The Siteman Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center located at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine, produces an informative audio podcast series called Cancer Connection which you can get free on iTunes.

Siteman offers Cancer Connection at no cost to inform the public about breakthroughs in cancer research, prevention and treatment.

Cancer Connection‘s format lets you hear updates on a variety of cancer-related topics when it’s convenient for you. You can choose to listen to individual episodes on your computer, download the archives on your hard drive to reference later, or transfer them to an iPod / MP3 player to hear while you’re on the go. When I last checked, there were 26 episodes posted in the archives.

Each episode runs about 10 minutes and new ones are being added to iTunes a couple times a month. Recent segments have featured experts on hereditary cancer, pancreatic cancer surgery, and radiation oncology.

If you’d like to find other interesting cancer broadcasts, check out Yale Cancer Center Answers and Mayo Clinic Podcasts.

Source: Siteman Cancer Center News and Events

Related Link: askthepodcastdoctor.org

Technorati Tags: cancer awareness; tumor; Missouri

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), a nonprofit cancer advocacy group based in Austin, Texas, launched the multi-faceted web service on June 2, 2008, to assist cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and healthcare providers within Hispanic/Latino communities.

LIVESTRONG Espanol offers free brochures, videos, and other types of cancer information that patients and their families can watch or download on their computer. No registration, passwords or dues are required to use the resource.

In addition to the web site, LAF is producing five one-hour call-in shows featuring Dr Amelie Ramirez and other bilingual medical experts. The shows will broadcast on Spanish radio stations in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and San Antonio between June 15 and June 21, 2008. (To see the complete schedule, click here.)

If you’d like to find more cancer information in Spanish, you can check out the National Cancer Institute (Instituto Nacional del Cáncer) and Cancer.Net En Español.

Source: livestrongblog.org

Related Links: Global Health Vision; OncoLink en español; Medical Library Association; International Medical Interpreters Association

Related Podcast – The Medical Hour: Cross-Cultural Competence in Cultural Care from University of Virginia Podcasts and Webcasts

Technorati Tags: oncology; health literacy; ESL; minority health; rural health; immigration

Biosensors are already routinely used to monitor the vital signs of patients with cancer and other serious medical conditions while they are staying in treatment facilities. Because the antennas, wires and battery size required to gather and transmit the information are too inconvenient and bulky for patients to wear once they leave the hospital, patients must often return to their physician’s office multiple times for routine follow-ups.

Now, electronics experts at QUB have designed a low-profile wireless antenna measuring less than 5mm which is capable of radiating a signal powerful enough to make remote patient monitoring feasible.

With conventional on-body antennas, the majority of the signal is lost because it’s either transmitted away from or absorbed by the patient’s own body. QUB’s device radiates signals out the side of the antenna rather than the end enhancing the signal’s ability to “creep” the surface of the skin. And unlike traditional wireless antennas, QUB’s device is small enough to be easily incorporated into a wound dressing or the patient’s clothing while they’re engaged in everyday activities.

This new patch-style antenna will be used to further wireless body area network (WBAN) technologies currently under development. In WBAN networks, the antenna signal transmits data from biosensors attached to different parts of the patient’s body to a control unit which stores the data. The information collected on the control unit can then be remotely accessed by healthcare providers 24 hours a day using a computer or mobile phone.

QUB has submitted a patent application on one of the antenna designs and more are predicted to follow. As one of the project leaders said,

“We could change the way that a range of illnesses, injuries and conditions are monitored, perhaps within five years.”

Dr William Scanlon
Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology, QUB

The QUB project was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Source: EPSRC (UK)

Related Links: ScienceDaily; Science Foundation Ireland

Technorati Tags: bioelectromagnetics; electronic health records; health IT; Northern Ireland; telemedicine

The Mayo Clinic web site has a feature called Ask a Cancer Specialist which allows anybody with internet access the chance to ask Mayo’s experienced specialists their tough cancer questions for free – even if they’re not a patient at one of Mayo’s facilities.

If your question is selected, Mayo will publish both the question and the answer on Mayo’s web site. Queries and responses are archived on the web site so other cancer patients and caregivers can benefit from the exchange.

Not all questions get a response, but a lot of good information is circulated in this forum. Alternative medicines, chemobrain, and pancreatic cancer treatments are just a few of the topics Mayo’s doctors have already discussed.

While some cancer support groups and hospitals manage chat rooms which include discussions with health professionals interspersed with messages of encouragement and personal testimonials, Mayo’s Ask a Cancer Specialist site concentrates on medical information alone — a real time saver if you’re short on time and facts are all you need. The clinic also posts the name, photo, title and some background on the physician who provided the response so you’ll know where the information originated.

This type of health tool appears to have a lot of potential value for cancer patients and I’ve looked for similar services from other oncologists, but so far I haven’t found any being updated regularly. If you’ve seen any other high quality sites our readers should know about, please send me an e-mail (Lisa@CancerResearchJournal.com) and I’ll add them to our del.icio.us bookmarks.

Source: CancerResearchJournal.com

Related Links: The New York Times; CNN

Related Podcast: Doctor-Patient Web Visits Spur Privacy Concerns from NPR

Technorati Tags: patient-centered care; eHealth; telemedicine

And with chemotherapy, radiation, surgery or lab tests on the schedule, it can be hard to find the time to drive from library to library looking for good books to help you get smart about your condition.

Well, the folks at Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) are helping make cancer education a little easier. Google Book Search offers a wide variety of health books you can read for free, as well as previews of other books that haven’t entered the public domain yet. Thousands of educational books and academic journals covering oncology, medicine and nutrition from experts like the National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization, as well as other science-related texts of interest to researchers and students (physics, chemistry, etc.) are available and easy to access.

My favorite feature: If you want to read a book using the traditional method — away from a computer screen — Google’s site will quickly assemble a list of the public libraries in your state which carry the title. I did a quick search and found more than 43,000 cancer-related titles in less than three seconds. If you decide you’d like to have the book for your permanent collection, the site also lets you know about book retailers offering the book for sale.

For those of you who want a break from studying cancer, fictional literature is available too.

Google Book Search has been around for a few years, but new titles are being added all the time so consider visiting the site again if you haven’t been there in a while. In fact, the University of California, San Diego announced earlier this month that it will be providing Google Book Search access to several million books from their extensive library so their contents can be digitized into Google’s growing database. UCSD is the first university in Southern California to commit to the project. As one UCSD librarian said,

“The library of the 21st century must effectively deliver knowledge and information in an increasingly hybrid environment where the physical and digital coexist. We are thrilled to be a contributor and partner with Google in this effort because it greatly expands access to our collections for faculty, students and members of the public, which is an essential part of our mission.”

Brian E.C. Schottlaender
Audrey Geisel University Librarian, UCSD

If you’re looking for more publications written for cancer patients or professionals, you can find additional information at the following links:

American Cancer Society Publications
CDC Cancer Resource Library
National Cancer Institute Publications

Sources: UCSD News Center and CancerResearchJournal.com

Related Links: The Stanford Daily; The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)

Related Podcast: Public Access to NIH Research from Science Friday on NPR

Technorati Tags: health literacy; health tools; medical publishing; ePatients; eBooks

During online research for articles on emerging cancer technologies and treatments, I’ve come across some entertaining and informative sites offering high quality science podcasts tailored to young listeners. Many of these segments provide a quick, convenient way to help kids learn more about key scientific concepts like mathematics or biology without piling more homework on their plate.

While these sites aren’t specifically tailored to cancer or medical technologies, they are valuable resources for the parents, educators, mentors and others who’ll encourage the budding researchers of tomorrow. They can also help young patients understand more about their own bodies and some of the treatments or tests they receive. Here are a few of the audio and video offerings I’ve recently added to my favorites list:

Bytesize Science from the American Chemical Society

Clear Voices Podcasts from EarthSky.org

DragonflyTV from PBS Kids

60-Second Science from Scientific American

Why? Science Podcast from the Youth Science Forum

These brief podcasts are primarily targeted for children and young adults, but many older adults who haven’t set foot in a science classroom in a while will find them interesting too. They’re also easy to download so you can listen whenever you want to – like during a workout or waiting for an appointment.

If you know of any other reliable web sites offering free health or science downloads for our audience, please send me an e-mail at lisa@cancerresearchjournal.com and I’ll add it to our journal’s del.icio.us bookmarks so other patients and professionals can benefit from your surfing. If you’re scientist with some time on your hands, we hope you’ll consider sharing some of what you know in a similar fashion — you may inspire a future breakthrough.

And thanks to everyone involved with creating these innovative broadcasts – we look forward to enjoying more of them!

“The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning, you’re not old.”

Rosalyn Yalow
Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1977

Source: CancerResearchJournal.com

Related Links: OER Commons

Technorati Tags: elearning; health literacy; teaching tools

Carol’s innovative site, dubbed The Care Marketplace™, offers patients the opportunity to shop, compare prices, and schedule medical services online in the same way they would purchase clothing or any other retail good.

Rather than searching through long listings of doctors and hospitals, healthcare consumers click on parts of the body shown on a graphic and then choose the type of appointment they’re looking for. Instantly Carol provides them a list of available services, their cost, and an opportunity to schedule an appointment.

After hearing the service mentioned in research for a different article, I made a quick visit to The Care Marketplace™ operated by Carol. In less than five minutes, I located an abdominal CT scan for $400, a prostate cancer evaluation for $493, suture removal for $59 and a diabetes prevention class for $15.

The site’s interactive tools let me see detailed side-by-side comparisons of similar appointments offered at different prices, but some services I spot-checked only offered one option — a limitation Carol’s creators expect will correct itself as doctor participation increases.

About 30 healthcare institutions in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, including Park Nicollet Clinic with almost 700 doctors, currently participate in Carol and the company has plans to branch out to another US market later this year. The service is free for patients and visitors can view the site without registering or providing personal information.

While experts seem to agree the site is convenient, their reactions to its mission are mixed. As the opinions below illustrate, some believe Carol is just a savvy new form of advertising for HMOs and medical professionals while others consider it an innovation that will empower patients to make smarter healthcare choices.

“We want to let consumers define value. We don’t have care competition in the marketplace today.”

Tony Miller
Chief Executive Officer, Carol

“Among physicians, there’s a belief that health care is too critical…to be left to the usual marketplace.”

Dr Sidney Wolfe
Public Citizen’s Health Research Group

Controversial or not, analysts say sites such as Carol which make medical costs more transparent to the patient could catch on, especially with people having high-deductible plans, employer-based health savings accounts or no health insurance because calculating out-of-pocket expenses is a bigger concern for those individuals.

Source: Associated Press article from CNN

Related Links: TODAY; Minnesota Public Radio (MPR); Star Tribune

Related Video: Real People DENIED Real Healthcare: David Welch RN on YouTube

Related Podcast: Will Carol.com revolutionize health care? from MPR

Technorati Tags: cancer treatments; oncology; radiology; cancer diagnosis; Twin Cities; Minnesota; Definity Health; UnitedHealth Group

The eWatch contains multiple sensors which measure environmental factors such as sound, motion, temperature, and other conditions. It also allows scientists to monitor routine behaviors and psychosocial stress indicators while minimizing the disruption to the individual’s normal routine.

The innovative tool, created by Daniel Siewiorek of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute and Asim Smailagic of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, was developed as the result of a class project done back in 2004.

Besides gathering data on stressful lifestyles, the Mellon-Pitt team is also working to develop simple manuals and operating procedures for the eWatch so the instrument can be used to collect data for other research groups.

The team has received $426,000 in funding from the National Institutes of Health as part of a larger study investigating how exposure to social and environmental factors contributes to chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Source: Carnegie Mellon University Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Related Links: UPI; ScienceDaily; American Cancer Society

Related Video: HCII Video from Carnegie Mellon University

Related Podcast: Stress accelerates cancer from ABC NewsRadio Health Matters (Australia)

Tags: Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering; Professor Thomas Kamarck; Professor Saul Shiffman; University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychology; Pennsylvania

These days, forms are such a routine part of the treatment process that most facilities ask patients to check-in at least 20-30 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment just to complete paperwork.

Along with all the various HIPAA notices, medical histories, patient instructions, and insurance claims requiring your signature, there are legal releases commonly referred to as Informed Consent forms. These important items provide detailed information about the procedure being performed, possible side effects, and the specific risks involved. Additionally, the forms give the medical professional the patient’s permission to perform the procedure being described.

Sounds like important information doesn’t it? Unfortunately, statistics show that many people don’t read or can’t understand their Informed Consent forms before signing them.

Patients give a lot of reasons for signing a legal/medical form they don’t understand: complex medical jargon, inadequate English or reading skills, time constraints, poor vision, fatigue, confusion and embarrassment are some of the more common justifications. To address these issues, several hospitals have begun testing new methods that will allow administrators to improve the informed consent process while still satisfying regulatory requirements.

While some hospitals are tackling the problem with back-to-basics approaches like paper checklists, others are turning to technology for help.

At 154 hospitals operated by the Veterans Health Administration, a program called iMedConsent™ features a library of anatomical diagrams and explanations written at a sixth-grade reading level. The program not only helps doctors explain difficult procedures to patients, it also electronically documents the conversation and records the patient’s signature on a digital pad like the ones found in retail stores.

Other hospitals have adopted a similar web-based program called Emmi®. With Emmi®, patients review the interactive tutorials at home and then ask their physician follow-up questions prior to giving consent or having surgery.

Besides educating the patient about complex surgeries and terminology, the new programs also help providers standardize the information they give to their patients. The software prompts physicians to ask certain questions and cover certain topics so memory lapses or distractions don’t result in missed dialogue.

New guidelines issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and recommendations from influential healthcare consumer groups will likely generate more changes to informed consent policies around the country. The improvements can be difficult to implement, but professionals and patients alike seem to agree they are necessary. As one American Medical Association publication puts it,

“…the patient’s right of self-decision can be effectively exercised only if the patient possesses enough information to enable an intelligent choice.”

AMA Code of Medical Ethics

Source: AMNews.com

Related Links: ScienceDaily.com; AOL.com; anemiainstitute.org; calpatientguide.org

Related Video: Informed Consent from the University of Michigan

Related Podcast: Onora O’Neill on Medical Consent on Philosophy Bites from PODCASTDIRECTORY.COM

Tags: health literacy; patient advocacy; liability reform; DialogMEDICAL

Microsoft’s new HealthVault site allows health care consumers to download lab reports, x-rays, pharmacy records and other digital data and then stores the encrypted information free of charge (the portal is supported by advertising revenue). The information is securely maintained in a personal account until the patient chooses to share it with a medical provider, caregiver, family member or anybody else.

Although banking and retail sectors have been using electronic records for almost a decade, doctors and hospitals have been hesitant to adopt the technology, especially if they don’t have a team of information technology professionals on staff. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 80 percent of U.S. hospitals still use paper medical records which cost billions of dollars each year to manage.

Several other countries have already implemented national systems for exchanging medical information, including Germany where patients carry all their medical records on a computer chip.

Even with HealthVault and other similar health services up and running, some physicians remain doubtful the electronic health records initiative will catch on any time soon. Other leaders in the technology and health sectors feel differently. As one stated,

“I think what Microsoft is doing is great. I’ve been saying for several years that the health-care industry needs to change and that the key drivers will be technology and consumerism.”

Steve Case
Chairman & CEO, Revolution Health

Source: The Washington Post

Related Links: American Health Information Management Association; Australian Health Information Technology; Children’s Hospital Boston; ZDNet.co.uk; The New York Times

Related Podcast: Governor proposed funding for updating medical records from Wisconsin Radio Network

Tags: Bill Gates; health informatics