Bills to Help Telehealth & Telemedicine

Legislation (S4023-2013) was recently introduced in the New York Senate to develop and provide telehealth and telemedicine services in the state and also establish telehealth and telemedicine development research grants.

The purpose of this bill is to expand and improve telehealth and telemedicine programs in communities across the state and develop an integrated telecommunications system. Congress has recognized the benefits to providing essential services but the issues related to telehealth and telemedicine are more complex at the state level because each state has the authority to set its own requirements for licensure and credentialing, as well as different rules for insurance and Medicaid programs. (more…)

New Opportunities in Michigan

A new entrepreneurial training program for inventors in Michigan aims to fast-track technologies to market and boost the economic impact of research conducted in the state. This spring the Michigan I-Corps (www.michigancorps.org) will be launched to help researchers in the state identify and assess potential applications and business opportunities for their technologies. (more…)

Improving Healthcare in Iraq

Basically, modern medical care and medications are not widely available in Iraq due to the conflict which has left some medical facilities non-operational and medication stocks and supplies severely depleted. In 2011, USAID awarded University Research Company LLC a four year Primary Health Care Project in Iraq (PHCPI) to help the Ministry of Health improve the quality of care for the Iraqi people.

PHCPI is working to provide not only essential primary health care services but also to expand services throughout the country, and provide services for vulnerable and at-risk populations to include children under five, women, and displaced persons. (more…)

VA Committed to Innovation

The Department of Veterans Affairs launched the VA Center for Innovation (VACI) to build onto the VA Innovation Initiative (VAi2). VACI (www.innovation.va.gov) announced thirteen new awards from its industry innovation competition that focus on teleaudiology, prosthetic socket redesign, Blue Button, and the sterilization automating process for reusable medical instruments.

An awardee the University of Michigan (U-M) Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center will use the $3.7 million to create a National Kidney Disease Registry to monitor kidney disease among veterans. The Registry is expected to help the VA to care for the more than 10,000 veterans on dialysis with an additional 3,200 veterans estimated to reach kidney failure each year. (more…)

DOD Plans for Mobile Devices

The Department of Defense released their “Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan” that focuses on improving areas critical in using mobile devices, wireless infrastructure, and mobile applications. The Plan emphasizes the need for reliable, secure, and flexible devices to keep up with fast changing technology.

The Plan establishes a framework to equip the department’s 600,000 mobile users with solutions that leverage commercial off-the-shelf products, promotes the development and use of mobile applications to improve functionality, decreases costs, and enables increased personal productivity. (more…)

HIE Operates Efficently

The State of Indiana provides healthcare for a population that has significantly higher rates than the national median for a variety of chronic diseases. Nearly 9.6 percent of the 455,000 residents in Indiana have diabetes which is more than the national average of 8.2 percent. Also, it is a fact that many people in the state aren’t getting the health screenings that they need for certain cancers.

The Central Indiana Beacon Community led by HHS enacted as a result of the HITECH Act, is trying to address these issues through better collection and use of data and by making improvements to the health system. (more…)

B2B Program Seeks Ideas

NIH is calling for proposals for their intramural “Bedside-to-Bench” (B2B) Award Program. The program funds research to translate clinical observations to the laboratory and then back to the patient. The program also promotes collaborations that can involve either intramural investigators from different laboratories or both intramural and extramural investigators. A B2B award provides up to $135,000 a year for two years.

Projects have represented research categories such as AIDS, rare diseases, behavioral and social sciences, minority health and health disparities, women’s health, diseases, drug development, pharmacogenomics, and other general research areas. (more…)

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