Tag Archives: Health Tech

Healthcare, News

Combined health and economic data could help thousands of children at risk of respiratory illnesses

A combination of population health data with fuel poverty insights could be used to identify and treat over 43,000 children at risk of developing breathing problems and worsening respiratory conditions.

The Warm Homes for Young Lungs project adopted a population health platform created by Graphnet and used by 11 Integrated Care Systems (ICS) that are part of CIPHA (Combined Intelligence for Population Health Action).

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has used this platform in St Helens to proactively identify and support children aged two to seven with a respiratory condition.

Lucy Malcolm, Senior Digital Transformation and Clinical Improvement Manager for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said: “The success of this project is down to the level of collaboration across St Helens, the willingness of people to work differently and a population health management focus.

“We are delighted with the positive impact this is having for the families involved.”

Electronic patient records combine with socio-economic and environmental data

The innovative project, which launched in December 2023, has so far helped 156 children at risk of developing breathing problems and worsening respiratory conditions.

If applied across the country, the tactic could help identify and treat over 43,000 children at risk of developing breathing problems and worsening respiratory conditions.

It uses patient records alongside socio-economic and environmental data around fuel poverty to provide a more proactive approach to health interventions for children and adults alike.

The Warm Homes for Young Lungs programme combined the following information with ICS data to identify any children in fuel poverty with a respiratory condition:

  • Families classified as Index Multiple Deprivation quintile 1
  • Families in areas classified as fuel poverty quintile 1 areas
  • Families with children that have been prescribed Salbutamol, and those that have been admitted to hospital in the last 12 months.

CIPHA in action

The CIPHA-backed tool, which supports 17 million people, was used by Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership as part of its 12-month childhood wheeze programme.

Following identification, the families of the children were reached out to using Cheshire and Merseyside’s population health platform.

Lucy Malcolm, Senior Digital Transformation and Clinical Improvement Manager for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said: “This is a really exciting project, which has brought lots of partners together across the NHS, Local Authority and the voluntary sector.

“The data is enabling us to identify the children most in need of support. The pathway of interventions which follows then uses a family-based approach to improve their health as well as their social and financial wellbeing.

“The success of this project is down to the level of collaboration across St Helens, the willingness of people to work differently and a population health management focus. We are delighted with the positive impact this is having for the families involved.”

This platform uses data to identify patients who are likely to become ill or deteriorate if not helped at an early stage – and to give patients the information they need to better look after their own health.

Families are then contacted through the project and invited to a fortnightly in-person clinic with a respiratory nurse specialist.

The plan is for the Warm Homes for Young Lungs programme to continue in St Helens, and for the approach to be replicated in other areas of Cheshire and Merseyside.

News

mPulse Mobile Appoints Jay Brookes as Chief Sales Officer and Brendan McClure as Chief Marketing Officer

mPulse Mobile, a digital health company offering conversational AI and digital engagement solutions for the healthcare industry, announced the appointments of Jay Brookes to Chief Sales Officer and Brendan McClure to Chief Marketing Officer. The expansion of the company’s C-suite increases the healthcare technology expertise among its leadership team.

“Healthcare organizations need innovative solutions to meet the needs of modern consumers and drive cost efficiencies,” stated Bob Farrell, CEO. “The combined skills and expertise that Jay and Brendan both bring to our company are invaluable assets for building awareness of mPulse’s unique capabilities that organizations and members are demanding today. I’m thrilled they will continue to lead our sales and marketing teams in strengthening our partnerships with leading healthcare organizations to build out impactful, enterprise-wide digital engagement programs.”

With over 25 years of experience in healthcare and technology leadership roles, Jay Brookes brings a track record of building successful sales teams and creating valuable partnerships with leading healthcare organizations that drive broad organizational value. His experience includes 17 years of working with national health plans Aetna Inc. and Amerigroup Corp. and 10 years driving healthcare technology sales.

Brookes previously served mPulse Mobile as VP of Commercial Sales, and prior to that was the company’s National Director of Healthcare Solutions, where he focused on driving sales growth of mPulse’s engagement platform through multiple healthcare verticals, national and regional payers, Medicaid and Medicare health plans, along with providers and hospitals.
Brendan McClure, CMO, has over 20 years of healthcare experience for Fortune 500, growth-stage, and startup healthcare organizations. Over the course of his career, he has focused on commercializing innovative healthcare technologies, driving scalable business growth, and delivering thought leadership across many areas of digital health. His experience includes seven years of international experience at Johnson & Johnson, among other international and U.S. marketing roles.

During his seven years at mPulse Mobile, McClure has focused on developing high performing marketing teams, developing Go-to-Market strategies to introduce new products and technologies, creating and promoting new market categories, and building out robust outcome libraries for mPulse’s health engagement solutions.

Health, News

SmileDirectClub Announces Next Generation Treatment Planning System SmileOS™

SmileDirectClub the next generation oral care company with the first medtech platform for teeth straightening, has announced SmileOS™, the Company’s innovative new treatment planning software that enables its affiliated network of UK registered dentists to treat more patients, more accurately predict tooth movements, and better visualise their patients’ treatment.

SmileOS is powered by artificial intelligence using the data from the more than 1.5 million clear aligner treatment plans – all of which are approved and prescribed by the Company’s network of affiliated dentists and orthodontists and delivered using the Company’s pioneering telehealth platform for orthodontia. A series of novel algorithms help SmileDirectClub’s doctors optimise precise tooth movements to achieve a straighter smile. With SmileOS, advancements in teeth phasing increase the number of customers who can benefit from SmileDirectClub aligners by expanding the complexity of eligible cases, without the use of buttons or attachments. SmileOS will also allow expand the number of teens eligible for SmileDirectClub clear aligner treatment.

“Our proprietary, custom-built SmileOS treatment planning software exceeds the capabilities of the off-the-shelf solutions used by many of our competitors and helps us deliver a superior customer experience,” said Dr. Jeffrey Sulitzer, Chief Clinical Officer, SmileDirectClub. “SmileDirectClub has a legacy of unprecedented innovation and vertical integration, creating in-house expertise in retail, manufacturing, and distribution operations, as well as treatment planning software with SmileOS. This translates to an unmatched customer experience and even better treatment outcomes.”

As has always been the case, all SmileDirectClub treatment plans are reviewed, finalised, approved and prescribed by a dentist or orthodontist licensed to practice in the location where the customer lives. All SmileDirectClub Club Members receive a preview of their dentist-prescribed treatment plan to see how they’ll achieve the smile they’ve always wanted in an average treatment length of four to six months. With SmileDirectClub’s Lifetime Smile Guarantee™, Club Members are able to maintain their smiles after completing treatment with annual complimentary aligner touchups, provided they purchase retainers every six months and wear them as prescribed.

“SmileOS will help our hundreds of affiliated dentists and orthodontists treat a broader range of patients, ensuring even more people can utilize SmileDirectClub’s revolutionary telehealth platform for teeth straightening,” said Sulitzer. “We know straighter teeth can improve oral and overall health, and SmileOS will help ensure more patients can reap that benefit through SmileDirectClub’s afffordable, convenient, safe and effective solution.”

Since launching in the U.S. in 2014, SmileDirectClub has become one of the fastest-growing health technology companies, serving well over 1.5 million customers around the world.

News

Mental health plummeted in 2020, but there’s plenty to be optimistic about in 2021, says MYNDUP data

Lockdowns drove many to therapy and counselling, but people feel much better about the future as life gets back to normal

2020 was a rough time for the nation’s mental health. New data from mental health startup MYNDUP has revealed just how difficult things were, with a massive increase in therapy and counselling sessions as lockdowns wore on. More positively though, there are also encouraging signs that people are seeing light at the end of the tunnel as we move into summer, as fewer clinical sessions are being booked.

Findings include:

  • 57% of sessions booked in October-December 2020 were therapy or counselling – up from just 18% in January-March 2020
  • 38% of customers were aged 35 or over in the last three months of 2020, up from just 9% in the summer months
  • The above data shows lockdowns and isolation hit people hard, especially around Christmas time
  • But there’s light at the end of the tunnel: based on thousands of sessions booked, around 30% weren’t happy with their mental health in 2020 and early 2021, but this decreased to 18% in the last three months

The data was taken from 3,500 sessions booked with MYNDUP. In early 2020 before the pandemic gained a foothold, just 18% of sessions were for therapy or counselling. By the end of the year, after months of lockdowns and a cancelled Christmas for many, this rocketed to 57%.

People over 35 really started to feel the strain towards the end of 2020. Between July and September, they made up just 9% of customers. From October to December, this surged to 38%. This demographic in particular seemed to suffer as winter set in and the outlook became gloomy all over again. There are several possible explanations for this, such as school closures putting extra strain on parents and the inability to spend time with extended family.

Joel Gujral, founder and CEO at MYNDUP, said: “We’ve all had our struggles during lockdown, but this data lays bare just how tough it’s been for many. Before Covid came along and we were living our normal lives, people were more likely to opt for things like life coaching over therapy or counselling. This trend continued for a good few months as people handled early lockdowns stoically, but there was a shocking turn towards the end of the year as people’s positivity dwindled.

“It’s also interesting to see how the over-35s turned to mental health support more often as the year went on. There are lots of possible reasons for this, including the stresses of combining home working with home schooling, alongside the general isolation that we’ve all felt.

“Looking on the bright side, it’s positive to see that these people are engaging with mental health support rather than suffering in silence. After all, one of the biggest mental health challenges we face is smashing the stigma around it.”

Looking at the positives even more, only 18% of customers said they weren’t happy with their mental health over the last three months. This is an encouraging drop from 33% in the first three months of 2021.

Joel added: “When you’re out and about at the moment, it’s clear that people are much more optimistic about the future than they were a few months ago. There finally seems to be an end in sight, which is being reflected in the way people see their mental health.”

He concluded: “What’s important now is for all of us to keep our foot on the gas as far as mental health is concerned, and keep encouraging ourselves, friends, family members, and colleagues to take steps to ensure our mental wellbeing is always in the best possible shape. There’s no single solution to mental health after all, so people will deal with the challenges of the next few months in different ways. Keep all of this in mind, and we’ll have much to look forward to for the rest of the year!”

Health, News

Celsium wearable smart thermometer system launches promising 10x more accuracy than current devices

A new smart thermometer is launching which promises up to 10x more accurate measurements, making it the most accurate wearable solution. Celsium is a medical grade wearable smart thermometer that links to an online platform, taking automatic readings every four seconds and instantly alerting the user when temperature rises even a fraction.

Eight years in development, Celsium measures true body temperature (core body temperature), not just skin temperature, which is impacted by surroundings and can be a misleading measurement. Celsium offers an accuracy of +/- 0.2oC (core temp), compared with +/- 1.5 oC – 2.0 oC for most devices on the market.

Celsium is a medical grade device available to both the consumer and healthcare markets. It utilises a small sensor attached under the armpit which links to an app via Bluetooth for simple to use, accurate temperature monitoring.

One of just a handful of clinically-validated consumer thermometers in the UK, Celsium can be used by the whole family. It retails at £70.00, is guaranteed for 12 months and is available to buy from Celsium.com.

Behind Celsium is Andy Mahoney, founder and CEO, who set out to develop an accurate and easier to use solution, after encounter the issues with current products firsthand when trying to conceive his first child. He quickly realised that not only was it hard to measure temperature at all hours of the night and day, it was also clumsy and often not accurate. He drew on his 15 years’ background in healthcare to develop this smart, accurate temperature monitoring platform.

Andy commented: “Growing up in a medically minded household and having worked in healthcare for many years, when my wife and I couldn’t find an accurate thermometer despite buying numerous devices I took up the challenge to develop one myself. When I scratched the surface, I was amazed to find that measuring temperature is still largely based on the first thermometer, invented over 300 years ago! To say the temperature monitoring was due for re-invention is somewhat of an understatement, especially when you consider how important body temperature is an indicatory of our health”.

“Celsium is simple, constant and accurate. It’s useful for individuals and families as it allows you to monitor body temperature accurately in real-time, from your smartphone, and it’s non-invasive. I believe body temperature is massively under utilised largely due to the poor products we have to work with. Temperature is central to the way our bodies function, it’s such an important signal. With the right solution, I firmly believe temperature will facilitate earlier and more accurate diagnosis in the future.”

Andy added: “Celsium is on a mission is to change the way the world utilises temperature. We want to make it easier for people to understand their temperature, raising the bar for temperature as a diagnostic tool and explore new areas of temperature science not previously researched. The potential for temperature to provide early insight to illness and disease is huge. Until now we haven’t had the technology to investigate this. Celsium will unlock this ‘hidden science’ in so doing creating what we believe will be never before seen early warning signals to health problems developing.”

About Celsium

Celsium works with:
Apple devices with iOS 10.0 and above.
Android devices with Android 8.0 and above.

Each pack contains
· 1x Celsium temperature sensor
· 5x disposable adhesive patches (mild strength)
· 1x CR2025 battery
· Unlimited App use
· Unlimited support

Adhesives are low irritation

Technology

Confidential data about 24.3 million patients freely available on the internet – unprotected image servers to blame

Vulnerability management specialist Greenbone Networks has today released details of new research in to the security of the servers used by health providers across the world to store images of X-rays as well as CT, MRI and other medical scans.

Of the 2,300 medical image archive systems worldwide that Greenbone analysed between mid-July and early September 2019, 590 of them were freely accessible on the internet, together containing 24.3 million data records from patients located in 52 different countries. Available data included patient names, dates of birth, dates of examination and some medical information about the reason for examination. For US patients (which make up 13.7 million of the compromised records), it also included Social Security numbers.

More than 737 million images were linked to this patient data, with approximately 400 million of these accessible or easily downloadable via the internet. In addition, 39 of these imaging servers allowed access to patient data via an unencrypted HTTP web viewer, without any level of protection.

Greenbone carried out an analysis of all medical image archiving systems connected to the public internet. These Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) servers are based on a protocol known as DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine), which – based on the IP protocol – makes it possible for medical professionals to access and share scans and other images. The DICOM standard dates back to the 1980s.

Dirk Schrader, cyber resilience architect at Greenbone Networks who lead the research said:

“The data pertaining to millions of patients is there for anyone to access simply because of the careless configuration of these medical archiving servers. A significant number of these servers have no protection at all, they aren’t password protected and have no encryption. Indeed, everyday internet users could gain access to these servers with very little effort – there’s no need to write any code or deploy any specialist hacking tools.

“Health providers need to act now to secure their systems, not just because they could be in breach of regulations such as GPDR in the EU and HIPAA in the US, but because they are putting their patients at risk. This data could be used to commit identity theft, highly-specialised phishing campaigns or even for extortion, where medical information is weaponised to blackmail people in the public eye.”

This research was initiated by German broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk and US not-for-profit news site ProPublica. To ensure compliance with data protection regulations, Greenbone did not download or view any of patient data as part of its research and will only be disclosing details of the vulnerable systems to authorised bodies.

A full report into the research – including a breakdown by country – is available https://www.greenbone.net/en/blog/

Technology

Ingenica Solutions partners with Scandit to pioneer the use of augmented reality (AR) in the NHS

Ingenica Solutions, a multi-award winning IT solutions provider, has announced its collaboration with mobile computer vision experts, Scandit. The partnership brings together Ingenica Solutions’ expertise in delivering track and trace solutions for the NHS with Scandit’s enterprise-grade barcode scanning and augmented reality (AR) solutions for mobile devices.

Ingenica Solutions specialises in healthcare procurement, supply chain, inventory management, patient costing and back-office operations, designed specifically to make managing the vast quantities of inventory within the NHS a much simpler task. To further empower its clients to achieve greater efficiencies and improve patient care, Ingenica Solutions has now integrated Scandit’s computer vision and AR software into its inventory management solution – 360 IM.

This integration of Scandit’s AR capabilities into Ingenica Solutions’ 360 IM, the first GS1 certified solution in healthcare, creates the next-generation of inventory management technology. This integration is another first for Ingenica, being the first inventory management system for the industry powered by computer vision with AR. It also further augments the Ingenica solution, and creates an extremely powerful inventory management tool for NHS trusts. The use of AR enables the blending of the physical and digital worlds, where real-time information can be displayed over images of physical objects.

The Scandit functionality enables healthcare professionals to simply scan hospital supplies with any smart device or handheld scanner and view real-time inventory information via AR-overlays – such as product expiration dates and stock levels. This simple, easy-to-use solution automates and connects workflows across many teams, creating significant financial and operational efficiencies in inventory management.

Scandit’s MatrixScanAR capability also enables scanning of multiple barcodes at once, including a mix of 1D and 2D barcodes, highlighting specific items with AR feedback on the device. This brings faster, more accurate product or asset recognition, reducing the time clinicians spend searching for products and allowing more time for frontline patient care.

David Ford, a founder and CTO at Ingenica Solutions, said:

“The benefits that advances in digital technology bring to healthcare are considerable, and the impact and relevance of augmented reality on the inventory management process in the NHS is immense. Ingenica Solutions continues to lead the market with advanced technology for back office solutions in healthcare, and so our new technology partnership with Scandit helps to support and maintain our strong position, providing best-in-class innovative technology to shape the future of the NHS.”

Samuel Mueller, CEO at Scandit said:

“Workers in the healthcare sector, particularly in the NHS, are incredibly time poor and new ways are needed to free up staff from inefficient tasks. Our partnership with Ingenica Solutions will help transform inventory management across NHS systems. Computer vision and AR technology has the ability to inject speed and accuracy into the healthcare sector, reducing human error, improving patient safety and lowering costs. This type of technology will become the norm in digital healthcare for decades to come.”