Helping the ‘beleaguered caregiver’

April 23, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/60344-1-lg.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Medication organizing/sharing apps, geotracking, learning programs and texting are helping caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s, heart conditions and autism better cope with family conditions.   The National Alzheimer Center, a division of Hebrew Home at Riverdale in Bronx, NY, developed the Balance $3.99 app that has multiple features: Pill Box (med management), Learning (sharing info about the disease), Caregiving, Schedule (sharing calendars), Doctor Diary (tracking physical and emotional changes in the patient and sharing them with the doctor/s) and News (Arutz Sheva/Israel National News; release with photos). Available currently on iTunes; Android version to come. The Alzheimer’s Association offers Comfort Zone, which uses GPS to track the person with Alzheimer’s within a pre-set geographic area, for about $43 a month. For heart patients, Mended Hearts will be starting a program of texted tips for caregivers. Autism Speaks has collected learning websites and apps for tablets which families have used successfully with autistic children, and has given away over 800 to low-income families.  None are pricey, all serve growing populations–and none will generate buzz at industry cocktail parties. Beleaguered caregivers getting help from apps (SacBee/AP)

Mobile visits in the medical home

April 23, 2013 | by | 1 Comment

This presentation by William C. Thornbury, MD  summarizes his two-year research on ‘virtual patient visits’ in the primary care area. In patient-centered medical homes (PCMH), telemedicine virtual visits fit extremely well with an e-commerce minded, ‘gone mobile’ patient group and their needs for convenience and rapid response. It also fits with patient engagement, superior care delivery and cost efficiencies. This presentation is a lengthy 1 hour 28 minutes (including Q&A, which is also interesting) so you may want to bookmark for the weekend. It frames the essentials of disruptive innovation as it applies to mHealth telemedicine. From a webinar presented by MeVisit and the PCPCC’s Care Delivery and Integration Stakeholder Center via HealthShareTV.

[This video is no longer available on this site but may be findable via an internet search]

ATA 2013 announces three ‘practical’ keynotes

April 23, 2013 | by

The American Telemedicine Association’s 2013 meeting, 5-7 May in Austin, Texas has three keynote speakers, and not a buzzy one among them. The large provider:  Lynn Britton, President & CEO, Mercy, a 31 hospital healthcare system in the Midwest and named 2012 “Most Wired” healthcare organization by the American Hospital Organization. The tech innovator: Jeffrey Henley, Chairman, Oracle Corporation. The payer side: Reed Tuckson, MD, the immediate past Chief of Medical Affairs for UnitedHealth, the largest US private insurer. Release. More information on ATA 2013. If you are attending ATA, and would like to contribute a summary of what you find interesting or your general observations (including video and photos), please email Editor Donna or comment below.

European remote patient monitoring to $800 million by 2018

April 23, 2013 | by

Frost & Sullivan’s latest report on the European market posits remote patient monitoring (RPM)–including telemedicine (virtual consults and patient visits), telecare and telehealth–as achieving $616.4 million in 2012 and rising to $831 million by 2018 as European countries economize in healthcare delivery. It’s worthwhile noting that F&S has developed multiple studies in their Connected Health Growth Partnership Service program for Europe, APAC and the Americas. F&S release, HealthTechZone article.

Telecare as entrepreneurial platform (US)

April 19, 2013 | by

Telecare ‘grizzled pioneer’ GrandCare Systems, which extended some time ago into both telehealth and socialization, is profiled in this Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article on local entrepreneurship and the relationship of intellectual capital to economic success. CEO Charles Hillman, COO Gaytha Traynor and VP Marketing Laura Mitchell are interviewed in the video (05:26).

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Lively.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]But telecare has attracted a new entrant, Lively (or Live!y). It’s an in-home behavioral monitoring system which uses neatly-designed motion sensors and M2M connectivity. It strongly resembles to this Editor QuietCare as originally positioned for older adult independence and safety in the home, but developed out in a version 2.0 or 3.0. Activity information feeds over to a web/smartphone platform which generates alerts when something is off the routine (again, like QuietCare). Pricing is right with an equipment cost of $149 (same as the original QuietCare) but with a far lower per month subscription of $19.99–lower than PERS which averages around $35-45–and unlike QuietCare, it is fully self-install. The connectedness overlay is (hold the presses!) direct mail–a ‘LivelyGram’ every two weeks which turns friends and family photos, news and updates into a booklet. The sticking point may be the usual–the older person finding this intrusive and ‘I don’t need this.’ Their Kickstarter appeal has unfortunately started off slowly even with initial discount pricing of $99 for the system; as of 23 April, $11,534 pledged of a $100,000 goal with 21 days left. Neil Versel reviews at Mobihealthnews.

FCC very quietly names Director of Health Care Initiatives (US)

April 19, 2013 | by

With no official announcement, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has selected Matthew Quinn from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for its first-ever Director of Health Care Initiatives, as reported in FierceMobileHealthcare (via Mobihealthnews). His maiden appearance was at a recent Care Continuum Alliance Capitol Caucus in Washington, D.C. This contrasts with the relative fanfare back in December of the new position and its big scope–administering the Health Care Connect Fund, the health care part of the National Broadband Plan, developing spectrum policy for Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs) and other medical devices as well as expanding broadband to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). It’s all quite curious as it seems to be a muting of the FCC’s previous aggressive stance in cutting its slice of the pie in health care. FierceMobile’s editor Greg Slabodkin wonders what door the new Director will be using in Welcome, Mr. Quinn, I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.

‘Virtual visits’ win Singapore innovation award (AUS)

April 19, 2013 | by | 1 Comment

Australia’s Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS), which is testing a telehealth service (=telemedicine), won the Outstanding ICT Innovation award in the Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards 2013, part of the 4th Ageing Asia Investment Forum in Singapore.  Nurse virtual visits were demonstrated between ‘patient’ Singapore’s Senior Minister of State, Mr. Chan Chun Sing, and RDNS nurse Amanda Murray in Melbourne, checking his blood pressure and ‘medication’. The ‘Healthy, Happy and at Home’ project over the past two years was developed by the RDNS with the Victorian State Government under its Broadband Enabled Innovation Program (BEIP); participating partners are Telstra, Healthe Tech (using the original Intel Health Guide) and La Trobe University. RDNS telehealth wins international ICT award (ITWire),  Asia Today  Video (3:38) Hat tip to reader George Margelis of Care Innovations Australia.

The Boston Marathon tragedy and health tech implications

April 18, 2013 | by

The terrorist bombings at the end of Monday’s Boston Marathon has already stimulated some analysis on what tech did–and could have done–to save lives. MedCityNews’ article analyzes the handling of the casualties–well done in the coordination of multiple hospital ERs (EDs) in caring for over 100 moderately to severely wounded, but showing the present inability in Massachusetts for the state health information exchange (HIE) Mass HIway to exchange patient EHRs under emergency circumstances. “With HIEs that have this capability, emergency department personnel can search for a patient’s record immediately upon his arrival or even as he’s being transported to the hospital. In hospitals connected to the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), for example, the system searches for a patient’s record automatically when he’s registered to the ED.” mHIMSS focuses on emergency response, triage, mobile data collection–and Boston’s Center for Connected Health on how health tech could assist in victims’ recoveries and mental support. But in the short term, the Greatist health and fitness website offers links to ways to help, including blood and financial donations, showing support, finding people and keeping up with news. Also there’s the official email for the FBI on where to send photos of the Boylston Street/finish line area.

But what of the long-term–the recovery from both the physical and mental wounds, and managing long term care issues? Four entrants in the MassChallenge accelerator 2013 startup class  to be announced in early May have medical therapies directly applicable to the survivors:  Advanced Amputee Solutions (shock absorption for the lower limb, Benevolent Technology for Health (adjustable fit for prosthetics), Keradermlab (alternative to skin grafts for burn healing) and Lucirix (connectivity platform for all health providers. MedCityNews

StartUp Health adds AARP education on 50+ tech

April 18, 2013 | by

Health tech accelerator StartUp Health is wisely pointing their entrepreneurs towards ‘the jobs to be done’ of the 50+ age group via a new partnership with AARP. AARP is sponsoring the development of educational content for entrepreneurs in the StartUp Health Academy as part of their Innovation@50+ initiative. They are also sponsoring StartUp Health’s quarterly industry research reports as well as trend data and intelligence. This is StartUp Health’s second high level partnership, after their joint program with GE Ventures Healthymagination [TTA 4 April]. StartUp Health/AARP release.

It’s good business and societal benefit sense. Lather, rinse, repeat: The 50+ market will comprise 45 percent of the US population by 2015. Extended thoughts on differentiating the needs of the ‘young old’ versus the 70-80+ group–and how individual older people have different takeups on tech; Stephanie Baum gives the example of her 80 year-old mom who just upgraded her iPhone and downloads apps, but finds it difficult to do online search. What do seniors need? (MedCityNews)

Related: The Oxitone wrist-worn blood oxygen meter is one of the StartUp Health/GE ‘Lucky Thirteen’ and is profiled in this Times of Israel article. [TTA 7 Sept 2012, 24 Feb 2012] Notably it’s one of only two non-US companies in the group–the other is Ireland’s GetHealth.

Short takes for Thursday

April 18, 2013 | by

Curious about the further adventures of the HAPIFork that debuted at CES 2013 and got a whole slew of awards? Spend a minute moment (audio 0:51) at lunch with two Health 2.0 writers and inventor Jacques Lépine. Don’t eat too fast or it will buzz–and you can see your eating patterns on HAPIFork’s online dashboard via Bluetooth to mobile or cable to PC. It finally made it to Kickstarter (20 percent to their goal) and $89 will get you one in September…..What is the Synergistic Physio-Neuro Platform (SynPhNe–pronounced ‘symphony’)? A new stroke rehabilitation system from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University for patients which have lost the use of an arm. The arm band monitors muscle movements through guided exercises, and if one can’t be completed, uses the sensor readings to determine why, and then explains it to the user so that they can improve. Gizmag….DARPA’s ARM (Autonomous Robotic Manipulation) is a heavyweight set of two robotic arms to perform coordinated actions and manipulate objects on task-level commands. Currently in test, potential is in heavy moving or dangerous situations including defusing unexploded IEDs. Have Two Arms, Will Work (Armed With Science)….Skype ‘n’ psych a no-no, according to Marlene M. Maheu, PhD, head of the TeleMental Health Institute, due to privacy concerns with the popular online video platform–and even secure telemedicine platforms may have liability problems for psychiatric use. Psychiatric Times.

Telehealth/continuing education for hypertension adherence (BR)

April 16, 2013 | by

Not quite what you might think from the FierceHealthIT article, but worth considering. The study of ‘telehealth’ is from a research team from the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil (UFPE) who developed a continuing education program for clinical staff in the Family Health Teams in Pernambuco, and does not involve telehealth monitoring of patients. (Some background: the FHTs were established in 1994 to promote primary care in Brazil. Conventional on-site clinical education is difficult due to the dispersed nature of the care teams–and web connectivity is still an issue.) The CE was delivered to 21 professionals in 11 web conferences followed up with electronic patient evaluation forms. In the monitored patient group (N~500) with hypertension, compliance with antihypertensive drugs, low salt diet, and physical activity was increased moderately. A novel study on the effects of influencing professionals by education delivered online, in developing countries where this is not commonplace. Fortunately available online in full text: A Telehealth Strategy for Increasing Adherence in the Treatment of Hypertension in Primary Care (Telemedicine and e-Health, Mary Ann Liebert Publishing, April 2013)

Tablets for mental stimulation, concussion detection

April 16, 2013 | by

Clevermind for dementia, cognitively disabled

The new Clevermind app/user interface for iPad is designed to simplify the internet for active use by those with Alzheimer’s disease, dementias or others who are cognitively impaired for a variety of reasons. According to founder Glenn Palumbo in an interview with Neil Versel, “The initial release, set for June will have limited functionality, serving as the front end for communication and social hubs like Skype, Facebook and Twitter, with a simplified display including a basic Web browser.” Depending on the stage that the dementia is in, it can be a boon in mental stimulation or as their website terms ‘neuroplasticity’, if presented appropriately–or, based on your Editor’s knowledge of working with dementia sufferers, potentially quite upsetting. The secondary markets that Mr. Palumbo mentioned, stroke patients and children with disabilities, may be more favorable. Clevermind is on Kickstarter with an initial goal of $10,000 but has raised a low $1,717 with 23 days to go. (Hint: try a healthcare- oriented crowdfunding site like Medstartr or Health Tech Hatch for your next round.)

GeriJoy’s ‘virtual pet’ to engage older adults

Another iPad and Android tablet app, GeriJoy, uses the interface of a virtual pet to respond to the user both by voice and touch to lessen isolation, loneliness and increase connectivity to loved ones and friends. Another asset of these tablets is that they have two-way capability, and that active monitoring can help an older person in a bad situation. From the release: (Co-founder Victor) “Wang describes how a customer adopted a GeriJoy Companion for her elderly father, who lives alone. One day, the companion woke up to a loud sound, and heard a paid caregiver screaming at the elder. GeriJoy reported the abuse to the customer, who was very grateful and replaced the caregiver that week.”

Sideline and ringside voice testing for concussion

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have developed a tablet-based test that can detect injury through before-and-after voice analysis. For instance, an athlete recites a series of words before a game, recorded on a tablet. If there’s a suspected concussion or brain injury, the same words are used and software compares differences. Injury indicators can be pitch, hyper nasality, distorted vowels and imprecise consonants–and the tests are far more difficult to fake. In action in this video, the tests also appear to include spatial and balance. Associate Professor Christian Poellabauer describes the research below using Notre Dame’s boxing teams.

[This video is no longer available on this site but may be findable via an internet search]

 

 

Wearable alert: DARPA’s tinier-than-a-penny nav device

April 16, 2013 | by

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/timu.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Misfit, UnderArmour, Fraunhofer Institute, Samsung, Apple, GuideMeHome and even Avery Dennison, listen up: the US Department of Defense via DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a/k/a the Internet’s real dad) researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a timing and inertial measurement unit (TIMU) that monitors motion, acceleration, time and positioning–without GPS. This navigation chip packs internal clocks, gyroscopes and accelerometers into 10 cubic millimeters fitting quite comfortably in the center of a US penny. Defense usage is backup for military devices in case of malfunctioning/unavailable GPS. In the civilian market, the easy one is wearables particularly for safety (e.g. gait detection, falling)–but the other is backup to in-car and cell phone systems dependent on GPS which, if knocked out, can present inconvenience to hazard. Extreme Miniaturization…. (DARPA.mil)  PopSci’s once-over-lightly.

Google Glass and healthcare: VCs agree

April 16, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gimlet-eye.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Much to The Gimlet Eye’s consternation, Google Glass is getting the healthcare rush: big-time tech VCs Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google Ventures (of course). The group dubbed ‘Glass Collective’ (hmm) promote surgical use, assistance for the disabled and (of course) self-tracking. MobileWorldLive

TechCrunch reports that the first prototypes are starting to ship and are first going to 2,000 “Glass Explorers” who signed up at a major developer conference last year. The Eye observes that Google needs them badly–to start writing apps and debugging the prototypes. But were you one of those who signed up to pay $1,500 so you could Ultimate One-Up your friends? There will be a yet-to-be-determined delay. The Eye believes it cannot be long enough…because this next article contains one Big Blinking Concern After Another, including but not limited to the illicit acquisition of data and all sorts of things the appsters can do to really make Google Glass A Bad Thing in Google Glass and Surveillance Culture (Slashdot). Update 16 April pm: Gizmag reveals Google Glass specs, so to speak.

Proteus 2.0: more edible monitoring

April 15, 2013 | by

From what only 2.5 years ago wags dubbed ‘creepy’ pills and now is the accepted Proteus Digital Health pill/transmitter/smartphone model, there had to be more in the same vein–or alimentary canal. Teams at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are working on digestible devices which have flexible polymer electrodes and are powered by a sodium ion electrochemical cell, to scrutinize for biomarkers or gastric problems. According to the CMU release, “The battery also could be used to stimulate damaged tissue or help in targeted drug delivery for certain types of cancer.” Health tech monitoring mavens may want to be in touch with… Carnegie Mellon’s Christopher Bettinger Develops Edible Electronics for Medical Device Industry

Employee wellness: Carrot? Stick? Or something else?

April 12, 2013 | by

The actions of companies like CVS Caremark [TTA Telehealth Soapbox] have aimed a white-hot klieg light onto corporate wellness and the various methodologies companies are using to force a change in employees’ behaviors to positively affect their healthcare spend. Both positive and negative incentives have their pros and cons–positive incentives tied to completion of wellness ‘tasks’ seem not to work long term, penalties can be a blow to morale and verge on full-blown discrimination and lawsuits. Increasingly the price of being in a corporate health plan seems to be acceptance of ‘intrusion for your own good’ and privacy loss. On the other hand, why should health insurance be any different than home or auto, at least in the US?  The Wall Street Journal has written several non-firewalled articles on this issue in recent days: Your Company Wants to Make You Healthy; Carrots and Sticks: Which One Works The Best (infographic); If Workers Are Out of Shape, Should Companies Make Them Pay? (At Work Blog–read over 85 comments)

In terms of effectiveness, the only study this Editor has seen was published this month in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine from wellness/disease manager Healthways’ Center for Health Research, as mentioned in a secondary article by the Integrated Benefits Institute. According to IBI’s summary:

Looking at over 19,000 employees at five employers, the authors find that employees who reduced their total health behavior risks over a 12 month period—for example, by increasing exercise or improving their diet—had a lower likelihood of absence, less presenteeism [working while sick–Ed.], and better job performance.

But some of those 19 factors included work-related risks such as “poor supervisor relationship, not utilizing strengths doing job, and organization unsupportive of well-being” (JOEM)–not health related at all. And the total reduction was a whopping 5 percent.

Magic 8 Ball says: ‘picture cloudy, try again’.

So perhaps the real choice has become this: adhere to employer requirements–or not have any coverage at all. There’s been a 10 point decline in Americans covered by employer-sponsored insurance, from 69.7 percent in 1999/2000 to 59.5 percent in 2010/2011 (SHADAC/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Much of that is also the US 7.6 percent ‘official’ unemployment rate (U-3)–but the real accelerator here is the 13.8 percent U-6 rate which counts in part-timers and the ‘marginally attached/discouraged’ who are not going to have employer insurance. The Affordable Care Act and its requirements/fees have also discouraged many smaller employers who are simply dropping insurance coverage.

So what is the bottom line? And where there are the opportunities for consumer engagement and self-maintenance linked to telehealth and mobile health which can mitigate cost? Understanding the ill-defined situation companies are in, especially in the US, will help in identifying them.