HHS sees enormous potential in mobile
 A year ago most discussions about wireless health centered on VoIP handsets for healthcare workers, distributed antenna systems or real-time tracking systems for hospital equipment — it was an IT industry focused on infrastructure and the health industry as enterprise.
A lot has changed in the past year. Today marks a true watershed — Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services delivered a keynote at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) mHealth Summit in Washington D.C., that squarely focused on the “enormous” promise that wireless health holds for improving healthcare and empowering patients in the U.S. Her keynote wasn’t a vague lauding of an emerging industry either — (I must admit, that’s what I expected.) Instead, Sebelius, the head of our country’s healthcare programs and a member of the President’s Cabinet, seems to truly understand the impact wireless health will have in the years ahead:
“How we empower consumers and put patients back into the mix so that they become, not only responsible for their own health, but also so that they have an opportunity to monitor and participate in their own health interests. I think that there is no question that mobile technology, as discussed at this conference, is a part of that puzzle,” Sebelius said. “Mobile has huge advantagess, including the fact that everybody has [a mobile phone]. Unfortunately, I have two. Some 90 percent of Americans have one so a [wireless health] system could be put in place that could touch just about everyone.”
“Some people dont go to websites… or watch TV, but that phone is with them all the time,” Sebelius said. The mobile has “so much power to empower consumers and compel us to a healthcare system of the future.”
Sebelius gave a few examples of physicians and healthcare groups that are already leveraging mobile devices and wireless networks to provide better care for their patients. She said that one doctor in Texas already sends test results via text message and reminds people about their care regimens through their mobile phones, too. Another healthcare group in Florida is using text messaging to alert patients about the waiting times at the nearest emergency rooms, Sebelius said. A number of care providers are looking to mobile to offer appointment reminder services, too, she said.
“While the technology is clearly still in its early stages, we can already begin to imagine where mobile phones fit into” our healthcare system, Sebelius said. You can imagine “Americans taking pictures or videos of their symptoms and [using that to] have much more robust conversations with their doctors,” Sebelius said. “We are encouraging them to do that with their doctors now with the flu — to research their symptoms and bring that information to their doctors.”
Sebelius noted that the government is in the middle of a “historic multi billion investment in electronic health records as part of the government’s recovery plan… clearly [wireless] technology can help inform that new system. The introduction of mobile technology to this move towad EHRs for all Americans is a huge tool in the toolkit, which will allow us to drive better care and better outcomes.”
“What we know is that for the generation that is under 40 years old, mobile is an extraordinarily good way to reach younger people and get messages across,” Sebelius said. The government is currently working on a couple of wireless health projects including an HIV testing information text messaging program, an H1N1 update text messaging feed, and the Text4Baby program, which we have written about extensively here.) Sebelius also announced that the Text4Baby program included previously undisclosed partners CTIA and Johnson & Johnson.
“President Obama and we at the HHS very strongly believe that this is the wave of the future,” Sebelius said.
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| TEDMED: Wireless health has killed the stethoscope
“Medicine is going to be vastly different,” Chief Medical Officer of the West Wireless Health Institute, Dr. Eric Topol told attendees at the TEDMED event in San Diego this week. ”As a cardiologist for the past 25 years, I can tell you that the stethoscope is dead.” The stethoscope, which was created in 1816 won’t be used by doctors in 2016, Topol said.
“What has changed our society is wireless devices. How we listen to music. How we communicate. The latest frontier is how we read. This has been an enormous change in a very short period of time. That is the story of digital wireless devices, but the future we are talking about here at TEDMED are digital healthcare wireless devices,” Topol said.
Today we already have medical applications that enable doctors to monitor electrocardiograms in real-time and from a patient who could be anywhere in the world. That’s just the beginning, however, Topol said.
“You are checking your email as you sit here,” Topol said. “Checking the web when you are bored. In the future you will check in on your own vital signs heart, oxygen, temperature,” and so on. That’s not very far away from today — thanks to non-invasive band-aid like sensors, Topol said.
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TEDMED: Monitor sleep states from your mobile
The number one reason that Alzheimer’s patients are institutionalized is sleep disorders, Dr. Phillip Low, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of NeuroVigil explained during his presenation at the TEDMED conference in San Diego this week. It’s not dementia. Low said that 70 million people in the U.S. have a sleep disorder but only 4 million have had sleep tests.
Low explained that those who do go to a sleep lab might find the process for monitoring for sleep disorders a bit counter-intuitive since the technicians need to attach a couple dozen wires to your head to monitor your brain activity. True, you may have trouble sleeping at home, but it’s time to stick 28 wires on your head to find out why you can’t sleep.
In the morning the lab clinicians need to hand score the results on paper — there is no automatic, analytical process, which means the practice is fraught with errors and inaccuracies, Low said.
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TEDMED: iMeds will be bigger than iTunes
The global market for telecommunications is about $4 trillion to $4.5 trillion, Proteus Biomedical CEO Andrew Thompson noted during his presentation at TEDMED this week in San Diego. While there is this ongoing debate about healthcare reform, I noticed that there isn’t a reform discussion taking place about technology markets, Thompson said. That’s interesting, but it’s important to know the reasons why: It starts with the definition of “innovation” in the technology sector vs. the definition of “innovation” in healthcare. For the tech industry innovation means better and more affordable, while in healthcare innovation means better and more expensive. That means every year you get less for your money in healthcare, which is the exact opposite for the tech market, Thompson said.
What’s more the products people sell in healthcare generally don’t work or work well, Thompson said, and then assured the audience he wasn’t making a “cheap jibe.”
“It’s a very, very expensive jibe,” he deadpanned. Continue >>
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| TEDMED: 23andMe, 30,000 “active” genomes
At the TEDMED event here in San Diego this week, personal genomics company 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki announced that the company now had more than 30,000 “active” genomes in its database and that it would soon launch a “Relative Finder” service for its users.
As part of the new service, users can explore connections to other users of the site to determine how related they are to each other. 23andMe is offering free genotyping for TEDMED attendees, so Wojcicki joked that this time next year we can all find out how related we are to each other.
Wojcicki also announced that 23andMe now has more than 30,000 “active” genomes in its database right now — a figure the company has played close to the chest since its founding in 2006. About 70 percent of the site’s users have filled out at least one survey that 23andMe uses to enrich its own research. “In less than two years, we have created one of the world’s largest databases” for genomic databases in the world, Wojcicki said.
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TEDMED: 43% say no gov action on obesity
At the TEDMED event in San Diego this week, Penn Schoen Berland distributed a booklet, National Healthcare Survey for TEDMED: Key Findings, on-site at the event. The company conducted 1,005 online interviews with the U.S. general adult public in mid-September. While none of the metrics are specific to wireless health, many point to the peripheral discussions that are important to EHRs, reimbursement, strategies for curbing healthcare costs and the role of government for nudging the general population into making healthy decisions:
- 62 percent of respondents say they visit online medical websites such as WebMD to self-diagnose a medical problem
- 37 percent say they’ve suggested a certain diagnosis to their doctor based on research they’ve conducted online
- 57 percent said they would not trust a robot to perform a routine surgery on them
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Time to include geomedicine in EHR
Living a quantified life — tracking vital signs, recording exercise routines, monitoring caloric intake and counting steps — is a large and growing trend important to wireless health and fitness. Figuring out where that data goes, who analyzes it and whether it should become part of a health record, whether consumer-facing, clinician-facing or both, is an ongoing struggle. Are we in danger of overwhelming our caretakers and physicians with data? Perhaps, if it’s not analyzed and packaged in an actionable way.
At the TEDMED conference here in San Diego this week, one presenter made the case for including more data into electronic health records. More patient data needs to be available to physicians for review during patient visits. Was the case made for vital sign tracking? Pedomter metrics? Calories eaten? Nope.
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Latitude: Boston Scientific concept iPhone app
Earlier this month at the Body Computing Conference in Los Angeles, Boston Scientific showed off a concept iPhone app, called Latitude Connected, that is currently focused on cardiac rhythm care management, but its full range of functions enable physicians to access patient records, monitor implanted devices, tap into patient support networks and schedule follow-up care, according to a report from Fast Company.
“It’s all about capturing those micromoments in the day–when a surgeon is waiting for the OR to be prepped for the next implant but can’t sit down at a computer, when a patient’s family member calls at 6 a.m. with a question but the office isn’t opened yet,” Joseph Weber, Director of R+D for Boston Scientific’s Latitude application told the magazine. “Mobility brings so many compelling values to the system.”
While Latitude is currently in the market as a patient monitoring system, physicians told Boston Scientific the time to take it mobile was now. The prototype application was then developed and conceived by Dr. Leslie Saxon of University of Southern California in conjunction with an iPhone development team in USC’s Viterbi Engineering School.
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Verizon grants $25K for Text4Baby-like service
The Verizon Foundation announced a $25,000 grant to expand the Center for Connected Health’s text messaging program that aims to help keep at-risk pregnant women engaged in their health and to provide ongoing prenatal and post-natal support for them. The grant will help the Partners HealthCare subsidiary examine the “feasibility and acceptability” of text messaging to offer health care services for this population.
The program sounds a lot like two other ones we have written about in the past: Text4Baby and Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter.
Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter service: Subscribers receive weekly texts chock full of pregnancy advice. Once the baby arrives, the Parenting Tips service sends new parents helpful parenting tips twice a week till three months.
Text4Baby is a service (expected to launch in a few weeks) that will provide free tips via text messages to mothers three times a week before their baby’s birth. The service’s reminders include ones for taking multi-vitamins, getting flu shots, and so on. After the birth, the mother is reminded about vaccinations, and other health issues. The service has some 300 text messages in the hopper. The White House has been working alongside Voxiva, the National Healthy Mothers-Healthy Babies Coalition, CDC, and others on the program.
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Vocera, Motorola create hospital smartphone
Vocera — known for its wireless badge form factor communication devices for hospital settings — announced the first shipment of its new device: the Vocera smartphone. The company jointly developed the smartphone with Motorola, but Vocera said the device offers the same one-touch, voice user interface of the Vocera communications badge. The Vocera smartphone runs on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, which supports alarm/alert systems, asset tracking, medical reference software and includes access to corporate email.
Vocera counts more than 600 hospitals and 400,000 users as its customers — Arkansas Children’s Hospital was one of the beta users of the Vocera smartphone: Continue >>
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Toumaz launches Sensium Life Pebble device
UK-based Toumaz Technology has commercially launched its Sensium Life Pebble vital sign wireless monitoring device after attaining a CE mark. The monitoring system is now available in the European Union and other countries that have adopted the CE standard for certified medical devices.
The Life Pebble includes a single lead ECG, skin thermometer, and an accelerometer, which enables it to track physical activity. The device works for up to five days on a single hearing aid-sized batter, according to the company. The data collected by the system is intended for use by clinicians for analysis, according to the company’s press release. The Life Pebble streams data over a short range wireless link to a Sensium USB Network Adapter.
The company is also developing a version of the Life Pebble for use in professional sports applications, and has already created a prototype of the potential product line.
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WWHI appoints Mehregany EVP Engineering
The West Wireless Health Institute has tapped engineer Mehran Mehregany as the institute’s executive vice president of engineering and chief of engineering research, which makes Mehregany responsible for planning and implementing engineering research and academic initiatives. He officially takes the post November 2.
Mehregany previously served as a faculty member at Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Mehregany served as the director of the MEMS Research Center for seven years and spent three years as chairman of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department.
“My career thus far has centered on developing innovative microsystems, and I can’t think of a more exciting place to continue my passion than in the emerging field of wireless health,” said Mehregany. “Microsystems technology will help drive individualized medicine by enabling noninvasive, miniature sensors that can be placed on or in a patient’s body. The opportunities are unlimited when you consider these small devices managing all types of diagnostics and therapy remotely through a cellular or body area network connection.”
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CardioNet patent; Cambridge Consultants
CardioNet’s 15th patent: In a recent press release, Randy Thurman, CardioNet Chairman, President and CEO, stated: “A key to success in delivering wireless medicine is rooted in our ability to distill the wide variety of information collected from sensors on the body and make that data useful for clinicians or other healthcare providers. With MCOT, we provide electrocardiogram and trended heart rate data to physicians in order for them to make clinically relevant decisions. The issuance of this patent demonstrates our continued focus on innovation for applications in wireless medicine. Establishing and defending our extensive patent portfolio is key to our long-term strategy. This newly issued patent reinforces CardioNet`s position as the pioneer and technology leader in mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry.” More
Cambridge Consultants demo event last week: “Now picture the bathroom of the future, where these devices can talk to each other and wirelessly stream information onto a single screen. It’s easy to do it with the Bluetooth Health Device Profile and the IEEE Personal Health Data specification,” a recent Wired article explained. Cambridge Consultants works very closely with Continua Health Alliance to ensure medical device interoperability. More
US News & World Report discovers Hello Health: “Online, patients can see their doctor’s schedule and make their own appointments. If they run late, they can whip out a BlackBerry or iPhone and post a message on a Facebook-like “wall” on the physician’s Web page. Hello Health internist Sean Khozin figures he spends as much as 40 percent of his time online—following up with chronic disease cases, for example, to coordinate care. Hello Health is in the process of rolling out nationally.” More
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Latin America; mHealth Venture Capital; QoS
mHealth in Latin America: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched a program to generate mobile phone-based services for the lower income populations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The services will address poverty problems, including health, education, social protection, employment and business, according to the IDB. Around 80 percent of the region’s population, or 460 million people, has a mobile phone, while almost 50 percent of them have incomes of less than $300 a month. IDB is working with industry partners, including Telefonica, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Open Mobile Consortium, MobileActive.org, mHealth Alliance, the Carso Health Institute and the Federal University of Amazonas. More
Betting on health reform: Venture capitalists focused on healthcare are trying to guess which way federal health reform will fall as they decide which start-ups are likely to benefit most, according to a report from peHUB: “Healthcare VCs — including Psilos and Chrysalis — are funding companies that help people stay healthier and manage chronic diseases, figuring this is one way the government will ultimately move to take costs out of healthcare.” More
mHealth similar to other mobile verticals from development standpoint? DeviceAnywhere CEO Faraz Syed posted his takeaways from the CTIA event earlier this month over at the company blog. Syed noted that the show had a clear spotlight on wireless health, and he also concluded that — from a development and quality of service standpoint — wireless health isn’t too different from banking or other verticals: “When it comes down to it, mHealth’s mobile app needs aren’t terribly dissimilar to those of mBanking, or any other industry for that matter. They want guaranteed reliability, security, speed of deployment, and reduced development costs (as compared to in-house)…and basically fewer headaches. Pretty much what all developers and enterprises want from their mobile apps, right?” (Also, special thanks to Faraz for the plug and kind words about MobiHealthnews.) More
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Feds, bankroll connected health before EMRs
After spending two days last week at The Connected Health Symposium, which was put together by Partners HealthCare’s Center for Connected Health and its affiliates, it’s worth revisiting a contributed column that the Center’s Director Joseph Kvedar penned for Healthspottr: “The Reason Why: Cheap & Easy Connected Health Tools Should Come Before EMRs.” Rather controversial position to take within the context of the broader health reform discussion, however, it’s one we hear all the time from those in the connected health and wireless health industry. Here’s an excerpt:
The very good news is that doctors can use these “connected health” alternatives to achieve “meaningful use”, the administration’s new standards for measuring quality improvements from electronic tools. Criteria for meaningful use include such things as ‘percent of diabetics with HbA1c under control’ and ‘percent hypertensive patients under control’. Better still, as physicians focus on performing to “meaningful use” standards, they inch closer to a framework where they are being paid for outcomes, rather than volume of procedures.
It’s time to begin investing in patient self-management tools, to give some responsibility for improving health and lowering costs to our citizens. This would offer some balance, at least, to the administrations $36 billion investment in EMRs.
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| What’s Happening |
TEDMED 2009
October 27-30,
San Diego
The fifth in a series created by Marc Hodosh and Richard Saul Wurman, TEDMED celebrates conversations that demonstrate the intersection and connections between all things medical and healthcare related: from personal health to public health, devices to design and Hollywood to the hospital. Together, this encompasses more than twenty percent of our GNP in America while touching everyone’s life around the globe.
Register here
e-Patient Connections 2009
October 26-27,
Philadelphia
Join hundreds of fellow healthcare marketing and communication
professionals at e-Patient Connections 2009 on October 26 and 27 in
Philadelphia, PA.
It’s the one conference you need to attend to make sense of the
radical changes taking place in health marketing, such as social media marketing, web conversations, and mobile health. Discover new ways to connect, educate, and engage digital health consumers. Don’t miss this REDUCED PRICING of only $2,195 which expires in October.
Register now!
2009 NIH mHealth Summit
Oct. 29-30,
Washington, DC
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Will Bring Together Researchers, Mobile Technology Experts, Policy-Makers Industry Visionaries
This two-day event, a public-private partnership of the Foundation for NIH, is being produced in partnership with the NIH, the premiere biomedical research institute in the U.S. It is the first Summit focused on exploring the partnership between biomedical research and the use of mobile technologies to improve public health.
Register here
9th Transforming Healthcare through Health IT Summit
Nov. 4-5,
Beverly Hills, CA
The Transforming Healthcare through Health IT Summit is designed to help top-level executives, legislators, physicians, regulators, and technologists come to grips with the swirling forces of health information technology change, policy development, and changing business models. Participants include CEO’s, CIO’s, CMIO’s, VP’s, Directors, etc. from rural hospital, health systems, single facility hospitals, IDNS, and other health care providers.
Register here
The 5th Annual World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress
Nov. 8-10,
Alexandria, VA
The 5th Annual World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress (WHIT v.5.0) is the premier industry event for senior executives tasked with making these multi-million dollar IT decisions. WHIT v.5.0 presents the latest innovations and initiatives in accelerating the adoption and implementation of information technology in the health care setting.
Register here
Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit
Dec. 1-2,
London, UK
The ONLY Event For Best Practice and Innovation In Global Wireless and Healthcare Convergence
With a special keynote delivery from Vittorio Collao, CEO, Vodafone Group we bring you the lead pioneers in wireless and healthcare convergence and best practice. Expect two days of 50:50 representation from the communications and healthcare sectors working towards services innovation and partnership – with Continua Health Alliance, GSMA, NHS, M Health Alliance, Vodafone, Orange, Verizon, Microsoft, Bluetooth Special Interest Group and more.
Register here
Coming up in 2010:
CIO Healthcare Summit
May 9-12, Scottsdale, AZ
The CIO Healthcare Summit is a gathering for C-suite executives and industry thought leaders to discuss IT challenges currently facing the health care industry, including improving patient care, controlling costs and meeting government regulations.
Register here
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