Robot

At least in the House bill for healthcare reform there is a provision for more telemedicine solutions in monitoring chronic care patients at home. We’ll see what if anything comes of a House-Senate resolution bill, if that happens.  But already major software and electronics firms are developing “robots that care,” which would be new in this country if not in Japan.  Microsoft now has a robotics group; GE, Cisco, and others are working on this too. GeckoSystems (Atlanta, GA) calls their machines “Carebots.”  And so on.  The Forbes article cited here does not mention that almost any solution which reduces a Medicare expense by 4% has a very high likelihood of coming under Medicare reimbursement.  Like so many other medical innovations, insurance reimbursement seems to be the sticking point for a society that is unwilling to pay $1,500 out of pocket for a life saving product, but has little concerned about spending that much in upgrading to leather seats in a new car.   MORE  and see a slide show

Image Credit:  ©AP Photo/Eric Gay and Forbes.com