HealthTech

HIE Testimony: In her role as Chair of the CalRHIO Board of Directors, Molly Coye, MD MPH, offers recommendations to the California Senate Committee on Health, chaired by Sen. Elaine Alquist, on how the state should proceed to take advantage of the opportunities provided by federal stimulus money to advance HIE and HIT in the state. The testimony further outlines major opportunities available to the state as a result of the federal stimulus package and HITECH Act. Testimony

Aging in America 2009 Conference Summary: HealthTech’s founder and CEO, Molly Coye, MD, MPH, and Senior Advisors David Lindeman, PhD, and Barbara Harvath, RN, BA, presented the latest research findings on important technologies and trends for independent living during the American Society on Aging and the National Council On Aging’s (ASA-NCOA) national conference, Aging in America 2009. The themes of community collaborations and livable communities were particularly predominant at this year’s event, as were care coordination, civic engagement, the evolution of senior centers, boomer business opportunities and a maturing workforce. Conference Summary

Emerging Technologies and the Future of Independent Living Forecasts: HealthTech’s ten-year forecasts, the result of extensive research and expert interviews on key developments and important innovations and technologies in aging and disabilities services, are presented in seven categories: consumer experience, workforce, regulations and standards, information and communication technology, service, business models, and settings and facilities. Forecasts

Emerging Technologies and the Future of Independent Living Videos: Excerpts from the Emerging Technologies and the Future of Independent Living Expert Panel of leading national experts discussing HealthTech’s research findings and the implications for independent living solutions that serve persons with disabilities and older adults. Videos

Key Trends: Emerging Technologies and the Future of Independent Living: Overarching trends during the next 10 years describing the future of independent living including: disability becomes more common but less severe; consumers drive the adoption of technologies; care models that incorporate prevention and self-care become prevalent; persons with disabilities gain windfall benefits from older adult markets; mainstream products are repurposed, made intuitive and customized; algorithms make smart use of sensor-network data streams; cell phones become the primary application-development platform; social support and connectedness go virtual and labor downshifts roles and responsibilities. Key Trends

Interview with Andrew Brickman, PhD: School-based health care is a growing movement, promoting children’s wellness and prevention health services. Collaboration among organizations that include The Children’s Trust, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and the Miami-Dade County Health Department is leading to the creation of “health suites” in grade schools through high schools, and augmenting primary care provided by service provider organizations in the county. Technologies such as EMRs, PDAs, telehealth, and web-based communication systems can facilitate school-based healthcare delivery and are under investigation. Interview Summary

Organization Profile on Community Health Clinics: Community Health Centers (CHCs) have undergone significant growth in recent years, both in terms of number of sites and patients served. This profile provides an overview of CHC’s current status nationally and in California, identifies emerging trends based on funding and policy changes, and discusses implications for their future growth through expansion, consolidation, and alliances. Organization Profile

Interview with Herrmann Spetzler, MA: Recent policy changes at the federal level through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the reauthorization of SCHIP position Community Health Centers (CHCs) to benefit through increased reimbursement rates for services and investment opportunities in HIT infrastructure. Future CHC growth will also come from the decline of standalone primary care practices and their potential to merge with CHCs, and from the consolidation among CHCs in response to pressures from major funders. Interview Summary

Expert Forecast Discussion on the Future of Cardiovascular Services with Warren Taylor, MD: Dr. Taylor discusses HealthTech’s forecasts around cardiovascular services during the webinar presentation on Reducing Cardiovascular Events through Physician Treatment Intensification. In particular, Dr. Taylor discusses effective risk-profiling, screening and secondary prevention strategies to reduce CV-related morbidity, and new multidisciplinary workforce models in the patient care process. Expert Forecast Discussion

HIMSS Daily News: HealthTech’s Senior Advisor, Tom Tinstman, MD, provided daily news coverage from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference, highlighting key presentations from the session while reacting to innovative IT and systems management solutions. Daily News

Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 2009 Conference Organization List: A list of organizations with descriptions of projects presented at the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 2009 Conference. Targeted applications include cognitive behavioral therapy, rehabilitation, and workforce training. Organization List

Behavioral Health IT: Seamless Care for California’s Kids Research Abstract: California’s 58 counties, with guidance and funding from the state, are implementing a variety of behavioral health information technologies. Each county is following an independent path toward adoption. Most are implementing a basic electronic health record, and the lengthy process entails many difficult challenges, some of which are unique to behavioral healthcare. However, this effort also presents many opportunities— among them, to standardize data and terminologies, build county collaboration, adopt consumer-centric information technologies, establish privacy and security policies, develop outcomes measures, set reporting standards, and share knowledge. Research Abstract

A Renaissance in Stem Cells - The Repeal of the Embryonic Stem Cell Research Restrictions: On March 9, 2009, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order removing limitations on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research that were put in place under George W. Bush in 2001. Those restrictions limited federal research to a small number of cell lines created prior to 2001. This Executive Order will result in a significant increase in the availability of federal and private funding for embryonic stem cell research. Research Abstract

Webinar: Future Environments for an Aging Society: This webinar will introduce this project and its objectives to our partners. It will be held on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 8:00am – 9:00am, PDT. Webinar

Expert Panel: Technology-Enabled Innovations for Improving Children’s Health: This Expert Panel will discuss services, programs, and technology-enabled innovations that are possible through the application of information and communications technologies, and how they will shape children’s health in the next two to five years and beyond. The Expert Panel will be held on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 in Los Angeles, CA. Expert Panel

Expert Panel: Future Environments for an Aging Society: This Expert Panel will identify trends, technologies and innovations that will impact built environments to support independent living. The Expert Panel will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 in San Francisco, CA. Expert Panel

Webinar: Highlights of Emerging Technologies and the Future of Independent Living Expert Panel: This Webinar provided a summary review from the expert panel session, highlighting key points from the panel discussion while taking a deeper look into the trends. The Highlights Webinar was held on Wednesday, March 25, 9:00am – 10:00am PDT. Webinar

Webinar: The Future of Cardiovascular Imaging: The second in a series of webinars on Cardiovascular Services discussed research and clinical activities at Mass General Hospital’s Cardiac MR-PET-CT Program as well as cardiovascular imaging technologies for chest pain and vulnerable plaque identification. Udo Hoffman, MD, MPH Director, Cardiac MR-PET-CT, Massachusetts General Hospital gave a 40-minute presentation with a combined 20-minute forecasting and question-and-answer session. Webinar