HAS Technology Group, a global technology solutions provider with a strong heritage in health and social care, is using SOTI MobiControl, part of the SOTI ONE Platform, to reduce the risk of the UK’s aging population from falling and enabling the UK’s health sector to avoid the associated costs. ARMED (Advanced Risk Monitoring for Early Detection), one of HAS’ solutions since 2016 and a registered medical device, utilizes wearable technology to collect key metrics associated with frailty and risk of falling, potentially saving the UK healthcare sector billions each year.

Wearable Devices Monitoring A Patient’s Condition Reduces Risks and Saves Money
When a patient falls and injures themselves, there is a significant likelihood of that same patient falling again in the future. According to a WHO Global Report on falls prevention in older age, 34% of those over 65 are at risk of falls, raising significant concerns regarding the future demands of the health and care services.

ARMED utilizes wearable devices to monitor a patient’s condition 24/7 and then uses this data to feed into their machine learning models. HAS was in search of a solution that would allow ARMED to help escalate risks in advance and create the triggers to allow for a quicker and more accurate diagnosis based on the early warning signals the data provided. They were keen to provide further customization to their solution and, with an aging population, it became imperative to also facilitate battery management.

Overhauling Manual Processes with Enterprise Mobility Management
The ARMED platform extracts data from smart watches, manufactured by Polar. With a customized SOTI MobiControl application controlling the smartphone, the Polar is paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth and the data is transferred from the watch to the phone. This data is captured, and Medical Grade Device machine learning algorithms are applied to forewarn of medical issues and changes in the behaviour of elderly patients. This also helps healthcare practitioners to prioritize resources accordingly.

SOTI MobiControl is customized to remind the patient to put their phone and watch on charge via voice alerts if their battery is below 50%. The platform then monitors the connection between the phone and watch, guaranteeing the data is constantly being transferred. Finally, SOTI MobiControl allows patients to open or restrict certain apps and communicate on the phone without needing to interact with the device.

“ARMED is now a registered medical device and this step, along with machine learning, is significantly contributing to understanding the longer-term impacts of health and lifestyle changes in a more preventative manner,” said Brian Brown, Director ARMED at HAS Technology Group. “We are excited for the future with SOTI and making a huge difference to the quality of life for individuals.”

As an example, a fractured hip in the UK costs approximately £32,000 per person, while a fracture arm/elbow costs approximately £8,000 per person. With over 500 devices in the field, SOTI MobiControl has enabled HAS to focus on reducing falls and enabling the UK’s health sector to avoid the associated costs. With falls costing the UK healthcare sector an estimated £5 billion each year, there is now an increased interest in falls prevention technology.

“HAS Technology has created real value for ARMED customers, helping them to drive efficiencies through dynamic uses of data,” said Sarah Edge, Regional Director of Enterprise Mobility, UK at SOTI. “We are proud to enable ARMED customers to securely manage their devices all in one place and deliver actionable insights that reduce the risk of injury for so many.”

For more information on how HAS Technology Group is leveraging falls prevention technology using SOTI MobiControl, read our latest case study.

About SOTI
SOTI is the world’s most trusted provider of mobile and IoT management solutions, with more than 17,000 enterprise customers and millions of devices managed worldwide. SOTI’s innovative portfolio of solutions and services provide the tools organizations need to truly mobilize their operations and optimize their mobility investments. SOTI extends secure mobility management to provide an integrated solution to manage and secure all mobile devices and connected peripherals in an organization.

About SOTI MobiControl
SOTI MobiControl makes Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) easier than ever before. It empowers companies to securely manage any device or endpoint with any form factor and any operating system throughout their entire lifecycle; from deployment to retirement. It controls all aspects of business mobility, from tracking physical assets to managing apps and content, all while keeping devices and data, safe and secure.

About HAS Technology Group
HAS Technology offers a variety of services, including CM, PAMMS and ARMED, which provide holistic prevention, commissioning and a delivery package of solutions. The group is leading the way with an innovative approach to social care technology solutions to ensure ongoing improvements in delivery and quality of care.

Medics.Academy – a revolutionary UK company delivering global access to world-leading medical education and the Ethiopian Medical Women’s Association (EMeWA) have signed a partnership agreement to help women physicians in Ethiopia.

The project will help EMeWA – an organisation established by female physicians in Ethiopia – to fulfil its vision to establish an excellence center for women physicians through one of its main thematic areas of professional development.

As part of the collaboration Medics.Academy will be investing £250,000 GBP (over 12 million Ethiopian Birr) in building a new learning community to provide digital access to training and support a target of 70% of female physicians in Ethiopia over the next 5 years – identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the 57 countries in the world with a chronic shortage of health workers.

The unique collaboration has been endorsed by the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia and, by championing access to online education, aims to drive digital transformation to help address the country’s health workforce needs, promote professional development and achieve greater representation and leadership of women in medicine.

Globally, the COVID-19 crisis has led to a significant shift to digital adoption that will likely persist post-pandemic. While there has been high growth in the adoption of education technology in recent years, this move has been deeply accelerated by COVID-19. Remote learning has become a vital part of education delivery and all across the world has been enrolled into the ‘new normal’.

Dr Alastair McPhail CMG OBE, UK Ambassador to Ethiopia, said: “We are very proud of the partnerships between the UK and Ethiopia on health. The coronavirus pandemic has stretched health systems and healthcare workers to their limits.”

“I hope that this new partnership will inspire and upskill female doctors across Ethiopia, directly contributing to high quality, equitable health services and ending the avoidable deaths of mothers and children.”

The pandemic has also brought pressures on health systems around the world and highlighted already existing health shortages. This includes a projected shortfall of 18 million health workers worldwide by 2030. In Ethiopia, WHO has been supporting the Ministry of Health to help increase the number of health workers and improve their skills since the beginning of the pandemic.

Dr Lia Tadesse, Minister of Health of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, added: “Professional Development of women in healthcare is an area of priority for us in Ethiopia. Even though women make up the larger proportion in the healthcare industry, they are not visible in leadership as we want them to be due to the various challenges they face to advance their professional growth. As a result, we have few women representation in places where their voice matters and their contributions are vital. This partnership will help change this by creating an innovative learning hub that will help women foster their leadership role and advance in their careers.”

Over the last four years EMeWA has been working on professional development, rights of women physicians and community development to bring a holistic advancement of women in the health sector. The organization has been providing training on soft skills and mentorship for women physicians in their early careers and has a webinar series where major topics in the health sector are discussed.

EMeWA has also been increasing the visibility of women physicians who are exemplary in their practice through its Celebrating Women project which served as an inspiration for many and highlighted the increasing role of women in the healthcare system of the country.

Going forward, Medics.Academy will be working with the organisation to deliver tailored education programmes that can drive improvements in skills and diversify the country’s healthcare workforce.

Dr. Senayit Beyene, the President of EMeWA commented: “The project will help deliver quality and affordable learning opportunities which are both accredited and acceptable both locally and internationally. It will also create the platform to establish strong and practical networks and connections around the world for collaborations and mentorship. Our ultimate goal is to develop a learning community that acknowledges and builds on the different skill sets of its members at all levels. I am confident that Medics.Academy’s pioneering education platform will help to plug this gap in a sustainable manner.”

Empowering women in health leadership is a core strategic focus for Medics.Academy. The company supported the establishment of the Women in Healthcare Leadership (WIHL) programme to increase opportunity for representative leadership in the UK’s NHS. The innovative programme has since expanded overseas, supporting healthcare professionals and building a supportive platform that champions inclusivity at leadership level.

Dr Johann Malawana, Chief Executive Officer at Medics.Academy, said: “Over the last four years, we have sought to formalise various initiatives, to promote diversity of thought and ideas and help to create a global community of healthcare leaders of the future. Inclusivity is absolutely key to leadership and this collaboration is reflective of our long-term strategy to foster frontline innovation and increase women’s representation in healthcare globally. Our overall objective is to work towards removing gender and other barriers, to pursuing leadership roles in Healthcare.”

Well Health Inc., a Saas digital health leader in patient communications and 2021 Best in KLAS winner in Patient Outreach, announces COVID Vaccination Self-Scheduling available through third-party partnerships with industry-leading, HIPAA-compliant self-scheduling systems. COVID Vaccination Self-Scheduling will help healthcare providers accelerate vaccination efforts and engage large patient populations — both current EHR and non-EHR patients — at scalable price points, as low as $250 per vaccination location per month.

“To date, WELL Health technology has successfully helped providers facilitate 4 million COVID vaccine-related messages and more than 1 million COVID vaccine appointments,” said Guillaume de Zwirek, CEO and Founder, Well Health Inc. “We want to accelerate those numbers and know we cannot do it alone, especially when time and lives are on the line. By partnering with industry-leading self-scheduling partners, we can offer healthcare providers superior technology, multiple options to meet their unique workflows, and competitive pricing, all while staying focused on what WELL does best: exceptional patient communications.”

Well Health announces COVID vaccination self-scheduling capabilities through multiple industry-leading partners

• Allowing patients to self-schedule both appointments, which has proven to be more efficient and faster than manually scheduling appointments.
• Improving appointment slot utilization so all vaccine doses and appointments are maximized.
• Ensuring second dose appointments are followed up on and self-scheduled, ensuring complete vaccination protection.
• Engaging as many patients as possible with secure messaging to existing EHR patients, as well as non-EHR patients.
• Successfully reaching underserved communities, who could be outside of a health system’s current EHR, is critical in fighting this pandemic, combating health inequity and ensuring the most vulnerable patients are protected.

WELL Health continues to offer new solutions and strategic partnerships to help healthcare providers solve critical COVID-related problems. In addition to COVID Self-Scheduling, WELL Health recently launched the Vaccine Deployment Program (VDP). WELL Health’s VDP allows providers to rapidly execute secure patient messaging for COVID-19 vaccine communications, including patient education, vaccine safety reassurance, appointment scheduling (both doses), adverse event monitoring and more, and can be implemented in as little as five days.

About WellTM Health Inc.
WELLTM Health is a SaaS digital health leader in patient communications and the 2021 Best in KLAS winner in Patient Outreach. WELL Health’s intelligent communications hub is the only two-way digital health solution engaging patients throughout their entire care experience. WELL Health enables conversations between patients and their providers through secure, multilingual messaging in the patient’s preferred communications channel: texting, email, telephone, and web chat. WELL Health facilitates more than 1 billion messages for 31 million patients annually. By unifying and automating disjointed communications across healthcare organizations, WELL Health reduces unnecessary provider stress and potential errors, while increasing patient visits and loyalty.

The Cerner EHR supports Capital Health clinicians with critical patient information to make treatment decisions and improve the health care experience

Capital Health, a regional leader in providing progressive, quality patient care, is now using a new electronic health record (EHR) across its two hospitals’ acute care areas to better serve the community and its patients. The EHR from global health care technology company Cerner Corporation supports doctors, nurses and staff to document and access critical patient information to make treatment decisions, ensure safety and improve the health care experience.

“During this challenging time, we are proud to offer our patients an improved health care experience through the launch of our new EHR,” said Gene Grochala, chief information officer, Capital Health. “Despite the challenges of COVID-19, our staff came together to successfully launch this new technology as part of our commitment to the health and well-being of our patients. We look forward to showing the community the benefits of this new system in simplifying and streamlining our ability to provide high-quality health care services.”

The new Cerner EHR will support Capital Health clinicians to efficiently document and access patient information all in one location. Having the most up-to-date patient information at their fingertips supports clinicians in making the most appropriate and informed data-driven decisions. It also means patients who receive care at both Capital Health hospitals may not have to fill out as much paperwork because their critical health data will be able to follow them between locations.

“Setting up a new EHR during a global pandemic is not a simple task, and Capital Health overcame immense challenges to complete the project for the benefit of its patients and clinicians,” said Brian Kincade, senior director and general manager, Cerner. “We were able to successfully move a large portion of the design and build activity to a virtual environment, due to social distancing and travel restrictions, without skipping a beat. Capital Health’s dedication to getting the new system up and running, while also providing life-saving care amid COVID-19, is a testament to its commitment to the community.”

Patients will also have access to their health records through Cerner’s secure online patient portal. Once enrolled, patients can securely exchange messages with their care team, view health information and records, settle balances and view upcoming appointments. Through greater access to their own information, Capital Health is empowering patients to take a more active role in their care to support health and well-being.

As a multiple award-winning and recognized health system, Capital Health serves as a Level II regional trauma center, comprehensive stroke center, regional perinatal center (including a Level III NICU) and emergency mental health screening center. Capital Health is also the area’s most advanced provider of cancer treatment delivered by some of the most experienced medical experts.

About Capital Health
Capital Health is the Central New Jersey/Lower Bucks County region’s leader in providing progressive, quality patient care with significant investments in physicians, nurses and staff, as well as advanced technology. Comprised of two hospitals (Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, NJ and Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell), an outpatient facility in Hamilton, NJ, and various primary and specialty care practices across the region, Capital Health is a dynamic health care provider accredited by DNV GL – health care and a four-time Magnet®-recognized health system for nursing excellence.

Bosnian health workers received their first Covid-19 vaccine shots on Friday and officials in the country’s autonomous Serb Republic announced a mass inoculation drive for later this month.

Bosnia had not received any vaccines until last week, when its first batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine arrived, enabling it to start inoculating medical staff working in Covid-19 hospitals and departments in its Serb-dominated region.

In January, the Balkan country announced plans to order Russian and Chinese-made vaccines, fearing deliveries ordered under the COVAX scheme for poor countries and from the European Union would be too little too late.

Bosnia, which also comprises the Bosniak-Croat Federation that has not received any vaccines yet, has ordered 1.2 million vaccine doses under the COVAX scheme and nearly 900,000 from the EU. Officials hope the first doses will arrive later this month.

“We expect that Republika Srpska will receive the first quantity of vaccines for 100,000 people in the second half of February, and kick off a mass inoculation with the Russian vaccine,” Serb Republic Health Minister Alen Seranic said in the region’s main city of Banja Luka.

The region has ordered 400,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine and Serbia has donated vaccines for 5,000 Bosnian Serb medical staff who will be inoculated in Serbia, he said.

As of Thursday, Bosnia had recorded 125,123 cases of the new coronavirus and 4,868 deaths.

In the Western Balkans region, inoculations have begun only in Serbia, which ordered the Pfizer/BioNTech , Sputnik V and Sinopharm vaccines. Serbia has also announced it could have the capacity to manufacture Sputnik V domestically by the end of the year..

Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo have not received any vaccines yet. Albania has received some. In Montenegro, municipalities along the Adriatic coast have been hit hard by Covid-19, with 118 new cases alone in the coastal town of Budva. It has reported 66,857 coronavirus cases and 861 deaths. (Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic, with additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Orthofix Medical Inc, a global medical device company with a spine and extremities focus, announced the U.S. and European full market launch of the FITBONE® intramedullary lengthening system for limb lengthening and deformity correction of the femur and tibia bones.

“Orthofix is the only orthopedic company that offers a comprehensive portfolio of both internal and external fixation solutions for limb reconstruction and deformity correction,” said Orthofix President of Global Extremities Paul Gonsalves. “We are pleased to now be able to broaden access to the FITBONE system by expanding availability in the U.S. and Europe, giving surgeons a choice in treating patients in need of deformity correction and limb lengthening.”

The FITBONE intramedullary lengthening nail is a fully implantable system for correcting leg length and deformity discrepancies. Implanted through a minimally invasive procedure, the system consists of the implanted intramedullary nail, a subcutaneously implanted receiver and an external control set that enables the patient to manage the distraction phase at home.

The system is designed to provide accurate and controlled limb lengthening, with more than 3,500 cases performed in 15 countries since its development. With appropriate preoperative planning, it allows achievement of axial and torsional bone alignment intraoperatively, as part of the limb-lengthening procedure.

The FITBONE intramedullary lengthening system is available in the U.S. under a U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance and in European Countries under a CE Mark approval.

The system is a part of the Orthofix Extremities portfolio of solutions that include the TL-HEX TrueLok Hexapod System™ computer-assisted ring fixation system for external limb lengthening, JPS JuniOrtho Plating system with the OrthoNext™ digital surgery planning software and the eight-Plate Guided Growth System™ for correcting angular growth deformities in pediatric patients.

About Orthofix

Orthofix Medical Inc. is a global medical device and biologics company with a spine and extremities focus. The Company’s mission is to deliver innovative, quality-driven solutions as we partner with health care professionals to improve patients’ lives. Headquartered in Lewisville, Texas, Orthofix’s spine and orthopedic extremities products are distributed in more than 70 countries via the Company’s sales representatives and distributors.

NorthShore Care Supply, the company behind NorthShore®, the leading brand of high absorbency adult diapers and incontinence supplies, recently announced its expansion into Canada. NorthShore has served customers in the U.S. for nearly two decades, focused on providing products to people of all ages managing moderate to heavy incontinence with up to 3x the leak protection of leading store brands.

“The availability of NorthShore brand supplies means individuals managing incontinence can now buy these products domestically in Canada,” says Adam Greenberg, president and founder of NorthShore.

Direct-to-home retailers Healthwick Canada and AgeComfort, both based in Canada, have started offering a selection of NorthShore products such as the company’s signature MEGAMAX™ tab-style briefs with maximum absorbency, protective underwear GoSupreme™ and other ‘reassuringly strong’ products.

Healthwick is the first Canadian company to offer MEGAMAX diapers to consumers at the end of 2020. The company’s customer reviews of NorthShore products are consistently 5 stars, according to Chief Executive Officer Sean Neville.

“NorthShore has been on our radar for some time, with many shoppers asking if we carried their adult diapers and underwear,” says Neville. “Customers told us that NorthShore products were terrific, highly absorbent, affordable and offer superior quality.”

“As a leading ecommerce retailer of adult diapers in Canada, we offer a wide range of well-known brands,” says Hanif Balolia, president and founder, AgeComfort. “However, we were thrilled to bring the NorthShore brand to our customers and the response thus far has been great. We’re pleased to offer NorthShore’s high quality and great fitting products to the Canadian market with free shipping on all orders over $50.”

“We partnered with Healthwick and Age Comfort to carry NorthShore products because they are leaders in Canada for the best selection of incontinence supplies,” says Greenberg. “They also provide excellent customer service, quality products and discreet delivery, which mirrors our own values.”

About NorthShore Care Supply

Founded in 2002, NorthShore Care Supply provides peace of mind to families managing with moderate to severe incontinence through life-changing absorbent products. The company is committed to #EndHealthStigma as we help 80 million Americans managing some form of bladder or bowel incontinence live their life to the fullest. Our featured NorthShore® brand is the leading premium adult diaper brand in the U.S.

About Healthwick

Founded in 2011, Healthwick offers Canada’s largest selection of adult incontinence products, with fast, 100 percent discreet direct-to-home shipping. Their caring team offers the knowledge, products and service that Canadians rely on to manage their incontinence, including a Free Sample Program that allows users to try up to 5 free samples per order.

About AgeComfort

AgeComfort carries one of the largest and most unique selections of home health care products for seniors, baby boomers and caregivers in Canada. With 30 years of mail order experience, AgeComfort is committed to making customers’ lives more comfortable.

Scapa Healthcare, the trusted strategic partner of choice for the world’s leading companies in advanced wound care, consumer wellness and medical device & fixation, announced the enhancement of its manufacturing and research & development capabilities at its Knoxville, TN center of excellence (COE). The company’s multimillion dollar investments at this facility, have created four innovation and product development labs to provide a collaborative space for the development of new technologies and products; contract design and manufacturing operations for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs; and the installation of high speed automated vision systems that enhance process controls to ensure quality and consistency.

Scapa’s Knoxville COE specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of custom skin friendly fixation solutions including advanced wound dressings, negative pressure wound therapy drapes, consumer bandages, custom wearable solutions for monitoring, fixation and diagnostic devices, and IV dressings. This site also produces topical consumer products including medicated powders and topical OTC drugs.

With 152,000 square feet of manufacturing space and Class 8 Clean Room environment, this state-of-the-art facility is FDA registered for medical device and OTC drug manufacturing, is ISO 9001 & ISO 13485 certified and has ANVISA GMP clearance. The site is fully equipped with advanced high precision converting machines, high-speed automated packaging equipment as well as medical device kit assembly to serve customers in the professional and consumer space.

“Scapa Healthcare has made significant investments in the Knoxville center of excellence to leverage the power of collaboration between our employees and customers to rapidly bring innovative new products to market,” said John Petreanu, president of Scapa Healthcare. “Our customers require not only a dependable partner that provides high-quality products but also a partner that supports their innovation efforts. Our goal is to continue to play an active role as a trusted strategic partner across all our key markets segments, successfully serving our customers to help them meet increasing market demands.”

About Scapa Healthcare
Scapa Healthcare is the trusted strategic partner of choice for the world’s leading companies in advanced wound care, consumer wellness and medical device & fixation. Our strategy is to partner with market leaders to develop and manufacture innovative skin friendly medical device fixation and topical solutions. Through pursuing these partnerships, Scapa now provides integrated services to the top global MedTech companies. Our state-of-the-art facilities enable Scapa Healthcare to offer customers the whole spectrum of production services from inception through to market delivery. For more information visit: scapahealthcare.com or email healthcare@scapa.com