• 
• 
• 

Healthcare

The healthcare industry is facing the following challenges:

• An aging and chronically ill population.
• A shortage in clinicians and care givers.
• An explosion in healthcare costs.

A survey conducted by the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) revealed that workforce automation and efficiency increase in the level of care are two most needed technological advances . A healthcare outlook published by the IBM Corporation identified two emerging opportunities for healthcare providers to create win-win situations, and they are: management of chronic diseases and life-long prediction and prevention of illnesses.

Remote monitoring of patient health (or telehealth) is a promising technology to meet these challenges. Telehealth promotes self-care at a home setting, monitors vital signs, assesses the patients who have already been diagnosed in a standard medical setting, facilitates patient education and training.

There is a strong similarity between monitoring airplane failures for preventive maintenance (tele-maintenance) and monitoring people for diseases (preventive care). Both collect data from a subject of interest (whether it is a human or a machine), analyze the data, recommend “maintenance” actions based on an evidence of need.