Challenges face remote monitoring technology

Remote monitoring has become one of the hottest buzzwords in healthcare IT. But how is the industry really reacting to the technology? Jane Sarahson-Kahn writes that obstacles abound. In her take on the technology for iHealthbeat, Sarahson-Kahn notes that "reimbursement, licensure, clinician resistance and lack of demonstrable return on investment are the most formidable market impediments." And there's plenty of evidence to back that conclusion up. She points to a recent report by Spyglass Consulting, "Healthcare Without Bounds: Trends in Remote Patient Monitoring," which argues that one of the most serious impediments to adoption is the reluctance of insurers to pay for monitoring programs. But there's still hope: Pay-for-performance and broadband look as though they may help push remote monitoring forward. Meanwhile, "the trial of all trials" is being conducted at the Veteran's Administration, where 6,000 patients with chronic illness are being monitored by staff.

- read this article from iHealthbeat

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