The cost of health care in the United States has long been
rising at an alarming rate — including and especially when it
comes to diabetes care. Meanwhile, the cost of many
communication devices that were once shockingly expensive — such
as those allowing mobile videoconferencing — has dropped
drastically and continues to drop, as their features multiply
and their quality improves. Naturally, researchers have been
trying for years to use this positive trend in technology to
find ways to reverse the negative trend in health-care costs.
And so far, the results have been mixed. Telemedicine —
connecting patients with health-care professionals through
videoconferencing, computer software, and other data
organization and communication tools — has taken various forms
throughout the years, with varying goals. A recent study,
published in the journal Health Affairs, looked at data from a
pilot program started by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services to examine cost-saving techniques for high-cost
patients wi