Integrating New Technology into Practice

As a nutrition manager in any field, the impact that new technology has on practice is important to consider. Big technology companies including Apple, Google, Samsung and the like, are inventing products that are making news in the healthcare scene.

Healthcare practitioners are left wondering how to appropriately incorporate these technologies into their practice. New products to hit the shelf like Apple's iWatch can track blood pressure levels and activity throughout the day. Innovative apps on the iPhone can help patients track their blood glucose levels and record their food intake. Nike's Fitbit can track a person's energy expenditure via calories burned during everyday activity.

How reliable are these new tools? Have they been tested and proven to be accurate? As a nutrition manager, this is an issue that must be thought out. One healthcare facility mentioned in this article is predicting that doctors may be able to tap into some of these apps that track blood glucose levels and make changes to a patient's medication without the patient having to even come in for an office visit. Would you trust this technology to counsel patients without even seeing them in person? How would a healthcare provider charge for such services? Could this new technology bring about more telehealth counseling? Many questions exist for a nutrition manager to consider in our fast-moving, constantly changing world of technology and healthcare.

Pallarito, K. (2014) Report identifies game changers for U.S. healthcare. URL: http://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/doctor-news-206/report-identifies-health-care-game-changers-691988.html

BB

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Are All Sugars Created Equal?

Milk Mythbusters