A two-way, digital, switched broadband fiberoptic network that extended into people’s homes would allow a lot more of the frail elderly and the chronically ill to live independently, rather than in convalescent homes.
Predictor: Flower, Joe
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for Wired magazine, Joe Flower explains the types of changes that could come in health care through the use of networked computing. Flower writes:”Telecommunications have powerful potential to help. A two-way, digital, switched broadband fiberoptic network that extended into people’s homes would allow a lot more of the frail elderly and the chronically ill to live independently, rather than in convalescent homes. Relatively less-trained practitioners could visit them at home, and tap directly into the technological support and expertise of the hospital, hooking up to share vital signs, advice, and a direct look at the patient with the patient’s doctor … Some Alzheimer’s patients and people with certain types of acute schizophrenia could live with more independence and less constant supervision if remote monitoring – much like that now used on some parolees – warned when they had wandered outside their ‘safe zone.’ Many people at serious risk of heart attacks, strokes, or other sudden, lethal shifts in their body systems would welcome such monitors, if these could give them the freedom to live a normal life. A miniaturized body monitor, either worn or implanted, connected to an Iridium-type global telephone system, would do the trick – since the global phone must establish its position as part of its normal operation.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Medical/Professional
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: The Other Revolution in Health Care: Leave Hillary and Bill Out of It … The Health Care System is Going to Change Drastically Over the Next Decade
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.01/healthcare_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney