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Apr. 4, 2009

Dr. Eric Topol, head cardiologist and director of Scripps Translational Science Institute took the stage at CTIA Wireless 2009 to explain the impact of modern wireless technologies in healthcare services today.

In various sessions and interviews performed yesterday, wireless healthcare solution advocates acknowledged that moving from a paper-based system to one that allows doctors to electronically keep records on patients and do so in such a way that is interoperable between healthcare providers is a challenging task.

Meanwhile, wireless solutions that help people take care of themselves, applications that remind people to take their medication and other health-related applications that can help cut the costs of healthcare can go a long way.

Dr. Topol added that converting medical records from paper to electronic will help the nation’s healthcare system, but that more is still needed.

“We have to come up with new solutions to healthcare all the time, and that’s where wireless comes in," said Dr. Topol.

The Scripps Translational Science Institute and its research team will conduct clinical research on solutions to better prevent, diagnose, manage and treat major health conditions, ranging from Alzheimer’s to heart disease to obesity.

Dr. Topol will serve on the board, along with Gary West, founder and chair of the Institute’s board, and Donald Jones, vice president of Health and Life Sciences at Qualcomm.

Yesterday’s focus on healthcare came the same day that Intel and General Electric announced they are jointly investing $250 million over the next five years to develop personalized home healthcare devices.

Earlier in the week, the San Diego-based Gary and Mary West Foundation committed $45 million to create the West Wireless Health Institute, a medical research organization dedicated to advancing health and well-being through wireless technologies.

Scripps Health signed on as the founding healthcare affiliate, with Qualcomm as a founding sponsor.

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: CTIA Wireless 2009.