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Hospitals Wireless Future

Last week, I was in Atlantic City to keynote Verizon Wireless’ annual “Lifescience & Healthcare Summit” and moderate two panels on how wireless technology is transforming healthcare. Because I’m a firm believer that pictures (or in this case video) speak louder than words, I’d encourage you to watch this short video of how researchers at John Hopkins are using the iPhone to visually display medical images:

This is only the tip of proverbial iceberg. Just yesterday, Google announced it was unveiling a new ”tool” to help citizens spot flu trends two weeks sooner than the government’s current system; and Philip’s announced that it had created a new “intelligent” pill which can be programmed to control the delivery of medicine according to a pre-defined drug release profile. In addition to delivering drugs directly to the site of the disease, the pill can also wirelessly transmit information about the patient’s condition.

The two events signal a promising future for wireless technology in the healthcare sector, but it is just the beginning. I have written before about how advances in genomics and RFID are transforming healthcare. In both cases, wireless technology will take these technologies to the next level.

For example, it is unrealistic to expect either patients or doctors will be able to process—let alone understand—the wealth of genomic data that is poised to begin flooding the market in the next few years. Wireless technology can help patients better understand, manage and utilize genomic information by storing the data on the cellphone and then allowing users to deploy sophisticated algorithms to allow them make more intelligent decisions about what foods to eat or products to buy; while doctors can use social networking tools to compare notes (on genomic-related information) with their peers while also using mobile technology to stay abreast to the latest advances in the field.

Similarly, as hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic and others begin to deploy RFID technology for everything from asset tracking to patient record management, it is clear that wireless mobile communication tools will be the conduit by which healthcare professionals harness and process the data that those tags are sending.

In oder to reduce the escalating healthcare costs in this country, it is imperative that consumers take more responsibility for their own health care and that society engage in more preventative healthcare. In both instances, wireless technology can be a big part of the solution. The trick will lie in convincing healthcare adminsitrators that investments in IT-related infrastructure will be worth the effort.

Interested in other health care-related posts by America’s leading healthcare futurist, Jack Uldrich? Check out these recent articles:

The Future of Health Care: Preventing Disease
Health Care Providers Need a Second Life
The Future of Health Care: Part 3 (Robotics)The Robot Will See You Now
Hospitals Robotic Future: Part 2
Hospitals Robotic Future: Part 1
Hospitals Get a Lift

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