Empowering patients: total product life cycle for medical devices

Patients today demand a stake in the care of their own health. The expectation is that patients who take responsibility for their own care will communicate more effectively with their health care team and be productive citizens in our society. Medical technology today and those products visible on the horizon, coupled in a telehealth network, provide promise to empower patients to participate fully in the management of their own health. Technology alone, however, will not integrate the elements required for an effective telehealth system. This chapter considers the non-technical matters of this issue such as trends in the medical device industry, trends in the point of care, public health care policies, and the role of government regulation, working together to achieve these public health goals.