How Broad is Health 2.0?
December 12, 2007
Scott Shreeve of Crossover Health takes a wider view as Health 2.0 addressing the crisis in health care today – “Health 2.0 has everything to do with outcomes, quality and healthcare reform.”
Health 2.0 has many facets and substantial potential for making changes in health care. Will it require market consolidation to have a real impact on healthcare reform? Or is it current volatile state how it will continue to manifest itself and still have an impact?
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Health Care Unplugged
December 11, 2007
Overall the report is worth reading to see the current technologies and to think about future innovation. I would add the capabilities of GPS as a potential technology/data for health care.
Share this:More Acquisitions by Revolution Health
December 6, 2007
Revolution Health announced an acquisition and a financial investment. The purchase is HealthTalk, a Web-based vendor of chronic care information with a combination of ask our experts health content, blogs and podcasts. The second is a strategic partnership with SparkPeople, a diet and fitness site. While they continue to enhance their content with more Web 2.0 features like these two, they have now become the second (to WebMD) health care property on the Internet. Pretty impressive considering how young the site is. Is this a testament to Health 2.0 taking on the traditional Health 1.0 websites?
Share this:Continuing Medical Education Through Video
December 5, 2007
There is a Spanish-language website, LiveMedWeb.tv serving Central and South America which is providing innovative CME using video interviews with medical experts. These short clips (longer than the typical YouTube) provide quick information to a large, otherwise untapped group of physicians. They also provide webinars through the site which are longer. The site is the product of LiveMed, a company from Mexico City which also provides live broadcasts of CME events.
Is there anyone in the US doing this?
LinkedIn vs. Facebook
December 4, 2007
While not specifically related to ehealth, I came across several articles on the social networking in business controversy. Two articles from CIO magazine demonstrate this: first is” Why CIOs Should Be On Facebook“. The rationale is the amazing growth and reach in contrast with LinkedIn as just an online resume. He rightly notes the ability to integrate LinkedIn into Faceblook. His final argument, “your future workforce views Facebook as a staple in their daily lives.” Not a compelling case for business value. Meanwhile in “ A Proud Member of the LinkedIn Generation” sees this tool as a way to reconnect with old business associates and develop a powerful network of CIOs, CSO, etc. I agree that the potential is there but perhaps yet to be realized.
Finally, the most negative article is from a Harvard Business Review blog where Tom Davenport says “ LinkedIn Is Not a Social Network“. He argues that since it is specifically for business it is not a social network and it is only useful in seeking jobs or favors. Granted, LinkedIn lacks the rich functionality or user interface that Facebook has but perhaps it has not reached its full potential because of the lack of tools. Also, different businesses have a variety of types of human interactions – some are more formal or restricted by regulations or laws (lawyers, government, healthcare) while others are less formal (education, technology esp. developers). So one tool will not fit all. Is the solution somewhere in between – not too formal or informal?
Share this:PHRs the Topic in HIMSS Digital Office
November 30, 2007
In the lastest issue of HIMSS Digital Office there are articles quoting two Cleveland CIO/CMIOs on PHRs. Dr. Harris of the Cleveland Clinic discussing the PHR/EHR integration as a culture change for his institution and states that “As more media, consumer, and provider attention is paid to the personal health record as both a concept and a tool, it is perhaps inevitable that PHR products of various quality and usefulness will arrive in the market place.”
Holly Miller, MD, MBA, the CMIO of University Hospitals of Cleveland and chair of the HIMSS PHR committee, discusses the push toward PHRs from Pay for Performance and about the future of PHRs, states, “a portable, interoperable PHR that is owned and controlled by the patient may provide healthcare consumers with necessary tools to better manage their health and wellness throughout their lives.”
There are also excellent articles on privacy and PHRs, and discussion of some products including Microsoft’s HealthVault which is not so much a PHR as a health information integrator.
Share this:Cisco’s Telehealth Solution Promoted in the EU
November 28, 2007
In an article from E-Health Europe, a presentation from Cisco describes their strong commitment to eHealth. Specifically, they describe their decision to take leadership in “changing the way that people communicate to take control of their health.” One of the prototypes for this is HealthPresence technology which is being piloted in Scotland. It is a telemedicine solution which provides a unit which enables remote consultations. It includes a range of medical instruments and video-teleconferencing technology. This can have applications anywhere including for the rural U.S. where telemedicine solutions are now being incentivize by government programs.
Share this:Web 2.0, 3.0 and beyond
November 23, 2007
Patient as Googler
November 20, 2007
Matthew Holt points out an article from Time Magazine titled, “ When the Patient is a Googler.” The example given is of a woman who was doctor shopping and not getting the answers she wanted. “Susan had chosen me because she had researched my education, read a paper I had written, determined my university affiliation and knew where I lived.” And this physician thought she knew too much. Also, this physician prefers nurses and engineers as patients and begins to sound sexist in not wanting to deal with an emotional approach to illness. Although this patient certainly pushed the limits.
Many patients are “Googlers” and research their physicians more or less thoroughly. Researching important aspects of one’s own health care and knowing who your surgeon is certainly affects what your surgeon does. Is it overdone by some patients? Definitely. Does it empower others – most certainly.
Perhaps when we get to the semantic health care web, the results will be more even handed.
Share this:Deborah Peel on Patient Privacy, Data Mining and HealthVault
November 20, 2007
Government Health IT has posted an interview with Deborah Peel of of Patient Privacy Rights (www.patientprivacyrights.org). She discusses the problems with data mining and how legal loophole allows it to continue. On the other hand, she states the Microsoft’s Health Vault has done it right in terms of protecting privacy including external auditors to protect the public. She also asks for protections from the current presidential candidates. Worth listening to and reading more on her organization’s website.
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