Lack of Interoperability Standards Hindering Growth of Wireless Technology
As the population ages and more people begin managing their conditions at home, wireless patient monitoring (WPM) technology has attracted the interest of major device makers, startups, and venture capitalists alike. However, despite WPM’s ability to promote patient safety, a lack of interoperability standards could delay the advancement of this technology, according to an analysis by Mountain View, CA-based Frost & Sullivan.
Venture capital funding is playing a crucial role in promoting WPM technology. For example, Sotera Wireless, Inc. recently scored $14.8 million in capital from a number of investors, including Delphi Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures. Late last year, Healthsense, Inc., which is developing remote monitoring solutions for the senior care market, raised $7 million in a funding round led by the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, LLC and Fallon Community Health Plan.
Despite investor excitement, challenges remain, as Frost & Sullivan’s analysis, Wireless Patient Monitoring Technologies—Evaluation of Funding Prospects, notes. One of the biggest challenges for WPM companies is the lack of standardization of wireless data interfacing sensors and monitoring devices, a problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible, according to the analysis. Standardization among the different WPM entities will help improve device interoperability, the analysis adds.
Other challenges the analysis names are the differing safety regulations across localities and end-user reluctance to adopt the technology, something that could be overcome with government reimbursement for those using WPM.
To help counteract these challenges and attract additional venture capital, WPM companies should offer strong clinical data documenting their product’s effectiveness, according to the analysis. “The WPM market needs to increasingly integrate evidence-based clinical trials and routine adoption of outcome measures as part of patient assessment,” explains Saju John Mathew, a Frost & Sullivan technical insights industry analyst, in a statement. “The pool of strong, positive data accumulated will encourage VCs to invest in WPM technologies.”
Last year, AAMI and UL (Underwriters Laboratories) announced they were joining forces to develop a suite of standards on medical device interoperability. The collaboration was a first for AAMI and UL. “Interoperability is a huge space still under development,” according to AAMI President Mary Logan. “It will take multidisciplinary commitment and collaboration to achieve meaningful management of the space and the issues.” In addition, the AAMI Ad Hoc Group on Health Information Technology and Interoperability released a white paper last September with recommendations on how AAMI can contribute to interoperability and an overview of current standards efforts by various groups. To read the white paper, please click here (PDF).
In January, AAMI also released a report titled Healthcare Technology in a Wireless World, the result of an invitation-only workshop held last October. That event—which was convened by AAMI, the American College of Clinical Engineering, the American Society for Healthcare Engineering, and ECRI Institute—attracted 75 experts, who discussed wireless challenges in healthcare. They developed five priorities that need to be addressed, including the need to clarify roles and responsibilities, and also drafted a list of the top 10 mistakes in implementing wireless technology in healthcare. To access that report, please click here (PDF).
Posted: February 20, 2013