Bernie Monegain
Kaiser Permanente, a not-for-profit health plan and care provider, has opened a new medical center at the front door of Capitol Hill, complete with Kaiser's recognized electronic health record - HealthConnect.
Three of the nation's top hospital companies and two major hospital systems - together representing more than 400 hospitals across the country - have invested in the Heritage Healthcare Innovation Fund L.P., a venture fund focused on investments in businesses that improve the delivery of healthcare services. The partners will make individual investments of up to $10 million in new businesses.
The accelerated uptake of electronic health records, the widespread use of smartphones and dramatic advances in telemedicine are among the 2010 healthcare trends cited in a new industry report from staffing firm Jackson & Coker. Forecast in 2011 More RAC audits, deeper Medicare and Medicaid cuts and fierce competition for hospitals.
The market for point-of-care (POC) tests has almost doubled from 2003 to 2009, according to a new report published by Kalorama Information. With the ability to help reduce healthcare costs while simultaneously improving patient care, POC tests represent a significant and growing share of the global in vitro diagnostics (IVD) market, according to Kalorama.In its report Worldwide Point of Care Diagnostic Test Markets, Kalorama values the market for combined over-the-counter and professional applications of point-of-care testing at $13.3 billion worldwide in 2009.
The VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Birmingham, Ala., an acute tertiary care facility, will provide nurse case managers with integrated mobile electronic health records. The technology will make it possible for home-based primary care nurses to schedule case loads as well as access and input patient information. The technology, called HB Mobile, was developed by Juneau, Fla.-based DSS, Inc. The Veterans Integrated Service Network 7 (VISN 7) selected the Birmingham center in August 2009 as the alpha test site for HB Mobile.
Mobile technology has become an must-have tool for Walgreens, which bills itself as the nation's largest drugstore chain. The company now offers mobile applications for iPhone, Android and Blackberry, featuring text alerts for more than 1 million subscribers and a function that allows patients to scan the bar code of their prescription to send in refills.
Telcare, a Bethesda, Md. based company, focused on developing technology to manage chronic diseases, has raised $4.46 million of a targeted $5 million in a mixed securities offering, according to an amended SEC filing. The financing sources were not named in the filing.Telcare uses wireless technology to provide communications between chronically ill patients and their physicians. Jonathan Javitt, MD, vice chairman and CEO, and John Dwyer, chairman, founded the company in 2008. Javitt, Dwyer and David Bjork, president, were named in the filing.
Optimism is prevalent in the healthcare IT sector, where 77 percent of venture capitalists expect investment to increase, according to results of the 2011 Venture View predictions survey, conducted by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Dow Jones VentureSource.
GE Healthcare announced Monday the 510(k) clearance of its next generation wireless, digital X-ray detector FlashPad at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. The technology is designed to help radiologists transition from film to digital imaging and increase access for patients worldwide.The 510(k) clearance, required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is also known as pre-market notification.
Mobile health applications will be distributed predominantly through traditional healthcare channels by 2015 as opposed to app stores, according to a global survey by research2guidance.