Dunmore, Pa.-based Traditional Home Health and Hospice is beefing up its Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patient management program with an in-home patient vital signs monitoring system. The agency, which provides home health and hospice services to patients, has implemented the Electronic House Call system from Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based ExpressMD Solutions. Read »

In the wake of news that Boston’s MassGeneral Hospital for Children has implemented a new video program that puts doctors at the patient’s bedside 24/7—and another article showing how California has saved its taxpayers $13 million by using telemedicine to offset inmate transportation costs within the state’s prison system—Nashville, Tenn.-based SunCrest Healthcare has chosen Philips to supply telehealth monitors for its home care patients. Read »

The year is off to a good start for Corventis, which just received FDA clearance to market its NUVANT Mobile Cardiac Telemetry (MCT) System for the detection of non-lethal arrhythmias. Equally important, the developer of wireless cardiovascular systems' Monitoring Center has been approved by CMS as an Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility (IDTF), and the company has received approval to bill for services provided to patients with Medicare and several commercial insurers, paving the way for the NUVANT MCT System to become available across the U.S. Read »

Telemedicine may be helping to boost the market for personalized medicine in the United States, but the technology's capacity for easing the intensivist shortage may be limited, according to a study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which finds the use of telemedicine in intensive care units does not improve patients' risk of death or length of stay. Read »

The Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, Iowa, is stepping up its commitment to technology with the addition of a new dual wireless network that will offer public access to patients and visitors while granting physicians access through a secured network. Both networks will run over the same access points. Read »

The jury may think it's still out regarding the role virtual doctor visits will play in the future of patient care, but anyone who chooses to follow the money can see that telehealth initiatives are being positioned for widespread deployment. Read »

After spending the past year developing prototypes of products aimed at the home health care market, AT&T has announced it has big plans to establish a foothold in the telehealth industry. The telecommunications giant aims to make everyday household items "part of the network cloud," according to Robert Miller, executive director of technical research at AT&T and a 40-year veteran at the company’s Florham Park research labs. Read »

With over $27 billon invested each year in healthcare R&D globally, it's clear technology is playing an increasingly larger role in shaping the way we prevent, diagnose and treat patients. While much of the focus in the U.S. over the past 18 months has centered around EMRs and monitors within the operating room, developments in telemedicine, robotic surgery and wearable monitoring devices are rapidly defining the next stage of healthcare's evolution. Although wearable wireless sensors in healthcare are still in their early stages, IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, predicts the coming spike in the worldwide aging population over the next two decades will trigger a huge demand for technologies that will help enhance this population’s quality of life, in ways like allowing them to remain in their homes while still getting the care and monitoring they need. Read »

Count Wound Technology Network among the growing number of healthcare providers sold on the power of telemedicine. The Hollywood, Fla.-based network of physicians has begun using AT&T's wireless technology services and providing healthcare professionals with mobile devices to diagnose and prescribe treatments for patients with chronic wounds. By combining telemedicine, IT and an evidence-based approach to care, WTN officials hope to cut the cost of care to patients while maintaining the same quality of care in the patient’s home. Read »

Three Senate Democrats--Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas--are voicing their doubts over proposed health care legislation, raising the prospect that one or all three of them could scuttle the bill before the fight over it gets underway on the Senate floor, the New York Times reports. As this highly controversial piece of legislation continues to draw the scrutiny it deserves, the ZigBee Alliance and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) are stepping up to educate both health care professionals and consumers on the benefits of telecommunications technologies. Read »