Depressed? A woman? There’s an app for that.

November 12, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/T47screen-166×300.png” thumb_width=”130″ /]A new app still under development, Thrive 4-7 (the 7 is the seven dimensions of health) is meant to be used as a supplement to traditional therapy (and presumably medication). The app ‘thrives’ on constant interaction and uses gamification (!), behavioral psychology and influential design to modify the user’s behavior, for instance by sending special messages at times of daily stress. The developers want to connect the app with wearables and peer support groups as well. However, the time of their in-market–best case scenario is a debut at the end of 2014– is dependent on FDA clearance if it’s required–yet to be determined. The business plans, depending on this, may be direct to consumer or sold through health plans, hospitals and employer groups. The therapist you sleep with (MedCityNews) does seem like encouraging an unhealthy behavior, though.

Telecare for monitoring temperature, power outage (UK/EU)

November 12, 2013 | by | 4 Comments
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Envirotxt-plugging-in-1-small.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]With winter very near, and the UK already having a bout of wild weather, something necessary to know but often overlooked until there’s a problem for carers is if the heat or power is on in an older or disabled person’s home. Thus a press release sent to Founder Steve got this Editor’s attention. This simple plug-in device, Envirotxt, detects whether the temperature falls below a set low or high temperature, rises suddenly (possible fire) or the power is out. It then alerts via one of three pre-set text messages sent via GSM to a mobile phone of your choice (family member, local authority). The cost is a little high (£99) but there does not appear to be any additional monthly subscription cost. South Derbyshire-based Tekview has several similar devices for both UK and EU users (Envirotxt appears to be UK only at present; they do not have US-suitable versions). For larger installations they have management software with some enhanced features. Worth looking into for your local authority or simply for your personal use. Website page. Press release. Video. If you know of or have used similar notification devices, please add them in Comments.

The train, plane and car wreck that is Healthcare.gov and Obamacare

November 8, 2013 | by

If the ACA and Healthcare.gov were Boeing or Airbus aircraft–they would have been grounded on 3 October.

Wherever you reside in the over 150 countries TTA is read in, if you need more convincing that the US Government is unable to be successful (and Editor Donna is being restrained and charitable) at 99 percent of everything contained in this misbegotten Act, all one needs to do is read our previous coverage and this latest update in the Daily Mail along with their links to their own previous coverage. Are you sure it’s going to be fixed within weeks, Mr. President? This is Obamacare website riddled with garbled messages today

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Except in the minds of White House and HHS planners, the obvious solution would be to STOP: halt the enrollment process, suspend the ACA implementation, restore the right to current coverage for the millions who have been blocked from renewing their current individual coverage and take the entire website down. Rethink all the elements including the coverage structure and the website, send it back to Congress for relegislating and implement a program that works sometime in 2015 IF a way can be found. But no, Americans get piecemeal fixes on a website and system that increase the vulnerability of personal information to hackers and identity theft–and coverage they cannot afford. (And this is only in the individual and small group market. Wait till it applies to large employers–other than unions which have been exempted.) (more…)

The lack of evidence in health IT and patient engagement

November 8, 2013 | by

In health economist/consultant Jane Sarasohn-Kahn’s lengthy analysis of the IMS Research report, Patient Apps for Improved Healthcare: From Novelty to Mainstream, ‘mainstream’ does not necessarily mean that apps deliver value–in health outcomes, health support or behavior change–which is why doctors have largely ignored them. For the 43,000+ ‘health apps’ so categorized in the Apple iTunes store, only 23,000 met IMS’ criteria of a ‘genuine health app.’ Few apps manage chronic disease for the highest health spenders or assist seniors, amazingly 5 apps =15 percent of all downloads with most apps having less than 500 downloads. Most apps provide information only and only 20 percent capture/track user data. Not dissimilar to the Manhattan Research smartphone study [TTA 30 Oct], the bulk of apps address behavioral health, eyes and hearing, endocrine and nutrition, heart/circulatory, musculoskeletal, and cancer. In IMS’ view, (more…)

WebMD’s Avado acquisition and meaning (US)

November 8, 2013 | by | 1 Comment

Early-stage company Avado’s acquisition by content Goliath WebMD has rocked the small world of New York health tech, with both companies being located (or co-located) here. First is the acquisition price estimated by TechCrunch in the $20-30 million range. Co-founded by Dave Chase (whose Forbes articles we’ve occasionally commented on here), Avado developed its patient portal PRM (Patient Relationship Management) system, including direct messaging and the highly touted Blue Button, on relatively limited funding with a $1 million raise in March plus an earlier $300,000 from New York Digital Health Accelerator in addition to angel funding. Second, for WebMD, it is their first foray into anything that bridges from the patient to their physicians for messaging, reminders, and appointment scheduling. (more…)

10 sensor-based telehealth companies

November 8, 2013 | by | 1 Comment
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/biostamp.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Our First 10 For Friday is what is termed a ‘sensor technology renaissance’ in telehealth, mostly tied to that sensor-equipped device called a smartphone. The ten companies profiled in Bionic.ly, including an ingestible, are:

Sano Intelligence–wearable patch sensor transmitting blood chemistry data such as glucose and potassium

Zephyr Technology–performance shirts in partnership with UnderArmour [TTA 25 Mar]

Cardiio–developed by the MIT Media Lab, it uses changes in skin tone read by an iPhone to measure resting heart rate [TTA 21 Mar]

MC10 (picture left/above)–the Biostamp elastic sensor and sensors used by combat soldiers to measure hydration, temperature, impact and other body indicators [TTA 22 Feb] (more…)

Top 10 technology hazards–what pertains to telehealth?

November 7, 2013 | by

Our Second 10 For Friday comes from ECRI Institute, a non-profit which applies evidence-based research to improve patient care, has issued its annual Top 10 Healthcare Technology Hazards. Compiled from hospital reports, the FDA device experience database and ECRI’s proprietary database of incidents and testing, the most pertinent to telehealth out of the 10 are:

1. Alarm hazards–real alerts go unattended due to caregivers being overwhelmed, distracted or desensitized.

4. Data integrity failures in EHRs and other health IT systems–patient/data association errors, missing data or delayed data delivery, clock synchronization errors and more

7. Neglecting change management for network devices and systems–the “underappreciated consequence of updates, upgrades or modifications made to one device or system have on other connected devices or systems”

8. Risks to pediatric patients from “adult” technologies–mixups within EHRs, conversions from kilograms to pounds, even height and weight being recorded on different EHR screens.

HealthLeadersMedia

‘Personalized medicine’ targets psychiatric drugs

November 7, 2013 | by

A genetic test to help determine the efficacy of psychiatric medications for several diagnoses is under development by Cincinnati Ohio-based Assurex Health. Using a DNA analysis on a cheek swab sample, Assurex’s tests analyze a panel of genes in the cytochrome P450 family that are involved in drug metabolism. This information is then used to create a report that optimizes drugs for that diagnosis using a red/yellow/green code. Under development for seven years, the pharmacogenetic testing analyzes drugs for depression, anxiety, ADHD, chronic pain, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Assurex has also published a series of clinical trials conducted with the Mayo Clinic. It seems obvious that assessment beats the usual patient trial-and-error, but like most startups in the healthcare field, they are still trying to figure out the major reimbursement questions–who pays and how much. And somewhere there’s a digital health spin to this….MedCityNews

TSA Crystal Awards shortlist announced

November 7, 2013 | by

The Telecare Services Association announced its Crystal Awards nominees which recognize excellence across technology enabled services and creative technology development.

Most creative application of technology including telecare, telehealth, telecoaching
STAY (Sandwell Telecare Assisting You) and Red Embedded Systems Ltd
Contour Homes
The Medvivo Group

Enhancing lives through technology enabled services
The Medvivo Group
Peninsula Community Health
Stafford and Rural Homes

Professional of the Year
Bristol Careline
Stafford and Rural Homes
Contour Homes

This Editor notes that Medvivo, Contour Homes and Stafford and Rural Homes are nominated in two out of three categories, which if we were betting on the Academy Awards® would perhaps cancel each other out. Winners to be announced at the International Telecare and Telehealth Conference’s Gala Dinner on 12 November 2013. Release.

Health tech enthusiasm ≠ implementation and scale

November 5, 2013 | by | 1 Comment

Laurie Orlov’s impressions of this year’s Connected Health Symposium, hosted as usual by Partners HealthCare in Boston, presents the conundrum that telehealth and health tech faces beyond the consumer segment, booming fitness trackers and the apps bought one day, discarded the next. How do you get telehealth beyond the pilot to a permanent program in a health system? Do these systems really want to move healthcare to the home? According to Ms. Orlov, there’s amazingly no change from last year on these questions. They are still testing, not broadly deploying (how do companies like Ideal Life and Care Innovations [ever-funded? really?] which aren’t near substantial adoption continue?); and health systems are moving care from brick-and-mortar to the home but slowly, still. Continuing too is the lack of focus on how technology can work best with older adults.  (more…)

Engaging with aging tech

November 5, 2013 | by

LeadingAge, the main association for non-profit ‘aging services’ providers, hosted a ‘hackathon’ of sorts called HackFest at its annual convention last week. Eight international teams of students were given a 24 hour challenge to come up with an idea and create a prototype application, device or website. The winner was Team Global EngAge who developed a platform for retirement communities to offer their activities–book clubs, religious services and clubs–online so that home-bound elderly can participate via video conferencing. The purpose of the hackathon was to focus on technology needs in senior services and was sponsored by investor Ziegler and Asbury Communities. Unfortunately neither McKnights or LeadingAge list or explore the seven other concepts, which would have been interesting as all these teams can look to further develop and fund their ideas.

Quick Tuesday takes on health tech

November 5, 2013 | by

Long-term sensors, smart thermometers and the Scanadu Nirvana

The first study of long term use of carbon nanotubes as implanted sensors has been published in Nature Nanotechnology. The nanotubes were implanted for a year in animals to track nitrous oxide (NO), an indicator of inflammation which is important in and of itself, but the level of NO is also not understood long term in cancer. To detect NO, the tubes are wrapped in DNA with a particular sequence and wrapped in an alginate gel to stay in place for a recorded 400 days. The MIT team working on this is also working on nanotubes for real-time detection of glucose levels, towards an accurate insulin pump that would end the diabetic’s perpetual Battle of Stalingrad. MIT News and FierceHealthIT.

The Kinsa smart thermometer for iPhone and Android received a glowing article in Fast Company Design. (more…)

Evaluating your company’s potential investors

November 5, 2013 | by

While this Xconomy article focuses on biotech, the pointers for health tech companies starting to engage with investors are equally applicable to developers and partners in any country. It’s also helpfully divided into ‘red’ and ‘green flags’–red flags being signs that the investor is not ‘aligned’ with the company’s interests. And disrespectful or an overly short-term focus also tells you to walk away, even if bags of money are in the balance. You ideally want engaged, respectful, successful and informed investors. The writer has been there, done that. Red (and Green) Flags To Look for With Biotech’s Buyside Investors

Due diligence: the importance of the internal IP audit

November 4, 2013 | by

This is the fourth article of an occasional series on law and intellectual property (IP) as it affects software and systems used in health technology. The topic is the importance on implementing your own audit of your company’s IP and why you should enlist an outside company to do it. More than a list of your copyrights and patents, an independently conducted internal audit will prepare your company for the external due diligence expected when a bank wants to vet a loan or an investor knocks on the door–and it includes things like your website and IT. While Mr. Grossman is writing in the context of US law, our UK and international readers will find his pointers applicable both locally and in dealing with the US. What’s refreshing is his plain writing and lack of ‘legalese’. 

Mark Grossman, JD, has nearly 30 years’ experience in business law and began focusing his practice on technology over 20 years ago. He is an attorney with Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt in New York City and has for ten years been listed in Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Grossman has been Special Counsel for the X-Prize Foundation and SME (subject matter expert) for Florida’s Internet Task Force. More information on Mr. Grossman here and at his blog.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DUE DILIGENCE

Intellectual property may be among the most valuable assets your company owns. The problem with intellectual property (IP) is that by its nature its intangible. You can’t touch it or see it. So how do you know what you have and own?

The starting point is to look to any registrations you may have with the government. For example, you may have registered a copyright or trademark and have paperwork to prove it. However, the registrations are just the starting point. It turns out that getting a handle on your company’s IP assets can be a complex process.  (more…)

Changes at the top at Tunstall

November 3, 2013 | by

EXCLUSIVE

A reliable and informed source has told this Editor (1 Nov) that Gil Baldwin, Group CEO of Tunstall Healthcare Group Ltd. will be stepping down, to be replaced by Paul Stobart, the former CEO of CPPGroup plc. Mr. Baldwin joined Tunstall in March 2010 from major insurer Aviva, where he headed Aviva Health. Prior to CPP, Mr. Stobart held various positions over 15 years at global enterprise software giant Sage Group, concluding as their CEO for Northern Europe.

Charterhouse Capital Partners acquired Tunstall in 2008, with former owner Bridgepoint Capital retaining a minority share. However, a sale/VC exit has long been rumored. The company recently received some unflattering attention on its (fully legal) usage of the Quoted Eurobond Exemption in The Independent [TTA 25 Oct].

This Editor notes that Mr. Stobart became CPPGroup’s CEO to manage the fallout after it was revealed in March 2011 that the FSA (Financial Services Authority) was investigating the company for mis-selling their bank card protection and identity theft products. After two years of struggle and a record £10.5 million FSA fine, four major banks dramatically rescued the company in July with an eleventh-hour £38 million refinancing, but the consequence of restructuring was that Mr. Stobart and the CFO both stepped down in August. [Guardian, Sky News via Orange, CreditToday] This was certainly a trial by fire. It should also be noted that to this Editor’s knowledge, Mr. Stobart has no specific healthcare, telecare/telehealth or health insurance experience, which is unusual for a position of this type.

Update 4 November: Tunstall’s release at 2:20 PM UK time, making this official. Our source indicates that Mr. Stobart’s start date is today (Monday) and it transpired quickly with business staff only being notified internally last Wednesday, which makes this an exceedingly quick change.

Dick Cheney’s defibrillator and medical device hacking

November 1, 2013 | by

The news this week that former US Vice President Dick Cheney and his cardiologist decided to turn off wireless access to his implanted defibrillator (ICD) in 2007 based on fears of radio-based attacks underlines the increased awareness of security threats to wireless interfacing or programmable devices. The fear of ‘death by malicious hacking’ could very well lessen the sales and acceptance of new wireless-dependent designs in pacemakers, diabetes management/artificial pancreas and even medication ingestion tracking (Proteus). One proposal outlined in medical device supplier blog Qmed is interesting: “Since most proposed attacks would take place from a distance, researchers believe that using a patient’s heartbeat signature as a password could offer an adequate level of security. Using a heartbeat signature password, pacemakers and other devices would only unlock when “fed back” an individual’s heartbeat in real time.”  Yet beyond that, an advanced ‘white hat’ hacker like the late Barnaby Jack envisioned bugs in programming which could negate this to create murdering pacemakers as well as killer insulin pumps. (A look back at Barnaby and his still mysterious death in the Daily Mail) Dick Cheney: Heart implant attack was credible (BBC News) Hat tip to TANN Ireland’s Toni Bunting. Previously in TTA: A ‘mobilized’ artificial pancreas breakthrough included the increased awareness of hack attacks in the medical mainstream and Contributing Editor Charles on compromised smartphone apps.