LAS VEGAS — Monitoring diabetes can be a pain (literally). Keeping track of your loved one’s diabetes is even harder, especially if you’re trying to ensure your tech-illiterate grandmother’s blood-sugar levels aren’t spiking.
Now you’ll finally be able to monitor all their vital stats from your iPhone, even if grandma’s not using one too.
iHealth revealed its new iHealth Gateway collection of devices at International CES here this week. The line of products allow loved ones or doctors to remotely monitor personal health stats for senior citizens who eschew iOS devices. All grandma and grandpa have to do is prick their finger with the supported blood-glucose monitor, and the Gateway hub will beam the data to their caretaker’s device. No more worries about whether they’re keeping up with their meds.
Along with support for blood-glucose monitoring, the iHealth Gateway also has a fall sensor to warn you when your loved ones might have broken a hip or if they’ve just fallen and can’t get up. You can also get a blood-pressure monitor, and iHealth tells Cult of Mac they’re working on other accessories too that will connect to Gateway hub.
To access a patient’s stats, caregivers just pull up the accompanying iHealth Gateway app that displays all the latest data. The app also lets you set precise time intervals to take action or record patient data. All the devices also work with Apple’s HealthKit platform, allowing you to see how some of the patients’ other habits might be affecting their medical problems.
iHealth plans to roll out its iHealth Gateway collection to senior care-providing centers first, but says a wider release to all consumers is slated to hit shelves later in 2015.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
4 responses to “iHealth Gateway makes it easier to monitor grandma’s diabetes”
Hi Buster,
Not to cause a fuss, but I really feel that this article needs to be updated in sections. The mention of “granny’s diabetes” is somewhat offensive, as it pokes fun at a serious issue for the elderly and those with diabetes. I can understand how one who does not have to battle the disease could try to lighten the mood, but I feel that the approach here would be to focus on how revolutionary this technology is for the medical industry and within the home. It provides peace of mind to caregivers and timely updates to loved ones, if needed. It should be focusing on the capabilities of the technology and not creating a generalized statement about the elderly and a disease that they may be possibly dealing with. I come to Cult of Mac often, and usually love reading your articles. If you feel that this shouldn’t be corrected, then leave it up and let the article remain as is. But I wanted you to know that to some readers it may not come off the right way. Thank you.
Brandon
Hi Brandon,
Please accept my deepest and most sincere apology for my offensive use of the word “granny” in my blog post.
-buster
Thanks I guess? Sorry, I know that things are hard to translate at times coming across the web. It’s not the same as having a one-on-one conversation. Also, I feel that Martin has a great point with the ability to check blood sugar as a stand-alone product. It’s cool to see something change the way we usually go about a routine, such as this.
Brandon
Knowing what your blood sugar is, doesn’t have anything to do with “taking your meds”…