Usefulness of home monitoring devices studied

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. Dec. 22, 2008 in American Medical News Proponents of home monitoring devices long have believed that widespread use of those systems can help solve some of the problems plaguing health care today. Now, some technology companies, medical centers, insurers and patients will be testing that theory. Home monitoring provides a way for patients to use electronic devices to collect their own health data, such as vitals or glucose levels. The devices can then be linked with a computer, allowing data to be transmitted to the health care team or to an accessible data repository. One of the biggest questions with home monitoring devices is whether the elderly, the population from which the most benefits could potentially be gained, will actually use the technology. Askew said ease of use has been one of the key consumer research areas for Intel. Several modifications, such as limited functionality and large buttons, were made to make the systems easier to use.