Telemonitoring and Telemedicine Offer Solution to Home Health Care
In the not so distant future, an estimated 37 million baby boomers will be 65 or older, resulting in an overwhelming increase in the demand for health care. Not news to the many home health providers and home care advocates, the pending health care crisis will demand effective solutions for managing the rising needs of seniors. Telemonitoring and telemedicine seek to combat the health care shortage with an inexpensive, efficient tool for monitoring seniors in the privacy of their homes.
"People have estimated the size of the problem and not really the magnitude of the problem," says Vijay Velu, CEO of MediBeam Health Monitors, a company that recently joined forces with SafetyCare to provide home health monitoring systems and services. "That is, the extraordinary large (and growing senior) population in a developed society. Ranges are from 37 million and up in the next 10 years, and the society itself is not prepared for that aging velocity."
Telemonitoring and telemedicine would allow home health care providers — from doctors and nurses to pharmacists and home health providers — to access patient information across the Internet. With a touch of a button, monitors such as blood pressure, pulse oximetry, blood pressure, weight scales and thermometers offered by companies like MediBeam and Carematix ( based in Chicago) report instant health information to health care providers in remote locations. The results can be archived into a patient's medical records. Services also offered via two-way communication systems to the patient include medication reminders, emergency alerts and long-term disease management.
"Our wireless devices are extremely user-friendly and convenient," says Suhkwant Khanjua, president and founder of Carematix. "A patient can monitor their weight from the bathroom and their blood pressure from their bed. Our products are easily integrated into a patient's lifestyle. Rather than letting a disease control the patient, our devices let the patient control their disease — which is how it should be."
Not surprising, telemonitoring offers an outlet for many home health providers concerned about the rising costs of doing business. In rural areas where patient visits are difficult to manage, telemonitoring systems can help home health businesses stay in constant contact with clients.
"Telemedicine will become part of routine care programs," predicts Khanjua. "It might take some time, but this type of monitoring will become the expected thing to do at home."
Velu agrees. "This technology is just a simple way to keep people in contact, keep people communicating with each other," he says. "Because after a while, seniors tend not to communicate; they give up. And this is a way to encourage them to keep in touch with the rest of the world as far as medical technology is concerned, so they know there's always a helping hand available at the push of a button, or a phone call, or whatever way you choose to keep that contact."
As telemonitoring and telemedicine gain popularity for managing health care, Velu says eventually government regulations will be necessary to set the standard for care. "What I think is that one needs to start talking to government and senior government officials or health care officials about a nationwide telemonitoring program. Bring in the standards, the watchdogs, the policing authorities, whatever you want, but set the standard today so that 10 years from now people will benefit from it. … And once that's in place, vendors can try to meet those standards or have some kind of objective to deliver goods and services. Right now, every vendor that comes to market is a little unsure. Is it going to be regulated? Is it going to be reimbursed? Are we in compliance? Is there a violation of privacy? We can wave all of that with a national program saying this is what you do and this is what you don't you."
For more information on telemedicine, check out the April 2006 special issue of Telemedicine and e-Health, focusing on the promise, ongoing success and future of telehomecare, www.liebertpub.com/tmj.
Photo Courtesy of Turret Labs-2005: Turret Labs Telemedicine Command Center proposed for Raliegh-Durham, N.C. and Zurich
This article originally appeared in the May 2006 issue of HME Business.