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Accurate Measure of Blood O2 Levels via Camera Now Possible - Phillips
Dutch technology firm Philips recently announced data on monitoring blood oxygenation levels using cameras. The development calculates accurate pulse rates by monitoring micro-blushes from changes in facial skin color. Forty-one adults participated in the study, published in Anesthesia & Analgesia, that monitored using the new technology along with more traditional methods. The new technology offered accurate SpO2 readings 83 to 100 percent of the time.
EHR Data Used to Predict Opioid Overdose Deaths
Researchers from Geisinger Health System analyzed the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of over 2,000 patients admitted to the hospital for overdoses between April 2005 and March 2015. They found trends predicting patient outcomes. In the study, they found history of mental illness, comorbidities, and history of previous addiction. Married patients who had private health insurance tended to have more positive outcomes.
mHealth Sensors Assist Seniors in Avoiding Admission
mHealth projects from the University of Missouri are utilizing two types of mobility sensors to monitor seniors for health concerns. They measure daily activity levels via radar sensors and pressure sensors placed under a mattress to measure cardiac and respiratory activity. These sensors are funded by the National Science Foundation and are part of a decade-long program for aging in place. By analyzing the radar data, for example, the researchers could determine declining health based on changes in activity. The study can be found here.
Wearable System Claims to Stem Asthma Attacks
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed the Health and Environmental Tracker, a system that monitors heart rate, lung function, and environmental factors to assist in avoiding asthma attacks. It consists of a wristband and a chest patch for monitoring breathing, movement, blood oxygen levels, and wheezing in the lungs. Users will also breathe into a spirometer several times a day in order to accurately measure lung function. This new system goes into pilot testing this summer.
Mobile Health Holds Promise for Mental Health, but More Research Needed
Additional research is required when using mobile applications for patients suffering from severe mental health issues, according to research published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. Mobile devices are being increasingly used to track human behavior, speech, voice levels, social interaction, and moods to assist those suffering from mental illness. By analyzing 49 studies on mobile and online interventions, they concluded hypothetical acceptability was relatively low, with actual acceptability being rather high.
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Southern Hills Tests EEG Headbands for Pain Management
Southern Hills Hospital near Las Vegas recently conducted a pilot of wearable EEG headbands that interfaced with Samsung tablets in order to assess a patient’s level of pain. The pilot was a collaboration between Samsung, Southern Hills, and tech company, AccendoWave. Roughly 1,000 ER patients were given tablets, modified using the Knox toolkit and EEG headbands that replace the normal pain reporting system. This system is able to guess the patient’s pain level and present it to them on-screen. Patients can then agree or disagree.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, June 15, 2-3 pm ET, Advisory Board on Business & Clinical Motivators, featuring Toria Thompson, Behavioral HIE Coordinator at Colorado RHIO (CORHIO)
Wednesday, June 22, 11:30 am-1 pm, Policy Working Group Lunch, featuring Kenia Rincon, Director of Healthcare Cybersecurity & Privacy at PwC
Thursday, June 23, 2-3 pm ET, Council of Data Analytics Experts
October 4-5, 2016 Innovation Showcase at House of Sweden in Washington, D.C. Registration is NOW OPEN! Don’t miss the early-bird registration rate!
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Welcome New Member, PSKW-PDReHI 2016 Population Health Survey Results in Fierce Healthcare IT
Nirmal (Nim) Patel, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Information Officer, Teladoc, Inc.Get Ready for The eHI Innovation Showcase!
The event, to be held October 4-5, 2016, at the House of Sweden in Washington, DC promises to be an exciting competition among innovators with plenty of learning and network opportunities. This is the “Shark Tank” challenge you don’t want to miss! Save the date and stay tuned for further details and early-bird registration, to open soon.
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eHI Hosts Webinar with Orion on Transforming Healthcare Through Collaboration
In a webinar with Orion Health, eHealth Initiative asked how we can transform healthcare through collaboration. Joseph O'Hara, Director of Clinical Innovation at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, discussed how Horizon is working to do just that and how pre-visit planning helps. Also speaking was Joel Gleason, Senior Vice President, Health TranZform, TriZetto. He believes that “population health management is the Who, while precision medicine is the How”. Find the presentation and audio here.
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American Hospital Association Suggests Redefining Scope of Interoperability
In a letter to Acting Assistant Secretary for Health and National Coordinator for Health IT, Karen DeSalvo, dated June 1st, the American Hospital Association (AHA) suggests ONC expand the scope of interoperability measurement further than solely exchanging and using electronic health information. They recommend adding organizations have the standards, technology, and infrastructure to actually facilitate effective data exchange. AHA goes on to recommend expansion of data- sharing IT measures beyond exchanged data; they see data exchange as just one form of interoperability.
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ONC Wraps-up 2016 Conference
Thursday was the last day of the 2016 ONC Conference, the annual conference of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Over the course of three days, attendees took in seminars on the current state of healthcare IT, future programs, and how HIT is helping unique problems. One of the most unique workshops was “The Challenges of Zika: a Healthcare IT response.” Attendees were fortunate to hear from panelists how the federal government is utilizing HIT to assist Puerto Rico. A series of questions came from the audience, including two members of the Puerto Rican Department of Health, who came to petition the panelists. They received a warm response and were invited to meet with the panelists. You can find out more from the conference here.
VP Announces Government Project Promoting Cancer Data-Sharing
At the General Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Vice President Joe Biden spoke on the cancer “moonshot” initiative he leads, calling it “the only bipartisan thing left in America.” He spoke on the Genomic Data Commons (GDC), funded by the National Cancer Institute at the University of Chicago. The GDC will facilitate sharing of genomic and clinical data amongst cancer researchers and is a major part of the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative. ONC Task Force Urges CMS to Simplify MACRA
One of the task forces created by the Office of the National Coordinator for Healthcare IT’s Policy and Standards committees likes the objectives and flexibility CMS’ MACRA rule has, but believes it is hard to comprehend and implement. The task force recommends that the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services include graphics to assist in easing the learning curve of the rather lengthy rule, reduce process requirements, and stress interoperability by using incentives to share electronic clinical data. Some members even believe that CMS should delay implementation by up to a year.
Major Bills Coming Before Congress Soon
Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA-18) reiterated that the mental health reform bill, due for mark-up next week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, forces Health and Human Services to draft regulations regarding when caregivers can start to receive medical information of loved ones. Under a bill currently on the floor of the Senate, the US Defense Department would be required to provide telemedicine throughout the health system, which includes mobile applications.
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Cybersecurity:
Proactive Approaches to Cybersecurity Needed Across All Sectors - Raytheon
Consulting firm Raytheon and the Ponemon Institute recently released a new study, revealing that two-thirds of businesses reported that organizations only engage in reactive cybersecurity measures. Eighty percent of respondents reported that managed security services are important to their overall IT security strategy. "Cybersecurity is not a waiting game, and organizations without the expertise and tools required to identify and respond to skilled adversaries need to understand that," said Jack Harrington, Vice President of Cybersecurity and Special Missions at Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services.
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