WirelessDoc

Where's Google Health?

Last I heard, Adam Bosworth had left this project.

Here are some supposed screen shots of the site courtesy of Google Blogoscoped. Does it really go by the codename "Weaver"?

Part of the plan according to a NYTimes article is that the this will be part of the effort to allow the average person to have an online record of his or her healthcare history. If you consider the plans for changing our healthcare system in the US from both the Democratic and Republican parties, what is similar is their belief that consumers of healthcare, meaning everybody, will play a more active role in what some call patient-based, or consumer-based healthcare.

Will this happen soon? Before the various caucuses and primaries? And why not?

To be able to access your health record via your cell phone, where, for example, you could produce your last ECG (electrocardiogram) as a jpeg, in the eventuality you have to visit the ER because you're experiencing chest pains, would be worthy of much praise. It's possible now, but it's not happening. Why not?

The recent media darling, the iPhone touts it ability to allow you to find pizza in a pinch. Why not the hospital that has facilities for angioplasty, or the nearest stroke center?

We as consumer are carefully taught how to discriminate for the the best in technology--the ultimate handheld device.

It's time we expect the major players such as Apple and Google in doing truly amazing, maybe even lifesaving, things with their technology.

HHS head, Mike Leavitt blogs his support for ePrescribing

E-prescribing is not only more efficient and convenient for consumers, but widespread use would eliminate thousands of medication errors every year.

This is a quote from Mike Leavitt's blog post about his reaction to a recent meeting of the American Health Information Community (AHIC), which is an advisory committee that considers health information technology standards.

Leavitt uses an anecdote to show his action as Governor of Utah in motivating police officers to use a system of laptop entry of police reports, replacing the system of filling out a "stack of forms that was a quarter-inch thick" for each DUI arrest.  Some said they didn't have the keyboard skills to do this. His reaction was to make it mandatory.

This analogy doesn't quite fit entirely, since the most the police officers needed to invest was their time in learning how to manage touch typing. Leavitt doesn't think the added expense of an e-prescribing system is great enough for the government, as the largest payor for healthcare, not to consider a mandate.

Telemedicine projects in India and Africa

Railways to expand telemedicine network in India

This sketchy report talks about the India Railways and their expansion of their support from the current 9 facilities to 23.

African nations agree to US$1 billion Indian satellite project

This is India's plan to invest $1 billion "in the Pan-African e-Network satellite project, a joint initiative with the Africa Union aimed at developing the region's information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure."

Twenty-seven African nations have signed on so far to this project which will connect their countries by satellite and fiber-optic network.

The project will include installation of Very Small Aperture Technologies (VSATs) to carry VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) communication. The VSATs will be used for online education and telemedicine programs expected to extend ICT infrastructure to rural areas and other underserved communities. The telemedicine network will be used to share knowledge from Indian doctors with their African counterparts through an online training program.

FCC boosts telemedicine funding: Rural Health Care Pilot Program

FCC to Provide $400M for Rural Telemedicine Networks (Unfortunately, at the FCC Web site they don't have an HTML press release I can link to, but they provide a Word doc or Acrobat download.)

From the FCC press release:

To significantly increase access to acute, primary and preventive health care in rural America, the Federal Communications Commission today dedicated over $417 million for the construction of 69 statewide or regional broadband telehealth networks in 42 states and three U.S. territories under the Rural Health Care Pilot Program (RHCPP).

And,

The Commission’s RHCPP will support the connection of more than 6,000 public and non-profit health care providers nationwide to broadband telehealth networks.  The health care facilities participating in the Pilot Program include: hospitals, clinics, universities and research centers, behavioral health sites, correctional facility clinics, and community health centers.

This press release from SUNY Plattsburgh, NY mentions the FCC initiative and that the Research Foundation of SUNY will be receiving a "$7.6 million grant to improve telemedicine services."

The consortium of non-profit rural and urban health care providers in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties, named The Adirondack - Champlain Telemedicine Information Network, or ACTION, will receive a grant in the amount of $7,648,304 to build a robust fiber optic network connecting the medical centers, the hospitals, a community health center, two community colleges and SUNY Plattsburgh. The state of the art fiber optic network, dedicated to telehealth and telemedicine, will connect all health care providers in those counties to each other and to Internet2, the next generation of the global computer network.

$22 million will be going to the California Telehealth Network.

Instant health information via SMS

don't 4get ur pills: Text Messaging for Health is an article in today's Wall Street Journal (the online link is behind the cash wall but won't be for long according to Murdoch), which presents several public health projects in various parts of the world that use SMS texting for relaying timely health information:

In England, women have received text reminders to take their birth-control pills. In Australia, texting helped AIDS patients adhere to complicated drug regimens. And German researchers are examining how text messages can offer psychological support to bulimics. A recent study in New Zealand found that smoking-cessation programs were more effective in conjunction with supportive text messages.

The article quotes Jonathan Linkous, executive director of the American Telemedicine Association about this phenomenon. His says that they're developing guidelines for the appropriate use of SMS for discussing health issues. Revealing a diagnosis, such as cancer, would be forbidden.

Here're some American companies with their spin on the concept:

Intelecare Compliance Solutions Inc, based in New Haven, Conn.,can provide to clients a service "that sends text, email or voice-mail messages reminding users to take their pills, refill prescriptions, get to appointments or check vital signs." [Do you have a pulse? Are your breathing?]

Utah-based Smile Reminder allows dentists, spas and other professionals to remind their clients of appointments, or just a way to keep in touch. This could cross the line in being spam instead of wanted information. I wonder how they strike this balance, especially when you have a per message SMS cost from your carrier?

FishPhone lets you "send a text to the number 30644 with the message "FISH" and the species, and then get back a message." It's just a flat file database on different species of fish, and the current thinking about the food safety issues.

The article does mention a study that suggest that the elderly wouldn't benefit from this new technology "according to a 2006 report from Vodafone Group PLC, the British mobile-phone provider."

The are several qualms I might have about such services besides the spam issue. Do you know who is texting you, and what their qualifications are, or whether they know the right information about you? Are they liable if they have you inject a dose of insulin that's wrong?

Will such services put patients in a more passive role as to monitoring their own health? Would it be possible to determine whether a person should go to the ER through an SMS communication loop?

Is this all part of the effort to commoditize healthcare communication?

Cautious approval but bright hopes for Google's Android

From the CIO Today Web site, Barry Levine reports on one analyst's take on Android:

With positive and negative reactions to Google's new Android platform for mobile devices beginning to emerge, IDC analyst Chris Hazelton said Android could stimulate widespread Web access. He also said the open-source Android platform stands a "better chance of becoming a widely adopted system for mobile devices" than Linux has for PCs.

Medical RFID in the news

RFID Identification: Encentuate Powers Identity And Access Management For Englewood Hospital

This story reported on the RFID Solutions Online Web site talks about the Encentuate healthcare identity and access management (IAM) system that "automates access to web, desktop and legacy applications, using a combination of single sign-on and employee RFID badges for strong authentication."

University Of Maryland Medical Center Selects InnerWireless' PanGo Asset Tracking Solution (from MoreRFID)

InnerWireless, Inc., the leading provider of in-building wireless solutions, announced that its PanGo real-time location system (RTLS) has been deployed by the University of Maryland Medical Center's Radiation Oncology Department to track approximately 600 patient charts within their building and across the entire downtown campus. By leveraging its existing Cisco Wireless Network and Cisco Wireless Location Appliance to incorporate PanGo, Radiation Oncology will become the first department in the University of Maryland Medical Center to use RTLS.

RFID Healthcare: Providence Health & Services Chooses WWT And AeroScout For Wireless Asset Tracking Solution

WWT (World Wide Technology) and AeroScout have partnered to configure, install, train and support a Wi-Fi-based asset tracking and location solution at Providence’s Centralia location. PH&S is a 27 hospital, 46,000 employee system which operates in Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon and California.

HHS, CMS to launch EHR incentive program

Modern Healthcare Online

HHS and the CMS plan to launch a five-year program in which the CMS will recruit and pay 100 physicians in each of 12 target communities to report quality measures using electronic health-record systems in what the government is describing as "the largest step yet" toward boosting physician adoption of EHR systems.

And here is some commentary:

"It's a tiny step," said C. Peter Waegemann, chief executive officer of the Boston-based Medical Records Institute. "It's OK. I wouldn't want them to not do it, but it is certainly not a major step forward. It's certainly not such a big step as when we get standards."

More rumblings in the muni Wi-Fi world: Earthlink, CBS

Earthlink may exit muni Wi-Fi

This may be a wrong move. The need for ubiquitous Wi-Fi has been slow coming, but it will come. The iPhone only really operates as an online device reliably with a Wi-Fi connection. There will be more handheld devices with Wi-Fi, and if Google build an ad-driven revenue model, there will be the incentives to have Wi-Fi in at least the commercial districts of a city.

CBS Launches A Massive Wi-Fi Hotspot In Midtown Manhattan

This is a free service covering a 20-block area from Times Square to Central Park, and across 6th to 8th Avenues "that will deliver news, sports, and entertainment free of charge to users of cell phones, laptops, and other devices."

It's up and running along Broadway right now. "CBS is giving out routers to local businesses, including restaurants and coffee shops, to help in the rapid deployment of the network." [Who's responsible for the backhaul, not to mention security issues?]

Will Google buy Sprint?

Should or shouldn't Google buy Sprint?

I hate this slide show format by eWeek, but I guess they're able to show more pages of advertising in the process by doing this. What follows is a summary plus my take on this topic.

Why Google should buy Sprint:

This move essentially makes Google a player in the cell phone market. It puts them in a position to come up with a product to their liking without carrier interference, which is where the iPhone suffers.

They can develop the suggested ad model that would make this cell phone very inexpensive or free depending upon the subsidy from the agreement to view ads.

Very importantly, with this new wunderdevice, the can effectively compete with Yahoo as *the* mobile search engine. Google and Yahoo both play a role on the iPhone. You can bet won't be on the gPhone.

Buying Sprint, and 700 MHz spectrum puts them on track to possibly be the largest carrier eventually. This is assuming that the gPhone will receive overwhelming interest with the public.

Since Google has created the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), there is a opening for developers that the iPhone doesn't have.

Google is not necessarily interested in selling minutes, or selling services--they want market dominance to sell ads. The revenue generating model changes in way that Verizon Wireless and AT&T can't compete.

Why Google shouldn't:

With a $45 billion market cap, Sprint could prove to be too big a purchase for Google. YouTube and DoubleClick at nothing compared to this company.

Sprint’s inability to make the ClearWire deal work might show that it might not work well with Google either.

This might be the one false move that shows this company’s arrogance by dominating a market.

The OHA may fall by the wayside now that two members are now joined together.

Essentially, it comes down to what the plans for the gPhone are all about. If Google can come up with a device that catches fire, being boosted by Sprint's infrastructure could take this device to heights never seen. If their collaboration with Sprint doesn't take hold, and leadership becomes a problem, it could be a long and difficult journey. But, except for the iPhone the other carriers are not coming up with any phone worth talking about. It you want to make a splash in the mobile world, choosing the iPhone as a target is what you have to do.