Fewer doctor trips

Imagine your cell phone ringing, and when you answer, it is not your spouse, the boss or a friend. It is an automated message from the office of your primary care physician reminding you to take antibiotic dose number three for that sinus infection you've been battling.

While large health groups teams are moving quickly on the journey to put their medical records on computer systems, others teams - often within the same organizations - are working just as hard on developing alternative technological avenues to improving health care and lowering costs.

Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente is engaged in developing cell phone applications to remind patients when it's time to take a medication, test blood/sugar levels or start to fast for the next day's blood work.

"The focus would be nonroutine things," said Dr. John Mattison, chief medical information officer for Kaiser Permanente's Southern California region.

Once people get established taking maintenance medications, like those frequently prescribed for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the reminders would no longer be necessary, he said.

Several large companies are pouring resources into telemedicine devices, which opens up high-level medical assessments for people in remote areas and those too ill for a lengthy car trip.

Long Beach-based Molina Healthcare Inc. is experimenting with a telemedicine device developed by San Jose-based Cisco Systems Inc.

Dr. Rafael Amaro, Molina's medical director, said his company, which targets health care for racially diverse low-income populations, is experimenting with the technology to see where it might be of value.

Molina also is experimenting with special cell phones that can only access Molina health professionals and an emergency contact person, to keep connected to patients who might not be able to afford phones.

UnitedHealth Group and Cisco have teamed to run workplace clinics in rural and retail locations using medical audio, video and medical information to make it easier for people to receive care where distance has been an obstacle.

"In developing advanced telemedicine technologies, we're unlocking new possibilities for how patients can interact with doctors and medical staff. The in-person visit to a doctor is no longer the sole `gold standard' method for delivering high-quality health care service," Dr. Kaveh Safavi, Cisco's vice president Global Healthcare Practice, said in a prepared statement announcing the service.

Chris Barker, a Cisco spokesman, said the venture has placed a telemedicine device at its Research Park in North Carolina so employees at that campus can have access to physicians Cisco hired for work at its San Jose headquarters.

"Employees generally like this because it saves them hours of time," he said.

Intel and General Electric have teamed up to produce a line of medical devices - including one that will allow doctors to video conference with patients, check vital signs such as blood pressure and weight over the Internet and provide patients with health reminders.

The Intel and GE duo see a huge market for home monitoring as the populations of developed economies age.

"We need to enable our elders to age in place, with the right technology and with dignity," Louis Burns, general manger of Intel's Digital Health Group, said during announcement of the partnership in 2009.

Earlier this month, GE and Intel said they have expanded that alliance and plan to create innovative technology for seniors and people with chronic conditions.

That effort will be headquartered in the Sacramento area.

Christine Chang, a health care technology analyst at Datamonitor's Ovum unit in New York, says a variety of companies are developing home medical testing and measurement units that can file results at in the patient's computer or the doctor's office.