Welcome to the July 2011 issue of the Cone Connection - your source for medical imaging news, product information and Cone promotions.

This month, we focus on how mobile technology is affecting the healthcare industry. From tablets to smartphones, and the thousands of medical imaging apps available, mobile technology's impact will redefine healthcare as we know it in the next few years. We'll look at the good, bad and the ugly surrounding this latest trend.

Our promotion of the month is great for the busy ultrasound department. Simply take our 5 question survey for your chance to win a FREE ergo kit ($100 value).

Finally, Cone Instruments recently launched an e-catalog, a handy tool to view the wide variety of imaging products we offer for ultrasound, radiology, nuclear medicine and more.

Thanks for being a valued Cone Instruments customer. We appreciate your business and look forward to being your source for medical imaging supplies, in 2011 and beyond.

The healthcare community’s quick adoption of mobile technology is drastically changing the future of healthcare delivery - whether it’s on-the-go, at patients’ homes or at healthcare facilities.

However, as technology moves at lightning speed, government regulators, health facility IT administrators and healthcare organizations must keep up to regulate and protect the information.

In this article, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of mobile technology in the healthcare setting. As we’ll see, for as many clinical advances the marketplace offers through technology and apps, there must be a constant vigilance to make sure the transmitted information is correct and secure.

The first half of 2011 has brought unprecedented advancements to mobile health technologies due to the efforts of clinicians, the government, mobile device manufacturers and developers.

Just one year after the first generation iPad tablet computer debuted in early 2010, it’s estimated that 27% of primary care and specialty physicians own an iPad or similar tablet device – a rate 5 times higher than the general population. It’s also reported that 64% of doctors own a smartphone. With numbers like these, mobile health technology has no doubt already found its way into the clinical setting.

Federal funding has also increased to support this new technology. By the end of 2010, the National Health Institute funded nearly 150 grants, compared to 30 grants in 2005. In the late 1980s, the FDA began to publicly recognize the existence software that qualified as a medical device. In recent years, the FDA has cleared more and more mobile devices, and has started to clear mobile apps. Even President Obama mentioned it during his 2011 State of the Union Address.

Over the past few years, healthcare providers, mobile operators, health plans and developers have worked together to continuously enhance mobile-enabled health services, ensuring a seamless end-user experience.

There are several factors driving the popularity of mobile medicine.

Residents and younger medical imaging professionals have rapidly adopted this practice as a standard of doing research, obtaining patient information and reviewing images. Coming out of medical schools, physicians want to have convenient access at their fingertips.

It also provides a level of communication between physician and patient never seen before. Physicians can share test results or explain a patient’s condition using images via their smartphone or tablet, providing real-time consultation and enabling a more meaningful dialogue between patient and physician. Because much of the general population is becoming e-mobile, they could be in a position to request images/test results (perhaps an ultrasound scan of their fetus) sent to them as well, so they can share with others.

Most important is the fact that medical imaging is under constant pressure to do more with less. As reimbursements are stripped away, medical imaging providers must maximize their time spent with patients, and less on administrative functions. Mobile apps allow more efficient care in a quicker timeframe.

Every day, more and more medical and medical imaging apps hit the market, and they seem to answer every need a medical imaging provider could ever want (or never knew they needed).

From ultrasound to radiology, there are lots of options for every medical imaging modality. For pregnant women living in remote areas, midwives can use cell phone and mobile health technology to monitor fetal heartbeats or use remote ultrasound. vRad has developed several mobile apps, including one that delivers reports and key nondiagnostic images to referring physicians as soon as the report is signed. vueMe, the latest app from MIM Software, can be used to view results of CT, MR imaging and PET exams on mobile devices and use those images to make diagnoses. The iPhoneECG case and accompanying app delivers medical-grade Electrocardiogram readings. The app stores the heart rate record so the readings can be sent to a physician for evaluation. The list goes on and on.

Where do you begin your search to find apps that are best for you? A quick internet search on “medical apps” brought up many resources where you can download free apps, purchase apps for your particular tablet/smartphone or read app reviews by medical professionals. One website in particular, iMedicalApps.com, is a useful website where physicians and medical students review mobile medical technology and applications. The reviews are based on their own experiences in the hospital and clinic setting, so their experiences can provide a better hands-on account of an app than any marketing or sales pitch.

Like any healthcare worker that goes in and out of the clinical setting, mobile devices can increase the spread of bacteria and infections.

If using your tablet or mobile phone to share information with a patient face-to-face, common sense rules – simply don’t let the patient touch the device.

From an equipment perspective, there are a wide variety of medical-grade cases that are impervious to bodily fluids. Many cases can be easily cleaned with healthcare-grade disinfectant sprays or wipes, and some contain an anti-microbial additive to help resist the growth and spread of bacteria, mold and other germs.

Hospitals and other health care facilities should have guidelines as to the proper disinfection routines for these devices.

With physicians and other clinicians wanting to use their tablets or smartphones to access patient information anywhere and anytime, healthcare IT administrators face a host of new security challenges.

With faster access to information, it opens up new ways for the information to be compromised.

Some of the issues with granting hospital access to unmanaged mobile devices include, but aren’t limited to:

• potential data breaches because of lost/stolen devices
• PHI (protected health information) data being cached (stored) on mobile devices
• Security of data transmitted through public Wi-Fi or cellular networks
• Authentication of users on the hospital’s network

IT administrators and hospitals have made strides in giving clinicians access to patient information in order to provide better patient care. But, it’s a constant balance between information security and physician access, and a process that will continually evolve as technology advances.

Until recently, the FDA has been hesitant to approve applications intended for primary diagnosis, rather than secondary viewing.

As mentioned above, the VueMe app is the first radiology app to be approved by the FDA. VueMe initially debuted in Apple’s AppStore in 2008, but it was quickly pulled due to regulatory concerns. The FDA subsequently tested the performance of the app on multiple devices, measuring resolution, noise and luminance against international standards and guidelines. The app was approved in February 2011, 2+ years later. Many see this FDA approval as a tip of the iceberg for technology’s role in radiology, paving the way for future apps to come.

As you can tell, we’re just scratching the surface of mobile medicine. Will the benefits outweigh the risks? Will regulatory bodies be able to keep up with governing rapidly advancing technology? Will patients’ confidential health information be in danger of privacy breaches?

What we do know for sure – medicine as we know it will drastically change over the next few years.

Sources:

Our July 2011 promotion of the month, ideal for the busy ultrasound department, will help your sonographers scan with ease. Our FREE ergo kit (valued at $100) contains a cable brace, wrist support brace, ergonomic posters and much, much more. Simply take our short 5 question survey and you’ll automatically be entered to win. It’s that simple.

You’ll also be entered to win our grand prize of a FREE ergo chair (valued at $795). Good Luck!

We recently launched a new e-catalog, featuring a wide variety of imaging products from the 2010 full line catalog, without the risk of paper cuts.

For those of you who prefer to browse through a catalog, this is a great interactive tool that is quick and easy to use:

• Search by keyword
• “Mark up” the document with notes
• View in thumbnail or full size mode
• Click on a product or product number to link to that product page on coneinstruments.com
• Download the e-catalog as a pdf document to your computer for future access