The Med Melee: Medication adherence in the U.S. and where it stands today

“Take once a day with food. Take once every PM before bed with water—but make sure it’s on an empty stomach.” Instructions such as these are all too familiar to many Americans balancing multiple—and sometimes complex—medication regimens. Whether it be an infection-eradicating antibiotic or a more robust prescription for a chronic illness, most of us (at some point in time) have had to take some form of prescribed medication. But how well are we doing?

A recent article published in Forbes magazine addresses this exact question and the results are bewildering to say the least. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 82% of all American adults take at least one prescription medication and 29% take five or more. Adherence to specific medication instructions is critical, yet there are 700,000 emergency department visits and 120,000 hospitalizations due to adverse drug events in the U.S. every year. It’s estimated that medication non-adherence leads to a U.S. death every 19 minutes and adverse drug events have led to over $3.5 billion spent annually on extra medical costs.

The numbers mentioned above confirm that medication adherence in the U.S. is not where it should be. Unfortunately, this problem is purported to get worse before it gets any better. The CDC estimates that the number of adverse drug events will continue to grow based on a number of factors, namely the development of new medications and the aging American population. With these variables in mind, the concept of medication therapy management (MTM) is more important than ever. MTM evaluates a patient’s prescriptions to identify and resolve issues such as drug interactions, inappropriate drugs or doses and whether a patient is taking the medications as prescribed.

The digital health space is making great headway in the realm of MTM with newly polished apps such as Medisafe and MyMedSchedule, which allow patients to receive personalized notifications from providers or caregivers as scheduled medication times approach. With memory issues, inadequate support and lack of education as potential inhibitors of medication adherence, automated alerting technologies, educational tools and an integrated network of care support are a logical next step to steer American medication adherence in a better direction.

Want more statistics on the current state of medication adherence in the U.S.? Check out the full Forbes article, “It’s 10 PM, Do You Know Where Your Meds Are?” here!

SOURCES: Forbes Magazine and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

The Wonderful World of Wearables: Truths and Fallacies

In today’s health space, there is no doubt that consumer expectations for sensor-laden gadgets are at an all-time high. While the wearables market continues to grow at a rapid pace, Sensoplex CEO Hamid Farzaneh states that there is still plenty of room for improvement. In a recent TechCrunch article, Farzaneh acknowledges the amazing accuracy of high-quality sensors, yet wearable products continue to be clunky and generate poor user experience. To make consumers’ wearable experiences as informative and beneficial as possible, Farzaneh tackles some major myths and misconceptions surrounding the health wearables market:

1. Battery Life 

Buyers of wearables are always looking for newer, sophisticated and accurate sensors that tend to require a lot more power—and consequently, a lot more space. The current state of battery technology means that any wearable with more than an accelerometer will need a decent-sized battery that must be recharged every few days. Such a battery will take up a significant portion of the available space in a wearable device. The more “bells and whistles” associated with a wearable, therefore, will greatly increase its overall size—leading to potential problems for consumers seeking small and sleek wearables.

2. The “Invisible Wearable”

The successful wearable, in the eyes of many wearable advocates, is one that is practically invisible. This notion has fed into announcements (including New York Times articles) about tattoo, stamp-sized or flexible sensors and devices that one can stick onto his/her skin to collection motion or bio-information. The reality is that sensors by no means complete systems—they simply capture raw data. The kind of ultra-thin devices being talked about simply cannot house the necessary batteries to power sensors that accurately provide biofeedback information that consumers are actively looking for.

3. Miracle mHealth Sensors 

Mhealth products are currently among some of the bestselling consumer sensor products today. Eliminating everyday health-related nuisances for many individuals, mhealth products enable consumers to measure blood pressure without a cuff or take blood sugar readings without a finger prick—and they rake in over $10 billion annually. While there is much R&D within this market, there has yet to be an FDA-approved product. Additionally, mhealth products leave room for significant “noise.” For products that measure blood oxygen content and skin conductivity, for example, applications to different wrist sizes and bone structures can result in significant reading variations.

For a full list of Farzaneh’s myths and misconceptions pertaining to the wearables market, check out the TechCrunch article here!

SOURCE: TechCrunch

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

Apple’s iPad Marks Healthcare Territory

Among the various verticals that Apple’s iPad now occupies, recent discussions suggests that the healthcare space may be benefiting the most. The topic of iPad use in healthcare surfaced at VentureBeat’s HealthBeat 2014 conference Tuesday, where Drchrono’s Daniel Kivatinos, Direct Dermatology’s Dr. Angela Walker and Welltok’s Michelle Snyder discussed the use of mobile technology like the iPad and Google Glass in today’s medical realm.

According to Kivatinos, Walker and Snyder, the iPad has had a huge impact on medical practices because it can be used for physician-oriented tasks previously restricted to desktop computers. After the official iPad launch in 2010, many doctors soon gravitated towards the device and incorporated its use into everyday medical practices.

Dr. Walker of Direct Dermatology added that she didn’t fully adopt the iPad in her dermatology practice until the iPad mini came out—she liked how it fit nicely in her white coat’s pocket. Welltok’s Snyder then pointed out that Drchrono was the first to create an EHR app for Google Glass. Some questions still remain around the use of Google Glass in the healthcare vertical, as privacy issues are teased out. The benefits, however, seem to be plentiful at the moment.

Kivatinos described Google Glass’ efficacy, in that quickly pressing Glass’ “record” button to capture a portion of a patient visit could be wildly helpful for both doctor and patient. Walker added that Google Glass might also be useful in patient education: “[surgery is] a discipline where doctors’ hands might be busy a lot and Glass can be helpful…In any setting where your hands are tied, it can be useful.” As discussions surrounding iPads and Google Glass in the medical field continue to multiply, one overall conclusion is very clear: mobile devices are changing the way healthcare professionals run their practices.

Did you miss out on HealthBeat 2014? Catch up on some interesting chats and happenings here!

SOURCE: VentureBeat

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

Telehealth and Ebola: Are they a match?

As Ebola enters the United States and case numbers continue to rise, the ever-challenging and pressing question among health professionals remains the same: how is one to deliver care effectively without risking disease spread? With the help of Vidyo, a software company specializing in visual communications, a Nebraska medical center may have the answer.

About a month ago, Vidyo’s video conferencing platform was used in the Biocontainment Patient Care Unit at the Nebraska Medical Center—one of only four units in the U.S. equipped to handle these types of cases. It was here that medical professionals were treating Dr. Richard Sacra, a Massachusetts physician who contracted Ebola in Liberia while working in child delivery. The video conferencing unit was used to help doctors treating Sacra interact with the patient and connect him to family and friends. The Medical Center, located in Omaha, NE, has worked with New Jersey-based Vidyo since 2011.

With the Ebola virus becoming a dangerously salient international issue, the ability to remotely treat infectious diseases via Tele-ICU applications—equipped with medical devices like otoscopes, dermatoscopes and labs— is becoming more important than ever. To prevent the spread of infections in sterile settings, Tele-ICU enables hospitals to establish centralized monitoring facilities to address patient needs during overnight hours. Now afforded the option to evaluate a presumed ill patient remotely via video, many healthcare professionals are hopeful that such measures will protect caregivers from exposure, permit a quick response to treatment and protect the public from potential epidemics.

For more information on how digital health is addressing disease epidemics, check out MobiHealthNews’ article here.

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

New to the Accelerator Scene: Athenahealth

Calling all Beantown startup followers: the Massachusetts healthtech scene is expanding! Watertown-based Athenahealth has announced that its new accelerator for health IT startups is now open for business. The “More Disruption Please” (MDP) Accelerator went into beta in June when it began working with a single startup, Smart Scheduling, but is now inviting health IT startups to apply for participation.

Based on a mission to “drive connectivity and innovation across the continuum of care,” MDP is the third phase of a 2010 effort to connect with and promote startups that seek to address areas of concern in the health care delivery system beyond the electronic health record (EHR).  The perks of joining MDP, one might ask? Athenahealth will provide venture capital to companies through the accelerator. Aside from funding, portfolio companies get free office space at Athenahealth’s super chic Watertown headquarters and ongoing mentorship from Athenahealth experts.

Athenahealth says the accelerator will accept applicants on a rolling basis, with an anticipated residency period of roughly 8 to 12 months. More information about MDP can be found on Athenahealth’s “More Disruption Please” page.

SOURCES: VentureBeat and Athenahealth

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescriptsâ„¢ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

Keeping Up With the Healthcare Happenings

With the 2014 calendar year coming to a close in just a few months (gasp!), HealthWorks Collective, an online health and editorial community, has released its list of health trends to keep an eye on through 2015. Think your predictions are spot on? Take a look below to see what’s on tap for the U.S. healthcare industry:

1. More providers will be hiring health coaches.
Chronic conditions in the U.S. continue to increase—so will employment. Health coaches fill a unique demand for managing chronic conditions, as they engage with patients one-on-one and keep clinical staff informed about financial or family concerns, marital problems, treatment plan adherence, etc.

2. Healthcare mobile apps on the rise.

With the release of Apple’s new Healthkit along with a slew of other mobile-friendly health apps, this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Patient-centered apps for monitoring aspects of health like calorie-counting and heart rate are gaining popularity at a quick pace and healthcare systems will continue developing and implementing apps to improve patient experience.

3. New care and payment models will expand.

Insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid programs will continue to push for more relationships with accountable care organizations (ACOs). Different payment models will also be proposed—many healthcare professionals anticipate a trend towards “shared savings” incentives with physicians based on lowering cost and improving care quality.

4. Big Data will play a key role in patient care.

Electronic health records and other emerging technologies enable providers to automate processes and capture vital clinical data. These technologies, however, are limited in not being open to innovation. By the end of 2014, expect provider advocacy for making application interfaces open-source so they can be used to create new and exciting programs.

5. Healthcare comes to the home.

Technological advancements and increasing healthcare access will lead to more remote care services. This means that more patients can be monitored and coached to health at any time and place. “At-home healthcare” will increase patient quality of care, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce costs.

6. Increasing transparency.

Expect the level of transparency demanded from healthcare systems to increase, along with the production of tools to help inform patients. The price of treatments, procedures and clinicians along with performance metrics and hospital outcome reports will all be made available for patients to peruse at the click of a mouse.

7. Partnerships for care delivery will expand.

Healthcare partnerships will soon include community-based groups such as social service agencies, gyms and other non-healthcare service providers. As the industry strives to better address population health management, expect more unconventional approaches to healthcare such as church-based group care sessions, outdoor exercise at nature centers, reduced price health care transportation services, etc.

Source: HealthWorks Collective

For more information on the aforementioned trends, check out HealthWorks Collective’s full article here.

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescriptsâ„¢ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

The Verdict Is In: Doctors Value Video-Based Care

According to HIMSS Analytics’ recently released 2014 U.S. Telemedicine study, two-way video is proving to be a key component of value-based care for the foreseeable future. This study, considered the first installation of HIMSS Analytics’ new “Essentials Briefs” series, tracks a technology strategy with increasing popularity among healthcare providers seeking ways to deliver better—and more cost-effective— care to larger patient populations. HIMSS reports a shift from volume-based to value-based care within many organizations, and telemedicine technologies are aiding in this transition.

Noteworthy findings from HIMSS Analytics’ Study include:

• 46% of respondents utilize up to four telemedicine technologies within their respective organizations.
• Two-way video/webcam services are the most widely used (58%) and most widely considered (67%) for those making a telemedicine investment.

Polling both hospitals and private practices, HIMSS’ first Brief installation offers insights into how and why U.S. providers are adopting telemedicine tools by addressing specific topics such as integration with electronic health records.

Source: Healthcare IT News and HIMSS Analytics

For more information on current telemedicine adoption trends, check out an overview of the HIMSS Analytics 2014 Telemedicine Study here

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

Pain, Pain Go Away: What Would Dr. House Say?

With the ability to e-Prescribe controlled substances soon to be a widespread reality in the U.S., pain medication management is currently a discussion “hot topic” among many clinicians. Hospital staff members at University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro (UMCPP)—the former stomping ground of Dr. Gregory House—are no exception. In need of a major floor plan facelift a few years ago, the UMCPP team visited the design drawing board to revamp patient rooms. What they came away with was a mock hospital room to test with real patients. Complete with a guest sofa, outdoor view, novel drug dispensary, and easy-to-access restroom, this hospital room became an evaluation site for patients recovering from knee and hip replacements. Healthcare professionals at UMCPP hoped that this new layout would reduce slip-and-fall accidents, medication mix-ups, and other hospital-related mishaps.

Compared to the old hospital rooms, patients staying in the mock room rated food and nursing care higher, although meals and care were the same. The most compelling results? Patients asked for 30 percent LESS pain medication in the mock room. According to many medical professionals, reduced pain is thought to lead to shorter recovery time, reduced hospital stays, and lower hospital costs.

What were once premature and isolated statistics are now a success for UMCPP. The mock patient room became a reality in 2012, when UMCPP opened its new $523 million, 636,000 square-foot hospital in Plainsboro, New Jersey. Since the grand and much-needed opening, patient satisfaction ratings have been in the 99^th percentile—a major leap from the 61^st percentile prior to the move. With infection rates at an all-time low, UMCPP will keep improving hospital care—and dispensing less pain meds.

Sources: The New York Times and HC+O

For more details on UMCPP’s innovative patient rooms, check out a floor plan here, in the New York Times’ recent article.

To see a list of top U.S. hospitals that are tackling the issue of pain management, check out Becker’s Hospital Review here.

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

#IceBucketChallenge Meets the Digital Health Sphere

There is simply no other way to say it— the #icebucketchallenge to combat ALS has gone viral. With over 2.4 million related videos shared and more than 28 million related posts, many are calling attention to the “pure brilliance” of this campaign on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The Ice Bucket Challenge campaign has generated astounding financial gains for the ALS Association as well. Since July 29, the Association has received more than $22.9 million from roughly 500,000 new donors.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is communally increasing support and awareness of ALS across all industry sectors, including digital health. One particular healthtech company with close ties to the ALS cause, PatientsLikeMe, accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge on August 5^th. Five years prior to the company’s founding in 2004, Ben and Jamie Heywood, Co-founders, received news that their brother had been diagnosed with ALS. The search to build a health data-sharing platform that would allow patients to manage their own conditions was born. Today, PatientsLikeMe is a patient network and real-time research platform that provides support for a variety of diseases including Diabetes, Crohn’s Disease and ALS.  Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, PatientsLikeMe is continuing its disease awareness efforts on a daily basis with online patient support communities, patient profile blog posts—and of course, new Ice Bucket Challenge requests.

Sources: Forbes Magazine, New York Times, and PatientsLikeMe

To learn more about PatientsLikeMe’s investment in the ALS cause and to watch the epic PatientsLikeMe Ice Bucket Challenge, check out this recent blog post!

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

Ebola on the Internet: The Digital Health Warning from Boston to West Africa

With a 60% spike in reported cases over the past two weeks, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to spread at a frightening rate. Physicians, disaster relief responders and the World Health Organization (WHO) alike remain unsure of how to stop the deadliest outbreak to date—but one Boston-bred digital health company could have predicted it was coming. HealthMap, a team of researchers, epidemiologists, and software developers at Boston Children’s Hospital, has been conducting online outbreak monitoring and real-time surveillance of emerging public health threats since its founding in 2006. According to a recent article published in TIME Magazine, HealthMap had already alerted key U.S. government agencies about West Africa’s Ebola outbreak days before the WHO first announced it.

Using its online program, HealthMap is able to deliver aggregated intelligence on a range of emerging infectious diseases. In creating this app, HealthMap scours social media, online news sources and eyewitness reports for early signs of disease outbreaks. In bringing these data together, HealthMap achieves a unified view of current infectious diseases, their effects on human health, and can share these views with the public via a mobile app called “Outbreaks Near Me.”

Regarding the Ebola outbreak, HealthMap accessed a Kenyan news report on 23 deaths due to hemorrhagic fever in March, and promptly notified U.S. officials. Although action was not taken after this initial report, it appears that online technology has improved the ability to detect and track outbreaks. As of now, most major U.S. government agencies subscribe to Healthmap.org’s daily email alerts and online postings.

Sources: TIME Magazine and NPR

Check out HealthMap’s website here for more information.

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.