Congress, Obama administration convene at mHealth summit
 “If we do not fix our healthcare system, America may go the way of GM; paying more, getting less, and going broke,” President Obama declared earlier this week. “Make no mistake: the cost of our healthcare is a threat to our economy,” he said. “It is a ticking time bomb for the federal budget. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America.”
If the administration is keen on likening the healthcare system to General Motors, maybe the two share the same solution. The administration entrusted a former telecommunications honcho to lead the new GM’s turnaround: Former AT&T CEO and Chairman Ed Whitacre is famous for building the AT&T that we know today by engineering a roll-up of various wireless and telecom companies (remember Cingular?) into one mega-brand.
Critics panned the Whitacre appointment at GM, especially since he admitted that he knew nothing about the automobile industry. Time will tell whether Whitacre can apply his telecom savvy to the flailing automaker’s business, but the U.S. healthcare system bears little resemblance to a singular, bankrupt company. The similarities appear superficial.
So despite Obama’s comparison to GM, the U.S healthcare system doesn’t need an Ed Whitacre — a telecommunications guru — to lead it. There is no magic bullet here and the administration seems to recognize that. A range of solutions needs to be explored, as Obama noted recently: That’s why the federal government needs to be made aware of how the wireless industry could improve the healthcare system and drive better outcomes.
They will.
Next week, administration officials, members of Congress, medical and policy experts are scheduled to convene in the Capitol Visitor Center at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. to discuss “mHealth solutions to America’s chronic care crisis.” The wireless industry association CTIA is organizing the event, which is set to take place on the morning of June 24. (More information here.)
“We need to explore a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first, let doctors focus on practicing medicine, and encourage broader use of evidence-based guidelines,” Obama said. “That’s how we can scale back the excessive defensive medicine reinforcing our current system of more treatment rather than better care.”
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| Partners spins out wireless health start-up
Partners Healthcare system in Boston announced plans to spin-off a start-up that “gives patients the tools to be their own doctor” beginning with a wireless blood pressure cuff for at-home and on-the-go monitoring. The start-up is tentatively called “Connected Health” for now.
The initial product just finished a pilot with EMC. The cuff allows users to upload their blood pressure information to an online portal that their doctor can access, but the portal also provides users with coaching messages like “get more exercise” or “good job.”
Additional monitoring tools for diabetes and acitivity/weight management are the next ones Connected Health is looking to offer. EMC and Partners have already signed up as the company’s first customers and other local businesses are likely to follow suit, according to the company’s founders. Continue >>
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BlackBerry: Certicom will secure health info
During a question and answer period at the Canadian Telecom Summit yesterday, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion’s CEO Mike Lazaridis explained his ten year vision for the smartphone, which he described as becoming a “wireless wallet.” Lazaridis explained that part of the reason that RIM bought security company Certicom was to secure these future “wireless wallets” that will hold our medical records, banking information and other sensitive data.
“One of the reasons that we acquired Certicom, who we’ve been working with for over 15 years, is to embed that kind of security in our devices to make sure that things like wireless banking becomes a reality, and to make sure that we have the rights to these security models that you feel comfortable keeping medical information on them, or your license on these devices, your passport on these devices, or your credit card on these devices, or your bank access on these devices,” Lazaridis told attendees at the summit. “You can see that’s where people are starting to see where this is going. But it’s going to require a lot of innovation, a lot of discipline to make sure these platforms, networks and server technologies can provide the reliability and more importantly the security to be able to offer those services to the general public.”
RIM’s acquisition of Certicom gained the company’s shareholders’ approval in March, but not before a few rough patches: RIM’s original bid was unsolicited — Certicom had a court in Canada block it — Certicom then accepted an acquisition bid from VeriSign — RIM then outbid VeriSign. In the process the pricetag for Certicom increased markedly, of course.
Securing the wireless wallet looks to be a top priority for RIM/BlackBerry, and medical records seem to lead the list of reasons why.
For more, see this blog post from MobileSyrup.
If you want to hear Lazaridis at the summit for yourself, check out the very rough (out of focus even) video shot from the event to hear the full response. Continue >>
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| Is Apple’s FDA policy reasonable?
Medical device connectivity and workflow automation consultant, Tim Gee, also known as the Connectologist, started a helpful discussion on LinkedIn about Apple’s recently disclosed developer agreement and its moves to avoid FDA regulation. As we reported recently, the agreement puts the onus on medical app developers to clear their app with the FDA if necessary and to not involve Apple in any way. Gee’s initial thoughts served as a jumping off point for Audi Lucas, a networked systems manager at Draeger Medical who made clear his opinions were his own and not necessarily shared by Draeger. Here’s the discussion:
So, was Apple’s FDA policy reasonable?>
Tim Gee: I’d say yes, Apple’s position is reasonable. No company wants third parties — especially loosely connected third parties like iPhone developers — to create regulatory requirements for them. Their license does not preclude them from working more closely with another company to create something that does result in some sort of regulatory burden for Apple. They just don’t want third parties making those decisions for them, and telling them in the middle or at the end of the development cycle.
Apple’s biggest regulatory issues will revolve around what the FDA calls labeling. Should Apple market an iPhone app that meets the definition of a regulated medical device as a vehicle for marketing the iPhone, they would likely be exposed to some degree of regulatory liability. Continue >>
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| Blumenthal: iPhone? Sure, if it works.
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, about the push for electronic health records in every doctor’s office and whether the current agenda pushes older technologies that will stifle innovation. Blumenthal said that his team wants to ensure it does not slow any innovation from entering the doctor’s office.
“The last thing we want to do is inhibit innovation in this very young industry,” Blumenthal said. “There are contending priorities. There is a strong desire to get the technology to the physician and have it used in doctors’ offices. There’s also the concern that we’ll put the industry in a straightjacket (by endorsing only existing equipment). We’ll try to resolve these issues by focusing on performance rather than any specific technology. We’ll say to the industry and providers of care: We don’t care how you accomplish critical tasks, so long as you do so with electronic technology. If someone produces the equivalent of an Apple iPhone, where the doctor selects certain applications, that’s fine — so long as it works.”
A few weeks ago mobihealthnews interviewed the chief medical officer of the West Wireless Health Institute Dr. Eric Topol about the defnition of “meaningful use” of EMRs and wireless health technologies. During the interview Dr. Topol referenced his colleague Dr. Blumenthal: Continue >>
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| Proteus: China to swallow “smart pills” first
Proteus Biomedical CEO Andrew Thompson describes his company as a pioneer of intelligent medicine — Proteus embeds computers and sensors inside drugs and devices to monitor in real-time when a patient takes a drug and how they respond to it. Thompson says the service will also include reminders and notices for patients’ caregivers or family members to keep them in the loop. And although Thomspon told attendees at CTIA earlier this year that he believes intelligent medicine has a $100 billion market opportunity, Proteus won’t be charging an arm and a leg for their service.
“We’ll do all of this for the same price as the drugs you buy now,” Thompson told California Healthcare Institute during a recent interview. “For one daily price of your medicine you get the drug, the monitoring, the applications and tools, the incentives and the connectivity.”
As we have noted before, Proteus’ Raisin technology runs on an electric charge generated by the patient’s stomach acid. The charge is detected through the patient’s body by a sensing patch on the patient’s skin. The patch records the time and date that the pill is digested and also measures some vitals like heart rate, activity and respiratory patterns. The information is then sent to the patient’s mobile phone and then onto the internet for caregivers to review and analyze.
One challenge for Proteus has been the time that the technology can stay active in the human body. After all, it is running on stomach acid, a rather corrosive liquid. According to a post from the blog Singularity Hub, Proteus has been developing a solution — ChipSkin. This technology aims to keep Raisin technology and other implantable devices, like pacemakers, around a little while longer by coating parts of the solution in a protective layer to make the electronic bits more resistant to breaking down. The result could be another step toward a continuous internal monitoring system for drug responses and medication compliance.
So when can we expect Proteus’ technology to hit the market in the U.S.? Not before it hits the market in China, Thompson told the CHI blog. Developing markets like China can’t afford to replicate the entire care ecosystem that currently exists in the U.S., so it’s likely they will be more aggressive in rolling out new technologies like Proteus’.
While Proteus isn’t likely the only game in town, Thompson believes that his company’s biggest competitor is Walmart. Ever the provocateur.
To find out why read the entire interview over at the CHI blog here.
Related:
Proteus wins TripleTree’s I Award
Proteus Biomedical partners with two drug companies for trials
Proteus Biomedical: We have a $100B market opportunity
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| EMRs to connect to video games?
Last week at the Games for Health Conference here in Boston, conference organizer Ben Sawyer told MassHighTech that eventually mobile fitness tracking applications and video games like EA Sports Active will integrate with electronic medical records.
The event featured Boston-area companies like AWare Technologies, FitnessKeeper, and Molecular, which all develop applications to track fitness data through mobile phones or the Web. Both FitnessKeeper and AWare make iPhone applications that leverage the handset’s GPS functionality and accelerometer to track mileage and speed.
Another mobile-phone based service featured at the event was Adidas AG’s miCoach, which debuted in March 2008. miCoach adds virtual coaching into the mix by including advice and encouragement for the users to run faster or slow down depending on their pace and heart rate.
What’s the best case, future scenario for the “healthy game” proponents? Sawyer laid it down for MHT: ”You go to your doctor’s office and your doctor has your EA Sports Active profile and says, ‘Hey, you’re doing really well.’”
Add that to the EMR checklist for meaningful use, health records wonks: Interoperability with video games.
For more, read this article from MassHighTech.
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| Citing smartphones’ rise, iMedicor to go mobile
iMedicor inked a deal with myLeaderboard to take its HIPAA-compliant medical information transfer platform mobile in an effort to respond “to the growing demand by physicians who rely heavily on their handheld devices to deliver a higher quality of care to their patients,” the company said in a statement.
“iMedicor is working with myLeaderboard to deliver this new functionality within 60 to 90 days,” iMedicor CEO Fred Zolla said in a statement. “According to Manhattan Research, over 64 percent of all physicians use mobile devices such as an iPhone and / or BlackBerry in their daily practices, up 20 percent between 2008 and 2009. We look forward to integrating these and other proven mobile applications to enhance iMedicor’s ability to support physician workflow.”
The company plans to make the mobile application available to its users at no cost, but even if its online portal is free. Here’s why: “The iMedicor portal enables disparate EMR (electronic medical record) systems to communicate, collaborate and exchange records in real time; pharmaceutical companies to deliver customized educational marketing programs to more than 730,000 healthcare providers nationwide in a highly targeted, cost-effective and non-intrusive manner; and allows doctors, administrators and other qualified healthcare workers to send and receive medical records, files and images.”
The announcement comes one day after the initial parameters for “meaningful use” of EHRs were announced.
“We believe adding mobile functionality to iMedicor’s platform brings even greater flexibility to healthcare providers, and offers one more distinguishing feature to our technology as the Administration moves toward EMR interoperability,” said Tom Dorsett, President of iMedicor.
For more, read the full press release after the jump. Continue >>
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| Shorts: AMA-HealthVault, EpiSurveyor
Round-up of mHealth and related stories from the past week:
AMA inks HealthVault deal: Last week at Microsoft’s Connected Health Conference the company announced an agreement with the American Medical Association and portal developer, Covisint, to offer its physician members their own online portal to exchange health data with patients. Once a patient gives a physician access, physicians will be able to review self reported patient health information. In turn, patients can access vital information logged by the physicians during office visits, the company said. More
CNN features EpiSurveyor: CNN’s Edge of Discovery site just published a feature on smartphone-based public health information gathering tool EpiSurveyor and its role in helping developing nations prepare for swine flu, measles outbreaks and/or the increased spread of HIV. EpiSurveyor is one of the earliest and most successful examples of mHealth’s impact on public health. More
UN considers mHealth for swine flu pandemic: The 3G Doctor blog reports that after the declaration of the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years, the United Nations hosted a summit on “Advancing global health in the face of crisis.” One wireless carrier CEO, Michael Joseph of Safaricom, presented on the mHealth opportunity. More
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June 22-23, Seattle, WA:
Sixth Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference & Exhibition
Healthcare Unbound will have a strong focus on use of remote monitoring / home telehealth technologies for wellness promotion and disease management, with a special emphasis on Baby Boomers and the elderly population. The agenda will also cover topics such as the emerging role of mobile/wireless technologies, legal/regulatory developments and reimbursement issues, strategies for success for Healthcare Unbound vendors and much more.
Register
July 27-28, Boston, MA:
The World Health Care Congress Leadership Summit on Wireless Health
This two-day Summit convenes policy-makers, payers, providers and medical group practices from across the nation to discuss business and clinical opportunities for integrating mHealth, Remote Monitoring and Telehealth solutions into existing care systems. Real-life, case studies and the results to-date from pilots at several leading provider organizations will be shared.
Register
October 6-9, San Diego, CA:
CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment
No matter what your business is – healthcare, entertainment, fleet management or financial planning – wireless can transform how you do business. International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment brings this possibility to life. With a focus on applications, network architecture and technologies such as LBS, machine-to-machine and WiMAX (just to name a few), this international event brings a community of users, carriers, developers and manufacturers together to generate dialogue, share ideas and debate the economics of MOBILE BUSINESS.
Register
October 6-7, San Francisco:
Health 2.0
With nearly a hundred speakers and plenty of new healthcare demos and technologies on display on stage and in the exhibit hall, you’ll get a sweeping overview of the ways that information technology and the web are changing healthcare. We’ll be looking at the “traditional” Health 2.0 areas like vertical search, online social networks and tools for consumers. But the conference will also be focusing on how new technologies are connecting patients and clinicians, and examining the impact of Health 2.0 technologies on patients lives.
Register
October 27-30, San Diego
TEDMED 2009
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
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