Like its other mobile offerings, the new app allows members to access many of the same tools already available via its “My Health Manager” tool on kp.org.  Members can email their providers, check lab test results, order prescription refills, manage appointments and more — all from their iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches.  This latest move comes on the heals of Kaiser making the largest electronic health record system in the world accessible via smartphones with the launch of its mobile-optimized website m.kp.org.

The health giant’s Android app has already seen more than 95,000 downloads and its mobile site has seen more than 4.8M visits since its launch in January.  Interestingly, more than 15% of all visits to kp.org originated from a mobile device.

“Accessing health information and care from mobile devices is quickly becoming a new norm for care. We are probably the most electronically connected health care delivery system in the country, and we are using that connectivity and database to give our patients and members the connectivity they clearly want,” said George Halvorson, chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente. “We are constantly looking for ways to take connectivity to new levels. The mobile health toolkit gives us great opportunities to satisfy that demand.”

Now, we’re learning that HIMSS12 broke yet another unique record — which is setting the world record for tweet volume at a health conference.  To celebrate this feat, HIMSS created a beautiful infographic to visualize the social media dominance the event achieved.  Enjoy.

The full infographic is available here as well.

The event has grown 20% in terms of total exhibit space and has become one of the largest mHealth trade shows in existence.  ”The entire spectrum of the telemedicine industry will gather at ATA 2012,” said Jonathan Linkous, Chief Executive Officer of the American Telemedicine Association.  ”From hardware manufacturers to software developers, healthcare providers to telecom vendors, established industry players to innovative upstarts, the 2012 trade show is the complete world of telemedicine, telehealth and mHealth.”

The ATA “Annual Meeting” has been a premier venue for the telehealth industry for 17 years now, and in 2011, was recognized as one of the fastest growing expos in the country by Tradeshow Executive magazine.  For 2012, more than 450 presentations and over 4,500 healthcare professionals are expected, ranging from clinicians, administrators, entrepreneurs and IT specialists, to engineers and more.

The ATA 2012 event will be held in San Jose, CA from April 29th through May 1st.  Free expo-hall passes are available for anyone in the healthcare, technology or business community.  More information on the event and how to register is available here.

In 2010, a little more than $305M was raised for 43 different deals, meaning 2011 showed a 44% increase in dollars invested and a 63% increase in deals funded compared to 2010.  ”We are at the very early stages of an evolution in the entire healthcare system,” Jessica Canning, global research director for Dow Jones VentureSource, told InformationWeek Healthcare. “We are essentially witnessing the democratization of healthcare where detailed information is being collected both from healthy people as well as individuals trying to improve their physical wellness.”

Investment in so-called “Web 2.0″ startups represent a wide variety of healthcare technology companies, ranging from patient tracking and personal fitness to technology to help share information between patients and doctors, and even secure communication platforms.  Some higher-profile investments from 2011 include $30M injected into AirStrip Technologies, and a $6.5M series B round injected into Keas — a startup developing a social game for the workplace to promote health and wellness.

“These companies are opening up a whole new world that people are just beginning to explore,” Canning said. “This is a huge market with relatively little competition and it will be interesting to see how quickly health delivery organizations and consumers adopt the technology. I think it’s safe to say that this area will only continue to grow relatively quickly.”

Covering everything from the technology needed to deploy SMS, to the many regulatory standards associated with SMS and the use of Short Codes, and even including “Personal Health Information (PHI)” within text messages, the doc provides an excellent reference point to those seeking more information on SMS in healthcare.

Probably the most important section has to do with the inclusion of PHI — “The debate is still raging regarding PHI via SMS, but to be on the safe side, you want to avoid it completely,” the document notes.  ”SMS is an unsecured platform so if your message is intercepted, you are at risk for a HIPAA violation.  If you need the message to include or reference PHI, an option is to include a link to a secure site in the text.  For example, if you have a patient portal, you could text a patient that he/she has a message from his/her provider and to login to the portal to retrieve it.  There is also some discussion on whether you should use the first and last name of the recipient.  Consider whether first name is enough to personalize the message for you.”

SMS is still looked upon as the default method for messaging in healthcare, but with the fear of HIPAA violations and other risks, new methods such as mobileStorm’s AppMail solution now allow for the sending of highly-relevant, actionable messages that have the ability to include PHI.  Still, SMS very much has a place in healthcare — when done properly.

The mHIMSS PDF is available here.

In a letter sent to both agencies last week, House members asked for easier regulatory hurdles facing mHealth app developers, in addition to helping speed up the process of getting new apps submitted, approved and available to users.  The authors pointed out that the number of health-related apps for iOS alone grew by more than 250% from 2010 to 2011.

Looking at the growth, legislators are concerned that the “complex regulatory framework” between the various agencies could “inhibit future growth and innovation in this promising market and could preclude tools that help patients better manage their care.”

In their letter, legislators asked the FDA and FCC to clarify the following:

• Spell out the specific wireless health initiatives underway at both agencies
• Identify how they’re coordinating mobile health clearance activity with ongoing EHR initiatives at the federal level — to ensure interoperability.
• Give a timeline for when the wireless “testbeds” that the agencies have promised will be ready, and how they’ll be used to promote interoperability.
• Detail how the FDA and FCC are coordinating their approval processes, to accommodate the ever-increasing number of wireless and mobile app clearance applications.

“It’s critical that the two agencies act in concert to provide regulatory predictability, consistency and swiftness so that needed innovation in wireless medical technology may thrive,” the authors noted in the letter.

The new device is meant to be worn unnoticeable under one’s clothing and tracks heart and respiratory rates, ECG, physical activity and other vital signs.  Using the patients smartphone, the data is transmitted back to a physician.  The system can be setup to monitor regular rhythms and only send data back to a physician when irregularities and/or cardiac events are detected.

Though targeted at those with known heart disease, the new device will also be used to diagnose patients with such conditions.  ”If the physician feels that they can’t diagnose the problem based on what the patient is saying, they may send the person home with the device,” product development director Judy Eastman told MedCity.  The device is currently in clinical trials in both the U.S. and Europe, according to Preventice, and will be submitted to the FDA for clearance later in the year.

This time, the VA has launched a $50M program aimed at VA employees, industry leaders, start-ups, non-profits and universities in order to find the best new innovations to advance the performance of the VA.

The program is focusing on four key areas of significance to the VA, including the following:

1. Maternity – The VA was authorized in 2010 to cover the cost of post-delivery care for children borne to veterans receiving VA maternity care. Federal officials now want to expand that service through The Maternity Tracker to continue care for the growing number of female veterans receiving care outside the VA system.
2. PTSD – The VA is looking to redesign how it treats veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition for which veterans are often reluctant to seek treatment.
3. e-Benefits – Federal officials are envisioning a mobile app that would enable veterans to check, via smartphone or tablet, the status of their benefits and any claims, submit First Notice of Death, update information, change direct deposit information and ask questions.
4. Pressure ulcers – Federal officials are looking for new forms of specialized care, including data collection and analytics, to help care for veterans with pressure ulcers – and prevent them in the first place.

Through its first two challenges, held in 2010 and 2011, nearly 600 ideas were submitted — with 37 of which being developed into active projects.  One of the ideas being actively developed is “Sweetspot Diabetes Care,” a project that allows diabetic veterans and their caregivers to monitor blood glucose levels via remote devices and manage their healthcare.

For its latest challenge, submissions are due by a May 29th deadline.  The VA is also planning a webinar on April 10th to discuss the topics being highlighted this year.  Much more information on the challenge is available here.

The company’s armband device captures health data from users and measures things like how many steps a person takes throughout the day, sleep patterns and calorie output among other things, and then recommends activity and dietary adjustments based on the data.  Tied to the monitoring solution is the company’s FIT platform which includes an online activity manager and free mobile apps for its users.

The company has gained a lot of attention recently both for its promotional deal with fitness expert Jillian Michaels, as well as its recent announcement that astronauts aboard the International Space Station would be wearing the company’s armbands to monitor physical activity as part of an experiment to determine astronauts’ energy needs during long-term space flights.

Pittsburgh-based BodyMedia is the latest in a long-line of mHealth startups receiving major rounds of funding.  The mobile health monitoring segment is one of the fastest growing, both in terms of software and the devices themselves.  BodyMedia was an early-mover in this space, so we expect daily

The growth represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.6% over the next five years.  The report, Global Markets for Telemedicine Technologies, is based on interviews with manufacturers and users of telemedicine technologies and services, as well as from reviews of secondary sources such as company literature, conference proceedings, and related government data.

The report took a deeper dive into the many segments of the telemedicine industry as well and found that its largely segmented into both telehospital/clinic and telehome markets.  In 2010, for example, the telehospital/clinic market was worth $6.9 billion, and the telehome market was valued at nearly $2.9 billion.  The study also found that the telehome segment is growing faster than the telehospital/clinic segment — at a projected CAGR of 22.5% vs. 16.8% — and as a result is expected to increase its share of the market from 29.4% in 2010 to 35.6% by 2016.

In addition, the telemedicine market is segmented into technology (hardware, software, telecom, network) and service segments.  The technology portion grew from $3.8 billion in 2010 to $4.6 billion in 2011, according to the report, and is expected to reach $11.3 billion in 2016 with a CAGR of 19.8% over the next five years.

The full report is available here.