut last week was Better, an iPhone app (Android to come) developed in conjunction with and backed by the Mayo Clinic. The aim of Better is to deliver information and care no matter where people are located. The analogy co-founder/CEO Geoff Clapp uses is ‘AAA (RAC or AA=UK) for healthcare’ but it seems to be a bit more developed than emergency tows and TripTiks. In its free version, it provides complete access to Mayo Clinic educational content tailored to the user’s interests and provides access to a personal health record (PHR) for the family. In the $49/month premium version, Mayo provides 24/7 national access to a personal health assistant available by phone and video. The PHAs can coordinate your and your family’s providers, help navigate your insurance and billing and coordinate follow up care. If needed, the PHA can connect the user with a Mayo Clinic nurse who can explain symptoms, potential causes and recommend next steps. The paid version also provides a symptom checker, built with algorithms and using the Mayo database.

According to Mr Clapp (interviewed in Mobihealthnews), Better is ‘early’ and trying to define a market. He is encouraged by remarks such as “I’m not sure I totally get it and not sure the world is ready for this” which is similar to what he heard when co-founding Health Hero (now Bosch Health Buddy) in 1998 (among the most Grizzled of Grizzled Pioneers). Also in this interview, he cites a focus on underserved disease groups such as Crohn’s Disease and cystic fibrosis where help is not generally available; eventually they will also move toward telemedicine. Since the sale. he has been mentoring companies at Rock Health. Better has raised $5 million to date between Mayo and Social+Capital Partnership and is located in Palo Alto, California. It’s an interesting spin on concierge medicine–can it be considered ‘concierge healthcare for the masses?’ Given the pedigree and the partners, we expect to hear bigger, better things from Better in the next few months. Also MedCityNews,  the PSFK Labs blog and FastCompany. Video (YouTube)  Hat tips to Bob Pyke, Editor Toni Bunting

Data breaches may cost healthcare organizations $5.6 bn annually: Ponemon (US)

April 23, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/keep-calm-and-enter-at-own-risk-3.png” thumb_width=”150″ /]The PHI threat is within for HIT staff and CIOs, with no end in sight: Ponemon Institute and IS Decisions

The Ponemon Institute’s fourth annual benchmark report on patient privacy and data security was released last week and with a few exceptions, the news is worse than last year. Eight highlights in the study of 91 responding organizations (Ponemon admits results are skewed to larger sized respondents) for 2013 are:

  1. The average cost of data breaches in the study group was approximately $2 million over a two-year period. Extrapolated to the over 5,700 hospitals in the US, the annual cost is $5.6 billion, down from $7 billion in 2012.
  2. The number of data breaches decreased slightly. 38 percent report more than five in the 2013 report compared to 45 percent in 2012. The number of organizations reporting at least one data breach in the past two years was 90 percent versus 94 percent in 2012.
  3. Healthcare organizations improve ability to control data breach costs. The economic impact of data breaches for the healthcare organizations represented in this study over the past two years is $2.0 million–but it is 17 percent (nearly $400,000) less than 2012.
  4. ACA increases risk to patient privacy and information security. No surprises here for readers with insecure exchange of information between healthcare providers and government (75 percent ), patient data on insecure databases (65 percent) and patient registration on insecure websites (63 percent) leading the way. (more…)

An architect’s POV on transforming rural health

April 22, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

‘Wellness districts’ and restructuring beyond walls and payments

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Butler-County-Elting-bldg.jpg” thumb_width=”175″ /]Healthcare building architect Doug Elting cannot be accused of thinking small. The Transformation of Rural Health starts with reimagining healthcare facilities serving rural areas into facilitators of population health: “…the  local healthcare center as the source of health and vitality….focus(ing) on the provision of services that will maintain health, enhance public participation and redefine the scope of care.” (Not difficult imagining when you see an attractive wellness/rehab center like Butler County Health Care Center in Nebraska, left.) Like Clayton Christensen, Mr Elting envisions decentralized care that incorporates telehealth, care coordination, PHRs, fitness and social support. He then moves to an organizing principle called Wellness Districts:

Rural community, county and critical access hospitals will become components of Wellness Districts composed of Life Enhancement Centers coupled with physicians and physicians groups. These Life Enhancement Centers (LEC) are flexible and agile facilities containing a variety of services meeting the needs of the population. The LECs could contain: patient-centered medical home physicians’ offices, wellness and rehabilitation centers, specialty clinics, diagnostic centers, wound care centers, nutrition and cooking classes, outpatient treatment centers and urgent care facilities. LECs may include related services including dental offices, eye care specialists and retail functions including: durable medical equipment, opticians, retail pharmacies, food services etc. (more…)

A ‘before the alarm’ approach to the soundtrack of ICU data

April 22, 2014 | by

ICUs–and indeed, any acute care setting–have a soundtrack of boops and beeps that accompany regular telemetry of data from multiple devices. Alarms which indicate emergencies shatter the rhythm, eventually inducing ‘alarm fatigue’. What if ICUs could get a step or two ahead and use the torrent of data to predict a downturn in a patient’s condition and warn clinicians before that alarm goes off? That is the idea behind the system being developed at Boston Children’s Hospital with a local data analytics startup, Etiometry.  The latter’s Risk Analytics model is designed to transform data into clinically actionable information and to predict decompensation–a worsening or emergency status for the patient. For the cardiac intensive unit at BCH, the Stability Index pops up on the vital signs screen. “Doctors choose different parameters to measure, then the Etiometry system renders its risk assessment on a simple numerical scale, with 0 being most stable and 4 the least.” Not the first innovation for Boston Children’s either; with another software provider, they developed a single view of vital signs interface dubbed T3.  Boston Globe, FierceMobileHealthcare

Nike FuelBand out of gas

April 22, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/FuelBand.jpeg” thumb_width=”175″ /]In what is the first of the major players in fitness bands and wearables exiting the category, CNet reported last Friday that Nike is winding up its hardware business with the layoff last Thursday of nearly 80 percent of its Digital Sport staff. Previously, Nike had canceled a new version of the FuelBand due for release later this year, but they will continue sales and support for the present iteration which only works with Apple. Their focus is now on fitness and athletic software, which can plug into smartphones and other companies’ devices at far less cost and greater profit than the hotly competitive band business. Much of the speculation surrounds their strong Apple connection; Tim Cook, Apple CEO, sits on the Nike board. This maneuver could benefit them both greatly when Apple finally gets into the smartwatch biz. Perhaps two world-class brands could better sort out what to do with the data, which is another sore point according to PC Magazine’s take on it. Further reasonable discussion on this courtesy of Gigaom. Hat tip on the last to David E. Albert, MD via Twitter @DrDave01.  (Nike photo)

Why healthcare doesn’t encrypt: correct, incorrect assumptions

April 22, 2014 | by

As our readers know, we’ve preached the Gospel of Data Security for quite awhile, to the point where even The Gimlet’s Eyes have crossed. Based on this smart analysis in Healthcare IT News (done by an outsider to healthcare), there are real reasons why HIT leaders are reluctant to implement encryption and security that would be SOP for other types of organizations. Mr. Schuman sorts the ‘drag the feet’ factors:

  1. Outdated but still widely believed: Encryption makes information less accessible across a broad network, increasing retrieve and review time. There is increased, not decreased, pressure to increase access, including by practices and patients, as part of  Meaningful Use (US).
  2. Encryption as a barrier: Providers see encryption as increasing time, decreasing  usability of systems, making workarounds more difficult.
  3. Encryption not permitted: Equipment designed with a specific hardware/software configuration block security add-ins. The logic is that any add-ins, even for security, could and do compromise performance. They thus violate manufacturers’ warranties and leave hospitals/practices open to legal action if equipment does not perform as intended.
  4. It’s complicated and pricey: Encrypting proliferating devices multiplicity of devices and systems takes manpower–it’s not only not there, but also expensive. Good intentions, but little money, is there.

The solution may lie in encrypting data between applications, not in the hardware/software itself. Hat tip to reader ‘Klondike Playboy’ John Boden.

BlackBerry’s investment: what’s in it for NantHealth

April 17, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

This week’s news of BlackBerry Ltd’s minority investment in the Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong eight-company combine called NantHealth has generally focused on BlackBerry. Across the board, BlackBerry is depicted as the party badly needing a raison d’être. Down for the count in both retail and enterprise mobile phone markets it dominated for years, BB’s six-months-in-the-saddle CEO is now going back to those same enterprises singing the wonders of their QNX operating system and upcoming BBM Protected communication platform to highly regulated verticals which need max security: healthcare, finance, law enforcement, government. Although FierceCMO inaccurately reported that BlackBerry was acquiring NantHealth (Reuters/WSJ reports to contrary), it’s generated yawns from former tea-leaf readers such as ZDNet as yet another flail of the Berry as it sinks beneath the waves. Add to this the bewilderingly written CNBC ‘Commentary’ under BlackBerry CEO John Chen’s byline–who should fire the ghostwriter for inept generation of blue smoke and mirrors–and you wonder why the very smart Dr. Soon-Shiong even desires the association with a company most consider the equivalent of silent movies. It is certainly not for the investment money, which the doctor has more than most countries–an expenditure carefully considered at BlackBerry, undoubtedly. 

Cui bono? NantHealth first, BlackBerry second is your Editor’s contrarian bet. Consider these three factors:

  1. Way down the column in most coverage is that BlackBerry and NantHealth are developing a healthcare smartphone. It will be optimized for 3D images and CT scans but fully usable as a normal smartphone. Release date: late 2014-early 2015 (Reuters). (more…)

ELabNYC Pitch Day

April 17, 2014 | by

10 April, Microsoft HQ, NYC

The Entrepreneurship Lab NYC (ELabNYC) presented its second annual class of companies to nearly 200 life science funders, foundations, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare organizations, universities and the occasional Editor. Of the cohort of 19 companies finishing the three-month program, 56% are now funded and 25% had first customer revenue by the end of the program. Each company pitched for five minutes on its concept, its current state of advancement (including pilots/customers), its team and a funding timeline. This Editor will concentrate on the five companies with a digital health component; she was intrigued by their diversity and focus on difficult problems of compliance and diagnosis, especially dementia and concussion. (more…)

eCaring gains Series A financing (US)

April 17, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/eCaring-Screenshot.jpg” thumb_width=”170″ /]Home care management/monitoring system eCaring (New York) this week secured $3.5 million in Series A funding, led by Ascent Biomedical Ventures. Private investor Stephen Jackson will be joining the eCaring board, as well as being on the board of client MJHS. Funding will go to product development, sales and marketing targeted to managed care plans, home health agencies, payers, hospitals and related entities. The CareTracker program is unique in that caregivers/aides with relatively low English language or computer literacy can, through icons, easily input both clinical and behavioral information on a home care patient which summarizes by patient and aggregates at the care manager level. There is also a CarePortrait feature that determines baseline norms for behavior such as activity and sleep. eCaring, with Pace University, was also one of 2013’s PILOT Health Tech NY/NYEDC/Health 2.0 winners for a project with the Henry Street Settlement. A big cheer for CEO/founder Robert Herzog who has been championing this aging services/aging in place technology for several years while QS apps and fitness trackers stole all the buzz at the cocktail parties and accelerators. Release, MedCityNews (photo)

Vision therapy app for amblyopia prescribed, reimbursed (DE)

April 17, 2014 | by

Amblyopia, also known as ‘lazy eye’, is a treatable vision processing disorder where vision in one eye decreases for no structural reason. It’s often seen in young children and is generally treated with a combination of patches (to block the stronger eye), eye exercises and glasses–on occasion, requiring surgery–in a process that can take up to two years. In a young child, that is a recipe for tedium. Caterna Vision Therapy, a spinoff from Technische Universität Dresden, has advanced the exercise portion to be child engaging and downloadable through the Apple App Store and Google Play to a PC or mobile device. Caterna claims the exercises also shorten length of treatment. The therapy is CE marked for Europe and in Germany is both prescribable and reimbursable through statutory provider Barmer Gek, fortunate as the cost is €980. It may presage more apps receiving similar treatment. Videos are available in English and German on their home page. Caterna hopes to expand their vision therapies into age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and eye-tracking.  eHealth Law and Policy

Two new health applications for Google Glass

April 12, 2014 | by

Beyond the surgical suite [TTA 24 Sept, 16 Nov], developers keep building platforms that enable telemedicine consults with Google Glass. An exciting one is Beam, developed by Remedy, which allows clinicians to securely share images, text, video and location through Glass. The consult can either be live streamed (synchronous) or store-and-forward (asynchronous) through Beam’s ‘expert interface’. Harvard and The University of Pennsylvania started pilots of Beam in March. The intriguing background is that one of the co-founders, Noor Siddiqui, is but 19–albeit one who has a Thiel Fellowship which gives young entrepreneurs the $100,000 opportunity to skip college and work on their project. Fast Company/Co.Exist, MedCityNews, press release via Telepresence Options. A bit more ‘out there’ is Personal Neuro Devices’ Introspect PND Wearable, a ‘passive brain monitor’ that based on the pictures, is an add-on to Glass that surrounds the head from back to front, with two sensors that extend between the ears and eyes. Ottawa, Canada-based PND claims it reads brain waves and the app then applies the changes to provide feedback, such as special content to modulate moods (their other business.) Release, PND page with video/pictures, ApplySci

US Army mCare app’s most-liked feature: appointment reminders

April 11, 2014 | by

A two-year study on the mCare mobile messaging app used to support ‘Wounded Warriors’, published in the June issue of Telemedicine and e-Health, found that the most popular use of this US Army-implemented program was the appointment reminders (85 percent). 70 percent continued app usage for six months, with the same percentage using it multiple times per week, making the app very ‘sticky’. Other features were wellness tips, care team reminders, care team messaging and announcements. Average participation was 48 weeks. ‘My Appointments’ was created about halfway through the study (January 2010) and other rolling changes were made. The regional US Army Community-Based Warrior Transition Units (CBWTU), which coordinate care for soldiers who receive outpatient care in civilian facilities due to distance from military facilities (and Guard/Reserve status), enrolled 497 veterans in five states who required at least six months of complex care. Satisfaction was high, with 78 percent of soldiers stating that mCare improved their experience in the transition unit, and half of the 75 care teams reporting that they saw an improvement in appointment attendance among patients using mCare.  The results are strong and mCare continues to be used by the Army. The study was headed by Col. Ronald K. Poropatich, MD, Deputy Director of the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC).

Unlike most other research studies, this one had some unusual hurdles to overcome. There were significant changes in ownership of mCare’s contracting company during the main study period (May 2009-April 2011, with a follow on study completed December 2012). First developed by AllOne Mobile [TTA 20 Nov 2009] with security provided by partly-owned Diversinet, AllOne ‘zeroed out’ of business halfway through the study [TTA 20 April 2010], with Diversinet picking up the program after a legal wrangle. mCare was named one of the US Army’s ‘Greatest Inventions’ in September 2011. Diversinet itself, after a seemingly successful period having its MobiSecure platform adopted by AirStrip [TTA 24 Feb 2012], a five-year, $5 million Canadian distribution deal [TTA 14 Jan 2011] and continuing military contracts, could not pull itself into financial health and was acquired by ‘velocity of big’ IMS Health for a small $3.5 million last August. Additional study coverage in Mobihealthnews and iHealthBeat.