...AND CHEAPER...:

An increasing number of health care tasks can be done at home because basic medical devices--many times linked to smartphones--are becoming consumer products. Take the CliniCloud, a new digital stethoscope and no-contact thermometer kit. It lets parents take professional readings from their kids and interact with doctors in new ways without leaving the house.

"Having these kinds of tools lets patients know more about themselves," says Andrew Lin, co-founder of CliniCloud. "It's not just going to WebMD and looking up what's wrong with them. It's actual clinical information they can engage their physicians with."

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