It was a busy week in the HealthTechZone sector. Here are some of the major stories.
The Veterans Administration’s (VA) 2014 budget request is $152.7 billion, an increase of $2.7 billion or 4.3 percent over the 2013 spending amount. As part of the budget, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing wireless technology to provide 112 medical centers nationwide with voice, video, data, real-time-location-services, and electronic health and other information systems. Also, the VA awarded Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, with $60 million over four years to carry out the contract.
In another story, John de Souza was named to Physicians Interactive’s (PI) board of directors. He brings experience as a former manager of the technology practice for Goldman Sachs, and as a director and co-founder of Smartleaf, a financial software company, as well as a co-founder of Flash Communications, which developed a two-way messaging system. He also has experience in robotic surgery and virtual reality systems. PI provides marketing, customer support and eLearning solutions for the healthcare industry.
Also, Auburn University in Alabama says it is going to use video collaboration as part of its clinical rotations. As a result, rural patients will gain access to medical expertise without having to travel to cities. Student rotations into rural areas also simplify scheduling, because they can access a doctor’s opinion via the collaboration service instead of the school having to send a supervising medical professional in addition to the students. Overall, doctors locate their practices where they have the greatest number of possible patients. They are more likely to practice near major hospitals where they have admitting privileges, the pay rate for physicians is higher and there are more amenities. These factors mean that doctors are concentrated in metropolitan areas, while rural residents have a dearth of care. For many people in rural areas, getting help means driving several hours to a doctor or driving an hour to wait in an over-crowded clinic.
In addition, Deloitte Life Sciences and Health Care Practice will release PopulationMiner, which provides healthcare system insights. PopulationMiner is designed to give life-science organizations critical data about patient care. As a result, medication, therapies, and improved methodologies can be applied with a more personalized approach based on clinical data with more efficiency and lower costs.
It was reported, too, how Home Instead Senior Care, a provider of home care services for seniors, has introduced “Confidence to Care,” a new book that provides Alzheimer’s family caregivers with insights and information necessary to understand, manage and prevent certain behaviors associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The company is also launching a free smartphone app to give caregivers tips and practical advice for challenging behaviors and situations that family members of an Alzheimer’s patient may experience on a daily basis.
