In this blog item the author rants most engagingly that many healthcare organisations are rushing into technological areas that they do not understand. He is responding (approvingly) to a recent US Joint Commission’s Sentinel Events Alert on HIT that challenges the dominant paradigm of health IT as an easy-to-accomplish panacea.

He raises thought-provoking matters that apply equally to the introduction of telehealth as any other healthcare technology. Read it here.

A great-value posting (as always) in the e-CareManagement blog, advocating a phased strategy that concentrates on building doctor-patients connectedness.

The title of this item is an amusing example of a small company producing a press release headline that draws attention by ‘hopping on’ to a mainstream news theme. As it happens, the company, Hop-on Inc., produces a mobile phone that is geared to the older-people market, with GPS location and a panic alarm button button built in. It is called the ChitterChatter – although you will be pushed to find it on the Hop-on website.

I suspect many Telecare Aware readers will have reservations about the technology and the company’s gaming connections (see its home page). However, the company is nothing if not ambitious. CEO, Peter Michaels said, “Every consumer with medical needs should have this technology. It is affordable and costs less than one hour’s time for a hospice caretaker or nurse. Hop-on will make a pitch to Congress to give this phone away to seniors on Medi-Cal, so if an emergency happens, they will have the patient’s information, location, and nearest medical services, with the touch of one button.” Press release.

Article abstract: “The number of home telehealth programs implemented both domestically [US] and abroad and the number of peer-reviewed publications detailing positive outcomes for chronic disease management, preventive care, and self-management have increased over the past 5 years. The most dramatic growth has been in populations with diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and congestive heart failure. A review of home telehealth developments, current status, opportunities, and challenges provides a foundation for understanding why we need to mainstream what we already know works.”

Item from Mary Ann Liebert, publishers. Look for the link beneath the ‘To cite this article…’ to download the full article.

In an imaginative marketing move, Assistive Technology Services, the US company that trades by trumpeting its Christian-faith based credentials, says it wants to give away 1000 alarm systems in 2009. But only if other people donate towards the cost of doing so! Press release.

Frankly, I’m not sure what to make of this story. The introduction reads:

“The University System of Ohio is soon to be a global hub for online medical education and videoconferencing following a decision to fund the creation of a resource center in Columbus. The Ohio Telehealth Video Resource Center will establish Ohio as a center of excellence worldwide in videoconferencing technologies and, at the same time, contribute to the improved health and well-being of countless people throughout world,” said Ohio Governor Ted Strickland.

If it its true that this Center can become what it says it will, great. A new star is born. But why does my gut instinct tell me that the reality will be different? Perhaps it is because I have observed that when doctors, academics and politicians get together it is hype, not a star, that is born. Or perhaps it is because the world is a bigger place than people tend to imagine? Read the story and then, if you know the telemed scene, leave a comment to tell me whether my gut feeling is accurate or not.

In a statement to Telecare Aware, a spokesperson for Philips in the US denied rumours that the replacement of equipment to Health Watch customers earlier in the year was a recall related to the FDA’s warning letter in February about insufficiently robust quality processes in the Health Watch facility in Boca Raton, which it had acquired the year before.

Andre Manning of the Philips Healthcare communications team said: “In April of last year, we announced the acquisition of Health Watch. Over the next 18 months, Philips Lifeline worked with Health Watch’s existing customer base to update the Health Watch units in their homes with new equipment from Philips Lifeline. The change in the equipment was done at no cost to the customer nor did it interrupt the monitoring service. For optimal operational support and monitoring service, it was necessary to have all customers using the Lifeline units. There was no “recall” of units produced by Health Watch. It was a swap of equipment so that we could best service each of our customers. There is no connection whatsoever between the FDA audit in the Boca Raton facility and the swap out.”

Interestingly, the Health Watch website is still live. On the page that announced its partnership with Tunstall in pre-Philips sale days, it says

Health Watch has continually pioneered advanced technologies and innovative services in Personal Response Monitoring…Working with Tunstall Group, Health Watch has initiated the most dynamic research and development effort in the industry, giving Subscribers and Providers open access to the world’s newest Telecare solutions. Our next generation monitoring technologies help to assure independent living and personal security for more people than ever before.

Hmm… is this a case of “Beware, your hype will always find you out”?

Update: 5 December 15:30

Richard Farrell Smith, Product Communications Manager, Tunstall Group sent the following comment for clarification:

I read with interest your article on HealthWatch however I am concerned that it implies a connection between the FDA letter and products supplied by Tunstall. The FDA letter does in fact refer to alarm units (HW3000 and HW6000) that were manufactured by HealthWatch prior to its relationship with Tunstall. These units are easily confused with the units that Tunstall did supply to HealthWatch (HW3000T and HW 6000T). Although the FDA letter does cover more than just the manufacturing of the units, I would appreciate it if you could clarify that none of the issues relate to Tunstall and the manufacturing issues relate specifically to units manufactured by HealthWatch.

Richard – Thanks for the further clarification. There have been a number of rumours going round about this which I’m pleased to lay to rest. Steve

And the lucky company is… … the American Medical Alert Corp (AMAC). Frederic Siegel, AMAC’s Executive Vice President is reported as saying: “We are pleased to be working with Intel as the first Market Channel Partner for the launch of the Intel Health Guide. AMAC has been a leading provider of health and safety monitoring solutions for over two decades. We believe this new collaboration with Intel will greatly enhance our suite of digital health and wellness solutions to connect patients and providers and further our market position in the remote patient monitoring sector.” Full press release.

A survey of TelaDoc Medical Services patients found that 80% of respondents rated its physician consultations and other services at the highest level, “outstanding” and 17% of the respondents rated TelaDoc physician consultations as “good”. TelaDoc’s press release.

It’s interesting when two stories come in at the same time, unrelated except that they are tapping into the zeitgeist. Here is an example of this phenomenon. The first item is about the use of mobile phones in telehealth around the world and, if you think it is a bit ‘far out’ still, read the second item – Nokia planning to get into the ’smart home’ arena, including health monitoring.

1. Lives of a cell

2. Nokia develops a smart home platform to offer consumers new ways to control their homes with a mobile device

And, in a slightly difference vein, this story, just in:

Text message surgery saves Congolese boy

Not telecare, but a terminology issue as it refers to the target client group for telecare/telehealth companies. When I read about ‘the elderly’ or worse, the near-meaningless, ‘the vulnerable’, I imagine that the writer is probably hardly out of their twenties or thirties, or still has that mindset. If you want to alienate your potential clients, this is the language to use.

A brief read, with an American perspective, but with interesting survey results. Baby boomers? Older people? Senior citizens? Elders? What would you like to be called in your middle and later years? by Rita R. Robison.

NY Times story about the American Well service – consultations with a doctor online.

VivoMetrics LifeShirt is described as “a continuous, integrated and wearable remote patient monitoring (RPM) system” and it is being used by Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) to learn more about lifestyle factors that may put children at risk for developing cardiovascular diseases as they grow older. Press release.

The Project Lifesaver bracelet operates on radio telemetry rather than GPS. According to this item, some 805 public service agencies in 45 states are tracking missing people with the equipment from Project Lifesaver, a nonprofit headquartered in Chesapeake, Va. and it’s been 100 percent effective helping to locate 1,790 people since 1999.

It took me rather by surprise to see that equipment for Project Lifesaver costs about $8,000, and another $300 a year for battery and band replacements for the bracelets. Not per person, surely? Article on ScrippsNews.

In what sounds like a major development for the Teladoc phone-based consultation service, the Insurers Administrative Corporation (IAC) has announced that it will distribute TelaDoc’s telehealth tools and physician- or patient-selected programs. In the press release, IAC’s Senior Vice President, Network and Medical Management, Frank Fugiel is quoted as saying “TelaDoc represents unprecedented telephonic access to physicians, which translates into convenience, efficiency and savings for consumers. IAC general agents, brokers and producers anticipate that TelaDoc will be a key differentiator in the sales of individual, family and small group major medical plans.”