6/20/2008
The Economist, in an article entitled
Telemedicine Comes Home explores embedding remote monitoring and smart technology into homes to promote prevention and wellness: "Taken to its technological conclusion, this would involve using wireless sensors and implants to screen entire populations for early signs of disease as they go about their daily lives. If it can be made to work, the days of making an appointment to see your doctor when you are not feeling well could be over. Instead, it may be your doctor who calls you."
Good Morning America, in a recent segment entitled
Does Telemedicine Work, recently evaluated three Web sites that offer online physician consultations for a fee. They concluded that such websites can be useful for routine problems but might lead to misleading diagnoses.
iHealth Beat, in a recent
audio report, examined a project in the Pecan Park area of Houston where people with chronic diseases are using inexpensive handheld wireless devices to monitor their health through an unusual wireless network using "mesh" technology.
6/20/2008
A study on the use of telemedicine in hospital emergency departments in
Australia has found that while specialists report being placed under greater stress, regional health professionals are reaping the benefits. The Medical Journal of Australia has reported the results of a study carried out between staff at a large metropolitan hospital and a small district hospital.
The co-author of the report, Professor Johanna Westbrook from the University of Sydney, says the system worked best when dealing with moderate trauma patients but the specialists found themselves under additional stress.
"We actually asked the clinicians how they felt about the system and what difference it makes to the way they worked," she said.
"One of the most interesting findings we found was that the specialist who were providing the advice actually sometimes indicated that it created additional stress for them.
"But what they actually said was that they can often now see and hear the patient and so it's like being in the room with a resuscitation going on but they actually don't have any power to take any action"
"So in some ways it can actually create a little more stress for those clinicians."
(Source: ABC News Australia, June 16, 2008)
A new report from the
European Health Telematics Association has issued a report detailing a series of recommendations for achieving sustainable telemedicine services in Europe by 2020.
The "Sustainable Telemedicine: paradigms for future-proof healthcare" report presents the current achievements and best practice examples drawn from a number of ongoing projects across Europe, as well as looking at the successes of some completed pilot projects.
EHTEL president, Martin Denz, said: "This emerging industry will not only have an enormous positive impact on the quality of chronically ill patients and elderly people but also alleviate pressure on national health systems and boost European economy by creating possibly millions of new jobs."
Recommendations made in the report include facilitating change in everyday operations for healthcare professionals and patients and using patient-centred telemedicine to involve and engage professionals and patients in the overall e-health strategy.
The association also calls for a European support framework to be established to coordinate progress and future deployments of sustainable telemedicine.
Denz added: "As part of a sustainable health and social care in an ageing European society, EHTEL believes that a new type of health service industry, composed mainly of public and private sector small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is emerging in Europe.
"This emerging industry and new innovative health service professionals should focus on high medical quality for premium health services with a special emphasis on quality of life for citizens and patients."
ETHEL says that SMEs should lead the change and establish a culture of interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration between different specialized medical fields.
Countries should formulate explicit national strategies, scenarios and business models for sustainable telemedicine, it adds.
Denz said:"I believe that SMEs have a major role to play in supporting the delivery of future health care through pro¬vision of care at home. This will not only directly contribute to the EU's Lisbon agenda goals of creating more jobs and growth, but also to the implementation of the block's Lead Market Initiative on creating innovative solutions for public services."
EHTEL says its report demonstrates a close relationship between traditional health professionals and the IT industry, who are seeking to combine high medical quality with entrepreneurship and sound business understanding.
One member, German mobile phone firm Vitaphone's chief medical officer. Harald Korb, said: "We are facing a dramatic increase of demand for our telemedicine services. In particular health insurance providers are seizing the occasion to support better and more efficient healthcare through embedding our integrated telemonitoring services for persons with cardiac risks and chronic diseases into their portfolios. Hence the usefulness and sustainability of our services is increasingly recognized."
(Source: E-Health Europe, May 28, 2008)
Several students from the University of Arizona College of Medicine are participating in an international videoconference with medical students from
Kosovo, the first such conference since the country declared its independence in February. The virtual conference marked collaboration between the Arizona Telemedicine Program and the Telemedicine Program of Kosovo, two top-ranking programs in the world of telemedicine, a form of telecommunication technology to serve patients, as well as bring information to health care providers across the globe.
Dr. Marlys H. Witte, UA professor of surgery and Dr. Rifat Latifi, director and founder of the Telemedicine Program in Kosovo, led the conference from the College of Medicine. The conference was broadcast in Prishtina, the capital of The Republic of Kosovo, where over 75 medical students and physicians looked on while five UA students presented projects carried out while in the Medical Student Research Program headed by Witte.
Witte's contribution to the conference was in the realm of what she called "ignoramics," a concept geared in promoting more questioning among those in the medical profession and in hospitals she finds "filled with ignorance as well as knowledge."
"Its all about questions instead of answers," Witte said. "When you think about medicine, you think of giving answers, but it's also about finding good questions and improving things."
Among the students participating in the conference was Drew Kurtzman, a UA 1st-year doctoral medical student. Kurtzman is no stranger to ground-breaking medical procedures. His work with translational research alongside Dr. Daruka Mehadavan resulted in finding a new combination of drugs that could be used to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors with noticeably less side effects.
The conference gave Kurtzman the opportunity to appreciate the global appeal of the telemedicine program, something he was previously unfamiliar with, he said.
"They are using it to train students who have limited access to hospitals and don't have as many resources as us," Kurtzman said. "So it is good for sharing info and also for them to learn how to become a physician."
Latifi started the Telemedicine Program in Kosovo when he returned to his home country seeking a way to better transfer medical assistance to thousands of refugees and others he saw suffering in the war-torn Balkan states, Latifi said.
Following a series of presentations given by Latifi illustrating the aftermath of ethnic and political turmoil that left the area void of satisfactory health care professionals and institutions, his dream materialized with enough funding in line to start what he entitled the "International Virtual e-Hospital" in Kosovo.
While the experience was primarily an educational one for participating students, they also appreciate the historical significance of the program, said Nataliya Biskup, a 2nd-year doctoral medical student.
"It was kind of strange to be able to be communicating halfway around the world," Biskup said, "but the potential is really amazing."
Biskup presented her development of a rotary that can be used to remove plaque from arteries that block blood flow and cause coronary artery disease.
In the future, Latifi hopes to be able to interact more internationally, expanding the telemedicine program at the UA and making it more common for students and professionals to consult with clinicians worldwide on a regular basis.
"Students and faculty will have tremendous benefits with exposure," Latifi said. "It will build bridges with other schools around the world."
In Kosovo and other similar countries, students learn mostly by observation, something Latifi would like to see change with more integration.
Biskup said her participation in the teleconference played on her interests in international medicine and made it clear that telemedicine "makes communication easier with people we probably wouldn't have heard from or have been exposed to."
Witte said the example students set with Kosovo is significant, and in the future, both parties will be able to do research and ask questions with more of an interchange.
"This is just the beginning of an adventure to expand," Witte said. "This was set up as a prototype with other countries focusing on medical students and also having an exchange that's physical as well as intellectual."
(Source: Arizona Daily Wildcat, June 18, 2008)
Guam Memorial Hospital (GMH) recently unveiled its new telemedicine equipment. Lieutenant Governor Mike Cruz was on hand to witness the unveiling of the equipment which is expected to play a crucial role in saving lives on Guam.
Cruz said the equipment will ensure that residents will receive care without having to go off-island. The two telemedicine stations were donated to GMH by Dr Nathaniel Berg and The Guam Healthcare and Hospital Development Foundation. The equipment cost around $60,000.
Peter Sgro, chairman of the foundation, said the equipment will be positioned in the hospital's conference room and education conference room.
The equipment was tested by physicians from Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.
While an agreement has been made with the hospital for the donation, Berg said it is not an exclusive agreement, and that the hospital may receive consultation from physicians anywhere in the world.
(Source: Pacific News Center, June 4, 2008)
5/24/2008
Support the TIE
The ATSP wishes to thank
A&D Medical, sponsors of the TIE's
Home Telehealth section for its continued support. A&D Medical offers innovative products that combine cutting-edge technology and convenience.
The TIE is maintained by the
Association of Telehealth Service Providers, relying on
sponsorships and
memberships in order to maintain operations.
Get Published on the TIE
The Telemedicine Information Exchange welcomes submissions of original articles on topics appropriate for this website. Possible subjects might include commentary on telemedicine/telehealth issues or policy, reports of current research projects, or new applications of telemedicine/telehealth.
5/24/2008
The
Canadian province of Saskatchewan's move to regulate telehealth could steer out-of-province doctors away from the practice, a national advocacy group says. The Canadian Society of Telehealth wrote to Health Minister Don McMorris earlier this month asking him not to approve a proposed bylaw that would require doctors to get a special license and pay a fee to treat and diagnose Saskatchewan patients by phone, videoconference, Internet and other technological means.
"The bylaw proposal put forward by (the) Saskatchewan College of Physicians and Surgeons will significantly reduce the willingness of non-Saskatchewan-based physicians to provide telehealth services to Saskatchewan residents," society president Laurie Poole wrote to McMorris. "By imposing this fee, the college is effectively transferring significant costs and inconvenience back to the patient."
But college associate registrar Bryan Salte said the group has it wrong. Current Saskatchewan law makes it illegal for doctors to see patients without being licensed in the province, and that is preventing some doctors from offering the service at all.
In fact, some doctors have even said they will stop offering telemedicine in Saskatchewan until they can do it legally, Salte said.
"I don't see how a bylaw deters people any more than this current hurdle does," Salte said.
Last month, the college's council passed a bylaw to create a new class of license for doctors who want to see Saskatchewan patients via telemedicine. Those treating 12 or fewer patients in a year would pay nothing; seeing between 13 and 52 patients would cost $250. Getting the license would require less paperwork than a full medical license. Anyone seeing 52 patients or more each year would need to shell out $1,430 for a regular Saskatchewan license.
Trevor Cradduck, vice-president of the Canadian Society of Telehealth's board, worries creating these bureaucratic hoops means doctors won't make the effort to jump through them.
"Even if it's for free, they're unlikely to send all of the paperwork to the College of Physicians in Saskatchewan," Cradduck said. "It's so much easier to say, 'Come and see my in my office.' "
When patients have to travel for such consultations, it's a burden on their finances and their time, Cradduck said. Gas, airfare, hotels and food aren't covered medical expenses, and a caregiver may need to take time off work -- all for what might amount to a 10-minute appointment with a specialist.
Cradduck said Quebec and B.C. have dodged the problem by defining telehealth as the practice of medicine where the doctor is located (and already has a license). The society would like to see a national system of permits that would allow doctors to do telemedicine across Canada without applying individually to each province and territory.
Salte said the new bylaw -- once it has the minister's approval -- is supposed to encourage doctors to do telemedicine in Saskatchewan, not push them away.
Salte said a national system of permits wouldn't be allowed under the Canadian constitution, which gives provinces the power to license doctors. Even then, physicians would still need to fill out paperwork to get a permit.
Furthermore, not charging doctors for telemedicine permits would mean the cost of keeping tabs on them would be offloaded onto doctors who live in Saskatchewan and pay to be licensed, Salte said. That would be unfair, since some out-of-province doctors want to do telemedicine to make money.
If anyone is to practice telemedicine legally, the government will either have to approve the college's proposed bylaw, he said, or amend the Medical Profession Act, potentially creating new problems about regulating offshore doctors.
McMorris said the ministry is currently mulling the issue over. He hasn't yet been briefed or made a decision about the college's proposed bylaw.
"It's always a balancing act," he said. "We want to ensure that the safety of the public is paramount. We also realize the benefits of telehealth."
(Source: The Saskatoon StarPhoenix, May 16, 2008)
The three three national eHealth and telemedicine associations of
Germany,
Austria and
Switzerland have recently joined forces and enforced their cooperation by a formal agreement.
Across Europe and worldwide, telemedicine and telehealth services respond to today's health and social demands, i.e. treatment of chronic patients, support for the quality of life of elderly people living at home and the empowerment of citizens/patients to make healthcare choices. With the evolving European-wide availability of eHealth infrastructures, new opportunities for highly interconnected telemedicine services emerge. Given the ubiquity of networks and the mobility of patients in Europe it is impossible to deploy sustainable telemedicine services without international, European and worldwide dimensions.
To accomplish this joint vision, the three National eHealth and Telemedicine Associations of Germany (DGG), Austria (ASSTeH) and Switzerland (SATMeH) have recently joined forces and enforced their cooperation by a formal agreement. The agreement was signed at the "1st D-A-CH Cooperation Meeting" held in Mannheim, Germany, in the premises of Vitaphone, one of the pioneers in the provision of telemedicine services supported by a highly professional Telemedicine Service Centre. The cooperation agreement foresees close, cross-border collaboration for various subjects of eHealth and telemedicine supported by regular consultations and joint meetings of the associations. Foreseen results are joint publications, conferences and exhibitions at medical and eHealth fairs. Even more important will be the development of agreed guidelines for various aspects of telemedicine, educational curricula and providing harmonised advice to model and pilot projects.
As G�nter Steyer, President of the DGG states "The significance of telemedicine in practice is vastly increasing throughout Europe. Following the introduction of health telematics infrastructures like e.g. the German eHealth card, clinical teleservices become increasingly important. Also the European Commission has prioritised telemedicine in its 2008 action planning. Especially for chronic diseases and patients at risk, telemedicine is an essential module to cope with the challenges of the European Healthcare systems, particularly those induced by the demographic changes. The cooperation of the European Associations for eHealth and telemedicine is hence of utmost importance to pave the way for a coherent European eHealth infrastructure, which has to be build on international standardisation while still recognising National developments and regulations."
(Source: eHealth News, May 11, 2008)
Monrovia has opened a new telemedicine center in the city of Ulaanbaatar in the Scientific Center for Mother and Infant. The center will allow Mongolians who must travel great distances to see a doctor to, instead, receive medical assistance via the telephone.
The system will cover all residents of eight provinces including Khovd, Khovsgol, Dornod, Ovorkhangai, Darkhan-Uul, Orkhon, Selenger, and Dornogobi.
Since the telemedicine program was launched in Mongolia in September 2007, some 700,000 Mongolians have taken advantage of the service.
(Source: Mongolia Web News, May 20, 2008)
On the surface, it seems quite ordinary - a medium-sized, silver box not much different than your average suitcase, but the equipment inside has changed the way patients recover from heart surgery. With the equipment, nurses at Saint John Hospital in New Brunswick,
Canada, are able to measure the vital signs, electrocardiogram, blood pressure and oxygen saturation of patients recovering from surgery in their home, and determine if they are recovering properly or need additional assistance.
Now in its 10th year, the telehealth's program coordinator Krisan Palmer was honored as "industry person of the year" at the knowledge industry award ceremony earlier this month. "It's nice to know we're finally being recognized by the IT sector, that telehealth is a viable industry," she says.
The telehealth center is a small operation, run by a staff of 10, including Palmer and a secretary, out of a small space on the first floor of the Saint John Regional Hospital.
The applications, says Palmer, are endless, and help serve patients from all over New Brunswick and beyond. But it's the post-cardiac surgery care program that began in 1998 that really sets Saint John's telehealth program apart.
The program has served 4,000 patients in and around New Brunswick, and this year Palmer expects to assist more than 700 through the program.
"It's the fact that psychologically these patients are going home but they don't feel like they're going home alone. They know they're talking to a nurse every day," said Marc Pelletier, head heart surgeon at the Saint John hospital.
Pelletier was born in Edmundston, but after studying at top schools across North America, he returned to New Brunswick last summer to take the top job, after James Parrott, who helped found the telehealth centre, retired.
"I was in California, at Stanford, the mecca as it relates to information technology - the school where the Google guys went, all that stuff - but something like this wasn't even on the radar," he says.
"I come here, kind of a have-not-province, but it's got a very good cardiac centre and one of the reasons it's good is things like (telehealth)."
When Palmer first made the switch from working as a nurse in intensive care to the telehealth department, she was hardly a technological wizard.
It took her an hour to figure out how to turn on her laptop when she first took it home, she says. But since then, she's become a pioneer in her field, won several awards, and called "one of the country's foremost experts on long distance applications for healthcare" by Time magazine.
Health care providers from around the globe - Nunavut, Virginia, Norway, Sweden, Cameroon, China - have since come knocking for help to set up similar programs.
Palmer says the technology is not just for people that live far from the regional hospital; it has also proven cost-effective for local patients.
"People say it's not for people in Saint John or Quispamsis," she says.
"But if you look at the example of a congestive heart failure patient with a low income who lives uptown, it's a cab here and a cab back. That's twenty dollars out of their pocket that they may not have."
Though the technology is not new, there still isn't a standard, marketed piece of equipment designed to serve patients recovering from heart surgery in their home.
Palmer and the telehealth team worked technology companies and health organizations in 1998 to develop their own machine that combined a video phone, with equipment to measure vitals, and other important information. All of it fits in the fire proof silver case patients or their caregiver can put back on a bus to Saint John when they're done.
Palmer says they are in the process of creating a more advanced version of the equipment.
The new units will allow people to hook the machine up to the internet (or phone jack), and will be adaptable to serve patients with other problems, such as congestive heart failure, diabetes, high-risk pregnancies.
"Once they finish the development of it they will take that to market and I'm sure that it'll be old news because everybody will be doing it."
(Source: New Brunswick Business Journal, May 19, 2008)
5/24/2008
The home telehealth and remote patient monitoring market is currently close to a $5.6 billion level and will continue to grow at close to 70% for at least the next three to five years, according to a new strategic report published by Insight and Intelligence, a Mary Ann Liebert company. Insight and Intelligence interviewed industry leaders, conducted surveys, utilized government and other agency databases, as well as reviews of published literature to provide an in-depth look at the home telehealth and remote patient monitoring market segment of the telemedicine industry.
The healthcare provider market segment (companies that provide telemedicine services to health care providers) is represented by a number of small to medium-sized companies with average annual revenue of approximately $6.6 million. These companies' combined average revenue growth, however, is significant, approaching 72%. Consumer companies (defined as companies that provide services directly to the consumer) tend to be larger with combined average annual revenue of approximately $121.3 million. Their combined annual revenue growth is even more explosive than that of healthcare provider companies, with a combined average range of 118.5% to 193.5%.
The full report will be available in late June from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
(Source: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Press Release, May 22, 2008)5/9/2008
Remote monitoring can improve the condition of mobile heart failure patients and may reduce hospital readmissions, according to a pilot study that included 150 patients admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
The patients, average age 70, were randomly selected to receive usual care for heart failure (68 patients) or remote monitoring (42 patients). Forty of the patients declined to participate. The study was conducted by the Center for Connected Health, a division of Partners HealthCare.
The patients in the remote monitoring group received telemonitoring equipment to track vital signs such as heart rate, pulse and blood pressure. They weighed themselves daily and answered a set of questions about symptoms every day. The information was transmitted via the telemonitoring device to a nurse, who would call weekly or more often if a patient's vital signs were outside normal parameters.
After three months, patients in the remote monitoring group had lower average hospital readmission rates (31 percent) compared to patients in usual care (38 percent) and those who refused to participate (45 percent). The patients in the remote monitoring group also had fewer heart failure-related readmissions and emergency room visits than patients in the other two groups.
"The goal of our Connected Cardiac Care program for this group of patients is to reduce hospital readmissions, provide timely intervention and help them understand their condition using home telemonitoring," lead author Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha, a research fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a prepared statement.
"Participating physicians are pleased with the program and consider it a success," said Kulshreshtha, who added that the initial data suggests that "Connected Cardiac Care is a win-win for our patients and health-care providers," and has the potential to have "a dramatic impact on improving the lives of heart failure patients and reducing hospital admissions."
The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke, in Baltimore.
The researchers plan to expand the Connected Cardiac Care program to target 350 mobile heart failure patients by this summer.
An estimated 5.3 million Americans have heart failure, and hospital discharges for the condition increased from 400,000 in 1979 to 1.08 million in 2005, an increase of 171 percent, according to background information in a news release about the study.
(Source: Washington Post, May 1, 2008)
5/9/2008
A researcher with the University of Missouri discovered that patients who received a telehealth intervention from care providers experienced significantly delayed hospital readmission rates when compared to patients who received only traditional care.
"Telehealth interventions have the potential to allow for earlier detection of key clinical symptoms, triggering early intervention from providers and reducing the need for patient hospitalization," said Bonnie Wakefield, professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing, in a statement. "Reducing the length and frequency of hospital stays can lower healthcare costs for patients and hospitals, which helps patients manage their diseases and ultimately feel better."
To better understand the relationship between the use of technology and patient-provider interactions, Wakefield evaluated the effectiveness of a telehealth home-based intervention in patients with heart failure.
These patients were randomly selected to receive follow-up by telephone or videophone after hospitalization for heart failure. Wakefield noted that previous research on traditional clinic visits found that quality patient-provider relationships can improve patient satisfaction, adherence to treatment, clinical outcomes and understanding of information.
"Telehealth does not necessarily change the care providers give. Rather, it changes the communication channel between clinicians and patients to minimize geographic barriers and enhance delivery of service," Wakefield said. "According to patients, it is not important how the interaction happens, but just that it happens. People who suffer from chronic illnesses usually wait three to six months between office appointments with their care providers."
"With video and telephone technology, nurses have the ability to interact regularly with patients and provide a sense of security. Patients discuss concerns on a frequent basis, and nurses give advice and detect problems that the patient might not notice," added Wakefield.
Wakefield highlighted that it is critical to accurately match technologies to patient needs. Further evaluation is needed to determine which patients may benefit most from specific telehealth applications and which technologies are most cost effective.
"Although older patients may not be accustomed to using technology, it doesn't mean they aren't willing to learn," Wakefield said. "Older patients feel they are contributing to society and education by testing innovative technology. They appreciate when health care professionals take time to invest in their well-being".
The study, "Home Telehealth for Heart Failure," is set to be published in the Journal of Telemedicine and e-Health.
Wakefield's study sheds light on key areas of opportunity where technology can be used to improve a patient's recovery and shorten downtime after hospitalization. Such findings will not only lead to new explorations within the health community, it will also contribute to new applications that will be available in the industry to address these specific issues. Such advancements will be a positive addition for the healthcare industry, and new revenue opportunities for vendors.
(Source: TMCnet, May 8, 2008)
5/9/2008
Implementation of Home Telemonitoring for Chronic Disease: New Article on the TIE
A
new article on a case study for implementing a home telehealth program has recently been published on the TIE's
article section. The article summarizes a study to query the sequence of medical professionals, hospital liaisons, quality controls, and home health nurses about the implementation of telemonitoring. It looks at what barriers stood in the way of a telemonitor protocol from becoming the standard of practice, and what changes where deemed necessary to implement this technology.
Support the TIE
The ATSP wishes to thank
A&D Medical, sponsors of the TIE's
Home Telehealth section for its continued support. A&D Medical offers innovative products that combine cutting-edge technology and convenience.
The TIE is maintained by the
Association of Telehealth Service Providers, relying on
sponsorships and
memberships in order to maintain operations.
Get Published on the TIE
The Telemedicine Information Exchange welcomes submissions of original articles on topics appropriate for this website. Possible subjects might include commentary on telemedicine/telehealth issues or policy, reports of current research projects, or new applications of telemedicine/telehealth.
5/9/2008
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Saskatchewan, Canada has decided doctors who counsel or diagnose Saskatchewan patients through video, telephone or the Internet are technically practicing medicine in the province -- and should be licensed the province. The college's council passed a bylaw spelling out new rules governing the practice of telemedicine in Saskatchewan, college lawyer and associate registrar Bryan Salte said.
Health Minister Don McMorris has 90 days to consider the bylaw, Salte said. The rules will take effect as soon as the minister gives his OK.
Last fall, Salte told the college council he knew of at least two cases where patients had to travel out-of-province -- one to Calgary and the other to Toronto -- to see doctors, when the same consultation could have happened by videoconference.
"It usually saves the patients a great deal of challenge, or inconvenience, if they can simply go to a telemedicine centre in Saskatoon when the physician's in Edmonton," Salte said. "It avoids them having to do all that travel."
Also, several out-of-province doctors have contacted the college, saying they'd be willing to see Saskatchewan patients remotely, but Salte was unable to say whether they'd be breaking the law.
Doctors' insurance coverage could also be a problem. If a (hypothetical) B.C. physician jumps in to provide an emergency consultation to a Saskatchewan patient "out of the goodness of his or her heart," a physician could face serious consequences for practising somewhere insurance doesn't cover them, Salte said.
If adopted, Canadian doctors can apply through a simplified licensing procedure, in which they prove they have the credentials to be licensed in Saskatchewan. If they plan on seeing fewer than 13 patients a year via teleconference, the license would be free. Those seeing between 13 and 52 patients will need to pay a $250 licensing fee and doctors who will see more than 52 patients will need to shell out the $1,430 for a regular Saskatchewan license.
Telemedicine has the potential to become increasingly important in the field of radiology, Salte said. The province's hospitals are in the process of digitizing imaging tests like CT scans, MRIs and X-rays, so once captured, the images could be viewed by health professionals across the province -- or beyond, if necessary.
"With the digitalization of those images, it means you can interpret those images easily in your office, or in Vancouver, or in Toronto," Salte said.
Salte said he also knows of an epilepsy clinic in Edmonton that has been seeing some pediatric Saskatchewan patients. Some similar consultations could be done via videoconference.
Saskatchewan is one of the last provinces in Canada to move to regulate telemedicine, despite a national recommendation a decade ago saying the provinces should adopt consistent rules governing the practice.
(Source: The Saskatoon Star Phoenix, April 28, 2008)
Northern Ireland's Department of Health and Social Services is getting set to issue a grant for the supply of telehealth services to cover 5,000 people by 2011. The initiative will see Northern Ireland invest �46m in telemedicine services to better support chronic disease management. Some 40 telehealth suppliers hoping to participate are today in Belfast for an information exchange day and expo, demonstrating their products and services.
Once implemented, the province will become one of Europe's leading providers of telehealth services to its population.
"The aim is to do this at scale and find new ways of working," said Dr Andrew McCormick, permanent secretary of Northern Ireland's Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety, speaking at the e-health 2008 conference in Portoroz, Slovenia.
Dr McCormick added: "This is an example of what can be done with new technology and an opportunity to respond to the challenges of ageing populations we will all face." He explained that the province faces particular demographic pressures as it moves from away having a relatively young population.
He said Northern Ireland had the advantage of one integrated health and social care agency with responsibility for the planning, delivery, finance and regulation of health and social care. "There are opportunities that arise from that."
Dr McCormick explained that Northern Ireland had developed "a public health-led strategy based on ICT-enabled early intervention."
An early tangible result of this strategy was the January opening of the European centre for Connected Health in Belfast.
Dr McCormick added Northern Ireland benefited from being a good size to carry forward e-health projects of this kind. "We're small enough to work quickly but large enough to be meaningful."
The permanent secretary added: "Northern Ireland has the potential to be a pilot at the European level and show how ideas can be applied."
(E-Health Insider, May 8, 2008)
Hospitals in Dubai in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) have implemented telemedicine systems that ensure patients stay in constant touch with their health providers in case of emergencies. "They need not panic and rush to hospital fearing the worst," explained Dr Azan Binbrek, consultant cardiologist and head of Cardiology Department in Rashid Hospital.
Patient data is recorded and transmitted via landline/mobile telephone through the event recorder, a simple device which also acts and an ECG machine. The collected data is then processed and immediately relayed vie email/fax to the healthcare professional.
"Telemedical monitoring offers many advantages and new opportunities for patient management in the field of cardiology (as well as for those suffering from other chronic illnesses, including diabetes and blood pressure," he pointed out.
He said that many people, including youngsters, faced palpitations from time to time. "These may be benign in nature, but as care providers, we have to distinguish between them correctly. By the time a patient rushes to the hospital, the vital recordings needed may not be available. In this case, the event recorder plays an important role by sending the required data to a physician on time," explained Dr Binbrek.
Dr Fauz Gataby, Marketing Associate, Vitaphone ME, providers of similar German technology explains that telemedicine is already being used worldwide to monitor chronic illnesses. "A cardiac patient cannot make it to a hospital before two hours minimum. The time lapse causes gaps in proper ECG recordings," he said.
Using the gadget is easy. "Place it on your chest, and press a button. The ECG will be done automatically. This data has to be transferred to a mobile or regular phone through the infrared which will convert it to a PDF file and send it to a pre-allocated number (to a healthcare provider)," says Dr Gataby.
(Source: Khaleej Times, May 3, 2008)
4/16/2008
Philips Electronics recently released the final results of a survey conducted by Fazzi Associates of nearly 1,000 home care agencies in the United States. Results of the Philips National Study on the Future of Technology and Telehealth in Home Care show that nearly one third of large agencies are currently using a telehealth system and that industry use of telehealth is expected to double over the next two years, principally as a means of managing patients with chronic disease. In addition, over 88 percent of agencies report that telehealth services led to an increase in quality outcomes, as evidenced by a reduction in unplanned hospitalizations and ER visits, and over 71 percent report an improvement in patient satisfaction.
Co-sponsored by Philips, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), and Fazzi Associates, this first-of-its-kind study gathered insights about the use of home care technology from nearly 1,000 agencies across the U.S. The study represented all major segments of home care: large and small, rural and urban, free-standing and hospital-based, and for profit and not-for-profit.
"What makes this study so important is that it is the first representative sample study on technology and telehealth in home care that has ever been undertaken," said Val Halamandaris, president and CEO of NAHC. "We now have a much clearer sense of how specific segments of home care are responding to and using these technologies. One finding that is particularly significant is that the utilization of telehealth by home care agencies also correlates directly with providing the highest quality of care."
"Philips Home Healthcare Solutions was pleased to sponsor a study of this magnitude that could provide insights to advance the home care industry, as well as share these findings at no cost to the field," said Mike Lemnitzer, senior director, Philips Telehealth Solutions. "We believe that home health agencies will be a critical part of the solution to the U.S. healthcare crisis and ensure a continuum of care from the hospital to the home."
According to Dr. Robert Fazzi, project co-director, the Philips study was designed to address questions that are most on the minds of agency leaders about the role of four major home care technologies: human resources and billing systems, point of care systems, electronic medical records, and telehealth systems. 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. Among the 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.
- 83.9 percent state that less than one in ten patients refused a home telehealth system.
- 79.2 percent of patients or family members were reluctant to have the telemonitoring system removed.
- 42.8 percent report that telehealth led to a reduction in cost. A similar number reported it as cost-neutral.
- 63.5 percent report that telehealth had no impact on clinical caseloads. As more agencies use telehealth and move up the learning curve, clinical productivity measures may increase
- 49.7 percent report telehealth decreased on-site visits
- 45.2 percent report telehealth increased the number of referrals
- 56.9 percent report that their nurses were very receptive to having a telehealth service after one year as compared to 36.3 percent at the beginning of the program.
- 89.1 percent stated that given everything they know today, they would still have started their telehealth program.
To request a copy of the full report, please visit
www.philips.com/HomeCareStudy.
(Source: Philips Press Release, April 4, 2008)
