Archive for July, 2009

Health 1.0, Health 2.0, Health 3.0

July 30, 2009

In Health 1.0, the ePatient would search the Internet the night before a doctors visit for a serious illness and print out hundreds of pages and insist that the physician address each page.

In Health 2.0, the ePatient goes to to social networking sites to research how others made treatment decisions and coped with their illness. They securely email their physicians for second opinions, and checks the ratings of physicians and hospitals online.

In the future Health 3.0, the ePatient obtains their genetic profiles, sets up semantic agents to monitor for new treatments for the conditions their are at risk for and develops micro-communities of others with similar risk profiles. Health messages to manage the risk profile are delivered to a mobile device which also monitors blood pressure, blood sugar and other vital signs.
Question – where is the physician in Health 3.0?

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What is it Like to Receive Your Genetic Profile?

July 28, 2009

Now that online offerings for genetic testing is readily available, what is it like to order the test and then receive and open the results for the first time? Jen McCabe Gorman, the quintessential ePatient, shares her experience on YouTube as she opens her results from 23&Me. Here experience is filled with excitement, worry and questions – wondering who else in her family might have similar traits, what are the medical implications of mild tendencies, what are the implications for future medical treatment? This personal experience goes beyond anything you will find describing these online genetic testing.

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New Google Health Features

July 24, 2009

Google Health recently announced two new features: upload of scanned paper documents and recording of last wishes.  Uploading of documents provides a useful way to manage legacy paper documents during the transition to electronic records. Since most people still rely on paper records, this move makes sense as an interim solution.
Another scanned document type is advanced directives for which Google Health has partnered with Caring Connections. Advanced directives are important for anyone to have, especially those with advanced disease or entering the hospital. It will be helpful in the future if this could be sent to a hospital directly.
Google Health admits to the limitations of paper documents and the need to move beyond these.
The post is by Roni Zeiger, a physician, and

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The US Chief Technology Office Promotes Innovation

July 22, 2009

A few weeks ago I heard Aneesh Chopra speak at the Cleveland City Club (podcast available). He could easily be called the Chief Innovation Officer – he is looking for opportunities to make changes using existing technology in short term projects. Specifically,
“-Using information technology to transform the way government does business
-Foster private sector innovation
-Reduce administrative costs and errors through utilization of health IT
-Change the way teachers teach and students learn”

Two projects of note are Defense Solutions, a site to submit solutions to be funded by small grants and hear in 30 days, unheard of for government grants.
The other is Data.gov, which exposes existing government data sources for use by developers including raw data, tools and geodata. Part of his approach is to encourage developers in an open source model, to create new tools and mashups which add value.

He spoke today at the Open Government and Innovations Conference. Twitter feed here.

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