Healthcare accounts for about 10 percent of global GDP, according to the World Bank.
In the United States, where spending hit $2.8 trillion in 2013, it’s almost twice that. In the last 12 years, healthcare has almost single-handedly driven American job growth and now accounts for 13 percent of the U.S. workforce.
But healthcare remains an IT laggard. At many facilities, fax machines reign supreme. Doctors carry pagers. Patients receive appointment reminders via snail mail. What electronic data does exist frequently gets lost or stolen. It’s no surprise, then, that the world’s largest IT firms clamor to bring 21st century analytics, mobility, collaboration, security and services to healthcare.
I ? Word Understanding
Laggard ? responding slowly
Reign supreme – common
Snail mail ? slow mail (e.g. postal mail)
Clamor ? make strong efforts
II ? Have Your Say
Some IT companies and their future healthcare products:
1. Amazon: cloud storage
Healthcare providers struggle with storage, as most patient records, under law, must be kept for several years ? some for as long as 25 years.
2. Apple: Rumored Health-Tracking iWatch, Earbuds
It is developing its rumored iWatch and, along with it, an iWatch- and iPhone-compatible app referred to as Healthbook. Also rumored: Health-monitoring earbuds.
3. Google: Owning Health Like It Owns the Interne
Google Helpouts – option for patient-physician video consultations.
Calico – aims to examine the effects of aging and illness.
Google Glass – in due time will improve documentation, clinical decision support and training.
