2005 Healthcare Information Technology Conference
"Healthcare, Technology & the Future"
The provision of high quality healthcare continues to increase in complexity. Knowledge management, clinical decision support, biotechnology and personalized medicine / consumer empowerment are all critical components of provider best practices. This conference will explore these resources and tools in a variety of settings with a special session devoted to "Tools & Devices of the Future".
On-line registration is now closed, however you may still register on-site the day of the event.
Agenda | Exhibitors | Workshops | Vendor Opportunities | Co-Sponsors
Session Descriptions: Keynote | Panel Discussion | Session 1
Session Description - Keynote Address:
"Data, Devices & Demographics: Transforming Heathcare in Boomer Time"
Technology Helps Older Adults Make Good Health Decisions |
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The health care industry is properly focused on both technology and caring for an aging population, yet Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, Director of the MIT AgeLab questions its preoccupation with related costs.
"Individual empowerment will be key in future, and we can help aging people manage their own health through technology," said Dr. Coughlin, who will be the keynote speaker at the Consortium's 2005 Healthcare Information Technology Conference, Healthcare, Technology & the Future, on Friday, Feb. 4, at the Westin Hotel, Waltham.
And while there is much discussion of health care moving to the home in the future, Dr. Coughlin feels this premise provides an incomplete picture today and going forward.
"Health issues are everywhere, from how older adults perform driving a car to what choices they make when shopping for food or over-the-counter medications," he said, noting that the AgeLab is not focused on technology alone, but also on behavior. "Making the best use of technologies can help the older population and those assisting and caring for them to make the right decisions at the right time."
Dr. Coughlin painted a portrait of today's major healthcare consumer: a woman over 45 overseeing her own health care and that of her children, husband, parents and often her husband's parents. Managing, monitoring and complying with all the health care information and protocols pertinent to each individual's health can easily overwhelm this caretaker. The question is: How will she be provided with the tools and the solutions she needs?
Providers are often focused on "white-coat technology" and talk among themselves about patients' needs, according to Dr. Coughlin. He recommends that physicians bring in patients, family members and other caregivers as partners, focusing on key issues such as taking medications and taking them correctly, exercise and diet.
"These issues might be discussed at point of contact, for example at a physician's visit, but information is more useful at the point of decision," he said. The objective is to reach the patient when she forgets to take a medication or when he chooses a candy bar instead of a nutritious snack.
Such aims are not pie-in-the-sky dreams, but a technological reality.
The MIT AgeLab has pioneered the smart personal adviser (http://web.mit.edu/agelab/projects_wellness.shtml#3), or smart shopping cart, which helps the consumer make health-conscious shopping decisions right in the supermarket aisle. It takes into consideration personal medical conditions, genetic makeup, diet and other factors in guiding choices among the vast array of low-fat, low-sodium and other selections in the grocery store. Applications of the smart personal adviser are being used in Germany and in some U.S. markets.
Those watching their diets can use a camera phone to photograph each daily meal and transmit the images to the myfoodPhone Web site (www.myfoodphone.com), where a dietitian will analyze the selections and offer advice.
In Japan, utility and cable companies have enabled technologies to upload patient information such as blood pressure and send it to clinicians.
"We're seeing pieces of this technology coming into use. Eventually we will see it all pulled together under one brand," said Dr. Coughlin.
"When we stop referring to technology as the health care innovation of the future and look at it simply as a component of health, we will know we have reached the future of aging and wellness," he said.
For further information on any of our conferences and events, please contact Ellen Kreopolides, Event Planner, via e-mail or by phone (781)768-2519. If you would like information on exhibiting opportunities for this or other events, please contact Arleen Coletti, Director of Member & Exhibiting Services via e-mail or by phone (781)768-2512.
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