Wireless Healthcare: Lowering Costs, Increasing Efficiency
By: Oliver Truesdale
As healthcare costs soar while quality often diminishes, innovators in medical applications technology are exploring the positive impact of wireless healthcare as a viable adjunct to conventional diagnostics and treatment. With its ability to support most healthcare applications, wireless healthcare is rapidly becoming the wave of our medical future.
Developing products in the field are proving to have a positive impact on patient care as it applies to monitoring as well as integrating with healthcare providers.
By coordinating care with patients, doctors, and hospitals, information can be received and action can be taken with greater speed than in conventional modalities.
According to the Joint Commission, an independent non-profit organization that is responsible for certifying over 17,000 hospitals, clinics, and other types of healthcare facilities, the breakdown in communication between patient and provider is one of the single largest factors leading to problems in the U.S. medical industry. With wireless technology, patients are monitored from their homes, information is then immediately relayed to healthcare providers, whereby it can be compared with stored charts and other data. This type of instant communication is proving to result in accuracy and efficiency that supercedes the older paradigms while giving patients greater peace of mind.
Many members of our population in the U.S. do not receive the kind of care necessary to keep their medical conditions in check. This especially relates to problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and asthma. With wireless technology, chronic conditions can be kept at bay. One example is with a technology developed by VITALITY where prescription medicine bottle caps are equipped with wireless chips containing sensors that recognize when the bottle is opened. These sensors configure with others located in the home as well as online, where they are connected to a secure network, keeping medical providers apprised of their patients' regularity in taking their necessary dosage on time. The caps are also equipped with light and sound signals that alert patients when it is time to take the meds.
In 2009, entrepreneurs Gary and Mary West donated $45 million to help create West Wireless Health Institute in La Jolla, California. The institute is providing leadership in the wireless healthcare field, forging relationships with Qualcomm, a San Diego-based wireless technology company, along with Scripps Translational Science Institute and five other hospitals in San Diego County. The mission is to help lower medical costs, successfully track patients' health conditions, alert doctors when a problem arises, and to generally improve the overall manner in which healthcare is practiced.
According to CEO Duane Roth of the non-profit group, Connect San Diego, there are already almost 100 wireless healthcare startup companies in the area. The Wireless Healthcare Innovation Challenge, managed by the William J. Von Liebig Center and the San Diego Wireless Life Science Alliance is currently providing business advise as well as funds to support technological inventions in the field for university and research institute laboratories. Partnerships with various compatible industries are assisting companies that are in the early stages of development, helping them to test their concepts as they forge relationships with major healthcare providers. Services such as combining diagnostic elements with cell phones are just some of the innovations coming to the fore.
With the Federal government's new health reform package, the future of wireless technology looks bright as the package includes $15 billion to support innovative technology and programs. Constructing a viable regulatory pathway as well as reimbursement processes will help the currently failing healthcare industry create a new pathway towards a revitalized and modernized healthcare system that delivers the highest standard for all concerned.
