Samsung unveils wristband that can measure health, fitness

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd moved deeper into the wearable technology market on Wednesday as it unveiled a wristband that it claims can give a range of real-time health and fitness information.

At a press event in San Francisco, the world's biggest handset maker announced Simband, a new "investigational" device that can be used to measure body temperature, blood oxygen levels, motion and other metrics on a continuous basis.

The prototype "smart" band is not intended to be sold as is but serve as a "foundation" for third party developers to build a device that incorporates "optical, acoustic and electronic sensors," Samsung's vice president of digital health Ram Fish said.

Young Sohn, president and chief strategy officer for Samsung Electronics, speaks in San Francisco. Photo: AP/Ben Margot

"We want to bring in talent from the outside," said Young Sohn, president and chief strategy officer for Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions.

Samsung unveiled the Simband at a time when Apple Inc is said to be developing its own wrist device to compete in the wearable technology sector.

Executives for the Korean company said Simband features a shuttle battery, which charges when the wearer is inactive, and is equipped with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The device was developed in concert with researchers from Belgium-based IMEC and the University of California San Francisco.

This new platform goes hand-in-hand with Samsung Architecture Multimodal Interactions ("SAMI"), a "bank" to store sensitive health data on the Galaxy S devices. The goal for SAMI is to gather data from various health and fitness applications, and offer "insights" to consumers, Samsung said.

Ram Fish, Vice President of Digital Health for Samsung Electronics, displays the Simband he is wearing on an overhead screen in San Francisco.Photo: AP/Ben Margot

"Samsung doesn't own the data, you do," said Fish. "We are a custodian of it."

Samsung plans to market SAMI by hosting a developer challenge and setting aside a $50 million fund for early-stage digital health entrepreneurs. Sohn said the company has already begun investing, recently providing funding to an early-stage entrepreneur building a noninvasive glucose monitoring solution.

The company has struggled to woo developers in recent years, notably with Tizen, its operating system that competes with Google Inc. Samsung may fail to gain much traction with wearable device makers, sources said.

Sohn declined to comment on Apple, which is rumored to be building its own wearable iWatch.

Ram Fish, Vice President of Digital Health for Samsung Electronics, gestures while speaking in San Francisco. Samsung executives are outlining their vision for sensors that track fitness and other gauges of health. Samsung is pushing for a common system so that different manufacturers can interchange key parts such as the wristband. Photo: AP/Ben Margot

Samsung's announcement could be seen as a preemptive move, with Apple hosting its much-anticipated developer conference in less than a week.

Samsung plans to provide more specific information about both new platforms at its own developer conference, which is expected to take place in November. Sohn said the research and development teams are already exploring "locations" for wearable devices other than the wrist.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/gadgets-updates/samsung-unveils-wristband-that-can-measure-health-fitness/article1-1223993.aspx

NCQA: Health IT Can Be Tapped To Support Patient Engagement

Friday, April 25, 2014

Successful integration of patient engagement tools into health IT systems has "the potential to improve inefficient communication methods and change the dynamic of the relationship between the patient and health care system," according to a new report from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, EHR Intelligence reports. 

However, the report noted that there is not yet a complete framework for boosting patient engagement through health IT systems.

Details of Report

In a survey, the report authors identified six common themes of "opportunities and challenges" related to patient engagement through health IT:

• Patient engagement is an untapped opportunity with major potential, especially among marginalized groups;
• Health IT should adopt a user-based model that originates from the needs and preferences of patients;
• There is a dearth of evidence on the effectiveness of such tools;
• Patient-engagement tools should be integrated into overall health care IT systems;
• Patient and consumer trust needs to be fostered; and
• Leadership and collaboration among stakeholders are necessary to realize the full potential.

The report also detailed four activities that will help the industry identify and develop a cohesive strategy for patient engagement through health IT, including:

• Developing joint principles that will facilitate the design, creation and adoption of health IT tools that boost patient care, improve overall population health and lower health care costs;
• Creating and implementing an evaluation framework that focuses on investment and prioritizes consumer choice;
• Facilitating the creation of a unified health data integration strategy focused on patient engagement; and
• Demonstrating innovative ways to use IT tools for patient engagement.

Comments

In the report, the authors wrote that "[h]ealth IT tools for patient engagement are often disconnected from the health care system and in need of full integration across all opportunities for engagement." However, the report added that successful integration of patient engagement in health IT systems has "the potential to improve inefficient communication methods and change the dynamic of the relationship between the patient and health care system."

NCQA President Margaret O'Kane said the "core idea" of the report is that health IT "should be designed around the needs and preferences of patients." She added that "the question of how to link [health IT] and patient engagement is an area where a unified strategy is most needed" (Murphy,EHR Intelligence, 4/23).

http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2014/4/25/ncqa-health-it-can-be-tapped-to-support-patient-engagement

Nearly 9 out 10 Adults May Lack the Skills Needed to Manage their Health and Prevent Disease

What is health literacy?

Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.¹

Health literacy is dependent on individual and systemic factors:

• Communication skills of lay persons and professionals
• Lay and professional knowledge of health topics
• Culture
• Demands of the healthcare and public health systems
• Demands of the situation/context

Health literacy affects people's ability to:

• Navigate the healthcare system, including filling out complex forms and locating providers and services
• Share personal information, such as health history, with providers
• Engage in self-care and chronic-disease management
• Understand mathematical concepts such as probability and risk

Health literacy includes numeracy skills. For example, calculating cholesterol and blood sugar levels, measuring medications, and understanding nutrition labels all require math skills. Choosing between health plans or comparing prescription drug coverage requires calculating premiums, copays, and deductibles.

In addition to basic literacy skills, health literacy requires knowledge of health topics. People with limited health literacy often lack knowledge or have misinformation about the body as well as the nature and causes of disease. Without this knowledge, they may not understand the relationship between lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise and various health outcomes.

Health information can overwhelm even persons with advanced literacy skills. Medical science progresses rapidly. What people may have learned about health or biology during their school years often becomes outdated or forgotten, or it is incomplete. Moreover, health information provided in a stressful or unfamiliar situation is unlikely to be retained.

Why is health literacy important?

Only 12 percent of adults have Proficient health literacy, according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy.  In other words, nearly nine out of ten adults may lack the skills needed to manage their health and prevent disease.  Fourteen percent of adults (30 million people) have Below Basic health literacy.  These adults were more likely to report their health as poor (42 percent) and are more likely to lack health insurance (28 percent) than adults with Proficient health literacy.⁶

Low literacy has been linked to poor health outcomes such as higher rates of hospitalization and less frequent use of preventive services (see Fact Sheet: Health Literacy and Health Outcomes). Both of these outcomes are associated with higher healthcare costs.

Key research study findings on the relationship between health literacy and health outcomes:

http://www.health.gov/communication/literacy/quickguide/factsliteracy.htm

Use of preventive services

According to research studies, persons with limited health literacy skills are more likely to skip important preventive measures such as mammograms, Pap smears, and flu shots.¹ When compared to those with adequate health literacy skills, studies have shown that patients with limited health literacy skills enter the healthcare system when they are sicker.²

Knowledge about medical conditions and treatment

Persons with limited health literacy skills are more likely to have chronic conditions and are less able to manage them effectively. Studies have found that patients with high blood pressure,³ diabetes,^3-5 asthma,⁶ or HIV/AIDS^7-9who have limited health literacy skills have less knowledge of their illness and its management.

Rates of hospitalization

Limited health literacy skills are associated with an increase in preventable hospital visits and admissions.^10-13 Studies have demonstrated a higher rate of hospitalization and use of emergency services among patients with limited literacy skills.¹²

Health status

Studies demonstrate that persons with limited health literacy skills are significantly more likely than persons with adequate health literacy skills to report their health as poor.^10, 12 14

Healthcare costs

Persons with limited health literacy skills make greater use of services designed to treat complications of disease and less use of services designed to prevent complications.^1, 11-13 Studies demonstrate a higher rate of hospitalization and use of emergency services among patients with limited health literacy skills.^10-13 This higher use is associated with higher healthcare costs.^15 16,

Stigma and shame

Low health literacy may also have negative psychological effects. One study found that those with limited health literacy skills reported a sense of shame about their skill level.¹⁷ As a result, they may hide reading or vocabulary difficulties to maintain their dignity.¹⁸

Partner with mHealth Games to promote health literacy and begin improving health outcomes today!

Humana’s latest digital health pilot will test remote patient monitoring for Type 2 diabetes

Over the last nine months, Humana (NYSE:HUM) has undertaken a series of pilot projects aimed at testing the potential of remote patient monitoring in reducing hospital readmissions, improving health outcomes and cut costs.

Its latest program, called Activities in Daily Living, will utilize an engagement platform from Pharos Innovations to help its Medicare Advantage members better manage their Type 2 diabetes at home.

Humana said that select members in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Texas who have diabetes and take insulin or another diabetes medication will use Pharos’ Tel-Assurance platform to self-report health information like blood sugar levels, symptoms, diet and medication adherence daily. They can use a cellphone, telephone or internet to report the information, which will be reviewed by Tel-Assurance nurses. The nurses who will reach out to the member if any of the data indicates complications or cause for concern.

“We’re expecting to reduce unnecessary inpatient admissions and to improve self-care management,” a Humana rep said in an email.

This is the fourth remote monitoring pilot Humana has launched recently. It partnered with home health monitoring Valued Relationships Inc. and Healthsense on two separate pilots aimed at using sensors and medical alert systems to reduce serious long-term effects of falls and emergencies, and cut unnecessary emergency room visits. The insurer is also working with AMC Health on a pilot program using remote monitoring to improve congestive heart failure outcomes.As health insurers adapt to consumer-driven health and accountable care models, they’re making moves to do a better job of proactively engaging members in their health.

The diabetes pilot will run for six months and include 500 members.

Read more: http://medcitynews.com/2014/04/humanas-latest-digital-health-pilot-will-test-remote-patient-monitoring-type-2-diabetes/#ixzz2xugY0AEI

Malcolm Gladwell Keynotes Healthcare Data Interoperability Summit

The global narrative for “digital health” is relatively easy because the opportunities are so enormous. The only real limit is our imagination. Some of the more recent developments have been breathtaking – and include everything from genomics and personalized medicine to 3-D printing to putting healthcare literally in the palm of our hands (or the embedded sensors we will all wear or consume). At the core of it all is a single strategic component – data.

But the challenges are equally enormous – and nowhere is that more evident than data interoperability. This key alignment is at the heart of enormous (often competing) financial interests, true patient engagement and the health (both financial and clinical) of nations – including our own. The lack of this alignment is more than just inconvenient because it often results in gross inefficiencies, fraud, misaligned incentives and errors – all of which result in outcomes that are more expensive and less than desirable (including death).

There were a fair number of healthcare events last month including the largest healthcare IT event of the year – HIMSS. Now in its 53rd year, HIMSS attendance is nearing 40,000 with about 1,000 vendors and hundreds of educational tracks – all of which descended on Orlando, Florida for the better part of last week. As the CEO of Aetna Aetna, Mark Bertolini’s keynote stood out (here) and Hillary Clinton was standing room only.

But HIMSS wasn’t the only significant event last month. There was a second, smaller event that took place in the nation’s O.R. of healthcare policy – Washington, D.C.

Sponsored by West Health Institute (previous coverage by Forbes colleague Zina Moukheiber here), the daylong event – Health Care Innovation Day – was notable for three reasons. First, it had a singular focus on healthcare data interoperability; second because it was co-sponsored by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC); and third because it included a compelling keynote by master storyteller and serial-bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell.

Gladwell’s latest book – David and Goliath – is the biblical metaphor for many modern endeavors and industries – including, of course, healthcare. In fact, the event itself was a kind of David in the shadows of the HIMSS Goliath.

Gladwell’s healthcare credentials are often overlooked but he did reference them in his opening remarks. From 1987 to 1996 he covered the healthcare industry for the Washington Post and so he openly wondered what his coverage would have been in his former capacity.

He often generates controversy, but whatever else, he is a master storyteller and there were three compelling vignettes for this keynote. They weren’t cut from healthcare cloth, but an opening line helped to frame their relevance.

But I’m only going to spend a little time talking about healthcare proper – both because I think  it’s often more useful to approach some of these issues from an angle by looking at the world outside of the one you’re engaged in – and secondly because I have a rule that I never talk about something my audience knows more about than I do. Malcolm Gladwell – Author

It’s that skewed angle – punctuated with relevant stories – as told by a master storyteller – that really puts Gladwell at the forefront as a speaker. Relative to data interoperability, Gladwell recounted the stories to help “reframe” the data interoperability dialog that continues to gridlock much of the healthcare industry – and the promise of digital health.

The first was The Beqaa Valley Turkey Shoot in reference to the rapid defeat of Syria by Israeli air supremacy in 1982. The swift and decisive victory was orchestrated by bringing different technologies together in a new and far more integrated way.

Using drones, AWAC’s and laser-guided missiles, the Israeli’s were among the first to carefully orchestrate their coordinated use in real time. The Israeli’s didn’t invent any of the component technologies, but they “integrated” their use in a new way that revolutionized military strategy with an exponentially lethal capacity.

The second story was The Shipping Container and recounted the story of Malcolm McLean – who revolutionized the shipping industry. He didn’t invent the shipping container, but he re-framed the problem in a way that transformed both domestic and international shipping.

By standardizing all of the components (containers, trucks, trailers, railways, docks, cranes and ships) in a new way (Lego at an industrialized scale), he effectively reduced the cost of loading and unloading from $5.50 a ton to $0.15 a ton. From his recognition that the problem required a broader systemic solution (not a component solution in isolation), domestic and international trade mushroomed exponentially.

The third story was The MP3 Player and how digitizing music revolutionized every aspect of the music industry. The effect of digitizing music was to make it interchangeable and interoperable. Almost overnight, music was transformed from being an album and episodic experience into one of personal and continuous use. Individual devices like record, cassette and CD “players” artificially constrained the way music was consumed.

Music stores, a dominate part of the retail landscape (and music experience) disappeared entirely within about 5 years. By un-tethering music from a rigid distribution model around proprietary formats, music enjoyment and sales exploded. From 2000 to 2010, growth in live performances and album sales both tripled.

In all three cases, it’s the combined interoperability that has the truly disruptive and exponential effect. The underlying component technology isn’t always a new invention – or exponentially disruptive.

“Sometimes when we look at innovation we make the mistake of thinking that innovation is specific to an individual invention or device. But all of those [individual] views miss the greatest transformation that’s brought about by technology – and that’s when you bring these various pieces and have them work together in combination – it’s the synergies between these tools that bring about the greatest changes in the world that we live in. You are on to something very crucial here – and I wish you all the best.” Malcolm Gladwell – Author

The urgent need for interoperability in healthcare is well understood. It could well be that interoperability isn’t the biggest problem in healthcare today – it’s just the first.

The HCI-DC conference was really designed to emphasize and accelerate the much needed national dialogue on driving medical interoperability to enable a smarter healthcare system across all the different interests. Ultimately, we’re all patients and we all deserve better care than the chaotic, proprietary and unconnected system we experience today. Together, we are working with key stakeholders to transform healthcare delivery in this country to make high-quality healthcare more accessible at a lower cost.” Nick Valeriani – CEO, Gary and Mary West Health Institute

The archived content for the day long event Sponsored by West Health and ONC (including Gladwell’s keynote) is now available in it’s entirety online (free but registration required) here.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2014/03/02/malcolm-gladwell-keynotes-healthcare-data-interoperability-summit/

Connected digital health empowers patients and providers

By: David Pettigrew, Sector Manager for Patient Care at Sagentia
Published: Thursday, August 8, 2013 - 04:08 GMTJump to Comments

Connected health is poised to transform the way services are delivered. Sagentia’s David Pettigrew examines how technology innovation is successfully making the transition to commercial reality.

Ageing populations and the growing prevalence of chronic diseases are placing healthcare infrastructure under greater pressure than ever before. The UK’s Department of Health estimates these issues could require £5 billion in additional expenditure by 2018, yet NHS budgets are currently allocated on a flat-cash basis.

At a time of significant budgetary constraint, healthcare providers must find new ways to reduce costs and increase the efficiency and quality of care. Treating patients quickly and effectively frees-up hospital beds and critical resources. Ensuring underlying health issues are properly addressed and encouraging lifestyle improvements drives reductions in both the number of people visiting healthcare providers and repeat visits.

Technology is proving a key enabler in realising these aims, particularly in the form of connected health. Broadly defined as the use of technology to provide healthcare at a distance and improve speed of response, connected health is seeing new levels of capability being realised in areas such as user interfaces, storage, smartphones, low power connectivity, and data processing and analytics.

These are being combined with medical sector advances around novel sensing and imaging technologies, as well as microfluidics, haptic feedback, and robotics, to deliver practical solutions to some of the most pressing healthcare issues.

Making the connection

Connected health is an evolution from existing delivery models such as telehealth and telemedicine services, which are focused on the transmission of raw data between two locations – for example, the electronic transmission of drug prescriptions to a patient, or medical images between clinicians. Connected health takes this further by abstracting these data using sophisticated context-aware algorithms to provide actionable information to the patient, payer or clinician.

It is this ability to provide real-time data management and decision support that distinguishes connected health. It can be as simple as a bed-side monitor linked to a nursing station that alerts nurses to a critical event, or a series of networked devices collecting clinical data that is stored together with patient records and other administrative and financial data within a central clinical information system (CIS).

More advanced connected health solutions combine the latest advances in smart sensing technology, fixed and wireless networking, and cloud computing. They also employ sophisticated algorithms and centralised storage (either locally or via remote servers) to enable the mining and analysis of ‘big data’ to uncover trends and insights, and generate decision-making outputs.
Crucially, connected health solutions can be applied at any point in the care pathway, from a patient’s first contact with a healthcare professional, service, or organisation, through to the completion of their treatment and subsequent aftercare. Moreover, they can be delivered in the home, between the home and surgery, within a surgery or even between surgeries, in areas including vital signs, sleep, and medication compliance monitoring.

A technology applied

Monitoring and prevention are two promising areas for connected health. Commercial examples include solutions for monitoring diabetes (blood sugar levels, insulin administration) and for preventing co-morbidities through the monitoring of blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight. There are also PT/INR self-testing solutions (Prothrombin Time/International Normalized Ratio) allowing patients taking medication such as coumadin or warfarin to measure their blood’s anti-coagulation level (i.e. how long it takes their blood to ‘clot’), as well as cloud-based platforms that log patient data and refine algorithms to enable more accurate diagnosis in areas such as cardiology and image analysis.

Arrhythmia detection is another major area of focus, as it is important for patients to be able to monitor and record their heart rate outside of the surgery. An electrocardiogram (ECG) rhythm monitoring technology has been implemented by AliveCor for example, in the form of a hand-held device consisting of two finger-pads embedded in an iPhone cover. The ECG data acquired via this device can be transferred to a secure online server for review by a clinician.

Although AliveCor’s system is approved for clinician use only at present, the next step could be to put this device in the hands of patients for recording their own ECG traces for remote review in-between their appointments. This would significantly increase the likelihood of detecting relatively rare arrhythmia events.

Another connected health innovation under development is the Endotronix system, which uses an implanted sensor to communicate pressures from inside the patient’s heart to a smartphone app via a transmitter. The system is able to accurately capture internal heart pressure data at any time and communicate it securely from a remote location to the patient’s care team. It will be possible for both patients and clinicians to view the data in various formats, and on multiple devices.

Delivering successful outcomes

Some connected health solutions are already providing doctors with new levels of visibility of their patient’s progress, and empowering patients to take more responsibility for their own health and care. ‘Health Buddy’, for example, is a personal and interactive communications device developed by Health Hero Network (now part of Bosch Healthcare). It enables a doctor or nurse coordinator to send a set of queries to the patient each day via the internet. The patient answers them by pressing one of four buttons. The device automatically transmits this data to a processing centre, where it is analysed and published to a secure website for review by the coordinator.

Piloted as part of a computerised interactive asthma self-management and education programme in the U.S., the device was found to increase self-management skills while reducing the number of urgent calls to the hospital. There are now more than 20 clinical trials of the Health Buddy system in post-acute and chronic care coordination, with consistent demonstration of positive outcomes across a variety of disease states and settings. One Health Buddy programme that is supporting chronically ill patients has achieved spending reductions of approximately 7-13 per cent ($312–$542) per intervention patient per quarter.

The U.S. has been an early adopter of connected health solutions and digital health technology in general. Electronic health records (EHRs) are subsidised under ‘ObamaCare’, while VC funding for digital health is on track for another record year, with start-up incubator Rock Health reporting a 35 per cent increase during the first quarter of 2013 compared with Q1 2012. Last year, total annual VC funding in the digital health industry stood at $1.4 billion and $968 million in 2011.

In Europe, take up has been slower, but industry commentators believe all the elements are now in place for connected health to make the transition from small-scale pilots to mass market implementation. According to the European Connected Health Alliance, the path for connected medical devices will be smoother in Europe than in the US, because it is easier and faster to get over the regulatory hurdles and the process is better understood.

Fit for purpose

The regulatory landscape in the U.S. remains highly uncertain, with the FDA due to publish its final guidelines on mobile medical apps shortly. FDA draft guidelines released at the end of 2012 stipulate that certain types of medical mobile apps will be regulated, placing a large burden on R&D in terms of managing risk. There are also considerable challenges around protecting the privacy and security of personal health information, and concerns over the impact on development schedules and costs should products require FDA approval.

Nevertheless, the 510(k) number issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considered the ‘gold standard’ for solution developers globally due to the rigour of the regulatory process, and the fact it clears medical devices for sale in a market where providers, payers, and physician groups are forecast to spend over $69 billion on healthcare-related IT and telecommunications services between 2012 and 2017, according to analysts at Insight Research Corporation.

Functionality of connected health devices varies and is based on their technical sophistication, but their success will depend on end user acceptance. This explains the rising prominence of smartphone apps, which at first glance, would appear to provide an easy route for manufacturers to deliver a ‘consumer friendly’ user interface for their connected systems. However, manufacturers and regulators are increasingly concerned about how rapid changes in smartphone hardware and operating systems will affect the intended function of their medical devices.

Depending on the level of risk of the intended connected health system, it can still be cheaper and less risky in the long run to develop a platform-independent system that they can control entirely. Alternatively, a model explored by many companies involves the use of custom ‘smart sensors’, which perform the ‘high risk’ data processing functions using sophisticated embedded algorithms. These devices can in turn transmit the result to the smartphone, which displays the data to the user. In this way, the usability of a smartphone interface is brought to bear without adding in the extra risk of using ‘unregulated’ hardware and software to generate the data.

Connecting the future with the present

Additional challenges remain, particularly in respect of the networking technologies employed in connected health applications and their respective power requirements and data rates. Using Wifi or broadband for example, has the advantage that the medical device can be connected to a backbone of wireless hotspots using an existing hospital network, and the investment will be relatively low from a technology perspective.

The drawback of this approach is that it is power hungry and cannot be used if the device is battery powered and has very limited dimensions. In this case, Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth Smart®) is often the preferred solution as it has low-power consumption but also means a low data rate. This constrains the amount of information that can be transmitted back and forth in real time and thus limits the application. This is an area in which leading manufacturers continue to innovate by embedding processes within the portable device so that less data is being exchanged.

Related

• Connected Health Technology Is Key To Improved Service For Patients: Poots Tells Helsinki Conference (13 Feb, 2012)
• Transparency Agenda: Government Would Release Health Data To Boost Medical Research And Help Patients Make Better Choices (29 Nov, 2011)
• EU Health: managing data effectively crucial to improved health care says taskforce (8 May, 2012)
• Imagine a world of connected healthcare(17 Apr, 2013)
• NHS Reforms: Health Secretary Accepts Future Forum's Recommendations To Deliver Improved Patient Care In The Health Service (10 Jan, 2012)
• Commission Consults On Rules For Wirelessly Connected Devices - The "Internet Of Things" (13 Apr, 2012)

Given that connected health bridges the consumer and healthcare space, development of robust and interoperable platforms is essential. Recent FDA regulations and harmonised global standards are driving manufacturers to increasingly focus on usability engineering, in order to develop devices and services that minimise the risk of patient harm through user error. Considerable progress in terms of interoperability has been made by the Continua Health Alliance, which is developing a system of interoperable personal connected health solutions.

As these challenges are addressed, connected health will enable efficiencies and improve patient outcomes. It will also free-up healthcare professionals to focus triage on patients where it is needed most. And as people become more open to owning their own healthcare, advances in connected health mean they will have a growing range of tools at their disposal. Ultimately however, the transition to connected health will be borne out of necessity, as conventional healthcare and its associated costs become less feasible in respect of fiscal and demographic pressures.

David Pettigrew is Sector Manager for Patient Care at Sagentia. David has seven years’ industry experience in developing medical devices and diagnostics. He recently worked for at Sphere Medical managing the sensor development of Sphere's exciting new patient attached, real time blood gas analyser for use in critical care. He has worked on several large projects for device companies across many clinical disciplines, notably; oncology, anaesthesiology, urology and diabetes care. David holds a PHD in Structural Biology and Biosensors from Oxford University.

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The Digital Takeover of America’s Health Care System

6/23/2013 – Kameron Gifford, CPC

Eric Schmidt of Google recently pointed out that from the dawn of civilization to 2003 there were a total of 5 exabytes or 1 billion gigabytes of data total. Today, we are producing a minimum of 5 exabytes every 2 days. That is incredible. This powerful explosion into “Big Data” was made possible by advancements in technology such as the smart phone, cloud servers and remarkable biosensors. Consumers have harnessed this technology to drive revolutions in every industry outside of healthcare. The internet allowed a frontier for the convergence of influence and technology capable of altering an entire culture. Could the internet be the one technology that has fundamentally changed the clinical practice of medicine more than any other advancement? Will a new generation of tech savy consumers finally force a transition from population based health into a new era of individualized medicine? Will the next generation of patient-centered care focus on what is best for the individual patient and not big business?
Consider these statistics from 2011:

•   42% of Internet users went online to find health information for self-diagnosis or treatment.
•  38% of users ages 65 and older went online for medical research.
• 48% of Internet users with an annual income over 100,000 used the internet to research information on health plans or practitioners.
• 37% of internet users between the ages 25 and 44 and 35% of users between the ages of 45 and 64 also went online to find information on health plans and physicians.

Powerful indications that the internet does have the ability to engage users and improve overall healthcare outcomes. An open space filled with collective tools that lay the groundwork for a new era of medicine. This is the end of generalized, population based approaches to care. The future will be dominated by those with a vision of something better. This new journey will be empowered by the digitalization of human beings.  Influenced and controlled by those who understand innovation. The convergence of this technology to decode and define individual granularity at the molecular level, from womb to tomb, will enhance the experience for all stake holders.

In 2010, Dr. Richard Ablin, the pathologist who discovered the PSA in 1970, wrote an Op-Ed that was published in the New York Times entitled, “The Great Prostate Mistake”. Dr. Ablin wrote, “The tests popularity has led to a hugely expensive public disaster. The medical community must confront reality and stop the inappropriate use of PSA screening. Doing so would save billions of dollars and rescue millions of men from unnecessary, debilitating treatments.”

In “The Creative Destruction of Medicine” Dr. Eric Topol introduces us to his friend who is 1 of 250,000 men in America every year who are subjected to serial prostate biopsies subsequent to a false positive PSA test. This mass screening of 30 million men every year costs the United States $3 billion annually and that doesn’t include the cumulative costs of all the biopsies, surgeries, treatments and the complications of the surgery such as urinary incontinence or impotence. Is this the best that we can do?

A mediocre healthcare system that wastes billions and is incapable of meaningful engaement. A system in which we allow pharmaceutical companies to spend $14 billion a year to influence the 600,000 people who can write a prescription.  A system in which we have enabled corporations to dictate treatment plans of friends and family members.

Science and technology have provided consumers with the crucial tools for disruption. The hostile takeover of our health care system is as inevitable as it is necessary. We must embrace this unique opportune, moment in medicine, a once in a lifetime Kairos.

***the entire report from the US Dept. of Commerce can be downloaded here:  Exploring the Digital Nation: America's Emerging Online Experience - See more at: http://www.ermconsultinginc.com/resources/

Harvard Pilgrim: Voice calls weren’t enough for diabetes management, now trying texts, too

Harvard Pilgrim: Voice calls weren’t enough for diabetes management, now trying texts, too

By: Jonah Comstock | Jun 13, 2013     

Harvard Pilgrim is not new to using digital health technology to improve patient care and wellness at home — the health insurance company worked with health engagement platform Eliza back in 2006 and with smart pillbox maker MedMinder in 2009, before signing its recent deal with Voxiva’s Care4Life. But Harvard Pilgrim is careful about the partnerships they engage in, making sure they’re both accessible to their target population, and create independently proven improvements in outcomes.
Lydia Bernstein, the director of clinical programs at Harvard Pilgrim, said that the traditional ways of reaching out to patients aren’t cutting it anymore, and digital channels are just now getting to the right level of reliability.
“It’s a different world right now,” she told MobiHealthNews. “Largely, the medium we have been using has been mail. We did some interactive voice recognition technology [with Eliza], and that worked fairly well, but I think that more and more people are texting. It’s easy, it’s with them all the time. I think we looked at this several years ago and we kind of postponed it because people still didn’t have the unlimited texting and we were concerned about having to promote something where people might have to pay. But most people do have unlimited texting now as part of their services. I think this is another way to reach out to our members. Not the only way, but another way.”
Bernstein said the system cut ties with Eliza, with whom they had worked on both diabetes management and colorectal screenings outreach, when their research arm, the Department of Population Medicine, determined that they weren’t really getting value out of phone calls. (Eliza has only recently added mobile outreach to their offerings.)
“We found that it wasn’t any more effective than what we were currently doing in terms of outreach,” she said. “Once they reached the people, they were very satisfied, but it’s difficult to catch people at home and we don’t have cell phone numbers for most people, so we wound up leaving messages. That’s why we’re looking at more of the mobile technology.”
Bernstein is excited about Voxiva’s Care4Life. In fact, for some time Harvard Pilgrim has been recommending Voxiva’s Text4baby service to its pregnant patients. But, she said, it’s still important to subject the program to scrutiny.
“This is our first real use of texting that we’re sending to a targeted population,” she said. “So we are having discussions now with Voxiva about evaluating the program, in terms of member satisfaction with the program, engagement with texting, and then also how to better get members engaged in their own healthcare. Those are the sorts of things we’re looking at and trying to measure, so we’ve had some initial conversations with Voxiva about that and folks from our research arm. … [Voxiva] has done some focus groups which they’re going to send us. They’ve also looked at the data of people currently enrolled, and they’ve seen some improvement in [A1C] and medication adherence, but those are all self-reported.”
Like many health plans, Harvard Pilgrim is looking for low-cost, effective programs to improve wellness and self-care among members. Partially, this has to do with the changing payment models in healthcare.
“We have a number of different types of contracting mechanisms now,” said Harvard Pilgrim spokesperson Mary Wallan. “We have quality grants that are given to help [providers] get ready for what’s coming and we actually do have some bundled payment models and some shared savings models and an ACO. So yes, we’re working with many of our providers on that basis and Harvard Pilgrim is very much embracing the new world and trying to provide better value for our patients while keeping the quality and helping the nation as a whole reduce our cost of healthcare.”
Bernstein thinks that Care4Life has potential to engage more people with diabetes because the user has so much control over how much they want to engage with the platform: They can just sign up for generic tips and reminders, or they can use a web portal to set up tracking or targeted reminders via text messaging.
If Care4Life goes well, Harvard Pilgrim intends to introduce some additional Voxiva programs for wellness and smoking cessation. In addition, the payor is a few months away from announcing a deal with an undisclosed “wellness vendor.” All in all, Bernstein sees the provider’s role as curating all the mobile health apps out there that could help their members.
“I think the difficulty is really weeding through all of the different apps and making sure we’re promoting or telling our members about reputable apps,” she said. “We’re learning that we’re not going to build anything, but we have to figure out what the best way is to identify those that would be valuable to our members in terms of managing their own health and wellness.”

JumperCut Launches Personalized Video Platform to Drive Patient Engagement

JumperCut Launches Personalized Video Platform to Drive Patient Engagement

Portland, OR (PRWEB) June 11, 2013

 

JumperCut, an innovative provider of personalized video technology, announced a Beta Program for Health Plans, Health Systems, and Other Care Coordination Organizations.

JumperCut, an innovative provider of patent- pending interactive media and personalized video technology to drive patient engagement, today announced the launch of a beta program based upon the early success of its initial pilot programs. The beta program will be made available to select health plans, health systems, and other care coordination organizations that are struggling to facilitate and sustain digital conversations with patients, but who are simultaneously striving to meet the standards associated with Stage 2 Meaningful Use as defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Through an expanded deployment, JumperCut will be positioned to further gauge the effectiveness of personalized video as a complement, or alternative to more traditional patient education models through the evaluation of particular end- points, including information retention, goal-setting, and satisfaction across a variety of patient types. Dr. Philip Marshall, co-founder and CEO of JumperCut, observes, “Healthcare is in transition. And because there are now well-defined quality metrics that have been adopted nationally and regionally, we have the ability to focus patient engagement efforts around supporting those metrics. It’s important to payers and providers, not just because those metrics are driving reimbursement, but also because taken together they offer the promise of a better human experience, higher quality care, and lower overall costs.” Supporting this point-of- view, one finding from an article recently authored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was that patients with the lowest engagement scores incurred 21 percent higher costs than patients who were highly engaged.
The JumperCut technology platform employs novel algorithms and utilizes a patient’s health information to assemble personalized video sequences that address a patient’s unique attributes and needs—providing a rich user experience, delivering relevant educational content, and enhancing the physician-patient relationship while supporting greater engagement. “We are pleased to be a participant in JumperCut’s early innovator program and have been excited by the results of our pilot,” stated Dr. Barry Wolcott, Chief Medical Officer at expert-24. “We are focused on developing and integrating patient-focused decision support systems for our healthcare clients. JumperCut’s ability to leverage de-identified patient data and deliver dynamic, personalized video conversations certainly aligns with, and augments, the solutions we offer.”
For more information about JumperCut, or to inquire about participating in its personalized patient education beta program, please e-mail information(at)jumpercut(dot)com or call 971.229.1942.
About JumperCut
JumperCut is a privately funded company that was founded in 2012 by a small team of dedicated technologists and healthcare professionals passionate about bringing new social and mobile video technologies to the market. The company is focused on delivering personalized experiences that more effectively engage patients, facilitate informed exchanges, and that help address escalating healthcare costs. Its advisory board is composed of industry thought-leaders and distinguished innovators.
Patient Engagement through Personalized Video
http://www.jumpercut.com

Telemedicine Revenues Grew 237 Percent in Five Years, According to a New Kalorama Information Report

PRWeb | June 5, 2013

The telemedicine patient monitoring market grew from 4.2 billion in 2007 to over 10 billion dollars in 2012, according to Kalorama Information. The healthcare market research publisher said that while the market is small, it is fast growing with a large amount of competitors and increasing awareness of effectiveness.

New York, New York (PRWEB) June 05, 2013

The telemedicine patient monitoring market grew from 4.2 billion in 2007 to over 10 billion dollars in 2012, according to Kalorama Information. The healthcare market research publisher said that while the market is small, it is fast growing with a large amount of competitors and increasing awareness of effectiveness. The finding was made in Kalorama Information’s newly published report, “Advanced Patient Monitoring Systems.”

Kalorama defines telemedicine as a patient monitor used outside of an acute healthcare setting that can transmit vital signs or other information to a healthcare professional for interpretation or action, usually from a patient’s home. Two-way communication in audio or video, EMR data transfer advanced diagnostics are among the additional features that some of these devices provide. Unlike the market for systems used in hospitals, this market is more competitive and vendors are fragmented with a fair number of privately held companies. Compatibility between devices and applications is of primary concern. AMD, Philips, Second Opinion Telemedicine, Bosch, LifeWatch are among the many vendors operating in this market.    The aging of the population, increasing healthcare costs, dwindling healthcare resources, advancing technologies, and the proven cost effectiveness of patient monitoring. The report says that sales will be driven in new technologies as older monitoring equipment is replaced by wireless or remote monitors. Growth will increase over the forecast period as compatibility, privacy, and security issues continue to be resolved.

“The home healthcare and remote location health monitoring market is different from the hospital market, in large part because reimbursements are lower or are just beginning to take hold, and for some products are still nonexistent,” said Melissa Elder, Kalorama analyst and the author of the report. “Unit costs will go up as older units are replaced with wireless, handheld, and ambulatory devices.”

Elder adds that home healthcare markets vendors sell lower-priced units than hospital patient monitors but the key for successful vendors will be selling a volume. The report also indicates that the U.S. holds the largest share of the market and will be the battleground for a lot of the regulatory and reimbursement challenges for these technologies. Yet telemedicine is a worldwide market. Switzerland, for example, has prepared the health system for telemedicine options with an advanced IT infrastructure and healthcare staff trained in high-tech medical technology. Economic struggles in many European countries, including Germany, have forced the government to review options to control costs in the healthcare system which will present opportunities for telemedicine. France is facing some of the same issues as other European countries, though there are barriers. A World Health Organization overview of the French healthcare system in noted that providing care using Telemedicine would require a new legal framework. It has since developed new policies to help professionals obtain reimbursement and provide a newer method of healthcare delivery.

Kalorama’s market research study in this market, “Advanced Patient Monitoring Systems”, contains both a global and US market estimate and forecast for advanced remote patient monitoring systems. The report covers key trends in the industry and profiles several key players in the market. The report can be purchased at Kalorama Information at http://www.kaloramainformation.com/Advanced-Remote-Patient-7450566/

About Kalorama Information

Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare, as well as a full range of custom research services. We routinely assist the media with healthcare topics. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and our blog.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/6/prweb10794697.htm

Intermountain CTO: Patient experience ripe for transformation

By: Jonah Comstock | Jun 4, 2013

Intermountain Healthcare, a Utah-based hospital system with 22 hospitals and 185 clinics, has worked extensively with digital health companies — most recentlyupgrading their pilot with wristworn vital signs monitor company Sotera Wirelessinto a full partnership last month, and teaming up with MModal in February to develop a speech-enabled computerized physician order entry system.

This week, MobiHealthNews caught up with Fred Holston, Intermountain’s chief technology officer since 2008, to discuss the Sotera deal and its other digital health initiatives. Holston also oversees Intermountain’s Healthcare Transformation Lab.

Intermountain discovered Sotera when it was in its early stages and started working with them right away.

“What we went searching for were a couple of things,” he said. “There’s a section of data we were missing, the more continuous vital monitoring in healthcare. What happens when you’re not in an ICU, you’re not in the ER, you’re just in the general part of the hospital? … And then things happen and you don’t have enough information maybe to understand why. We also have nurses running around with all these devices, and every few hours they check all these vitals and write them on the piece of paper in their hand, and then go back and sit down at the nursing station and spend an hour filling out nursing documentation with that information. And we believe there are better ways to do that.”

But Sotera also has another benefit, beyond the clinical advantages. Holston believes one of the biggest areas where hospitals can fall down is not focusing holistically on patient experience.

“Being in a good mental state is also a feeder into good healing,” he said. “And when people sit and think about how much they hurt all the time and then you ask them their pain scale — ‘It’s a 10! All I do is think about how much I hurt all the time.’ Versus having their mind engaged and not thinking about that. And Sotera’s part of that, part of the role of Sotera is to get all the wires on their body so they’re free to move about or go to the bathroom or walk the halls or go sit in a chair, and not be so tied down. Because that is also a healing piece.”

As another part of keeping patients engaged, Holston sees a lot of potential in consumer-facing apps and data-collecting devices. (Intermountain inked a deal with Kony last year to build some patient-facing apps.) But Holston listed a number of problems that need to be overcome before apps and consumer devices can be effective parts of the healthcare system.

“You’ve got all these cool applications and people are throwing data in a lot of cool places, but who sees it, what does it mean?” he asked. “I think that’s something we have to figure out. As people who deliver healthcare, who understand healthcare, who have the protocols for healthcare, understand what the data is or have the means to understand what the data is. How do we bridge that gap between all these apps that are out there that are part of healthy living that are going to non-health providers, consume it, trust it, evaluate it, understand how to distill that so your physician or any physician can understand that?”

The responsibility for solving these problems is spread between several interest groups, Holston said.

“The people who are collecting that data need to find strategic relationships with real healthcare providers who can make sense of that data, but I think it’s also incumbent on the health systems to see how do we trust and consume it,” he said. “Today I would dare say that the funding models, the reuimbursement models don’t really lend themselves to that either. As health systems we’re going to have to figure out what to do with that and how do we do our part.”

Although Intermountain is an innovative establishment, Holston warns against innovation for innovation’s sake. For instance, although Intermountain is working with MModal on speech CPOE, that’s a carefully chosen and targeted mobile use case. In other cases, he’s not convinced mobile is a benefit.

“Everybody loves the new bright shiny device and they’re getting smaller and lighter and everyone’s going ‘Why wouldn’t I carry it?’” he said. “Well, be a nurse. Carry tapes, an IV bag, scissors, the water someone wanted, half a dozen other things, and then try and carry a tablet or a small phone around and try punching around on it. It doesn’t necessarily make sense in all situations.”

What healthcare really needs, he said, is not just innovation, but transformation.

“If you look at Merriam Webster, one of the definitions of innovation is a novelty. Transformation is defined as real change. I agree that innovations will be needed, but we need to look at the transformations of healthcare. And for me as a technology geek, sometimes, absolutely new technologies will be those innovations that are part of tranformation. But that isn’t always the case. And we can’t start by saying how do we make this device fit? It’s ‘What is it we need to accomplish?’  What change could we drive most? I hope what my lab is doing is trying to listen to the people who provided the care, whether that’s a doctor, a nurse, or our clinical program, and say ‘What transforms healthcare? What could really make change?’”

http://mobihealthnews.com/22780/intermountain-cto-patient-experience-ripe-for-transformation/