Best Practices
Telemental Health From the "Outside In": Telework Options for Efficient Patient Care
The VA is the largest provider of mental health care in the U.S.(1) On April 19, 2012, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki addressed...
Power outages can be devastating for people who rely on portable ventilators and other electricity-dependent durable medical equipment (DME). But thanks to innovative solutions from winners of a contest sponsored by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, emergencies won’t have to become life-or-death situations.
The first-prize team, Leo Angelo Gumpas and Xadean Ahmasi, created an integrated, Internet-based system that automatically monitors and transmits essential data from DME to caregivers and responders to provide actionable information in support of emergency planning and response operations.
Second-place winner Stan Barrack created an integrated set of tools that could use inexpensive technology, such as a cellular phone application, to securely share critical information on the status of DMEs with existing data centers where specific patient information is stored.
Third place went to An-Hu-Li and David-Li, whose idea for a cost-effective wireless DME status reporter is based on two-way radio technology. Their device would securely transmit vital information between a patient’s DME unit and authorized users, such as caregivers and first responders, operating on the same radio frequency.