Telemedicine and Parkinson disease: Improving Care and Clinical Research

Google Tech Talk March 22, 2010 ABSTRACT Presented by Kevin Biglan, MD, MPH and Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA, University of Rochester. The cost of clinical trials is rising, recruiting participants is increasingly difficulty, and monitoring safety is increasingly important. Home and patient appropriate technologies like the Marvell Plug computer and Google products can help address all of these issues. We will discuss our efforts to monitor blood pressure remotely using these technologies in a Michael J. Fox funded Parkinson disease clinical trial. Telemedicine using simple web-based video conferencing using, for example, the Marvell Plug computer and Google's services can also address large unmet needs in clinical care. Chronic conditions account for 75% of health care expenditures and affect over 140 million Americans. However, many have limited access to physicians, especially specialists, who can improve their care. We will present results of a pilot, randomized controlled trial of increasing specialty access using telemedicine to individuals with Parkinson disease residing in a remote nursing home and remote communities. We discuss future directions, including providing care directly into people's homes ('virtual house calls'), and ways that Google's services can provide additional value. A new variation of the Marvell Plug computer in planned as an interactive television server for the virtual house calls in a upcoming study.