Vendors

EarlySense gains rights to predictive analytics tool

June 18, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

WOBURN, Mass. – Continuous monitoring solutions provider EarlySense has acquired exclusive global rights to a new version of the eCART predictive analytics score tool developed by Dr. Dana Edelson, executive medical director of Rescue Care at the University of Chicago.

The new tool, a validated early warning score that uses only heart rate, respiratory rate and patient age, will be integrated into EarlySense’s products.

“Risk scoring is a critically important tool but is currently limited to complex multi-parameter tests and lab systems found in EMR systems,” said Avner Halperin, co-founder and CEO of EarlySense, in a statement. “Combining Dr. Edelson’s approach with real-time data enhances true deterioration detection.”

The eCART clinical predictive analytics tool was designed to identify risk of health deteriorations and cardiac arrests based on more than 30 clinical data points per patient. It was developed using a data set of nearly 300,000 cases.

“By working with EarlySense to adapt this hospital-proven predictive clinical score, we may be able to extend the predictive clinical score beyond the confines of the hospital and into post-acute and home environments,” said Edelson in a statement. “The evolution of eCART as a tool across the care continuum is representative of how innovation is changing the health care landscape today and expanding care beyond the walls of a hospital.”

EarlySense assists clinicians in the early detection of patient deterioration through the real-time collection of vital signs while patients lie in bed or sit in a chair. The company’s systems leverage Artificial Intelligence and big data analytics to provide actionable health insights and improve clinical outcomes, while enhancing the patient experience through their passive collection approach.

“Dr. Edelson is a pioneer in predictive analytics for patient deterioration, and we are pleased to collaborate with her to bring state-of-the-art data analytics to hospitals, post-acute care facilities and homes,” said Halperin. “Making cutting-edge predictive analytics practical for every institutional bed and every home will save countless lives.”

Smart Meter uses cellular technology as ‘secret sauce’

June 5, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

‘If you’re not cell-enabled, you’re not connected’

TAMPA, Fla. – Smart Meter’s iGlucose diabetes care solution has met stringent requirements for reimbursement under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new remote monitoring CPT code.

It all comes down to cellular technology, said Cliff McIntosh, CEO of Smart Meter.

“It’s our secret sauce,” he said.

The iGlucose system uses cell-enabled technology instead of Bluetooth, allowing for real-time transmission of glucose test results. The technology is always on and doesn’t require the pairing of devices or syncing of data.

CMS’s Remote Patient Monitoring CPT code requires that certain criteria must be met, including: results must transmit to the provider in real-time; there must be an active feedback loop to patients through text or email; health data is patient generated; and patient data is digitally stored.

“This is a really exciting time for us,” said McIntosh. “Our product allows providers to meet all the criteria for this reimbursement.”

Smart Meter shipped its first product in the first quarter of 2018, after receiving clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a year ago.

McIntosh said that Bluetooth technology can result in reduced patient compliance because patient gets frustrated trying to connect and give up. The delay in data transmission with Bluetooth can also create problems if test results aren’t delivered to a patient’s provider in a timely manner.

Smart Meter will start looking for ways to leverage actionable data for better outcomes in the coming year, McIntosh said.

“We don’t need much bandwidth and we won’t become obsolete,” he said. “We think if you’re not cell-enabled, you’re not connected.”

Michael J. Fox Foundation to incorporate Verily wearable for Parkinson’s study

June 1, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

NEW YORK – The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research will use Verily wearable devices to track disease markers and advance the study of the disease.

More than 800 people will participate in a two-year MJFF-led longitudinal Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative. They will be outfitted with a Verily multi-sensor watch that will continuously collect data on movement and physiologic and environmental measures. The goal of the study is to use wearable devices in conjunction with clinic-based data and biospecimen collection to zero in on disease markers with the greatest potential to open promising avenues for further scientific inquiry.

Launched in 2010, the PPMI aims to deepen understanding of Parkinson’s and validate objective measures of the disease. The initiative is currently being carried out at 33 clinical sites around the world with support from 22 industry partners. Participants are followed for at least five and up to 13 years and include volunteers with Parkinson’s disease or at-risk for Parkinson’s, as well as control volunteers.

Verily and PPMI will make raw and curated data available to the worldwide research community to drive independent studies in Parkinson’s therapeutic development.

“Expanding this resource through data science and wearable computing holds the potential to deepen understanding of Parkinson’s disease and gain meaningful insights that can inform care and therapeutic development decisions,” said Todd Sherer, CEO of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, in a statement. “This is why PPMI was built, and will help fulfill its tremendous promise for people with PD.”

In addition to this study, MJFF and Verily are partners in the Accelerating Medicines Partnership Parkinson’s disease program, a public-private collaboration between the National Institutes of Health, MJFF and five life sciences companies and managed by the Foundation for the NIH. AMP PD is applying state-of-the-art cellular profiling technologies to samples collected through PPMI and other large-scale studies to define the molecular fingerprint of Parkinson’s disease. Data and analysis generated through that initiative will be available through the AMP PD Knowledge Portal, created by Verily.

Additionally, Verily and MJFF have collaborated on the promotion of the company’s Liftware, a selection of adaptive products designed as aids to people with hand tremor or limited mobility.

Vizient creates medical device cybersecurity task force

May 31, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

IRVING, Texas – Health care performance improvement company Vizient has formed a task rorce to minimize the risk and cost of medical device cybersecurity by creating standard practices for the health care industry.

The work of the Medical Device Cybersecurity Task Force will augment the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Medical Device Action Plan, which was released earlier this month. It will assess the overall maturity level of cybersecurity for medical devices and identify areas to improve, as well as focus on sourcing enhancements, standards, governance and information sharing best practices to reduce exposure to risk.

“Vizient is excited to step up and provide leadership in the area of medical device cybersecurity by facilitating collaboration between key stakeholders for the benefit of the entire industry,” said Ross Carevic, director, technology sourcing operations at Vizient, in a statement. “The goal is to help reduce cybersecurity risks and the cost of assessing risk.”

The task force will initially work on a multi-phase roadmap that will help advance the cybersecurity maturity posture of the entire health care industry, Carevic said.

The Medical Device Cybersecurity Task Force includes information security leaders from 25 member health systems. It will also engage device manufacturers, suppliers, cybersecurity consultants, government and industry experts. The task force will be assessing the overall maturity level of cybersecurity for medical devices and identify areas to improve. It will also focus on sourcing enhancements, standards, governance and information sharing best practices to reduce exposure to risk.

“We are viewing this from an entire industry perspective, not just for Vizient members and suppliers,” said Carevic. “Wherever possible, we intend to make key deliverables publically available, which will help suppliers and providers prioritize their remediation plans for older medical devices and ensure appropriate safeguards are included in new devices for the benefit of all patients.”

Companies form data safety alliance

May 22, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

SAN DIEGO – Technology and health companies Arm, ForgeRock, Philips and Qualcomm Life, along with innovative healthcare startups Sparsa and US TrustedCare, have launched a collaborative effort focused on enhancing data from medical devices to enable more trustworthy data sourcing and consented patient-information sharing.

OpenMedReady is a framework designed to complement existing standards in remote clinical care by addressing five critical areas in remote patient monitoring: patient identity, device identity, data integrity, patient privacy and consent.

As a part of the framework, OpenMedReady will use capabilities such as fingerprint biometrics, available in many smartphones, with connected medical sensors to add patient identity into the data stream. The framework also includes device identity, which ensures that clinicians are aware of the actual device from which a reading was taken, helping to connect patient to device for data transparency and clarity. The framework is designed to be readily implementable by telehealth service providers and medical device vendors for improved clinical decision-making.

“Historically, clinicians have been reluctant to use remote patient data for clinical decision-making due in part to the concerns regarding identity management, consent and data integrity,” said Dr. James Mault, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Qualcomm Life, in a statement. “OpenMedReady combines connected sensors with modern smartphone capabilities to provide doctors a cryptographic log of a patient’s identity, their device’s identity, and their consent, giving care teams the confidence they need to treat patients based on data acquired remotely.”

Vivify Health doubles down on home health

May 18, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

PLANO, Texas – Following recent announcements that it has doubled revenues for the past four years, surpassed 5 million monitored days across its customer base, and received the 2018 North America Product Line Strategy Leadership Award by Frost & Sullivan, Vivify Health is shifting its focus along with the health care industry.

“The industry’s move to value-based care is going to allow home health providers to better use our platform,” said Eric Rock, CEO and founder of Vivify Health, which currently serves several home health agencies that are part of large health systems, in addition to physician practices and payers.

Vivify Health offers a mobile remote care management platform, providing multiple modalities of health consumer monitoring and engagement, Rock said. Its services include health kits with tablets and wireless health devices and bring-your-own-device solutions to remotely monitor any clinical condition.

As Vivify Health looks to scale its mobile and web apps through a larger and more diverse customer base, Rock said its technology allows for true collaboration.

“A solution like this gives us the ability to offer technology so we can have collaborative tools to bring together providers, payers and home health, all working together to make care more efficient and provide a deeper level of interaction with the platform,” he said.

Rock said Vivify’s technology is a good fit for seniors, a population that makes up a majority of home health care patients, because it is easy to use.

“We manage the flow of all of the hardware and software so the simplicity of the technology for that age population makes it a good choice,” Rock said.

Avizia offers video telehealth system

May 17, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

RESTON, Va. – Avizia has developed Connect Solution, a platform for health care organizations to launch and scale telehealth video consultation capabilities without a complex implementation process.

Connect Solution features a simple software interface, which providers can use to instantly launch a secure, high-quality video call through the Avizia 200 telemedicine tablet. The provider can add other participants to the call, such as family members or other care providers.

The Connect Solution allows health care organizations to employ the foundational benefits of a virtual care program, while laying the groundwork for a future system-wide telehealth strategy, said Cory Costley, chief product officer at Avizia.

“The Connect Solution is designed for hospitals and provider organizations that want to improve patient access and enjoy the benefits of telehealth without undergoing a more complex technology implementation process,” Costley said in a statement. “With capabilities ready right out of the box, the Avizia 200 and software interface make it easy to deploy the solutions providers need to conduct telemedicine consultations and collaborate more effectively with each other and patient caregivers. This is fundamental to setting a future system-wide telehealth strategy and essential to providing value-based care.”

BrightLife Services offers all-in-one platform

May 8, 2018 by Kathy Dion 1 Comment

PLANO, Texas – BrightLife Services is almost ready to launch a new technology for seniors and patients with chronic conditions that connects multiple home health devices to an all-in-one remote monitoring platform.

As a strategic partner and customer of Sensogram Technologies, BrightLife Services is integrating the Sensoscan vitals tracker and Vital Band fall detection smart watch into the platform. It will also incorporate other devices like Bluetooth scales, glucose monitors, smart pill caps and more.

“They’re bringing all the necessary elements together to make virtual care as good as, or better, than an office visit,” said Pete Ianace, corporate development board member of Sensogram Technologies.

BrightLife Services is a device-agnostic home health platform featuring a 10-inch tablet as its hub. The tablet connects to most digital health devices and features artificial intelligence technology, audio/video and voice capabilities, health care and lifestyle apps, and customized educational content for the user’s condition.

The platform connects to a call center for emergencies, as well as to a network of some 9,000 partner health care providers so users get a dedicated care team.

The new platform is expected to launch on June 1.

Ianace said the announcement that Medicare will begin reimbursing physicians for telehealth visits has opened up the market for remote monitoring.

“Remote care hasn’t been effective in the past because there was no way for doctors to be compensated to treat patients at home,” he said. “Now you’re probably going to see 10 more companies doing this kind of service in the next year.”

BrightLife Services will be offered directly to consumers at different levels on a monthly subscription basis—no long-term contracts. The company will send a representative to the user’s home to install and set up the equipment, and then it’s ready go.

VitalConnect hits its stride

May 8, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

‘Technologies available today are finally making true home health care possible’

SAN JOSE, Calif. – VitalConnect is rolling out its Vista Solution remote patient monitoring platform at Mercy Virtual and Mercy Hospital St. Louis, with plans to implement the technology at additional hospitals within the health system.

“This is a huge step in providing high-quality care both in and outside of the hospital,” said Nersi Nazari, CEO of VitalConnect.

The Vista Solution platform continuously monitors and displays real-time vital sign data, out-of-range notifications and historical data to health care providers. It works with the VitalPatch biosensor, a bandage-sized device worn by the patient that allows wireless health monitoring.

Nazari said the time is right for technology like VitalConnect’s.

“Home health care has not been reasonably scalable with modern day medicine until now,” he said. “Technologies available today are finally making true home health care possible in an economical way.”

A recent randomized study from Brigham & Women’s Hospital using the VitalPatch biosensor found a 52% reduction in the acute-care episode of care, including 30 days post-discharge, and a 67% reduction in total costs.

“This trend of lowering costs, while providing quality alternatives to expensive hospital care, is important for the health care industry at large and will help drive the largest shift that we have seen in decades,” said Nazari. “Devices that can passively collect data and monitor a patient while they rest and recover are critical to delivering this care, as well as keeping costs down.”

With the remote patient monitoring market estimated to be worth $15 billion and expected to double in the next five years, Nazari said the type of monitoring that VitalConnect offers will increasingly become the standard of care.

“We are seeing innovative health care systems adopt these cutting-edge monitoring technologies and they will pave the way for the rest of the country,” he said.

Nokia sells digital health business back to Withings

May 7, 2018 by Kathy Dion Leave a Comment

ESPOO, Finland – After acquiring Withings in 2016 to establish itself in digital health, Nokia has announced it will sell its Digital Health business back to Éric Carreel, co-founder and former chairman of Withings.

Following a review of its options for the digital health business earlier this year, Nokia decided to cut its losses and focus instead on becoming a business-to-business and licensing company, company officials said in a statement.

“Rather than only falling in love with our technology, we must be honest with ourselves,” said Kathrin Buvac, chief strategy officer for Nokia, in a company memo that was leaked. “In its entirety, our digital health business has struggled to scale and meet its growth expectations. Currently, we don’t see a path for it to become a meaningful part of a company as large as Nokia.”

The new agreement is expected to close later this year.

Nokia’s digital health business portfolio includes consumer and enterprise products, and it manufactures and sells an ecosystem of hybrid smart watches, scales and digital health devices to consumers and enterprise partners.