Loading
In-home medical devices such as heart rate monitors and blood pressure cuffs for cardiac patients, glucose meters for diabetics, spirometers for asthmatics, scales to measure weight, and infusion pumps for medicine intake are commonly used to gather data and transmit it to the patient, their families, caregiver, and/or medical provider. With an estimated 7.6 million people receiving home health care in the U.S. (National Association for Home Care & Hospice, 2008) and one-third of the U.S. households having at least one unpaid family medical caregiver present (National Alliance for Caregiving, 2009), the use of in-home medical devices is on the rise.
New to the world of medical devices are implants placed inside the body for a variety of conditions. The implants are still being tested and are at different levels of approval by the FDA. Each one is smaller than a dime and can transmit data to a remote device for a physician to interpret. One such implant measures cardiac pressure to indicate heart problems, another is a sensor that measures blood sugar continuously for patients with diabetes, and yet another one monitors tumor progress for up to many months following a biopsy.
In-home medical devices have become more portable and easier to use, enabling patients recently discharged from the hospital or who are managing a chronic disease, to receive continued care from the comfort of their own homes and sustain normal activity levels. Regular monitoring and instant response to a significant change in the person's health is likely to prevent trips to the emergency room or admissions to the hospital, keeping medical costs down.
As costs for health care and long-term care rise, the support that in-home medical and safety sensing devices and wellness monitors provide is a less expensive option than hospital stays or repeated doctor visits. The needed care is delivered in a more desirable setting, better health results are achieved faster, and families and doctors are able to keep closer watch over the status of a patient. The individual and his or her family are put in the center of their own health care setting by taking on more responsibility for consistently maintaining their care requirements.
Connecting patients to their doctors and families is easier than ever with health monitoring mobile phone applications, sometimes referred to as "connected health," "telehealth," or even "mHealth." Generally, the monitoring system of choice is placed in the home or in/on the individual's body. The patient or caregiver is trained to use the device. The data captured by the machine itself is transferred to a home computer through a USB, wireless connection, or cell phone and then transmitted to a health record management system at the doctor's office, Google Health, or an independent service provider. The results are monitored for consistency. In the event there is an abrupt change in the readings, the individual, doctor, family, and/or caregiver is notified.