Tag: health IT

FTR4H LAB at MEDICA 2017

Written by Daniela Knoll on . Posted in MEDICA.

MEDICA:  Undisputedly the world’s most important trade show and gathering place for the medical industry worldwide.  Americans have long been a driving force behind both the quality and size of this event, on average featuring over 500 US-based companies occupying about 2 acres (or about 1½ US football fields!) of exhibit space at the Düsseldorf fairgrounds.

Over the past decade in particular, mobile, IoT and big data has emerged as perhaps the most revolutionizing dynamic in the medical industry marketplace, and the US med-tech industry not surprisingly continues to dominate the global landscape.  Some industry reports suggest digital health market revenues here may surpass $150 billion within the next 5-7 years.

In tandem, FTR4H FUTURE FOR HEALTH is an international platform powered by MEDICA that has risen alongside to highlight wireless and digital technologies – showcasing and exploring how digital transformation is affecting and will continue to drive important developments in the healthcare industry.

And now for the first time, the USA Pavilion at MEDICA 2017 will also feature a FTR4H LAB showcasing innovators and visionaries in this field.

The first company to join the FTR4H LAB is Westlake, Ohio based Blue Spark Technologies, Inc.  A pioneering developer of thin, flexible, printed power solutions,  Blue Spark Technologies’ latest innovation, TempTraq®, is the only Bluetooth® wearable continuous temperature monitor in the form of a soft patch that can continuously and comfortably monitor body temperature for up to 72 hours, sending real-time temperature data to a Hospital’s Nurse Monitoring Stations, EHR, and Smart Devices.  With TempTraq’s new TempTraq Connect HIPAA-complaint Cloud, it can also be used remotely and enable a hospital to monitor patients at home in real time.

TempTraq has been tested in the most demanding environments at leading hospitals including Cleveland Clinic, University Hospital’s Seidman Cancer Center and Akron Children’s Hospital and has been clinically proven to detect fever 30 – 180 minutes earlier than a 4 Hour SOC in trials with Bone Marrow Transplant Patients (Abstracts available upon request).   TempTraq is an FDA cleared Class 2 Medical Device and by November and MEDICA, the device will be CE approved and available for both Consumer and Clinical markets in Europe.

For more information about TempTraq®, plan to visit them at MEDICA 2017 – hall 16 / stand C20-6 or contact Blue Spark Technologies / VP of Sales, Mr. John Baragar jbaragar@bluesparktechnologies.com

For more information about joining the FTR4H LAB in the USA Pavilion at MEDICA 2017, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America / Sr. Business Development Manager, Mr. Ryan Klemm rklemm@mdna.com

 

Top 5 things on healthcare business in India

Written by Tjasa Zajc on . Posted in India, IoT, MEDICA, Mobile.

FTR4H is in full preparations for MEDICAL FAIR INDIA 2017. Before arrival, we talked to Incubators, Companies, Start-ups, Experts… Here’s what you might find useful if you’re thinking about doing business in India.

 

1. Make good market research

India ranked at 130 out of 189 economies in 2015 according to the World bank. 4% of the GDP go to healthcare; around 60% of expenses for healthcare are out of pocket, according to OECD. Almost a third of the population is supposed to own a smartphone by 2019, claims GSMA report. All this goes in favour to digital health or at least mHealth solutions, but keep in mind plenty of good startups on the ground are busy tackling everyday issues.

The country is extensively working on using all the advantages of digital solutions to improve people’s lives and health. Heard of Aadhar? It’s unique-identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their biometric and demographic data such as eyes and finger prints. Nishal Arvind Singh, Founder NASS & Associates IPR Boutique law firm and Legal policy advisor to Honourable Health Minister Satyendra Jain of the Delhi Government explains the plan behind the project: “All payments will be linked with aadhar, to avoid duplicity, promote increase in online payments and disbursement to beneficiaries under many governmental schemes for education, pension etc. This will enable direct transactions into beneficiaries bank account, which will prevent corruption,” says Arvind, adding that in time, it will be connected with healthcare. The unique identification number of a person will prevent duplication and confusion in data management and insurance claimes with others with the same name.

2. Do you have enough time for business here?

According to a World bank report from 2006, it takes 56 procedures and approximately four years for a simple commercial contract in India. As explained by Prabhu Guptara, a distinguished Professor of Global Business, Management & Public Policy at William Carey University, India, a Member of Boards of different companies in the UK, Germany and Switzerland, the problem is the bureaucratic system. It takes years for the legal claims to be processed, let alone enforced. It is a slow system, so brace yourself with energy and patience to conquer it.

 

3. Know that India has very good medical doctors

Top class. World renowned. There’s a reason medical tourism flourishes here. However, as Sachin Gaur warns, 80% of people live in rural areas and only 20% of facillites are there. There are different initiatives to improve access, such as the the mohalla (neighbourhood) clinics. As explained by the hindustantimes, they were started with the aim of taking diagnostics and treatment of simple ailments to people’s doorstep and reduce the footfall in tertiary care hospitals.

 

4. Can you make a subscription plan under a dollar a month?

India has 1.3 billion people, the majority is poor. “2/3 of the population can’t be your target market. 30% of the population lives on less than 2.5 dollars/day, another third 5 dollars/day. Which still leaves you with 400 million people you could address,” says Prabhu Guptara. However, given the number of people, if you can design a subscription model for around 20 cents, than you might address the poorer population, says Sachin Gaur, Director Operation at InnovatioCuris. Taking into account the volume you could reach, it can turn out to be a viable business model.

“If you can design a subscription model for around 20 cents, than you might address the poorer population,” says Sachin Gaur, Director of Operations at InnovatioCuris.

5. Ask, connect to people on the ground

Have you heard of HealthCode.io? It’s a platform for healthcare professionals where you can find people interested in co-creation, consulting, commercialisation, fundraising, mentoring, investing, validation. The app, as the founders claim, already has members from 52 countries, so you might find useful connections even outside India!

 

Be sure to check the two episodes of Medicine Today on Digital Health! Praphu Guptara speaks about differences in the healthcare systems in India, Switzerland or England. Sachin Gaur talks about the innovative solutions in India and problems of digital solutions and cyber security. You can find it on iTunes or Soundcloud.

“Many good Indian startups don’t get funding if their founders are not from a first-class Indian engineering college”

Written by Tjasa Zajc on . Posted in India.

eSec Forte Technologies is a Global Consulting and IT Services company with expert offerings in Enterprise Application Development Services, Mobile App Development, Information Security Services, Supply Chain Management Solutions and Corporate Training. eSec Forte Technologies is a FTR4H ecosystem partner and some representatives will be present at our FTR4H Lab & Lounge at MEDICAL FAIR INDIA 2017.

Surbhit Bansal, Business Manager at eSec Forte

Curious about the program of FTR4H Lab & Lounge? Check it our here. 

We talked to their Business Manager Surbhit Bansal about the company, their collaboration with Start-ups and presence in the Healthcare sector.

eSecforte focuses on IT and security – how active are you in the area of healthcare? Where are you present in India?
Surbhit Bansal: We are a company with our core business of IT and Security. We are present in India and abroad in the healthcare domain, working with organizations such as Ministry of Health, AIIMS, Max Healthcare, NACO, SOS Children’s Village International, NARI, United Health Group, Images Radiology. At Medical Fair India we will focus on presenting our Clinic Management System and Supply Chain Management System.

How do you collaborate with the Ministry of Health?

We have been developing software projects for the Ministry of Health through global NGOs and through direct contacts with couple of departments at AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences). The projects are generally being used for educational purposes and streamlining processes in rural India. As far as cyber security is concerned, we provide the required security services or product licenses as required by the departments.

According to Mandiant Consulting’s “M-Trends 2016, Asia-Pacific Edition,” Indian organizations are more susceptible to data breaches because of poor investments in high-end security solutions. When it comes to health, cybersecurity is, in the era of growing telemedicine and mHealth solutions, so much more important. Do you know of any major health data thefts/threats/problems etc?

The data is centralized and mostly with NIC (National Informatics Centre) servers and highly secure. It’s a false impression that Indian health data is being leaked. Yes, it is as vulnerable as other data but adequate security measures are being taken by the government to prevent data leakages.

What does your Clinic Management System encompass? Is it only an IT system with the main purpose of enabling adequate billing or is there also any inclusion of clinical support, EHR development etc.?

It includes clinical support and EHR development. Details can be viewed on our website http://www.esecforte.com/clinic-management-system/

How can startups collaborate with you?

We can support them right from conceptualization, design, development, testing and delivery of their products. Another area is helping them launch their product’s MVP by the time they establish their team and processes using our years of experience.

So these are potentials what you could offer. Are you actively seeking startups to work with or acquire? What is the basic model of your collaboration with startups? If you help them, do you take equity, do you charge them a fee or something else?

We are not actively seeking to acquire any startup at the moment. We prefer a Fee-based model and in case any startup looks promising we can work on equity model providing the required technical support.

Is there any specific issues you could outline you see startups in India are facing? Are the issues any different than abroad according to your expertise? Where would you say the biggest differences lie?

The major hurdles that we can see based on our experience is a lack in focus on operations by Indian startups. They focus too much on technology and spend heavily on resources allowing them to survive only until investor’s pockets are heavy. Secondly, many good startups don’t get funding if their founders are not from a first class Indian engineering college such as IIT. As a result many startups with solid ideas are unable to grow or survive.What are you going to talk about at Medical Fair India in New Delhi?  We are going to talk about Digital Health Solutions alongside the healthcare continuum  and how mobile health is restructuring healthcare delivery.

Join us! Get you free ticket here.

Future 4 Health - © Mikko Lemola/Shutterstock

5 reasons why hospital mHealth apps are a win for patients and doctors

Written by Tjasa Zajc on . Posted in Mobile, Trends.

There are currently more than 260,000 mHealth apps on the market, according to data from Research2guidance. Whereas this may be exciting news, the sheer number may also be overwhelming for patients and doctors. How can you know what is useful and what is not? One way hospitals are solving the app reliability challenge is by building in-house innovation incubators.

To get to know how that works, listen to a conversation with Ashish Atreja, the CTO of Sinai AppLab at Mount Sinai, in the fourth episode of Medicine Today on the Digital Health podcast.

He are 5 reasons why in-house innovation incubators are good news.

1. Accelerating change

Innovation arms in hospitals are exciting because they help introduce novelties into the rigid healthcare systems.

2. Providing reliability

New solutions are designed by high profile specialists in hospitals. Consequently, solutions are tested inside the hospitals and perfected before they are put on the market.

“I would never give or prescribe medicine to any of my patients that has not been approved in some formal capacity. Why should I prescribe an app?” says gastroenterologist Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH. If you’re a startup, he might take a look at your solution. Why?

One of his jobs as the CTO of Sinai AppLab is onboarding new technologies built by startups outside Mount Sinai. After all, he emphasizes, “it’s impossible for one incubator to do and know everything.”

Ashish Atreja

3. Ease of recommendation

It is easier for doctors to recommend in-house solutions, because they have better access and understanding of the innovation process and reliability of an app compared to the flood of other mhealth digital health offerings on the market.

As Ashish Atreja explains, Mount Sinai even build a platform which allows physicians to prescribe evidence based apps. “We curate the best apps based on the evidence, security and safety. There’s a whole team of people rating the best apps, looking at the published evidence and bringing them to the market place.”

4. Financial benefit

Innovation arms generate new revenue streams for hospitals.

5. Encouraging innovation

When a support environment for creativity is in place, doctors who want to innovate can test and develop their ideas. They also get all the entrepreneurial support in scaling and improving their ideas, so they can reach patients faster.

In 2012, Cleveland Clinic experts designed the Medical Innovation Playbook – a detailed report on the diverse and rapidly evolving technology commercialisation programs of the USA’s top medical centres. It includes an overview of nearly 10,000 invention disclosures, 6,400 patent applications and almost 2,000 issued patents.

Want to know more? Tune into the fourth episode of Medicine Today on Digital Health podcast. You can find, listen, subscribe, rate, follow, share the podcast in Soundcloud or in iTunes.

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