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3 Medical Devices of the Future for iOS
by Katie Matlack
There’s a lot of interest in the impact medical peripherals on iOS mobile platforms can have. Used properly, properly designed apps could help catch diseases earlier and make lives of patients easier. As the blogger covering health IT and medical software for Software Advice, I decided to see what it would take to design three apps myself.
Disease Risk Calculator
Since proteins found in blood can be used as biomarkers to diagnose diseases from type 2 diabetes, to cancer, to HIV. Using tests that detect specific biomarkers of diseases long before clinical symptoms arise can lead to earlier treatment, saving lives.
A user interface, or UI, that indicated to a patient how his score on specific biomarkers had changed over time could help him visualize progress and compare himself to his peers.
Spirometer
Studies have found that measuring breathing difficulty before and after taking medicines for emphysema or chronic bronchitis can help people minimize shortness of breath. Often even after a patient has taken a medicine that does increase airflow to the lungs, their shortness of breath continues. But if a patient sees the measurement of her inspiratory flow–her in-breath–before she takes a medicine, the likelihood she’ll actually start breathing easier after she takes the medicine will be increased.
Spirometers in patient hands today are cheap, simple devices, so a spirometer attached to a sophisticated app that could record breathing performance over time would be extremely useful for both patients and doctors.
Electrocardiogram
Interpreting the electrical activity of the heart over time is useful. It can tell you the rate and regularity of your heartbeats, as well as the size and position of your heart chambers. The presence of heart damage, as well as the impact of drugs or heart rate regulation devices such as pacemakers, can also be detected from an ECG.
If used by caregivers this device can help automate recognition of possible problems, rather than relying solely on the human eye to detect potential irregularities. In addition, doctors could take this device to the field.
Katie Matlack is the Medical Software Analyst at Software Advice, where she writes about health IT including web based home health software. You can view the full article this story is based on on the Software Advice blog.
There’s a lot of interest in the impact medical peripherals on iOS mobile platforms can have. Used properly, properly designed apps could help catch diseases earlier and make lives of patients easier. As the blogger covering health IT and medical software for Software Advice, I decided to see what it would take to design three apps myself.
Disease Risk CalculatorSince proteins found in blood can be used as biomarkers to diagnose diseases from type 2 diabetes, to cancer, to HIV. Using tests that detect specific biomarkers of diseases long before clinical symptoms arise can lead to earlier treatment, saving lives.
A user interface, or UI, that indicated to a patient how his score on specific biomarkers had changed over time could help him visualize progress and compare himself to his peers.
Spirometer
Studies have found that measuring breathing difficulty before and after taking medicines for emphysema or chronic bronchitis can help people minimize shortness of breath. Often even after a patient has taken a medicine that does increase airflow to the lungs, their shortness of breath continues. But if a patient sees the measurement of her inspiratory flow–her in-breath–before she takes a medicine, the likelihood she’ll actually start breathing easier after she takes the medicine will be increased.
Spirometers in patient hands today are cheap, simple devices, so a spirometer attached to a sophisticated app that could record breathing performance over time would be extremely useful for both patients and doctors.
Electrocardiogram
Interpreting the electrical activity of the heart over time is useful. It can tell you the rate and regularity of your heartbeats, as well as the size and position of your heart chambers. The presence of heart damage, as well as the impact of drugs or heart rate regulation devices such as pacemakers, can also be detected from an ECG.
If used by caregivers this device can help automate recognition of possible problems, rather than relying solely on the human eye to detect potential irregularities. In addition, doctors could take this device to the field.
Katie Matlack is the Medical Software Analyst at Software Advice, where she writes about health IT including web based home health software. You can view the full article this story is based on on the Software Advice blog.
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Click here to subscribe to this feed.The Ehealth, Telehealth and Telemedicine Blog
Click here to subscribe to this feed.Texting and HIPAA
Two years ago, we at the TeleMental Health Institute published an article about safeguards to use while texting: http://telehealth.net/texting Some of our colleagues scoffed at our “paranoia,” including a malpractice carrier. Now that several more companies have developed text-encryption and other security/privacy services, and HIPAA violations are being punished, we see more responsible attention to [...]
Online Mental Health Companies Fall Short
The online mental health delivery system is sorely lagging in development. Service delivery models suggested by many dot.commental health websites put both the practitioner and consumer at risk. Many such websites are developed with more of an eye toward making a profit than delivering services that would benefit the involved parties.For example: Some web-based businesses [...]
Telecare Aware Latest
Click here to subscribe to this feed.3millionlives. A cartel in the making? (UK)
Cartel: A cartel is a formal (explicit) agreement among competing firms. [An agreement that has the effect of 'fixing' the market. Cartels are illegal in most countries.] (Wikipedia)
Last week I (editor Steve) highlighted some concerns about the way the UK's fledgling 3millionlives (3ML) campaign is shaping up, particularly in the matter of the MOU the Working Group expects companies to sign and the initial £10,000 cost of entry - with an uncapped commitment after that. I asked for comments from people who could make a positive case for the initiative. The comments so far - thank you - have been lukewarm. If you have not yet read the earlier item, read it first.
I have had private comments from some companies who were understandably reluctant to comment publicly. In summary, the concerns they expressed were... [Read more...]
- This is difficult...you don't want to be seen to be against an initiative that is supposed to help, but we are not at all happy with how it is going.
- We ran the MOU past our lawyers, who advised us not to sign it.
- We volunteered to help the project when it was first mooted but not only have we not heard back, we were not even sent the invitation documents you published.
- We think this is a Tunstall-driven scheme which has come about as the result of its Parliamentary lobbying activities.
- Why is only industry being asked to foot the bill? Some of these other organisations that are being invited [universities and charities] are quite well funded.
- Who is really going to benefit? Only the PR companies, I suspect.
- We won't be participating. The £10,000 is a small price for the big companies but it's a large proportion of our net profits. Then there is the unknown future financial commitment. It looks like an exercise by the large companies to exclude the smaller ones from the market. If they establish the 3ML branding in the NHS as representing 'trusted' or 'government approved' suppliers then the effect will have been to create a market that excludes us. In effect, it's a cartel.
And Medilink's press release on 3ML does nothing to dispel the misgivings: "Medilink UK's Chairman Tony Davis added: 'As well as the millions of lives that will be improved through this initiative, there are many Medilink members who stand to benefit hugely from the ‘3millionlives' campaign. As growing SMEs, they really want the doors to the NHS to be opened, and for healthcare professionals to be actively seeking telehealth and telecare solutions. By joining together, and by working with the Department of Health, they will be in the ideal position to take commercial advantage of the opportunities as they become available.'"
Drug delivery on a wireless chip closer
The Financial Times reports that a wirelessly controlled implant delivering daily doses of drugs, developed by MIT spinoff MicroChips, has succeeded in its first clinical trial in Denmark. The results were announced at the start of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting on Thursday. The drug delivery times are either pre-programmed into the chip, or it is activated wirelessly by the doctor to release the dose. 'Pharmacy on a chip' passes test
mobihealthnews
Click here to subscribe to this feed.Epocrates unveils beta version of native iPad EHR app
Epocrates is taking the occasion of HIMSS12, which has brought upwards of 35,000 people to Las Vegas this week, to debut a native iPad version of its ambulatory electronic health record. “You just can’t take a desktop mentality and apply it to mobile,” Epocrates chief medical information officer Dr. Thomas Giannulli told MobiHealthNews in explaining why [...]
Survey: 8 percent of hospitals fully support BYOD
About 85 percent of healthcare information technology professionals said their hospitals have at least partially embraced the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend and supported the personal smartphones and tablets that their physicians and staff bring in from home, according to a survey recently conducted by Aruba Networks. The company surveyed more than 130 HIT [...]
Federal Telemedicine News
Click here to subscribe to this feed.VA's FY 2013 IT Plans
The Veterans Administration operates one of the largest consolidated IT organizations supporting over 300,000 VA employees and about 10 million veterans and family members. The information technology 2013 budget proposal includes $3.3 billion for IT which is a $216 million increase over the current budget.
In 2011, DOD and the VA agreed to build the joint Integrated Electronic Health Record (iEHR) and to upgrade EHRs for all veterans to a single common platform. The iEHR FY 2013 budget request is for $169 million.
In FY 2013, plans are to deliver an iEHR Pharmacy Solution, Identity Management Orders Services, Consults and Referrals, Immunizations, and continue the VistA Open Source Custodial Agent at $5 million per year.
In FY 2011, the VA led the way to cloud computing. So far, the VA has successfully implemented a large scale, cloud program in the Post 9/11 GI Bill IT System. In addition, the VA has aggressively adopted the Data Center Consolidation concept to increase systems reliability, security, and to reduce costs.
So that the VA and other agencies can move forward with cloud computing, GSA recently released the Concept of Operations” (CONOPS) document. The plan is for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program referred to as FedRAMP to make it possible to initiate new cloud certification programs.
The Office of Telehealth Services, within the VHA’s Office of Patient Care Services has implemented a large national telehealth program within VHA. The goal is to help improve and provide teleconsultations, teleretinal imaging, telemedicine, and telehealth to more rural areas.
To aggressively help veterans in rural areas, Representative Kathleen Hochul (D-NY), on February 14th introduced the “Veterans Telehealth & Telemedicine Improvement Act”. The legislation if passed would improve and expand the VA’s telehealth initiative and further provide veterans in rural areas with easier access to medical care.
The VA’s Office of IT (OIT) in their Acquisition Strategy & Business Relations Office has formed a strategic partnership with the VA’s Technology Acquisition Center to do the following.
• Provide acquisition program management oversight
• Serve as industry liaison
• Provide customer interface support
• Disseminate department-wide IT acquisition policies and procedures
• Monitor OIT federal interagency agreements
• Lead strategic sourcing initiatives
OIT is working across government agencies to unite buying power, provide for integration, consolidate requirements, and implement strategic sourcing initiatives. OIT’s activities also include managing the “Transformation Twenty-One Technology” (T4) contract.
OIT is taking part in GSAs Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative to provide access to common procurement opportunities that can offer greater discounts, offer business intelligence, and best practice solutions. In addition, OIT is consolidating contracts and creating enterprise licensing agreements to improve the acquisition process.
The VA’s new Health Informatics Initiative (hi2) with a budget request of $8 million will work with the VHA’s transition from a medical model of care to a patient-centered model of care and help to build a sustainable collaborative relationship between VHA and OIT.
The hi2 initiative will work to establish cross-cutting health informatics tools. The schedule for hi2 deliverables will be to deliver products throughout each year for over a period of three years. The Health Informatics team will coordinate with the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER), iEHR, and work with teams centered on developing new models of care for the VA.
The goal for the hi2 initiative is to work on internal well coordinated collaborations that will:
• Support rapid product development and delivery methods
• Integrate health informatics and IT in the delivery of healthcare IT products by using a succession plan to transition the Computerized Patient Record System to the next generation of browser-based EHRs
• Build health informatics capacity and develop the health informatics workforce
AVIVA is the VA’s next generation web-based EHR. In FY 2011 two AVIVA software modules were developed with the first AVIVA pilot site launched. Since then, the 3rd and 4th AVIVA software modules have been developed, the first AVIVA prototype module for the system facing interface were delivered, and the Intranet Portal strategy was designed. The FY 2013 budget request includes plans to deploy AVIVA modules to VA medical centers and develop additional modules for the AVIVA framework.
To address the concept of innovation, in 2011, the VA established the VA Innovation Initiative (VAi2) to draw expertise from individuals in government or from outside the government to obtain new ideas to produce innovative solutions to help veterans access services. The VAi2 initiative in FY 2012-2013 will continue implementing projects selected in previous competitions through pilot testing.
In 2012, the VAi2 initiative brought roughly 120 projects into their portfolio which range in size from doctor-lead process improvements costing only a few thousand dollars to multi-million dollar innovations. In addition to continuing to manage and support the VAi2 portfolio, new competitions both internal and external will be announced for 2012 and will be open to industry leaders, start-ups, and non-profits.
Developments in Broadband
To support the President’s National Wireless Initiative, the Department of Commerce’s FY 2013 budget request proposes to establish a program to develop a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network in the 700MHz band.
Today, the 10 megahertz of dedicated spectrum allocated to public safety in the 700 MHz band for broadband communications provides more than the required capacity for day-to-day communications. However, for the worst emergencies, even access to another 10 MHz of spectrum is insufficient. Therefore, priority access and roaming on the 700 MHz commercial networks is critical to providing adequate capacity in extreme situations.
So far, according to the Department of Commerce’s FY 2013 budget release, $2 million would be allotted to the Public Safety Communications Research program now being conducted by NIST with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
The demonstration has created a 700 MHz Public Safety Broadband Demonstration Network to help manufacturers have a site to deploy their systems, to help evaluate systems in a multi-vendor environment, and to stimulate integration opportunities for commercial service providers.
On February 17th, the establishment of a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network was included in the House of Representatives “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011” and passed. The bill has provisions to ensure that public safety broadband network research, development, and standards work would be conducted by NIST.
This legislation enables NIST to work with the telecommunications industry and the public safety community to help spur the development of cutting-edge wireless technologies for first responders.
The Department of Commerce’s FY 2013 budget request would establish a “State and Local Implementation Grant Program” to be administered by NTIA. Grants would to go to states to use to assist state, regional, tribal, and local jurisdictions to identify, plan and implement the most efficient and effective ways to use and integrate the infrastructure, equipment and other architecture associated with the network.
The grant program would begin in FY 2013 and would be administered over ten years with the total cost of $200 million to the federal government. The program would be fully offset by proceeds from spectrum incentive auctions to be conducted by the FCC.
In other news, NTIA has announced that the “National Broadband Map” has a new feature to make it easier to use the map while using a mobile device. The new feature allows anyone on the go using a mobile phone and the GPS system to more easily search broadband availability, summarize and rank data, and view a map of community anchor institutions.
Users of the mobile browser version of the National Broadband Map can swipe across panels of information and access additional information by sliding the footer panel up. A convenient sharing panel is also available at the top of each page. Traditional search is supported and the results are presented in a new format for mobile devices.
