Category: Insights

Medical imaging is crucial for disease diagnosis and has advanced remarkably over the last few years with widespread adoption of imaging systems like MRI, CT & USG and technologies like Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Confocal Microscopy, Enhanced US Imaging Elastography,  Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Raman Spectroscopy, Micro bubble Auto-fluorescence and IR Imaging. The development of Computer Aided Diagnosis has further enhanced diagnostic capability.

Continuous research and development in medical imaging improves clinical analysis and medical intervention substantially, changing the landscape of modern medicine. Some of the new trends in the medical imaging field include:

Tomosynthesis or 3D mammography: This cancer detection technology allows three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the breast tissue, which can then be viewed as sequential slices through the breast. This new technique reduces error and allows thorough examination of even dense tissue. Tomosynthesis facilitates detection of minute lung nodules and chest pathologies that can go undetected with conventional methods. This 3D imaging helps outline cancer morphology in patients and determine the stage of the disease with greater accuracy.

Multimedia enhanced radiology reporting (MERR): Electronic reports with imaging data give doctors, pathologists and patients the complete information to make better health decisions. The MERR reports help reduce errors, improve productivity with automatic inclusion of data from modalities and embed clinically rich insight such as key images, multi-media content, quantitative analysis & lesion management graphs into the final report. These insights help doctors make better diagnosis and lead to improved patient outcomes.

Cloud technology: Cloud technology allows electronic medical records to be placed on Cloud platforms, making it easier to share information with healthcare providers for completely integrated patient care. According to an article in Applied Radiology, the global Cloud computing marketing in healthcare was valued at $1.8 billion in 2011, and is expected to grow at 21% at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21% to $6.8 billion by 2018. Cloud technology provides significant cost savings not only for patients but for healthcare organizations as well.

Centralization of clinical data: Centralization or unification of clinical data is necessary for improving patient care. Enhanced patient care requires collaboration from all departments and modalities involved in patient health decisions. Vendor neutral archives (VNAs) are evolving beyond being a storehouse for radiology, making it possible to store and exchange clinical content in DICOM and/or non-DICOM formats for efficient information management.

Telemedicine: The global market for Telemedicine is growing rapidly. It is expected to cross more $27 Billion in the coming year. By 2018, most of interaction with healthcare organizations is expected to be through mobile devices, making it more convenient and cost effective to access healthcare. Wearable technologies help improve data collection and management in real time. Now virtual reading, diagnoses, and reporting will help to provide enhanced medical care to patients in remote areas with poor access to basic facilities.

References –

http://www.carestream.com/blog/2015/01/29/top-medical-imaging-trends-2015/

Electronic Health Records, or EHRs contain truckloads of data – each patient is represented by a record that integrates information objectively from different sources (such as different hospitals, laboratories, clinicians, physicians, etc.). Besides the most important function that EHRs serve, that is, of painting a complete medical picture of a patient to give the caregiver a comprehensive view before he/she proceeds with further treatment, secondary use of EHR data presents huge opportunities of improving healthcare at a larger level.

Most importantly, mining EHR data can lead to significant quality improvement and cost reduction. Currently, most practices use EHR data only for external reporting purposes and very few actually use that data for self-evaluation or to upgrade/improve their care delivery processes. Actually, if stored, reported and mined the right way, EHR data can give a macro level understanding of care gaps and feedback from patients. Data collected about quality related measures has become all the more crucial as major economies transit to ‘value-based reimbursement’, where instead of providers being paid by the number of visits and tests they order (fee-for-service), their payments are now based on the value of care they deliver (value-based care). The natural outcome is that healthcare providers will scramble to cut costs, and this newer model of payment fundamentally requires them to prove that the healthcare delivery is effective for patients and quality standards are being met. Quite obviously, monitoring quality becomes important, and EHR data mining can help achieve that.

Though there are barriers to this, such as the lack of a standardized reporting mechanism that neatly balances the tradeoff between prebuilt and customized reports. This is a necessary prerequisite, because you see, that for data to be interpreted into meaningful information, it is necessary that reports are comparable so that common criteria or parameters can be identified. Other challenges are related to privacy and cost – who is accountable for data protection and who pays for it? More collaboration between governments and care providers can overcome such challenges, for the results are truly worth the effort.

Besides quality improvement, EHR data can also be used to identify public health trends and provide inputs to clinical and translational research.

References

https://www.healthcatalyst.com/hospital-transitioning-fee-for-service-value-based-reimbursements

http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/mining-ehr-data-quality-improvement

Today an average individual takes one or more prescription drug, dietary supplement or over the counter drugs due the kind of lifestyle one lives, stress, pollution etc. Taking these prescriptions correctly can help recover quickly. However, in a lot of cases, medical injuries become inevitable due to medication prescription errors. Prescribing errors include slip-ups or inaccuracies when choosing and ordering treatments, such as wrong doses or illegible prescriptions. This can adversely impact the patient’s health as well as the credibility of the doctor.

Prescriptions are handwritten or computerized notes or documents with the patient’s name, date and prescribed treatment for the ailment. This prescription is used to buy medicines from the pharmacist to cure the ailment or manage long-term conditions.

Most of the times, reading a doctor’s prescription is a daunting task. Illegible writing is one of the major causes of prescription errors. Other causes include deciding which medicine and dosage regimen to use. Errors can also occur due to medicines that can react with medicines already being taken by the patient.

There are ways to prevent prescription errors

• Use of automated or computerized system is an effective tool for reducing prescription errors. It cuts down the error in dispensing and administration. It can also guide the prescription for optimal dosage.
• Accurate patient information guides physicians to choose the appropriate medication, dose, route, and frequency. Once all medical records and data are computerized, much of the error can be easily avoided. It is important that the latest medication be updated frequently.
• Highly critical diagnosis and conditions must be alerted on the medical records so that doctors are aware of the condition of the patient before prescribing new drugs.
• Allergies and reactions too must be verified and highlighted on the medical records.
• Physicians and doctors need to share information and communicate with team members to avoid errors, so that they too may be vigilant about the patient.
• Monitoring and reporting errors may in itself, serve to raise awareness and support improvement in prescription errors significantly.
• Pharmacists can also intercept prescription errors and alert the physician and patient about it. Sometimes simple questions to the patients about their ailment can alert the pharmacist if there is a prescription error.
• Patients playing an active role in their own healthcare can help reduce errors. Asking the doctor for an explanation if one does not understand, asking for the correct dosage, getting the generic name for the medication, side effects, the kind of food one can take during medication, or if the medication will interfere with any other medication etc. can bring important considerations to the forefront as doctors prescribe.

With all kinds of automated systems and smartphones to facilitate real-time and effective communication, human errors by physicians and pharmacist can be controlled to quite an extent. An active patient engagement can reduce it much further leading to better administration of prescription drugs.

The advent of the smartphone is literally redefining the lives of people today. Over the past few years, one can notice the stark difference in how they lived only a couple pf decades ago. The things seen and read in science fiction movies and books are reality today. Technology has entered every aspect of our lives, so much so that it is difficult to imagine life without personal devices, especially smartphones which provide the easiest medium to go “online” anytime anywhere. In fact, the number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to pass the five billion mark by 2019.*

An interesting question to ask is whether smartphone are the future doctors? Well, they sure seem to have now made inroads in to the medical field. The smartphone is one of ubiquitous and forceful trends in communication. This new cell phone can also be used for communicating through email, Internet searches, video & photo messaging and by using specific applications.

The impact of the smartphone in medicine is quite significant already. Almost seventy percent professionals in the medical field own a smartphone. It seems to have a positive implication on patient’s health, and the doctor-patient relationship.

Unlike the older generation where home monitoring equipment was used to record data manually, out-patients now use software or peripheral hardware that plugs into a smartphone or tablet and helps record vital data like weight, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, pulse, heart rhythm, oxygen concentration in blood, etc. This stored data can be transmitted securely to the medical records or to the physicians. Moreover, it can also be converted into more comprehensive visual formats such as graphs that communicate trends over time and often include explanations of suitable ranges for a health metric, given patient-specific factors such as weight, age and sex. These software applications on the smartphone help to enhance patient engagement, as she is now aware of her medical statistics.

Technological advancement has put powerful medical devices into patients’ hands through the smartphone. Devices which are exclusively available at doctors’ clinic like visual acuity assessment, optic disc visualization (ophthalmoscope), body sound analysis (stethoscope), lung function (pyrometer),  inner ear visualization (otoscope), heart function (ECG), and even sonography (ultrasound) can all now be conducted using an app or peripheral hardware. These apps collect clinically relevant data, thus saving a lot of time when the patient visits the doctor.

An app is already being developed to detect Alzheimer’s, through an online quiz. Various apps are being created to detect eye infections. In fact, a new app will help detect Glaucoma through smart phone eye examination. There are also wristbands and apps that help check vital signs, diet, movements, and activities for medical purposes. A smart phone attachment can help in physical examination like the skin, oral cavity, throat, lungs, and heart. Today the smart phone is also being tested out to accurately diagnose HIV and syphilis in some parts of the world. With all the collected data, the phones can alert you and help prevent onset of diseases.

Every day new apps are emerging to detect health problems easily and in a less expensive manner – it is indeed possible that some day smart phones will be able to give you a primary health check. They, in fact, enhance the doctor patient relationship and patient engagement leading to a healthier lifestyle.

*References –

http://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/

Healthcare today is no longer what it used to be a decade ago. Things are changing at a rapid pace making it easier to avail better healthcare service at an affordable price. It has involved the patient in her own healthcare in a big way, as healthcare industry believes patient engagement will lead to better health management. To facilitate this, there are various wearable healthcare devices that are paving the way for better health management.

Innovations in artificial intelligence, Cloud computing and analytics will determine the future of Health IT. The whole system is focused on making treatment an error free process making it easier to access medical records and parameter values. It is also cheaper than manual health record management while taking the physician patient engagement to the next level.

Wearable devices have revolutionized healthcare. These devices are worn close to the body, on the body or even in the body. Miniaturisation, enhanced connectivity, improved usability, reduced cost, increased reliability and battery life have already made these wearables very popular. Today, the smartphone that almost everyone carries for communication has become the primary device for recording, assessing and communicating healthcare information. More than 300 companies are completely devoted to digital health. Some of the popular ones help measure core health data like body temperature, blood pressure, vision quality etc.

Some of the popular wearable devices include:

Omron wristband: This wrist-worn health wearable is a subtle and clinically accurate blood pressure monitor (BPM) that provides real-time blood pressure readings. This device will help patients with chronic illness better record and manage their health data. The wristband also collects data like number of steps taken, calories burned, and sleep quality, to give patients a better image of their health.

Resound: This iPhone app will help users control their hearing. This application has smart hearing aids and accessories for people with mild to severe hearing loss.

RightEye: RightEye is a goggle that uses eye tracking and gaming stimuli to measure vision performance. It will help in assessing eyesight and detect concussions and performance problems. This goggle will help evaluate visual skills and vision health.

Gymwatch: This wearable will help top track speed and form during body weight exercises. It detects the range of motion and strength used during exercise, and offers real-time feedback on your form.

Hexoskin: This product is not a device but smart clothing that will measure heart rate, pace, breathing rate and volume, steps taken, calories burned, and sleep. These biometric shirts have sensors woven into the fabric. All the recorded data will be transmitted to an iOS or an Android phone.

iHealth Rhythm: This is a smart electrocardiogram that records heart activity and saves data to an iOS app. The Rhythm is subtle and worn under clothing. A flat recording device clips to a three-electrode patch worn on the sternum to measure cardiac activity.

Zhor: Zhor has built smart footwear called DigitSole, which helps to measure the number of steps taken and calories burned. It also helps to keep the feet warm. This smart sole can be adjusted according to the size of the foot.

LumniWave: This is a wearable that provides infrared light therapy for people suffering from or experiencing unceasing pain. The infrared light penetrates tissue and causes the body to release natural pain relief.

Thermo: This is a smart temporal thermometer that records accurate body temperatures. It contains 16 sensors and HotSpot sensor technology and uses WiFi to sync temperature and advice to a compatible mobile app.