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Virtual Care Eases Pressure on Sandwich Generation
By Denise Mann
WebMD Guest Blogger
Oct. 22, 2009 -- Members of the so-called “sandwich generation” are often juggling their jobs and home responsibilities with those of caring for aging parents -- many of whom want to grow old at home. It’s not easy, but new technologies that allow caregivers to virtually monitor family members and doctors to conduct virtual visits may lighten the load of all involved.
By and large, such virtual care and care giving are quickly becoming a reality.
One such virtual check-up system allows patients to chat with their doctor at scheduled times, as well as type in health information and vital statistics so that their condition can be remotely monitored. Some insurers even foot the bills for the technology.
A separate system in use at some nursing homes and assisted living facilities uses inconspicuous motion sensors to detect a person’s activity and establish patterns and trends. If there is a deviation in a pattern, the system picks it up. Say your loved one goes to the bathroom more frequently than usual at night? It could be a urinary tract infection. This high-tech system can also tell if a person slipped in the shower, took their pills, and ate three meals a day.
It may one day help family members keep a virtual eye on aging parents or loved ones -- from across the map or across the street -- easing their worry and allowing their loved ones to remain independent longer.
These new video monitoring systems were among many new technologies showcased at General Electric Healthymagination conference in New York City, a two-week-long exhibit designed to introduce doctors, thought leaders, and patients to the next generation of medical technology.
Research shows that patients and doctors like virtual visits. One such study in a recent issue of the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare showed that evaluations done through videoconferencing were similar to face-to-face visits in terms of time spent with the doctor, ease of interaction, and personal aspects of the interaction. What’s more, diagnosis and treatments were the same whether a person was examined virtually or in the office.
“This is the wave of the future – no doubt about it,” says study researcher Ronald F. Dixon, MD, an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “You get to see and do a visual exam, which is helpful in diagnosing many conditions such as rashes and joint pain; you can gather the same data that you would in a ‘real’ visit, ask questions, and have all the information from the patient’s medical record in front of you,” he says. Dixon did not attend the conference.
There are other benefits too, he says. “Technologies that allow for continuous or regular monitoring of blood pressure and other vital signs such as pulse oxygenation are much better than the snapshot you would get in just one office visit,” he says.
Such technology will also one day help friends and family members keep track of their loved ones who are ill or homebound. “Anyone in your health social network could be alerted if there is an issue,” he says.
Dixon is not sure the technology is here yet, “but we are getting there.”
Such video monitoring and virtual doctor visits will also help reduce health care costs and improve care, says Former Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, a former heart-lung transplant surgeon. Frist is a member of a new advisory panel created by General Electric that aims to help use technology to provide access to affordable health care. “Eighteen percent of people on Medicare are back in the hospital in 30 days,” he says. Why? The reasons are manifold. Maybe their doctors’ orders are a bit unclear or maybe they fail to pick up their medications, he says.
“Home monitoring can connect patients at home with nurses, with social workers, and with doctors so they don’t bounce back into the hospital,” he says. Keeping patients out of the hospitals and emergency rooms -- whenever possible -- can drastically reduce costs of care.
SOURCES:
Former Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee.
General Electric Healthymagination conference in New York City.
Ronald F. Dixon, MD, an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Dixon R, et al. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. May 2009.
WebMD Guest Blogger
Oct. 22, 2009 -- Members of the so-called “sandwich generation” are often juggling their jobs and home responsibilities with those of caring for aging parents -- many of whom want to grow old at home. It’s not easy, but new technologies that allow caregivers to virtually monitor family members and doctors to conduct virtual visits may lighten the load of all involved.
By and large, such virtual care and care giving are quickly becoming a reality.
One such virtual check-up system allows patients to chat with their doctor at scheduled times, as well as type in health information and vital statistics so that their condition can be remotely monitored. Some insurers even foot the bills for the technology.
A separate system in use at some nursing homes and assisted living facilities uses inconspicuous motion sensors to detect a person’s activity and establish patterns and trends. If there is a deviation in a pattern, the system picks it up. Say your loved one goes to the bathroom more frequently than usual at night? It could be a urinary tract infection. This high-tech system can also tell if a person slipped in the shower, took their pills, and ate three meals a day.
It may one day help family members keep a virtual eye on aging parents or loved ones -- from across the map or across the street -- easing their worry and allowing their loved ones to remain independent longer.
These new video monitoring systems were among many new technologies showcased at General Electric Healthymagination conference in New York City, a two-week-long exhibit designed to introduce doctors, thought leaders, and patients to the next generation of medical technology.
Research shows that patients and doctors like virtual visits. One such study in a recent issue of the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare showed that evaluations done through videoconferencing were similar to face-to-face visits in terms of time spent with the doctor, ease of interaction, and personal aspects of the interaction. What’s more, diagnosis and treatments were the same whether a person was examined virtually or in the office.
“This is the wave of the future – no doubt about it,” says study researcher Ronald F. Dixon, MD, an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “You get to see and do a visual exam, which is helpful in diagnosing many conditions such as rashes and joint pain; you can gather the same data that you would in a ‘real’ visit, ask questions, and have all the information from the patient’s medical record in front of you,” he says. Dixon did not attend the conference.
There are other benefits too, he says. “Technologies that allow for continuous or regular monitoring of blood pressure and other vital signs such as pulse oxygenation are much better than the snapshot you would get in just one office visit,” he says.
Such technology will also one day help friends and family members keep track of their loved ones who are ill or homebound. “Anyone in your health social network could be alerted if there is an issue,” he says.
Dixon is not sure the technology is here yet, “but we are getting there.”
Such video monitoring and virtual doctor visits will also help reduce health care costs and improve care, says Former Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, a former heart-lung transplant surgeon. Frist is a member of a new advisory panel created by General Electric that aims to help use technology to provide access to affordable health care. “Eighteen percent of people on Medicare are back in the hospital in 30 days,” he says. Why? The reasons are manifold. Maybe their doctors’ orders are a bit unclear or maybe they fail to pick up their medications, he says.
“Home monitoring can connect patients at home with nurses, with social workers, and with doctors so they don’t bounce back into the hospital,” he says. Keeping patients out of the hospitals and emergency rooms -- whenever possible -- can drastically reduce costs of care.
SOURCES:
Former Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee.
General Electric Healthymagination conference in New York City.
Ronald F. Dixon, MD, an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Dixon R, et al. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. May 2009.
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