Artemia Blog

Access to care is critical in today’s world. Being able to contact a doctor, whether over the phone, online or in person is something that everyone should be able to do when needed. One of the more rapidly growing areas to increase access to care is the field of telemedicine, or virtual doctor’s visits that can be used to evaluate symptoms, check vital signs and even observe a patient’s mental health.

Here are three companies working to bring telemedicine to the furthest reaches of the United States, and even some the remotest places in world.

HealthSpot is a newer player in the telemedicine sector. With plans in place to install communications kiosks in pharmacies and clinics across the country, seeing a doctor about that rash on your arm could soon be as easy as visiting your neighborhood drug store. In addition to a high definition two-way video conferencing system, built-in tools include scales, blood pressure cuffs, thermometers, stethoscopes, otoscopes and more. Though they just raised more than $10 million in Series C funding, HealthSpot still has plenty of work to do – next on their task list is building out a network of doctors to do the diagnosing.

Hospital system and insurer HealthPartners has founded a new company, Virtuwell, to develop affordable virtual care via telemedicine. Their plan for keeping costs down involves the use of diagnostic clinicians – typically nurse practitioners or physician’s assistants – instead of physicians. These internet-connected medical professionals can diagnose and write prescriptions for around 40 common conditions including colds, flu, allergies, acne and some sexually transmitted infections. And according to an internal study, Virtuwell services save patients an average of $88 per consultation and 2.5 hours of their valuable time, both great reasons to celebrate this increased access to care.

In a location where emergency evacuations can quickly run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, being able to notice any early warning signs of life-threatening conditions is absolutely critical. The National Science Foundation has partnered with doctors at the University of Texas Medical Branch to provide remote care for their researchers stationed all the way at the South Pole. With the telemedical staple video conferencing technology and an array of specialized devices equipped with cameras and microphones, doctors back in Texas can actively monitor the health of scientists operating in one the harshest environments on the planet. Combined with electronic medical records to speed the sharing of patient information, the UTMB telemedicine doctors do their best to fill the gaps in the on-site healthcare available at the three Antarctic research stations. While there may not be MRI machines or operating rooms, through check-ups via telemedicine researchers can rest easy knowing their health is being looked after.

Interested in learning more about advances in telemedicine and how they may be able to help your business? Let us know! Click the button below to set up a time to chat.

In the news:

• Telemedicine company HealthSpot rolls out kiosks in select health systems, raises Series C
• Unseen and online: What are the limits for patient care?
• Telemedicine makes new advances, all the way to Antarctica

Every day we hear about how technology is changing numerous aspects of our lives: improved mobility, increased social interaction, and the faster spread of news are just a few. One area where technology is making tremendous strides and continually blurring the line between fiction and reality is healthcare technology. We are able to address more health issues now than ever before, allowing people suffering from various health problems to drastically improve their quality of life.

A 5-year-old South African boy who was born without fingers on his right hand has recently seen his life changed by a brand new 3-Dprinted prosthetic hand. Thanks to the collaboration of Ivan Owen and Rich Van As, a part-time mechanical special effects artist in Washington and a woodworker from South Africa respectively, the young boy is now able to play sports, pick up things and perform tasks that he would have never been able to do before. They used the rapidly growing technology of 3-D printing to provide the boy with his new prosthetic hand. The duo’s next plan is to form a nonprofit to share their knowledge and experience with others in order to educate people on how to create and assemble “robo-hands” for themselves.

Another great example of technology improving people’s health is a new device that gives limited vision to people suffering from a certain type of blindness. The “bionic eye,” recently approved by the FDA, is a breakthrough in vision research. The system involves an artificial retina – composed of a sheet of electrodes which is implanted in the eye – and a pair of glasses with an attached camera and a portable video processor. This combination of devices, called the Argus II, allows visual signals to bypass the damaged portion of the retina and be transmitted to the brain. Using the system, patients are now able to detect crosswalks on the street, the presence of people or cars, and sometimes even large numbers and letters. Though not widely available and still quite costly, the Argus II remains a life changer for many patients suffering from sight loss.

In the news:

• Device Offers Partial Vision for the Blind
• 5-Year-Old Boy Gets 'Robohand'

Whether you actually attended the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Shows (CES) or simply heard about it, many new devices and trends were to be found. This year, mobile and cloud-based healthcare technologies were some of the most popular industry segments represented. From the nation's largest health insurance companies exhibiting to start-ups bringing their latest gadgets out of stealth mode, health technologies were unquestionably among the hottest and trendiest tech showcased at the event.

A quick trip around the convention center would have encountered some of these great medical innovations (to name but a few): a fork that records your every bite, smartphone apps that track your entire family's health, watches that show the time and your heart rate, headphones that tune in to your workout, remote access to physicians through private telemedicine booths, and the ability to store all your personal medical records in the cloud for easy access and analysis by your doctor.

While exhibiting and discovering what this year’s CES had to offer, people from the healthcare industry also had the opportunity to discuss innovations in mobile health, medical devices and the cloud at the Digital Health Summit. “With a record number of medical devices and apps being showcased at CES, it’s clear that the Digital Health Summit is harnessing the momentum of this exciting movement,” said David Van Sickle, CEO of Asthmapolis (makers of a smartphone app for tracking asthma symptoms).

2013 has started on the right foot for the healthcare IT industry. Personal medical devices are no longer just recording steps taken or calories burned. These products are getting smarter, smaller, and are greatly increasing our abilities to monitor our health, prevent disease and increase our overall personal wellness.

In the news:

What the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show Means for Health Care IT

Hot Health Tech of CES 2013

CES 2013 Highlights for Mobile Health and Digital Health Summit