This is an article by STEPHEN C. SCHIMPFF, MD from the KevinMD.com blog
I interviewed about 150 medical leaders just a few years ago for my book The Future of Medicine – Megatrends in Healthcare. Not one mentioned wireless devices as a coming megatrend. How fast the world changes! Nowadays everyone has a cell phone and we rarely stop to think that just two decades ago almost no one had them. We have a laptop or tablet computer that can access information from the web at very high rates of speed; again it is hard to remember when this wasn’t so. And those with smart phones have numerous “apps” – to check traffic conditions, find the nearest Starbucks, or play games. But these and other devices that use wireless technology will lead to major changes in the delivery of health care in the coming years. This is another of those coming medical megatrends.
I have written before about the device at home that wirelessly sends the heart failure patient’s weight into the doctor’s office each morning. If his weight starts to go up, it will be flagged and he will be called by the nurse with a change in diuretic prescription before he even notices more shortness of breath. He will feel better, he will not have needed to visit the doctor’s office, make a sudden trip to the ER or be admitted urgently to the hospital. Better care at lower expense. The diabetic patient can have a similar device that sends her blood sugar measurements in. If the pattern changes, it will be noted and she will get a call from the doctor’s office to make adjustments before difficulties set in. Once again it is better care at lower expense. And coming soon will be a monitor the size of a Band-Aid that measures blood glucose continuously. This is much better than sporadic finger sticks because it will not miss drops (hypoglycemia) or spikes (hyperglycemia) that intermittent measurements don’t pick up. And the “band aid” sends the information wirelessly to a device (perhaps her smart phone) that collects and monitors it.
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