A survey of 2069 adults in the UK by YouGov, commissioned by charity Carers UK and supported by Tunstall Healthcare (UK), makes a strong case for the better promotion of telehealth & telecare, as we argued for in our recent post on the future of 3millionlives.
The Carers UK report, Potential for Change: Transforming public awareness and demand for health and care technology, draws an intriguing contrast between (more…)
This Vitaphone item does a most creditable job of getting behind the common misperception, covered in previous posts, that people don’t take medicines because they forget.
For me it doesn’t however address the issue of beliefs quite strongly enough though. To give an extreme example, when I worked in Newham there were people who believed that illnesses were supernaturally visited on them because of things their forefathers had done. To expiate those things, they had to suffer stoically. The end result was that, even when diagnosed, medication prescribed and lifestyle advice given, some patients allowed eminently treatable conditions such as diabetes to deteriorate rapidly, unless those beliefs were addressed effectively.
Neil Versel’s first major national magazine story just appeared in US News & World Report on the always engaging topic of…patient engagement. He explains to a general audience how healthcare reform might not change individuals’ behavior right away, but surely it is changing providers’ behaviors in relating to and engaging their patients. It covers EHRs, PHRs, online communications, aging in place, social networking and even doctors speaking with patients in understandable language. Well, Neil certainly does get it….it’s a clear article which we hope will be one of many written by Neil for a general audience. He is also speaking Tuesday at ATA’s Fall Forum in Toronto. Helping Patients Stay Engaged in their Own Care
Engaging patients (sideways?) is a new partnership announced by Bosch Healthcare and New York-based Remedy Health Media to add web-based solutions to its current health management programs delivered through their Health Buddy and T400 devices. The release and coverage (Mass Device, mHealth News) implies that monitoring will part of the patient engagement with “a suite of innovative web-based products for remote patient monitoring” available later this year. Does it mean that the hubs are on their way to the scrapheap? Hat tip to reader Bob Pyke.
9-10 October 2013, Hyatt Dulles Hotel, Herndon VA
The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have organized a conference on improving the safety and effectiveness of medical technologies used in homes and other nonclinical settings, such as telehealth and mHealth. There are risks and challenges to consider as technology is placed in nonclinical environments, in the hands of individuals who are not medical professionals. There is an impressive roster of supporting international organizations, including the British Standards Institution (BSI), the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA), the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) of LeadingAge, The Joint Commission and Continua Health Alliance. Information, agenda, registration. Hat tip to reader Rob Turpin of BSI Standards Limited.
This event will take place on 8 October 2013, 11:15 – 13:00 h at Thon Hotel EU, Rue de la Loi, 75, 1040 Brussels as part of the OPEN DAYS – 11th European Week of Regions and Cities event which runs from 7-10 October 2013 (Open Days Workshop Code 08C10).
It is co-organised by EHTEL and hosted by the Renewing Health Regional Partnership. The workshop will showcase outcomes and lessons learned from care provided to 7000 patients who are part of the Renewing Health pilots and is “intended to start a fruitful debate with all European stakeholders on the routine use of telemedicine services”.
Register for free here (capacity is limited so best to book early).
Can there be two greater contrasts than the recent decisions by the Dept of Veteran Affairs in the US (VA) to award a five year $28.8m telehealth contract to AMC Health and that of the E Riding of Yorkshire CCG to “axe” its telehealth service?
The sheer size of the VA deal makes every recent deal in Europe seem very small in comparison. AMC’s CEO said: “AMC Health’s outcomes-based approach to telehealth and ability to actively engage patients to proactively self-manage their chronic conditions perfectly aligns (more…)
Last week’s $765 million settlement by the National Football League (NFL) concluded a lawsuit in the works for over a year [TTA 7 Sept 12] that was brought by more than 4,500 players and their families. The more legally minded will argue that the NFL ‘got away with it’ before the season started; they admitted to no causal role between the game and traumatic brain injury (TBI) or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which can only be confirmed post-mortem. The financial settlement sets small caps relative to the nature of the illness and the cost of care. What’s Unsettled About The NFL Concussions Settlement (Forbes) Also N.F.L. Agrees to Settle Concussion Suit for $765 Million (New York Times)
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/nfl-surface.jpeg” thumb_width=”175″ /]If not an admission, player injury response may have been a factor in pushing the NFL into the 21st century. Concussion and injury assessment is a component of ‘Surface on the Sidelines’, part of a $400 million deal announced in May for official NFL adoption of the Microsoft Surface Pro (BusinessWeek). Teams have used iPads in many areas away from the sidelines due to outmoded league regulations, but the New York Giants’ medical/trainer staff used iPads last season to assess player injuries and concussions [TTA 23 Oct 2012]. Surface Pros are now loaded with the X2 app and database which stores player testing and medical history. Team doctors and trainers can now take down information on the field, make assessments and also to administer player self-testing. This allows faster determination of injury and if needed, to pull the player, although it cannot do what Gizmag‘s headline claims it will: Could Microsoft Surface help the NFL to prevent brain injuries? (photo, SurfaceForums.net) (more…)How are you really doing? is the question that the developer of One Aura, developed by Ryan Archdeacon, is trying to answer by designing an app that reports metabolism (body fat and carbs) and circulation (heart strength, endurance, life expectancy). According to Mashable, he is using “analytical computation, algorithms and data visualization to derive higher-level meaning of the data.” The outputs are certainly interesting, but the interpretation methodology seems to have missed both the article and website. How metabolism and circulation are arrived at from data inputs from simple heart monitors such as the Zephyr HxM, Polar H7 and others (not Fitbit or Jawbone)–one wonders. Less than what it seems?
Not unexpected, but sooner than one would think given the relative newness of fitness trackers. A Mayo Clinic study published in the September issue of the Journal of Thoracic Surgery (abstract) monitored a group of elderly patients who had elective major surgery, were older than 50 (that’s elderly?) and were expected to be in the hospital from 5 – 7 days. The Fitbit was worn on a disposable ankle strap given their limited mobility. Data went first to the Fitbit website then over to a dashboard for clinical use. Patients were also tracked when they went home, home with home health assistance or to skilled nursing/rehab. Day 2 seemed to be a critical breaking point (more…)
Dallas, Texas-based telemedicine provider Teladoc yesterday announced their acquisition of Miami Beach, Florida-based Consult A Doctor. Price was not disclosed nor the future of management and staff at Consult A Doctor. The release portrays the acquisition of small Consult A Doctor (below $1 million in sales, D&B) as reinforcing Teladoc’s 6 million member customer base and an estimated 125,000 annual consults with individuals and employees of small- to medium-size businesses. Teladoc is VC backed: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (2011) with $18.6 million; $9 million (2009) by HLM Venture Partners, Cardinal Health and Trident Capital. It offers internal medicine, (more…)
In the 70 apps it will initially have is where it intersects with health. (more…)
Times are tough for those who believe that technology can help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery to improve patient outcomes. As pointed out by Richard Vize in the Guardian recently, telehealth has become the weapon of choice in the battle between GPs and the NHS, with publications such as Pulse and, most recently the HSJ, continuing to remind readers of the historic, and wholly-unrepresentative-of-telehealth cost effectiveness comparisons for the Whole System Demonstrator (WSD).
At the same time, the national Telehealth Forum’s survey of potential users indicated (more…)
Two articles in the Washington Post and Business News Daily cite fresh interest in ‘angel’ investing in the US in the healthcare, mobile and internet sectors. Conducted by pre-money valuation tool Worthworm (yet to debut), a survey of 100 angel investors indicate that next year, 50 percent of angel investors plan to increase the number of their investments and 24 percent plan to increase the dollar amount of investment in 2014.’ 40 percent of respondents expect increased healthcare investing and over 30 percent favor mobile and Internet companies. (more…)
Northern Ireland’s first ‘Connected Health Innovation Centre’ (CHIC) has been launched this week. It is supported by a £5 million R&D grant from Invest NI and you can read more about it on TANN Ireland.
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