Press release plug for Frost & Sullivan’s latest report suggests that RPM is becoming more attractive to healthcare providers. However, ‘the lack of adequate reimbursement streams will pose a major challenge to companies wishing to boost their unit sales and market revenues. Privacy and confidentiality issues are further clouding the market.’ Surprise, surprise.
Not telecare directly, but its about technology in relation to an important issue for telecare services.
Less than ten minutes standing on a vibrating platform several times a week could help reduce older people’s risk of falls, Australian researchers have found. (But it has to be at the ‘right’ speed.) Another item that indicates that the falls prevention focus is moving away from environmental factors to physiology. Item from Australia’s ABC Science.
RFID tags can mess up medical devices. Potentially… to a limited extent… according to this article on the Wall Street Journal Health Blog.
Georgetown University, Gentag and Science Applications International Corporation, have joined up to develop a non-invasive method for glucose measurement using disposable skin patches with wireless sensors and cell phones. Story from Wireless Healthcare.
The AT&T Center for Telehealth Research and Policy at the University of Texas and the Centre for Information Technology & Leadership (CITL) has released a study estimating the cost-benefit of telehealth to the US health system. ‘The savings estimates assume a combination of ’store-and-forward’ technologies that involve transmission and interpretation of medical data with ‘real-time video’ consultations involving a patient and one or more physicians.’ Download the report from this Telehealth Canada item.
Item from Canada about results of remotely supervised lung rehabilitation. “Many patients are hesitant to exercise without supervision out of the fear of ‘doing more harm than good’ when they experience shortness of breath…With the Telehealth program, “the patient is monitored and builds knowledge and self-confidence to do exercise regularly, which in turn improves their physical condition and their quality of life as well”. Read more.
Latest report from e-Health Insider. “Twenty e-Health 2.0 companies and organisations leading this fast emerging sector are profiled through questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The profiles provide a broad cross section of the wide range of e-health 2.0 applications already available. Organisations profiled are drawn from the USA, UK and Germany, and range from small start-ups to giants including Microsoft and NHS Choices.” The downloadable executive summary is more of an extended flier, complete with order form. More information here.
A useful list of EU ehealth projects on empirica consultancy’s website.
Queen’s University Belfast is researching ways to improve the signal transmission of wireless body worn sensors so that, in a few years, they will be much more efficient and therefore use less power and be more comfortable. The implications are immense and again make you wonder why the EU is funding research on a ‘heart check bed’ (story here). Belfast story courtesy of Wireless Healthcare.
Philips has released the findings of its large scale study. Given the importance of telehealth to the future of home care and hospice agencies, much of the study focused on “the various types of telehealth systems being used, the components of these systems, what agency leaders liked and disliked about their systems and most importantly, what leaders felt were the most significant impact of these systems on various aspects of quality and financial outcomes.” Top findings were:
- 17.1 percent of agencies use some type of telehealth system. A much higher percentage of large agencies (32.0%) report that they provide telehealth services.
- 88.6 percent report that telehealth led to an increase in quality outcomes
- 76.6 percent report a reduction in unplanned hospitalizations
- 77.2 percent report a reduction in emergency room visits
- 71.3 percent report that telehealth services improved patient satisfaction. No agency reported that it reduced patient satisfaction
Read more of the results in this press release, in which you will find a link to the Philips site to request a copy of the report. [If the form is working for you, that is. It wasn’t for me, although the Philips web team told me they had tested it and it was OK for them. Pity, as it is such an important report.]
[Further note, 20 April: Apparently the request form is working for people who use Internet Explorer, but not for me or the 15% of Telecare Aware readers who use Firefox as their principal internet browser. Thumbs down to Philips’s web team for not checking it in the first place and a second thumbs down for not picking it up when I first alerted them to the possibility.]
The Scottish Government has announced £4 million funding for research programmes over the next five years which will help improve healthcare for patients in Scotland. Among the four projects being funded is ‘Telemetric supported self-monitoring of long-term conditions‘ by the University of Edinburgh.
The universities of Ulster, Bath and Sheffield will collaborate with Philips and BT to share expertise in telecare research, body worn sensors and telemonitoring technologies. The SMART2 project follows SMART1, which showed how technology could help home rehabilitation for post-stroke patients. Research for the project will be undertaken within a new ‘smart’ environment constructed in the School of Computing and Mathematics. This environment is made up of a kitchen and living room which will be kitted out with sensors and computer technology to record, interpret and feedback information to the person on routine tasks such as preparation of a meal, and their level of activity. University of Ulster press release.
Web page with comprehensive list of diabetes-related telehealth resources, by the Center for Connected Health.
Health Care Unplugged: The Evolving Role of Wireless Technology. This free-to-download report was written by Richard Adler for the California HealthCare Foundation. The report is based on interviews with more than two dozen researchers, clinicians, and application developers, along with a review of a broad range of published papers and articles, web resources, and other materials. It includes an overview of who is using wireless technology and how it is evolving, as well as the wide variety of wireless health care applications that are already available or under development.
Vince Kuraitis, in his e-caremanagement blog, says about the report: “If you wanted to read just one report to get up to speed on the state-of-the-art and the promise of wireless patient focused health care applications, this is the one I’d recommend.” And anything Vince recommends is a good recommendation.
Free download: Health Care Unplugged: The Evolving Role of Wireless Technology.
[I noticed after posting today’s items that this follows one where equipment was literally unplugged!]
