This would make it possible for people to check in for updates with their physicians without making the trip.
The latest developments in wearable technology could make it easier to maintain a closer and more effective relationship between doctors and patients, as it could make it possible for physicians to monitor their patients – particularly the elderly – when they have a chronic condition but where daily appointments are impractical.
Tech such as smartwatches could make it possible for emergency situations to be avoided.
After all, when smaller symptoms are caught earlier, it is easier to achieve a diagnosis and treat a condition before it becomes urgent. Local physicians who provide the elderly with care have stated that the key to effective assistance for these patients is daily monitoring. While physical trips to visit a doctor – or to have a doctor make a house call – are typically out of the question, the answer could easily lie in tech, particularly wearable technology.
Wearable technology can monitor various functions and systems of the body through a range of sensors.
The federal PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) can provide low income seniors with counseling, socialization and treatment on a daily basis. This is important as this age group is often able to live on their own, but do face a range of different health problems. Though it does help that they will be able to visit with doctors at appointments on a regular basis, this requires transportation and will not usually be possible on a daily basis.
That makes it more challenging for a doctor to be able to monitor pain levels and illness in their patients. However, if those patients wear smartwatches or other types of wearables, it means that their physicians will be able to remotely monitor them to make certain that nothing has changed, that their treatments and therapies are working and that they don’t require additional assistance.
This could be particularly helpful to PACE organizations who provide health care services to people throughout a broad geographical area. Wearable technology based monitoring could reduce the requirement for seniors to obtain physical transportation to an appointment, without sacrificing the ability to have a doctor monitor their wellbeing.
