August 31st, 2011Comments (0)

Homeward Bound: The Shift of Devices from Hospital to Home by Jeanine O'Kane

Currently, there is a shift in clinical practice that is increasingly moving away from hospital-based care toward home healthcare monitoring technology. The aging population’s desire for independence is a major driving force behind this trend. According to a recent Washington Post/AARP study, 92 percent of Americans aged 65-74 say they want to “age in place” (i.e., remain in the home for as long as possible). Similarly, for those 75 and older, about 95 percent say they want to live out their lives in their homes. Other drivers are converging to push more medical devices into the home:

  • The length of hospital stays is decreasing as hospitals look to cut costs by discharging patients faster.
  • The wide prevalence of Internet access, both at home and on smart phones, offers patients more health information resources than ever before.
    • In November 2010, nearly 17,000 health apps were available in major app stores
    • Groupon, one of the five fastest-growing Internet sites, offers deals on eye exams, teeth-cleaning and chiropractic services
    • Patients are becoming much more deft with mobile-computing and wireless communications technologies in their consumer lives. Industry has responded with redesigned, patient-friendly technology ranging from ventilators to drug-delivery devices.
    • There is a continuing growth in the number of medications for treating chronic conditions, such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, where people are typically administering the drugs themselves at home. Within that growth are trends toward different types of devices that offer usability benefits, such as ease of use, portability, a longer battery life, and enhanced dosing.

The call for assistive technology for aging homeowners is only going to get louder. Futurists predict that the rise in the number of elderly and infirm who live at home will drive demand for monitoring equipment that, using artificial intelligence, won’t just respond to, but will also help predict when an emergency might occur. In addition, the impact of college-educated, technology-savvy baby boomers has driven a lower tolerance for poor product performance from its consumer devices; this generation now demands the same performance from home health technologies for their aging parents.

As a result, our medical-device clients are going to have to raise their game and design products with features that are more user-friendly, intuitive, and can seamlessly interconnect with other devices. Technology has leveled the playing field and made the world smaller. The Conversation Age will make it faster. To succeed, let alone keep up with these changes, industry must stay ahead of the technological curve.

Post a Comment