mHealth Summit

The 2010 mHealth Summit has gotten underway in Washington DC. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend most of the conference but do look forward to meeting some of my fellow mHealth specialists and enthusiasts. I have been busy with a few projects and unable to update this blog. I am encouraged at the amount of movement in this industry in the past year. As I have been stating, we are coming to a paradigm shift in the healthcare delivery model. One thing that has not gotten much traction is the effect of the gaming systems on health. It has always been understood that sitting down and playing nintendo was not good for health. Some may even go as far as to say that video games have contributed to the morbid obesisty in children in the United States. Now Sony (Move), Microsoft (Kinect) and Nintendo (Wii) all have video games that require activity. There are online communities where gaming is discussed while playing. How will this be adapted to healthcare. I have my ideas. What are your thoughts. Love to hear them Thanks

McKesson Enters Mheatlh

McKesson Foundation

Founded in 1943, the McKesson Foundation envisions a world where affordable, quality healthcare is available to all. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting our employees' community involvement efforts and improving the health of patients through: Improved healthcare quality Personal health management Lower healthcare costs To that end, each year the McKesson Foundation contributes more than $5 million to nonprofit organizations working to improve the health of our communities. Our main funding area is chronic disease management in the U.S., with a near-term focus on diabetes over the next two years. As part of the McKesson Foundation's commitment to supporting innovative disease management interventions, we are proud to announce Mobilizing for HealthSM, the Foundation's new program area focused on building the evidence base for mHealth through research. Through the Mobilizing for HealthSM initiative, our ultimate goal is to improve health outcomes among underserved patients with chronic diseases through the widespread adoption of care management models using mHealth technologies that have proven successful. Specifically, through Mobilizing for HealthSM the Foundation will fund U.S. based pilot research projects and ongoing studies in need of additional funding focused on mobile phone-based interventions for low-income patients with chronic diseases, with an immediate interest in diabetes management. We also support the dissemination of knowledge and evidence of effective mHealth technologies and advocate for policies and practices that enable the adoption of scalable mHealth interventions as a component of chronic care management for underserved populations. We also continue to support diabetes management programs at community health centers across the country. In order to maximize resources to further our impact, we do not accept unsolicited grant proposals. Our program staff employ a proactive approach in identifying organizations for funding that advance our strategic goals. If you are seeking funding for a diabetes management program, please feel free to submit information about your organization to: Corporate.Citizenship@McKesson.com. We will keep your information on file and will contact you if we feel there is a potential opportunity for funding in the future.

mHealth starts to get momentum

I have to apologize for not updating the site regularly. I successfully launched a Medication Clean Up Campaign on May 8, in Pittsburgh with the help of the PA Medical Society, Attorney General, Drug Enforcement Agency, Mayor's office and City of Pittsburgh Police. Expired and unused prescription drugs have become a popular choice for the youth to abuse after tobacco and alcohol. But what does that have to do with m-Health.
As I talked about in December, we are noticing a transition. The consumer will continue to drive the change in health care delivery as they are able to have wearable sensors and home monitors. This shift to the home is the parallel with the increasing abuse of prescription medications.
I am on my way to the Wireless Life Science Alliance meeting and look forward to meeting my fellow m-health enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, registration closed at 10am on the 12th, i thought I had till the end of the day. Guess we will have to see if I just have to hang out in the lobby of the hotel.
Please leave your comments and suggestions.

HIMSS10

Just finished listening to the Keynote by Dr Blumenthal. I have enjoyed my first day here meeting new collegues and re connecting with old colleagues and friends. The awards banquet last night was my first and hopefully not the last. Barry Ross and Jay Srini, both from the WPHISS chapters were recognized for there lifelong efforts in HIMSS. My reaction to the keynote now is that it did not provide any new information. Most of the information was already announced and the summary of the programs announced was also not anything new. The audience at HIMSS, i feel, is a much more advanced group of professionals and the lecture would be more suited to a more generalized audience like nurses, doctors and PA. I am energized by the vision he has and the understanding that a lot of the hard work is just going to start but that we have "the winds at our backs." The key, like Dr Blumenthal said, "it is about change management." I always look forward to your comments and suggestions.

convergence

as our technology gets faster and smaller, so too will the model of healthcare delivery change. While in India the last few weeks I noticed some interesting differences. First, insurance is still not widely accepted and most healthcare is done prepaid. So, if you have a blood test or a diagnostic test, it will only be done after it is paid for. Second, the patients are responsible for their records. Imaging studies, lab tests are all provided to the patient. The patient then takes these reports with them to each of there visits. The model is already patient-centric. As we move to empowering the patients here in the use with the use of the internet and mobile phones, I am amazed at how this model already exists and can provide a base for the developed countries to model a synergy of care with technological advancements with social change. As always, love to hear your comments.

Cisco and Molina Healthcare

On Jan 15, Cisco announced a telemedicine project for Molina Healthcare. The press release can be found here. Cisco is the number one provider of networks to the healthcare industry. They have a start of the art hospital for the Cisco employess that is the testing ground for the technologies that they are developing. Telemedicine is expected to become a very large part of healthcare delivery over the next few years. It has been around for many years but only now has the technology become affordable and portable. The development of smartphones, i belive, is a major driving force in this field. Cisco's presence in telemedicine will help foster new innovation and drive the market just as the entrance of Verizon, AT&T,Intel and IBM to name just a few of the major players in this emerging market of telemedicine in healthcare. Love to know your thoughts.