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THE VIEW DOWN THE ROAD -- BABY BOOMERS WILL BENEFIT FROM
"HEALTHCARE UNBOUND" TECHNOLOGIES
Forrester
Research recently coined the term "Healthcare
Unbound" to encompass the technology-enabled shift toward
self-care, mobile care, and home care. The Center for Aging
Services Technologies recently facilitated a demo day for members of
Congress and showed
examples of "Healthcare Unbound" technologies beginning to
enter the marketplace.
Skeptics might point out that "If you look in the rearview mirror at
the road we've traveled over in the past few years, consumer
technologies haven't had much on impact on health care."
....and they would be right.
HOWEVER, the view down the road for consumer health care
technologies is very promising.
So what's different looking down the road instead of in the rearview
mirror? Four things:
1) Baby Boomers Will Have Far Greater Expectations for Health Care
Technologies
2) Prices Will Fall Dramatically
3) Technology Will Become Part of the Background of Life
4) Technologies Will Integrate and Work Together
Let's take a look at these one at a time.
1) Baby Boomers Will Have Far Greater Expectations of Health
Care Technologies.
The Pew Internet Project report
Older Americans and the Internet reveals statistics showing a
startling generational digital divide.
The percentage of Americans with Internet access varies dramatically
by age:
-
62% of Americans
age 50-58 years-old
-
46% of Americans
age 59-68
-
17% of Americans
age 69 and older
I have often
remarked that the Internet will have arrived for seniors when my Mom
(who just turned 80) actually orders a pizza over the Internet. I'm
still waiting....and my Mom is blissfully happy remaining unwired.
Baby boomers are a
different story, however. As the Pew Internet Project points out,
"there is a burgeoning group of Americans who are slightly younger
but vastly more attached to the online world".
2) Prices Will Fall Dramatically.
Some of the early devices used to measure vital signs in patient's
homes were built by companies with a medical mindset. These
companies are used to charging a couple of million dollars for a CT
Scanner or MRI machine, so what's the big deal with selling a
bathroom scale for heart failure patients with a price tag of 6 or 7
thousand dollars?
Other remote monitoring companies have approached this opportunity
with a very different mindset. "Let's see...we'll need to get a
digital scale from the local medical supply store, we'll need to
connect it through a POTS (plain old telephone service) line...."
The price tag so far -- a couple hundred bucks.
Which approach do you think will win in a consumer health care
market?
Buzz Peddicord, President of the remote monitoring company
HomMed, started his company's success by selling to home health
agencies. However, he anticipates that HomMed's technology will
soon be sold at stores like BestBuy or Sharper Image. He believes
the consumer market for remote monitoring technologies eventually
will be "larger than all other markets combined."
3) Technology Will Become Part of the Background of Life.
Today's technology mostly requires that users must DO something to
interact with the technology. Many of tomorrow's computing
technologies will NOT require user interaction; the technology will
just be there, running in the background, doing what it needs to do
to assist us in monitoring health for ourselves and our loved
ones.
For example, many companies are developing sensors for people's
homes to provide real-time information to answer the question "Are
my elderly parents OK?" Another example is the
FitSense Technology
BodyLAN™ Wireless Intelligent Sensor Network that collects data on
the human body and transports it virtually anytime, anywhere and to
anyone.
My work over the past year and a half with several divisions of
Samsung Electronics has educated me on the value of "ubiquitous"
technologies. The
Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology is conducting R&D on
five technology platforms, including digital, nano, opto, energy,
and bio. All these contribute to Samsung's competency of making
technologies ubiquitous.
4) Technologies Will Integrate and Work Together.
Yesterday, most self care and consumer health technologies were a
collection of pieces-parts. A blood pressure cuff here...a heart
monitor there...blood sugar readings that diabetics scribble down on
the back of a napkin (if they remember). Few of these devices work
together or share information. However, all this is changing.
On the health care front, integration is now a major theme. Health
care payors and providers are recognizing that they must share
information. The new Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, Dr. Mark McClellan, is making the electronic
health record a top priority.
On the consumer
electronics front, companies like the Samsung Digital Solution
Center are developing home networks -- connecting your appliances,
computing and entertainment technologies. Take a look at Samsung's
vision for an
eHealth solution
and you can begin to envision the day that you will be able to have
a virtual visit with your doctor, supported by technology at home.
"What about
privacy?" you ask. First, successful "Healthcare Unbound"
technologies will have a big "OFF" button controlled by the user.
...and we will want other safeguards, but that's for another
newsletter....
Vince Kuraitis, Principal
Better Health Technologies
Additional
Resources:
Older People - Independence And Well-Being: The Challenge For Public
Services
Audit
Commission (UK), 2004
Assistive Technology Report
Other Supporting Reports also available.
Technology and Aging -- AAHSA and CAST Meetings
Sandy and
Dave's Report on The Broadband Home; March 24, 2004
The State of 50+ America
AARP,
January 2004
Tech firms want to help elderly — and cash in
USA Today;
February 10, 2004
Fact Sheet: Assistive Technology
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration on Aging; January 2004
Picture of Health
A Robot for the Elderly
Washington
Post; March 23, 2004
HEALTHCARE UNBOUND
A Conference & Exhibition on the Convergence of
Consumer and Healthcare Technologies
Special Focus on
Telehomecare & Remote Patient Monitoring
July 8 - 9, 2004, Cambridge, MA
Healthcare
Unbound technologies will transform health care and empower
healthcare consumers to promote wellness and manage diseases.
Conference faculty
includes:
-
William Novelli,
Executive Director & CEO, AARP
-
Joseph Kvedar,
MD, Partners Telemedicine; President-Elect, American Telemedicine
Association
-
Vince
Kuraitis, JD, Better Health Technologies
-
Eric Dishman,
Intel Proactive Health Research
-
Elizabeth Boehm,
Forrester Research
-
Alice Pentland,
MD, Center for Future Health,
U. of
Rochester
-
Steven Intille,
MIT Home of the Future
-
Robin Felder,
Medical Automation Research Center, U. of Virginia
-
Victor Villagra,
MD, President, Health & Technology Vector, Inc.
-
Ron Poropatich,
MD, Past-President, American Telemedicine Association
-
Carol Rozwell,
Gartner
-
....and many
others
Supporting
organizations include the Disease Management Association of America
(DMAA)
and America's
Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).
For additional
information and registration information, click
here.
FAMILY
DOCS THINK AHEAD
The Future of Family Medicine: A Collaborative Project of the Family
Medicine Community
Annals of
Family Medicine; Supplement, March/April 2004
The project
identified core values, a
New Model of practice, and a process for development, research,
education, partnership, and change with great potential to transform
the ability of family medicine to improve the health and health care
of the nation. The proposed New Model of practice has the following
characteristics: a patient-centered team approach; elimination of
barriers to access; advanced information systems, including an
electronic health record; redesigned, more functional offices; a
focus on quality and outcomes; and enhanced practice finance.
State-of-the-art
chronic disease management will be an important part of the services
provided by New Model practices. The care of patients with chronic
diseases will utilize a community population-based approach,
including the use of disease registries and community-oriented
primary care methods. The practice will adhere to evidence-based
clinical practice guidelines, which will be embedded into the
electronic health record, and will participate in continuous quality
improvement and practice-based research. The management of patients
with chronic diseases will involve the full multidisciplinary team
and will include some care of patients in their homes. The use of
telemedicine and other new technologies will be explored as ways of
enhancing the management of these patients (page S17).
Commentary:
Perhaps what's most refreshing about the report is how the theme
focuses on "How WE (family physicians) need to change to adapt to
the future." In contrast, last year the
American
College
of Physicians conducted a similar study entitled
"Revitalizing Internal Medicine: Recommendations for Resolving
Payment and Practice Hassle Issues". That report can be summed
up as focusing on "How everybody else needs to change."
DMAA's 1st Annual
Integrated Healthcare Leadership
Summit: Co-Morbid Depression
and Chronic Illness
June 7-8, 2004
JW Marriott, Washington, DC
The 1st
Annual Integrated Healthcare Leadership Summit: Co-Morbid Depression
and Chronic Illness features the most renowned
Keynote Speakers in behavioral and chronic care. The
Summit
was created to bring together
stakeholders in the chronic and behavioral care community to
address fragmentation in our current delivery system that hinders
the optimization of care for patients with chronic conditions. A
full listing of the
Summit Faculty,
Program Details, and the
Conference Advisory Committee can be found on the
Summit Website.
DMAA is
offering readers of E-CareManagement News a
20% discount on registration fees:
enter promotion code "promo c" and referred by "BHT"
OBESITY
AND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT FLASHES ON THE RADAR SCREEN FOR EMPLOYERS AND
HEALTH PLANS
HEALTH PLANS
Support Systems
Health
Leaders, March 2004
Plans Encouraged By Activities That Lift Obesity's Heavy Burden
Managed
Healthcare Executive, March 2004
Obesity and Telecare or "Tele-Obesity": A Workable Solution
Information
for Tomorrow, February 2004
Obesity and Disability: The Shape of Things to Come
Rand
Research Highlights, March 2004
Cost Of Treatment For Obesity-Related Medical Problems Growing
Dramatically
Rand
Corporation; March 9, 2004
New Data Available That Show Relationship Between Diabetes, Obesity,
and Chronic Disease
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; January 21,
2004
Obesity Management: Prevention, Treatment and Coverage Strategies
for Health Plans and Employers
May 19 -
20 2004; Hotel Derek, Houston
USAGE
PATTERNS ARE STABILIZING FOR ONLINE HEALTH USERS
No Significant Change in the Number of "Cyberchondriacs" – Those Who
Go Online for Health Care Information
Harris
Interactive; April 12, 2004
For
the second year in a row, Harris Interactive finds no significant
change in the numbers of adults who have ever been online to look
for health information. In our latest survey on this topic, we find
that 74% of all those online have looked online for health
information at some time.
The
main reason that the growth of cyberchondriacs slowed was that
Internet penetration slowed.
HEALTH
PLANS GEARING UP FOR GREATER CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT
Managed Care Redux: Health Plans Shift Responsibilities to Consumers
Center for
Studying Health System Change, March 2004
[Health]
plans...expressed little interest in returning to blanket
pre-authorization requirements. Instead, plans are focusing on
services that are high-cost or at high risk for inappropriate use.
Plans also continue
to move away from primary care physician gatekeeping, giving
consumers more liberal access to a wider range of services and
providers.
Rather than
focusing on traditional managed care practices that affect many
members, such as prior-authorization requirements for a broad range
of services, plans are instead ramping up care management for the
small percentage of members that use a disproportionate share of
resources. Disease management is one approach plans are actively
using across product platforms ranging from more restrictive HMO
products to more loosely managed preferred provider organization (PPO)
products.
DM AND TELEHEALTH TECHNOLOGY UPDATES
Your Daily Digital Doctor
Advanced
analysis of home medical data can offer continuous care for patients
with diabetes and other life-threatening chronic diseases.
MIT
Technology Review; February 20, 2004
e-Health Comes Calling
On the
trip to disease management, quality made the plans but cost does the
driving
Healthcare Informatics, March 2004
Innovation, Demand, and Investment in Telehealth
Office of
Technology Competitiveness, US Department of Commerce, February 2004
Press Release; February 19, 2004
How Health Plans are Using the Internet to Reach Customers: A Survey
of Payor Web Sites
Cap Gemini
Ernst & Young;
February 19, 2004
Using Computerized Registries in Chronic Disease Care
California
HealthCare Foundation, February 2004
Electronic Monitoring Can Improve Diabetes Care
Center
for the Advancement of Health; February 16, 2004
IPTS Report - Special issue: Aspects of eHealth
European Science and Technology Observatory, Institute
for Prospective Technological Studies, 2004
Consumers Unwilling To Pay For Online Chats With Doctors
TechWeb
News; March 10, 2004
Setting the Public Agenda For Online Health Search (report)
Press Release
URAC and
Consumer Webwatch; February 2004
Geared Up For Health
Time; February 16, 2004
Smart Sensors That Detect and Delivery Therapies Will Transform the
Future of Medical Care
Press Release, The Health Technology Center; April 5, 2004
WORTH REVIEWING!
More Care, Less Cost
Workforce
Management, March 2004
DM Standards Off and Crawling
Managed Care
Magazine, February 2004
Finding The ROI: Searching To Measure Returns On Disease Management
Is Tough But Doable
Employee
Benefit News; April 1, 2004
Disease Management For Diabetes
National
Pharmaceutical Council, February 2004
Disease Management Programs: Improving health while reducing costs?
Center on an
Aging Society,
Georgetown
University;
January 2004
Large Employers Now Use DM To Cut Their Costs
Managed Care
Magazine, January 2004
Desktop Resource Chart: Disease management strategies of managed
care companies
Managed
Healthcare Executive, January 2004
Delivering interventions for depression by using the internet:
randomised controlled trial
British
Medical Journal;
January 31, 2004
Depression Link To Chronic Disease Goes Both Ways
Untreated
depression's debilitating nature could trigger chronic disease, new
research suggests.
American
Medical News; March 15, 2004
COPD: Consequences of an Underrecognized Disease
Business and
Health; February 13, 2004
E-CareManagement News is a
complimentary e-newsletter sent to over 3,000 worldwide readers
courtesy of Better Health Technologies, LLC <http://www.bhtinfo.com/>.
For business and clinical decision
makers who are developing innovative approaches to managing chronic
diseases, Better Health Technologies is an eHealth and disease
management consulting company that can assist you with
strategy/business planning, finding financing, finding initial
customers, and developing key partnerships.
Disclosure -- Samsung Electronics and FitSense Technology are
clients of Better Health Technologies
You may copy, reprint or forward all
or part of this newsletter to friends, colleagues or customers, as
long as the use is not for resale or profit and the following
copyright notice is included intact. Copyright © 2004, Better Health
Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved
We welcome your opinions and
comments. Write or call Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA at vincek@bhtinfo.com,
(208) 395-1197 or Harry Leider MD, MBA at harryl@bhtinfo.com, (410)
252-7361.
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