Interesting article about the idea of bringing hospital to the home where it's needed. Sounds like a logical next step as technology advances in this area:
.. as technology improved, two-way video calls, remote monitoring of patient vital signs, and easily portable medical equipment such as electrocardiogram machines made it possible to provide more care more reliably in peoples’ homes. Patients who’d otherwise be admitted to the hospital for pneumonia or low blood flow related to congestive heart conditions or an infected wound can now be treated directly in their homes.
For the first time during the pandemic, I used video appointments for doctor's visit. The process was infinitely less painful and saved me a lot of time and aggravation. If people at home were equipment with certain basic tooling doctors could use to check vitals and such, the experience could be even more complete.
It's great that there is some startup activity to make this possible. Maybe in a decade, being treated at home will become the norm and most people will make it through their lives without needing to go to a hospital. For families that are dispersed there is a great benefit to being able to participate in the process remotely. While being by the parent's bedside may not be logistically possible, the child can login when the doctor does and be part of what goes on.It's hard to put a value on how comforting that would be for the patient and their loved ones.
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