If you regularly read my ramblings, you’ll know how much potential I believe there is in Medical Technology (aka MedTech). Innovation in MedTech needs to be adopted quickly. The alternative is increasingly expensive and dysfunctional healthcare systems trying to treat more people with less.

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So this week I was buoyed by a story from a business in Cardiff that has just received initial funding to use smartphones as a means of monitoring patients with chronic asthma. Congratulations to LaennecAI on the raise!

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This is such a smart innovation: it uses technology that people are familiar with to address the growing demographic issues in healthcare, while also making things more convenient for patients, with fewer trips to the clinic. It also makes people more responsible for their own wellbeing – all positive steps in addressing the challenge of delivering modern healthcare. But every solution has its own problems.

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In the case of remote monitoring, we still need smart medical practitioners to receive this information, interpret it and act on it. And how often does that need to happen? Every hour? Once a day? For life-threatening conditions, monitoring may still be better in a hospital environment.

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There are also questions about the reliability of the smartphone networks, user errors (such as leaving the device in airplane mode or switched off) or running out of battery. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting – and a much needed - development.

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This kind of remote monitoring will almost certainly be most relevant to long term conditions that are not life-threatening, but where remote diagnosis can ensure the right patients are seen at the right time. Laennec is initially focussed on asthma but patients with conditions like Type 2 Diabetes, Parkinsons, COPD, Asthma or MS could also benefit from remote monitoring. This way overstretched nurses or doctors ensure they see the patients they most need to – when they need to see them. 

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This is what excites me most about the deployment of MedTech: it has the potential to deliver the dual benefits of reducing cost and improving service in one.

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Recently my colleague Ben Morling headed to the Pro Manchester Health Technology Conference held in Central Manchester. He’s written a blog this week highlighting why technology is our greatest weapon in providing the best possible care.