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Healthcare Journal of new orleans
I
SEPT / OCT 2014
33
While most New Orleans hospitals have not yet fully embraced wearable healthcare tech-
nology, the technology has been embraced by some local healthcare providers, so these
devices may have a promising future in the area.
Based in NewOrleans, MHealth Technologies, LLC works to develop and implement wear-
able technologies that can provide real-time, objective, and functional data that is more eas-
ily collected to alleviate the burden of data entry for patients. Before starting this company,
cofounder and psychologist Dr. Aaron Wolfson, who specializes in treating chronic pain
patients, found himself prescribing a pen and paper journal for his patients to track vari-
ous health functions, such as how long they slept or a rating of the pain they experienced
at different times of the day.
However, leaving so much responsibility up to a patient using an inconvenient method of
data entry meant that many patients did not fill out the journal at all, and those who did
often provided misinformation, thought up long after the time in question, which means
an abundance of inaccurate data.
Out of necessity, Dr. Wolfson sought a solution that would employ technology to replace
the unreliable pen and paper method for the benefit of both patients and their doctors who
needed accurate information for proper diagnosis and treatment. This meant advanced
wearable technology that could track most of these data points for the patient automati-
cally, and thus MHealth Technologies was born.
“We’re not relying on making the patient do the work, but really letting technology do the
work, freeing us up to do more high-level things,” says Dr. Wolfson. “We want to give peo-
ple another tool so that the time that they are spending with their healthcare providers
can be spent on problem-solving, trouble-shooting, asking questions, and using that time
more efficiently.”
Dr. Wolfson sees wearable technology as not only viable for the healthcare industry, but
even necessary to the future progression of the medical field.
Where is New Orleans
in this trend?
From top left:
Anesthesiologist
viewing vital signs
during surgery.
View of vital signs
during surgery.
Dr. Feinstein with
Philips and Accenture
developers.