Advocates and developers of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) in the field of medical informatics have been participating in the Med-e-Tel conference since its start in 2002. In 2010 for the first time at a scientific health ICT conference a dedicated conference track to this topical area was offered. The idea was to pool all related submissions, facilitate collaboration between its authors and offer an open forum for any interested participants. The so called "Benefits of Free/Libre Open Source Software in Health Care (FLOSS-HC)" track was well received by its participants and is since then an integral part of the Med-e-Tel conference.

Some of the past keynote speakers at Med-e-Tel have also been recruited from the worldwide FLOSS community like Joseph Dal Molin of WorldVista and Luis Falcon of GNU Health. In the scope of the FLOSS-HC track well-known projects have been presented like bika lims, DebianMed, iPath, OpenEMPI, OSOR.eu (meanwhile merged into Joinup) and Medfloss.org to name just a few.

This year's edition of Med-e-Tel has come up with a new concept in order to advance its proven Open Source and Free Software focus. An "Open Source Village" in the central expo and networking area of the conference will be available in order to facilitate, advance and discuss the utilization of Open Source Software in health care.

Current participants already include Freemedforms, GNU Health, iPath, Joinup and Medfloss.org.

Med-e-Tel media partner Hands On Telehealth is giving away a free eBook on telehealth strategy. In this book, you can find:

• The #1 mistake people make with their telehealth programs
• The 3 areas you must address in order to get buy-in for a telehealth product or service
• The one thing you must always be doing for your program
• How you can simplify all the activities involved in telehealth

Click here to download the free eBook.

When you get the eBook, you will also be able to receive updates from Hands On Telehealth on other ways to advance telehealth. You will also receive:

• A one-of-a-kind eNewsletter with practical ideas for growing telehealth products and services
• Notifications on new episodes of the Hands On Telehealth Interview Show -  where telehealth experts share insights and detailed advice on succeeding with telehealth.

Click here to get started and to get your free telehealth strategy eBook.

In collaboration with the Health and Wellbeing Unit of the European Commission, the EU SME eHealth Competition rewards the best eHealth solutions in Europe with visibility and marketing opportunities. A short-list of SMEs is currently being selected to participate in the competition final which will take place in Dublin on May 13th as part of eHealth Week.

In this edition, apart from cash, prizes include free tickets and mentoring opportunities. The final is also an excellent opportunity to network with potential customers, partners and investors. More information here.

More than a hundred college students celebrating the end of summer were injured in the devastating nightclub fire that claimed the lives of 236 others last weekend in the town of Santa Maria in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. While the South American nation mourns the loss of so many young lives, doctors in medical centers from Brazil and around the world are working with physicians and volunteers in Santa Maria to care for the injured survivors.

In collaboration with local organizations in S�o Paulo, a GlobalMed Transportable Exam Station (TES) was flown to Porto Alegre Airport, where it was placed on board a smaller plane and taken to Santa Maria. The carry-on medical device allows the local hospitals to assist in the assessment of patients and enable communication in real-time with outside specialists.

For GlobalMed employee, Manoel Coelho, a native of Brazil, this tragedy has impacted him on both a personal and professional level. "I am very saddened by this terrible tragedy. Only a few months ago, I had the privilege of taking the same transportable examination device to London, where it was used during the Olympic games to help the medical team care for the health of the Brazilian athletes. After the games, this device was permanently stationed in S�o Paulo. Now, just a few months later, it is being used to help those in need in Santa Maria," stated Coelho.

Meet Manuel Coelho and GlobalMed colleagues at Med-e-Tel 2013 to find out more about their telemedicine solutions and their experience worldwide.

The healthcare sector is undergoing a transformation that puts communications technology at the center of more efficient, cost-effective and equitable means of delivery. Network operators see multiple opportunities to become an essential part of the delivery chain and extend their presence beyond generic networking services.

The opportunities are substantial and involve the full range of fixed-line, mobile, M2M, telecom cloud and IT services. Healthcare data is moving to the secure cloud, starting with radiology imaging and patient records, to take advantage of SaaS pricing models and multi-user collaboration. Simultaneously, the need for decentralized delivery of care to the home is creating new markets that exploit the ingenuity of M2M monitoring and control.

Informa's Enterprise Verticals Activity Monitor (EVAM) ranks operators' commitment to the B2B and B2B2C healthcare market based on their public announcements and statements from 1Q11 to 4Q12.

In this study, Orange Healthcare is ranked 3rd behind BT and Verizon. According to Sheridan Nye, Orange Healthcare's profile is quite different from those of its two peers. The group combines the advantages of an incumbent carrier with the multiregion footprint of its mobile operator subsidiaries and global Orange Business Services division. It therefore scores highly on both the geographic reach and diversity of its connected-health portfolio.

In France, Orange is an accredited provider of secure access to patient records and supplies networking and applications throughout the healthcare provider system.
Orange Business Services provides M2M connectivity for telehealth platforms and service providers, such as Qualcomm Life's healthcare platform in Europe and Ideal Life's telehealth hubs in Europe and Latin America.
It also provides cloud infrastructure for a SaaS radiology imaging service with GE Healthcare.
The operator's global Health unit has forged several partnerships with medtech specialists, notably with Sorin providing the connectivity solution for remote monitoring of cardiac-rhythm-management implants, now launched in five countries in Europe.
It also worked with Telus Health on a trial of technology to remotely monitor kidney disease patients in France. Although the Calydial service could potentially save substantial sums compared with traditional dialysis, regulatory approval is needed before it can move beyond trial status.

Meet Orange Healthcare representatives at Med-e-Tel 2013 to discuss how you can work in partnership with them on eHealth and telehealth solutions.