Digital Health bits | December 30th 2020

Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer

#DigitalHealth #Innovation #AI #DigitalTherapeutics #COVID-19 #TeleHealth

How the Health Care Landscape Will Change in 2021

While it’s been difficult this year to predict what the next month will bring for health care, a few longer-term impacts are much clearer, including how digital health will continue to be transformed.

Here are three predictions for 2021 by health care thought leaders:

1. Hybrid Models Will Bring Systemwide Virtualization
2. AI Will Show an Impact in Disease Detection
3. Health Care Will Become More Decentralized as Patients Access Care Outside Their Communities

Read more: https://www.aha.org/aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2020-12-22-how-health-care-landscape-will-change-2021

After coronavirus vaccine, 'vaccine passport' is the next thing to acquire

Coronavirus vaccine: Tech firms such as IBM have also developed its own app called the Digital Health Pass that allows venues and companies to customise the indicators that they need to allow entry to someone.

If you are hoping that the coronavirus vaccine will bring back normal life, then hold your horses. There is likely to be one more obstacle before you travel and shop like before. In order to live life like before, you might require a vaccine passport application.

Several companies and technology groups which are developing smartphone apps have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their COVID-19 tests and vaccinations, as mentioned in a report in CNN. This would create digital credentials that can be shown at the entry of movie theatres, offices, concerts, stadiums and even countries.

Singapore airlines testing world-first digital health verification process

Singapore Airlines has become the first major airline to test a digital health verification process used to verify a passenger’s COVID-19 test results and vaccination status, in what the company described as the new normal for travel.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) recently announced that it has commenced the world’s first trials of a “health verification process” developed by a major airline lobby, the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The verification is enabled by an application developed by Affinidi, a Temasek-founded technology company enabling portable and verifiable data credentials.

The app, known as Travel Pass, is being used on flights operated by Singapore Airlines from Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. The company said that it could extend the program to other cities in the SIA route network if the trials are successful.

Customers who take their COVID-19 tests at selected clinics in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur will be given either digital or paper health certificates with a QR code. Airport check-in staff and Singapore’s immigration authority will be able to verify the authenticity of these certificates via a secure mobile app, and ensure that the customers meet Singapore’s entry requirements. 

Google's five buzziest healthcare moves in 2020

Google's activity in 2020 highlight how it's leveraging its cloud service to widen its stance in healthcare. In this third and final installment of our Big Tech Countdown, we recount Google's top 5 healthcare plays from the year—and explore what 2021 could look like for the tech titan.

1. Google teamed up with Apple on a joint coronavirus contact tracing API—which gained momentum in some states, albeit with lingering privacy concerns among consumers.
2. Google sister company Verily forayed into health insurance for the first time—and expanded insurance offerings are likely on the horizon for 2021.
3. Google Cloud inked a $100 million deal with telehealth bellwether Amwell to become its preferred global cloud provider.
4. Google Cloud unveiled a new healthcare AI suite, hitting on doctors' admin headaches—which should help it grab a larger slice of the growing cloud market.
5. The tech giant lifted the curtain on its Healthcare Interoperability Readiness program—just in time to help payers and providers that are struggling to comply with HHS' April 2021 interoperability mandate deadline.

Aurora Tele-Oncology partners with UMP Healthcare to launch oncology telemedicine services in Mainland China

Under the partnership, both parties will collaborate to bring cross-border, virtual oncology telemedicine services to cancer patients in Mainland China, supported by a panel of Hong Kong oncology experts.

Founded in Hong Kong in July 2020, Aurora Tele-Oncology Limited, an oncology-specific teleconsultation platform striving to improve cancer care, recently announced a strategic partnership with Hainan UMP Internet Hospital, a telemedicine center of UMP Healthcare Holdings Limited. Hainan UMP Internet Hospital was granted a practicing license by the Health Commission of Hainan Province in August 2020.

Under the partnership, both parties will collaborate to bring cross-border, virtual oncology telemedicine services to cancer patients in Mainland China, supported by a panel of Hong Kong oncology experts. This strategic collaboration will initially target the Hainan province as a pilot, with plans to expand further to the rest of Mainland China.

UMP has also made a strategic investment in Aurora Tele-Oncology to further strengthen the collaboration and support future development of the oncology telemedicine services platform.

Web MD: Docs Go Digital in Pandemic Era

“Telehealth” has been evolving on the periphery of medicine for years. But when the pandemic hit this year, the delivery of healthcare really went digital to spread a safety net for patients and providers.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine working from home as a physician,” said Dr. Ann Marie Richards of FirstHealth Family Medicine in Pinehurst. “This is a whole new way to deliver care.”

Pre-pandemic, FirstHealth on the Go was rolled out as a 24/7 app for patients suffering from minor ailments who could not get to their primary care physician. But federal privacy restrictions in place prior to mid-March restricted doctors to only a few, secured video platforms for telehealth services, and not all health insurance providers would cover these kinds of e-visits.

Changes in those regulations made early this spring allowed for rapid growth and expansion of virtual healthcare. According to data from McKinsey & Co., 46 percent of U.S. patients have used telehealth to replace an in-person appointment this year.

“How do you perform a physical exam virtually? As physicians we are always learning and this was definitely something new to learn,” Richards said. “When Phase 1 restrictions hit, we knew we needed to be innovative.”

Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer