Skip to main content

Do-it-yourself healthcare is closer than you think

AliveCor

Share This Article

763206
AUSTIN–Healthcare-related innovation was everywhere at South by Southwest Interactive this year. There were sessions on healthcare IT, big data, wearables, and innovative startups that are using technology to upend the status quo. For example, Tim O’Reilly gave a talk about adapting the same experience-focused approach used by companies such as Apple, Google, and Uber to reimagine health care delivery.
And if there is any industry ripe for disruption, it is healthcare. According to federal government statistics, healthcare expenditures in the U.S now exceed $3 trillion and represent 17% of the nation’s GDP. Yet despite consisting of such a huge slice of the economy, and incorporating large amounts of new technology for diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the past 30 years, the industry has failed at delivering cost-effective care. Compare that with the computing industry, where the million-dollar supercomputer of 20 years ago now fits in your pocket and costs $600 unsubsidized. Thanks to smartphones, cloud computing, sensors, and other technology, today’s health tech entrepreneurs see plenty of opportunities.
One such startup is Audicus. Audicus is aiming to upend the current model and cost structure for obtaining hearing aids. If you’re old enough to think you need a hearing aid, the drill is something like this: Your doctor refers you to an audiologist’s office. The audiologists give you some tests with specialized equipment. They get some detailed data on your hearing loss, and recommend whether you need a hearing aid (or two) and what the options are and their costs. Typically, hearing aids run $2,000 to $3,000 per ear for good-quality smaller ones. Also, most insurance plans don’t cover them, so this is an out-of-pocket expenditure for most patients.
Instead, Audicus is using the Internet to enable a simpler process, with better price transparency, to hearing aid patients. While not eliminating a professional audiologist test, it is using the Internet at what it does best – use technology to present information about a product, enable transparency by clearly spelling out costs, and providing easily accessible post-sale support.
This is not a futuristic technology solution per se, but it does provide an avenue for more innovation. Given the right set of headphones, software, and smartphone based application, why can’t that audio test be administered over the Internet by an audiologist at much lower cost? With new Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids already available, why couldn’t the adjusting and tweaking of the hearing aid be done over the Internet as well? We likely have all the base technology to do this in today’s platforms. What’s required is a rethinking of the model to effectively use it. Audicus looks to be able to do these types of innovations in the future.
Tinnitracks
Along the lines of hearing, Tinnitracks is using music therapy to treat chronic Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. According to recent neuroscientific findings, Tinnitus can be mitigated by “tuning” your hearing with filtered music. Tinnitracks is a Web application that analyzes your own music that you listen to. It then analyzes it for your tinnitus frequency (which an audiologist or ENT specialist can determine) and filters the music that will help tune your ears so as not to trigger the ringing (pictured, right). As Tinnitus is not an easily treatable problem, if this really brings relief to sufferers, it will be a great use of technology for do-it-yourself therapy.
Another interesting company launching soon is Opternative. It is gearing up deliver $30 refractive eye exams over the Internet, using your computer and a Web-enabled phone. Using the same principles as an in an office exam, it will deliver a legal prescription signed by an optometrist that reviews the results of the test. And you can’t even cheat by memorizing the eye chart, as they randomize it.
First Derm is an interesting telemedicine application. Using an IOS or Android app, a user can take a picture of a skin condition or other issue you might otherwise need to book an appointment with a dermatologist for. You take two pictures of the affected area, and provide some basic information, but the initial case request is anonymous. For a $40 fee, a licensed dermatologist reviews the case and responds to you in 24 hours. First Derm says that in 70% of cases, the issue can be treated with an over-the-counter medication. Currently they are limited in that they cannot write prescriptions. In those cases, they will refer you to a local dermatologist. Given the high cost of seeing a specialist, and that specialist co-pay amounts for many insurance plans are now $50 or even more, this is a good use of technology for convenient treatment of non-serious dermatology issues.
So many other startups and more established companies are taking disruptive approaches to solving problems in health care. In many of these cases, the technology platforms we need to build better solutions to health issues are already here. What we need is deep thinking about what really needs to be accomplished, a customer-centric approach (not doctor- or institution-centric), and clever use of technology to change the current models and inefficient cost structures of health service delivery.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Best Web Design Company in Pondicherry

#Technology    has two faces. We all feel it, but sometimes can’t find words to describe it.  #Ebooks    are the best example to show the 0-1 nature of emotions the  #technology  evokes. #itwhere    provide a  #Best     #solutions    to  #Growyourbusiness    feel free to drop a  #Mail    info@itwheretech.co.in www.itwheretech.co.in 

How ad-free subscriptions could solve Facebook

At the core of Facebook’s “well-being” problem is that its business is directly coupled with total time spent on its apps. The more hours you pass on the social network, the more ads you see and click, the more money it earns. That puts its plan to make using Facebook healthier at odds with its finances, restricting how far it’s willing to go to protect us from the harms of over use. The advertising-supported model comes with some big benefits, though. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that “We will always keep Facebook a free service for everyone.” Ads lets Facebook remain free for those who don’t want to pay, and more importantly, for those around the world who couldn’t afford to. Ads pay for Facebook to keep the lights on, research and develop new technologies, and profit handsomely in a way that attracts top talent and further investment. More affluent users with more buying power in markets like the US, UK, and Canada command higher ad prices, effectively

Phoenix OS is (another) Android-as-a-desktop

Google Android may have been developed as a smartphone operating system (and later ported to tablets, TVs, watches, and other platforms), but over the past few years we’ve seen a number of attempts to turn it into a desktop operating system. One of the most successful has been  Remix OS , which gives Android a taskbar, start menu, and an excellent window management system. The Remix OS team has also generated a lot of buzz over the past year, and this week the operating system gained a lot of new alpha testers thanks to a  downloadable version of Remix OS  that you can run on many recent desktop or notebook computers. But Remix OS isn’t the only game in town.  Phoenix OS  is another Android-as-desktop operating system, and while it’s still pretty rough around the edges, there are a few features that could make it a better option for some testers. Some background I first discovered Phoenix OS from  a post in the Remix OS Google Group , although I’ve also found mentions of th

HOW TO CREATE UEFI BOOTABLE USB DRIVE TO INSTALL WINDOWS 8/8.1

Before comes  Windows 8 and Windows 8.1  you made the bootable iso  for  Windows 7. Boot from USB and start to setup the Windows 7.  Windows 8/8.1  don’t include the traditional BIOS . They use UEFI firmware  so you must follow another way to create a bootable USB . If you interest to read what is UEFI  you can find a small description  here  and more details here . UEFI  is more secure and faster than traditional  BIOS  but here comes the problem when you try to boot from an iso file to install  Windows 8/8.1 . I have spent lot of hours until found the right way to boot from a USB to install  Windows 8/8.1 . As an IT when  Windows 8 realeased I download the iso,  create the bootable usb to start the installation but never boot.I change USB , download again the iso , create multiple times the bootable usb but every time the same results. After lot of search I understand that must create a  UEFI bootable USB  to start the installation of   Windows 8/8.1 . Follow I will exp

Windows 10 for phones will be released on this Friday

Microsoft's head of the Windows Insider program, Gabe Aul, has announced today on Windows Weekly that they will release a  new build of Windows 10 for phones  on Friday at 10 AM PT. Windows 10 release date A few weeks back, the company announced a new list of supported devices for the next release but for the version that will be released on Friday, the Lumia Icon and Lumia 930 will not be supported. Gabe said during the announcement that it came down to the new UI being too small on these devices and as such, will not be included in this release. List of supported devices Lumia 1020 Lumia 1320 Lumia 1520 Lumia 520 Lumia 525 Lumia 526 Lumia 530 Lumia 530 Dual Sim Lumia 535 Lumia 620 Lumia 625 Lumia 630 Lumia 630 Dual Sim Lumia 635 Lumia 636 Lumia 638 Lumia 720 Lumia 730 Lumia 730 Dual SIM Lumia 735 Lumia 810 Lumia 820 Lumia 822 Lumia 830 Lumia 920 Lumia 925 Lumia 928 Lumia ICON Microsoft Lumia 430 Microsoft Lumia 435 Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM D