Healthcare for bottom of the pyramid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB47wx-b6sY

http://medgadget.com/archives/2009/03/portable_ecg_system_with_sms_keyboard.html

A lot of time and effort is spent in improving Healthcare IT systems using internet or mobile based technologies. However that only serves a small fraction of the global population. There is a huge potential to use technology to improve healthcare for people at the bottom of the pyramid. These people are surviving with less than a $1 per day and so a Google Health or an iPhone app doesn't matter to them.

GE Healthcare has come up with the MAC 800, which is a unique ECG, specifically designed to help physicians, to better predict and diagnose patients at risk of heart diseases. It is highly portable and easy to use. It helps to provide low cost medical care to people in rural areas.

As connectivity within a physician’s work environment is key to coordinated care and improved diagnoses. MAC 800 helps to make that vision a reality through its multiple communication options that fit the needs of most practices, including LAN, modem, SD card and serial port to store and send ECG data from any location.

Also, MAC 800 offers the option of a PDF or XML output for universally recognized storing and data sharing. MAC 800 also connects seamlessly to a variety of vendors’ EMR solutions via a software called Cardiosoft. MAC 800 was developed looking at what is needed to deliver affordable heathcare in India and then building a viable business proposition which incorporates the latest technologies. Though priced at the higher end, GE Healthcare says it should be able to deliver ECG reports at less than a dollar.