Conmergence

St. Joseph Medical Center (Houston) and MedConcierge to Demonstrate Telemedicine Solutions at FTTH Council Conference

Top Houston Hospital Selects MedConcierge to Offer Telemedicine to Corporations and Master Planned Communities

September 8, 2009 (Sarasota, FL & Houston, TX) - St. Joseph Medical Center, the largest, Level 3 trauma hospital in downtown Houston, has selected MedConcierge to provide its advanced telemedicine solution to leading communities and corporations. Both parties will demonstrate the user experience and benefits of telemedicine during the upcoming 2009 FTTH Conference & Expo taking place at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, September 27th through October 1st.

"We are very excited to demonstrate the MedConcierge at St. Joseph Medical Center service to local community developers and corporate executives at the upcoming Fiber to the Home Conference," states St. Joseph chief executive officer Phillip D. Robinson, "Telemedicine will clearly be at the center of healthcare delivery moving forward and leveraging the technological advantages of the MedConcierge service over fiber-optic communications will help us extend patient services, generate additional revenue and save costs."

"St. Joseph is a leader in the Houston area, and we are thrilled to play a role in helping them deliver health and wellness services to residents of FTTH communities in and around the Houston metropolitan area," says MedConcierge director Rob Scheschareg. "Telemedicine offers competitive and financial benefits in a cost-effective fashion that is critical in today's market environment. We look forward to meeting service providers and developers at the FTTH Conference & Expo who want to take advantage of the billions being spent by consumers and the government in the next 30 months on home-based telemedicine."

Substantial news coverage, increasing consumer interest and adoption, and the allocation of billions of dollars in Federal stimulus funds specifically for broadband and healthcare information technology have placed telemedicine at the forefront of applications that benefit from fiber to the home networks.

"Fiber to the home provides benefits to consumers and employers that truly improve the quality of life. From our own industry research to that of our members and market followers, it is becoming increasingly evident that consumers want the benefits of improved healthcare services and access to doctors that services like MedConcierge and healthcare providers like St. Joseph can provide," states Joe Savage, president of the FTTH Council. "Telemedicine is a prime example of the type of applications that will be on display at our upcoming conference demonstrating the power of fiber".

To showcase the user experience, benefits and implementation of telemedicine services, MedConcierge and St. Joseph Medical Center will be hosting a number of activities at the upcoming 2009 FTTH Conference & Expo.  These include:

Corporate VIP Demonstration & Reception, Tuesday, September 29th.  For more information call the Corporate Health Connection at St. Joseph Medical Center at (713) 756-8600. 

MedConcierge Booth in the Fiber Zone, located on the show floor during exhibit hours. 

Phillip D. Robinson, CEO, St. Joseph Medical Center will be discussing telemedicine over FTTH networks as part of the Closing Keynote presentation Wednesday, September 30th at 2:00 pm.

For information about these events, visit the conference website at http://www.ftthconference.com.

About St. Joseph Medical Center

St. Joseph Medical Center, downtown Houston's only general acute care hospital, partners with Houston physicians to provide comprehensive health care to all.  As Houston's first hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center provides services for outpatients as well as inpatients, with a full continuum of care in surgery, cancer care, emergency care, Women's services, cardiovascular services, wound care, rehab, sports medicine, Corporate Health Connection and more. For more information on St. Joseph Medical Center, please visit http://www.sjmctx.com or call 713.757.1000.

About MedConcierge, LLC

MedConcierge is the leading provider of telemedicine solutions for community developers and operators, broadband service providers, healthcare providers, and municipalities, that deliver personal, concierge healthcare services to consumers at home, at work and while traveling. Utilizing our award-winning, patent-pending technology, MedConcierge provides unparalleled private and secure access to certified doctors, specialists and content. MedConcierge offerings range from real-time, live videoconference consultations, on demand, 24/7 with leading doctors, specialists, psychiatrists and wellness experts, to educational content, health status monitoring and dynamic electronic medical records - all accessible from the comfort, privacy and convenience of homes and facilities. For more information, visit http://www.medconcierge.com.

Don't Skate To The Puck, Skate To Where Jeff Pulver Is - RE: HD Voice

<ed.note>I've learned about a decade ago if you want to know where the world is going to be 5 years from now in terms of technology that affects the average citizen you watch Andy Abramson, Ken Rutkowski and Jeff Pulver. Jeff watches and creates all things telephony and he recently sent this missive out re: HD Voice. My advice: if you have traditionally poopooed eHealth, telehealth, and ROWE in healthcare -- your game is about to change; your boat is about to be refloated; your canary is about to molt; your scotch is about to hop -- well, you get what I mean, or literally -- you HEAR what I am SAYING.</ed.note>

Putting the Cable Industry on notice. HD Voice is happening.

I had an interesting time at the CableLabs Summer Conference at Keystone Resort, Colorado. When I first arrived I had a chance to catch up with the teams from both AudioCodes and IP Gallery and a few of the familiar faces I have gotten to know over the years involved in the communications industry.

Looking around the reception on Monday afternoon, it was clear to me that the telecom recession was over, with the room packed with vendors and about 1,000 people from around the world who made the trek to Colorado for the CableLabs Summer Conference.

This was a closed conference with the majority of the sessions only open to the members of Cablelabs.

If there was one session at the CableLabs Summer Conference that a Cable company’s Chief Strategy Officer should have been at, it was the HD Voice session which I greatly appreciate being invited to be a part of. I say this because after listening to Orange’s Vivek Badrinath, Executive Vice President, Networks, Carriers, and Platforms, it is clear to me that consumer HD Communications is a reality, it IS happening and it is going to happen faster than anyone may have otherwise expected.

Vivek was welcomed warmly and embraced by the CableLabs delegates. During his talk I was thinking of the Twilight Zone Episode “To Serve Man” where (according to Wikipedia) a race of aliens known as the Kanamits lands on Earth and promises to be nothing but helpful to the cause of humanity. Initially wary of the intentions of such a highly advanced race, even the most skeptical humans are convinced when their code-breakers begin to translate one of the Kanamit's books, with the seemingly innocuous title, "To Serve Man."

Sharing their advanced technology, the aliens quickly solve all of Earth's greatest woes, eradicating hunger, disease, and the need for warfare. Soon, humans are volunteering for trips to the Kanamits' home planet, which is supposedly a paradise.

All is not well, however, when a code-breaker discovers the Kanamits' true intentions: Their book, "To Serve Man", is a cookbook, and all their gifts were simply to make humanity complacent.” (if you haven’t seen this episode - you can watch it here).

Given the fact that France Telecom / Orange already has over 500,000 customers who have subscribed for their HD Voice offerings and that their numbers are going to continue to grow as Orange rolls out their HD Communication offers across Europe, I couldn't help but make the connection between Vivek and the leader of the Kanamit's.

If I were involved with a cable company, I would have categorized his talk as an early wake-up call and understand the worldwide Cable industry was put on notice to be on the lookout for other incumbent operators who have both a broadband offering and wireless offering to follow in the footsteps of France Telecom / Orange and use HD Communications as a platform to retain and grow their customer base.

Now is NOT the time for the Cable industry to continue to take a “wait and see” approach with HD Communications but rather now is the time to commit to residential trials for HD Voice consumer if the cable industry wants to protect what has become their multi-billion dollar monthly cash cow known as “digital voice services.”

Over the next few years, the growth of consumers who subscribe for HD Communications offered by both wireless and broadband service providers will help lift the communications industry.

“Fear, Greed and Disruption” remain my three favorite words and I am enjoying this moment in time in the history of communications. I remain a big fan of France Telecom for continuing to lead and innovate with HD Communications.

Friends who would like to learn more about HD Communications are invited to attend the next HD Communications Summit taking place on September 15th in New York City.

http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/009008.html

The HD Communications Summit Agenda (Update #1)

On September 15th 2009 at New World Stages in New York City, I am producing HDComms, the HD Communications Summit. HDComms will bring together the emerging worldwide HD Communications ecosystem and we will explore the state of "HD Communications" and where things are headed. If you have a vested interested in the future of communications, please consider joining us in New York City next month.

HD Communications Summit Agenda
(as of August 18, 2009)

- Welcome - Daniel Berninger, Executive Director, HDConnect
- Jeff Pulver - CEO, pulver.com - "Accelerating the Conversion to HD"

Step 1 - The HD Technology Roadmap

- Nimrod Borovsky, VP Marketing, Enterprise Business Group, AudioCodes
- Martyn Humphries, VP/GM, VoIP Line of Business, Broadcom
- Jan Linden, VP Engineering, Global IP Solutions

Case Study: Lessons Learned from SD to HDTV
Robert Graves, Chairman, ATSC Forum

HD Innovations Panel: Moderator - Slava Borlin, VP Products, SpiritDSP
- Mike Eastman, VP Sales, WYDEVoice
- Alan Percy, Director Business Development, AudioCodes
- A. Ryan Heidari, Director Technical and Product Marketing, Qualcomm

Step 2 - Triggering End User Demand

Jeff Rodman, co-founder, CTO Voice Division, Polycom
Rick Krupka, VP Business Communication Services, Uniden

HD in Action Panel: Moderator - Daniel Petrie, CEO, SIPEz
- Joyce Kim, VP Marketing, Global IP Solutions
- Chalan Aras, VP of Product Marketing, Polycom
- Dave Frankel, CEO, ZipDX

Step 3 - Toward a Fully Functioning HD Ecosystem

- Josh Bottum, Director Business Development, Cisco
- Mike Rude, VP Business Development, DSPGroup

The HD Value Chain Panel Moderator - Michael Stanford, WireEvolution
- Michael Jablon, VP Digital Phone Strategy, Time Warner
- Tony Stankus, Product Manager Emerging Technologies,Gigaset Communications USA
- Mike Storella, Director Business Development, snom

HD Carrier Interconnection Panel:
Moderator - Daniel Berninger, Executive Director, HDConnect
- Eli Katz, founder and CEO, XConnect
- John Butz, Director New Product Development, Neutral Tandem
- Alan Bugos, VP Advanced Technology and Engineering, iBasis (invited)

Step 4 - The Path to HD Mass Market Adoption

- Rod Keller, CEO, Gigaset Communications USA
- Alla Reznick, Dir Product Management, Global Advanced Services, Verizon

Mobile VoIP Panel: 
Moderator - Brough Turner, Chief Strategy Officer, Dialogic
- Tobias Kemper, VP Social Media and Communication, Nimbuzz
- Diego Besprosvan, CTO, MailVision
- Mahesh Makhijani, Director Technical Marketing, Qualcomm

Perspectives on HD Tipping Points Panel
Moderator - Doug Mohney, Editor in Chief, HDConnectNow
- Anatoli Levine, Director Product Management, RADVISION and President, IMTC
- Richard Buchanan, Chief Marketing Officer, Ooma
- Jake MacLeod, VP and CTO, Bechtel Communications(invited)

Networking Reception

Interested in the future of communications? Register TODAY for next month's HD Communication Summit.

American Medical Informatics Association Mentorship Program

Dear AMIA member,

Last year, the AMIA in collaboration with the CIS-WG conducted a successful mentorship program. We are writing today to let you know that the Mentorship program is open for registration for the 2009-2010 year. Last year we had a more than 100 Mentee-Mentor pairs sign up for the program - a great success, and we would like to repeat the success.

We plan to match Mentors and Mentees based on interests and location as an AMIA membership benefit. This year, we hope to improve our matching (done manually) and are looking for some volunteers.

By participating mentors have the opportunity to

• get to know great newer trainees
• help newer trainees with some/all of the above in highly manageable way
• mold newer trainees and provide guidance you wish you had had
• stay in touch with the Mentee base
• brush up your own networking skills and build your network
• look for potential project collaborators and candidates for hire
• encourage bright minds to stick with informatics, thereby strengthening the field
• serve and strengthen AMIA, their professional home

How it works

If you are interested in being a Mentor, you will ask you to go to to the AMIA Mentorship Program application on the web (http://derm.med.jhmi.edu/amia_mentorship/ ), where you will provide basic information to assist us in placing you in a good match. Once matched, Mentees and Mentors will partner actively for the duration of  that calendar year. Mentors, you may participate in the program in an ongoing basis, and we hope that you will!

We will contact you with your mentorship partner's information in the early fall. Mentees will kick things off by initiating first contact with their Mentors. You'll interact with your program partner at least once per month for the full calendar year. We will provide you with reminders and suggestions on how to collaborate and learn most effectively from each other.

After each Annual Symposium, near the end of your official program participation year, you and your partner will be asked to provide your feedback via a survey linked to the AMIA Website.Additional information can be found here.

Please consider becoming a mentor - we believe that all will benefit greatly from this new networking opportunity and we hope for great turnout.

Best regards

Christoph U. Lehmann, MD
Chair, Working Group Steering Committee
Associate Professor in Pediatrics & Health Sciences Informatics Johns Hopkins University

Catherine Craven
Students' Representative (ex officio) to the AMIA Board (2008-2009) Chair, AMIA Membership Committee (2008-2009) Immediate Past Chair, AMIA Student WG (2008)

Gilad Kuperman, MD, PhD
Chair, Clinical Information Systems WG
Director for Quality Informatics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

2008 Fiber To The Home Conference & Expo September 21 - 25, 2008 Gaylord Opryland® Resort & Convention Center, Nashville, TN

<ed.note>The conference's theme is "Linking Communities at the Speed of Light" but more intriguing to me is the the scheduled appearance of Don Tapscott (The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency Will Revolutionize Business, Digital Capital: Harnessing the Power of Business Webs, Creating Value in the Networked Economy, Blueprint to the Digital Economy: Creating Wealth in the Era of E-Business, Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation, The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence, Who Knows: Safeguarding Your Privacy in a Networked World, Paradigm Shift: The New Promise of Information Technology)  adreessing his latest work, Wikinomics How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Implicit in Tapscott's writings is management's buy-in of the distrubuted digital enterprise-enabled results-only collaborative work environment. If you happen to be one of those creatures (especially if you are from Nashville), I invite you to join the Linkedin.com Project Net-Work group and Technology Nashville.</ed.note>

Sunday, September 21, 2008
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Registration Opens
Monday, September 22, 2008
7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Registration Opens
8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Developer Panel Workshop  *Additional fee*
8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Home Networking Workshop  *Additional fee*
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.	Track Session - Series 100  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.	FTTH Executive Summit *By invitation only* Moderated by: Don Tapscott, Author
2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.	Track Session Series 200  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.	EXPO Grand Opening & Opening Reception *Open to all registered attendees*
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Registration Opens
7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.	Opening General Session    *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only* Keynote Speaker - Don Tapscott, Author Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything Sponsored by: FTTH Council Awards Sponsored by: FTTxcellence Awards Sponsored by:
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.	Refreshment Break    *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
10:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.	Global Carrier Keynote Panel   *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.	EXPO Hall Opens   *Open to all registered attendees*
12:00 noon - 2:00 p.m.	Luncheon in EXPO Hall  *Open to all registered attendees*
3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.	ITCo Panel  *Conference Pass attendees only*
3:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.	Track Session Series 300  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
4:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.	Track Session Series 400   *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
5:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.	Track Session Series 500   *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.	International attendee Reception   *By invitation only*
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.	Registration Open
7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.	Government and Regulatory Panel
8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.	Track Session Series 600  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.	Track Session Series 700  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.	Refreshment Break  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.	Track Session Series 800  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 a.m.	Panel Session Series 900  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.	On Own for Lunch
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.	EXPO Hall Opens
4:15 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.	Closing General Session with Keynote Speaker  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.	EXTRAVAGANZA - Closing Reception with Entertainment *Additional fee* "Don't forget your dancing boots!"
Thursday, September 25, 2008
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.	Post Conference Workshops

HITRUST Common Security Framework

HITRUST believes that a common security framework for use by all organizations that create, access, store, or exchange personal health information is necessary to advance the goals of health information technology. Standardizing a higher level of security will build greater trust in the electronic flow of information through the healthcare system.

The HITRUST common security framework will be comprehensive, leveraging existing industry standards and best practices where appropriate. The framework also will be flexible to adjust to an evolving security environment and scale according to type, size and complexity of the organizations that create, access, store, or exchange health information. Additionally, the common security framework will:

• Reduce confusion by implementing a single framework across multiple organizations
• Increase confidence by consumers, regulators and legislators in the industry's ability to address these issues and to proactively protect sensitive information and healthcare systems
• Establish a single standard for organizations for internal and external measurement
• Reduce the number and complexity of security audits or reviews that organizations impose upon their trading partners

HITRUST provides all healthcare organizations an opportunity/OR/opportunities to influence the direction of the common trust framework by applying to participate in the development of the security standards. Participant benefits include:

Interaction with peers and industry experts

Access to work papers and background materials

Serving on working groups to develop common trust framework

Ability to comment, influence and deliberate on framework drafts and final papers

Smart Phone Electronic Medical Record / Mobile Contactless Payment / Remote Monitoring, Developments Toward...

<ed.note>Since vendors are looking at remote monitoring for disease management I should list those as well. I'll also be on the look out for sensors which are car-based now that wi-fi is available in automobiles. There are some parallel developments which I guess I should mention: Major League Baseball and other event vendors as well as transportation providers and social networks are putting the cell phone closer to the center of their business models. ( Robert Neelbauer on social graphs here -- cells will eventually be tracked by them. ) Of course, on the other end of the spectrum is home automation.</ed.note>

Phillips (still using POTS lines)
Qualcomm
Nokia's Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco

Shout out to http://www.wirelesshealthcare.co.uk who usually gets these stories before anyone else.

The Tech Scene: Banking by Cell Phone - This Time It's for Real?,
Use of Mobile and Wireless Technology Jumps in Hospitals,

iPhone ? ? ? ( Remember Osirix ), icefirst, liferecord, Access, aKos, ARANZ Medical, Asia eHealth presentations, Banco do Brasil, Blackberry [2], Diebold, Docobo, ebay VOIP (Skype), Gemalto, Google [2][3][4], INSIDE Contactless, J/Speedy, mBlox, mFoundry, Microsoft, m-Wallet, Obopay, payWave, Mayo Clinic InTouch, NTT DoCoMo, PayPal Credit Card, Privium, Samsung, telSpace, Telzuit's Bio-Patch PDA,
Telemedicine & eHealth Directory 2005, Verisign, ViVOtech, FeliCa, [2], Mifare [2], NFC Forum, Blackberry, Ubuntu mobile, Globe Telecom and Smart Communications

Will Law Enforcement's Inability to Combat Identity Theft Render the NHIN Moot?

<ed.note>I don't know if you've had opportunity to see the "TO CATCH AN ID THIEF" episode of Dateline but it makes the case that the credit card networks are completely broken in terms of their ability to prevent ID theft. IRQ chat rooms exchange cracked and stolen data at a truly astounding rate - multiple country false charges to accounts to their limits in much less than five minutes. If you monitor the comments from the blog entry you'll see that virtually no one is getting any effective cooperation from local police or FBI for prosecutions. Sandra Kay Miller, in Invasion of the Identity Snatchers, adds some other factors to the topic.

The commentors from the Dateline blog also make the point that using the Luhn formula ( available everywhere in the public domain ) it is relatively easy to guess legitimate credit card numbers under the current regime -- a reality cited as a cause of ID theft in addition to, or comingled with, the theft of data.</ed.note>

If You'd Like To Advocate For FOSS in Healthcare

as Ignacio H. Valdes, MD, MS suggests, you might want to call in on the AHIC Successor Public Technical Assistance Meeting to be held 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern on September 5, 2007, to ask detailed questions related to a Notice of Funding Availability (NoFA) to resource an entity designated to design and establish the AHIC successor by Spring 2008 and the role FOSS will play. 

Here's the current vision.

MIRTH 1.6 Released

Chris Lang for the Mirth Team writes:

We are very excited to announce Mirth 1.6. Mirth 1.6 adds NCPDP transaction support to Mirth's growing list of supported standards which include HL7, X12, EDI, and XML.

Mirth 1.6 also includes new enterprise features such as support for high-volume transaction processing and a plug-in architecture to simplify the inclusion and distribution of Mirth extensions.

Here is a list of some of the features added to Mirth in this release:

• NCPDP messaging support
• Plug-in functionality
• Enhanced message workflow
• Global scripting support
• Deploy, Shutdown, Postprocessor scripts
• Client-mode LLP Receiver
• Real-time connection status monitoring
• Web-Service authentication
• Dynamic listener/sender addresses
• Improved LLP, JMS, HTTP and TCP connectors
• Ability to poll by time of day (JDBC, File, FTP, SFTP)
• Ability to access sockets from transformer
• Compatibility fixes for Meditech, Centricity and .Net servers
• Backup and Restore
• Upgrade and Migration support
• JBoss compatibility

For the full list of enhancements and bug fixes in Mirth 1.6 see the
release notes at:
http://www.mirthproject.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64
&Itemid=73

The Mirth Project resonates with Health Information Exchanges (HIE), EHR and PHR vendors, laboratories, hospitals, and HIT system integrators. NCPDP transaction support is a natural extension for Mirth to fast-track the pharmacy industry with low-cost interoperability solutions. The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs thought that NCPDP transaction support in Mirth is a great idea:

"Mirth is an open source, standards-based Health IT messaging system that supports NCPDP, X12N, EDI, and HL7 transactions and, as a result, aligns well with the messaging infrastructure advocated by the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs," said Lee Ann Stember, President of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs Organization. "Being an OSS HIT interface engine solution, Mirth lowers cost barriers, fosters the NCPDP community, and could facilitate common infrastructures for pharmacy claims, Medication Therapy Management (MTM), and automated Prior Authorization (PA) systems, to name a few."

You can download Mirth 1.6 at: http://mirthproject.org

2) ALL NEW WEBINAR SET FOR SEPTEMBER 4TH

We are pleased to announce an ALL NEW Mirth Webinar. This webinar will focus on a demonstration of Mirth 1.6 features and a Mirth Appliance solution.

Mirth 1.6 Webinar
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT
https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/734450238

Thanks for all your contributions and support!

Google and Microsoft Look to Change Health Care

August 14, 2007 By Steve Lohr, nytimes.com

In politics, every serious candidate for the White House has a health care plan. So too in business, where the two leading candidates for Web supremacy, Google and Microsoft, are working up their plans to improve the nation’s health care.