AT&T launches health care business

From CNET News.com: AT&T is making a new foray into the health care market with a business geared toward improving patient care and trimming medical costs.

Announced today, the new AT&T ForHealth unit will deliver a range of wireless, networked, and cloud-based products to doctors, hospitals, insurers, and pharmaceutical companies. The goal is to push the adoption of new technologies to the industry as the country tries to switch over to electronic and digital health care management.

AT&T said it's looking to expand upon some of its current health care projects, which include medicine bottles that remind people when to take their pills, devices that can monitor a person's heart at home, and audio/video links that allow a doctor and patient to talk without the need for a more expensive office visit.

The ForHealth intiative will drive a variety of services, according to AT&T. The new mHealth Services will focus on helping patients take the right medicine, get home health care, manage weight loss, and monitor wellness programs. New cloud-based image archive programs and security software will let doctors share video, images, and other medical records in a more secure way. AT&T said it will work with a variety of different customers to pilot these new services.

As one specific example, AT&T Labs is working with hospitals and universities to design "smart slippers" that would monitor a patient's walk and signal doctors if the person falls or seems about to fall.

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