Last night we experienced a spam attack from a member who had just joined MedTech-IQ, and immediately began a "search for true partnership" by emailing many of you. Though we…
proving healthcare delivery in Africa ... See links to MedTech-IQ postings: Africa’s growth story; Botswana Hospital Takes Major Digital Leap Forward, and What does it take to succeed in Africa? ...... I now invite your attention to a fascinating McKinsey & Company report on "Three practical steps to better health for Africans ... A new model to make care more accessible to Africa’s people is not only possible but affordable" ...... In it, McKinsey suggests 3 strategies to rapidly improve healthcare delivery: 1) To employ community-based health officers who would provide
essential primary care at the village level, 2) To adopt mobile
phone–based “telemedicine” approaches that connect health officers and
rural patients with specialized care, and 3) To create networks of mobile
health clinics that transport diagnostics and other technologies to remote places. Together, the Mckinsey asserts, these approaches could quickly save many lives
at relatively low cost—about $2 to $3 per person a year, compared with about $8 for traditional clinics.Background:... The McKinsey team studied the experience of eight countries that have improved on more than one
of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals for health...... Next they examined 100 or so delivery models being explored by private, public,
and nonprofit groups around the world. From these, they identified the three they considered most promising ...... The new model suggests that combining local health officers,
telemedicine, and, where possible, mobile clinics could help African countries leverage existing health systems to scale up access to primary health care quickly, effectively, and cheaply. While the model’s individual components aren’t new, together they could help revolutionize health care ...Local Health Officers:By complementing standard medical doctors with less
intensively—though professionally—trained local health officers who serve their home communities, African countries could dramatically improve access to health care. Successful programs have tended to hire local women, with training of about 9 to 12 months of formal instruction (classroom and field work) paired with practical apprenticeships. The health workers had manageable territories of roughly one health officer for every 1,000 to 1,500 people, and were paid compensation ranging from
perhaps one-sixth of an average nurse’s salary to 125 percent of the country’s average salary. The health services offered need to be focused enough to be manageable and affordable yet broad enough to cover a range of essential needs including: first aid, basic preventive and diagnostic services, the distribution of materials (say, nutritional supplements or condoms), and
essential curative care—as well as the monitoring and, occasionally, treatment of chronic conditions. The ratio of health workers to professional medical personnel should be eight-to-one ratio ... These best practices require one local health officer per every 1,000 to 1,500
people, at a cost of about $1 a year per capita, and yields approximately three meaningful interactions a year with
trained medical personnel—a dramatic improvement over the status quo...TelemedicineOnce critical mass of local health officers as first responders has been obtained, one can harness the power of mobile telephony to dramatically increase the reach of the care that more extensively trained health - doctors and nurses - can help to provide. Most people in Africa have access to mobile phones. Urban call centers staffed by nurses and doctors could act as hubs that increase the impact of local health officers by providing them with advanced clinical support. Mozambique has successfully used mobile phone–based diagnostic tools for this purpose. Call centers could also support personalized training. Assuming one check-in a week, a supervisor could support 50 or 60 health officers; biweekly check-ins would double the span of control. Such call centers, which would cost about $0.75 a year per person. In Mexico today, MedicallHome (partly owned by the telecom provider Telmex) provides over-the-phone medical advice and triage to one million households (five million people) for a flat $5 a month each, fielding 90,000 calls a month, using protocols developed by Cleveland Clinic... Mobile Health ClinicsThe third piece of the puzzle are mobile clinics to bring diagnostic tools, medicines, and supplies to local communities. In recent years various organizations have begun employing them at scale lowering transport barriers that keep many Africans from receiving care. For example,in India, the nonprofit Health Management and Research Institute has deployed 475 mobile clinics across Andhra Pradesh to improve medical coverage for the state’s massive rural population. Turkey, Egypt, Namibia, Nigeria, and other African countries have begun experimenting with this model. Key success factors emerging appear to be:
Smaller is generally better: vans can cover more of Africa’s diverse terrain and poor roads than larger vehicles can.
Focus on providing care for chronic conditions and more complex follow-up interventions (i.e., antenatal care). Supplies should include test kits, basic medicines, and diagnostic equipment (ultrasounds, ect.), and services should include education and awareness, screening, diagnosis, treatment, the delivery of supplies, and supplemental training for local health officers.
Routes must be chosen carefully so that each community can receive a visit at least every four weeks. .
Routes must be well advertised and timetables kept.
Finally, maintenance and running costs must not be overlooked.
Operating costs can be quite reasonable, with a mobile clinic staffed by two nurses costing less than $0.75 per person a year in most African countries.
Altogether, McKinsey estimates that these models will require one-fifth to one-tenth as many nurses
and doctors as traditional clinics...I tend to agree with the McKinsey analysis. I believe the whole world is moving toward more distributed models of healthcare delivery based on Electronic Health Records (EHR)s, shared databases, and coordinated care facilltated by mHealth and Telemedicine ... These developments may set the stage for rapid transformation in African healthcare delivery capacity, and consequent access to care ...Read on at: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Health_Care/Strategy_Analysis/Three_practical_steps_to_better_health_for_Africans_2618https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Health_Care/Strategy_Analysis/Saving_mothers_lives_in_Namibia_2619https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Health_Care/Pharmaceuticals/Closing_the_RD_gap_in_African_health_care_2593https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Health_Care/Strategy_Analysis/Strengthening_sub-Saharan_Africas_health_systems_A_practical_approach_2591ENJOY!CC
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fe......The next major demonstration of how handheld devices, such as Apple
iPhones, Research in Motion BlackBerries and Motorola Droids, can run Army specific applications will occur in June when engineers from the Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) integrate about a dozen smart devices into the Product Manager Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance On-the-Move Event 10 (E10) at Fort Dix, N.J......... Last year’s C4ISR OTM exercise was the Army’s largest-ever C4ISR and
networking technology demonstration, and this year’s exercise supports efforts to achieve brigade combat team modernization in 2013 to 2014. Handheld devices and battle command applications will be part of that future force network, and E10 will provide a firsthand look at how these different systems interact in an on-the-move environment......“With smart, handheld devices, the Army wants to develop the
capability to push down situational awareness and relevant information directly to dismounted soldiers,” said Ron Szymanski, a computer scientist at CERDEC's Command and Control Directorate. “You take a
commercial handheld device like an iPhone or an Android phone and throw it in a pocket, and you don’t even know it’s there. It doesn’t slow you down. It is not like strapping a hardened laptop and everything that goes with it onto your back."......The push to take a closer look at commercial handheld technologies
came in mid-2009 when senior Army leaders, such as Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli and Chief Information Officer Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, began to push for use of handheld devices and applications on the battlefield...Read on at: http://defensesystems.com/Articles/2010/06/07/C4ISR-1-CERDEC-handheld-devices.aspx?s=ds_240510&admgarea=TC_DEFENSE&Page=1ENJOY!CC
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t quarter ...
... Nokia retained a substantial lead in the worldwide smart phone market in the second quarter, and shipped a record 23.8 million smart phones during the quarter, representing growth of 41% on a year ago, ... Research in Motion's BlackBerry smart phones grew by 41% ...
... shipments of the iPhone 4 were strong and contributed to Apple’s 61% growth, and worldwide market share of 13% for the quarter...
... But Canalys noted that Google Inc.'s Android device shipments grew 886% during the quarter, with key products from HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG...
"In the United States we have seen the largest carrier, Verizon Wireless, heavily promoting high-profile Android devices, such as the Droid by Motorola and the Droid Incredible by HTC. These products have been well received by the market, with consumers eager to download and engage with mobile applications and services, such as Internet browsing, social networking, games and navigation," the report said. ... Android devices collectively represented a 34% share of the U.S. market in the quarter.
Read on at: Android market share grows 886% in Q2 - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
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Community & Collaboration," it delivers a powerful message on how to apply the right technology, to the right problem, and get tangible results under difficult circumstances ...ENJOY!CC------------------------------------The SMS
for Life program to combat malaria was launched with great fanfare in December by IBM, Vodafone and Novartis.
(Tanzania map from Wikipedia.)
... The concept was simple, to use SMS messaging to improve the management of malaria drug stocks in remote villages......An automated SMS goes out each week reminding clinics to take
inventory, and the results are sent, also using SMS, to a central database from which re-orders can be stocked...... Results are even better than anticipated:
The chance of running of of vital malaria treatments was cut three fold.
In one area, Lindi Rural, stock-outs were completely eliminated in eight weeks. At the start of the project 57% of clinics were routinely out of stock. Other districts also cut stock-out rates in half.
A half-day training session for health workers resulted in a 95% response rate to the text messages.
... IBM has already capitalized on this success, signing a deal with the Tanzanian government covering IT in schools and research facilities throughout the country. Tanzania is talking up the idea of a “Silicon Valley” environment around its three year old University of Dodoma, which is in the center of the country...
Read on at: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/healthcare/sms-for-life-results-have-tanzania-dreaming-silicon-dreams/3556
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t reducing disparities in healthcare access and health outcomes...... Appropriate technologies should be effective, affordable,
culturally acceptable, and deliverable to those who need them. Responsive grant applications must involve a formal collaboration with a healthcare provider or other healthcare organization serving a health disparity population...... budgets up to
$200,000 total costs per year and time periods up to 2 years ($400,000) for Phase I may be requested...... Budgets up to $400,000 total costs per year and up to 3
years ($1.2 million) may be requested for Phase II...... This appears, to me, to be $1.6 million. Almost double the typical SBIR of $850,000...... The estimated amount of funds
available will support of 7-12 projects awarded as a result of this announcement ... ... A non-inclusive list of technologies that might achieve the objectives of this initiative include:
Telehealth technologies for remote diagnosis and monitoring
Sensors for point-of-care diagnosis
Devices for in-home monitoring
Mobile, portable diagnostic and therapeutic systems
Devices which integrate diagnosis and treatment
Diagnostics or treatments that do not require special training
Devices that can operate in low-resource environments
Non-invasive technologies for diagnosis and treatment
Integrated, automated system to assess or monitor a specific condition
Release Date: March 19, 2010 Opening
Date: April 20, 2010
Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s): April 20, 2010Application Due Date(s): May 20, 2010 Read on at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-EB-10-002.htmlENJOY!CC…
telehealth ... Jeff is a founder of Communication Software, Inc. and has experience in mobile telecomm, online banking, and healthcare
information technology...ENJOY!CCThe Apple iPhone, as you know, is built on the premise of two primary factors: ease of use and a one vendor solution. My definition of ease of use: the reduction of complexity to reduce cognitive involvement ... The one vendor solution also reduces some of the problems of compatibility, e.g., apps for the iPhone are available only through the Apple iTunes website...
... Android to the contrary has built an open source operating system to run on many phones from many manufacturers. Android is not a phone, it is an OS (Operating System). Manufacturers may license the OS for any phone that they choose. They can also change or add to the OS as needed. Android's premise is to allow developers to build apps to the specifications and needs of the end user/customer ... The developer may also choose where their apps are marketed and sold...
... Now for the pros and cons of both.
First, both operating systems of Apple and Android are based on UNIX, an OS that was built at ATT/Bell Labs in 1969. The primary difference is the interface for both developer and user (owner of phone) ...
The iPhone user is locked into accruing software, hardware and even music from a single vendor and store, ... A single manufacturer's hardware failure would leave an organization with few options ... With the Android solution you are not locked into a single manufacturer. At the end of 2009 there were 18 devices to choose from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices.
Apple's “one size fits all” solution does provide some benefits. There are not as many issues with compatibility of devices or OS, ... Android apps can have problems with apps not running on all released OS versions from different manufacturers...
The Android user interface does take a few extra minutes to learn ...
The only other major consideration when choosing smartphones and mobile device solutions is that you must be concerned about the carrier selection ... The iPhone is only available on AT&T (in the US) at this time. Redundancy and a single point of failure is an issue for mission critical systems. Android is available on multiple carriers such as Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.
The iPhone and Android smartphones are basically both very good devices. The user or the institutional IT leader must examine the pros and cons for their business or personal use...
Read on at: http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/android-iphone-apple-google-hit.html
ENJOY!
CC
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place this year 14-16 April 2010 in Luxembourg, and will feature talks by MedTech-IQ members, Yunkap Kwankam and Brenda Wiederhold ... Med-e-Tel is now an official event of the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth )ISfTeH), international federation of National Telemedicine/eHealth associations and "NGO in Official Relations with the WHO - World Health Organization." You can find a link to the MedTech-IQ event posting on Med-e-Tel by clicking here.Please see Frederic's update for the upcoming Med-e-Tel below ...ENJOY!CC------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi CC,
Thanks for your continuous updates and news sharing.
The Med-e-Tel 2010 program is now also available at http://www.medetel.eu/index.php?rub=educational_program&page=program.
I hope you will also be able to join us there this year.
Below is some more information, with details of the opening session. Can you share this with the MedTech-IQ community?
Thanks and best regards,
Frederic
Frederic LievensInternational CoordinatorMed-e-Teltel: +32 2 269 84 56mobile: +32 478 59 36 99fax: +32 2 269 79 53e-mail: medetel@skynet.be
www.medetel.eu
www.isft.net
Med-e-Tel - The International eHealth, Telemedicine and Health ICT Forum
April 14-16, 2010 - Luxembourg
www.medetel.eu
The 8th edition of the Med-e-Tel conference is set for April 14-16, 2010 in Luxembourg. The annual networking event and meeting place for Telemedicine and eHealth stakeholders from 50 countries around Europe and the world is now an official event of the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), international federation of national Telemedicine/eHealth associations and "NGO in Official Relations with WHO".
The Med-e-Tel forum is the ideal opportunity to follow up on the latest developments and initiatives in Telemedicine and eHealth and to exchange ideas and experiences related to ICT applications in healthcare.
OPENING SESSION
Med-e-Tel 2010 will be opened by Luxembourg Minister of Health Mars Di Bartolomeo, together with Michael Nerlich, President of the ISfTeH, and Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director of the ISfTeH, and also feature an insider's look at the Rockefeller Foundation's eHealth and mHealth initiatives by Karl Brown, Associate Director of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Gérard Comyn, former Head of the ICT for Health unit at the European Commission and Vice-President of the French national telemedicine association CATEL, will provide an overview of the Commission's most recent activities and developments in telemedicine.
Peter Waegemann, Vice-President of the mHealth Initiative and Founder of the Medical Records Institute, will describe the current status of over 5,000 new mobile phone applications in healthcare and report on new communications patterns in healthcare as well as progress on communication-based disease management and consumer health developments.
Joseph Dal Molin, expert on open source software, will touch upon the possible benefits of open source solutions in healthcare, based on his experiences as Chairman of the Canadian e-cology and Director of WorldVistA, a non-profit organization established to coordinate the development and dissemination of the open source version of VistA, the US Veterans Administration's integrated Electronic Health Record system.
Tim Ellis of the UK Department of Health will present the lessons and results to date of the government funded implementation of a large scale randomised control trial of telehealth and telecare (the so-called Whole System Demonstrators). The presentation will explore the challenges of generating robust evidence on the effectiveness of telehealth and telecare.
Günter Schreier of the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) will share his vision on the need for new models of care, due to an ageing population and the rise of people with chronic conditions. AIT is developing innovations in mobile technology, pervasive computing and ambient intelligence that will make the "Internet of Medical Things" possible and provide solutions to support care provision.
Brenda Wiederhold, Secretary General of the International Association for CyberTherapy, Training and Rehabilitation will provide insights into simulation and virtual reality technology that allows clinicians to treat patients more effectively and efficiently. The therapeutic benefits of using simulations are becoming increasingly well recognized and fully supported with results from controlled clinical trials. Because of technological advances, many simulations are now able to be delivered over the internet, as well as on hand-held portable devices. This allows for wider healthcare dissemination and personalization in the areas of prevention, training, education, therapy, and rehabilitation.
EXTENSIVE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
The 3-day Med-e-Tel program will dig deeper into some of the above topics (such as mHealth, open source, care for older people, chronic disease management, cybetherapy/mental eHealth), but will also tackle additional topics such as telecardiology, teleconsultation, telenursing, eLearning, eHealth standardization, electronic medical records, clinical telemedicine, eHealth in developing countries and more.
NETWORKING AND MEETING OPPORTUNITIES
Meet with ISfTeH officials and national member associations, as well as other technology and solution providers on the Med-e-Tel expon and network with some 500 participants and speakers throughout the conference.
REGISTRATION
Register before March 15th to take advantage of the early bird rate, providing you with access to all conference sessions, expo, receptions and more!
HOTELS
Special hotel rates have been negotiated through the Luxembourg Convention Bureau. Click here for more details and to book a room.
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