Massachusetts State Senator Michael O. Moore (D-MA) introduced bill (MA SB 520) in the current legislative session to establish a pilot program to test whether using telemedicine to provide medical services to inmates at 14 county correctional facilities would be effective in reducing healthcare and medical expenses.
The state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) would oversee the program and would designate one of the County facilities to lead the effort. The pilot program needs to be implemented 120 days after enactment of the legislation.
The required equipment would enable video conferencing, remote vital sign measurement capabilities, software to process the information, broadband to communicate, software to allow remote physicians to connect via their PC plus other appropriate devices and software.
The legislation requires that 45 days after the legislation is enacted, a Request for Proposal (RFP) for telemedicine systems should be released. Preference will be given to prime contractors headquartered in the state.
Once telemedicine technologies are installed in the jails and houses of corrections, the correctional facilities must maintain a log of all telemedicine transactions, the physicians involved, and the diagnosis and decisions made for treating inmates.
Within one year from the time the program is implemented, the EOPSS will review the log data and calculate the potential cost savings. This tabulation needs to include all elements of treatment, costs in terms of travel time to the facility, transport cost for the prisoners, guard costs to watch prisoners, and any other cost elements that relate to the use of the telemedicine system. The data will be summarized in a report on the success or failure of the program.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sign up Today for ATA 2011
Sign up immediately to attend the American Telemedicine Association’s 16th Annual International Meeting and Exposition on May 1-3, 2011 in Tampa, Florida. ATA 2011, the most important event of the year is the world’s largest scientific meeting and exposition focusing exclusively on telemedicine, telehealth, and remote medical technologies. Come to listen to 450 plus experts discuss many topics and learn how to navigate potential barriers so as not to miss vital opportunities in the field.
To open the meeting, the plenary keynote speaker will feature D. Martin Cooper, inventor of the modern cellphone and also a prominent mHealth advocate.
There will be 260 presentations so that attendees will be able to hear concurrent educational sessions delving into the latest hot topics, policy issues, research, and clinical breakthroughs in telemedicine. Don’t miss a combination of other topics on emergency & disaster response, operations, business & finance, remote monitoring, mHealth, technology & telecommunications, and telemental health.
Attendees will also be able to take advantage of professional development certificate courses with up-to-date information in the field along with the latest administrative, clinical, and technical aspects of telemedicine operations. These courses will be given on April 30th and on May 1st.
Attendees might want to take advantage of the Army Medical Research & Materiel Command and TATRC’s pre-meeting full day program on April 30th to talk to a range of experts and discuss what is emerging in the technology field. The day’s speakers will focus on medical care in austere environments.
ATA 2011 will have 200,000 square feet exhibiting the latest telemedicine, telehealth, and mHealth technology and services. See and handle thousands of cutting edge products and services available from a wide array of vendors. Nowhere else in the world will you be able to see so large a collection of remote medical technology products. Go to www.ATA2011.org to view the Virtual Exhibit Hall and to see the Expo’s mobile webpage.
Online registration is available at www.ATA2011.org and be sure to register before April 1 for discounted early-bird rates. For more information on exhibiting, sponsorship, or advertising opportunities, contact, Sandy Hung at 202-223-4249 or by email at shung@americantelemed.org.
To open the meeting, the plenary keynote speaker will feature D. Martin Cooper, inventor of the modern cellphone and also a prominent mHealth advocate.
There will be 260 presentations so that attendees will be able to hear concurrent educational sessions delving into the latest hot topics, policy issues, research, and clinical breakthroughs in telemedicine. Don’t miss a combination of other topics on emergency & disaster response, operations, business & finance, remote monitoring, mHealth, technology & telecommunications, and telemental health.
Attendees will also be able to take advantage of professional development certificate courses with up-to-date information in the field along with the latest administrative, clinical, and technical aspects of telemedicine operations. These courses will be given on April 30th and on May 1st.
Attendees might want to take advantage of the Army Medical Research & Materiel Command and TATRC’s pre-meeting full day program on April 30th to talk to a range of experts and discuss what is emerging in the technology field. The day’s speakers will focus on medical care in austere environments.
ATA 2011 will have 200,000 square feet exhibiting the latest telemedicine, telehealth, and mHealth technology and services. See and handle thousands of cutting edge products and services available from a wide array of vendors. Nowhere else in the world will you be able to see so large a collection of remote medical technology products. Go to www.ATA2011.org to view the Virtual Exhibit Hall and to see the Expo’s mobile webpage.
Online registration is available at www.ATA2011.org and be sure to register before April 1 for discounted early-bird rates. For more information on exhibiting, sponsorship, or advertising opportunities, contact, Sandy Hung at 202-223-4249 or by email at shung@americantelemed.org.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Telemedicine in Rural TX
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School at the Permian Basin under the direction of Professor Stephen Ponder MD, recently conducted their first TTUHC-based “Diabetes Housecall”™. Dr. Ponder is a pediatric endocrinologist with extensive experience and has published publications on treating children and teens with Type 1 diabetes plus he has a decade of experience using telehealth strategies.
All “Housecall” patients co-managed with Dallas-based “healthimo”, provides all the necessary educational and technology support to conduct the program with minimal burden to Dr. Ponder and his staff.
When conducting the “Diabetes Housecall”, the patient and the family sit comfortably in their Lufkin, Texas, home while Dr. Ponder remains in his Odessa Texas clinic office. Using the “healthimo” technology platform and patient management services, the patient and family were able to see Dr. Ponder without the time and expense of travelling more than 1,000 miles roundtrip to treat the patient’s diabetes.
“This is all accomplished using the “ healthimo” technology that includes using the internet and other communication technologies allowing me to continually educate, monitor, and motivate my patients in their diabetes care without wasting time driving hours for each visit.”, said Dr Ponder.
An initial patient assessment is always done in person but established patients can continue to use home-based internet visits for follow-up care. However, the patients all get annual face-to-face care by the doctor. Each patient must have a local medical home to be eligible and must reside in the state of Texas.
For more information on “Diabetes Housecall”, email Johnnie Jones, at johnnie.jones@ttuhsc.edu or call (432) 335-5119).
Diabetech, LP D/B/A “healthimo” recently submitted the report “Texas Medicaid Adult Type 2 Diabetes Pilot” to the State of Texas HHSC. The report authored by Kevin McMahon summarizes the pilot program. For more details, on the report, contact Kevin McMahon at (877)-844-3820.
Another project operating in rural Texas called “Project CHART” is using telemedicine to help deliver pediatric specialty care. TTUHC in their Telemedicine program are using Project CHART to deliver live pediatric specialty consultations for a child in Stratford Texas last August.
Project CHART funded by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission will over the next 26 months establish 29 additional sites to provide pediatric primary and specialty care to Medicaid enrolled children in rural communities throughout 108 of the most western counties in Texas.
The technology consists of a television linked to a security encrypted network that enables the patient to be presented by another physician or nurse from a remote location to a pediatric specialist located at one of the TTUHSC campuses. Thirty West Texas communities will be able to receive telemedicine equipment at no charge to the communities.
For more details on working with Project CHART, contact Debbie Voyles at (806) 743-4440.
All “Housecall” patients co-managed with Dallas-based “healthimo”, provides all the necessary educational and technology support to conduct the program with minimal burden to Dr. Ponder and his staff.
When conducting the “Diabetes Housecall”, the patient and the family sit comfortably in their Lufkin, Texas, home while Dr. Ponder remains in his Odessa Texas clinic office. Using the “healthimo” technology platform and patient management services, the patient and family were able to see Dr. Ponder without the time and expense of travelling more than 1,000 miles roundtrip to treat the patient’s diabetes.
“This is all accomplished using the “ healthimo” technology that includes using the internet and other communication technologies allowing me to continually educate, monitor, and motivate my patients in their diabetes care without wasting time driving hours for each visit.”, said Dr Ponder.
An initial patient assessment is always done in person but established patients can continue to use home-based internet visits for follow-up care. However, the patients all get annual face-to-face care by the doctor. Each patient must have a local medical home to be eligible and must reside in the state of Texas.
For more information on “Diabetes Housecall”, email Johnnie Jones, at johnnie.jones@ttuhsc.edu or call (432) 335-5119).
Diabetech, LP D/B/A “healthimo” recently submitted the report “Texas Medicaid Adult Type 2 Diabetes Pilot” to the State of Texas HHSC. The report authored by Kevin McMahon summarizes the pilot program. For more details, on the report, contact Kevin McMahon at (877)-844-3820.
Another project operating in rural Texas called “Project CHART” is using telemedicine to help deliver pediatric specialty care. TTUHC in their Telemedicine program are using Project CHART to deliver live pediatric specialty consultations for a child in Stratford Texas last August.
Project CHART funded by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission will over the next 26 months establish 29 additional sites to provide pediatric primary and specialty care to Medicaid enrolled children in rural communities throughout 108 of the most western counties in Texas.
The technology consists of a television linked to a security encrypted network that enables the patient to be presented by another physician or nurse from a remote location to a pediatric specialist located at one of the TTUHSC campuses. Thirty West Texas communities will be able to receive telemedicine equipment at no charge to the communities.
For more details on working with Project CHART, contact Debbie Voyles at (806) 743-4440.
Mental Health Seeks Tools
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) SBIR program seeks to develop technologies in basic neuroscience research relevant to mental disorders, do translational and clinical research on mental disorders, clinical diagnosis, and to treat and disseminate evidence-based mental healthcare. On February 15, 2011 NIMH issued their SBIR Funding Opportunity Announcement to develop complex technologies and therapeutics for mental health research and practice.
NIMH finds that the complexity of conducting and managing mental health research is significant due to the diverse array of technologies currently being used, difficulty in recruiting subjects for clinical trials, and dealing with the broad categorical diagnoses of disorders.
For example, technologies are needed to design clinical trials, develop innovative computer-based observation techniques, develop computer software and hardware to use for screening purposes, to monitor patients during clinical trials, develop portable clinical trial management systems, develop monitoring software, advance methods to visualize complex clinical and biological data, and develop real-time assessment clinical tools.
NIMH needs tools to efficiently and effectively disseminate evidence-based treatment into services and clinical practice. The tools may be used to incorporate applied behavioral science and technology along with software, hardware, and associated technologies. Tools are needed to help detect and monitor mental illness progression, to implement proven interventions, or to predict treatment response to the side effects of psychotropic medications.
In addition, NIMH is interested in developing geographic-based systems that would be able to identify disparities in mental health treatments and demonstrate the impact of proven mental health treatments across and within geographic areas.
NIMH is also interested in data translation and communication packages for collecting, archiving, and make mental health and HIV/AIDS data sets available to the scientific community for secondary or meta-analyses.
NIMH is researching the potential to harness neuroplasticity to enhance the ability of the nervous system to reshape and form new connections which may help develop therapeutic approaches to PTSD, and cognitive impairment. Therefore it is important to understand neural development and plasticity at all levels.
The Institute is interested in developing digital approaches to be used for brain and behavioral research. Appropriate applications range from computational models for drug discoveries, to treat mental health disorders for HIV-associated CNS disorders, to applications that combine genetic, biological, behavioral, and environmental factors to assess pediatric vulnerability to mental disorders.
With advances in molecular biology, robotics, nanotechnology, microarray fabrication, imaging, and other advances occurring over the last decade, combined with discoveries in neurobiology, an opportunity is available to bring these technologies and biomedical research together to develop innovative high throughput tools relevant to brain and/or behavior disorders.
Other NIMH research of interest to the SBIR community includes studies on biomarkers and biosignatures of mental illnesses, drug discoveries to help in mental illnesses, therapeutics development for HIV/AIDS-Associated neuropsychological disorders, and development of PET and SPECT ligands for brain imaging.
Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-133.html for more information on NIMH-SBIR FOA (PA-11-133).
NIMH finds that the complexity of conducting and managing mental health research is significant due to the diverse array of technologies currently being used, difficulty in recruiting subjects for clinical trials, and dealing with the broad categorical diagnoses of disorders.
For example, technologies are needed to design clinical trials, develop innovative computer-based observation techniques, develop computer software and hardware to use for screening purposes, to monitor patients during clinical trials, develop portable clinical trial management systems, develop monitoring software, advance methods to visualize complex clinical and biological data, and develop real-time assessment clinical tools.
NIMH needs tools to efficiently and effectively disseminate evidence-based treatment into services and clinical practice. The tools may be used to incorporate applied behavioral science and technology along with software, hardware, and associated technologies. Tools are needed to help detect and monitor mental illness progression, to implement proven interventions, or to predict treatment response to the side effects of psychotropic medications.
In addition, NIMH is interested in developing geographic-based systems that would be able to identify disparities in mental health treatments and demonstrate the impact of proven mental health treatments across and within geographic areas.
NIMH is also interested in data translation and communication packages for collecting, archiving, and make mental health and HIV/AIDS data sets available to the scientific community for secondary or meta-analyses.
NIMH is researching the potential to harness neuroplasticity to enhance the ability of the nervous system to reshape and form new connections which may help develop therapeutic approaches to PTSD, and cognitive impairment. Therefore it is important to understand neural development and plasticity at all levels.
The Institute is interested in developing digital approaches to be used for brain and behavioral research. Appropriate applications range from computational models for drug discoveries, to treat mental health disorders for HIV-associated CNS disorders, to applications that combine genetic, biological, behavioral, and environmental factors to assess pediatric vulnerability to mental disorders.
With advances in molecular biology, robotics, nanotechnology, microarray fabrication, imaging, and other advances occurring over the last decade, combined with discoveries in neurobiology, an opportunity is available to bring these technologies and biomedical research together to develop innovative high throughput tools relevant to brain and/or behavior disorders.
Other NIMH research of interest to the SBIR community includes studies on biomarkers and biosignatures of mental illnesses, drug discoveries to help in mental illnesses, therapeutics development for HIV/AIDS-Associated neuropsychological disorders, and development of PET and SPECT ligands for brain imaging.
Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-133.html for more information on NIMH-SBIR FOA (PA-11-133).
Quality Forum Gaining Momentum
The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum’s purpose is to study the cost, quality, and accessibility of healthcare for the state of Louisiana. The Forum’s program was designed to produce measureable improvements in healthcare quality, utilization, and population health by using information technology coupled with patient centered medical home activities. To do this, there is the need to create tools and information available from various data sources.
The Quality Forum has been actively planning and executing Louisiana’s Health Information Exchange (LaHIE) and the Forum also acts as the Regional Extension Center for Louisiana. In addition to LaHIE and the Extension center, the Quality Forum supports the Louisiana Public Health Institute’s Crescent City Beacon Community projects.
On February 18th, the Quality Forum released a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain proposals from qualified consultants and/or organizations to provide quality measurement services. Consultants are needed to help assess the Quality Forum’s overall measurements and evaluations, assess capabilities, the progress made to date, prepare an overall management plan, and finally, launch a consolidated data warehouse.
The full RFI response is due on March 11, 2011. For more information on the RFI, go to http://www.lhcqf.org/ or email Michelle Smith at msmith@lhcqf.org.
The Quality Forum has been actively planning and executing Louisiana’s Health Information Exchange (LaHIE) and the Forum also acts as the Regional Extension Center for Louisiana. In addition to LaHIE and the Extension center, the Quality Forum supports the Louisiana Public Health Institute’s Crescent City Beacon Community projects.
On February 18th, the Quality Forum released a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain proposals from qualified consultants and/or organizations to provide quality measurement services. Consultants are needed to help assess the Quality Forum’s overall measurements and evaluations, assess capabilities, the progress made to date, prepare an overall management plan, and finally, launch a consolidated data warehouse.
The full RFI response is due on March 11, 2011. For more information on the RFI, go to http://www.lhcqf.org/ or email Michelle Smith at msmith@lhcqf.org.
Connecting Rural Communities
USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced March 4th in the Federal Register, $25 million is anticipated to be available for the “Community Connect Grant Program” for FY 2011. The program serves basically unserved areas and rural areas that have the greatest need for broadband services such as in extremely rural, lower-income communities.
To illustrate the success of the funding, a few years ago, Zimco a family-owned corporation founded the company Air Advantage, to offer a broadband solution to rural and underserved regions in Michigan. Progress began when the USDA Rural Development awarded two Community Connect Grants to Air Advantage to help the Michigan communities of Port Hope and Unionville.
The grants provided funding for a wireless infrastructure and community center with 10 computers. In time in addition to the grants, Zimco took advantage of the USDA Rural Development’s Broadband Loan Program.
In 2010, Air Advantage was selected for a Rural Development Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) award under ARRA and received a $32.3 million loan and a $31.9 million grant. These funds are being used to extend broadband services to last mile consumers in 13 counties that make up Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region and Thumb area.
The result is that Air Advantage now delivers broadband services to 4,943 customers in its 3,500 square mile service area using 350 miles of wireless network backbone. The 65 towers transmit to many households in the region, 21 hospitals and medical facilities, 18 school districts, 7 police stations, 4 fire facilities 4 ambulance services, and 59 government office locations throughout 75 municipalities
For organizations, Indian tribes state or local governments, and for-profit or not-for-profit organizations to apply for Community Connect Grants, the proposed project must serve a rural area without broadband, provide basic broadband service free of charge for 2 years to all Critical Community facilities, be able to offer basic broadband to all residential and business customers within the proposed service area, and provide a Community Center with at least 10 computer access points.
The applications for the Community Connect Grants must be received by May 3, 2011 for FY 2011 grant funding. Go to www.rurdev.usda.gov/utp_commconnect.html for more details, for application guides, and materials. For questions, contact Kenneth, Director, Broadband Division, RUS, at (202) 690-4673.
To illustrate the success of the funding, a few years ago, Zimco a family-owned corporation founded the company Air Advantage, to offer a broadband solution to rural and underserved regions in Michigan. Progress began when the USDA Rural Development awarded two Community Connect Grants to Air Advantage to help the Michigan communities of Port Hope and Unionville.
The grants provided funding for a wireless infrastructure and community center with 10 computers. In time in addition to the grants, Zimco took advantage of the USDA Rural Development’s Broadband Loan Program.
In 2010, Air Advantage was selected for a Rural Development Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) award under ARRA and received a $32.3 million loan and a $31.9 million grant. These funds are being used to extend broadband services to last mile consumers in 13 counties that make up Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region and Thumb area.
The result is that Air Advantage now delivers broadband services to 4,943 customers in its 3,500 square mile service area using 350 miles of wireless network backbone. The 65 towers transmit to many households in the region, 21 hospitals and medical facilities, 18 school districts, 7 police stations, 4 fire facilities 4 ambulance services, and 59 government office locations throughout 75 municipalities
For organizations, Indian tribes state or local governments, and for-profit or not-for-profit organizations to apply for Community Connect Grants, the proposed project must serve a rural area without broadband, provide basic broadband service free of charge for 2 years to all Critical Community facilities, be able to offer basic broadband to all residential and business customers within the proposed service area, and provide a Community Center with at least 10 computer access points.
The applications for the Community Connect Grants must be received by May 3, 2011 for FY 2011 grant funding. Go to www.rurdev.usda.gov/utp_commconnect.html for more details, for application guides, and materials. For questions, contact Kenneth, Director, Broadband Division, RUS, at (202) 690-4673.
CDC Issues FOAs
As part of CDC’s efforts to address emerging infectious diseases, provider-based emerging infections sentinel networks were established to monitor and evaluate conditions not covered by health department surveillance or likely to be seen by specific kinds of health providers.
Currently three provider-based networks are in place to help infectious disease specialists, the emergency department-based network of academically affiliated emergency departments, plus provide a global surveillance network to help travel medicine clinics. These sentinel networks receive funding through the “Emerging Infections Sentinel Network” (EISN) program.
The purpose for CDC grant opportunity (CDC-RFA-CK11-1102) announced on March 1, 2011 with the closing date of April 18th, is to help the awardees that have received funding to operate the provider-based sentinel networks be better able to not only monitor a variety of infectious disease problems, but also to use the funding and expertise to help network members and the public health community communicate with more effectively with each other. The estimated program funding for this program is $4,500,000.
CDC also released information on another grant opportunity (CDC-RFA-DD11-1102) March 1, 2011 with the closing date of April 1, 2011 to establish the “National Public Health Practice and Information Center on Paralysis”. The grantee will maintain and expand a national information center by using various forms of communication such as social media, telephone, a website, email, internet training modules and videos, webinars, monographs, plus the plan is to develop a Paralysis Resource Guide.
The Center will help to disseminate information to policy makers, to the service, advocacy, and academic communities, and in addition, provide information to support people with paralysis and their families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. The award funding is estimated to be $6,610,000.
For more information on both CDC funding opportunities, go to www.grants.gov.
Currently three provider-based networks are in place to help infectious disease specialists, the emergency department-based network of academically affiliated emergency departments, plus provide a global surveillance network to help travel medicine clinics. These sentinel networks receive funding through the “Emerging Infections Sentinel Network” (EISN) program.
The purpose for CDC grant opportunity (CDC-RFA-CK11-1102) announced on March 1, 2011 with the closing date of April 18th, is to help the awardees that have received funding to operate the provider-based sentinel networks be better able to not only monitor a variety of infectious disease problems, but also to use the funding and expertise to help network members and the public health community communicate with more effectively with each other. The estimated program funding for this program is $4,500,000.
CDC also released information on another grant opportunity (CDC-RFA-DD11-1102) March 1, 2011 with the closing date of April 1, 2011 to establish the “National Public Health Practice and Information Center on Paralysis”. The grantee will maintain and expand a national information center by using various forms of communication such as social media, telephone, a website, email, internet training modules and videos, webinars, monographs, plus the plan is to develop a Paralysis Resource Guide.
The Center will help to disseminate information to policy makers, to the service, advocacy, and academic communities, and in addition, provide information to support people with paralysis and their families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. The award funding is estimated to be $6,610,000.
For more information on both CDC funding opportunities, go to www.grants.gov.
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