Connected Health includes the use of programs in remote/home care, lifestyle/disease management and telehealth services. These resources can greatly improve care for chronically ill patients, simply by employing the use of widely available consumer technologies. This is especially true in the United States and the European Union, as these markets enjoy a higher availability of Internet and telephone service than many other parts of the world.

Other services Connected Health can provide include web-based second opinions for patients, monitoring programs for elderly patients and fitness coaching for general wellness. Flexibility is core to the Connected Health concept, and many programs will employ several services at once, such as online communications, cell phones and biosensors to improve the provider-patient relationship. In addition, global positioning, environmental sensors and digital pen technology are playing an important part in Connected Health services today.

Connected Health promises to deliver a variety of positive change for healthcare practices, including a reduction in the cost of care that will total more than $1 trillion per year for the chronically ill, according to the Center for Health Care Economics at the Milken Institute. Advances in communication between healthcare providers and patients will also allow for closer surveillance of both local and global public health, and as a result, is expected to have an impact on the total number of epidemics and infections diseases that exist.

Other benefits to the use of Connected Health technologies include improved customer service for patients, a reduction in medical errors and safer, more productive clinical trials. All of this points to the fact that the medical industry stands on the cusp of a new era, one in which physicians, healthcare professionals and patients will be able to maximize effectiveness and begin to make real strides in improving mortality rates and reducing the spread of chronic disease.