Posts Tagged ‘QuantifiedSelf’
Discussion of PHRs and Patient Data Access on iHealthbeat
January 29, 2012
In an new story on iHealthbeat, Barriers Continue To Limit Patient Access to Electronic Health Data, I am quoted on the topic Basically, I continue to be disappointed on the slow adoption of PHRs and the fact that Google Health is now gone. My statement at the end of the article is the most significant – how can providers strategically use PHRs as chronic disease management tools? There have been some pilot programs on this. Perhaps with the incentives to prevent readmissions and management of patients to reduce costs, such as, the Medical Home and ACOs, some provider groups will take a second look at PHRs.
At the same time, I wonder if mobile apps, which have seen huge adoption, need integration with PHRs or visa versa. Disease management and wellness activities could be tracked through apps and added to one’s PHR. This what Google Health tried to do and HealthVault still does. Yet only a small percentage of those with chronic or life threatening illnesses have benefited.
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e-Patients, Quantified Self and Self-Efficacy; Self-Monitoring Through Technology
November 8, 2011
New featured blog post of mine on HealthWorksCollective. Would be interested in comments especially from the e-Patient and Quantified Health communities.
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Can Social Media Save Lives?
June 23, 2011
This provocative title of a webinar to be held next week is part of the growing optimism about the potential for social media in the process of health care. Some recent examples come to mind:
- Report from the Change Foundation in Toronto on Using social media to improve the quality of patient experience (I was on the advisory board for this report)
- An App that Looks for Signs of Sickness – Mobile-phone activity can provide a warning of disease flare-ups.
- Community Health Data Initiative – more on this later
- Case Study: Radboud Hospital Supports Young Cancer Patients With An Online Community
We are witnessing a shift from social media for pure marketing toward engagement and beyond, to changing the care process.
Share this:How about a Motivation App?
April 12, 2011
There is some evidence that although there may be a lot of downloads of health related apps to smart phones, they are underutilized. Especially apps for diets, food monitoring, exercise and walking. Is this a usability problem or lack of complete features?
At one of the breaks during TEDxMaastricht, I had the idea that it may come down to what motivates each person individually. Are you motivated by some kind of rewards (financial or “chance to win…”) or by a social network or by being able to chart your results or receiving regular reminders, etc. What about a chance to win coupons (Groupon integration)?
What about developing an app which would take you through a series of questions to understand what motivates you to exercise or watch what you eat and then matches you with the apps which provide these types of motivations.
If anyone knows of such an app or is developing one, let me know. If you develop one based on this post, give me some credit. Thanks.
Share this:Book Review: Program or Be Programmed – Ten Commandments of the Digital Age
December 30, 2010
This quick read by Douglas Rushkoff is less ominous than the title sounds but still thought provoking. The author does not advocate becoming a programmer per se but understanding the greater control and influence over our decisions that apps have on our everyday lives. Particularly the chapter on Choice: You May Always Choose None of the Above; here he emphasizes the need to be aware of and not locked into choices made for us. Whether it is Google search results/adwords or Amazon recommendations of what others have selected, were are ever so gently guided toward choices. It reminds me of the decades old book of Alvin Toffler, Overchoice. Even then he anticipated the problem of hundreds of choices of models and colors and didn’t anticipate the ability to search millions of products online. Maybe we need tools to help us in our choices to guide us to our preferences to reduce the number of choices. But understanding enough about how this tools are programmed frees us from a type of slavery to them.
In addition, there are chapters about online identity: Do Not Be Always On, Live in Person, Be Yourself, Do Not Sell Your Friends. Increasingly, the lines between our online and offline identities are becoming blurred. Some handle this better than others, but identity confusion occurs with the most distasteful evidence in cyber-bulling and getting lost in game worlds. The advice to retain our humanity is well founded.
While the book does not address health issues on the internet and social media in depth, there are some implications for ePatients and patient-physician relationships. These need to be based in reality, not the virtual world. These identities and relationships can be extended by apps and tools but not to the exclusion of real life.
Share this:A History of Innovation in Medicine
May 17, 2010
Health 2.0 has pushed innovation in health care from its inception. From social networks for patients and providers to vertical search and mobile health tools, innovation continues. The Quantified Self represents the latest level of innovation for healthcare. The letters to the NY Times Sunday Magazine in response to the feature on The Data Driven Live, has this choice quote by Patricia Flatley Brennet of Project HealthDesign “Doctors are experts in clinical care; patients are experts in their daily experiences and how they make them feel. Both need to share more with each other.”
But some healthcare organizations have been innovative from the beginning. See the video on the Cleveland Clinic Model of Medicine and then read their latest Annual Report with President Obama on the cover. What a great place to work.
Share this:The Quantified Self in Healthcare – Part 2
May 10, 2010
More evidence of this movement continues to emerge. For instance, I came across the Philips DirectLife device today which can record a number of activity parameters to quantify one’s life. In an article in the Linux Journal, of all places, there is an article title, Now Data Gets. Personal. The author cites Alexandra Carmichael of CureTogether and the Quantified Self Community as a prime example. The article points back to an earlier one in the same journal called The Patient as the Platform. The author proposes that through the use of PHRs controlled by patients, such as, Google Health, the patient could be center of health information rather than the provider or payer. This article from 2008 essentially proposes a solution for health information exchange without costly state or national initiatives.
The combination of the quantified self and the patient as the platform can potentially create a future where rich information is controlled by the patient and shared with providers to enhance personal wellness and treat conditions. Adding social networking with like patients creates a powerful trio of technology for the e-patient.
Share this:The Quantified Self in Healthcare
May 3, 2010
In the New York Times Sunday Magazine, an article by a Wired editor, talks about the growing trend of the Quantified Self, or the data driven life. Why is this becoming a real trend? “Four things changed.
- electronic sensors got smaller and better.
- people started carrying powerful computing devices, typically disguised as mobile phones.
- social media made it seem normal to share everything.
- we began to get an inkling of the rise of a global superintelligence known as the cloud.”
While more people are creating catalogs of various aspects of their lives, some specific healthcare examples are cited including Medhelp.org “where more than 30,000 new personal tracking projects are started by users every month” and CureTogether.
Also, in FastCompany, an article title Our Bodies, Our Quantified Selves, they note that “there may actually be some meaningful upsides to this radical transparency.” Particularly the opportunity for medical research on this exponentially growing volume of data.
To me, this is the obvious next big thing in health care. The only question is how to channel the energy of this new trend into meaningful information for the individual and society.
Share this:Robotic Pancreas – Beyond Home Monitoring and the Quantified Self
April 19, 2010
Just as home monitoring using medical devices is beginning to gain traction and be reimbursed, e-visits as well and the movement toward the Quantified Self, implanted devices are now added to the mix. In a new article in Wired Magazine, The Robotic Pancreas, One man’s quest to put millions of diabetics on autopilot, implanted devices move into the popular press. After a successful trial of 17 teens at Yale, the next step is FDA approval. Medtronic is supporting the effort. There is already approval in some European countries and the devices does have an low glucose suspend feature to protect the patient. The FDA is accelerating the availability of an artificial pancreas; will it really take the predicted 5 years for approval and broadened use? What will be the next device which combines the quantified self with a medical device?
Share this:Decision Tree and the Quantified Self
February 15, 2010
The article in Wired on Decision Trees and the new book also by Thomas Goetz has generated a greater interest in participatory medicine and quantifying one’s life and health.
The title of the first chapter says it all: Living by the Numbers – How alot of science and a little self awareness can give you control of your health.
Brian Ahier addresses these issues as well in his post on “Data Not Drugs: Taking Control of Your Health in the Age of Genetics.” While pointing out the host of tools available to manage your health, everything from WolframAlpha to GetUpAndMove, he discusses earlier adopters who will lead the way, knowing not only their genetic risk but also quantifiy their daily health status. He notes that with few blockbuster drugs in the pipeline, perhaps this is the future of healthcare. Can the quantified self, enabled by health promotional tools which get easier to use each day, have a larger impact on health than the next lipitor?
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