Page 41 - Fashion issue

A guide for family, friends and loved ones
in preparing for the effects of the growing

elder population …a Public Service from

“Those Who Care”

Cloud-based Home Health Monitoring

Standing around the boatyard the other day with a bunch of sad- that patient to the hospital within the first three days after discharge.
dened sailors who can only dream of Summertime, and once again
being on the water with our boats, I happen to notice that 3 out of 4 Of course, this does not replace the need for home-based monitors,
(I'm the 4th) sailors had in hand the new IPhone 4, and at one point actual personal home health visits, etc., but it does allow for nearly
or another, using this new toy for various reasons. Suddenly, two instantaneous connection to the patient's health care providers. Such
of the sailors bumped phones - I mean they actually touched their a connection is vital in providing the care essential in monitoring of a
phones together. patient during the transition from hospital to home.

What is that all about? Of course I needed to ask what I was I'm happy to see technology doing more for us than merely an
missing. They softened my ignorance by telling me about "cloud hourly Angry Bird distraction. It is pretty amazing if you think about it,
technology," and various other innovations that seem to come so especially when our brains turn to how it can help with patient care.
readily to these tech-savvy sailors (I don't even use electronic GPS/ Believe it or not, I may even consider using a GPS on my boat this
compass on my sailboat). Seems that in today's world (and if you season - or maybe not.
have Apple technology at hand) you can take a picture on your
IPhone 4 and it will automatically send that photo to your other Apple (Info in part from: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/rethinking-health-
based devices, for example your MacBook Pro computer! care/cloud-based-home-health-monitoring-service-works-with-your-
phone/7795?tag=search-river.)
The bumping and sharing data seemed to be focused on sharing
music, but I'm sure it was more complicated than that. This all lead
me to think about the progress in home health monitoring systems -
and thus this issue's message (please be aware that I am far from a San Diego
"techie" and as such the following information will only scratch the
surface of what is now happening in this fascinating world).
Woman
We all know that telehealth has been developing in the last de-
cade, with home monitoring being a primary focus. This is where
a patient, whether recently discharged from a hospital or not, has
his home connected, via special monitors, etc., so that doctors and
other health professionals can monitor vital signs, as well as get- 41
some idea of the patient's physical appearance.

Enter Independa, a company offering technology-enabled
independent-living solutions (usually at more cost effective levels).
They will be rolling out (sometime in 2012) their "cloud-based"
home health monitoring system. Of course, this system will allow
for the recording of biometric information; such as "weight, blood
pressure, glucose level, temperature, pulse, heart rate - using the
basic and universally available phone."

Even if you didn't miss the important part here, it is worth repeat-
ing -- this will all be processed via a normal, everyday, ordinary
telephone. For tech savvy folks out there, this may seem like no
big deal at all, but for me, I was blown away. It means that those
requiring some form of monitoring their medical needs can have
that done over their everyday phone, with no special cell phone
service necessary or special monitors in the house, etc. This
opens up nearly the entire country to this type of home health
based monitoring, and possibly without the level of home visits
currently performed by home health agencies (e.g., Visiting Nurses
Association).

The information you transmit over the regular landline phone is
"converted into digital form and delivered to Independa's cloud-
based telecare solution, CloudCare." This obviously will offer
medical professionals much more up-to-the-minute information on
a patient's status; thus helping to prevent the often urgent return of