Last minute opportunity – long term care revolution LIVE 12/13 May & 1/2 June

May 8, 2015 | by

LTCR Live London is now just a few days away, and free to attend

Innovate UK are looking for the most ambitious early stage innovative businesses, start-ups and SMEs to join the Long Term Care Revolution Live.

Dates are: London 12/13 May 2015 & Edinburgh 1/2 June 2015

Across the two day events you will connect with emerging thought leaders, explore new ideas with leading health & care providers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, funders and designers; and engage in experiences that will challenge your current assumptions.

You will learn about a £4 million (more…)

Short takes for a spring Friday: wounds, babies and ‘frequent fliers’

May 8, 2015 | by

Starting off your spring weekend….WoundMatrix, which uses generally older model smartphones to take pictures of wounds which are uploaded either to their own or to a destination clinical platform, with proprietary software that helps a clinician analyze the wound remotely and then to track healing progress, has gone international with Honduras’s La Entrada Medical and Dental facility run by non-profit Serving at the Crossroads, and in Rwanda in the care of nearly 1000 patients by the Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program, established by their Ministry of Health with the cooperation of several American universities. At ATA they also announced a new release of software. Release (PDF attached)….A BMJ (British Medical Journal) article critiquing the surge in what we call ‘telehealth for the bassinet set‘ scores the Mimo onesie (Rest Devices), the Owlet sock and the Sproutling band as taking advantage of concerned parents. It’s too much continuous monitoring of vital signs that can vary and yet be quite normal, and no published studies on benefit. A reviewer did find that Owlet is in clinical tests at Seattle Childrens and University of Arizona. MedPageToday (BMJ requires paid access)….A surprise from Philips, which we in the US associate with the Lifeline PERS. They have quietly moved into telehealth focusing on post-discharge programs that target the most costly patients, often dubbed ‘frequent fliers’ based on their frequent stays in hospital. The ‘Hospital to Home’ telehealth pilot with Banner Health in Arizona, dubbed for them the Intensive Ambulatory Care (IAC) program, focuses on the top 5 percent of complex patients which are the highest cost and most care intensive. IAC results among 135 patients over six months reduced hospitalizations by 45 percent, acute and long-term care costs decreased by 32 percent and overall cost of care by 27 percent. However, is this program continuing–or transitioning their patients?  iHealthBeat, PR Newswire

Redesign of Kinect to detect, prevent Parkinson’s freezing of gait (UK)

May 8, 2015 | by

Two researchers at London’s Brunel University have repurposed a common Microsoft Kinect game controller to detect and help prevent the freezing of gait (FOG) that is a common result of Parkinson’s disease. FOG strikes without warning–the muscles freeze and the sufferer generally falls. To both detect falls and help prevent them, the Brunel researchers mounted a laser projector on the ceiling controlled by the Kinect. If a fall happens, it initiates a video conference call to assist the person. The prevention comes in with projecting visual cues–lines ahead on the floor, which has been found to help unfreeze the muscles. According to the Brunel release, it has passed proof of concept stage and is moving to patient trials. The further proof will be if this can scale. Brunel University News

ATA trend #2: is this the ‘second generation’ of remote patient monitoring?

May 8, 2015 | by

Guest columnist Dr Vikrum (Sunny) Malhotra attended ATA 2015 last week. This is the second of three articles on his observations on trends and companies to watch.

During the course of the ATA conference, I was inundated with the concept of “dumb” data whereby biosensors track patient clinical data and will alarm to clinical staff if outside designated parameters. However, the call center filter between the patient’s data and physician is often a primary cause of increased unnecessary admissions. The Sentrian Remote Patient Intelligence Platform (Sentrian RPI) received recognition for its advancement in utilization of sensors, enabling healthcare providers to utilize this “dumb” data and make it “smart”. For clinicians like myself, this was a new way of looking at an age old problem: “How do we safely and comprehensively support physician decision making at a standard high enough to detect pathologies earlier and more accurately?”

Sentrian has used machine learning to support the work of a dedicated clinical team by monitoring patient data 24/7 to detect subtle signs that warn a family member or care provider of future problems through biometric patterns of thousands of patients, comparing their medical histories, vitals and health information. This novel approach to remote monitoring won Sentrian the ATA President’s Innovation Award. (more…)

ATA trend #1: Is a sustainable RPM infrastructure fact or fiction?

May 8, 2015 | by

Guest columnist Dr Vikrum (Sunny) Malhotra attended ATA 2015 last week. This is the first of three articles on his observations on trends and companies to watch.

The advancement of remote patient monitoring is a visible trend from the American Telemedicine Association’s 2015 meeting, with care moving from the doctor’s office and being shifted to the patient’s home. A more diverse range of data is being collected for patients to facilitate more informed decision making at the patient visit and after the patient is away from the practice. As information is being collected and monitored on a more comprehensive basis, we have seen creative modalities to view a broad array of data points that would typically have been collected in a doctor’s office with the hopes of early diagnosis and preventive care, versus reactive care.

Patient autonomy has now come to the forefront and network infrastructure is being built to support that shift. Wearables, implantables and home based lab/ urine diagnostic kits are becoming smaller, cheaper, less invasive, wireless and cloud-based so that patients can be monitored without interfering in day to day living. (more…)

BSI publishes medical apps code of practice – PAS 277

May 7, 2015 | by

After some six months of consultation and hard work, the BSI has produced PAS 277, which can be downloaded free, here. The purpose of the code, which is not mandatory, is to provide guidance to app developers on the key issues to be aware of when developing and delivering medical apps. This editor, as Managing Director of DHACA, was a member of the team developing the code.

PAS stands for Publicly Available Standard – to quote Wikipedia, the objective of a Publicly Available Specification is to speed up standardization. PASs are often produced in response to an urgent market need.

Again representing DHACA, this editor is now also a member of the drafting committee of the EU’s voluntary code focusing (more…)

ATA 2015: Day 1 news

May 5, 2015 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ATA-15-show-floor.jpg” thumb_width=”250″ /] HealthSpot/Xerox, Sentrian/Scripps, American Well, Honeywell, vitaphone, more

HealthSpot unveiled the first results of its partnership with (and investment by) Xerox, leveraging their HIT cloud infrastructure and back-end for the HealthSpot Station. The telehealth/virtual consult walk-in kiosk has targeted over 30,000 retail pharmacies with a newly developed consumer retail pharmacy personal health record (PHR). Upgraded patient and portal interfaces process insurance claims through a payment data feed and integrates with EMRs. Release….The US/UK predictive data/remote patient intelligence company Sentrian, winner of this year’s ATA Innovation in Remote Care award, is a part of a year-long 1,000-patient COPD remote patient monitoring study by the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) with members of Anthem’s CareMore health plan. The goal is to use the Sentrian platform data to accurately detect COPD patient decompensation in advance to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions, which on average in the US is 1 out of 11 within 30 days of discharge. Release….American Well launched a platform for individual physicians to connect with current patients (more…)

Teen inventor develops video communicator, med dispenser debuting at ATA 2015

May 5, 2015 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/dispenser.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Teen inventors come up with interesting designs and apps at science fairs and codeathons, but it’s unusual when a 15 year old brings to market an assistive technology product targeted to remote caregiving and socialization of much older people. This is the case with iC Loved Ones, a smartphone/tablet + independently controlled med dispenser for remote caring. A desktop PC, smartphone or tablet loaded with the iC Loved Ones app remotely controls the dispenser, delivering medications in pre-loaded dishes. A separate smartphone or tablet, which can be positioned anywhere in the home on the provided stand, is used for video chat and virtual visits. The auto-answer setup (more…)

Ford disconnects research on heart attack-sensing car seat

May 4, 2015 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gimlet-eye.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]The Gimlet Eye returns and hopes that Ford has a better idea, because this wasn’t it. The automaker announced over the weekend that it is abandoning research on car seats that would detect cardiac anomalies such as a heart attack and then (presumably safely) bring the car to a halt (and also presumably, call for medical assistance). A corporate statement to the FT stated that Ford was ‘transitioning’ to other projects, based on advances in consumer wearables. No indication of spend out of a $5.5 billion budget. Undoubtedly, the potential for sensor problems in seats and the danger of shutting down a car while driving were insurmountable. No tears though…. (more…)

10th Anniversary Article 1: The Next Ten Years of Telecare

April 29, 2015 | by | 1 Comment

This year, on the 10th Anniversary of Telehealth and Telecare Aware, we have invited industry leaders nominated by our readers to reflect on the past ten years and, if they wish, to speculate about the next ten. Here is the first article, with a UK focus, by Dr Kevin Doughty.

Many of us are frustrated at how little progress there has been in the deployment and acceptability of telecare during the past decade. Yet, despite warnings that an ageing population was about to bankrupt the NHS (and health insurance schemes elsewhere in the world), and that access to social care for older people was being withdrawn at such a rate that it could only be afforded by the wealthiest in society, our health and social care systems have just about survived.

But this can’t go on, and in England over the past 12 months: (more…)

Should patients manage their own care records? RSM 4th June

April 29, 2015 | by

Like the banking industry 10-15 years ago, Healthcare providers are coming to realise that if they start to provide intuitive software that can be used on consumer devices, then people (patients) will start to do more of the work (for free) that the Healthcare Industry currently has to pay for. These unpaid workers will be motivated by a desire for greater transparency of their own health and care information, and the ability to manage that information in the most efficient and effective ways possible; with the ultimate aim of improving their care quality and overall wellness.

This means that they will need something other than an EHR to do this, something that is constructed with the service user in mind, not the clinician. Something that makes it easy for them to see the interactions that they have had, the resultant actions, and the future planned interactions that are to come. Something that when they enter the highly fragmented world of UK care provision, allows them to have immediate access to the core elements of information that any other care provider would need. (more…)

Important: DHACA’s response to the RCP advice on medical apps

April 29, 2015 | by

The Royal College of Physicians has just published app guidance that, according to EHI “doctors should only use medical apps with an official CE mark”. EHI goes on to clarify that the guidance “applies to medical apps that can be classed as medical devices, which are bound by EU law to carry the mark.”

The Digital Health & Care Alliance (DHACA), of which this reviewer is Managing Director, is extremely concerned that this advice may seriously impact on the beneficial use of medical apps in the UK as it places the onus of deciding whether an app is a medical device on individual clinicians, a decision that at times even experienced MHRA personnel can equivocate on.

As the original research done by this editor on the topic of medical app take-up demonstrated, clinicians (more…)

Cumbria Technology Enabled Care Event Thursday 18 June

April 29, 2015 | by

This event will showcase the latest developments in technology enabled health & social care products & services. There will be discussions about how professionals can use technology in the redesign of Health and Social Care in Cumbria. This will build on the telecare work already undertaken by Cumbria County Council as well as the telehealth pilots that have taken place around the county and further afield.

It will be held at the Rheged Centre Redhills, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0DQ, between 13:30 – 16:00 on Thursday 18th June.

Topics to be discussed include:

  • New tools available from the NHS Commissioning Assembly – the Technology Enabled Care Services Resource;
  • How to use technology to enhance health and social care priorities such as prevention and well-being, remote consultations, managing long term conditions, independent living at home, winter pressures, mental health and dementia care.

(more…)

Nursing homes vs. hospitals for primary senior care

April 29, 2015 | by

Another way to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations? A recent New York Times article has kicked off a debate on whether many procedures for older adults can be better delivered in a nursing home or skilled nursing facility (SNF) setting rather than in-patient hospitals. Already serving many seniors for rehabilitation and residential care for multiple chronic conditions and old age-related debilities, the dreaded transfer to hospital may be lessened by a combination of outpatient procedure and installation of 24-hour nursing at these homes. Unbelievably (to this Editor) many of the 16,000 nursing homes in the country do not have round-the-clock nursing staff; only five states require 24/7 registered nurse coverage on site and there is no Federal requirement. An advantage is that minimizing hospital stay also minimizes hospital-acquired infections, patient distress (more…)

Care Innovations, UMMC Telehealth Center to expand care outside the home

April 29, 2015 | by

Intel-GE Care Innovations, which markets both telehealth and telecare (QuietCare, one of the pioneers in behavioral telemonitoring) products, announced today a broadened relationship with the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Center for Telehealth. CI will help them to establish the Innovation Living Lab which will create and evaluate new models of care via remote technology and techniques for behavioral change. The Lab will open at UMiss’ Venyu Technology Center sometime in 2016. UMMC and CI’s goal is to extend care models so that the home is a key location for care delivery. In the past year, both had partnered on the Diabetes Telehealth Network. CI since their change of management has made several interesting moves in the past year, including grouping telehealth systems under Health Harmony and creating a Validation Institute. Business Wire.

Scanadu raises $35 million in Series B, develops for China market

April 29, 2015 | by

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Scanadu-Scout.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Eric Topol’s Doctorless Patient takes one step closer to reality. The Scanadu ‘tricorder’ vital signs diagnostic ‘hockey puck’ received a major vote of confidence on Monday where it counts–funding. Their Series B of $35 million came from nine investors, led by Tencent Holdings, Fosun International and including Three Leaf Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Redmile Group, Relay Ventures, I Globe Partners, Fenox Venture Capital and CBC Capital. Three Leaf, AME and Relay also invested in their Series A. Tencent, Fosun and CBC are Chinese; I Globe is from Singapore. Why the Asian interest? It turns out that China is extremely interested and forward thinking in mobile healthcare–it has a lot of rural area to cover, all health-underserved, as is the rest of Asia. The introduction of the company was made by Jerry Wang, a Yahoo founder and former CEO.

Scanadu is also nearing market: Fortune reports that a $199 consumer version of the Scanadu Scout will be released in 2016, pending FDA approval, and in development is a urinalysis test, Scanadu Urine, an app that would analyze the color of a testing stick. (more…)