Online health care as a way to cope with looming crisis

I’ve been suggesting for years that the Internet-connected universe of the future will provide an opportunity for more home-care, helping to alleviate the shortage of critical-care beds that will emerge as the population ages and health-care funds dry up. It’s slowly becoming a reality ….. with an announcement by Menem ….

They’ve just launched “a new service Tuesday that will allow patients with diabetes to send their glucose readings to their doctors online.”

That’s precisely the thing I’ve been speaking about at health care conferences and in various articles and books through the last decade, such as “IT and healthcare: more than a marriage of convenience.”

The Wall Street Journal noted in an article, “Normally, diabetics visit their doctors every three to six months to have their blood-glucose levels checked. The new tool allows patients to load blood-glucose levels stored on their meters on to a secure server, which is then downloaded by their doctors. While it isn’t meant to replace the occasional face-to-face checkup, it would give patients the option of avoiding a routine visit, said Ed Fotsch, chief executive officer of Medem , based in San Francisco.”