Cambridge Consultants Brings Its Vena Platform to the Continua Health Alliance

Cambridge Consultants has joined the Continua Health Alliance, a consortium of healthcare and technology companies collaborating to establish an ecosystem of interoperable personal health systems that will empower people and organizations to better manage health and wellness.

As a member of Continua, Cambridge Consultants offers its Vena platform, a low-cost single chip communication solution for health devices, with the capability to deliver both wired (USB) and wireless (Bluetooth) connectivity to health devices. 
The Vena platform offers a software solution on a single chip that allows medical devices to communicate. Vena includes the three standards required for the Version One Device Connectivity Standards selected by the Continua Health Alliance.

 It embeds the Bluetooth Health Device Profile and the USB Personal Health Device standard, well suited for the secure transport of medical data, onto a single chip. Vena also offers the IEEE11073 standards for compatible exchange of information between health devices including thermometers, weighing scales and blood glucose meters.

XTend Medical Begins Remote Patient Monitoring Program in U.K.

XTend Medical Corp., a company that delivers telemedicine solutions to the healthcare industry, has begun a Remote Patient Monitoring Program through the University of Ulster, U.K., with Dr. Kevin Curran heading up the program.

The company has begun a program in the U.K. to monitor patients remotely managing their diabetes and blood pressure. This program will be managed by Dr. Kevin Curran who states that the main focus of the program is to show how technology can assist in monitoring patients from their home in modern life with the main emphasis being to reduce costs for the healthcare systems worldwide and improve the care delivered to patients. The program is designed to assist doctors in helping patients to control diabetes through up-to-the-minute online reports of their insulin levels.

The company further announced that the current share price is not indicative of the true value and potential of the company.

CompuMed Signs Agreement with Any Lab Test Now to Provide ECG Systems And Services Nationwide

CompuMed, Inc., a medical informatics company serving the healthcare community with telemedicine applications and diagnostic software solutions, has signed a new and exclusive agreement with Any Lab Test Now, a franchise direct-access lab testing facility with more than 70 locations, and will provide remote electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation systems and services at selected facilities nationwide.

CompuMed’s traditional core business is providing remote ECG interpretation terminals and related services to medical facilities that may not have access to physicians trained and qualified to interpret ECG results. Traditional customers for the company’s CardioGram system include correctional facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, occupational health clinics and physicians’ offices. Its systems reduce healthcare costs by providing remote cardiac screening at the point of care. Another advantage is an optional feature that automatically sends ECG results to a trained cardiologist for an over-read when the results are abnormal.

Cyntrist to Utilize ExpressMD Solutions' Telehealth System to Improve Diabetic Care

ExpressMD Solutions, a joint venture formed by Authentidate Holding Corp. and EncounterCare Solutions, Inc. to provide remote patient monitoring telehealth systems and services that improve care for patients, has signed its first user contract and distribution agreement with Cyntrist, a comprehensive diabetic care company headquartered in Central Florida. Cyntrist will distribute Express MD's systems and services throughout the Southeastern US region. Initially, Cyntrist will target Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

ExpressMD Solutions' systems and services enable unattended measurement of a patient's vital signs and related health information. This patient data is securely sent over the Internet to the patient's healthcare provider for review.

Cyntrist will utilize ExpressMD's remote patient monitoring systems and telehealth services to monitor patients diagnosed with Diabetes. Patients will be able to use Electronic House Call equipped monitoring devices located in their home to record personal health data, including glucose levels and weight. ExpressMD Solutions' service will transmit the data to each patient's care provider as it is collected. By remotely receiving patient data daily, care providers can adjust treatment accordingly and provide an enhanced level of care. In addition, ExpressMD's solution reduces the need for regular office visits, reducing the cost of care.

In June 2008 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes (8 percent of the population), an increase of more than 3 million in approximately two years.

Optimum Lightpath Launches Lightpath Managed Video Service as Complete Ethernet Solution for Video

Optimum Lightpath, provider of advanced Ethernet-based communications services over its Intelligent Enterprise Network, has introduced Lightpath Managed Video service, a complete video service that provides connectivity as well as encoding and decoding of digital video. Optimum Lightpath brings its innovative mileage neutral, flat rate pricing and transport resiliency to the video market, with the launch of the service. Its unique flat rate pricing model will enable businesses to save significantly over traditional video services.

Lightpath Managed Video service is purpose-built to directly address the needs of the media sector, including production facilities, broadcasters, television stations and content distributors, as well as non-media organizations, such as healthcare facilities, municipalities and enterprises with high-resolution “broadcast quality” video requirements, such as security surveillance and video conferencing. The new offering is well suited for file-based media and content transfers, utilizing the advantages of Carrier class Ethernet’s resiliency to packet loss and jitter. Additionally, the service does not require any transport protocol conversions.

Lightpath Managed Video service is the newest addition to Optimum Lightpath’s Video Services Portfolio, which also includes Lightpath Video Transport, a dedicated Layer 2 point-to-point service designed for broadcast quality video transport. The new service electronically accepts, transports and delivers native compressed and uncompressed digital video in common industry formats including Asynchronous Serial Interface (ASI), Standard Definition Serial Digital Interface (SD-SDI) and High Definition Serial Digital Interface (HD-SDI). It also includes a fully redundant protected connection for unsurpassed resiliency and reliability.

Cardiocom Receives 2008 Patient Monitoring Product Innovation of the Year Award from Frost & Sullivan

In recognition of its product and service leadership in the remote patient telemonitoring market, Frost & Sullivan presented Cardiocom Multi-Disease Management with the "2008 North American Patient Monitoring Product Innovation of the Year Award."
Cardiocom's founders have leveraged their experience in medical device manufacturing to create a home monitoring company that designs, manufactures and supports all of its products internally.

To achieve this, Cardiocom has its own in-house research and development team and manufacturing operations, along with a full call center staffed by registered nurses. This initiative for vertical integration by Cardiocom has been key to its success.

Cardiocom's solutions are more than just biometric monitoring devices. The products and services operate as an integrated system for specific disease states. By incorporating state-of-the-art monitoring technology with targeted, personalized care management services and advanced rule-based software, Cardiocom offers its clients maximum patient management.

Cardiocom has maintained profitability for the past six years and is expected to continue on that path in the years to come.

New National Chronic Disease/Telehealth Project to Bolster Best Practices for Four Major Diseases

The National Association of Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) announced the Philips National Chronic Disease/ Telehealth Best Practice Project.

The project will be sponsored by Philips Telehealth Solutions and co-sponsored by NAHC and Fazzi Associates, a home care consulting, benchmarking and best practice research firms. This project will bring together leading telehealth/chronic disease home care practitioners from every state and national medical experts in the four major chronic diseases. Their goal will be to jointly develop best telehealth practices for dealing with patients with these diseases.

The four diseases to be addressed by the project are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF), hypertension and diabetes. “There is no surprise why this project is focusing on these four diseases,” said Val Halamandaris, president of the National Association of Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). “According to a November 2007 study by Johns Hopkins University, 90 percent of Americans over the age of 65 have one or more chronic diseases, 70 percent have two or more. These four diseases represent the most prevalent diseases addressed by home care agencies.”

“There is another reason,” added Michael Lemnitzer, senior director, Philips Telehealth Solutions. “During Philips National Study on the Future of Technology and Telehealth in Home Care, we discovered that agencies that used telehealth with a disease management program had better financial outcomes and better quality outcomes. What we didn’t explore was what the best telehealth practices were for serving these populations. The goal of this study is to find the answers to that question.”

Colorado to Have One of the Largest Healthcare Information Networks in the Nation

With an award from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Colorado will have one of the largest healthcare information networks in America.  A consortium led by the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) will develop the Colorado Telehealth Network.
The FCC award provides up to $4.6 million in federal funds over three years. When combined with a similar FCC award to the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council, $9.8 million will be made available for the initiative. In addition, a 15 percent match from participating healthcare providers will supplement the initiative.

The network will enhance the delivery of health services, help control costs and make care more affordable, reduce travel time for consumers, reduce the potential for medical errors and enable healthcare providers to share critical information.

The goals of the Colorado Telehealth Network initiative are threefold. One is to share the benefits of telemedicine access to primary and specialty care patients who normally would have to travel large distances to receive care. Second is to ensure that healthcare facilities are able to use available technologies and expand their efforts in the area of health information technology. Third is the coordination of care in a public health emergency by allowing healthcare providers to share critical information.

The FCC will cover 85 percent of the cost of building the network, including design and engineering, network hardware, and installation of the network for public and not-for-profit hospitals and clinics. Healthcare facilities participating in the program include hospitals, clinics, university and research centers, behavioral health sites and community health centers. To date, 72 Colorado hospitals, 118 health clinics and 184 mental health centers have signed on to participate in the statewide fiber optic broadband network.

Philips and University Medical Center Utrecht Sign MOU to Collaborate on Innovations in Major Disease Areas

Royal Philips Electronics has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) setting out a long-term research partnership with the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht, the Netherlands’ biggest university hospital. Philips and UMC Utrecht will seek to develop new solutions for the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of major disease areas.

Philips and UMC will develop collaborative research projects in medical imaging applied to brain disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disease and pulmonary disease. A key area of focus outlined in the MOU is image guided oncology interventions. Philips and UMC Utrecht expect the agreement to result in new treatment methods that will ultimately lead to an improved quality of healthcare delivery.

US Market for Patient Monitoring Equipment, Accessories and Supplies Worth $8.6 Billion by 2013

According to a new technical market research report, Patient Monitoring from BCC Research, the US market for patient monitoring devices, accessories and consumables was worth nearly $6.2 billion in 2007. The market is projected to grow to almost $6.5 billion in 2008 and $8.6 billion by 2013, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7 percent.

The market is divided into major segments of devices and disposable sensors and consumables. The patient monitoring devices segment has the larger share of the market, and was valued at $3.6 billion in 2007 and an estimated $3.8 billion in 2008. This is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.2 percent to reach $5.1 billion in 2013.
Disposable sensors and other consumables have the smaller market share. Worth $2.6 billion in 2007 and an estimated $2.7 billion in 2008, this segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1 percent and reach $3.4 billion in 2013.

The patient monitoring devices segment is further broken down into categories of bedside/tabletop, telemetry, personal, implantable and wearable monitors. While handheld and wearable monitors make up the largest part of the market segment, at 66.6 percent in 2007, their share of the market is expected to decline to 61.9 percent by 2013. Meanwhile, bedside and tabletop monitors should increase their share of the market from 30.7 percent in 2007 to 35.9 percent by 2013.

There is also a trend toward the use of networked as opposed to stand-alone monitors. Networked monitors accounted for 35.3 percent of the market in 2007, a share that is expected to grow to 46.2 percent by 2013. Wirelessly networked (i.e., telemetry) monitors should increase from 13 percent of the market to 15 percent.

Major applications for patient monitoring technology include hospitals, medical transport, military, workplace and home use. Home users are the largest market for patient monitoring devices. The hospital market is the next largest end-user segment, but is growing relatively slowly, due to consolidation among hospitals and the emergence of alternative providers of health care, such as outpatient surgical centers. Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are the third-largest market for patient monitoring devices.

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