Friday, July 28, 2006
Telemedicine growing
[Stephen Heuser, "'Telehealth' systems slowly gaining," The Boston Globe, 26 July 2006.]
The Boston Globe reports that cost-savings and convenience can be achieved at the same time thanks to improvements in technology:
For more than a decade, medical-device makers have trumpeted so-called "telehealth" hookups as a revolution in the costly American medical system. The idea is that by tracking vital signs remotely, doctors and nurses can keep patients comfortably at home while reserving their attention for the most serious cases. They can also save the expense and disruption of hospital visits by catching signs of trouble before a patient needs an ambulance.
Now an increasing number of companies have begun to compete for the home-monitor market. But hobbled by confusing technology and a Byzantine health insurance system that pays for nurses to check on patients in person but not from a distance, the idea has been slow to take off.
In perhaps the largest national rollout of such systems, the US Department of Veterans Affairs has spent $20 million to install some 15,000 monitors across the country, and expects to have 50,000 in place by 2009.
The VA has found the systems cut patient care costs by about one-third. Each trained nurse watches daily vital signs of about 150 patients, some of whom also have video monitors for personal consultations. Abnormal results are red-flagged so a patient can receive a phone call or a personal visit.
"This may seem a little bit fanciful, but it's a little bit like an air-traffic control system for patients," said Dr. Adam Darkins , who runs the VA's program.
Darkins also said patients don't seem to mind the drop-off in face-to-face visits.
"The satisfaction levels are over 90 percent," he said. "It's very intuitive, and they feel they're in regular contact."
[Devon Herrick, "Competition and creativity in health care," The Kansas City Kansan, 28 June 2006.]
The Boston Globe reports that cost-savings and convenience can be achieved at the same time thanks to improvements in technology:
For more than a decade, medical-device makers have trumpeted so-called "telehealth" hookups as a revolution in the costly American medical system. The idea is that by tracking vital signs remotely, doctors and nurses can keep patients comfortably at home while reserving their attention for the most serious cases. They can also save the expense and disruption of hospital visits by catching signs of trouble before a patient needs an ambulance.
Now an increasing number of companies have begun to compete for the home-monitor market. But hobbled by confusing technology and a Byzantine health insurance system that pays for nurses to check on patients in person but not from a distance, the idea has been slow to take off.
In perhaps the largest national rollout of such systems, the US Department of Veterans Affairs has spent $20 million to install some 15,000 monitors across the country, and expects to have 50,000 in place by 2009.
The VA has found the systems cut patient care costs by about one-third. Each trained nurse watches daily vital signs of about 150 patients, some of whom also have video monitors for personal consultations. Abnormal results are red-flagged so a patient can receive a phone call or a personal visit.
"This may seem a little bit fanciful, but it's a little bit like an air-traffic control system for patients," said Dr. Adam Darkins , who runs the VA's program.
Darkins also said patients don't seem to mind the drop-off in face-to-face visits.
"The satisfaction levels are over 90 percent," he said. "It's very intuitive, and they feel they're in regular contact."
[Devon Herrick, "Competition and creativity in health care," The Kansas City Kansan, 28 June 2006.]
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