In a recent post on the HealthBlog, Bill Crounse reports on the eHealth Canada conference and the Consumer Health conference providing an interesting contrast and comparisons. Both emphasized the consumerism movement in healthcare as is it exhibited through the Interenet and new devices. At home medical testing and medical tourism are both parts of this growing trend.

• The National Conference On Health Care Consumerism (NCHCC)
  The convergence of the Consumer Directed Health Care Conference and the National Wellness, Prevention and Fitness Conference
• e-Health 2008: Extending the Reach

It would be helpful if these conferences provide post-conference slides and podcasts but none have been posted yet.

Technorati: ehealth

        

HIMSS just posted podcasts from the conference in Orlando. Scroll down and you will see mine:

• Service Oriented Architecture - Data Reuse and Integration in Healthcare

Technorati:  SOA

        

Is Service Oriented Architecture a subset of Web 2.0 or are they similar technologies with some overlap. According to and article in eWeek which reports on a presentation by Ben Flock, a Microsoft Healthcare & Life Sciences, at a recent Microsoft conference, "Flock said Web 2.0 encompassed three basic categories: rich Internet applications developed with technologies like AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), Silverlight and Flash; SOA (service-oriented architectures) such as Web services, RSS feeds and mashups; and the social Web, built of wikis, blogs, podcasts and social networking sites."
I view Web 2.0 and SOA as overlapping technologies. 

Also in reporting on the presentation, Flock said, "Web 2.0 has made it much easier for consumers to find trusted sources of information quickly and to use that information to better their health and the care they receive." This is a basic premise of Health 2.0, particularly of vertical search engines.

Technorati: Web 2.0

        

The editor of Health Data Management has written an editorial piece on "PHRs: Where Are We Headed?" Because of a variety of products and uneven adoption, he wonders "whether PHRs ultimately will prove to be a passing fad or a ubiquitous technology." He does note that PHRs are probably most effective for the chronically ill who will use them regularly to manage their conditions. He discusses extensively the privacy issue and the fact that many PHRs are not provided by HIPAA covered entities including Google and Microsoft. He quotes several leaders in the field including Holly Miller, MD of University Hospitals of Cleveland and the chair of HIMSS PHR committee on the use of tethered PHRs and the need for an interoperable model that allows patients to pull information from multiple providers.

The article certainly covers the confusing state of PHRs well but lacks a concluding recommendation. Maybe its difficult to make a recommendation or point a direction with some much activity and so little market consolidation or even consolidation of opinion. Let's hope some of this is sorted out soon so that consumers, providers and employers can reap more of the promise of PHRs.

Technorati: PHRs

        

I had the opportunity to be on a conference call with Steve Case last week on the one year anniversary of Revolution Health. In his usual smooth presentation, he presented some of the features which have made the site a success:

• Anchored with trusted content, link it to consumers personal health concerns
• The limitation of search engine in finding health information (aka, Google?)
• Consumer-centricity
• Use technology as an integrating force
• More interested in what people do with a personal health record, not just an electronic filing cabinet
• Providing actionable information
• A goal of eventually reducing cost of healthcare

One new initiative he discussed was Maternal Health -“Mom Advocacy” - will be launched soon.

You have to give them credit for providing a unique model of providing content and an expanding list of health tools and channels. Acquisitions have helped like Care Pages but the key has been their ability to integrate these features into a good user experience.

Technorati: Health 2.0

        

A posting on the Wall Street Journal Health blog quotes Steve Lieber of HIMSS as saying that PHRs may be less trusted by doctors and therefore slow down care, such as emergency or urgent care. The example given is having a PHR on a thumb drive - how does the physician know that the information, some of which could be life-threatening such as allergies, is reliable.
This is another argument for some kind of certification of PHRs and also providing a way to show the source of information in a PHR - is it from a provider, entered by the patient, claims information or something else.

Technorati: PHRs

        

Two upcoming conferences worthy of note:

• Health 2.0 User-Generated Healthcare -October 21st - 23rd at the Marriott San Francisco. The agenda looks like a good one: Future of Health 2.0, Wellness 2.0, consumer genomics, business models, and more. Check out the full agenda. Very limited registration spots this time.
• Cleveland 2.0 - an initiative begun by Case Western Reserve University to apply Web 2.0 to all kinds of non-profit initiatives in Cleveland. In addition to the seminar including Anthony D. Williams, coauthor of Wikinomics, the conference will be simulcasted on Second Life.

Techorati: Web 2.0, Health 2.0

        

100 sounds like an exhaustive list but it also demonstrates the extent of tools available to health care. While some of these are definitely healthcare specific, others are general software tools - everything from antivirus to open office. Surprisingly, the category of "storing patient information" includes many open database models which most healthcare providers would not see as secure enough by HIPAA standards. There are patient-specific tools as well. Worth a review and perhaps a selective trial for some of these.

Techorati: Health 2.0

        

Limeaid is a new service for employer health and wellness with many of the features you would expect - Health Risk Assessment and wellness tools, but promises a more fun approach to the topic. The primarily green graphics are engaging and have a slightly different twist (sic) such as assessing energy level and giving tips to improve this. It includes such tools as behavioral coaching, biometric screen and offers these online, onsite and via mobile devices.
Looks to be a pretty complete offering in an attractive package. Will have competition from many others including the big players like Revolution Health.

Technorati: Health 2.0

        

In response to the NY Times Magazine article on Health 2.0, one person with MS wrote in that, "More than anything, I found it to be a hypochondriac’s virtual theme park." This person also did not appreciate the label "patient". While many people benefit from Health 2.0 style social networking, another writer questioned whether an anonymous user could create an account and then post an amazing recovery based on a specific drug. These are valid concerns which need to be addressed within Health 2.0 to maintain trust with these sites and avoid abuse.

Technorati: Health 2.0