Leveraging Technology to Transform Health Care

Posted on | June 4, 2008 | Comments Off on Leveraging Technology to Transform Health Care

A new hope for living to our fullest human potentialIn recent years, there has been a lot of discussion about using technology to help manage disease and disability and to help older Americans “age in place.” But starting with the White House Conference on Aging in 2005, a new dialogue began to emerge, one that put an emphasis on the question: “How might technology extend independence, productivity and the quality of life?”

And now, in 2008, a new question is emerging: “How might technology be applied to re-engineer homes for health so aging citizens become a more integrated part of the multigenerational family, the community and a prevention-oriented health delivery system?”

In other words, is it possible that the technology we have been developing for older Americans might be adapted so that it benefits their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren as well?

The answer is yes. In supporting our most senior citizens with the latest technological advances in home design, care-team connectivity, mobility, cognition, entertainment, learning and employment, we can also reorient our support for citizens and their families around a more home-centered approach that reinforces productivity, connectivity and good health. This vision harnesses software and hardware for the home that not only improves individual quality of life, but also advantages family, community and societal goals.

The re-wiring of the American home for seniors is bringing us amazing innovations – from devices that monitor whether individuals are properly taking their medications to computer programs that help them keep their cognitive abilities sharp. Now we are at a point where a challenge must go out to our technology innovators: Can they come up with new “killer applications” that would apply these ideas more broadly for the health of families? Can we target technologic advances in health to reach our citizens most at risk? Can we, in powering the health technology revolution, broaden our social contract to include universal health coverage? How do we unite the resources of the technology, entertainment, and financial sectors with the traditional health care power players, and incentivize them to work together to create a truly preventive and holistic health delivery system that is equitable, just, efficient, and uniformly reliable? How can each citizen play a role in ongoing research and innovation, and help define lifelong learning and behavioral modification as part of good citizenship?

The vision for technology must be integrated into a broader and more transformational quality-of-life model, serving all Americans – not just those who are aging. It is not so much about aging as it is about living, and doing so to our fullest human extent. Technology has the power to assist us in healing, providing health and keeping our nation and global family whole. But its capacity to deliver on this promise is dependent on a vision for health that is both broad and inclusive.

To learn more, watch this week’s video, embedded with this blog, or read the full transcript. Then offer your own insights and comments. Is this idea feasible? Do you feel it is worth pursuing?