Government agencies are continuing to embrace broadband-enabled technologies, so says a panel at this year’s South by Southwest Interactive conference titled “When Swine Flew: Embracing Innovation in H1N1 Response.”   Although the title focused on Swine Flu, the health IT blog Pulse + Signal moderated a broader discussion on the many ways technology is helping to address pandemics, support emergency communications, and generally improve public health and safety.   Well, the pun “H1N1 is the first virus to ‘go viral’” did get thrown around a bit…

Panelists Andrew Wilson of the Department of Health & Human Services, Ann Aikin of the CDC, and David Hale from the National Library of Medicine shared these insights:

• Even the government needs to establish relationships, and social media is a good way to do that.
• Every time there is a crisis, health-related agencies have an opportunity to build a stronger, more resilient network of people.
• Technology has enabled better communication both among agencies and between the private and public sectors.
• Agencies can now monitor for misinformation and correct it more rapidly and effectively.
• Before a crisis, agencies can identify respected and trusted users who are influential to help spread information.
• Online relationships are key to flattening the process of responding to a crisis, since collaboration is the new reality.

Watch the video below for an example of how government officials used new media (and a sense of humor!) to spread the word about H1N1, which was also discussed at the session.  The video below that is my interview with David Hale where I learned about his work on Pillbox, a new site by NLM and NIH that provides references for pill and dosage information.

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Health Affairs, a leading journal of health policy thought and research, held a briefing this week to discuss the ways that e-health technologies are being embraced, with a focus on the developing world.  However, many of the findings are also applicable to e-health opportunities here in the U.S.

The programming began with a discussion of how IT systems have helped to deliver data, care, reporting, and more, during the recent disaster in Haiti.  Partners in the response teams found that email was crucial when cell phone systems were down.  Furthermore, web-based medical information systems were used to track supplies and manage caseload and infrastructure issues.  The data proved the following benefits:

• Improved communications between institutions
• Assistance in ordering and managing medications
• Help monitoring and detecting patients who might abandon care
• Improved data collection timeliness and quality using mobile devices

The conference went on to explore the important roles of M-Health, Electronic Health Records, Interoperability, and more.  You can view the articles that inspired the conference discussion, which were published in Health Affairs February, 2010, on their website.

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Women in Technology hosted a roundtable event to give their members a closer look at how healthcare policy intersects with technology.  The presentations dove into where our government is heading when it comes to Health IT.  Particularly when it comes to Electronic Health Records, the speakers focused on the recent progress in moving these life- (and money-) saving technologies forward.

Tina Olson, SVP for Policy at the Healthcare Leadership Council, noted that electronic health records were actually part of the economic stimulus bill (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).  The bill provides many deadlines, standards and incentives.  They include Medicare bonus payments to eligible physicians and hospitals using electronic health records as soon as 2011.

The stimulus bill also includes:

• $2 billion for an Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT within HHS;
• $21 billion in net spending ($44.7 billion in total outlays) to Medicare and Medicaid providers that adopt and demonstrate meaningful use of Health IT;
• Provisions on the privacy and security of protected health information.

In related news, according to Government Health IT, a panel advising the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT said it will heed the overwhelming consensus it has received in recent public comments to develop the simplest possible certification standards for accelerating health IT adoption.

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Following a keynote address from Christyl Johnson of the National Science & Technology Council, the 2009 Women’s Congressional Broadband Summit continued yesterday with a presentation by Dr. Karen Rheuban on the benefits of broadband to patients and healthcare providers.  Dr. Rheuban is the President of the American Telemedicine Association and is the Medical Director of the Office of Telemedicine at University of Virginia.  Click below to watch the address Dr. Rheuban shared with legislators and a quick interview with NextGenWeb!

Some important takeaways:

• Telemedicine is a key tool for remote monitoring, time sensitive care for health issues like strokes and maternal/fetal care — just to name a few!
• We need to align policies of broadband and health care because they need to be seamless, integrated, and most importantly, mainstream health care.
• Telemedicine would not be possible without broadband – video and other forms of communication require access to robust high-speed networks.

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NextGenWeb just wrapped up its third year of participation with the Center for Connected Health’s Annual Symposium – which focuses on the integration of technology and health care. Timely conversation on a couple different fronts as both health care and Internet policy are hot topics in Washington these days.

We were fortunate to spend some time today with Dr. Joe Kvedar, the Director of the Center for Connected Health in Boston. We touched on the Net neutrality issue and also spoke of the need for continued integration of technology into America’s health care system. Check out the video below – and be sure to read Dr. Kvedar’s comment submitted to the Washington Post recently on how he feels regarding increased regulation of the Internet vis-à-vis robust connected health platforms.

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When you hear “health care,” not too long ago broadband wouldn’t likely be the first thing that came to mind. Had you attended the Health Care Interoperability session at this year’s Center for Connected Health Symposium perhaps it would. Rajeev Kapoor, Vice President & Managing Director at Verizon gave a compelling presentation on Verizon’s network – and the broadband-enabled health care apps associated with it – and how both are key components to a more efficient system. It was hard not to listen intently since the presentation started with a statistic that says 100,000 people die each year from unnecessary medical errors. This is serious business. Kapoor also referenced more than once how Verizon’s Chairman, Ivan Seidenberg, also Chairman of the Business Roundtable, is working with the Obama Administration to help integrate technology into an overall effort aimed at revolutionizing a heavily outdated health care delivery network. Verizon is serious about playing a role in bringing patients – and health care providers – a better system.

We caught up with Rajeev after the session to discuss these and other matters. Be sure to check out our chat below.

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Broadband Census continued to nourish the broadband plan dialogue with a panel of experts (all doctors) on telemedicine at their monthly breakfast event Tuesday morning.  Much like the recent telemedicine event at the Brookings Institution last week, the challenge most often discussed is not capacity or opportunity, but how we can best get these cutting-edge telemedicine applications into widespread use.  Experts agree that adoption of the many health IT opportunities will not only save lives, but also significantly reduce health care costs.

Dr. Jay Sanders, CEO, Global Telemedicine Group and often referred to as the “father of telemedicine,” expressed frustration that the penetration of these telemedicine technologies has not reached his expectations, especially when compared to all the other aspects of our lives that have moved online.  “Entertainment, banking, and commerce are all brought directly to you.  Why not health care?” he posited, noting that the complexity is as minor as a mobile phone.

Col. Ron Poropatich, M.D., Department of the Army, believes that the battlefield situation is one that is critical for mobile health.  He is seeing tremendous success with two pilot projects; one that sends video clips to diabetics on their smartphones and one that text messages soldiers with brain injuries with reminders and wellness tips.  “Their email boxes are full, they prefer text messages.”

Dr. Adam Darkins leads the National Telehealth Programs for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  He emphasized that the real issue he sees is not bandwidth, but taking advantage of all of the goods and services available to sustain the network.   He believes that level of adoption will really make the business case for telemedicine.

Dr. Ted Eytan, Medical Director, Delivery Systems Operations Improvement, Kaiser Permanente, has over 3.1 million people using electronic health records through their system.  With today’s broadband connections, he believes that we should all be interacting more with physicians online, as well as conducting other health transactions.  He finds this will in turn help with compliance with medical directions, which reduces re-hospitalization, which reduces costs.

If you want to receive this type of coverage directly to your inbox in the future, subscribe to NextGenWeb’s newsletter!

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The Brookings Institution hosted an event around their new paper, “Customer-Driven Medicine: How to Create a New Health Care System,” in efforts to focus the health care dialogue on the consumer.  The author of the paper, Darrell West, Vice President and Director of Governance Studies at Brookings, moderated.

The paper urges a technology-fueled transformation of our health care system, noting the many mobile and Internet-based applications from videoconferencing, to remote health monitoring to enhanced prevention efforts that can greatly improve the quality of care while decreasing costs.  Among the policy recommendations:

1. Public and private insurance reimbursement for telemedicine
2. Rewarding physicians who provide positive outcomes for their patients
3. Encouraging patients to pursue prevention strategies
4. Developing good health rewards programs to encourage healthy lifestyles

Guest speakers Ellen Blackler of AT&T and Karen Rheuban of the American Telemedicine Association both noted that we have the power to put consumers in charge of their own medical care.  Their visions for personalized medicine include remote monitoring, electronic medical records, social networking, and more.

Blackler discussed the role of broadband networks supporting these applications.  She also demonstrated a few cutting-edge tools, including a shoe sole that monitors for balance.  Blackler believes that the federal government can help move telemedicine forward by leading through public health care programs like Medicare.  She thinks the benefits will be tremendous for both patients and doctors.

Rheuban is also a practicing pediatrician and shared personal experiences while working in rural areas, in addition to policy recommendations.  While the technologies are here now, if doctors are not reimbursed for them, there is little incentive to use them.  She also believes that there needs to be more interagency collaboration to resolve issues like interoperability, credentialing and confidentiality.

Overall, the panel was extremely optimistic about the opportunities for consumers that telemedicine offers.  Not only will the next generation of patients and physicians be more comfortable with technology, but also they will demand it be put to use to improve America’s health. The upfront cost and effort may seem daunting, but the benefits of integrating telemedicine into mainstream health care will undoubtedly propel us forward to action.

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As the health care debate continues, we were fortunate to spend some time with Tim Olivier, who has more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry. As Chief Operating Officer of the Healthcare Industry Group at Perot Systems, Mr. Oliver talked with us about the critical role broadband plays in improving the quality of care for patients while lowering costs for the system. To learn more about the Mass Connector, visit their website by clicking here.

And be sure to check out our interview below.

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The Washington Times ran a story over the weekend about the significant progress in telemedicine over the years, and the important role that broadband networks play in advancing the use of these health care innovations. The article notes that although the definition of telemedicine includes all treatment of patients by remote means, there is a booming industry of broadband-based applications that take telemedicine to the next level.  Here are a few of the applications mentioned:

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• Sending medical images via mobile device
• Laparoscopic surgery using robotic devices
• Wearable remote monitoring devices to manage chronic illness
• Videoconferenced consultations

The article ends with an important quote from Jonathan Linkhouse, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association, noting how accessible these technologies are to everyone. “There is a huge benefit in terms of keeping people out of hospitals.”  Good news for the health industry and the millions of Americans who will benefit from these technologies!

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