Independent consultant cardiologist Dr Lance Forbat, whose work using telehealth monitoring Telecare Aware has reported a number of times, responds to the recent headline on the Mayo Clinic study that telehealth monitoring appeared to treble death rates and points out that in comparing monitoring people at home with and without telehealth monitoring they were not comparing like-for-like.

If I do a twice daily ward round on my patients and look at the physiological signs recorded by the nurse and take a history, possibly pick up on unnoticed issues that my years of experience detect, I would like to think I make an impact on the outcome of patients’ illnesses as well as their sense of well being… (more…)

Editor Steve Hards asks if it is time for a reconsideration of the role of the Telecare Services Association (TSA).

With yesterday’s news of the draft EU Telehealth Code of Practice (including telecare) some of the TSA’s members are wondering why it is about to spend up to £25,000 of their money developing one of its own to extend its existing Telecare Code of Practice.

But there is a deeper question that they and the TSA Board members should be considering… (more…)

After my (editor Steve’s) comment about ‘fairy dust’ (3millionlives: Plan B and Plan C) certain Telecare Aware readers asked where is my Plan D? It is not fully formed, but here’s the outline.

The key is to get the Department of Health (DH) to exert some monetary influence.

However, we know that in view of the savings the public sector is going to have to make over the next 5 years (£20 billion for the NHS alone) DH is not going to come up with any new funding…[read more] (more…)

Guy Dewsbury, Managing Director of gdewsbury, which is a freelance specialist technology writing service and consultancy, takes a thoughtful look at data security in telecare call centres and asks a few pertinent questions.

Let me state at the off that there are some really great call centres that I have been privileged to work with and some others I have become acquainted with that deserve high praise.

That said, when you pick up the phone and speak to your bank, you feel protected… (more…)

This Soapbox is published anonymously for someone who wished to express some observations and feedback for the conference organisers and the TSA membership without compromising his company. Please note Telecare Aware’s Anonymity Policy (Soapbox Section right sidebar).

Given the economic climate, TSA will undoubtedly report excellent results for its 2011 conference. And with so many corporate sponsors, it will certainly have been a great financial success. But careful analysis of the attendees listed reveals a concerning trend (more…)

Editor Steve asks why we still see tendering fiascos when so much experienced support is available.

The UK has a long history of both legislation and experience in relation to the procurement of publicly funded services. There is a veritable industry of advisers, consultants and lawyers who can be consulted on how to manage the process to stay legal and to get an effective result. Why then do we still see some tendering fiascos?

For example, there was… (more…)

Trevor Drage, Assistive Technology Manager Adult Care and Support, in Cornwall, UK, chews over the issues of potential telecare clients who refuse the service and how to reduce refusal rates.

“No thanks, please give the equipment to someone who needs it”.

From time-to-time we have clients referred for telecare who would clearly benefit from it, but who decline the service. They have the right to do that, of course, but there is always the lingering doubt about why they would do so and whether we could have done more to sell (in the nicest possible way) the service to them. (more…)

Editor Steve reflects on a disturbing experience and its implications for telecare.

In the ’80s I saw a fire training film where people were jumping from a tall, burning hotel in Brazil. Reinforced by images from 9/11, having to make such a leap had always been my worst nightmare. You know…you are falling and think “this wasn’t such a good idea…I’ve changed my mind…” But there’s no pause button. You are totally out of control AND there is time to contemplate it…

That was my idea of horror until eight weeks, three days, six and a half hours ago from the time of writing. At that time something else became my worst nightmare… (more…)

About the author: Andrea Swayne is a gerontologist who received her M.A. from Bethel University (Minnesota). She possesses 25 years of experience serving seniors at all levels of the care continuum. Starting with a B.A. in music therapy from Western Illinois University, Andrea worked with the intellectually disabled along with many other populations in need. She first became familiar with telehealth while piloting remote sensor-based behavioral monitoring in the early 2000’s for Volunteers of America. Currently, Andrea is a Director of Partner Services for WellAWARE Systems, which proactively identifies variations in key wellness indicators such as sleep quality, bathroom usage and activity level.

In our short history, telehealth has primarily concentrated efforts on individuals who are aged and who are attempting to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible in their least restrictive environments. Least restrictive environments for the aged include (but are not limited to) assisted living facilities, independent living apartments or the client’s primary residence with services provided by a home health agency.

I believe that another population could significantly benefit from telehealth: the intellectually disabled (ID). (more…)

Editor Steve frets about the lack of information on the accuracy of the Philips Lifeline AutoAlert and says it’s about time they published some data.

Back in March 2010, I welcomed the introduction of the Philips Lifeline with AutoAlert (for falls when the person cannot press the pendant button), particularly as a long-needed acknowledgement in the industry that traditional pendant alarms have considerable shortcomings. Philips puts nail in pendant alarm coffin. I also noted that, considering the notorious unreliability of fall detectors, Philips must be anticipating a large number of false positive alerts because there was a 30 second delay built in to enable users to cancel the autoalert.

In January this year Philips… (more…)

Editor Steve predicts the future…

When – if – the procurement process for the Northern Ireland Remote Monitoring Service that is being conducted by the European Centre for Connected Health (ECCH) is ever drawn to a conclusion, there will be no winners. Even if the contract is awarded.

Well, there will be one minor winner, the consultancy that was paid to produce a report on the short listed companies, way back at in the early days of the tender. That report will make interesting reading when it is eventually released.

As for the rest, there are no winners. When the contract is awarded to the TF3 consortium (comprising Tunstall, Fold Housing Association Limited and Silicon and Software Systems Limited), as it surely will be, given the (more…)

The reference to telehealth with prisoners in the Independent article [TA item] prompted editor Steve to search around for more information on this overlooked topic and this is the best of what he found. (Part of the reason it is overlooked may be that most of the available information is in documents and presentations, and not easily accessible on web pages.) (more…)

David Barrett, Lecturer in Telehealth at the University of Hull takes a hard look at how local trials are often evaluated and looks forward to a time when more rigorous approaches will provide solid evidence for the benefits of telehealth.

Regular readers of TelecareAware cannot fail to notice the frequency with which new evaluations of telehealth services are published. In recent months, we’ve seen documents from, amongst others, Kent, SE Essex and Argyll & Bute. These evaluations are almost always positive, suggesting that further deployments of technology can supply huge savings for health and social care organisations, whilst proving immensely popular with users, carers and practitioners.

This growing evidence base in favour of telehealth services strengthens the argument that technology can deliver substantial benefits for individuals and organisations. However… (more…)