Sleep apnea is a type of sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep. CPAP treatment can lower the risks for patients but adherence is key. Yet 20 to 30% of them discontinue their medication within four months. Telehealth can help.

Below is an infographic developed by Orange Healthcare that details these numbers and shows how telehealth can help patients who suffer from sleep apnea (click on the infographic to view a larger version).

Recently, Orange also announced the introduction of homecareONLINE, an end-to-end telehealth solution for sleep apnea patients. This was developed in close cooperation with Weinmann, a global manufacturer of therapeutic system solutions in sleep medicine and ventilation. More info can be found here. And a video on "eHealth to the benefit of sleep apnea" can be seen here.

The European Code of Practice for Telehealth Services was formally launched end October. The Code marks the culmination of extensive work by partners to the European Commission funded TeleSCoPE project and it fits well with some of the roadmaps that have been addressed in the European Commission's eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020 that was released last year.

The Code of Practice provides a benchmark standard against which telehealth service providers can be accredited. The service 'domains' in the Code are concerned with such matters as health coaching, medication adherence and activity monitoring as well as vital-signs monitoring and social alarms.

The Code structure gives close attention to key issues around, for instance, ethical principles and personal information management. The 55 clauses and five appendices offer a framework by which telehealth services are guided and supported.

Telehealth services throughout the EU are now being invited to consider becoming accredited to the Code. This may mean reviewing the way they currently operate and making some adjustments. New services will be able to be guided by the Code and its clauses.

By virtue of providing a benchmark standard, the Code also has the potential to satisfy the requirements of governments, public and regulatory bodies who are concerned for any services that contribute to meeting people's healthcare and support needs.

The Code also aims to help give ordinary people, users and carers confidence and trust in the services which they may use. Perhaps high among the potential risks when using or accessing telehealth services are those that relate to the safeguarding of personal information but there are also crucial considerations addressed in the Code that relate to service sustainability; the way that services are marketed and that technologies are procured; and the way in which communication takes place with users in both face to face and teleconsultations. Without these, and the other requirements within the Code, there is a risk of an unconstrained market where commercial objectives could over-ride those which are concerned with care and support.

The Code can be viewed and downloaded from www.telehealthcode.eu. For more information or to see if and how your telehealth service can be accredited against this Code, contact Malcolm Fisk.

The Luxembourg National eHealth Agency (Agence eSanté Luxembourg) has been awarded the organization of the IHE-Europe Connectathon in 2015.

The Connectathon will be held in conjunction with Med-e-Tel 2015 in the week of April 20th, 2015.

The IHE-Europe Connectathon is a 5-day event which main purpose is testing the interoperability and connectivity of healthcare IT systems across a variety of domains including Radiology, Cardiology, Pathology, Patient Care Devices, Patient Care Coordination, Pharmacy, Laboratory, and IT Infrastructure. This traditional event draws participation from across Europe, with more than 90 companies and 300 engineers participating. The Connectathon provides a unique opportunity for vendors to test the interoperability of their products in a structured environment with peer vendors. Participants test against multiple vendors using real world clinical scenarios following IHE Integration Profiles specifications.

More details will be available already by the time of Med-e-Tel 2014 (9-11 April 2014), where the Agence eSanté will also present, together with other Luxembourg partners and eHealth technology providers, their achievements to date and future developments.

eMedic, a European Interreg project, develops new practices for virtual consultation in medicine. The focus is on diabetes and pediatrics. One of the main challenges is to anchor new eHealth working procedures into daily routines.

An eMedic trial currently taking place in Latvia involves diabetes patients who use self-management tools, and diabetic ulcer patients who are being followed up via teleconsultation.

In the self-management group, patients are being followed up through remote monitoring and supplied with special glycometers and smart phones with application, which enable data transfer about glycaemia, meals, and sports activities to a web portal. Doctors use the web portal to make treatment plans for their patients. And during virtual visits, doctors analyze the patient's data entered into the portal and, if necessary, make adjustments to treatment plans online.

Diabetic ulcer patients who are living in distant regions, receive teleconsultation sessions (via videoconferencing) in their regional hospital, where they are connected to the Paul Stradins Clinical University Hospital and its multidisciplinary team of doctors consisting of endocrinologist, surgeon, podologist, infection specialist and diabetes nurse.

Experience with education/coaching, teleconsultation, mHealth, usability and user experience, sustainability of services, patient involvement and adherence, technical infrastructure and standards/interoperability in Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Sweden will be presented in more detail at Med-e-Tel 2014 by eMedic partners.

Kuopio Innovation (Finland) have started to build a Games for Health Finland network. Kuopio Innovation are a member in the Finnish Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (national member for Finland in the ISfTeH).

The network currently already includes a university hospital, rehabilitation centers, school for children with special need, fitness centers, public care facilities for elderly as livinglabs/playgrounds where experiments in real life environments with patients/customers, professionals and technology can be conducted.

The network is looking for additional (international) health professionals, healthtech industry and gaming industry (developers, designers, etc.) to link up the best of "both worlds" and to boost health promotion to the next level.

If you are interested/involved in Games for Health/Gamification and want to know more about Games for Health Finland or join their network, please contact arto.holopainen@kuopioinnovation.fi.

The network has a website at www.gamesforhealth.fi (currently only in Finnish, but soon also available in English).

The Med-e-Tel knowledge resource center includes presentations from all previous editions of Med-e-Tel, providing details of telemedicine and eHealth applications and practical experience from around the world.

It's a freely accessible knowledge base of over 3500 documents (abstracts and presentations). And although ten years is an eternity in the land of information and communication technology, the older presentations from past editions of Med-e-Tel can still provide useful insights into how things have developed (or not) over the past decade.

Click here to access the knowledge resource center. If you have questions about any of the presentations or want to reach out to some of the authors/presenters, contact education@medetel.eu.