Donald George, PRISM Communications - MIT Information Quality 2013 - #MIT #CDOIQ #theCUBE
Channel: SiliconANGLE theCUBE
Date: 18/07/2013

Donald George, Chief Architect at PRISM Communication Systems, explained his company's approach to proactive in-home healthcare through monitoring, analysis, and visualization of data relating to both illnesses and patient behavior, with theCUBE co-hosts Dave Vellante and Paul Gillin, live at the MIT CDOIQ Symposium.

"Data is the core issue" in healthcare, George said. Currently, "many of us connect in such a way, using our phones to connect to our physicians," which generates more data. That data brings about a challenge of data management in terms of how you make that data actionable. "We look at how to provide a total care system in the home, looking at the patient from a proactive view point so that we deliver the best possible healthcare."

Healthcare takes to the cloud
 

The healthcare industry is changing, making room for another care delivery system that does not require the physical requirements of brick and mortar erections. Smartphones are being used to check blood pressure and then transmit it to an intelligent platform. Patients "will see a visual graph of how your health is doing" over days or months. Based on this data visualization, care providers can take proactive measures.

"No matter where you are in the world, access to doctors won't be a question in a while," George stated. Patients will be able to always get care no matter where they are. That care can by analyzed in terms of what is happening around a patient, lifestyle, things they should not do, their environment etc.

When it comes to patients apprehension to having machines monitor them and decide for them, George said that in healthcare, the mindset is evolving in the right direction. In cardiology,  small wearable devices, cardiac electronic devices, that track patients are already being widely used. The same progress should be made for "some of the less risk-averse aspects of care of chronic illness," such as diabetes.

Diabetes is currently happening in "much younger individuals than we have seen before," obesity and sedentary lifestyles being part of the problem, George explains. A solution would be to "automatically get a small amount of blood, have a device check the blood sugar," deliver the data and the behavior of the patient, and have physicians act on it.

Care for the illness & behavior proactively
 

"Not all problems can be solved with a pill," George said. "You begin to take care of the whole patient — not just the illness, but also their behavior." In the case of diabetes, if there is a set of clinical guidelines for the patient and they stay on task, their progress can be monitored and help them have a better outcome.

Asked what was the right solution to deal with the large amounts of data collected in healthcare,  George said it was to stratify data. "We have to look at age, race, sex... things that would help you scope the health risk of a patient." It's also about checking what's evolving in the patient's environment. Understanding the disease and the effects of the environment and behavior helps provide a holistic care. "Data becomes the central point of triggering processes," and of automating clinical guidelines. PRISM brings "not only care, but better intervention,"  catching issues before they happens. "You want to make it visual, simplistic," and also engage the patient, George said.

The cloud rolls in affordable healthcare
 

Having and effective home delivery system helps save money as well. The greatest saving potential is in the follow-up process. Using telemonitoring for a patient to understand their trends, there no longer is a prolonged issue of having them come to a facility for follow-up. "We make the center of care our patient at the point of care," their home or another location, George explained. Devices means access to the patient, monitor, and provide care, instead of having them commuting between the home and clinic/hospital.

Besides saving money, this method helps save time for physicians and nurses who can better allot their resources amongst patients.

Data is the core: clean & secure
 

"Data is the core," George reiterated. "We have to have information that's shareable between providers and teams of care providers. When we look at the central focus of where we are is making that data actionable, you need data that is clean, that we can drive over repeatable cycles." For the future, the company focuses on "predictive modeling that will help us better manage the patient care."

While security in data access is and issue and breaches have fueled the public's fears, George pointed out that as the US transforms its healthcare system and brings about achievability with correct data," the matter of security concerns will be overcome. As an example, he chose the intervention of EMTs who can provide limited care due to a lack of medical history. "With sharing of data and the access to that data, you can see care be done right."


@thecube
#MITIQ