The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) has published in the OJEU an advert calling for tenders for the provision of telecare/telehealth equipment and relevant installation, response and maintenance services. Read more.
Archive for November, 2005
UK telecare framework contract tender
Monday, November 28th, 2005Suffolk provides RNID smoke alarms
Monday, November 28th, 2005Not quite telecare but a good illustration of cooperation between services implementing new technology. Read more.
Three Japanese telecare initiatives
Monday, November 28th, 2005One service lets users check when an electric kettle is used. Data from a wireless transmitter attached to the bottom of the kettle is sent in an e-mail to the elderly person’s son or daughter and the company’s Web site. Records are sent twice a day at designated times, but a worried user can ask for the latest data anytime. A lease on an electric kettle with the transmitter costs an initial fee of 5,250 yen (approx £25) and then 3,150 yen (£15) per month.
Read more about this, and the other two initiatives.
Malta’s telecare service
Monday, November 28th, 2005Malta’s telecare service moves to new one-stop shop. Read more.
3 in 10 men aged 80+ own a mobile phone (UK)
Monday, November 28th, 2005Recent posting of some 2002 statistics. Read more.
Medical Alarm – $199 – No Monthly Fees Ever
Monday, November 28th, 2005LLC, a provider of medication reminder products in the US, has recently added a medical alarm with no monthly fees to its HIProtector fall prevention product line. See website.
Lewisham Pensioners’ Manifesto aims for grey power
Thursday, November 24th, 2005Pensioners are hoping grey power will force decision- makers to give elderly people a better deal. The Lewisham Pensioners’ Forum has published its first-ever Pensioners’ Manifesto, which sets out a list of proposals designed to improve the lives of older people. Those responsible for drawing up the report hope it will help achieve ‘official recognition’ for the contribution the elderly make to society. The manifesto addresses local and national issues and includes a 13-point plan for change including a call for more older people to be included on policy and decision-making bodies, better access to new technologies for pensioners and an improvement in home care services.
Remote monitors can be lifesavers for patients
Thursday, November 24th, 2005Partners HealthCare has placed American TeleCare Monitoring Stations in hundreds of homes and cut hospital re-admissions for its heart-failure patients by 33 percent. In Brooklyn, N.Y., Coney Island Hospital gave similar devices to 69 asthmatic kids who had been hospitalized at least once a month during the previous winter, and during the next winter all but one avoided the hospital completely. Across the United States, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been testing these appliances in the homes of patients with diabetes and lung diseases as well as heart failure; it has found a 35 percent reduction in re-admissions and a 60 percent drop in emergency visits. “Plus we get 90 percent patient satisfaction ratings,” says physician Adam Darkins, the VA’s chief consultant for care coordination. “That’s why we’ll have these devices in 12,500 homes by the end of this year.”
One of the best descriptions in a while of the benefits of telehealth devices at home.
Vigil announces new wireless system (Canada)
Thursday, November 24th, 2005Dementia-care oriented system. Press release.
Even smarter smart card
Thursday, November 24th, 2005Intelligent cards that enable visually impaired people to customise computers and ATMs automatically have been unveiled. The Special Needs Application Program Interface, or Snapi, puts a user’s preferences on a smart card. The cards can be used in cash dispensers, ticket machines and public access computers. Once a Snapi card is removed, the machine automatically returns to its default settings. The technology was developed by the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) in collaboration with Suffolk County Council and two companies based in the West Midlands.