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Med-e-Tel: new look, same mission!
This newsletter is your source for Med-e-Tel updates, news from the Med-e-Tel partners, sponsors, exhibitors and speakers, as well as other telemedicine and ehealth news from around the world.
As you may already have noticed, the Med-e-Tel look has changed just a bit over the past few months, but Med-e-Tel remains the International eHealth, Telemedicine and Health ICT Forum.
Med-e-Tel's mission is to bring together industry representatives, healthcare and social care professionals, researchers, educators and government officials for the purpose of learning, sharing experiences, networking and establishing business contacts.
Med-e-Tel 2009 is coming up ( April 1-3). Program details and registration facilities will go online on the Med-e-Tel website in the coming weeks. You can already find some preliminary details in this newsletter.
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Featured Partner
The International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH) exists to facilitate the international dissemination of knowledge and experience in telemedicine and ehealth and to provide access to recognized experts in the field worldwide.
Currently, national and institutional organizations from over 45 countries are already involved in the ISfTeH.
The ISfTeH will host several conference sessions at Med-e-Tel 2009, as well as present some of its members in the expo area. Also a Member Breakfast Meeting is planned during Med-e-Tel as well as a meeting of the ISfTeH Board of Directors. So there will be plenty of opportunity to meet and network with people who are at the forefront of telemedicine and ehealth development in their country.
Join the ISfTeH at Med-e-Tel and learn more about how you can become part of our growing international telemedicine and ehealth network and how the ISfTeH can help you to develop your business, promote your research, enhance your healthcare services, or broaden your educational programs.
Med-e-Tel works together with a distinguished academy of organizations, associations and institutions who are active in the fields of ehealth, telemedicine, and health ICT.
Click here for a full list of supporting organizations and partners. |
Featured Media Partners
E-Health Europe is the independent news and business information source for Healthcare Information Technology across Europe. It is an English language service providing unbiased, incisive original news and analysis. The service is delivered by an award-winning editorial team.
The E-Health Europe portal provides high-level coverage of key policy, technology and industry trends in the sector, including major national, trans-national and regional procurements, initiatives and projects.
The eHealthNews.eu portal is a leading eHealth news web based platform with core competence and innovative strength in advancing the European eHealth industrial and research sectors, promoting awareness of the latest trends, achievements and technology in the field.
Published by Pan Global Media, International Hospital Equipment & Solutions (IHE) reports on medical technology news and solutions for the modern hospital. Targeting senior physicians and medical department heads, hospital management, IT specialists and biomedical engineers in Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, IHE offers a personally requested BPA circulation of over 22,000.
Published since 1986, MENA Health World (MHW) is a specialized business magazine that covers the latest advancements and technologies in the medical, laboratory, pharmaceutical and nutrition sectors. It is circulated to the desktop of over 6,280 leading decision-makers engaged in the afore-mentioned sectors.
THIIS (The Homecare Industry Information Service) is used by all the pro-active companies in the UK homecare marketplace. A monthly magazine and a weekly email bulletin keeps members up to date with news and views. THIIS is used by dealers, retailers, manufacturers and suppliers and has members in most European countries as well as many other countries around the world. The THIIS website is used by professionals, UK companies and trade contacts throughout the world to keep in touch with new products and new developments.
Healthcare IT News Europe provides comprehensive, breaking news coverage of European healthcare IT developments. You will find updated daily news from an award-winning editorial team of U.S. and European-based correspondents, as well as headlines from other top IT websites. Sign up to receive Healthcare IT News Europe, a weekly e-newsletter.
The Journal of CyberTherapy and Rehabilitation (JCR) is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal which explores the uses of advanced technologies for behavioral healthcare. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to psychiatry, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, neurorehabilitation, oncology, obesity, eating disorders, AIDS, neurology, and autism, among many others. This journal is targeted to academics, psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, educators, computer scientists, and those interested in the use of advanced technologies for the enhancement of traditional healthcare.
The Med-e-Tel media partnerships provide you with a look at a wide range of healthcare and medical journals, magazines and on-line news and information services that will help you to stay abreast of what is going on in the field of ehealth, telemedicine and healthcare IT and to make better informed decisions in your daily business or healthcare practice.
Pick up your personal copy of these publications in the Media Corner at Med-e-Tel 2009! |
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Med-e-Tel 2009: education, networking, business  eHealth, Telemedicine and Health ICT are a tool at the service of medical and nurse practitioners, patients, citizens, healthcare institutions and governments. It involves many different stakeholders who need to be brought face-to-face to share aspirations, learn from research and experiences, show the possibilities, understand the market, discover new applications. Med-e-Tel is the meeting place with a proven potential for Education, Networking and Business among a global audience with diverse professional backgrounds.
EDUCATION
Attend the vast Med-e-Tel conference program featuring over 150 presentations and workshops, and learn from experience built up by experts from around the world. Hear about current applications and best practice examples, see a glimpse of future trends in telemedicine and ehealth, and their effect on the healthcare system as a whole. Get an update on new developments that will allow you to stay ahead and make more effective and efficient use of technologies to improve quality of health and social care.
NETWORKING
Med-e-Tel promotes and enhances cooperation opportunities, and is the place to establish partnerships and contacts, both globally and locally. Meet and network with healthcare and industry stakeholders. Attend meetings from a number of international and regional associations, and expand your network.
BUSINESS
See the solutions and technology at work in the expo area. Participate in demonstrations that will give you a better view on the potential behind telemedicine and ehealth tools. Exchange ideas and form new partnerships.
The opening session of this year's Med-e-Tel conference program will feature representatives of some of the following organizations: International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), World Health Organization (WHO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International Council of Nurses (ICN), International Association of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation (IACR), European Commission, European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL), Russian Telemedicine Association, Rockefeller Foundation, Ministries of Health, as well as some industry leaders.
Final arrangements are being made and details will be announced shortly.
The Med-e-Tel conference program will also present additional workshops and sessions on themes such as:
- evidence on telemedicine and ehealth effectiveness and efficiency;
- EU telemedicine & ehealth projects;
- various national and international initiatives in cooperation with member associations of the ISfTeH;
- telenursing, nursing informatics;
- telemedicine and chronic disease management in cooperation with EHTEL;
- experiences in cybertherapy, telerehabilitation and telepsychology in cooperation with the IACR;
- a training session on "eHealth Master Plan Development" in cooperation with the expert group on "Telecommunication for eHealth" within the ITU;
- a regional hospital administrator seminar;
- various user experiences and recent research in elearning, mobile technologies, specific application domains such as telecardiology, ehealth in developing countries, and much more.
Overall, Med-e-Tel promotes and enhances cooperation opportunities and is the place to meet and network with healthcare and industry stakeholders from 50 countries in Europe and around the world. Med-e-Tel 2009 is scheduled for 1-3 April 2009 in Luxembourg. Online registration will open soon. More information is available at www.medetel.eu or via info@medetel.eu. |
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Med-e-Tel call for abstracts closing next week
The abstract submission deadline for the Med-e-Tel 2009 conference program has been extended until January 16th.
Presentation proposals for inclusion into the Med-e-Tel conference program are welcome at education@medetel.eu. We encourage contributions on practical experiences, projects, pilots, and research activities. Through the practice-oriented presentations, and the Med-e-Tel expo and its extensive networking opportunities, attendees will have unmatched possibilities to gather the latest news from leaders in the field and to establish new professional relationships. Click here for relevant topics and submission guidelines. Contact us at education@medetel.eu for more information, or to find out how you can feature your company or organization in the Med-e-Tel conference program and expo. |
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Telemedicine: delivering the evidence The 7th edition of the annual Med-e-Tel conference in Luxembourg will focus extensively on proven and tested telemedicine applications and provide evidence on clinical effectiveness and economic efficiency as well as on user aspects and satisfaction, and on some dos-and-don'ts of telemedicine implementation into care processes.
In its recent, so-called "Telemedicine Communication" (COM(2008)689), the European Commission also calls for provision and dissemination of scientific evidence of telemedicine effectiveness and cost effectiveness as one of the actions to increase confidence and acceptance of telemedicine services and subsequently to improve access for citizens and healthcare professionals to telemedicine and ehealth services.
Numerous pilot projects have been conducted over the past few years, but the mainstream rollout of telemedicine is still lagging behind. More recently, large scale pilots have been started up and also some sustainable programs have been implemented. While more large scale pilots will be set up in the near future, Med-e-Tel in the meantime will already provide concrete data on some of those current telemedicine projects and programs (primarily involving telemonitoring technologies). Data such as patient numbers, clinical and economic results, and user acceptance will be presented and can serve as a guideline for future projects and programs. It will also shed light on the possible business models and how hospitals, primary care and homecare services can get involved in new and integrated care models.
Also the European Health Telematics Association's (EHTEL) Task Force on "Telemedicine & Chronic Disease Management" is currently working on building evidence about the impact and opportunities offered by sustainable telemedicine services in the context of the need for changing care processes and will contribute to the Med-e-Tel program.
If you would also like to present results and data from your telemedicine programs or projects, contact us at info@medetel.eu.
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Budgeting and strategies for the future
A regional hospital administrator seminar, endorsed by the Luxembourg Ministry of Health and CRP-Santé (Public Research Centre for Health), will focus on "budgeting and strategies for the future" taking into account the impact of new ICT tools and ehealth applications.
A returning feature at Med-e-Tel, this seminar brings together representatives from all major hospitals and other industry stakeholders in Luxembourg as well as various Belgian healthcare institutions, and presents business cases from a number of industry leaders and their clients who draw from successful experiences. Past industry contributors to this seminar include Alcatel-Lucent, C-Consult Advice, Cerner, Cisco, GFI, IBM, IRIS, McKesson, Telindus, YUSE, and others.
This whole day seminar is scheduled for Thursday 2 April. For more information, or to get involved, contact us at info@medetel.eu. |
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How to implement ehealth solutions? Med-e-Tel 2009 will feature a special training session on "How to Implement eHealth Solutions?", chaired by Professor Leonid Androuchko who is the rapporteur on Question 14 (Telecommunication for eHealth) within the ITU-Development Sector Study Group 2 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The main goal of this session is to assist participants, in particular from developing countries, in the preparation of a long-term strategic plan for developing and implementing ehealth services (a so-called "eHealth Master Plan"). Based on the main development goals of the local Ministry of Health and the existing telecommunication infrastructure in the country, participants will be adviced on how to select the most appropriate telemedicine and ehealth solutions and applications for their country. Special attention will be given to mobile ehealth (mhealth).
At last year's Med-e-Tel (2008), this training program was highly successful. Although a group of 10 attendees had requested to participate in the training program, the session ended up attracting 40 participants from 22 countries, who rated the session and discussions very positively.
The program of the 2009 session will be even more practically oriented and will consist of several presentations made by experts on how to tackle the preparation of an eHealth Master Plan together with a few successful case studies from selected countries. Topics will include:
- review of the WHO eHealth Resolution;
- role of the International Telecommunication Union;
- development of an eHealth Master Plan;
- main structure of an eHealth Master Plan;
- review of implemented projects;
- the "last mile" challenge in the implementation of telemedicine networks in developing countries;
- how to be successful in the introduction of eHealth services.
Several individual meetings will be offered to participants from developing countries, assisting them in drafting the strategic plans. In order to make these meetings useful and successful, participants will have to bring with them the information about the healthcare challenges in their country and the development priorities of their Ministry of Health.
To express your interest for participation in this session and in the indiviual meetings and consultations, send an e-mail to info@medetel.eu. Requests for the individual meetings and consultations need to be arranged in advance of the event. |
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Telenursing workshop scheduled for Med-e-Tel 2009  Med-e-Tel 2009 will feature a workshop by the Telenursing Working Group that has been set up within the framework of the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH). The goal of the group is to bring telenursing experience to nurses worldwide and enhance networking with key industry stakeholders, by organizing sessions and meetings at existing events like Med-e-Tel. The group was actually initiated at last year's Med-e-Tel and held an inaugural workshop at the joint Canadian Society of Telehealth / ISfTeH conference in Ottawa last October. The Telenursing Working Group is also collaborating with the International Council of Nurses, to get its message and experience across to a large nursing audience.
More details about the group's goals are available here. The telenursing workshop at Med-e-Tel 2009 will provide the opportunity for (tele)nurses to network with international colleagues and industry representatives. It will also be an excellent opportunity to share telenursing experiences and expertise and consider how these insights and learnings might be used by others, as well as to consider what strategic approaches are needed to promote consistent and high quality telenursing practice internationally. Topics will include an overview of the history & emerging role of telenursing; tips for operational success; preparation, regulation & skills; blending of telemonitoring technology and telenursing practice. More details will be available in upcoming Med-e-Tel newsletters and on the Med-e-Tel website. Or contact us for more information on how you can also get involved. |
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Aerotel adds new telehealth and telecare solutions
 Aerotel Medical Systems, one of the world's leading suppliers of advanced remote monitoring solutions for personal telehealth and telecare, recently introduced several new innovative solutions. A distributed tele-cardiology call center solution, remote ECG transmission and mobile telecare solutions were among the innovations revealed. "Innovation and flexibility are the key to Aerotel's success," commented David Rubin, Aerotel Medical Systems President & CEO. "There is a growing need for low cost and flexible telehealth and telecare solutions. Healthcare providers are looking for more responsive ways to reduce costs and enhance the level of care. Our remote monitoring solutions are making this possible by saving time and money associated with unnecessary hospital visits and by providing immediate access to medical and personal assistance in case of need."
The new solutions include:
- The Multiple Heartline Receiving System (MHRS™), a low cost solution for tele-cardiology. The system enables the creation of multiple tele-cardiology call center scenarios with separate databases, based around a single call center installation, using high-speed virtual private network (VPN) connection to remote stations. This enables small clinics or regional hospitals to set up and operate their own private tele-cardiology call center with very little investment. Physicians are able to view patient data and provide ECG interpretation and advice from practically anywhere, reducing the physical space and costs required to run the call center operation. With this solution establishing multiple small tele-cardiology call centers within a country or a region now requires very small investment by each participating clinic, and can be highly cost-effective even for serving a small number of patients.
- The Heartline Remote Receiver (HRR™), a multi-functional PC-Based software application designed for clinics and physicians offices. It can acoustically record, display, print and transmit patient's ECG signals over the Internet to a monitoring and interpreting call center. HRR Plus™ is the latest version of HRR™ that now supports the entire range of Aerotel's ECG monitoring devices, from single-lead to 12-lead. With HRR Plus the referring physician can remotely access the patient database for viewing and diagnosis. HRR Plus™ ensures automatic reception of the ECG trace at the monitoring center and thus facilitates prompt response and efficient tracking of a patient's health condition.
- GeoSKeeper™, a wearable safety phone with tracking capabilities, intended for tele-assistance, social alarm and telecare services. It is designed specifically for use by elderly, disabled or chronically-ill persons. GeoSKeeper™ enables users to be in close contacts with their relatives or caregivers and get immediate assistance in case of need via its embedded two-way cellular speakerphone and built-in GPS receiver.
More details are available from www.aerotel.com. See these and other Aerotel products at work at Med-e-Tel 2009! |
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Vitalsys introduces Vitaltronics  Vitalsys, the Belgian leader for telemedicine technology,
supports several organizations for the follow-up in real time of the vital parameters of their patients at home with its VitalCare telemonitoring solution.
For use with its telemonitoring platform, Vitalsys had previously already developed prototypes of telemonitoring devices, in collaboration with various technological partners like CETIC and Verhaert New Products & Services. Meanwhile, the market for these devices grew considerably. A market study suggested that innovative telemedicine devices were still an underexploited niche. Vitalsys owned the IP of several telemedicine device prototypes and
other parties (universities and other R&D Centers) were looking for
a way to value this IP. The best way to do so, was to offer a portfolio
of telemedicine and healthcare devices through a new company. As a
consequence, Vitalsys founded Vitaltronics. Vitaltronics conceives, produces and sells technology for medicine and telemonitoring.
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Enhanced visibility with the new Med-e-Tel sponsorship packages
Increase your company's or organization's exposure and visibility at Med-e-Tel by actively participating in the event's expo and conference program.
Med-e-Tel now offers sponsorship packages that will provide you with extensive marketing, promotional and dissemination opportunities before, during and after the actual event through the website, publications, expo, presentations, signage, receptions, mailings, newsletters, and more.
Look into the Med-e-Tel 2009 sponsorship prospectus and sponsorship packages for more information, or contact us at info@medetel.eu to discuss participation opportunities. |
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Med-e-Tel 2009 hotel bookings If you are planning to attend Med-e-Tel and need a hotel room, the Luxembourg Convention Bureau, who administers the Med-e-Tel hotel reservations, advises to submit reservations on time. Room blocks are limited and will be attributed on a first come, first served basis. Click here for more hotel info and a reservation form. |
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Newsbriefs To follow are links to some interesting and recently published articles, studies, interviews and reports (if you would like to suggest an article for inclusion into a following newsletter, feel free to send details to info@medetel.eu):
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