• Chloe Herrick (Computerworld)
• 29 February, 2012 10:19

Australia’s peak body of general practitioners (GPs) has given the Federal Government a pat on the back following the implementation of its telehealth incentive scheme last July, labelling the project a success in Western Australia.

The scheme, which operates under the government’s $620 million telehealth initiative, offers GPs who provide videolink consultations to patients in remote areas a $6000 one-off incentive payment to provide their first telehealth consultation to patients. The scheme also provides Medicare rebates to both city specialists and healthcare professionals who are physically with their patients during consultations.

To encourage bulk billing for services, the scheme also offers practitioners an extra $20 for each videolink service charged in that manner for the 12 months from 1 July.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) said the initiative has broken down distance and cost barriers for rural and remote patients and enabled them access to a greater range of subsidised consultations.

RACGP WA Faculty Chair, Associate Professor Frank Jones, said video consultations and short message services (SMS) were integral to making healthcare accessible to all Australians.

“Western Australia’s vast geographical area lends itself to wide population dispersion, with a large proportion of the community residing outside of major metropolitan hubs,” Jones said in a statement. “Patients who previously had to drive hundreds of kilometres to receive healthcare, can now ‘see’ their doctor via video conference from the convenience of their own home.”

However, RACGP Telehealth Standards Taskforce chairman, Dr Mike Civil, said the full range of telehealth benefits have not yet been realised, along with opportunities for telehealth to expand into aged care facilities and into the homes of those living with disabilities.

“For many members of the community, including the elderly and disabled, travelling large distances to receive healthcare is not always an option,” Civil said in a statement. “This also goes both ways, with GPs not always able to complete regular home or community visits when time and resources are limited.”

Follow Chloe Herrick on Twitter: @chloe_CW

Organised by The King’s Fund and the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC), this annual event brings together key speakers from around the world to showcase innovations and best practice in the deployment of telehealth and telecare. In addition to the physical three day congress in London we are also running this congress as a virtual event in order to share learning on a larger scale.

The congress will feature results and learning from the UK Whole System Demonstrator programme (the largest radomised controlled trial of telehealth and telecare in the world), and UK and international case studies, providing you with insight and best practice into the use of telehealth and telecare.

This virtual event will allow you to watch all of the main plenary presentations live; visit exhibition stands and watch videos, download brochures and chat live online to stand staff; visit and chat online to other participants in the networking lounge; and download resources from the resource centre.

How the virtual event works

Congress lobby

Once you log in, you’ll find yourself in the congress lobby where a video greeting will welcome you. Clearly marked entry points will point you to the various show locations, Exhibition Hall, Auditorium etc. Along the top of the screen is the Navigation bar for quick access to area locations.

Exhibition Hall

“Walk” through our stands in the 3-D exhibition hall. You can move to the left and right in the hall by moving your mouse accordingly. There is also a text based exhibitor directory for those wanting to get to a stand quickly. Hovering over a stand will display more information about the company, while clicking on it will take you right into the booth.

Exhibition Stand

Just like a real stand, exhibitors set up their stand with company and product literature, videos and more. Stands are staffed with company representatives to answer your questions online.

Auditorium

Visit the auditorium to watch all the main plenary presentations live. You can also submit questions for presenters during the live sessions online and via Twitter. If you miss any of the live presentations you can catch up with these in the auditorium.

Network Lounge

Engage in an ongoing group chat among other delegates or participate in scheduled group chats for focused discussions on specific topics. Use the message box to exchange emails or V-Cards with other attendees, and invite them for one-on-one chats.

Resource Centre

Find all the downloadable content here – static information such as case studies or white papers in addition to webcasts or any other presentations. Use the search functions to quickly find information by topic/type. You can view while you’re here or save to your briefcase to view later.

My preferences

After logging in, we recommend setting up your profile, avatar etc. (My preferences on right side of the congress lobby navigation bar) to share information about yourself with other attendees via your V-card. Your profile is a great tool to introduce yourself so be sure to take advantage of this networking tool. This is also where you can set your avatar, privacy options and change your password.

Congress format

Day one: Pre-congress seminar: Evaluating telehealth and telecare projects

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Day two: Telehealth Congress

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Day two: Telecare and Whole System Demonstrator Congress

Thursday 8 March 2012

Get more details and register for the International Telehealth and Telecare Congress HERE

Telehealth Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) report – implications for the future of healthcare

Ivan McConnell gives his view on the implications of the Telehealth Whole Systems Demonstrator report for the future of healthcare.

Telehealth Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) report – implications for the future of healthcare

George MacGinnis gives his view on the implications of the Telehealth Whole Systems Demonstrator report for the future of healthcare

Published on Thursday 13 October 2011 00:01

A £5 MILLION telehealth system with the potential to save around £1,000 per patient per year has been largely ignored by NHS boards, the public spending watchdog has warned.

Telehealth is designed to provide remote electronic healthcare, particularly for hard-to-reach areas. But Audit Scotland’s review found that the system is generally not considered an option when NHS boards are planning or redesigning services.

An estimated £4.7m has been allocated to telehealth initiatives since 2006. Economic modelling work suggests the home monitoring of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease could save NHS boards around £1,000 a year for each patient.

However, Audit Scotland found limited coverage in local delivery plans and only half refer to telehealth specifically.

Over a third of the medical directors interviewed did not know if the Scottish Centre for Telehealth (SCT), established in 2006 to support NHS boards to develop telehealth, was performing its core functions well.

Half of medical directors felt that the integration of SCT and NHS24 had no impact on the delivery of telehealth within the board.

Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black said: “The NHS in Scotland is facing serious pressures from the ageing population and increasing numbers of people with long-term health conditions such as diabetes and respiratory illnesses.

“Telehealth could help to provide a range of services efficiently and effectively.”

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “Telehealth has a pivotal role to play in delivering efficient and effective care to people of all ages across our country.”

The Royal College of Nursing Scotland backed the auditor’s call. Director Theresa Fyffe said: “Investment has been inconsistent and a survey of our members last year, found that less than 20 per cent use telehealth.”

Read the article on Scotsman.com

After the success of the P4 Digital Healthcare convention in 2010, Highlands and Islands Enterprise offers the opportunity to further explore the rapidly evolving field of P4 digital healthcare.

The term ‘P4′ is being adopted in the life sciences and digital healthcare sectors to describe the changing healthcare landscape as it becomes more Predictive, Preventative, Personalised and Participatory.

P4 Digital: The future of healthcare conference, taking place at the Centre for Health Science in Inverness, will be held on 10 and 11 May 2011.  The theme of the event will be ‘exploring and connecting’.

Conference agenda

• Day 1, 10th May 2011
• 12.00pm – 1.00pm registration and lunch
• 1.00pm – 1.10pm introduction and welcome
• 1.10pm – 1.30pm scene setting – Dr Steven Dodsworth, Highlands and Islands Enterprise
• 1.30pm – 2.10pm P4 Digital and m-health – Sarah Sanders, Vodafone
• 2.10pm – 2.50pm P4 Digital, sensors and devices – Steve Setford, LifeScan
• 2.50pm – 3.50pm coffee and exhibition
• 3.50pm – 4.30pm P4 Digital and the web – Dame Wendy Hall, Web Science Trust*
• 4.30pm – 5.00pm Moray, a living laboratory – Moray Community Health and Social Care Partnership
• 5.00pm – 5.10pm closing remarks

* Remote connection

• Day 2, 11th May 2011
• 8.45am – 9.15am registration and coffee
• 9.15am – 9.30am opening remarks
• 9.30am – 10.10am P4 Digital and the NHS – George Crooks, NHS 24
• 10.10am – 10.50am P4 and consumer health psychology – Vivien Swanson, University of Stirling
• 10.50am – 11.30am coffee and exhibition
• 11.30am – 12.20pm P4 and design innovation – Irene McAra-McWilliam, Glasgow School of Art
• 12.20pm – 1.00pm P4 Digital in practice
• 1.00pm – 1.10pm closing remarks
• Lunch and networking
  

Delegate sign-up -  please complete our online form here to sign up for this event.

Exhibition space will be available on a first come, first served basis. A donation is requested from exhibitors to cover hospitality costs. For more information please contact dyan.berry@hient.co.uk

We can keep you up to date with news about P4 digital, if you would like to sign up for the mailing list please send your details todyan.berry@hient.co.uk

Information on last year’s event can be located is available from the list ofprevious conferences.

Ten million pounds is to be invested over four years to improve care by growing the Scottish telehealthcare sector.

The project – jointly announced today by the Scottish Government and the Technology Strategy Board – will show how new technologies and innovative services can help improve the quality of life of, and support independent living for, older people and people living with long-term conditions.

The demonstration programme will involve at least 10,000 older people and people with disabilities.

In the first joint project between the Technology Strategy Board and the Scottish Government, the Scottish Assisted Living Demonstrator agreement was signed today by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon and Iain Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board.

Ms Sturgeon said:

“Supporting people to live independently at home is a key priority for the Scottish Government. It is what older people have consistently said they want and we know it is generally better for people’s health to remain at home wherever that’s possible.

“Over the last four years, Scotland has made significant progress on developing and expanding new technologies to help people do just that – providing effective care and reassurance to many older people.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to build on this progress and to expand even further the role technology plays in supporting twenty-first century healthcare.

“The experiences from the Scottish Assisted Living Demonstrator will also be used to inform and provide invaluable opportunities for Scottish businesses in support of economic growth.”

Iain Gray said:

“I am delighted that the Technology Strategy Board and the Scottish Government are to work together to establish an Assisted Living Demonstrator in Scotland. Scotland is a leader in the introduction of innovative technologies and services to enable independent living for older adults and people living with long-term conditions.

“This demonstrator programme, which will involve at least 10,000 users in Scotland, will be the first step towards the aspiration of providing assisted living services for millions of people across the UK.”

The key objective behind the demonstrator is to help break the barrier between new healthcare technology and the implementation and use of the technology in the public sector, such as NHSScotland, the private sector, for example in housing and in the insurance sector and the third sector, including by charities and social enterprises. Other key agencies involved in the development of the demonstrator are NHS 24, Highlands & Island Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise.

The demonstrator will also show how cost savings could be made alongside the provision of improved health benefits for both public and private provision, while opening new markets in social innovation, service innovation and wellness.

The Scottish Assisted Living Demonstrator is likely to be the first of a number that will be established across the UK by the Technology Strategy Board under a programme named DALLAS – Demonstrators of Assisted Living Lifestyles at Scale.

Further details of the Scottish Assisted Living Demonstrator programme, including the geographic focus, will be agreed in discussions between the Scottish Government, its agencies and the Technology Strategy Board.

The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led government body which works to create economic growth by ensuring that the UK is a global leader in innovation. Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future economy.

The demonstrator programme sponsors, and anticipated funding contributions, are: Technology Strategy Board (£5m), Scottish Government (£3.9m), Highlands & Islands Enterprise (£0.8m) and Scottish Enterprise (£0.3m). NHS 24 will be the delivery arm for Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Government’s Health & Social Care Directorate.

Further details of the programme will be developed and established by the Scottish Government, its agencies and the Technology Strategy Board over the next year, as preparations are advanced for implementation of the Scottish Assisted Living Demonstrator from April 2012.

This programme is being run through the Technology Strategy Board’s Assisted Living Innovation Platform (ALIP), which is responding to the challenge of the demographic shift – in essence promoting independence by making technology better, cheaper and more desirable. The ALIP aims to significantly advance the technology to meet the demand for independent living from the expected increase in the numbers of people suffering from long term conditions and age-related disability. By 2021 half of the UK’s adult population will be over 50 and by 2025 almost 1.5 million people will be living with an age-related disability.

By David Doherty

At the Healthcare Innovation Expo in London I met with Dr Richard Pope, Consultant Diabetologist, who is reporting some great success with the use of Video Conferencing with home based patients:

Key take aways of the talk:

• There are currently 150 home based patients being telemonitored. Set against registry data service is saving ~0.1 all cause admissions, per patient, per month
• Between July 2009 and December 2010 it has saved 202 all-cause admissions
• Based on these reduced admissions alone it’s saved >£93k in 18 months
• 5 year programme is running across 20 prisons delivering A&E urgent care service + 21 outpatient specialities offering elective services via telemedicine

Patients Perspective:

“…There is no expensive journey to and from hospital. No re-organising of work commitments to then spend time sitting around in waiting rooms… simply a live link up where I can talk freely and we can swap ideas as to how to improve my life…“

Consultants opinion on the value of video connectivity:

“…First of all it allows you to deal with comorbidities much more straightforwardly, we’re doing what we’re doing in clinic but we just happen to be remote from the patient. And the visual dimension gives you a lot more confidence in your decision making. So you’ve got a data stream coming in oxygen saturations are low and you’re going to admit somebody because thye’ve dipped but you can actually see them in their own house and they’re not breathless and you just make decisions that you make day in day out and I also think there is an ability to engage in a different way with the family so i’ll give you an example, I was doing a call to a guy with diabetes at home and he’s telling me how he’s sticking rigidly to his diet and then i hear a shout from the kitchen “oh no you’re not you lying bugger!” and his wife comes around the corner joins in the call and we have a much more engaging conversation. So obviously he’s given permission to have his wife in the room so confidentiality isn’t an issue in this case but there are lots of examples like that were another patient who was hospital phobic and wouldn’t come to clinic, and her (blood sugar) control was awful and she felt really bad about herself. But she engaged through this modality in a way that allowed her to have really quite complex clinical discussions, six or seven sessions later and her HbA1c levels are back down and have stayed down. so i think it allows you to do what you do day in day out but actually do it in a much more efficient way“

Read the full article on 3GDoctor