Before the pandemic, telehealth — seeing a doctor virtually instead of in real life — was hardly used by most patients in the US. With both an overwhelmed healthcare system and fears of infection from in-person visits, that’s now shifting. Video or phone chats with a physician can solve basic complaints. But the risk is that chronic conditions that benefit from routine checkups — where the best healthcare is preventative, not reactive — might fall by the wayside.
In response, we have seen more connected tools like glucose monitors that can monitor vitals at home. Omron’s VitalSight aims to do the same for hypertension, or high blood pressure, which can be a precursor to a stroke or heart attack.
