Elderly Lose as Rules Choke Health IT Progress

WASHINGTON — The United States has underinvested in health information technologies that could help improve the lives of elderly people, said Craig Barrett, chairman of the board of the Intel Corporation, at the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.

“Many other countries are ahead of us,” said Mr. Barrett. For example, in Korea, user-friendly devices such as cell phones that double as glucose monitors are being tested.

Research and development funding is needed to fast-track approval for this type of technology and to bring it to the market, Mr. Barrett said. Trials of this kind are taking place in Europe, but in the United States, licensing, regulatory issues, issues of reimbursement, and liability concerns are holding things up, he said. Physicians, for example, don't use e-mail to communicate with patients because they are not reimbursed for giving advice over the Internet.

If the United States were to coordinate companies' efforts to tap research and development funding for such technologies, elderly patients would be able to live better quality lives in their homes, rather than in hospitals and clinics, he argued.

Those efforts would also help lower the medical costs of caring for elderly patients, who make up 15% of all patients, but who account for 85% of medical costs, Mr. Barrett said. “If we can figure out a way to lower those costs to help that small population of people, we'd be much farther ahead.”

A variety of devices capable of monitoring information about diseases could be made available to the three major participants in health care: the individual patient, the caretakers, and family doctors, he said.

“You could turn the health care system around so that all sorts of technology could be used at home to ward off having to go to the hospital,” he said. For example, one could put a pedometer on a patient who has a wireless connection to a PC to encourage him or her to walk 4 miles a day. This would outline the goals and allow the patient to monitor performance and achieve the goals.

By placing monitoring devices in the home, “you could sense if individuals are walking around, opening refrigerators, if they're taking their medication.” The monitoring could be done remotely so that caregivers and family could regularly check on their elderly patients or parents.

Monitoring technology could also help track the condition of a patient with a chronic disease, to see if a patient is worsening. Variables such as mobility, sleep quality, heartbeat, and breathing regularity can be readily tracked using sensors that are available today, he said.

Finally, such technology could be used to improve lifestyles of older patients, said Mr. Barrett. “People who have memory problems often don't want to answer the phone because they're afraid they're not going to know who's on the other end. They don't want to answer the door because they're afraid they might not recognize who's at the door.” One solution would be to give such patients a simple, enhanced call monitoring system that shows a picture of the caller or visitor, explains their relationship, and informs the patient when they last spoke.

To improve access to and the quality of care for elderly patients, the White House Conference on Aging delegates approved several implementation plans to advance health information technology, such as:

▸ Updating Medicare to emphasize the establishment of cost-effective linkages to home and community-based options through the Aging Network, to promote chronic disease management, and to increase health promotion and disease prevention measures.

▸ Establishing a new title under the Older Americans Act to create aging and disability resource centers as single points of entry in each region across the country to coordinate health and aging programs and ensure access to diverse populations.

▸ Including provisions in the Older Americans Act to foster the development of a virtual electronic database that providers can share.

▸ Amending the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other “restrictive” regulations to allow for communication between health providers and the Aging Network.

WASHINGTON — The United States has underinvested in health information technologies that could help improve the lives of elderly people, said Craig Barrett, chairman of the board of the Intel Corporation, at the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.

“Many other countries are ahead of us,” said Mr. Barrett. For example, in Korea, user-friendly devices such as cell phones that double as glucose monitors are being tested.

Research and development funding is needed to fast-track approval for this type of technology and to bring it to the market, Mr. Barrett said. Trials of this kind are taking place in Europe, but in the United States, licensing, regulatory issues, issues of reimbursement, and liability concerns are holding things up, he said. Physicians, for example, don't use e-mail to communicate with patients because they are not reimbursed for giving advice over the Internet.

If the United States were to coordinate companies' efforts to tap research and development funding for such technologies, elderly patients would be able to live better quality lives in their homes, rather than in hospitals and clinics, he argued.

Those efforts would also help lower the medical costs of caring for elderly patients, who make up 15% of all patients, but who account for 85% of medical costs, Mr. Barrett said. “If we can figure out a way to lower those costs to help that small population of people, we'd be much farther ahead.”

A variety of devices capable of monitoring information about diseases could be made available to the three major participants in health care: the individual patient, the caretakers, and family doctors, he said.

“You could turn the health care system around so that all sorts of technology could be used at home to ward off having to go to the hospital,” he said. For example, one could put a pedometer on a patient who has a wireless connection to a PC to encourage him or her to walk 4 miles a day. This would outline the goals and allow the patient to monitor performance and achieve the goals.

By placing monitoring devices in the home, “you could sense if individuals are walking around, opening refrigerators, if they're taking their medication.” The monitoring could be done remotely so that caregivers and family could regularly check on their elderly patients or parents.

Monitoring technology could also help track the condition of a patient with a chronic disease, to see if a patient is worsening. Variables such as mobility, sleep quality, heartbeat, and breathing regularity can be readily tracked using sensors that are available today, he said.

Finally, such technology could be used to improve lifestyles of older patients, said Mr. Barrett. “People who have memory problems often don't want to answer the phone because they're afraid they're not going to know who's on the other end. They don't want to answer the door because they're afraid they might not recognize who's at the door.” One solution would be to give such patients a simple, enhanced call monitoring system that shows a picture of the caller or visitor, explains their relationship, and informs the patient when they last spoke.

To improve access to and the quality of care for elderly patients, the White House Conference on Aging delegates approved several implementation plans to advance health information technology, such as:

▸ Updating Medicare to emphasize the establishment of cost-effective linkages to home and community-based options through the Aging Network, to promote chronic disease management, and to increase health promotion and disease prevention measures.

▸ Establishing a new title under the Older Americans Act to create aging and disability resource centers as single points of entry in each region across the country to coordinate health and aging programs and ensure access to diverse populations.

▸ Including provisions in the Older Americans Act to foster the development of a virtual electronic database that providers can share.

▸ Amending the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other “restrictive” regulations to allow for communication between health providers and the Aging Network.

WASHINGTON — The United States has underinvested in health information technologies that could help improve the lives of elderly people, said Craig Barrett, chairman of the board of the Intel Corporation, at the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.

“Many other countries are ahead of us,” said Mr. Barrett. For example, in Korea, user-friendly devices such as cell phones that double as glucose monitors are being tested.

Research and development funding is needed to fast-track approval for this type of technology and to bring it to the market, Mr. Barrett said. Trials of this kind are taking place in Europe, but in the United States, licensing, regulatory issues, issues of reimbursement, and liability concerns are holding things up, he said. Physicians, for example, don't use e-mail to communicate with patients because they are not reimbursed for giving advice over the Internet.

If the United States were to coordinate companies' efforts to tap research and development funding for such technologies, elderly patients would be able to live better quality lives in their homes, rather than in hospitals and clinics, he argued.

Those efforts would also help lower the medical costs of caring for elderly patients, who make up 15% of all patients, but who account for 85% of medical costs, Mr. Barrett said. “If we can figure out a way to lower those costs to help that small population of people, we'd be much farther ahead.”

A variety of devices capable of monitoring information about diseases could be made available to the three major participants in health care: the individual patient, the caretakers, and family doctors, he said.

“You could turn the health care system around so that all sorts of technology could be used at home to ward off having to go to the hospital,” he said. For example, one could put a pedometer on a patient who has a wireless connection to a PC to encourage him or her to walk 4 miles a day. This would outline the goals and allow the patient to monitor performance and achieve the goals.

By placing monitoring devices in the home, “you could sense if individuals are walking around, opening refrigerators, if they're taking their medication.” The monitoring could be done remotely so that caregivers and family could regularly check on their elderly patients or parents.

Monitoring technology could also help track the condition of a patient with a chronic disease, to see if a patient is worsening. Variables such as mobility, sleep quality, heartbeat, and breathing regularity can be readily tracked using sensors that are available today, he said.

Finally, such technology could be used to improve lifestyles of older patients, said Mr. Barrett. “People who have memory problems often don't want to answer the phone because they're afraid they're not going to know who's on the other end. They don't want to answer the door because they're afraid they might not recognize who's at the door.” One solution would be to give such patients a simple, enhanced call monitoring system that shows a picture of the caller or visitor, explains their relationship, and informs the patient when they last spoke.

To improve access to and the quality of care for elderly patients, the White House Conference on Aging delegates approved several implementation plans to advance health information technology, such as:

▸ Updating Medicare to emphasize the establishment of cost-effective linkages to home and community-based options through the Aging Network, to promote chronic disease management, and to increase health promotion and disease prevention measures.

▸ Establishing a new title under the Older Americans Act to create aging and disability resource centers as single points of entry in each region across the country to coordinate health and aging programs and ensure access to diverse populations.

▸ Including provisions in the Older Americans Act to foster the development of a virtual electronic database that providers can share.

▸ Amending the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other “restrictive” regulations to allow for communication between health providers and the Aging Network.