Mobile healthcare has increased exponentially, according to a recent report by Global Information, which announced that the smartphone application market for mobile healthcare “increased by a factor of 7 to reach $718 million in 2011.” But the research firm also cautioned that the mHealth market “is still in an embryonic state.” However, no one can argue that the market potential is not enormous (with an overall worldwide healthcare market size of $ 6 trillion, as estimated by the World Health Organization).
No doubt about it, technology has eased our lives in many ways, and especially in the ways we get better when we’re sick. Years ago, we could never have imagined diabetes being monitored and controlled remotely, or a robot removing a cancerous tumor, or getting immediate help from a specialist no matter where you are, when you’re having a stroke and not at a hospital, when the more time it takes, the more likely it is you will die. But is it good, or bad, for us?
Canada's premiers are furious after the government imposed a new 10-year health accord last month, without any consultation or negotiation, shrinking annual increases in four years and according to a story by Rob Shaw and Cindy E. Hartnett. The premiers said the accord “institutes a per person funding formula for health care that will have profound effects on provincial health budgets and, ultimately, health-care services for citizens”.
It’s been very confusing, and upsetting, for men of a certain age. Should they or should they not have a PSA? The PSA is one of the most important ways of detecting an early prostate cancer, and the earlier the better, Dr. David Samadi, vice chairman, department of urology, and chief of robotics and minimally invasive surgery at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, said. Samadi said that he can’t stress enough the importance of early detection through the PSA, despite recent government guidelines recommending against it, as reported by Julie Steenhuysen at Reuters. Samadi also commented on the new ways surgeons have of treating prostate cancer.
Polycom Inc., a provider of standards-based unified communications (UC), today announced that it is helping the UK-based NHS Cumbria & Lancashire Cardiac and Stroke Network (CSNLC) provide “telestroke” service to help save the lives of stroke victims by connecting patients with remote doctors in the “Golden Hour,” the most critical point of intervention for survival. Using Polycom video collaboration technology, “15 stroke consultants from six participating Acute Trusts connecting eight hospitals are able to take stroke specialists to the patient enabling timely diagnosis and treatment, saving lives and over £8 million a year,” the press release reads. Hospitals are managed by acute trusts in the UK.
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Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
