Medical Monitoring & Remote Programming: Wireless Telehealth Needs Standards and Inter-operability

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Wireless Telehealth Needs Standards and Inter-operability

I am providing the link to an article in MobiHealthNews with little commentary. The article can be found at: http://mobihealthnews.com/5797/nhs-wireless-health-needs-standards-interoperability/. My one comment is that it appears that his objectives for tele-medicine are similar to my own: provide medical care that keeps patients out of hospital and nursing homes.

The article is an interview with George MacGinnis who is with the Assistive Technology Programme at the NHS Connecting for Health in the UK. He was interviewed by MobiHealthNews at the Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit in London. I think it is well worth taking the time to read this interview. In addition, MobiHealthNews has included a video of the interview.

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What this is about ...

A technical blog is dedicated to discussing aspect of the next generation of patient monitoring and management. I post new entries as I am able. I encourage you to become a follower. If you have an interest in this area, I think you will not be disappointed.

I am a technologist of long standing and I often can spot technical trends of an industry or of a particular company. I'm unconcerned with the financial or business impact. That is for others to consider. I'm interested in technology and its likely impacts on people's lives. Although my profile mentions that my most recent experience is with Medtronic. I had lengthy experience with St. Jude Medical. Any examples I provide do not necessarily originate from Medtronic or St. Jude Medical. I have contacts from a variety of medical device companies and constantly research the industry. My examples will originate from a variety of sources.

In the spirit of what I've written above, many may not know that a quiet revolution in medicine is occurring. The information highway, the Internet, is being extended into medicine. Wireless data communication with the Internet will be enlisted to enable people to connect with the Internet. The interchange of electronic patient records and digitized medical images are just a part of this revolution. In the near future, your physician can monitor your health remotely. Furthermore, if you have an implanted medical device (IMD) such as a pacemaker, ICD, neuro-stimulator, diabetes management device, etc., your physician can monitor your vital signs and change the settings on your implanted, therapeutic device remotely - virtually anywhere. Even very sick individuals could be enabled to live their lives at home rather than in an institution such as a hospital or nursing facility This can be performed safely and securely, and cost-effectively to provide people will fuller and longer lives.

Finally, a disclaimer regarding the advertisements that you see on this blog. I have no connection with the advertisers that appear on this blog. An appearance of an advertisement on this blog does not constitute an endorsement from me.