Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal included a special section on senior living. I was intrigued by an an article by Sarah Lueck about the future of health care (subscription wall). The article described products designed to help seniors live in their homes as long as possible, such as as Accenture’s online home medicine cabinet , the Personal Watcher, a wrist watch that monitors vital signs, and Motiva, an interactive TV / health platform by Phillips Electronics. Many of these products were demonstrated at a White House aging conference last year. Ms. Lueck points out that the the manufacturers still need to prove that their products are cost effective because at this point money as well as the lack of interoperability standards are major barriers to widespread adoption.

Interestingly, the article also discusses an Orwellian aspect to these products — a theme which I find raised more frequently now in health information technology articles. That is another widespead adoption hurdle.