Using wireless to monitor chronic disease patients in urban poor regions.

Abstract

The healthcare delivery system in the United States is in crisis. Runaway expenditures and problems with access and affordability of care are plaguing the industry. Several chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, consume a disproportionate slice of healthcare services. By some estimates, chronic diseases account for over 70–75 % of direct healthcare costs. Diabetes is one of the five major chronic diseases. It afflicts over 20 million people in the United States and accounts for almost $100 billion in medical costs. The prevalence of diabetes in the United States and worldwide is on the rise. Much of the data used in this chapter came from a larger-scale project funded by an IBM grant awarded to N. Wickramasinghe and E. Geisler from the IBM Center for the Business of Government.