In the US, primary care physicians, providers and policy wonks are currently mulling achieving the standards set for ‘meaningful use’ of EMRs by CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). Dr. Joseph Kvedar of the Center for Connected Health in… Read more'Meaningful use'–by patients?
Since retiring, Victor Patterson, a consultant neurologist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, has been active in setting up an mHealth service in Nepal for people with epilepsy. In a special report for Telecare Aware he sets out why such services are so vital.
If you think telehealth/telemedicine is too easy in the UK and you’d like a real challenge, my advice is to try Nepal.
Its population is about 28 million people (only a few of whom are Gurkhas). About 80% of people live outside the capital, Kathmandu, where surprise, surprise, about 90% of the country’s doctors live.
Working in Nepal is difficult for a number of reasons: there is still a touch of political instability and there are electricity outages for 8 hours most days, but there are two more important reasons…
Nepali road – only 2 hours to go!
A nice item from Fife council because it’s not techno-speak driven* but just illustrates the benefits of technology for specific people with dementia and, in the headline and closing comment, makes a link for readers from the unknown (lifestyle monitoring)… Read moreLifestyle Monitoring – Tomorrow's World? (Scotland)
If you have an idea for a new way stallite navigation can be used, consider entering for The European Satellite Navigation Competition. It is open to any one with “an idea which utilises satellite navigation technology, be it for position,… Read moreEuropean Satellite Navigation Competition
If you are not aware of it (well, it wasn’t on my radar screen, which needs some cleaning, but there it is), there is an organization called the Center for Telehealth and e-Health Law (CTeL) that was created in 2006 with a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Their focus is exactly that–regulatory, privacy and government facing issues. Their home page has a nifty news feed for telemedicine and telehealth, if you don’t. One recent event they sponsored was their monthly ‘Washington Live! Brown Bag Telehealth Seminar’ (Wikipedia: Brown Bag Seminar), topic: Is there a role for Telehealth and Remote Monitoring? [A bit of a headscratcher, as we have been presuming that for a while.] Nonetheless, the summary is dense reading. Telehealth was discussed as…
Last Wednesday the University of Maryland in Baltimore presented the @Hand: Mobile Technologies in Academia + Medicine symposium. Neil Versel of FierceMobileHealthcare keynoted and his blog notes with a PDF of his presentation–a great reference on mHealth to date–are here, but video… Read moreUniversity of Maryland mobile technology symposium
This must-read ‘Gray Lady’ (New York Times) article by Pauline Chen, M.D. demonstrates, from the physician point of view, how even well prepared, eager and enthusiastic physicians, in the examining room, faced with patient and simultaneously inputting into an EMR across the room…..can resemble a ‘clown car.’ (or roller skating?) The solution? Memorizing and jotting notes while taking the patient’s information, then typing it all in the EMR later. Efficient? Good use of time? It is a more standard workaround than anyone cares to admit. (see later comments).
But more importantly:
‘…just because EMR improves information sharing and retrieval, it doesn’t necessarily follow that our communication with patients and colleagues will also be better.’
