Thursday, October 23, 2008

Telemedicine Conference

The Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College recently sponsored a conference entitled "Communications Technology for Telehealth and Telemedicine." Conference speakers included telehealth experts from Intel, Verizon, Polycom, and the VA region encompassing Florida and Puerto Rico. The range and depth of the presentations were remarkable. Although telemedicine has been around for some time, the technology in support of remote access medical services continues to evolve. The sophistication of diagnostic tools was particularly noteworthy. And, the VA is clearly a role model for telehealth utilization.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

HealthVault Data Uploading

A recent New York Times article notes that Microsoft's new online health data storage system called HealthVault lets users upload data directly to their account from about 50 devices, including many blood pressure and heart rate monitors, and blood glucose meters and weight scales. Owners of the account can then share data with their case manager, who could be tracking their response to a new medication, for example. This is good news. HealthVaults' utility to the consumer will increase significantly with the addition of devices which can upload clinical information to the storage system.