March 31, 2009
by Craig Collins-Young
from CAST website (see link below)
Yesterday, Majd Alwan, director of the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST), was a guest on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, a live two-hour magazine program on WAMU that highlights news, political issues and social trends of the day.
Alwan and Nnamdi discussed how emerging technologies might be harnessed to make life better, help remove old barriers, and help reduce health care costs for ourselves or our older relatives.
If you missed the program, we’ve provided MP3 files of the first half of the show:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
To listen to the rest of the show, visit the Kojo Nnamdi Show.
http://futureofaging.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/aging-technologies-highlighted-on-national-radio-program/
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Trends that Affect Aging in Place
Technology enables doctors to treat patients via Internet
Instead of calling his office, Dr. Elie Azrak's cardiology patients can hop
online to request prescription refills, check portions of their medical records
or send questions about their conditions.
Dr. Azrak and his fellow physicians at St. Louis Cardiology Consultants opened
the Web portal to a segment of patients late last month, part of a systemwide
rollout of electronic medical records across SSM Health Care.
Within a few years, the interventional cardiologist expects to be trading
e-mails with patients and possibly holding real-time Web chats.
"If we can use technology to communicate with our patients and make it easier,
why not?" asked Azrak, who is also vice president of the St. Louis Metropolitan
Medical Society. "I'm sure this is coming."
In fact, it's already here.
Technological advances rapidly are changing the way patients and doctors
communicate. Video-conferencing with other physicians, remote patient
monitoring and e-mail already are standard tools for many physicians across the
country.
One of the newest innovations, a platform that allows insurers to provide
patients with real-time access to their doctors via webcam, launched in Hawaii
in mid-January.
Proponents say "e-care" will help broaden access to health care, create savings
for employer-sponsored health plans and help fight a growing shortage of
physicians nationwide.
Others welcome technology but worry about reimbursement for e-care and the
effectiveness of digital diagnoses.
"I don't see tele-health as ever replacing a personal relationship and direct
one-on-one contact with your physician," said Dr. Michael Wulfers, president of
the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians. "I just don't see how you're going
to be able to ever accurately do a physical exam over the Internet."
CONSULTATIONS ONLINE
Dr. Roy Schoenberg is working on that.
The Boston physician's health tech company, American Well, has developed a
secure communication platform that connects doctors and patients for real-time
consultations.
American Well's first customer, Hawaii's Blue-Cross-Blue Shield licensee, took
the system live on Jan. 15. Consumers access the service by logging on through
the insurer's website.
Patients can search for specific physicians or seek out specialists for
10-minute consultations through webcams or text chats. The sessions can be
extended for a fee.
"Online care is a technology that allows us to extend the reach of the existing
health care system so that it is much more available and in a way much more
financially reachable," said Schoenberg, the company's president and chief
executive. "It has tremendous promise."
The company did not release preliminary utilization figures from Hawaii.
Doctors can search through a patient's electronic medical records and write
prescriptions. Health plan members pay $10 to access the platform. The
uninsured or those on other plans pay $45 per session.
American Well receives transaction and licensing fees through its deal with the
Hawaii Medical Service Association. Only physicians licensed in Hawaii can
provide care, and they're covered under a blanket medical malpractice policy
from AIG. Doctors are reimbursed automatically and electronically.
Schoenberg declined to discuss the company's plans to expand outside of Hawaii.
However, he said a number of health plans across the country are expected to
implement the platform this year.
Of course, American Well doesn't bill itself as a cure-all. Patients
experiencing chest pains or flare-ups of complex conditions should head
straight to an emergency room, Schoenberg said.
Some physicians, including Wulfers, have raised concern about the potential
hazards. Doctors can't feel a patient's abdomen or conduct a cavity exam
through the screen.
"It seems to be just another (idea) along with urgent care or minute clinics,
which will in the end lead to more fragmentation of care … and lower quality of
health care," said Wulfers, a longtime family physician in Cape Girardeau. "It
seems to me like it's a walk-in clinic over the Internet."
Still, many patients couldn't take advantage of "virtual house calls" if this
service was suddenly available everywhere.
Only about 11 percent of U.S. Internet users have webcams connected to home
computers, according to a recent study conducted for the California Healthcare
Foundation. Meanwhile, about 65 percent of adult Americans have broadband or
dial-up service, providing access to e-mail and the Web, according to a recent
study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Despite skepticism of the virtual house call, Wulfers e-mails some patients,
adding that "in the future, I could do a lot of things by e-mail."
A survey by the California Healthcare Foundation also found increased use of
e-mail between physicians and patients in the Golden State: 13 percent of
Californians using the Internet reported getting medical advice via e-mail in
2007, up from 8 percent in 2004.
Starting March 1, Mercy Medical Group in St. Louis will test an online pilot
program that gives secure Web access to a select group of patients. The
patients will be able see lab results, get information about X-rays and
schedule appointments through an interactive calendar.
Patients can take a picture of a suspicious rash and send the image in an
e-mail. Doctors can respond to an e-mail question about high cholesterol with
links to health-related websites.
Mercy plans to offer the Web portal to all patients by January, said Dr. Thomas
H. Hale, president and chief executive.
Excited about the possibilities of the "electronic stethoscope," as he called
the Internet, Hale also sounded a note of caution.
"What we don't want to do is to take that opportunity and say, 'Everything
we've done in the past we need to throw away,'" Hale said.
"It has to be a clinical tool in the (arsenal) of physicians and caregivers."
By Chris Birk
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Feb. 25 2009
Editor's Note:
If remote care technology continues to develop to the point where it becomes unnecessary for a large percentage of the population to leave their homes for a congregate setting, then how will the senior housing industry address this trend and continue to fill up multi-dwelling units or CCRCs?
BB
Instead of calling his office, Dr. Elie Azrak's cardiology patients can hop
online to request prescription refills, check portions of their medical records
or send questions about their conditions.
Dr. Azrak and his fellow physicians at St. Louis Cardiology Consultants opened
the Web portal to a segment of patients late last month, part of a systemwide
rollout of electronic medical records across SSM Health Care.
Within a few years, the interventional cardiologist expects to be trading
e-mails with patients and possibly holding real-time Web chats.
"If we can use technology to communicate with our patients and make it easier,
why not?" asked Azrak, who is also vice president of the St. Louis Metropolitan
Medical Society. "I'm sure this is coming."
In fact, it's already here.
Technological advances rapidly are changing the way patients and doctors
communicate. Video-conferencing with other physicians, remote patient
monitoring and e-mail already are standard tools for many physicians across the
country.
One of the newest innovations, a platform that allows insurers to provide
patients with real-time access to their doctors via webcam, launched in Hawaii
in mid-January.
Proponents say "e-care" will help broaden access to health care, create savings
for employer-sponsored health plans and help fight a growing shortage of
physicians nationwide.
Others welcome technology but worry about reimbursement for e-care and the
effectiveness of digital diagnoses.
"I don't see tele-health as ever replacing a personal relationship and direct
one-on-one contact with your physician," said Dr. Michael Wulfers, president of
the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians. "I just don't see how you're going
to be able to ever accurately do a physical exam over the Internet."
CONSULTATIONS ONLINE
Dr. Roy Schoenberg is working on that.
The Boston physician's health tech company, American Well, has developed a
secure communication platform that connects doctors and patients for real-time
consultations.
American Well's first customer, Hawaii's Blue-Cross-Blue Shield licensee, took
the system live on Jan. 15. Consumers access the service by logging on through
the insurer's website.
Patients can search for specific physicians or seek out specialists for
10-minute consultations through webcams or text chats. The sessions can be
extended for a fee.
"Online care is a technology that allows us to extend the reach of the existing
health care system so that it is much more available and in a way much more
financially reachable," said Schoenberg, the company's president and chief
executive. "It has tremendous promise."
The company did not release preliminary utilization figures from Hawaii.
Doctors can search through a patient's electronic medical records and write
prescriptions. Health plan members pay $10 to access the platform. The
uninsured or those on other plans pay $45 per session.
American Well receives transaction and licensing fees through its deal with the
Hawaii Medical Service Association. Only physicians licensed in Hawaii can
provide care, and they're covered under a blanket medical malpractice policy
from AIG. Doctors are reimbursed automatically and electronically.
Schoenberg declined to discuss the company's plans to expand outside of Hawaii.
However, he said a number of health plans across the country are expected to
implement the platform this year.
Of course, American Well doesn't bill itself as a cure-all. Patients
experiencing chest pains or flare-ups of complex conditions should head
straight to an emergency room, Schoenberg said.
Some physicians, including Wulfers, have raised concern about the potential
hazards. Doctors can't feel a patient's abdomen or conduct a cavity exam
through the screen.
"It seems to be just another (idea) along with urgent care or minute clinics,
which will in the end lead to more fragmentation of care … and lower quality of
health care," said Wulfers, a longtime family physician in Cape Girardeau. "It
seems to me like it's a walk-in clinic over the Internet."
Still, many patients couldn't take advantage of "virtual house calls" if this
service was suddenly available everywhere.
Only about 11 percent of U.S. Internet users have webcams connected to home
computers, according to a recent study conducted for the California Healthcare
Foundation. Meanwhile, about 65 percent of adult Americans have broadband or
dial-up service, providing access to e-mail and the Web, according to a recent
study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Despite skepticism of the virtual house call, Wulfers e-mails some patients,
adding that "in the future, I could do a lot of things by e-mail."
A survey by the California Healthcare Foundation also found increased use of
e-mail between physicians and patients in the Golden State: 13 percent of
Californians using the Internet reported getting medical advice via e-mail in
2007, up from 8 percent in 2004.
Starting March 1, Mercy Medical Group in St. Louis will test an online pilot
program that gives secure Web access to a select group of patients. The
patients will be able see lab results, get information about X-rays and
schedule appointments through an interactive calendar.
Patients can take a picture of a suspicious rash and send the image in an
e-mail. Doctors can respond to an e-mail question about high cholesterol with
links to health-related websites.
Mercy plans to offer the Web portal to all patients by January, said Dr. Thomas
H. Hale, president and chief executive.
Excited about the possibilities of the "electronic stethoscope," as he called
the Internet, Hale also sounded a note of caution.
"What we don't want to do is to take that opportunity and say, 'Everything
we've done in the past we need to throw away,'" Hale said.
"It has to be a clinical tool in the (arsenal) of physicians and caregivers."
By Chris Birk
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Feb. 25 2009
Editor's Note:
If remote care technology continues to develop to the point where it becomes unnecessary for a large percentage of the population to leave their homes for a congregate setting, then how will the senior housing industry address this trend and continue to fill up multi-dwelling units or CCRCs?
BB
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