Combining advanced medical and information technologies offers pathway to lower health ...( Washington D.C. (September 22 2008):...)

Washington D.C. (September 22, 2008): Integrating sophisticated medical technologies for patient monitoring with advanced information systems and clinical expertise has the potential to significantly improve medical care while lowering treatment costs. This is especially true for patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes, today said an international panel of experts, including New Zealand medical device developer, Zephyr Technology (http://www.zephyrtech.co.nz). The panelists discussed the critical role of technology in improving medical care and reducing treatment costs, as well as U.S. and global challenges surrounding the adoption and reimbursement of such advanced technologies as part of the AdvaMed 2008 MedTech Conference, being held September 21 24 in Washington, D.C.

Health care costs have been rising globally, causing concerns about the sustainability of providing high quality care to populations on an equitable basis. The financial burden to payers is substantial, making the short-term cost of advances increasingly prominent in the introduction of new technologies. Yet many of these new medical technologies are positioned to provide better, earlier diagnosis and treatment of diseases, with fewer side effects and better outcomes than alternative treatment regimens leading to lower health care costs over the course of a patient's illness. This is particularly true in the area of chronic illnesses, like diabetes, where early detection and treatment of potentially costly complications can provide significant savings and new real-time, remote monitoring technology can better enable patients to receive care at home, thus avoiding costly hospital stays.

For example, New Zealand's Zephyr has developed "Smart Fabric" technology for real-time patient monitoring that uses various off the shelf textiles that are integrated with small unobtrusive electronic modules integrated with garments or strap
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