Connecting devices to Microsoft’s HealthVault: Mobihealthnews recently caught up with HealthVault’s senior global strategist George Scriban to discuss how the Microsoft unit fits into the wireless health discussion. Can mobile application developers sync their apps directly to HealthVault? Will Windows Mobile create apps that integrate to HealthVault? How does a medical device maker enable its users to send information to HealthVault? Scriban answered these questions and more in a wide-ranging interview that also covered whether HealthVault could be offered as a bare-bones EHR for physicians, how HealthVault drives revenue within the health solutions group at Microsoft and hints at the global health market as the key opportunity for wireless in healthcare.
Poor patient medication adherence a $290 billion problem: A new report by the New England Healthcare Institute found that not taking medications as prescribed leads to poorer health, more frequent hospitalization, a higher risk of death and as much as $290 billion annually in increased medical costs. Anywhere from one-third to one-half of patients in the U.S. do not take their medications as instructed. Not taking the medication on time, in the proper doses, or at all are just some examples of poor patient medication adherence. Reasons for following the proper medication regimen include: Unpleasant side effects, confusion, forgetfulness, language barriers and feeling “too good” to need medicine. Those with chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure are among the groups less likely to follow their medication regimens. NEHI is urging the federal government to make the issue a part of the national healthcare reform debate.
Glowing pillboxes go DTC: Cambridge, Mass.-based Vitality might have a partial solution to the $290 billion patient adherence problem. The company is embarking on a direct-to-consumer campaign for its wireless Internet-enabled pill cap, the GlowCap, which fits popular prescription bottles to help remind people to take their medications on time. GlowCaps are now available on Amazon.com for $99. As the name suggests, the device uses light and sound to signal when it’s time to take medications. The product also records when a pill bottle is opened and wirelessly relays this information to online adherence reports. The patient, their caregivers and doctors can receive a weekly adherence report email.
Wireless pacemakers to manage chronic disease: Carol Kasyjanski, 61, a patient at St. Francis Hospital in Rosyln, N.Y., was the first recipient of St. Jude Medical’s wireless-enabled pacemaker, which the FDA approved in July. Kasyjanksi’s routine check-ups are significantly shorter now, because the doctor can finish about 90 percent of the work before she arrives thanks to the data transmitted from the pacemaker to its online portal. Steven Greenberg, the director of St. Francis’ Arrhythmia and Pacemaker Center, said the new technology would likely become the gold standard for pacemakers. The remote monitoring device connects to the server “at least” once a day to upload data or any alerts. “In the future, these pacemakers may be placed not just for people with slow heartbeats. We may be monitoring high blood pressure, we may be measuring glucose, we may be monitoring heart failure,” Greenberg said.
Brian Dolan is editor of mobihealthnews, the emerging wireless health industry’s daily monitor.