Published on November 17, 2009 at 11:03 AM
In a collaboration between Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post, Elizabeth Olson writes about how emerging technology is helping older people stay in their homes and can, in some instances, offer mechanisms to improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs. "Every morning at 10 a.m. sharp, Juanita Wood, 87, taps "okay" on a screen to start up a device that takes her blood pressure and transmits the information to her medical clinic. At 10:30 a.m., her husband, Arthur, 91, touch-starts his own device, neatly lined up next to hers. The machine calculates his blood pressure and weight and sends them off, along with a blood sugar count that he enters by hand" (11/17).