This week I attended a webinar hosted by IBM on the trends for in-home medical devices based on research done in 2010 with over 1,300 US and UK consumers by IBM’s Institute for Business Value. (Here’s the link to the webinar http://bit.ly/bSgY73 )

What I found most interesting was that the research toppled some well-established assumptions such as: 1) consumers are unhappy with their current in-home wellness devices; and 2) in-home devices are mainly used for known health conditions (vs. preventative care devices).  On both counts the research results came back opposite of the ‘common assumptions’.  It seems that consumers are satisfied with their current devices and are ready for more, especially as people become so attuned to using small hand-held electronic devices.  And it seems that the message about preventative care and the benefits it affords is making its way into the home. That to me equates to market opportunities for ‘prevention devices’ (like tracking exercise and physical activity) and even remote monitoring of “someone’s changing health conditions”.

The American Heart Association has recently started to recommend home blood pressure monitors for use by patients with hypertension (high blood pressure), to help keep accurate daily readings. Most patients only have these readings taken during routine office visits or a trip to the local pharmacy, which typically isn’t all that often.

My mother has high blood pressure, for which she takes medication. She only gets her blood pressure taken during visits to her doctor, which happens every few months at best. I had asked her about a year ago if she was interested in getting a home blood pressure monitor as I’d seen loads of them advertised. Her reply shocked me. “No, my doctor said not to bother, she said those home units aren’t that reliable.”

So when I saw the latest news release from the American Heart Association I called her up immediately.

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