In-Home Technology Could Cut Health Care Costs

In the future, older patients may have to get used to seeing more machines than doctors. In an effort to reduce the costs of hospital stays and long-term home care, the health industry is rolling out pilot programs that employ simple devices to monitor patients from home, such as blood pressure and blood sugar monitors, scales that detect sudden weight gain, and motion sensors to track unusual movement in a room. Intel and General Electric Healthcare are two companies fronting money to research medical monitoring products.