Wearables solving real ‘jobs to be done’

March 6, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/orcam-device-web11.jpg” thumb_width=”200″ /]This Editor strongly believes that the heart of a great product is that it addresses, in Clayton Christensen’s terms, a ‘job to be done’–or as pre-social media marketing writing put it, ‘not a ‘nice to have’–a must-have’. Venture Beat, usually a facilitator of the D3H (Digital Health Hypester Horde), has an unusually sober and personal article from writer Christina Farr highlighting five wearable devices and how they could be ‘must-haves’, improving quality of life for significant groups of everyday people.

  1.  The OrCam computer-assisted vision device (above) for those with low vision, which interprets nearby visual inputs, including letters, faces, objects, products, places, bus numbers, and traffic lights–and describes them to the wearer through a bone-conduction device heard by the user only. From Israel and available only in the US at present, the initial pricing is around $2,500.
  2. Physician, surgical and law enforcement decision support may be the best use of Google Glass–not exactly the ‘hipster on the L train’ picture promoted by Google.
  3. Emotiv’s mind-controlled wheelchair, which is controlled by a headset (EPOC) capable of picking up electrical signals.
  4. For autistic children and adults, Neumitra and Affectiva are both bands that measure and alert for physiological stress that may lead to inappropriate wandering or acting-out.
  5. Red-green color blindness affects 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. It can be dangerous–think of traffic lights and wiring–and EnChroma’s correcting set of glasses is a simple, useful solution. Reportedly there is a 30 percent improvement in color identification and a 70 percent improvement in color discrimination. The pricing is fairly standard at $375-460.

NY-based accelerator, pilot programs up

March 6, 2014 | by

Pilot Health Tech NYC 2014 is again providing $1 million in funding from a variety of partners for 10 or more pilot projects centered in New York City. Its purpose is to match early-stage health technology companies with healthcare organizations such as hospitals, employers, payers and pharma companies. Supported by NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Health 2.0, the application deadline is past but for those which have applied, the matchmaking sessions are on 11-12 March with a deadline for joint applications 23 May and Pilot Day 25 June.  Website.

Still open is the New York Digital Health Accelerator (NYDHA) program sponsored by the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) and the Partnership Fund for New York City. Applications are due 11 April which will fund up to 10 early and ‘growth-stage’ companies with $100,000 plus entry into a mentorship program with thirteen New York metro healthcare providers. Funding is being provided by several investors, Genentech, Merck, Pfizer and Infor. Website, release.

Telehealth awareness week in SW Victoria (Australia)

March 6, 2014 | by

Barwon South West is one of five regions in the most densely populated state in Australia, Victoria. [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/THAW2014.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Starting on Monday 17th March Barwon South West is holding a week of telehealth awareness activities to coincide with the Australian Telehealth Conference 2014 (ATC2014).

Organised by Barwon Health, the Telehealth Awareness Week 2014 (THAW2014)  will consist of thirteen face-to-face and online events spread across the week, but excluding the two days of the ATC2014 conference.

Rebecca Eastgate, Regional Telehealth Program Manager for Barwon Health tells me that their week of activities including the webinars, “are probably too specific to our region and our local audience to be useful to those beyond Australian shores”. However if you are reading this in Australia, then you may want to look up the THAW2014 events list on Eventbrite and register for any of the meetings or Webinars that are of interest.

Attitudes and behaviours of apps users

March 6, 2014 | by

Health apps are often in the news these days. Ofcom, the UK telecommunications regulator, commissioned Kantar Media to carry out qualitative research on attitudes and behaviours of apps users when using devices such as smart phones and tablets. The resulting report, Apps Environment, published today by Ofcom makes interesting reading.

Although the report was commissioned by the UK regulator, I think the findings are applicable to any country. What’s more, the generic nature of the conclusions make them relevant to health apps as much as to any others.

The report says that “among app users, several perceptions were found to be influencing behaviours, attitudes and the low level of concern in the app environment. These perceptions were:
• official app stores monitor and vet the apps they make available;
• well-known brands provide a safe, secure and reliable user experience, and;
• apps are safer than browsers due to their more limited and contained nature compared to browser-based internet use.”

Another finding was that many app users said they paid very little attention to permissions requested by apps – nothing new there then. How many times have you ticked that “I Agree” box to the terms and conditions without reading them?

Very few participants in the research are reported to have raised spontaneous concerns about apps. The researchers say that when prompted, in-app purchasing and advertising were of greatest concern to parents, and at most, a frustration or annoyance to others.

This shows that when it comes to more critical apps such as health apps or those that are designed to provide a safety net in a care environment a stronger regulation may be needed as well as a pro-active educational effort to emphasise the need to be aware of issues such as data privacy.

Crime-sensing hair clip points to ‘fashionable safety’

March 6, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/first_sign_clip-1.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]The First Sign hair clip is designed to sense impact/fall, send a panic alert, then transmit the information to a smartphone to a monitoring service–and more. The app activates an onboard microphone which transmits audio, then activates audio, video (through the smartphone camera) and GPS, sending information to the internet. The phone barks “help is on the way and evidence collected” to deter the attacker. All is live centrally monitored and if not a false alarm, the phone automatically calls out for emergency assistance and to emergency contacts. It’s being priced on Indiegogo for $75 inclusive of the first year of monitoring ($50 without) and has various decorative covers. In places like New York which have fairly low and non-violent levels of crime, First Sign definitely has an ‘assurance’ market, and the developers are wise to the uses it has for older adult safety, lone worker, driving and travel. Especially for older women, a decorative clip is far more attractive than a pendant (as long as you have a smartphone–a possible tie in with GreatCall/5 Star?) However, in places like India, which have high levels of violent male-on-female street crime [TTA 4 April 13, 2 Feb 13] — or East St. Louis, Missouri, Detroit or Flint Michigan or Camden New Jersey — the minor element of a barking phone and distance monitoring is not going to deter very much. First Sign is a bit more than halfway from its modest Indiegogo goal of $50,000, with only seven days left.  Gizmag

Mobile in healthcare: HIMSS Analytics infographic

March 4, 2014 | by

You can read the full 3rd Annual HIMSS Analytics Mobile Survey of 170 health IT and clinical staff or treat yourself to the highlights in this infographic. It summarizes key findings such as 59 percent have a mobile technology plan and 29 percent are developing a mobile technology plan; 62 percent indicated that they offer patients access to at least one of the mobile tools identified in the research, including patient portals, telehealth services and remote monitoring devices; only 22 percent indicated that three-quarters of the data captured by mobile devices was integrated into the organization’s EMR. Developed by HIT Consultant.

Nintendo’s next move: entertaining healthcare

March 4, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

Nintendo, which has sold 100 million Wii consoles but is facing a shrinking market and increased competition in video gaming both from established companies like Sony and mobile gaming providers, has announced its intention to shift the notion of ‘entertainment’ into ‘quality of life’ (QOL) and health. This will be set up as a separate new business area. CEO Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo wants to “create an environment in which more people are conscious about their health and in turn expand Nintendo’s overall user base.” Although this sounds terribly vague, this Editor recalled that the Wii console had a brief vogue a few years ago in senior communities for fitness and that Editor Emeritus Steve had written about its use in rehabilitation and telehealth as far back as April 2008! (Additional articles here) One wonders what corporate imperatives discouraged the initial exploration of Wii for health. Now the field is thick with competitors from fitness bands (Jawbone, Fitbit, Misfit) to smartphones to Samsung’s new iterations of the Gear watch. Venture Beat.

Could virtual reality in games like Wii be useful therapy in relieving the phantom limb pain (PLP) from amputation? A recent Swedish study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience (abstract) indicate that it might. Researchers Max Ortiz Catalan and his colleagues developed an augmented reality therapy where muscle signals from the amputated arm activated a virtual arm that performed virtual tasks, and relieved the pain in a subject who had painful PLP for 48 years. “The patient reported that his pain gradually reduced, and he experienced pain-free periods over the course of his virtual reality treatments. He said his hand changed from feeling painfully clenched to feeling open and relaxed.” According to the article in Scientific American, the Swedish team has developed an at-home version if approved, and the technology may be adapted for other rehab such as post-stroke or spinal cord injury.  Also FierceHealthIT.

Recent Developments in Digital Health – RSM conference summary

March 3, 2014 | by

Editor Charles summarises the one day conference at the Royal Society of Medicine on 27th February

This was the first  conference in 2014 organised by the Royal Society of Medicine’s Telemedicine & eHealth Section.  The day began with one of Dr Kevin Doughty’s excellent presentations on telecare. Kevin is Deputy Director of CUHTec. One key message was that the oldest people in society – those most in need of support to remain in the community – were best communicated with using televisions.  In response to this requirement he particularly picked out the Speakset set-top box as a low cost, easy-to-use add-on to make any television into a videoconferencing unit.

This was followed by an excellent summary by Julie Bretland, Director, OurMobileHealth, on the maturity of the use of mobile apps, in particular the need for good curation. (This subject will be explored in much greater detail in the RSM’s 10th April apps event, where there are still just a few places left.)

Next came (more…)

How to use demographic change to improve care

March 1, 2014 | by

Demographic change has long been a concern of healthcare strategists, and of Telehealth & Telecare Aware. However many have recognised that once a user is connected to a monitoring system, that same technology can be used to connect people to enable them to care for each other. Thus an elderly person recently diagnosed with diabetes might learn much from someone who has managed with the condition for many years, so avoiding  them needing to take up valuable time with their GP or specialist.

However there can be problems with making this a reality, particularly in this time of privacy concerns and potential litigation. Now a new app-driven service has been introduced called Helparound.  Initially focused on diabetic emergency, and now allergic reactions, the service can readily identify those geographically closest who might be willing to help. Currently majoring on the US this is one of what hopefully in the future will be many P2P (patient to patient) apps.

If the challenges can be overcome, P2P will undoubtedly be a major response to the challenge of fewer care professionals and more people requiring care.

How much longer will ‘mobile’ be different from ‘living’?

March 1, 2014 | by

The news that the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week broke all attendance records is hardly surprising, given the way mobile communications are inserting their way into almost every aspect of life. It does though make one wonder how much longer the MWC can retain it’s broad focus as communications mobility becomes indistinguishable from normal living (and additional accommodation in Catalonia becomes harder to find). Indeed, as mHealth News pointed out last week, mobile comms keeps people living, worldwide

Not all age groups have been able to gain the same level of benefit from mobile comms though, most notably older people. It is therefore great to see (more…)

VA, DoD aren’t collaborating on EHR: GAO

February 28, 2014 | by

Your ‘Dog Bites Man’ item for the weekend (no, it’s not in reverse!) is that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has determined that Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) have not yet proved that their current two-system path, having rejected a single EHR, actually will be workable. In February 2013, both agencies abandoned a joint system after $1 billion in spend, and $4 billion in fixes/upgrades to their separate VistA and AHLTA systems. [TTA 15 Dec] By the two agencies going their separate ways, the GAO is mystified on what is going on with interoperability. The answer: not much. And as mentioned in our 15 December article, there was a 31 January deadline for an interoperability plan (or single system) to be implemented by 2016, mandated by the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Obviously, this deadline has come and gone. FierceEMR article, GAO recommendation (full text PDF)

One way to overcome the interoperability problem and too much in the EHR? Get rid of those pesky backlogged patient records! The Daily Caller uncovered a VA whistleblower’s complaint to the VA’s Inspector General and their office of special counsel, plus Congress, that VA officials in Los Angeles intentionally canceled backlogged patient exam requests going back more than one year–and that the delay on exams went back 6-9 months. The deletions started in 2009. There is a wrongful dismissal (of said whistleblower) suit and other joy. Article, audio (02:21) Updates 3-4 March:  according to Under Secretary for Health Robert Petzel, the Daily Caller report was ‘scurrilous’. He stated that about 300 records were closed but not deleted after administrative review, generally for old imaging requests, and there was no effort to delete records to boost performance.  According to FierceHealthIT, the backlog is about 400,000. Also Military Times. According to EHR Intelligence, both DoD and the VA agree with the GAO recommendations; GAO will update its findings once the agencies have taken action. Also iHealthBeat.

Inquiry into telehealth services in Queensland

February 28, 2014 | by

“A statewide healthcare system with new capacity, co-operation, transparent reporting systems, [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Queenslqnd-goverment-logo.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]financial accountability and with patients the focus of attention—this is a vision all Queenslanders want to see.” So opened the message from Campbell Newman, Premier of Queensland, Australia, in Blueprint for better healthcare in Queensland in February last year. Turning to telehealth Mr Newman said “In remote communities, this government will work to provide 24-hour access to safe and sustainable care through a revised network of Telehealth facilities for the very first time. This is a 21st century solution to a problem long-regarded as impossible. Our plan will provide reliable health services in places where they were never previously available.”

A year on, the Health and Community Services Committee of the Queensland Parliament has opened an inquiry into telehealth services in the public sector health services in Queensland. The inquiry will consider the implementation of telehealth by the Department of Health and Hospital and Health Services, including the Rural Telehealth Service that was announced in the Blueprint for better healthcare in Queensland.

The committee will examine trials, pilots and other sites, consider the value for money of the delivery of telehealth services, examine the factors that support successful implementation of telehealth services, identify any barriers to successful implementation and consider strategies to address such barriers. The committee intends to visit some rural and regional telehealth sites and hold public hearings in Brisbane and other locations.

The committee will receive an initial public briefing from the Department of Health on Wednesday 5 March at 11.00am in Brisbane. The briefing program is available here. This public briefing will be broadcast live via the link http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-committees/broadcast-committee/live, and a transcript of the briefing will be published here when available.

Changes afoot at Aetna’s Healthagen?

February 28, 2014 | by

Recent rumors predicted changes at Healthagen, the rebranded ‘Emerging Businesses’ unit of health payer giant Aetna, and that these would be apparent at HIMSS14. Mobihealthnews attempts to ‘Sovietologize’ Aetna chairman Mark Bertolini’s appearance (sponsored by Healthagen, not Aetna) and what products were included in the Healthagen (not Aetna) show floor display. First, the booth: only Accountable Care Solutions and health info exchange Medicity were featured.  Former star iTriage (the original Healthagen product) was relegated to a distant booth. The much-touted CarePass consumer wellness platform? Absent. InvolveCare, the Healthagen caregiver app introduced last fall? Announced to be discontinued 28 April. In the true tradition of Sovietology, omissions are as apparent as inclusions. Second, the keynote: oddly, there are no content points cited from Mr. Bertolini’s speech in Mobihealthnews. We turn then to the Dan Munro in Forbes article, where Mr. Bertolini calls for the ‘creative destruction of healthcare’, a stock rallying point since 2009 (Yes, it doesn’t work. No, it’s not sustainable. It’s an iron triangle. Etc.) The bottom line was his announcing that Aetna’s business going forward would be ACOs and “driving a consumer healthcare experience.” Hopefully that will mean access and quality for the rest of us. Will Healthagen CEO Charles Saunders be part of leading the charge? Not a mention. One could say that the Magic 8 Ball says ‘cloudy’ for the present situation at Healthagen. Perhaps more changes will be revealed in coming weeks. 

Verizon adds Telcare, Genesis to monitoring platform

February 28, 2014 | by

Verizon received a second FDA clearance for its health management software platform, and added blood glucose management monitors Telcare and Genesis Health as part of it. The first clearance, according to Mobihealthnews, covered five telehealth devices from Ideal Life. Verizon’s intentions are to ‘white label’ market the system to providers who plan to use personally gathered telehealth as part of a patient management program in integrated delivery networks (IDNs), where it is currently in trial–plus health plans and self-insured employers. Verizon’s platform also has ‘gamified’ educational and motivational functions, including its own virtual currency for rewards. If this is proven in the US, will this be marketable in the UK and EU–and will Verizon go it alone or seek partners? Hat tip again on the story to reader Mike Short via Editor Charles.  

It’s iAwards time again!

February 28, 2014 | by

As the US East Coast faces low temps (down to 12 degrees again tonight) and another dumping of snow Monday, a small sign of spring, like flash-frozen daffodils and crocuses (crocii?), is the annual application call for the Triple Tree iAwards for Connected Health to be presented at the Wireless-Life Sciences Association (WLSA) 9th Annual Convergence Summit 14-16 May at the Omni in San Diego, California. Twelve finalists will be selected from applicants based on

criteria including the uniqueness of their solution; marketplace traction; clinical, operational or consumer relevance; size of addressable market and international presence across three categories:

    • Operational Effectiveness: Solutions that address the financial, compliance or operational needs of a healthcare organization.
    • Clinical Effectiveness: Solutions that address the care delivery and clinical effectiveness for a patient.
    • Consumer Engagement: Solutions that empower consumers to make better healthcare decisions.

Finalists attend not only a dinner, but also for the first time this year a private business review session. Online applications can be accessed at the TripleTree and Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance websites along with a $195 fee. Registration for the conference is here. Hat tip to Editor Charles and reader Mike Short.

‘Grizzled pioneer’ VRI receives major investment from Pamlico Capital (US)

February 28, 2014 | by

US telehealth monitoring and medical alert provider VRI (Valued Relationships, Inc.) of Franklin, Ohio earlier this month received a majority investment/recapitalization from Pamlico Capital, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based private equity firm. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Current lead executives CEO Chris Hendriksen and President Andy Schoonover will remain in active management and retain significant ownership in VRI, which they founded in 1989. Regarding the investment, Mr. Schoonover to this Editor stated that the funds will be used for expansion purposes. “It is another vote of confidence (alongside the Cardiocom acquisition) that telehealth is getting great results and is here to stay. The capital will support VRI’s growth objectives, particularly in executing a couple of large projects with health plans that VRI has booked for 2014, and the hiring of additional sales talent.” 

Despite being in a rather ‘non-buzzy’ area of telehealth, the investment attracted the interest of some major players. VRI was assisted in evaluating its options by well-known digital health financial advisor Triple Tree; legal counsels were McDermott Will & Emery for VRI and Alston & Bird LLP for Pamlico. Pamlico specializes in the ‘middle market’ and has previously invested selectively in mid-sized healthcare providers such as Greenway (EHR), Healthcare First (home health software) and Physicians Endoscopy (surgical centers). Overall, and interestingly, this appears to be a positive, long-term vote for telehealth and medication monitoring, as well as for the viability of traditional medical alerts and some of the patient engagement/hospital readmission reduction models VRI has been developing with major payers such as Humana. Pamlico Capital release, Triple Tree release.