David Lee Scher, MD, Owner & Director, DLS Healthcare Consulting

Remote patient monitoring may serve patients who are in the post-acute care phase of recovery from a hospitalization as well as those with chronic diseases. More

As defined in Wikipedia, remote patient monitoring (RPM) is “a technology to enable monitoring of patients outside of conventional clinical settings (e.g. in the home), which may increase access to care and decrease healthcare delivery costs.” More

The term "patient engagement" is everywhere now. It's part of the vernacular in advocacy circles, government, health technology companies and payers. It used to signal a new healthcare ecosystem in which the patient is more of a spotlighted consumer - where reimbursement hinges on patient satisfaction, where the shortage of physicians dictates new care paradigms and where the cost of healthcare must decrease as well as be redirected to wellness and home care from the more expensive treatments of preventable chronic diseases and institutional care. More

If one looks at communications revolving around healthcare these days, whether emanating from political, healthcare economics, clinical or technology spaces, the term "patient engagement" is invariably found as one of the cornerstones of the conversation. This is no more evident than in the digital health technology space. One would think that patient engagement is only possible by hitching a wagon to the technology horse. More

Cardiovascular disease - specifically, sudden cardiac death - is the number one killer in the U.S. and most westernized countries. More

Alere's purchase of Medapps prompts me to discuss a question posed to me daily: "What is the ROI of digital health technologies?" More

Wikipedia defines patient portals as "healthcare-related online applications that allow patients to interact and communicate with their healthcare providers. Some patient portal applications exist as stand-alone websites and sell their services to healthcare providers. Other portal applications are integrated into the existing website of a healthcare provider. Still others are modules added onto an existing electronic medical record system. What all of these services share is the ability of patients to interact with their medical information via the Internet. …" More

In previous posts I have talked about the importance of some of the major stakeholders (physicians, non-physician providers, hospitals and caregivers) in mHealth adoption. For a few reasons, insurers will also play a pivotal role in the development and adoption of patient-focused mHealth technology for wellness as well as for the management of chronic diseases. More

A recent article in the Washington Post raises concerns about the legitimacy of mobile health apps. More