New York, New York, it’s a health tech town (Part 3/wrapup)

July 12, 2013 | by | 2 Comments

Part 3: When is a Summit only a hill? And The Pioneers overload the Conestoga Wagons.

(Disclosure: TTA was a media partner of DHS at CEWeek. We also remain a proud sponsor of and provide volunteer services for Health 2.0 NYC, the presenter of Healthcare Pioneers. Our readers should know that these relationships do not exclude this Editor from noting the thick and thin of both events, not rendered in pale pastels.)

Digital Health Summit @ CEWeek

Four floors up from a busy show floor, and after interviewing Tal Givoly, CEO and Oren Fuerst, PhD, Executive Chairman, of startup health information company Medivizor (Part 2), assistants moved attendees into the room for the start of the New York/CEWeek edition of the Digital Health Summit at 11:30 am. It opened with a fairly anodyne presentation by the Executive Director of the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC),   (more…)

55% of ACOs trying on RPM for size: study. But what’s behind the good news? (US)

July 12, 2013 | by

According to a new ($2,495) study by market intel firm Spyglass Consulting Group, 55 percent of the US Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) included in their survey are deploying or evaluating RPM–remote patient monitoring–as an ‘early symptom management tool’. iHealthBeat’s summary here is excellent (as usual) and contains links to articles in FierceHealthIT and HealthcareITNews. Certainly we should raise at least one cheer, because the RPM is further qualified as ‘telehealth/telemedicine’.

But is ‘RPM adoption poised for robust growth’ as the Spyglass release claims? Not exactly.

Behind the cheerful release lead, the study actually flags three Big Negative Issues for telehealth providers that undercut the good vibes. These are largely quoted directly from the release:

  • 71 percent of organizations are concerned about integrating RPM with existing clinical care processes including EMRs
  • 58 percent are concerned that RPM doesn’t provide adequate support for clinical analytics and decision support tools–both key parts of the ‘evidence-based medicine’ that is the heart of any ACO.
  • More than 50 percent questioned the clinical effectiveness of RPM technology and their ability to generate a positive return on investment (ROI).

Ouch. Sounds like a shin-banging course of hurdles on the Robust Growth Track to this Editor.

Moreover, is this study qualitative masquerading as quantitative? It’s a Nicholas Brothers-worthy tapdance. How many hospitals and health systems are actually using RPM in this study? The findings are derived from over 100 interviews of individuals working in organizations ranging from health systems to payers. Does this represent 25, 50, 100 ACOs? Undisclosed. Is this a representative number? Unknown. A subsidiary point is not all the ACOs are actually ACOs: some are in progress (a long and winding road). How many?

But for directional purposes, it points to two conjoined things: a willingness (desperation?) to try RPM despite significant and underlying skepticism. The problems that can hold telehealth back from genuine acceptance, real helping of patients and real profitability are still plain to see. Your Editor’s bottle of Pol Roger remains on ice, unfortunately. 

Related: Perhaps determining ROI is not that far off. A web-based analytic tool has been developed by Partners HealthCare’s Center for Connected Health and the Center for Technology and Aging (CTA) in collaboration with the California HealthCare Foundation (publisher of iHealthBeat). The ROI Tool will be used for heart disease, and was originally developed for an IVR-based program to support COPD patients. HealthcareITNews

RockHealth mid-year 2013 digital health report; warm, not hot

July 9, 2013 | by

RockHealth is back again with its 2013 Midyear Digital Health Funding Report (SlideShare link). The good news from 2012 [TTA 8 Jan] continues, but the growth rate for the half-year is down from the torrid pace of +45 percent increased funding 2012/2011 to a more modest +12 percent versus prior year, with 25 percent more deals done. Former darlings biotech and medical devices continue to sink like stones, down 2 and 29 percent respectively (PwC MoneyTree; also TTA 26 April). What is notable is the ‘small world’ concentration:

  • 90 digital health companies raised in excess of $2 million to date in 2013
  • 20 percent of all funding went into five deals: Proteus, Health Catalyst, Watermark Medical, NantHealth, HealthTap
  • 20 funders did two to three deals each
  • Remote patient monitoring, hospital administration, big data, EHRs and wellness by far lead the way
  • Maturity is still hard to find: only three 2012 A-round deals have proceeded to B round so far this year; seven 2012 B rounds have moved to C round
  • Crowdfunding has partially filled the ‘angel gap’ for companies in wearable fitness tech like Misfit and Amigo (plus HAPIfork), but the bulk of the action has been at non-healthcare specific sites like Indiegogo versus Medstartr and HealthTechHatch which take on a wider variety of health tech such as health management platforms, HIT and even education videos. The reality is that 40 percent do not meet their fundraising goals in an ‘all-or-nothing’ setup.

The cool-off reflects RockHealth’s chief Halle Tecco’s POV that both VC and angel investors are still dabbling in digital health–without a billion dollar success story, there’s still reluctance to put money where sentiment may be. Further at VentureBeat, but the reasons may go deeper….

Update 10 July: Long term, are VCs cooling because fundraising is off? Digital health is one of the few points of growth in a contracting VC investment market. Second quarter fundraising by US VCs dropped 54 percent to $2.88 billion, the weakest quarter for fundraising in almost two years, according to the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters. In addition, return performance for VC-funded companies has been off relative to the stock market. Less money=less funding. The ‘smaller, more agile fund’ trends may conversely help the smaller funding required for A and B (and modest C) rounds where digital health is still, but the Magic 8 Ball says ‘continue to dabble’. More room for crowdfunding? Reuters

EyeNetra raises $2 million for smartphone eye testing

July 9, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gimlet-eye.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /] Editor Donna just had to let The Gimlet Eye have this one…

MIT Media Lab’s EyeNetra spinoff recently filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) their raise of $2 million of a $2.5 million round of early-stage financing (scroll down to #13). Their Netra-G app and attachment measures nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, delivering the eyeglass measurements to your phone. The Test2Connect platform is meant to be flexible for various conditions and on demand for the 2.4 billion people worldwide who have vision problems but little access to eye examinations which may not be affordable. According to Mobihealthnews, eyeMITRA is their next project, in a smart glasses form factor to diagnose diabetic retinopathy. EyeNetra website. The Gimlet Eye squints and notes that EyeNetra was spied by TTA’s Editors back in April 2011 for their Vodafone/mHealth Alliance award, and in Fast Company’s ‘Dr Smartphone’ article a mere 18 months ago.

The health revolution, uncertain: The Australian

July 9, 2013 | by

The Australian surveyed 100 professionals from the local commercial healthcare sector (40 percent doctors, salaries> $100,000, most in small to medium-sized companies) and came up with numerous findings both specific to their overall healthcare system and with some depth on eHealth. In Australia’s mixed public/private system, there is concern about further burdens on the public health system due to rising costs (just like the US) and lower subsidies for private insurance. Regarding eHealth, most of the findings were optimistic, but again affected negatively by government regulation (56 percent).

Because of Australia’s dispersed population, there’s hope that eHealth will ‘revolutionize care for remote communities’ (79 percent). Yet data capture/scanning/management and sharing take the lead in technology present and future, with remote monitoring a distant second. Will eHealth mitigate the pressure on the system? Despite 66 percent responding that “e-health will play a major role in ensuring a sustainable health system”, taking all the charts and graphs (PDF here) in their totality, it was hard not to discern a great deal of uncertainty. Perhaps there is thought of the Australian Government’s difficulties with instituting a national PHR and Nehta’s subsequent legal challenge by MMRGlobal [TTA 11 March]. Fear health revolution is suffering needlessly

Healthsense acquires WellAWARE (US)

July 2, 2013 | by | 1 Comment

Another sign of consolidation in technologies targeted to long term care and aging services providers is the acquisition of telecare system WellAWARE by Healthsense. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. It was long rumored that WellAWARE, which lately concentrated on sleep monitoring in LTC and SNF residences, was having long term difficulty seeking next round funding. Some speculated that it was due to its ownership structure shared by users/early funders Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society (GSS) and Volunteers of America (VOA). More recent investors .406 Ventures and Valhalla Partners were also rumored to be eager to exit after 3 1/2 years with no major breakthroughs, significant technology difficulties and management turnover. In retrospect, the 2009 $7.5 million round of funding was inadequate yet quite possibly misdirected in essentials like developing positioning and the business plan. Some evidence: a narrow focus on resident sleep quality versus diversifying capabilities, not aggressively going mobile, and not strengthening technology to be rock solid reliable, a major issue in all telecare/remote monitoring sold into senior housing. In such circumstances, acquisition was WellAWARE’s final bid.

In contrast, once also-ran Healthsense has superior funding from major investors (BC Ziegler, Radius Ventures, Merck, West Health etc.–now joined by .406 Ventures but not Valhalla) and is up to Series D [TTA 28 Sept 12] funding round. Healthsense over the years diversified considerably with capabilities and offerings spanning telehealth and telecare, strategic partnerships and a month ago received the Triple Tree iAward in recognition for clinical effectiveness. Combined, the two companies now serve over 20,000 individuals, which in the mHealth context would be a blip but makes Healthsense a formidable competitor to Care Innovations’ QuietCare and Health Guide. There is no statement in the release regarding customers or staff integration, but this Editor notes that the release is not on the WellAWARE site and most pages (notably Team and Board) are blank, which does not bode well for the reportedly few employees left. Healthsense Acquires Monitoring and Analytics Provider WellAware (release)

Update 5 July. Previously in TTA: Depending on the exact start, this June may also have marked the close or near close of a $8.1 million grant that The Good Samaritan Society received in June 2010 [TTA 24 June 10] to study and operate the WellAWARE system versus traditional care for residents of rural communities. Its operation of the system may very well be ended as active data gathering concludes and the study moves into evaluation of data/writing/publishing phase. But ‘between the lines’ readers will note that neither GSS nor VOA are mentioned in the Healthsense release.

Update 8 July. The local Minneapolis Star-Tribune gleans some additional information about the acquisition from Bryan Fuhr, Healthsense co-founder and current VP Business Development. WellAWARE was bought specifically for its greater capabilities in sleep monitoring such as breathing; the acquisition adds “5,000 new customers to Healthsense’s base of 15,000 people in 24 states”; that major Midwest provider Ecumen, one of the earliest adopters of now Care Innovations’ QuietCare, has switched to Healthsense; and that “there are no plans to cut jobs as a result of the acquisition”. But this must mean at Healthsense, as according to sources, a number of the few remaining employees at WellAWARE were released as the press releases went over the wires.

Will it be the watch or the glasses?

July 2, 2013 | by

While last week’s CEWeek conference along with the FashionWare booth/show were notably light on smartwatches and glasses on display, that may not be true this time next year. And watches seem to be where the action is. In the news are:

  • Foxconn’s prototype smartwatch. (Foxconn is the trade name of the iPhone/iPad manufacturer in China, Hon Hai Precision Industry, which has taken much flak for worker abuse). Reportedly it will not only pick up the usual phone calls and alerts but also some vital signs monitoring. Medgadget, CNET.
  • Qualcomm has filed a name trademark and patent application (26 June) for a device named “Qualcomm TOQ”, described as a “personal communication hub in the form of a wristwatch…” though it may be making the device for others. Phandroid (Whither the long-awaited Lifecomm mPERS watch of the static home page? Beginning to look more and more obsolete?)
  • Pebble’s smartwatch may be hitting the shelves at Best Buy within a few weeks. CNET
  • The Kreyos Meteor smartwatch, currently on Indiegogo, promises that it’s the first with voice and gesture controls to control your smartphone. It’s also 4x over its funding goal at over $400,000–and with 38 days to go. Their page targets a late November in-market date….timing for holiday.
  • Seen at CEWeek’s Innovation Zone:
    • WearIt, seen in CEWeek’s Innovation Zone, is a smartwatch concentrating on sports and activity data plus Bluetooth connectivity for streaming music and ANT+ connectivity for activity/vital signs monitors. At a pricepoint of about $400 it is scheduled to formally debut after CES in January 2014. Gizmag
    • PairASight is a ‘glasses’ device in prototype whose main feature is two-way video and audio, so that a wearer could confer with other people in real time. In this Editor’s opinion, it’s unfortunately named. Gizmag

Samsung speeding hospital EHR/workflows (US)

July 2, 2013 | by

Much has been made of iPad/iPhone dominance in the US hospital/clinician setting, but Samsung is interestingly going after blockages–not heart ones, but workflow and data integration systems. This brief Technorati article on their pilot with Olympic Medical Center (OMC) in Washington state notes how Samsung is working with them and others on digitization (such as cloud services and touch screen monitors) which help to speed physician dictation and chart completion, as well as soon speeding secure interoperable access to patient records. The article unfortunately is short on Samsung-specific details. Now if hospitals and practices work with Samsung on this, can the hardware (tablets, phones, monitors) be far behind? 

New York, New York…it’s a health tech town (Part 1)

July 2, 2013 | by

New York, New York, a helluva town.
The Bronx is up, but the Battery’s down.
The people ride in a hole in the groun’.
New York, New York, it’s a helluva town!

From ‘On The Town’, lyrics Betty Comden/Adolph Green, music Leonard Bernstein

Last week’s three events convinced even The Gimlet Eye that New York City is finally a helluva town for many things eHealthy. There were full houses at both Health 2.0’s Matchpoint|East and Health 2.0 NYC’s first-ever Healthcare Pioneers: Healthcare 2020. CE Week, presented by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), prominently featured health tech on the packed show floor and hosted the Digital Health Summit (DHS). Matchpoint|East is our starting point in Part 1. (more…)

DARPA Virtual Robotics Challenge winners (US)

July 2, 2013 | by

‘Tis the season for competitions to end and winners to be announced. Earlier this month, the virtual part of DARPA’s multi-level 2013-2014 Robotics Challenge engaged 26 teams from eight countries, both DARPA-funded and ‘open’ (unfunded) competitors, in a series of software tests for specific tasks applied to a simulated ATLAS robot. There were nine winners who will move ahead to the physical DRC Trials with a real ATLAS robot in December 2013. DARPA/VRC press release, Gizmag.

Pilot HealthTech NYC winners

July 1, 2013 | by

The Pilot HealthTech NYC program, which paired health tech innovators with NYC-based providers [TTA 15 March], announced their ten winners on Friday. The companies are: AdhereTech, eCaring, Rip Road, Vital Care Services, BioDigital, Flatiron Health, Sense Health, Bio-Signal Group, Opticology and StarlingHealth. The companies are provided with up to $100,000 each for their pilot projects. A listing of companies and partners is on the Pilot HealthTech website and a summary of the partnerships on StartUp Health’s blog (StartUp Health a program collaborator with Blueprint Health and Health 2.0). Examples:

  • StarlingHealth and VillageCare of NYC will place touchscreen tablets (in eight languages) by residents’ bedsides at VillageCare Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. The tablets will deliver education materials to residents, send requests and real-time feedback to administrators. Wall Street Journal/release.
  • eCaring and Pace University will use the eCaring care management/monitoring system for six months with a randomly selected group of chronically ill, multicultural older adults in Henry Street Settlement’s Vladeck Cares Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC). eCaring release
  • Pace University is also partnering with Vital Care Services, a telehealth provider, to provide services for six months to test the effectiveness of telehealth with diverse communities. This will combine both telehealth monitoring sent to a Pace RN with visits from Pace student technicians to assist with the monitoring process. Pace release.

1/3 of Americans want smartphones for health; 13 percent very confident of data privacy

June 28, 2013 | by

These findings from a survey of over 2,000 US adults conducted by Harris Interactive for Health Day News included a significant sample (unspecified) of smartphone and tablet owners.  In general, it reflected a growing comfort with using mobile communication for health–and a very real concern with online privacy. Interest in the former exceeded 40 percent when it came to booking appointments, asking the doctor questions, finding out test results and checking medication side effects. The highest interest in using smartphones/tablets clustered in the four segments between 18 and 49, with actually little difference between the older quadrants. High interest in tools for self-measurement are nearing the 50 percent tipping point, but weakest in real disease measurement (blood glucose, lung function). Where there’s major concern is the security of this information. The mushy middle of ‘somewhat confident’ is a high 47 percent, with 40 percent clustering on the negative side. How much of this affects adoption of mobile health is not determined. Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll 

Happtique testing app ‘prescriptions’ via doctors

June 28, 2013 | by

Surprisingly, given the directional and management changes at health app curator Happtique [TTA 17 May], the company has just sent out a call for physicians to test their platform for electronically prescribing apps to patients. Your Editor received an email mid-afternoon EDT with this content (PDF). In the ‘beta’, they are seeking a small group of primary care physicians to access their catalogue, formularies and mRx prescribing tool, with a consumer overlay of driving the message to their doctor via the Happtique website to encourage them to sign up. This differs from the mid-May report via Mobihealthnews that Happtique would concentrate on hospital customers only, and not practitioners nor patients. To be determined?

The data-EHR integration hurdle spanned?

June 25, 2013 | by

The fifth of the Five Big Questions (FBQs)*–how data is integrated into patient records–may have finally been answered by Partners HealthCare. They have integrated patient remote monitoring data directly into their EHR, viewable by clinicians alongside patient charts–and also portaled to the patient. The integration was designed by Partners’ Center for Connected Health and includes data sent via Alere Connect (formerly MedApps) from various blood pressure, weight and blood glucose devices. CCH is also introducing mobile connectivity through Qualcomm Life’s 2net hub. Partners HealthCare’s EHR interestingly is an in-house system, but they are transitioning their records to Epic. Dr. Joseph Kvedar, director of the CCH, also discusses how the next step is how to make this data easier for clinicians to read and use in Mobihealthnews. It is about time. Also mHIMSS and Partners’ own press release.

* The Five Big Questions (FBQs)–who pays, how much, who’s looking at the data, who’s actioning it, how data is integrated into patient records.

DHS warning: now medical devices breached (US)

June 24, 2013 | by

Adding to the US Federal Government’s breaching distress, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice from ICS-CERT (Industrial Control Systems-Cyber Emergency Response Team)  has warned of  “a hard-coded password vulnerability affecting roughly 300 medical devices across approximately 40 vendors. According to their (security vendor Cyclance-Ed.) report, the vulnerability could be exploited to potentially change critical settings and/or modify device firmware.” This unnerving development has not yet been exploited, according to DHS, but could affect patient monitors, surgical and anesthesia devices, ventilators, drug infusion pumps, external defibrillators, mammography equipment, and laboratory and analysis equipment. Not good news. Additional information in iHealthBeat and GovInfoSecurity. DHS/ICS-CERT notice.

Previously in TTA: VA networks breached from overseas; 20 million records affected (13 June)