A growing number of health care-related organizations are using remote patient monitoring systems, signaling a surge in demand for such technology, according to a recent report from market research firm Frost & Sullivan, Healthcare IT News reports.

Reasons Generating Growth

The report found that the need to manage chronic disease among the growing elderly population has increased the demand for telehealth technology.

According to the report, systems and technologies that are driving the rise of telehealth include:

• Bluetooth;
• Near-field communication;
• Secure data management; and
• Wireless sensor platforms.

The report noted that a number of companies — including Google, IBM, Microsoft and Wal-Mart — are assisting in the development of remote monitoring products.

Arjunvasan Ambigapathy, a Frost & Sullivan research associate, said the increase in demand is discernible not only in the U.S., Europe and Japan, but also in emerging markets such as China and India.

Barriers to Implementation

The report also pointed to barriers to telehealth adoption, such as:

• The absence of reimbursement;
• The lack of standards and regulatory policies governing use of the technology;
• Low awareness levels among patients; and
• Data security concerns (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 3/4).

Source: iHealthBeat

Some developers of applications for mobile devices such as Apple’s iPad tablet computer are seeking FDA review of their products, HealthLeaders Media reports.

Seeking Approval

According to physicians, FDA has not provided guidance about which mobile health apps would need the agency’s approval and which would not. So far, few medical apps have undergone clinical trials or testing in academic medical centers.

Some developers of medical apps are pursuing FDA approval on their own. For example, AirStrip Technologies decided to classify its remote patient monitoring software as a medical device, making it subject to FDA safety and efficacy reviews. FDA cleared the app in July 2010.

Physician Input

Richard Katz — director of the cardiology division at George Washington University School of Medicine — said, “FDA is learning, or trying to figure this out. They’re trying to think of medical apps as either prescriptive or informative.”

Joseph Smith — chief medical and science officer at the West Wireless Health Institute — said FDA approval should be required for apps “that provide physicians with information that they use to make a diagnosis or treatment decision” (Clark, HealthLeaders Media, 3/4).

Source: iHealthBeat

The American Board of Medical Specialties recently announced the launch of a new website designed to help U.S. residents determine whether a physician is certified by ABMS, the United Press International reports.

The site includes data on more than 750,000 physicians that are certified in one or more of ABMS’ specialties and subspecialties.

Consumers also can use the site to learn:

• What board certification means; and
• Why it is important to their health.

In addition, the site offers tips for finding a qualified physician and guidance on getting the most out of physician visits (United Press International, 2/28).

Source: iHealthBeat

Updates to tablet computer technology and a surge in new devices, such as Apple’s iPad, have observers wondering whether physicians will make tablets their mobile device of choice, American Medical News reports.

Use of Tablet Devices

Since the iPad was released in January 2010, several health care initiatives have been launched using the tool. For example:

• Georgetown University has provided iPads to surgeons to use in operating rooms;
• Skilled nursing facility operator RehabCare deployed iPads throughout its system;
• Stanford University School of Medicine has given iPads to students; and
• Many physicians have adopted the devices for various uses.

Eighty different tablet models are expected to be released in the next year to compete with the iPad, which will give health care providers more choices.

Meanwhile, numerous vendors of electronic health record systems are developing applications that allow physicians to access EHRs through a tablet.

Uncertain Future

Although using cloud-based EHRs means patient data would not be stored on a tablet, organizations still must develop ways to secure the devices, according to American Medical News. Hospitals are expressing concern about the implications of widespread adoption of such devices because of possible security risks to medical data.

In addition, many physicians say that despite the usefulness of tablets, they can never fully replace desktop computers. Some doctors note that information input on the iPad is best restricted to brief note-taking because of its small touch-screen keyboard.

In addition, Brian Reed — chief marketing officer and vice president of products for mobility management company BoxTone — said he does not expect tablets to replace smart phones, largely due to the convenience of the smaller devices (Dolan, American Medical News, 2/7).

Source: iHealthBeat

U.S. health care providers who volunteer their medical skills abroad could violate patient privacy ethics if they post pictures of their patients on Facebook or other websites, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, HealthLeaders Media reports.

For the study, researchers from the University of Florida’s College of Medicine examined the Facebook profile pages of 1,023 medical students and residents. Although researchers found no breaches of patient privacy in the U.S., they found 12 photos depicting patients in developing countries.

Lindsay Thompson — study author and assistant professor of pediatrics at UF College of Medicine — said HIPAA privacy and security rules do not apply to patients outside of the U.S.

However, she added that health care providers have an ethical obligation to follow the medical privacy laws of the state or country where they practice.

Challenges

According to the study authors, many medical students and health care providers might be unaware of patient privacy laws in other countries.

Erik Black — study author and assistant professor of pediatrics at UF College of Medicine — said using patient consent forms in other countries could pose ethical challenges if patients believe they need to sign the form to receive medical care.

Black added that posting patient photos online could put patients at risk if a particular culture has objections to receiving treatment from U.S. health care providers.

Black said, “We are not telling people not to do anything. We are telling them to think about it. Use your moral and ethical compass” (Commins, HealthLeaders Media, 2/22).

Source: iHealthBeat

Health care providers might not meet Stage 2 meaningful use rules unless they more actively engage patients about their role in the use of health IT, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute report, InformationWeek reports.

Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

Report Details

The report was released Wednesday at the Healthcare Information and Management System Society’s annual conference in Orlando, Fla. (Mitchell, InformationWeek, 2/23).

For the report, PwC surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers and more than 300 health care executives in fall 2010.

Key Findings

According to the report, 82% of the 300 health care executives surveyed expect their organization to achieve meaningful use before penalties go into effect in 2015, down from 90% in spring of last year (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 2/23).

Bruce Henderson — director and national leader of the EHR and health information exchange practice at PwC — said hospitals will need to fold in patient input to efforts to comply with Stage 2 criteria of the meaningful use program. Stage 2 rules could require health care providers to offer patients more thorough access to online medical data, according to the report.

However, the report found that 30% of patients do not know why they would need to get their medical files electronically.

Henderson added, “Health systems need to have both patients and physicians actively using the health information to make care decisions, and they aren’t there yet” (Commins, HealthLeaders Media, 2/24).

Other Findings

The report also stated that patients are required to populate many commercial personal health records. According to PwC, integrating PHRs with a health care provider’s EHR system could remove that task from the patient and give health care providers more accurate patient information (vanSonnenberg, CMIO, 2/24).

In addition, the report found that:

• 66% of consumer respondents want physicians to use their electronic health care data to follow up on medical conditions;
• 50% obtain their health information by calling their health care provider and requesting a paper copy;
• 35% want their physicians to use their electronic medical information to monitor treatment compliance;
• About 25% want to be able to share electronic health data with family members to better understand medical histories; and
• 13% have been asked by their physicians for their thoughts about EHRs (Healthcare IT News, 2/23).

Comments

Henderson said, “There’s a lot of activity around meaningful use,” adding that “the industry is doing its best to understand and learn the value of these systems, the best way to implement them, and how to achieve positive results, but I’m not sure everyone fully understands their impact — intended or otherwise — and this is contributing to the lack of connecting with key stakeholders in the process” (InformationWeek, 2/23).

Source: iHealthBeat

The vulnerability of medical data is becoming more evident as the U.S. health care system moves toward use of electronic health records, according to a recent report by Kaufman, Rossin and Co., the South Florida Business Journal reports.

Key Findings

According to the report, 166 data breaches compromised the personal health information of 4.9 million patients during the first year after the HITECH Act was signed into law. The HITECH Act was part of the 2009 economic stimulus package and mandated heftier fines and reporting requirements for breaches (Miller, South Florida Business Journal, 2/23).

Among the causes of the 166 reported breaches:

• 58% were data theft incidents;
• 7% were incidents of unauthorized access to data;
• 4% were incidents of improper data disposal; and
• 14% were incidents of data loss and other causes.

Most breaches — 42 incidents — occurred through laptops. Breaches from laptops also affected 1.5 million people, more than any other breach location (Simmons, FierceEMR, 2/24).

Conclusions

Jorge Rey — study co-author and director of information security and compliance with Kaufman, Rossin and Co. — said that “many businesses are not properly prepared or are completely unaware of just how vulnerable this information is.”

He added that the HITECH Act is changing how personal health information must be protected and that companies that fail to protect such data can face “serious reputation, legal and financial repercussions” (South Florida Business Journal, 2/23).

Source: iHealthBeat

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