eHealth Developers' Summit Provides Insight and Promotes Collaborations for Developing eHealth Solutions to National Health Problems

11/11/2002
Business Wire
(Copyright (c) 2002, Business Wire)

TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 2002--The current state and future prospects for eHealth applications were addressed during the Third Annual eHealth Developers' Summit from November 6-8, 2002. The Summit is an intensive, invitation-only meeting of peer executives and managers from more than 100 commercial companies, academia, government agencies, and foundations and other nonprofit organizations. The Summit catalyzes the sustainable development, adoption, and dissemination of effective eHealth tools and products by leveraging the collective expertise and vision of eHealth experts and innovators.

During the recent "technology bubble," when resources were relatively easy to acquire, few technology companies felt compelled to collaborate. Today, many eHealth companies are realizing that they cannot do it all by themselves. Dr. Tom Eng, Summit chair and president of the eHealth Institute said, "Collaboration is difficult even under the best circumstances. Given the current economic environment and relative lack of capital investment in eHealth ventures, however, many developers are realizing that collaboration among companies and the disparate sectors is not only desirable, but sometimes a necessity for success."

Despite the economic downturn and collapse of many technology companies, eHealth applications are increasingly being adopted by health care organizations. "eHealth is no longer an eccentric adjunct to health care delivery, but is becoming an integrated strategy for improving quality and efficiency of health care," stated Anna-Lisa Silvestre, director of eHealth Strategy at Kaiser Permanente. In addition, many eHealth developers are broadening their scope to include applications that support public and community health, and the needs of the underserved.

According to Sam Karp, chief information officer of the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF), the prime sponsor of the summit, "A true success story in public-private partnerships using Internet technologies is Health-e-App. The California HealthCare Foundation worked with an eHealth developer and several state agencies to develop and promote a wireless Internet application to streamline enrollment in public health insurance programs."

A substantial focus of the meeting was to encourage collaboration and team problem solving among Summit participants from disparate backgrounds and organizations. Through the innovative eHealth WIT (Working Innovation Technology) Teams Competition, small group teams developed an eHealth solution to one of three health problems posed. Each team presented their solution to a judging panel, which assessed each proposed solution's innovation, feasibility, sustainability/commercial viability, and potential impact on health.

The judges selected "Health is Hip" by Neil Izenberg, the Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media; Rose Higgins, iMetrikus; and Joseph Dal Molin, e-cology Corp. as the best Team solution. The envisioned product will help address the obesity epidemic, which cost the U.S. economy an estimated $117 billion in 2000. The device would encourage children to perceive physical activity as a "hip" activity and to increase their exercise levels. The winning team will receive $5,000, to fund follow-up activities to further develop the concept.

The results of several national eHealth competitions were also announced at the Summit. Sponsored by The Health Communication Research Institute, the Summit Award for Application Excellence, which focused on online CME this year, was awarded to John Wiecha, MD, and Stefanie Curry, MEd, Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine for their course "Treatment and Management of Type 2 Diabetes." A total of 48 entries were received and evaluated by a panel of six judges, consisting of national experts in online CME and practicing physicians.

The Best eHealth Research Paper Award, which promotes the application of scientific research methods to identify effective eHealth solutions, was awarded to Kate Lorig et al. of Stanford University, for their paper "A Randomized One-Year Back Pain Trial Utilizing an Email List." The 2002 Award was sponsored by the Health e-Technologies Initiative.

Sponsors of this year's Summit included the California HealthCare Foundation , W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences and Communication Technologies Branch, National Cancer Institute; the Health Communication Research Institute; the Health e-Technologies Initiative; the National Eye Institute; Kaiser Permanente; Pharmacia; Schering-Plough; and Medtronic.

About the eHealth Institute

The eHealth Institute is a private, charitable nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that seeks to harness the power of information and communication technologies, especially the Internet, to improve the health and well being of all people. For more information, visit (www.ehealthinstitute.org).

CONTACT: eHealth Institute Tom Eng, 301/649-7760 or 301/305-4443 (cell) (Summit Chair and President) teng@ehealthinstitute.org Nadine Aly, 703/855-9891 (Meeting Associate) naly@ehealthinstitute.org

20:50 EST NOVEMBER 11, 2002
Contact: CONTACT: eHealth Institute Tom Eng, 301/649-7760 or 301/305-4443 (cell) (Summit Chair and President) teng@ehealthinstitute.org Nadine Aly, 703/855-9891 (Meeting Associate) naly@ehealthinstitute.org

20:50 EST NOVEMBER 11, 2002

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