"Cool" Digital Health Will Change American Healthcare Forever

Digital health technology companies are making an amazing impact on our health directly and indirectly, today. What was once considered "Star Trek" gadgetry will not only be seen in medical ICUs, but in everyday usage. The potential impact on changing what and how we consider normal use of health tools could be seen as a paradigm shift of monumental proportions. So, much of an impact is it that accounting firms such as Price-Waterhouse & Cooper has done extensive research on its growth. It has found that digital health funding went up by 45 % in 2012 to 1.4 Billion USD from only 898 Million USD in 2011. A new type of Population health is about to emerge on the horizon if the gadgets become a common market item and even more so if the demand goes up by health groups, HMOs , medical doctors and medical facilities requiring them as medical regular policy. Some of these gadgets are about the size of a wrist watch and some , yet even smaller at the size of a microchip. Tele-health gadegets will allow a medical doctor or any clinician the ability to remotely "track" their patients health in virtualy real time with the device. On a larger scale health groups and government health research agencies in public health could retrieve mountains of materials on populations to conduct demographic trends in record time. Numerous statistics on the rates, prevelances and outcomes on trends or habits could possibly be predicted at a faster time to prevent disease or steer the (food/beverage/pharmaceutical) markets. Think about it everytime a commercial retail store asks for your email, phone number or asks for your retail savings card. These data will input your consumer based habit and file it to the databank. Millions of population studies can be done from this treasure trove of information. As these currently help banks, credit card companies and retailers in tracking you , it can also help insurance copanies and public health agencies to implement health measures. These gadgets will contain an instant feedback mechanism as well to allow patients to communicate to their healthcare provider about their treatment and how they are feeling almost immediately. Many of these types of applications exist already that allow patients to give opinions , but rather on a certain doctors care. Companies such as ZocDoc, Health Top, Health Grades, Vitals and RateMD are social media -like applications that do just this. If these apps are on more mobile and smaller devices with wi-fi, incredible feedback and monitoring can check a consumers decision in chosing a clinic to go to. We already see how biometrics has been used to scan in Airports, but be prepared for more of it being utilized with wi-fi. A company called Fitbits(Jawbone and Axon as well) uses this now. Healthrageous and Keas are nother companies that gives tech to allow tracking of a patient use health incentives and promote health. Surgeons are already using robotic arms in the OR(operating room) with computers that allow nearly flawless incisions. The ability of Tele-surgery by performing surgery remotely by a doctor who gives a computer instructions so that the robotic arm the actual cutting is conceivable at this time as well. You can be in Rome , Italy and the surgeon in Japan and have the surgery by vitrual operations. So, what does all this mean in general? It means that medicine and healthcare are about to introduce a newer "brave new world" that may be the starting point of accepting these types of devices into society. It will be another "giant leap for mankind" Are there any moral, ethical, legal and bio-technical issues to be concerned about? "You bet ya", but the ends justifies the means and the cost- benefits ratio of this type of tech in the the general public is great.They can allow a health support by being used either as a mandatory tool or provide a person with health credits to a spas of your choice are too good to pass up by the health corporations, government agencies and "YOU" - the consumer who loves gadgetry.

The Digital Human Interface: Part 2

Imagine the year is 2014 and you receive a reminder by your smart phone that you have a doctor's appointment, but instead of getting into your Eco-car and getting into traffic you open up your laptop. It is predicted that the laptop or your tablet will act as a "digital clinic" set up with sensors that can take your blood pressure, heart rate, heart's oxygentation, lung's carbon-dioxide level, basal metabolic rate, cholesterol level, stress level, risk of mortality rate ;then with a special scanner take bone mineral readings, measure cancer bio-markers for tumors as well. With your hand being placed on your laptop, tablet or notepad the same scanner will use sonar by using sound waves to map out an echocardiogram and an EKG(ECG). The trade show even showed scanners that can read the brain. Within that one scan by your laptop the cost of going to your primary care doctor goes down dramatically.

The Digital Human Interface Is Already Here

In Las Vegas this week , the world's largest "techy" trade show premiers with the latest gadgets in high technology to be revealed at the CES. As the challenges of health and wellness stack up against the average person in a post-modern world, perhaps technology will make up for the losing battle of losing weight, controlling calories and monitoring heart disease as easy as clicking a mouse. New technologies that count the number of times you chew your food from a digital counter placed on a fork or new metabolic monitors worn simply and utilized to see if you over ate too many calories or have an imbalanced metabolism are all readily available at the CES trade show. These technologies and others such as pulse oximetry that reads blood gases(from the lungs CO2 and 0xygen) and dyno-map that can determine blood pressure used already in hospital ICUs will open up a flood gate on body monitoring in real time. As most of us are fast paced and on the go and hardly have time to sit, watch television, do work , watch our caloric intake , basal metabolic rate or blood pressure: these type of technologies will cross the divide. Now, you can have technology that will adapt all information from your smart phone. There is little doubt that your medical doctor, clinic, hospital , 3rd party providers or others that have corporate interst in your health status will soon have access to these data to read from to determine your health status and your impact on society. It is the realistic world we live in and only at the tip of the iceberg. For example, distant-surgery can be done by virtual technology. Once a robot has been programmed to stereotopically map the normal human anatomy, the computer will take over the surgery. But, before we get ahead of ourselves, simple smart-technology(nano-technology) will be available to determine and detect not only the caloric quantity , but the caloric quality. That is reading cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose levels in real time as your exercise counter counts how many steps you will need to take to burn those extra calories. At the fast food restaurant , your "chew monitor" will determine how well you eat or if you overate. Other digital technology via your smart phone might be able to do a small radio scan on your bones or a small ECG(electrocardiogram), or sound wave study(ECHO) on your heart. These data will be fed into a major super database where both physicians and other health monitoring profilers can determine your status in "real time". You don't need to look any further than the CES trade show in Las Vegas to find out whats next to be on your smart phone in the "Super Smart Era" of technology and health.