Ultrasound to break up brain amyloid plaques moving to human trials in 2019

December 20, 2018 | by

Somewhat outside of telecare, but inside our concern with the health of older people, is the exciting news of a novel ultrasound treatment to break up the amyloid plaques in the brain that may be the cause of many dementias and Alzheimer’s Disease. Initially developed at the University of Queensland in 2015, the original objective was to open the blood-brain barrier to facilitate antibody treatment for dementia. Researchers found that in tests on mice, the ultrasound ablation cleared the plaques without any further drugs. Later tests found that the treatment clears both “toxic proteins and restores memory function safely in several different rodent models, including an older mouse model designed to resemble human brains of 80 to 90 years old.” 

Australian government funding is key in helping accelerate development. The first stage in human trials is a phase 1 safety trial, kicking off later in 2019. 

While at least a decade in the future if all goes well in clinical trials, one of the researchers, Jürgen Götz, is thinking larger, towards future personal ultrasound devices which could be used for personal treatment or prevention. New Atlas

An earlier study referenced in MedPageToday summarized results and concerns with a Canadian study. 

News roundup: CVS-Aetna still on hold, blockchainers Change acquires PokitDoc, Teladoc’s COO resigns under insider cloud, Clapp joins Cricket

December 20, 2018 | by

Federal Judge Richard Leon of the Washington, DC District Court is taking a consideration break on the integration of CVS and Aetna, after holding it up on 3 December. The Department of Justice (DOJ) originally recommended that the merger was legal under anti-trust law after Aetna divested its prescription drug plan to WellCare and both companies’ settlements with several states. Judge Leon, reviewing under the Tunney Act requirement that the merger meet the public interest, is waiting for the DOJ to respond to further steps that CVS has taken to keep the companies separate. According to Seeking Alpha, CVS will take “constructive measures on pricing and sensitive information” and that an outside monitor would be brought in to monitor the companies commitments. Hartford Courant

Health IT software company Change Healthcare acquired assets of San Mateo-based PokitDoc, a healthcare API and blockchain developer. PokitDoc has developed blockchain transaction networks for EHR and identity verification, automatic adjudication and smart contracts. Its APIs are used by Doctor on Demand, Zipnosis, PillPack, and available on Salesforce Health Cloud. Change’s own blockchain platform was developed in 2017. McKesson owns 70 percent of Change. PokitDoc had funding up to $55 million prior to purchase, the value of which was not disclosed. Mobihealthnews, Health Data Management

Teladoc cut loose its COO/CFO after insider trading and sexual misconduct allegations. Mark Hirschhorn resigned on 17 December from the telemedicine company after being instrumental in the company’s recent revenue and visit growth (albeit with a downward spiral on the share value). Mr. Hirschhorn was alleged to have not only have had a sexual relationship with a (much younger) subordinate while married, but also engaged in mutual insider trading…of Teladoc stock. The steamy details of the affair(s) and an equally seamy tale of a whistleblower’s fate are in the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation’s ‘The Investigator’. For those more concerned about Teladoc’s financial future, a bullish analysis of their stock value and trends is over at Seeking Alpha. Adding to the fire: a class action lawsuit was also filed against Teladoc on behalf of the company’s shareholders, accusing the company of misleading or false statements. Also Mobihealthnews.

And it’s cheering to announce that a respected long-time telehealth executive has found a new perch. Geoff Clapp has joined Cricket Health, a provider of integrated technology around kidney health, as Chief Product Officer. Geoff is an authentic Grizzled Pioneer, having joined early telehealth RPM company HealthHero back in 1998, then their acquirer Bosch Healthcare. He was also founder of Better, which partnered with the Mayo Clinic on providing virtual care coordinators at popular prices for both consumers and health systems. Since then he has consulted for companies as diverse as Telcare (diabetes), Oration (sold to just-acquired PokitDoc), and in venture capital. Congratulations–and happy new year in the new job! Release

Kompaï robotics gets FABULOS in EU Horizon 2020 automated minibus competition

December 20, 2018 | by

France’s Kompaï robotics, which Editor Steve first profiled in May 2011 (!), is still developing assistive robots for older adults, the disabled, and their caregivers. In another instance of technology integration and crossover into an area other than healthcare, they are a finalist in one of 5 consortia of 16 companies competing in the European FABULOS challenge to develop an automated minibus. Kompaï is partnering with Actia Automobile as the Kompai-Actia Consortium. Phase 1 of FABULOS starts 1 January with a feasibility study with conclusions for the start of prototype development. In autumn, the consortia will move to lab testing prototypes with real-world testing of the final three starting March 2020 in Estonia, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal. The R&D is being financed by the European Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme with a total fund of over €5,5 million. FABULOS release.

VA expands telehealth services again with T-Mobile’s 70,000 lines

December 13, 2018 | by

The US Department of Veterans Affairs and T-Mobile announced on Monday that T-Mobile would be adding 70,000 lines of wireless service to increase telehealth services in the VA network and expand services to veterans, especially those in rural areas. The expanding network will connect veterans at home and at VA facilities, such as community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), with VA clinicians within the VA network.

This adds to VA’s push this year to extend telehealth to distant veterans in rural areas through initiatives such as with T-Mobile and the Spok Health – Standard Communications partnership to expand the Spok Care Connect messaging service to more VA healthcare systems. The VHA (Veterans Health Administration) has long been the largest user of telehealth services in the US. Until recently, their emphasis has been on store-and-forward and clinic-based patient consults, but finally Home Telehealth (HT) is being supported. Reportedly, only 1 percent veterans used Home Telehealth, while 12 percent used other forms of telehealth [TTA 24 May]. Yet the VA was among the earliest users of remote patient monitoring/home telehealth, dating back to 2003 and even earlier, with companies such as Viterion and Cardiocom.

While most of the news about VA has been about their leadership changes and their difficulties around EHRs, their ‘Anywhere to Anywhere’ program was finalized in May. This allows VA practitioners to provide virtual care across state lines to veterans, regardless of local telehealth regulations.

T-Mobile is already the lead wireless provider to the VA. The 70K line addition is part of the carrier’s $993.5 million five year contract with the US Navy.  Business Wire, Mobihealthnews

Why they matter: the $225 million acquisition of Propeller Health; Hill-Rom’s integration of EarlySense’s bed monitor

December 12, 2018 | by

It’s all about the integration of newer technology and partnerships into established, older tech–or furniture. In late 2014, a seven-year-old early-stage company from Wisconsin had a booth at the NYeC Digital Health Conference. Their digital, connected monitors attached to prescription inhalers and tracking app interested this Editor enough for her to discuss it with a telehealth company she consulted for at the time as a natural fit for their digital remote monitoring of COPD and asthmatic patients. The startup had a few major clients, mainly drug companies, and would have been boosted by Viterion’s VA business. (Editor note: it didn’t go anywhere)

Flash forward to November 2018, and after $70 million in funding and marketing in 16 countries, integration with nearly 90 percent of commercial inhalers, Propeller Health is being acquired by the much larger ResMed for $225 million, closing in March 2019. This is surprising as Propeller never exceeded $10 million in revenue (Research2Guidance).

Why it matters: Propeller brings to ResMed’s older respiratory technology not only new yet proven technology, but also established partnerships with pharma, healthcare, and payer organizations. They inhabit a huge and growing worldwide market. According to WHO, asthma affects 334 million people worldwide; COPD 250 million people. Digital solutions could be targeting as many as 270 million patients by 2023. Propeller also brings eight US FDA 510(k) clearances and CE markings. All of this makes this small digital medical company worth a serious multiple of revenue with the prestige of being a standalone unit within ResMed led by the co-founder. Read more about it from Research 2 Guidance’s “ten major reasons” why Propeller was worth it, Mobihealthnews, and MedCityNews.

An even smaller monitoring company, Early Sense, has made a significant lift (sic) in a partnership with leading hospital bed manufacturer Hill-Rom. Early Sense has been featured at many CES Unveileds (New York) as one of many Israeli companies with a growing US presence. While starting in the hospital area years ago with bed and chair sensors, within the past two years this Editor noted their move into consumer with an under-mattress sleep sensor unit that could track (via an app) your sleep, stress, heart rate, breathing–and fertility. Their clinical version tracks heart and respiratory rates, alerted for patient falls out of bed, and patient movement (or lack thereof) as an indicator of risk for pressure ulcers. Hill-Rom, which claims to be the world leader in hospital beds, is adding the Early Sense technology to its Centrella model to create a smart hospital bed–one that will monitor heart and respiratory rates over 100 times a minute. A 2015 study quoted in the release stated that mortality related to “code blue” events was reduced by 83 percent, cardiac arrests by 86 percent, and reported overall hospital length-of-stay was reduced by 9 percent ICU days by 45 percent.

Why it matters: Even hospital equipment has to differentiate versus competition, and one way is going digital RPM integrated into the bed itself. The least expensive way of doing so is to buy new technology and incorporate in your ‘traditional’ offering. For the smaller company, it is worth its weight in gold in publicity and the potential business through the giant company. Release, MedCityNews, Mobihealthnews

Just the Fax. Or Matt Hancock versus the Fax Machines (UK) (Updated)

December 12, 2018 | by

Updated. Add fax machines to the Endangered Device list. The news that Health Secretary Matt Hancock has banned the NHS from purchasing new fax machines starting in January 2019, with a full phaseout of use by 31 March 2020, was this past weekend’s Big News in the UK health sector. This is to help force adoption of paperless methods such as apps and email, which is a noble intention indeed.

The remaining prevalence of fax machines in the NHS became a cause célèbre after the Royal College of Surgeons in July estimated that over 8,000 fax machines were still in use. The RCS takes credit for nudging trusts to ‘Ax The Fax’. Guardian

This Editor presumes that Secretary Hancock does not possess a printer, or find the need to print his records even for convenience–or posterity. (One wonders what he’s carrying in that folder or brief…) I also presume that he has never heard of electrical outages, data breaches, malware or ransomware which may make print records suddenly quite needed.

The Road to Perdition is Paved With Good Intentions. A wonderfully tart take on Mr. Hancock’s Fax Obsession is contained in Monday’s NHSManagers.net newsletter from Roy Lilley. He looks at why NHS offices and practices have stayed with fax machines–and the absurdity of such a ban when trusts and practices are attempting to squeeze every penny in a cash-strapped, failing environment:

  • It’s point to point and legally binding not only in medicine, but in law and finance–even in the US
  • They are on the desk, easy to use–requiring only plug in to power and a phone line, fax toner, and paper
  • They don’t need IT support
  • Compared to computers, printers, and internet service, they are wonderfully cheap

And paper-free isn’t a reality even in the US with EHR, tablets and smartphones widely used. Even HHS and CMS in the US require some paper records. Confidentiality and hacking–especially when tied to computer networks–are problems with fax, but the same can be said for computer networks. Oh, and if your systems are attacked by ransomware, it’s awfully handy to refer back to printed records and to be able to communicate outside of computer networks.

Mr. Lilley also points out that ‘No 18’, as he dubs the Secretary of State for Health, actually has no power to enforce his edict with trusts or GPs.

This Editor predicts a thriving market in used and bootleg fax machines–“check it out”, as the street hustlers say!

Other articles on this: Fortune, Forbes

News roundup: NeuroPace’s brain study, Welbeing’s Liverpool win, VA’s Apple talks, Medtronic’s diabetes move

December 6, 2018 | by

imageNeuroPace, which developed an implanted brain-responsive neuromodulation system for patients with refractory and drug-resistant epilepsy, announced the result of their nine-year long-term treatment study.

  • Approximately 3 out of 4 patients responded to therapy, achieving at least 50% seizure reduction
  • 1 in 3 patients achieved at least 90% seizure reduction
  • 28% of patients experienced seizure-free periods of six months or longer; 18% experienced seizure-free periods of one year or longer
  • Median seizure reduction across all patients was 75% at 9 years
  • Quality of life improvements (including cognition) were sustained through 9 years, with no chronic stimulation-related side effects.

The study included 256 patients across 33 epilepsy centers with nearly 1,900 patient implant years of follow-up on the RNS System. Release.

Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH) sheltered housing awarded its emergency alarm contract to Welbeing, a Doro Group company. Welbeing has added 1,200 LMH residents to their alarm services. Release (PDF).  Hat tip to Welbeing’s Charlene Saunders.

It appears that the VA is talking with Apple about a mobile EHR. VA patients would be able to transfer their records to their iPhone — likely through Apple’s Health Records app. No time frame is mentioned and it’s hard to expect a quick turnaround given the VA’s stringent IT and security requirements. Another factor is that VA is making the long transition from VistA to Cerner’s MHS Genesis, bumpily. Mobihealthnews picking up a paywalled Wall Street Journal article.

Medtronic, otherwise known as the 9,000 lb Elephant that Sits Where It Wants, will acquire long-time diabetes partner Nutrino, an AI powered personalized nutrition platform. In June, Medtronic integrated Nutrino’s FoodPrint Report technology that connects meal and glucose variability into Medtronic’s iPro2 myLog app. Terms and timing were not disclosed. It fits in Medtronic’s recent strategy of smaller acquisitions and beefing up its diabetes business. Mobihealthnews.

Unaliwear’s model/muse, Joan Hall, passes at 85

December 6, 2018 | by

imageJoan Hall, the mother who inspired the creation of the stylish wearable PERS, Unaliwear’s Kanega watch, has died aged 85. Jean Anne Booth, Unaliwear’s CEO, founder, and Mrs. Hall’s daughter, wrote her memorable bio on the company’s website. 

Your Editor met Jean Anne in 2014 or 2015 at the mHealth Summit and in showing me the design, she explained that she wanted a wrist-worn emergency alert device/fall detection/assistant device that was stylishly designed to her mother’s exacting standards–and that didn’t require tethering to a smartphone. Mrs. Hall was also her chief style guide and model.

Joan Frances Goss Hall was an Auburn University graduate, professional model, and Army wife and mother who called Fort Sam Houston home. She opened and managed the gift shop at Fort Sam Houston, the well-regarded Army Medical Museum (AMEDD), created a memorial there, and consulted on clothing and props for the Vietnam War TV series, China Beach. For her extensive work, Lt. Gen. James Peake awarded Joan the Army’s highest civilian award, the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, in 2000.

It strikes this Editor that through Mrs. Hall, we are reminded that this is not wholly a chilly business of seeking funding, avoiding data breaches, AI, sensors, and chips. There’s a human factor here that we are designing technology to help people.

There is much more, which you should read here. 

Our TTA team’s sympathy to Jean Anne and her family.

Will there ever be a medical ‘tricorder’?

December 5, 2018 | by | 1 Comment

ZDNet teases us that ‘the race is on’, but is it? It’s a great clickbait headline, but the substance of the article illustrates the distance between today’s tech reality versus the picture of Star Trek’s Bones pointing a Tricorder at a patient and immediately pronouncing that your malady was Sakuro’s Disease or some strange Vulcan malady.

Was it that long ago that the Scanadu Scout was the odds-on bet to be the Tricorder? The hype began in 2012 [TTA 23 May 2013] with Indiegogo funding, competing for the XPRIZE, and breathless pronouncements at nearly every healthcare conference. By 2016, it missed the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE finals (with Northern Ireland’s Intelesens), bricked all sold units to date to comply with FDA regulations on investigational devices, and with Chinese money in hand, moved into other testing devices. Those looking for Scanadu today will be disappointed as their website is unreachable. The DeBrowers and medical director Alan Greene, all of whom were fêted on the healthcare scene, are engaged over at Doc.ai with a new mission of decentralizing precision medicine onto the blockchain using AI, using your medical data gathered on an app (of course).

Google X was up next as Scanadu was fading. There were various devices they were hyping and testing as Google’s life sciences skunk works morphed into Verily, but to date they have all petered out, with some questions raised about people and project churn at the Alphabet unit [TTA 6 April 2016] .

Basil Leaf Technologies (as Final Frontier Medical Devices) wound up winning last year’s final Qualcomm XPRIZE with DxtER, which could diagnose and interpret a defined set of 13 health conditions to various degrees, while continuously monitoring five vital health metrics, using a mix of sensors and an AI-powered diagnostic engine. What they are planning to market first is not DxtER, but a single-disease device to monitor congestive cardiac failure (CCF) since FDA approval for DxtER “would take aeons to be approved.”

Urine tests are also a ‘wet’ way into a tricorder state, with both Basil Leaf and the University of Glasgow working on devices which could quickly scan for metabolites in urine that indicate particular diseases.

QuantuMDx’s Q-POC, from Newcastle UK, is expected to launch in 2019 with handheld diagnostics for bacterial and viral infections. In addition to quick diagnostics for outbreaks in less developed countries, they are also developing diagnostics to prescribe the right antibiotic the first time. This is critical in treatment superbugs such as MRSA and MSSA, as well as more garden variety infections which can go wrong quickly. TTA profiled their crowdfunding launch in 2014.

The ZDNet article wraps up with a bit of romance about how a tricorder is needed for Mars, but down here on Earth, the reality is that a tricorder will likely be a combination of devices and analytics, stitched together by machine learning and AI.

CVS-Aetna merger closes, but hardly ‘rubber stamped’ in Federal court

December 5, 2018 | by

The deal is done, but expect unhappy holidays. As expected, the $69 million CVS-Aetna merger closed the week after Thanksgiving, on Wednesday 26 November, and are proceeding with their integration. Later that week, a Federal judge in the Washington, DC District Court complained at a hearing that both companies had treated him as a “rubber stamp” for the agreement. He was “less convinced” than the Department of Justice that the merger was legal under US anti-trust law. Yesterday (Tuesday 3 Dec), Judge Richard Leon ordered both companies and the DOJ to file briefs by 14 December “to show why their integration should not be halted while he considers whether or not to approve the consent decree reached in October,” according to Reuters.

This is despite various pounds of flesh:

  • The Department of Justice imposing the condition that Aetna sell its Medicare Part D drug plan business to far smaller WellCare Health Plans
  • New York State’s Department of Financial Services extracting concessions around their concerns: acquisition costs will not be passed onto consumers through increased premium rates or to affiliated insurers; maintaining current products for three years; privacy controls; cybersecurity compliance. Oh yes, a small $40 million commitment to support health insurance education and enrollment. (Healthcare Finance 26 Nov)
  •  But New York is a piker in its demands compared to California. The Department of Managed Health Care Director approved the merger based upon:
    • Minimal increases in premiums–and no increase due to acquisition costs
    • Investing $240 million in the state healthcare delivery system, including $166 million for state healthcare infrastructure and employment; $22.8 million to increase the number of healthcare providers in underrepresented areas like Fresno and Walnut Creek by funding scholarships and loan repayment programs; and $22.5 million to support joint ventures and accountable care organizations (ACOs) in value-based care (Healthcare Finance 15 Nov)

A CVS spokesman said in an email after the hearing: “CVS Health and Aetna are one company, and our focus is on transforming the consumer health experience.” (CNBC)  That transformation according to CVS president Larry Merlo involves expanding healthcare services beyond their present clinics to managing high-risk, chronic conditions, and transitions in care. Aetna’s expertise will be invaluable here as well as in an rumored expansion to urgent care (Seeking Alpha). All to out-maneuver Amazon, of course, which is promoting (on TV) PillPack and has applied for additional pharmacy licenses to ship drugs to customers in Washington, New Mexico and Indiana from their Phoenix facility (Healthcare Finance).

It appears that Judge Leon has his own serious reading of the 1974 Tunney Act, which requires a Federal court to ensure the agreement is in the public interest, despite the states and the DOJ.

UK’s DeepMind loses Streams, health projects to Google Health

November 15, 2018 | by

DeepMind loses its Health to Google. DeepMind, the London-based AI developer acquired by Alphabet (Google) in 2014, no longer has a Health division. This group will be absorbed by Google Health, now headed by ex-Geisinger CEO David Feinberg. The former DeepMind health team will continue to be headed by former NHS surgeon Dr Dominic King, who will remain in London along with about 100 reported staffers, at least for now.

DeepMind’s major health initiative is Streams, an AI-powered mobile app that analyzes potential deterioration in patients and alerts nurses and doctors, saving time. It also monitors vital signs and integrates different types of data and test results from existing hospital IT systems. Streams is currently deployed at Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust Hospital in north London for acute kidney injury. The rollout is expected to be made at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It is expected that test partners will be found outside of the UK.

DeepMind’s other health initatives and research include fast eye disease detection, planning cancer radiotherapy treatment in seconds rather than hours; and detecting patient deterioration from electronic records.

Google Health is now expanding into products and research into digital technologies which was to be expected with Dr Feinberg on board. Currently, its revenue stream consists of advertising and search.

The remainder of DeepMind not engaged with health will remain independent. CNBC, DeepMind blog

The wind may finally be at the back of telehealth distribution and payment (US)

November 15, 2018 | by

Medicare Advantage may lead, but Medicaid and regular Medicare are not far behind. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced in two proposed rules changes expansion of telehealth access for both privately issued Medicare Advantage (MA) plans (26 Oct) and state-run Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Plan) (14 Nov) plan members. This may mean greater acceptance by providers because they will be paid for these services.

For MA, the proposal would, starting in 2020 as part of government funded basic benefits, eliminate geographic restrictions (rural telehealth) and allow members in urban areas to access telehealth services. It would also broaden present location restrictions, allowing MA members to receive telehealth from home versus traveling to a health care facility. The most intriguing wording is here: “Plans would also have greater flexibility to offer clinically-appropriate telehealth benefits that are not otherwise available to Medicare beneficiaries.” which very well could mean remote patient monitoring in conjunction with visits. MA plans have always had more latitude to offer telehealth benefits to members, which are about 1/3 of Medicare-eligibles (over 65). Over 11 percent growth is forecast and it is highly competitive though dominated by United Healthcare and Aetna–over 600 new plans are entering the market next year. Enrollments close on 7 Dec for 2019. CMS.gov release, mHealth Intelligence, Healthcare Finance News.

For Medicaid and CHIP, which states use to extend insurance to low-income individuals and families via private plans, states would be able to, under an approved rule, to more flexibly determine what criteria determine telehealth access. Currently, states use proximity factors–distance from provider and time. The proposed criteria under 10. Network Adequacy (pages 15-16) recommends that time and distance be deleted and instead “adding a more flexible requirement that states set a quantitative minimum access standard (later listed) for specified health care providers and LTSS (long term services and supports) providers”. The reasons why are the limited supply of providers and the functional limitations of the LTSS population. Also notable was language in section 8 discussing access to provider directories via smartphone, as 64 percent of the population with incomes less than $30,000 own a smartphone and use it to access health information.  CMS proposed rule, POLITICO Morning eHealth

This adds to the momentum of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule published on 1 Nov that added even more:

  • Virtual brief patient checkins and evaluation of patient-recorded photos and video to payments
  • CMS is also finalizing separate payments for three new codes covering chronic care remote physiologic monitoring that unbundle 99091 (CPT codes 99453, 99454, and 99457) and interprofessional internet consultation (CPT codes 99451, 99452, 99446, 99447, 99448, and 99449).
  • Two new codes covering telehealth for prolonged preventive services
  • Finalizing the addition of renal dialysis facilities and the homes of ESRD beneficiaries receiving home dialysis as originating sites
  • After 1 July, the home will be permitted as a permissible originating site for telehealth services furnished for purposes of treatment of a substance use disorder or a co-occurring mental health disorder. CMS.gov fact sheet 

The importance of this is that more digital health covered by Medicare and government payments in public/private programs such as Medicaid and MA lead private insurers to pay doctors for these services, who will then be willing to pay vendors for providing them. For the telehealth and telemedicine companies that have weathered the storms and lean times of the past decade, there may be light at the end of the tunnel that is not an oncoming train.

Is Babylon Health’s AI on par with a human diagnostician? Claim questioned in ‘The Lancet’.

November 8, 2018 | by

In July, Babylon Health released the results of their testing against the MRCGP (Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners) exam based on publicly available questions. As we reported at the time, its AI system passed the exam with a score of 81 percent. A separate test where Babylon worked with the Royal College of Physicians, Stanford University and Yale New Haven Health subjected Babylon and seven primary care physicians to 100 independently-devised symptom sets. Babylon passed with an 80 score.

Now these results are being questioned in a letter to The Lancet. The authors–a medical doctor and two medical informatics academics–argue that the methodology used was questionable. ‘Safety of patient-facing digital symptom checkers’  shows there ‘is a possibility that it [Babylon’s service] might perform significantly worse’. The symptom checking methodology was questioned for not being real world–that the data in the latter test was entered by doctors only, not by patients or other clinicians. While the authors commended Babylon for being open about their research, they felt there was an “urgent need” for improvements in evaluation methods. “Such guidelines should form the basis of a regulatory framework, as there is currently minimal regulatory oversight of these technologies.” Babylon promises a response and additional improvements, presumably from its $100 million investment in AI announced in September. DigitalHealth (UK), Mobihealthnews

Comings and goings: CVS-Aetna finalizing, Anthem sued over merger, top changes at IBM Watson Health

November 8, 2018 | by

imageWhat better way to introduce this new feature than with a picture of a Raymond Loewy-designed 1947 Studebaker Starlight Coupe, where wags of the time joked that you couldn’t tell whether it was coming or going?

Is it the turkey or the stuffing? In any case, it will be the place you’ll be going for the Pepto. The CVS-Aetna merger, CVS says, will close by Thanksgiving. This is despite various objections floated by California’s insurance commissioner, New York’s financial services superintendent, and the advocacy group Consumers Union. CEO Larry Merlo is confident that all three can be dealt with rapidly, with thumbs up from 23 of the 28 states needed and is close to getting the remaining five including resolving California and NY. The Q3 earnings call was buoyant, with CVS exceeding their projected overall revenue with $47.3 billion. up 2.4% or $1.1 billion from the same quarter in 2017. The divestiture of Aetna’s Medicare Part D prescription drug plans to WellCare, helpful in speeding the approvals, will not take effect until 2020. Healthcare Dive speculates, as we did, that a merged CVS-Aetna will be expanding MinuteClinics to create urgent care facilities where it makes sense–it is not a big lift. And they will get into this far sooner than Amazon. which will split its ‘second headquarters’ among the warehouses and apartment buildings of Long Island City and the office towers of Crystal City VA.

Whatever happened to the Delaware Chancery Court battle between Anthem and Cigna? Surprisingly, no news from Wilmington, but that didn’t stop Anthem shareholder Henry Bittmann from suing both companies this week in Marion (Indiana) Superior Court. The basis of the suit is Anthem’s willfully going ahead with the attempted merger despite having member plans under the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association meant the merger was doomed to fail, and they intended all along for “Anthem to swallow, and then sideline, Cigna to eliminate a competitor, in violation of the antitrust laws.” On top of this, both companies hated each other. A match made in hell. Cigna has moved on with its money and bought Express Scripts.

IBM Watson Health division head Deborah DiSanzo departs, to no one’s surprise. Healthcare IT News received a confirmation from IBM that Ms. DiSanzo will be joining IBM Cognitive Solutions’ strategy team, though no capacity or title was stated. She was hired from Philips to lead the division through some high profile years, starting her tenure along with the splashy new Cambridge HQ in 2015, but setbacks mounted later as their massive data crunching and compilation was outflanked by machine learning, other AI methodologies, and blockchain. According to an article in STAT+ (subscription needed), they didn’t get the glitches in their patient record language processing software fixed in ‘Project Josephine’, and that was it for her. High profile partner departures in the past year such as MD Anderson Cancer Centers, troubles and lack of growth at acquired companies, topped by the damning IEEE Spectrum and Der Spiegel articles, made it not if, but when. No announcement yet of a successor.

Canary Care re-emerges as Canary Care Global Ltd, confirms continued operations

November 8, 2018 | by

imageCanary Care, which entered administration in late August, has been reorganized and continues as Canary Care Global Ltd, remaining in Abingdon. The purchaser in the pre-packaged sale, as Readers learned here, is Lifecycle Software Ltd. Their marketing office sent a release last week confirming their operations. Stuart Butterfield, who answered our inquiries in September, is now managing and technical director. He is quoted in the release: “This is a really positive development for our company. We will continue to provide the Canary Care product and service that our existing customers know and love. Our new owner provides us with the stability and resources to further enhance the Canary Care offering and we’re very excited and optimistic about the future and the opportunity to bring Canary Care to a wider audience.”

The administrator’s latest filing with Companies House is clearly a wrapup of the sale as the best possible outcome for the company. Shareholders included major investor Mercia Fund Management. A quick read of the administrator’s proposal is an object lesson how quickly an insolvency can happen. In section 2, the company went from seeking fresh funding to expand markets in May, having been turned down by Mercia due to their funding criteria, to having an interested buyer who ultimately was not approved by the shareholders by a hairsbreadth, to insolvency by August.

We do wish Canary Care luck with their new ownership and success in this very difficult time for acceptance of –and payment for–telecare and TECS services. Release (PDF) Hat tip to Nicola Hughes of Lifecycle Software

Upcoming UK telecare and telehealth events; SEHTA calls for Healthcare Business Awards nominees.

November 1, 2018 | by

Winding up the year….

Managing digital change in health and care/The King’s Fund/Thursday 22 November/8.30am-4.30pm/The Met Hotel, King Street, Leeds, LS1 2HQ

This conference aims to support health and social care organisations that are looking to undertake large-scale digital change, no matter what their current level of technological advancement. Understand the factors that contribute to successful change by showcasing the experiences of different case study sites and Global Digital Exemplars that have already made significant progress. More information and registration here. 

UK Telehealthcare has several events coming up all over the country. For more information and registration, click here or the advert in the right sidebar and scroll down to ‘Members Events Coming Up’.

8th November 2018 – Suppliers’ Forum, Hammersmith Town Hall, King St. London W6 9JU
9th November 2018 – Providers’ Forum, Hammersmith Town Hall, King St. London W6 9JU
14th November 2018 – CECOPs Digital Health Masterclass, Carisbrooke Hall, Victory Services Club, 63-79 Seymour Street, London, W2 2HF
5th December 2018 – CECOPs Digital Health Masterclass, 2 Brewery Wharf, Kendell Street, Leeds, LS10 1JR.

UK HealthTech/4 December/Cardiff Park Plaza

At the UKHT conference, over 300 delegates will hear speakers discuss the major strategic issues and policy developments facing the life science and healthcare sectors. Showcases include the latest advances in R&D technologies and up and coming spinout companies. It closes with the 13th annual MediWales Innovation Awards, celebrating the achievements of the NHS, life science and health technology communities in Wales. More information and registration here.

SEHTA is calling for nominees for its 2018 Healthcare Business Awards through Friday 14 December. They are looking for the best achieving companies of 2018 in the following five categories: Export Achievement, Start-up, Innovation, Partnership with the NHS
MedTech, and the new category of Healthcare Investment of the Year (most significant/transformational public and/or private sector funding received in 2018). To download application forms, click here. Completed forms should be returned to Clare Ansett – clare.ansett@sehta.co.uk