Health 2.0

Health 2.0- it is user generated healthcare > users connecting to providers > creating partnerships to reform care deliver > and leading to data driving decisions and discovery in healthcare.  In plain terms, it is using various internet media- blogs, discussion forums etc to share ideas about getting dealing with medical problems and health issues.  It isn’t downloading info, it is sharing info.

Healthcare can be improved by helping patients be more engaged in their health (they are the ones who must take that medication), and by doctors doing the right thing (info support for evidence based guidance)

The Health 2.0 meeting in San Francisco just concluded. Last year I was shocked and awed by amazing new web based healthcare tools. This year, not shocked, but I saw maturity developing in some of the products from last year. I am still amazed by the variety (if not fragmentation) of stuff being created by web entrepreneurs. There was an interesting and pretty energetic discussion on what future electronic health records will be like- or rather, where they will reside. Personal Health Records were a focus- competition is hot.

Networking was fascinating with government officials from federal and state (Minnesota!) level, web entrepreneurs, and journalists. iPhones were amazingly profuse in the room- reflecting a direction too, of many of the products to include mobile applications.

There were more medical doctors attending this year, I believe, but there remains an interesting split between the patient /user’s quest to control their personal health information and the doctors doing there own thing oblivious to it all. A panel of patients expressed emotional frustration with the healthcare disconnect. The message was clear. All would be better with more engaged patients (when they want to be) with access and control of personal health information.Oh yes, and ePatient Dave was there.

I would love to see a panel of Health2.0 reps on the stage with clinicians from Institute for HealthCare Improvement.- getting doctor and nurses trying to improve the system with these folks would be fun.

American Well CEO Roy S. updated us. American Well is a fascinating new tool that allows patients to access doctors any time and anyplace by phone, or electronic messaging. They now have some patient care experience over the last year (although interesting that we didn’t hear much about volume), have new clients (including in Minnesota), and have developed a new feature that allows generalist physicians to use the same access tools to interact with specialists anywhere in the country- expanding the patient interaction to a healthcare team.

AARP presented some new web based tools for optimizing complicated medications and saving medication money – that I will be definitely be checking out and talking to my patients about.  The doughnut hole calculator looks really useful.

I will be bringing home ideas about how social networking and new Health 2.0 technology can benefit healthcare.  We are working on some new projects at my clinic- that I will be writing about.

John Butler, MD