You know the drill. You're at the doctor's office for your annual exam, and he or she seems more interested in the gadgets than you. What happened to the stethoscope and the thermometer? Hold onto your paper gown, because medicine is going totally electronic in the next two years. And the new technology is being funded in part by the economic stimulus bill. Innovation is driving America away from the fiscal cliff.
Microsoft and other software makers in San Francisco and elsewhere are already offering iPhone apps that allow you to check in with your doctor from home, work, or on the road. There are even plans for 'labs on a chip' that will allow instant testing for STDs, diabetes, bacterial infections, and more. So, don't be surprised if one day very soon, your doctor points his or her iPhone at you and gives you a diagnosis on the spot.
One of the newest proponents of electronic healthcare is a small company called Practice Fusion, located in downtown San Francisco. They help doctors convert to these electronic tools that will save billions of dollars over time.
Along with Microsoft, accessories are being developed around the world. One of the latest is a fingertip device that's a mobile medical laboratory that records and sends data for a range of research. That will soon be a reality thanks to the expertise of a University of Sydney PhD candidate whose findings were just presented to an international conference yesterday. To make his idea a reality, James Heathers collaborated with Simon Wegerif, a biomedical engineer. Wegerif's company, HRV Fit Ltd, already had an HRV phone app - iThlete - widely used by professional sports teams and athletes. Sports medicine and technology are united in this new product.
A German group, URI, has also jumped into the project with a new patent. "Today when you go to the lab to have a blood test, they take vials of liquid from you and you have to wait sometimes days to get the results," said Mohammad Faghri, URI professor of mechanical engineering and the lead researcher on the project. "With our system, and just a drop of blood, you can have your blood tested when you walk into the doctor's office and the results will be ready before you leave. Or you can do it at home and have the results sent to your doctor in real time."
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law a $789 billion economic stimulus package, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA. Included in ARRA legislation is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, also known as HITECH. HITECH allocates $19 billion to hospitals and physicians to use certified Electronic Medical Records.
Despite all whining about the 'failed' US economic stimulus packages, a closer look reveals that this kind of cutting edge technology is funded by good old Uncle Sam. The naysayers will see the savings of electronic medicine to move our economy forward. The US has set goals for "the utilization of an Electronic Health Record for each person in the United States by 2014" and the development of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of medical information.
© Copyright 2012 Mary Holman. All rights reserved. This article and content may not be republished, rewritten or excerpted.
