They don’t call it social media for nothing. There’s probably a million stories of how people reconnected with “X” from their past on the Internet and landed up doing things that should be reserved for special environments…like Vegas… or the next episode of “Jackass”.

Well the jury might be out on the wisdom of the Internet possibly make us feel and act younger, the indisputable good news is that it can actually aid in making aging more manageable.

In this week’s New England Journal of Medicine, the article Why Health Care Is Going Home by Dr. Steven H. Landers, M.D., M.P.H. http://bit.ly/cVyllp
talks about how portable technologies combined with the Internet can help create better outcomes—directly in a patient’s home. Traditionally the idea of best health care meant a patient visiting a medical facility. After all, it was a mark of modernization that women moved birthing to a hospital setting. Over time, at-home care began to be seen mostly through the lenses of palliative care or medical hand-wringing. Or as my parents’ generation whispered “where’s nothing more they can do; there sending him home to die.”

But the Internet has helped redefine previously rigid boundaries of physical space and time by making concepts such as working remotely, instantly communicating, gosh even house arrest, become common and accepted. It stands to reason that it is aiming its wrecking ball around the walls about where health care happens. It is easy to see how at-home care is especially good news for the aging population, people with intensive chronic conditions and those with mobility problems. The article quotes this sobering fact “nearly 90% of adults over the age of 65 years have at least one chronic condition, and nearly 70% have two or more coexisting conditions. Care for patients with multiple chronic conditions accounts for the vast majority of Medicare expenditures.”

Economics may be the business driver here but convenience will push consumer adoption. No doubt the benefits will drive adoption deeper into the population, from illness deeper into wellness.
We are ready for it. I have my mobile health apps already on my iPhone. Looking forward to a 3 minute video Q&A with my doctor, vet or pharmacist any day now. In the meantime, I’m glad to know that my senior Dad’s BP, breathing and blood scores can soon be managed remotely—and reported more quickly. No place like home, right on Dorothy.