CHICAGO Some of the trends in American health care are obvious: Managing costs in the age of Obamacare, patients using online information to take charge of their own health and wellness, and finding ways to deliver care in settings other than hospitals and clinics. <\/p>\n
Those trends become specific, sometimes knotty, challenges for people engaged in building the tools needed to effectively, efficiently and safely deliver health care. <\/p>\n
Envisioning, designing and manufacturing medical devices which range from robots to sensors, and from surgical instruments to software that allows devices to communicate with one another was the topic of a conference Thursday and Friday in Chicago. <\/p>\n
The event confirmed that device innovation in Wisconsin can compete with the nations best, especially when its driven by solving problems in patient care. <\/p>\n
Attendees and speakers from organizations such as Baxter Healthcare, Phillips Healthcare, Advamed, Cook Medical and Cardinal Health talked about best practices and trends in medical devices, most of which are regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration and which compete for shelf space in the world of health care delivery. <\/p>\n
Conversations ranged from development of a five-foot-tall remote doctor, which is a robot that roams hospital halls and interacts with patients, to cybersecurity risks posed by wireless medical devices to regulation of prescription-only mobile applications. Behind the often-technical talk was a sense that medical device innovators cant just invent things because they make cool operating room toys. They must start with a feel for what patients and providers need and to assess whether the cost of innovation comes with benefits that match or exceed those costs. <\/p>\n
So, whats the wish list for solving patient and provider problems? My remarks at the conference included ideas expressed by experts at Aurora Healthcare, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin and the Marshfield Clinic. <\/p>\n
A few examples: <\/p>\n
Technology that provides real-time, remote access to patient diagnostic test information in a manner compliant with federal privacy laws. <\/p>\n
Remote sensing and monitoring devices that measure patient vitals and simple chemistries, such as glucose levels, and transmit them into the medical record electronically. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read more from the original source:<\/p>\n
Tom Still: As health care evolves, so does need for smarter, cost-effective tools<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHICAGO Some of the trends in American health care are obvious: Managing costs in the age of Obamacare, patients using online information to take charge of their own health and wellness, and finding ways to deliver care in settings other than hospitals and clinics. Those trends become specific, sometimes knotty, challenges for people engaged in building the tools needed to effectively, efficiently and safely deliver health care. Envisioning, designing and manufacturing medical devices which range from robots to sensors, and from surgical instruments to software that allows devices to communicate with one another was the topic of a conference Thursday and Friday in Chicago Continue reading