This week, the Health Techzone witnessed new partnerships, new revelations and new questions related to healthcare technology. Let's recap a few of this week's developments.
The Gates Foundation and JPMorgan Chase launched an investment fund that focuses on healthcare innovations in low-income countries. The Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF) has raised $94 million from investors that want to invest in late-stage healthcare technology that has public health applications.
GHIF hopes to generate returns for investors, but both the Gates Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency will provide funds to partially offset any losses. Since many countries either did not increase or decreased aid to developing countries in 2012, private investors may take on a larger role in providing cash for public health in these areas.
Also this week, UnitedHealthCare released the results of a study showing that improving the dental care of chronic disease patients can lower their medical and dental claims by $1,038 each year. Diabetics showed even better results: a $1,279 cost reduction. Oral bacteria and periodontal disease may be linked to a wide range of conditions including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.
In many instances, delivering patient care via telemedicine is heralded as a positive achievement. Not so in Oklahoma, where Dr. Thomas Trow, a psychiatrist, received two years of probation and orders to take a remedial prescribing course when a telemedicine patient overdosed three times in six months on sedatives. Trow was reprimanded for prescribing sedatives to patients that he had never met and for violating Oklahoma law by providing medical care via Skype.
In some instances, telemedicine has proven advantageous to patients that need mental health treatment but want to protect their privacy. However, based on Trow's experience, mental health telemedicine may be best for psychological care, not psychiatric care. It may also be better for mental health consultations than for first-time one-on-one patient visits.
This summary gives you just a taste of this week's healthcare technology news selection. Join Health Techzone every day to find out the latest happenings in the industry.
