Telecare Soapbox: Value creation–wireless health companies at the fore

May 25, 2010 | by | 1 Comment

Paul Sonnier, founder of the Wireless Health group on LinkedIn and co-chair of the Healthcare Communications SIG at CommNexus San Diego, has thoughts on the new definition of ‘value creation’.

During the annual Wireless-Life Science Alliance’s (WLSA) annual Investor’s Meeting held in La Jolla, California last week, I had the good fortune to hear a keynote presentation by Terrance Gregg, CEO at San Diego-based DexCom, which produces wearable continuous glucose monitoring devices. Mr Gregg alluded to challenges the company has faced over the course of its history in terms of maintaining its independence while other, more established companies eyed its technology for acquisition.

After hearing this part of the DexCom story, it occurred to me that independence and durability are the eternal challenges faced by most successful technology companies and entrepreneurs… (more…)

The Innovator’s Prescription (video)

March 6, 2010 | by

Essentially the same presentation as his week-earlier keynote at last October’s Connected Health Symposium (see this editor’s report here), but you can now see this important presentation for yourself:  from ePatient Connections, Jason Hwang, M.D. on disruptive innovations in healthcare decentralizing care, and the historical futility of cramming new technology into old business models.  Dr. Hwang is Executive Director of the Innosight Institute and co-author of The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care, with Professor Clayton M. Christensen and the late Jerome H. Grossman.  Thanks to Paul Sonnier of CommNexus (San Diego) for bringing this to our attention (and Kru Research for posting on their site).

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You can buy the book (GBP £):

The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care

You can buy the book (USD $):

The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care

Continua’s ‘garden of wonders’ at CES: 5 videos

January 15, 2010 | by

For your weekend viewing:
1) RTT News interviews Jonathan Linkous of the American Telemedicine Association on how technology and healthcare are converging (4 mins)
2) Larry Chu interviews Chuck Parker, Executive Director of Continua about the alliance, for HCPlive. (7 mins)
3) Tech journo Scott Mace visits the Continua Alliance booth at CES last week–the ‘child’s garden of wonders’ we referred to. The video quality is only fair, but Mr Mace lets the demos speak for themselves. You’ll also get an idea of the Digital Health part of the expo floor. This one includes IBM demonstrating the ‘end-to-end’ solution including A&D, Roche, Eurotech; Nonin Medical and Vignet. (7 mins)
4) Also by Scott Mace, this features Tunstall, Storento (sp?) med monitoring packaging, MedApps and a chronic disease management demo by a Continua representative that includes A&D, LNI Health Link uploading to a Google Health PNR. (10 mins)
5) A crystal clear MedApps demo using a pulse oximetry reading (the subject lived.) (1 min)

Healthcare highlights at International CES

January 6, 2010 | by | 1 Comment

For the healthcare minded, the Consumer Electronics Show (International CES), officially kicking off Thursday (7 Jan) in Las Vegas (but all over the press with Google’s Nexus One, ‘smartbooks’/slates etc.), has a section in the LVCC’s North Hall dedicated to ‘digital health’.  Unfortunately the exhibitor list in this ‘tech zone’ is a bit of a disappointment, with only Continua Alliance and GrandCare Systems of interest to our readers.  The neighboring Silvers Summit ‘tech zone’ has more of interest, with Dakim (brain fitness), Jitterbug (phones), Tabsafe (med dispensing) and Wellcore (fall detection).  But Continua seemingly has a child’s garden of wonders in their booth.  They are demonstrating ‘the first end-to-end connected health solution based on the Continua architecture’:  Nonin Medical’s wireless Bluetooth pulse oximeter sends data to a PC manager running Vignet’s Connected Health Services platform (debuting at CES-release) which is then uploaded to an IBM server.  But…there’s more:  A&D Medical (blood pressure and weight–see recent story on Halo partnership), Lamprey Networks, PDT, Renesas Technology, Tunstall Healthcare (Telehealth Platform–see below–and Connect) and ZyXEL are also demonstrating in the Continua booth. Continua’s release and press advisory.

[Donna Cusano update 7 January] Live from CES–GrandCare Systems hosted their weekly open webinar/conference calls from the just-opened floor.

  • Add to your visiting list: Carnegie-Mellon/University of Pittsburgh (Silvers Summit ‘tech zone’ booth #3013)–their display from their Quality of Life Tech Center is a 64 square foot room demonstrating their latest innovations, including RFID-assisted walls that change moods–color and brightness–to assist those with traumatic brain injury, plus touch screens for vital signs monitoring.  (Thank you Jeff Giuggio from C-M for the short briefing).
  • Wellcore (#2909) is introducing at CES their in and out-of-home fall detector, which will be marketed through the firstStreet catalog starting in March. Beyond the usual accelerometer, it uses algorithms to track and discern type of motion, delivers voice messages from their online website and will prompt to be worn. Out-of-home, the Wellcore monitor connects via Bluetooth to a cell phone.  Releases.

Although this editor isn’t there, we could have an ‘inside source’ for updates…we hope that what happens in Vegas, can’t stay in Vegas!

[Donna Cusano update 8 January] According to this release, at today’s 11am keynote Qualcomm chairman Dr. Paul Jacobs was joined by Dr. Eric Topol of the West Wireless Health Institute to highlight a selection of digital medical devices, including AirStrip OB (AirStrip Technologies), Mobile Baby (Great Connection), PiiX (Corventis) and Vscan (GE Healthcare).

 

Telecare Soapbox: Can the ‘old old’ have best lives when the pressure is to isolate them?

August 5, 2009 | by

Donna Cusano is currently a healthcare services, wellness and supportive technologies marketing consultant based in New York City. Previously she was Vice President, Marketing, for Living Independently Group (QuietCare Systems). The following Soapbox item was triggered by the How the ‘Old Old’ can have best lives item.

So much of our emphasis in the technology area has been to keep seniors active that we tend to ignore planning for and helping seniors (and their families) to manage their last and usually inevitable years of increasing frailty, and the role that technology in the service of care can play. I don’t know of many cultures that support the ‘old old’ and those that have (Asian Indian, Chinese, Japanese) are increasingly not. Here is a moral, right opportunity for both healthcare and technology. I will make a similar case for the disabled and the support telecare/telehealth can be for them as well.

Unfortunately I think the trend towards treating the ‘old old’ – or even the just old – INhumanely is on the rise, despite… (more…)