Accenture’s online survey of 1,100 US residents on technology in managing healthcare has enough contrary bits to it that your head will turn, if not spin. 90% want to self-manage their records using technology (appointment booking–72%, prescription refills–73%, want mobile access and
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Monthly Archives June 2012
Muddling telemedicine and telehealth–the cost?
A well-known peeve of Editors Steve and Donna (writing) is confusion in terminology, but most especially telehealth (vital signs monitoring) with telemedicine (virtual consults and visits). Why does it grieve us? Clear and exact descriptions of new and generally not
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Prescribing and 'vetting' medical apps (US)
‘Trusted sourcing’ of healthcare apps got a double boost when Happtique, an online mHealth application ‘store’ backed by GNYHA Ventures, announced plans to roll out a ‘mRx’ program which would allow physicians and hospitals to ‘prescribe’ health apps to patients.
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Bringing 'jointness' to military medical records–in 2017 (US)
Progress is still quite slow on the pressing need for records which follow those in the US Armed Forces from their active service through to the Veterans Administration and civilian care. From this AP article, quoting VA Secretary Eric Shinseki at a recent mental health professionals meeting, the VA and the Department of Defense are targeting 2017 to achieve integration of EHRs. Another shocker...
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One in five wireless devices for healthcare by 2017: ABI Research
The 20% is not all that surprising, given ABI Research’s broad definition, with fitness taking the lion’s share of growth vs. home monitoring. What is a little surprising about these BANs (body area networks) is how completely sensor-based they are.
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Medical apps for travelers
A timely article for summer travel. Only recently have travelers had the option of mobile apps and websites as resources. Some aren’t all that new–the flash drives with medical histories and laminated cards with medical contacts–but certainly the iPad app
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Nuffield: The impact of telehealth and telecare: evaluation of the Whole System Demonstrator project
Published simultaneously with the BMJ’s WSD results article, the Nuffield Trust’s part of the analysis: patients’ hospital use and mortality. “For intervention patients, the overall costs of hospital care (including emergency admissions, elective admissions and outpatient attendances), were £188 per
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BMJ publishes first part of WSD results
At last, the BMJ has published the first of five articles giving detailed results from the Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) Programme. This analysis "reports on how telehealth affected the use of secondary healthcare and mortality. The other analyses will assess how telehealth affected quality of life and cost effectiveness, and explores [sic] the patient, professional, and organisation factors related to implementation." Effect of telehealth on use of secondary care and mortality: findings from the Whole System Demonstrator cluster randomised trial has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License so the link should be available permanently. However, just in case, you can download the full PDF version here. The abstract gives us...
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Kiss of death for telehealth in the UK?
Because the NHS is so dear to the heart of British people, it is not difficult for Secretaries of State for Health who try to improve it to become unpopular. Holding that office has blighted numerous ministerial and political careers.
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Three product news updates (EU and US)
Three quick product news updates: India-based VSAG Health Watch now CE marked. Press release VESAG mHealth watch awarded CE, ROHS and SAR certifications. (21/6/2012) MediPendant pendant alarm with voice communications adapted for Danish market. Medical Alarm Concepts press release Medical
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