Your weekend read. Bradley Merrill Thompson of Epstein, Becker writes at length (three pages!) over at Mobihealthnews on where FDA is going in regulating pharmaceutical apps. This is a proliferating area, with only 100 or so now available but many
Read More
Monthly Archives June 2012
FoxBusiness' cheery take from PwC on mHealth
Reflections in a Gimlet Eye....
Reading like the best press coverage from Editor Donna's QuietCare days, FoxBusiness' relentlessly positive take on consumer acceptance of mobile health springs off the proliferation of health apps counted by the PriceWaterhouseCoopers/Economist Intelligence Unit's study (12,000), bounces to 59% of patients claiming apps have replaced some doctor visits and sticks that 10-point landing of how smartphone apps can work with PwC's commissioned WellDoc study demonstrating that blood glucose can be lowered 1.5 points. But then the article strays off into not commercially available smartphone EKGs and skin cancer imaging....and don't forget the biometrics in the car....here we are in 'experimental' land again.
Observations from the Gimlet Eye (read more for Big Problems...):
Read More
GreatCall wins $7 million to expand mHealth offerings
GreatCall, the company best known for the simple, older-adult-friendly Jitterbug phone and plan, closed today on a $7 million subordinated venture loan from NXT Capital’s Venture Finance Group. According to NXT’s release, the financing is specifically tabbed to expand GreatCall’s
Read More
More power from batteries – or none required!
Two articles on batteries, or the lack thereof. While they are targeted for military use where soldiers often have to carry up to 10kg in batteries for power needs, they will likely be commercialized for civilian use: US Army researchers
Read More
Free EHR selection tool for long-term care providers (US)
Long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) providers have specialized needs in adopting EHRs, but often do not have the expertise to sort through systems on their own. The Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) of the LeadingAge non-profit LTC association has
Read More
Small-screen saviours
One in our occasional non-telecare/telehealth items but an important read for anyone involved in the care of older people, particularly in the UK. If you are not outraged or worried (depending on your age) check your pulse. Small-screen saviours Laura
Read More
Outcome data for the remote patient monitoring over three years of over 1000 patients in Northern Ireland with a long-term chronic illness (abstract)
And the headline results are: 60% saving of COPD patient unplanned hospital admissions 33% saving of CHF patient unplanned hospital admissions 32% of patients escalated during ‘out of hours’ After a period of three years telehealth monitoring of (n=766 COPD
Read More
Date of WSD results publication – your guess as good as the Minister's (UK)
When will the Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) Programme results be published? Paul Burstow (Minister of State (Care Services) re-confirms in the answer to a Parliamentary question that it’s out of the control of the Department of Health and in the
Read More
Telecare monitoring is not ‘disembodied’ work
The authors of the article Calling for Care: ‘Disembodied’ Work, Teleoperators and Older People Living at Home challenge the view that “The provision of ‘distant’ care to older people living at home through telecare technologies is often contrasted negatively to
Read More
Tunstall wins 'Telehealth/telecare provider of the year'
For the second year running Tunstall has won the ‘Telehealth/telecare provider of the year’ award at the HealthInvestor Awards, London. This time it was for a project with Bridgewater Community Health Services NHS Trust in St Helens and Halton. David
Read More