Picked up in a comment by Kevin Doughty, the newly coined terminology ‘plesiocare’. Do you know what it means? Do you want to know what it means? It’s ‘near-care’ as opposed to ‘telecare’. That is, technology which gives feedback straight to the carer, rather than being mediated through a call center. At least that’s this editor’s understanding. Will it be useful? Will it catch on? What do you think? (Sorry there are more questions than answers! Steve)
Telecare Soapbox: The NHS revolution – 20 years on
In this Soapbox, Peter Kruger, Managing Director of Steinkrug, looks backwards at the pressures that have shaped the NHS and forwards to a different kind of future for caring.
Twenty years ago the NHS underwent something of a revolution: one that went far beyond anything the former health secretary Andrew Lansley envisaged. Technology played a key role in what was perhaps one of the largest business re-engineering projects ever undertaken. The impact of this change is still being felt; not only by patients but also by their relatives who find themselves playing the role of carers. This is opening up opportunities for a number of organisations ranging from mobile health vendors to high street pharmacies.
The following 4 minute video clip shows how most people perceived the NHS before the 1990s – complete with some old fashioned social attitudes:
[This video is no longer available on this site but may be findable via an internet search]Only When I Laugh 1982. Watch the complete episode on YouTube
However, twenty years ago a wave of ageing baby boomers (the ones born during the 1920s, not those born in 1946) hit NHS hospital wards… (more…)
Telehealth Soapbox: Standing firm on the argument for telehealth is vital
<em>Keith Nurcombe, Telefonica’s global director of healthcare, and managing director of O2 Health UK, makes a rallying call to all telehealth supporters.</em>
Telehealth significantly reduces mortality rates, emergency admissions, A&E visits, elective admissions, bed days and costs. Yet despite the overwhelming evidence, there is growing worry about its implementation. We’re far from crisis point, but unless we continue to argue the case for telehealth and promote the evidence available we will allow detractors to win.
That’s why I read with worry last week that the Nuffield Trust’s Adam Steventon – one of the lead investigators behind the WSD – had claimed he doubted the safety of telehealth. As the <a target=”_blank” href=”http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9509181/Doubts-raised-over-safety-of-doctor-by-broadband”>Telegraph reported</a>, he said… (more…)
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