Keeping up with Technology and Health

Posted on | February 12, 2008 | Comments Off on Keeping up with Technology and Health

CAST – www.agingtech.org – a great resourceOne of the great health technology resources that exists organizationally is the Center for Aging Services Technologies. Check out the web site at www.agingtech.org.
Their e-publication, Tech Time, coordinated by CAST Chairman Eric Dishman, is filled with useful information, contacts and hotlinks that reinforce how quickly our world is changing. Below are some of the listings from the February 2008 communication. This is a great Clearinghouse that should be bookmarked.

(from CAST’s Tech Time Feb. 2008)
________________________________
Technology and Aging Services

High-Tech System Monitors Residents and Caregivers
The Guardian House Total Alzheimer’s Facility in Lake Charles, La. is
testing a new technology to monitor resident safety as well as staff interaction with residents. The high-tech system, developed by Mississippi-based SamarionSM, provides restraint-free fall prevention; wandering and elopement prevention; resident, staff and visitor safety and security management; staff management and facility monitoring and a family-and-friends communications system.

New Device Could Speed Up Testing for Cognitive Impairments
A portable, computerized device called "Detect" administers a 10-minute test to help identify people who are susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease. "Detect" quickly assesses cognitive abilities and measures reaction time and memory capabilities of those taking the test. And, according to researchers at Emory University and Georgia Tech, it is just as accurate as the standard 90-minute pen-and-paper test that is currently being used to identify mild cognitive impairments that could lead to Alzheimer’s. The new device could be available commercially this summer and will sell for around $200.

"Nursing Home Compare" May Improve Some Care
Nursing Home Compare, a Web-based report card on nursing home quality, may be instrumental in improving some aspects of nursing home care, according to a study published in Health Services Research. Nursing homes that had at least one quality measure published in the Website’s first report card in 2002 later showed a 10-percent improvement on two quality measures: physical restraint and short-term pain measures. Other measures, including residents with worsening ability to perform daily living skills, new infections, and pressure ulcers, did not show improvement. Nursing Home Compare is sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

________________________________
Electronic Health Records

Will EHRs Prevent Repeat Hospitalization?
Researchers at the Meyers Primary Care Institute in Worchester, Mass., are testing whether electronic health records (EHRs) can prevent adverse drug events, emergency room (ER) visits and repeat hospitalizations among people over age 65. During the study, primary care physicians in an institute-affiliated health plan will be notified if any medications changes are made when their patients go to the ER or are hospitalized. In addition, patients who schedule appointments or lab tests will receive follow-up alerts. Researchers will assess these encounters and track how many patients in the study end up back in the hospital.

Marriott’s PHRs Spot Potential Medical Mistakes
A new personal health record (PHR) system being used by Marriott Corporation employees does more than organize an individual’s health information. This health record also alerts doctors and the employee about gaps in care or potential medical mistakes, and provides links to relevant health information. The ActiveHealth Management system spots gaps and mistakes by analyzing patients’ health data and comparing it with thousands of evidence-based clinical rules, metrics and algorithms. Marriott is now developing an incentive plan to encourage its 50,000 employees to input information into their PHRs.

_______________________________
E-Prescribing

Prescribing on the Run
Thanks to an e-prescribing software vendor in Rockville, Md., physicians can now send an electronic prescription while they’re on the run – and look pretty cool doing it. The vendor, DrFirst, Inc., has recently formatted its e-prescribing software to the popular Apple iPhone. Doctors can use their iPhones to submit medication orders and renewals, review patient medical history and insurance eligibility and check for drug-related interactions and appropriate dosages.

Encouraging Disease Management through E-Prescribing
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) will soon be enlisting the help of an e-prescribing service to get more patients involved in managing their chronic diseases. The insurer is using the PocketScript service, designed by the Dallas-based Zix Corporation, to inform physicians about patients who are eligible to participate in a BCBSMA-sponsored disease management program. Blue Cross is hoping that when doctors receive its alerts at the point of care, they will be more likely to discuss the BCBSMA program with the eligible patient and the patient will be more likely to enroll.

________________________________
Telemedicine

Medical Center’s Rooms are "Smart"
When doctors and nurses walk into the new "smart" patient rooms at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), they get a warm welcome. The room itself recognizes the health professionals and shows them a bedside monitor with information from the patient’s EHR. A second monitor gives the patient the name and role of each caregiver in the room. The smart room is being tested in six patient rooms at the UPMC Shadyside campus, with plans to expand to a 24-bed unit at the hospital by the end of March. The smart rooms were featured in a recent special audio report on the iHealthBeat Web site. In the report, CAST Director Majd Alwan emphasized the need for a demonstration project that would engage payers to test new "smart" technologies. Read more about UMPC or visit the iHealthBeat Website.

Bionic Contact Lens Could Transmit Medical Data
Poets have always maintained that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Now researchers at the University of Washington are finding that the eyes may also shed light on an individual’s health status. The researchers have developed a contact lens that could serve as a platform for telemedicine software. The lenses, which are equipped with an antenna and computer displays, may eventually be able to collect information about patients’ medical conditions and send that information to a database.

Canadian Cell Phones Will Send Vital Signs
Canadian researchers at the University of Alberta are working with a Korean electronics company to develop a cell phone that measures a person’s vital signs and transmits that information to a remote nurse. The device is now being tested to ensure that it is accurate as a blood pressure cuff, ear thermometer and electrocardiogram. Eventually, the research team hopes to develop a similar device that can monitor unstable glucose levels and chemicals in the blood.

________________________________
International News

EU Will Vote on Technology Program for Older People
The European Parliament will vote in March on a proposal to fund an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) program, which will support technologies that help older people stay healthy for longer. The parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy is urging that projects funded through the AAL program respect older persons’ privacy and dignity, increase their social participation and involve them in the design of new technologies.

Germany: Doctors Oppose Centrally Stored Patient Records
A national association of 20,000 private physicians in Germany is urging the German Ministry of Health to stop storing EHRs in a central location. Concerned about potential risks to patient confidentiality, the doctors are suggesting that patients be given encrypted USB-sticks that would carry all their relevant health data.

Canada: Computer Program Can Help Stop Disease Outbreaks
A new computer program is promising to help Canadian health officials spot the start of a disease outbreak in one part of the country and alert health officials elsewhere so they can take action to prevent its spread. The program, developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, instantly collects information from hospitals and clinics as patients are admitted. It then analyzes the data to see if there is a sudden spike in diseases, and breaks down the data by age, gender and other factors to see who may be susceptible to the outbreak.

________________________________
Resources

Kaiser Explores HIT on Education Site
The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a new issue brief on health information technology. The brief is posted on KaiserEDU.org, a Website designed to provide users with easy access to the latest data, research, analysis and developments in health policy. The HIT site features a background brief and links to key HIT data, policy research, organizations and presentations.

________________________________
Federal Policy News

Bush Budget for 2009 Keeps HIT Funding Stable
Overall IT spending will go up, but HIT spending will stay the same if President Bush’s proposed $3.1 trillion federal budget for fiscal year 2009 is approved in its current form. The overall IT budget, proposed at $71.1 billion, represents an increase of 3.8 percent over 2008 funding levels. HIT spending by the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services (HHS) remains at about $5.5 billion. The Office of the National Coordinator for HIT (ONCHIT) will lose $42 million in budget authority in 2009 if the budget stands as proposed. The budget also proposes $66 million for ONCHIT programs, up from $61 million in fiscal year 2008.

Reports Promote Greater Progress.
In its 2008 report on the state of the nation’s health care, the American College of Physicians suggests that HIT implementation and investment in the United States lags behind other countries that have well-performing health care systems. As of 2005, total per capita spending for HIT in the United States was 43 cents, compared with $4.93 in Australia and $192.78 in the United Kingdom. The California Health Care Foundation released a report suggesting that there has been no measurable increase in HIT adoption since Bush announced his goal to provide every American with an EHR by the year 2014. Finally, the Center for American Progress accused Bush and the Federal Communications Commission of failing to invest in a strong broadband network that could support consumers, first responders and anti-terrorist teams.

HIT Job Classifications Could Speed EHR Adoption
HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt has asked the American Health Information Community (AHIC) to identify job classifications for HIT jobs and the credentials required for those classifications. The request came after an advisory group to AHIC suggested that a workforce shortage, caused by the lack of job classification, is holding back more widespread adoption of digital health records.

HHS Accepts HIT Standards from 2006
HHS formally recognized a set of HIT standards for laboratory results reporting, public health reporting for bio-surveillance, and consumers’ management of their own health records. HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt received the standards in December 2006, but they were deemed "preliminary" for a year. Now that the standards are recognized, federal agencies and their contractors are required by an executive order to incorporate them into new systems or upgrades or buy products that comply with the standards.

________________________________
State Policy News

State and Local HIT Spending Will Grow
Annual spending on HIT is expected to grow from $6.9 billion in 2007 to $10.8 billion in 2012, according to a recent study by the research firm INPUT Inc. The report says that new investment in Medicaid Management Information Systems, which state and local governments use to distribute Medicaid funds, will drive that growth.

California: Home Health Proposal Could Open the Door to Technology
Legislation passed by the California State Assembly’s Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care would allow continuing care retirement communities to provide assisted living care to older people living in their own homes outside the retirement community. CAST is hopeful that if the legislation becomes law, it will increase the use of in-home technologies that help older people remain independent.

Virginia: HIT Grant Will Place EHRs in the ER
Visitors to Virginia’s emergency rooms may receive better care in the future as a result of a $150,000 grant awarded recently to the Northern Virginia Regional Health Information Organization (NOVARHIO). NAVARHIO will use the state grant to ensure that ER physicians have electronic access to the medication histories of the patients they treat. NACARHIO will also be using grant funds to encourage Virginia residents to create their own personal health records. INOVA Health System and Erickson Senior Living will be partners in the project.

Maine: Physicians Will Share EHRs
The State of Maine raised more than $4 million to launch HealthInfoNet, a statewide network that will allow health care providers to share EHRs. The network is expected to save an estimated $50 million annually in healthcare costs related to duplicative tests, prescriptions and admissions. More than 2,000 health care providers, 15 rural and urban hospitals and one-third of practicing physicians in Maine will take part in a pilot version of HealthInfoNet.

CMS will test PHRs in South Carolina
CMS is testing a program that will provide PHRs to 100,000 South Carolina residents who participate in Medicare’s fee-for-service program. A CMS contractor will import two years’ worth of Medicare claims data into a commercial PHR system for each beneficiary who signs up for the pilot project.

Maryland: Task Force Releases Report on Obstacles to EHR System
Maryland’s Task Force to Study Electronic Health Systems has released a report detailing the financial, legal and logistical obstacles to creating a statewide EHR system. The 26-member group, which the Maryland General Assembly convened in 2005, described the benefits of such a system as "uncertain," but said its potential to save money, time and improve quality of care was enticing nonetheless. Incentives, including pay-for-performance models, will be necessary to convince doctors to computerize patient health records, the report says.