Another way to take Sexual Health “mobile”

City & Hackney NHS have taken steps to improve the reach of their Sexual Health initiative by taking it on a roadshow that included the car park of a Supermarket:

Organisers are reporting “fantastic results” from this “Mobile sexual health clinic” and “increased patient awareness” of sexual health issues by “300%” amongst a “hard-to-reach audience” through use of “Social marketing techniques” and offering “support and testing facilities for HIV, Chlamydia and pregnancy”.

The somewhat confusing statistics include:

> 54% men screened for HIV and Chlamydia compared to 10% male visitors to clinics
> 3,125 engaged with roadshow compared to 1,151 clinic attendance in a 4-week period
> 1,321 free condoms were distributed

Verizon start trialling a 3G Mobile Video Calling service between Patients and Specialists

Brian Dolan at MobiHealthNews reports on an article from Telephony that discusses how Verizon is working with an (as yet) unnamed hospital in New Jersey to build a collaboration service that allows specialists to conduct live video consultations via mobile devices “from almost anywhere”.

Telemedicine eHealth New Products…

Novembers issue lists A&D Medical’s Bluetooth Precision Weight Scale UA 321PBT-C, American Well Systems Online Care Insight V 3.0, Wavesense Diabetes Manager and “Connected Patient Technology” Designs from Cambridge Consultants.

Link to Volume 15, Number 9, Telemedicine & eHealth November 2009

Less than 2 weeks until the Mobile Health Industry Summit in London…. 50 great reasons to register today!

It’s your last chance to register for the Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit taking place in London on the 1-2 December 2009. The event will be bringing together the leading lights in the mHealth market including the following speakers:

Dr Fiona Kavanagh MRCGP, MD, 3G Doctor, Adam Cairns, CEO, Airedale NHS Trust, Rachel O’Connell, VP AOL/Chief Safety Officer Bebo, Anders Edlund, VP,Bluetooth Special Interest Group, Paul Williamson, Head of Wireless Medical, Cambridge Consultants, Dr. Nazar Amso, Cardiff Medical School, Dr. Phil Sovron, Central Middlesex and North West London NHS Trust, David Birch, CEO, Consult Hyperion, Chuck Parker, Executive Director, Continua Health Alliance, Ray Jordan, CEO, D2i Solutions, Dr Joel Selanikio, CEO and Co-Founder, DataDyne, Marc Berrebi, CEO, eDevice, Natasha Avila, Business Development, E-medicis, Thierry Zylberberg, General Manager Health Business, France Telecom, Fabio Sergio, Creative Director, Frog Design, Sharifah Amirah, Principal Analyst, Telecoms Europe, Frost & Sullivan, Alison Bloch, Strategic Advisor mHealth, GSMA, Doug Chambers, Director of Strategy, GSMA, Jof Arnold, CEO, Gymfu, Graham Palmer, Country Manager, Intel, Tobias Alpsten, CEO, iPLATO Healthcare, Ruchi Bhatt, Business Head, Kayaguru Health Solutions, Robert Istepanian, Kingston University, Timo Ahopelto, Co-Founder, Lifeline Ventures, Rajeev Chaudry, Mayo Clinic, Kent Dicks (CEO) & David Sanderson (VP), Medapps, Dr Stephen Ladyman Member of Parliament, Claire Thwaites, Chair, mHealth Alliance, Neil Jordan, Managing Director World Wide Health, Microsoft Corporation, Brian Dolan, Editor, Mobihealthnews, Bright B. Simons, Coordinator, mPedigree Network, Marcia Rankin, Head of Digital Channels and Innovation, NHS Choices, George MacGinnis, Assistive Technology Programme, NHS Connecting for Health, Margaret Parton, CEO, NHS Technology Adoption Centre, Mike Short, Vice President, O2/Telefonica Europe, Erika Karplus, VP, Proteus, Donald Jones, VP, Health and Life Sciences, Qualcomm, Rory O’Neill, Director of Solutions Marketing, Research In Motion, Neil Campbell, Scottishhealthcare.co.uk, Allan Cockell, CEO, t+Medical, Chris Toumazou, CEO, Toumaz Technology, James Buckley, CEO, Tunstall, Professor G. Markarain, University of Lancaster, Michael Clay, Open Development, Verizon Wireless and Vittorio Colao, CEO, Vodafone Group.

And of course don’t miss out on the Investment and Partnering Stream that I’ve organised. Presenting companies have been hand picked for their growth potential, deployment of innovative technologies and experienced management teams and presenting companies will include BiancaMed, Cinterion, HarleyStreetTV, MedHand, Securecom… register now and be first to get the full inside track!

Click here to download the latest copy of the event programme or register now to ensure you don’t miss out on one of the few remaining tickets.

Microsoft announce the “Mobile Healthcare for Africa” awards

Congratulations to Microsoft Research for launching the “mHealth for Africa Awards” a very interesting initiative that I look forward to hearing more about:

“We propose to demonstrate the potential of mobile phones to enable the delivery of healthcare-related services on the African continent. We invite Africa-based researchers to apply for grants of cash to conduct one-year studies. Successful proposals will use Microsoft technologies and may also employ the capability of a mobile phone to interface with other devices, such as specialist medical hardware. A fieldwork component is strongly encouraged and the potential to increase the scale of the project (to, for example, serve large populations, address multiple diseases, or service various regions) is essential.

Successful projects will run for about one year, and will be expected to provide an interim status report after six months. After a year, a representative for each project will be invited to attend a meeting at Microsoft Research in Cambridge where they can present their work to an audience including Microsoft researchers working in the area of mobile computing.

A maximum of five awards will be granted, of up to US$25,000 each, including airfare and travel costs for attendance at the final reporting event.

While none of the one-year grants is renewable, the capstone event in Cambridge will be designed to encourage interaction between Microsoft researchers and the project principal investigator“

Request for Proposals is open now!

3G Doctor to present at Health 2.0 Europe

Join with us at the Cité Internationale Universitaire of Paris on the 6-7 April 2010 at the inaugral European Health 2.0 Conference

Other speakers will include: West Shell, Healthline Networks, Steven Krein, Organized Wisdom, Berci Mesko, Webicina, Segolène Ayme, Orphanet, Gilles Frydman, ACOR, Ben Heywood, PatientsLikeMe, Susannah Fox, Pew Internet, Daniel Palestrant, Sermo, Miguel Cabrer, Medting, Isabelle Adenot, French National Order of Pharmacists, Roy Schoenberg, American Well, Roni Zeiger, Google Health, Sabine Pinedo, stichting Begeleide Zelfzorg, Etienne Caniard, French National Authority for Health, Paul Hodgkin, PatientOpinion, Don Kemper, Healthwise, Jean-Pascal Del Bano, Le Guide Santé, Len Starnes, Bayer Health.

“Emerging Mobile Technologies turn the Cellphone into a Lifeline to Health Information and Services”

Lezette Engelbrecht with South African ITWeb has an optimistic piece on how “Mobile Heralds Healthcare Revolution” and “M-health is the next big step in terms of healthcare delivery”.

“With developing countries leading cellphone subscriber growth, while facing pressing healthcare needs, mobile technologies are emerging as key platforms for medical information and services.”

Yashik Singh, lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s department of tele-health, says m-health is the next big step in terms of healthcare delivery: “Mobile penetration is very high in SA, with GSM coverage estimated at 93%. Leveraging this infrastructure is vital and the benefits to healthcare are limitless.”

The report also profiles several m-health programmes that have been rolled out in South Africa including:

> Project Masiluleke, a PopTech Funded collaborative effort between the Praekelt Foundation, iTeach, LifeLine, Nokia, and MTN that uses the 120 spare characters in “please call me” messages to deliver a message advising on HIV education and awareness. The project sends out one million text messages throughout South Africa each day encouraging people to be tested and treated for HIV/Aids. The freefone numbers in these messages connect the recipients to existing HIV and TB call centres, where trained operators provide callers with healthcare information, counselling and referrals to local testing clinics.

> SIMpill, a SIM card enabled Mobile/Medicine bottle (developed by Tellumat) which monitors whether patients take their “chronic medication” at the scheduled time.

> “Ericsson Health Services” which apparently supports mobile treatments through the support of healthcare workers, who collect medical information and photos of people with ailments, with remote diagnosis and prescription medicines.

Konstantinos Tzingakis, Director of Innovations at Ericsson, says the convergence of health and mobile has made the possibility of healthcare a reality for everyone. “We have only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible through mobile technologies. Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest ones, so much so that they are sometimes overlooked.”

Gustav Praekelt, MD, of the Praekelt Foundation, also comments on his belief that “self-service mobile systems” will be one of the major future developments: “The best way to have a lasting effect is to place more control in the hands of patients. Providing mobile services for patients to access health information and medical history will empower a holistic understanding of their health.”

mHealth innovator picked by Micahel Cima as one of Seven Most Powerful Innovators…

Joel Selanikio, the 45 year old COO and Co-Founder of Washington DC based DataDyne has been selected as the “Most Influential Innovation” amongst 7 technology innovators for his “EpiSurveyor disease outbeak software” by the MIT Professor of Materials Science who overseas the Lemelson-MIT Program (the largest cash prize for US innovation in the US).

“Joel Selanikio’s EpiSurveyor software helps health care workers in the developing world use mobile phones to track disease outbreaks. Health care workers can respond more quickly with up-to-date information. The World Health Organization uses EpiSurveyor in 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. “The difference between 10 minutes and 10 days is probably thousands of kids exposed to polio and hundreds paralyzed or dead,” he says. Selanikio began his career as a software programmer, but switched to medical school and then working for the Center for Disease Control. He started DataDyne in 2003.”

Click here to watch the “Forbes world’s most powerful people” slideshow

GSMA and Manchester University announce launch of mHealth Innovation Centre

Following another GSMA announcement on mHealth only last, the global Mobile Communications industry Association has announced details of its plans with the University of Manchester to establish an m-Health Innovation Centre to act as a UK focus for m-Health activity. The goal of this “m-Health initiative” is to foster innovative mobile applications and services in healthcare that will focus on promoting healthier lifestyles and early intervention.

“The Manchester m-Health Innovation Centre will conduct multidisciplinary research, bringing together researchers, healthcare organisations and industrial partners to conceive, develop and evaluate mobile health innovations. A major focus will be on citizen-led health and wellbeing, using mobile technology to enable people to play a more active role in determining their own health, providing a more personalised and responsive interface to public services. The initiative recognises that innovative health products are important because they can help reduce the cost of healthcare as well as create new growth opportunities for the mobile industry.

The centre in Manchester will encourage innovation by: providing a forum for collaboration and sharing ideas; providing in-depth analysis of the market for m-Health; signposting key opportunities; conducting pilot trials; organising community-building events; providing m-Health education and training; and offering online resources and one-to-one services to support the emerging m-Health community. Multidisciplinarity will be a critical part of the ethos of the centre, with successful innovation drawing on a combination of insights into health needs, novel technology, an understanding of issues of trust, privacy and individual motivation, and new business models and approaches to technology adoption.“

Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer at the GSMA, said: “A combination of mobile and healthcare can deliver tremendous benefits, such as cost savings for healthcare providers as well as convenience and improved quality of life for patients. We are delighted to be collaborating with the University of Manchester, a leading centre for Health Informatics research, innovation and education, and whose deep expertise and focus makes them an ideal partner for our m-Health collaboration.”

Prof Dame Nancy Rothwell, Deputy President at University of Manchester, said: “We very much value the opportunity to work with the GSMA to translate our innovative ideas into practice. Sustainable health and wellbeing represent a major challenge for society worldwide, and the transformational potential of mobile technology in promoting innovative citizen-led health initiatives provides exciting opportunities.”

Press contact is Daniel Lowther (press@gsm.org/+447747636687). For more information visit Mobile World Live or the GSMA corporate website.

Visit the Manchester m-Health Innovation Centre website

GSMA launch their European Mobile Manifesto

The GSM Association has published its “Mobile Manifesto” explaining the vision for the European Mobile Industry and combining a series of commitments from the mobile industry with a promise to “put in place a long term strategy for mobile use in healthcare” and “provide confidence around investment for national health authorities”.

The organization claims it will be working “with governments to develop standards for the delivery of core healthcare services such as prescription provision to mobiles and appointment reminders”. The best suggestion I found in the document was the proposal for the EC to set targets for getting health and education services online across member states and ensure that all (existing and new) ePublic Services are mobile enabled. Here’s the paragraph on mHealth:

“Mobile delivery of eHealth

The European healthcare system faces tough challenges. The aging population is driving increased demand for healthcare services, the incidence of chronic disease (and health risks such as obesity) is rising, and interventions are often late and therefore expensive. This is set against a backdrop of high patient expectations and stable or declining budgets.

Mobile can leverage its unique capabilities to address these challenges. It can support the delivery of healthcare through telemedicine for the chronically ill and sending reminders to patients to take medication or go to a doctor’s appointment. It can also enable remote monitoring using machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies. Mobile can also support the secure storage and transfer of medical data from anywhere to anywhere. Such mobile applications can improve the efficiency and efficacy of healthcare, freeing up space and staff time in hospitals to focus on the most serious cases.“

The document mentions work of three US based mHealth companies (which is quite bizarre considering the success of mHealth companies here in Europe and the title of this paper as an “European” Manifesto) including AirStrip Technologies, Proteus Biomedical and the West Wireless Health Institute. It also reports some rather unconnected positive comments from “respondents” about the benefits of “mobile health diaries” and “3G Video Consults with a Doctor for busy professionals”:

“I’m currently being treated for migraines and the Doctor has asked me to keep a diary of when I get an attack and how severe it is. It would be good if I could track these attacks on a portable handset. Then the doctor could download the details of all my attacks at my next appointment”
(Focus Group)

“Provide quick doctors appointments via video conference for professionals stuck at work. A respondent noted: “Professional people will not have to waste time queuing to visit the doctor”‘

Link to the GSMA Mobile Manifesto Information Page. Download it here (3.8 MB PDF)